"What are Hushpupies?"

So I underestimated the distance that we had actually traveled. According to other rider's odometers we are now actually about 1,850 miles into the ride. This means that yesterday was actually our halfway day! To celebrate we rode 104 miles. Ha! Ok so that was actually already on the trip schedule and had nothing to do with our halfway celebration. But it was still cool that we had our first century (100 miles) ride that day. All in all my first century went really well. Most everyone else felt the same way. I've learned that you can ride way farther than you think you can as long as you have several rest stops, fun people, an overabundence of food, an optimistic view, hills to keep you sane, and of course ice cream. Fun people is probably the most important thing on the list. We've invented several games along the way to keep the entertainment level high. This includes: A.) Seeing how long you can scream while going down a hill (I won), B.) Getting 18 wheelers to honk at you, C.) Counting the number of road kill per mile, D.) Playing "would you rather" (I can't even explain), E.) Playing the spelling game (I lose or should I say loose) We were just so exhausted by the end of the day due to our 4:30 a.m wakeup, 90 degree heat, and of course 104 miles. I was asleep by 7:23 p.m.

We are in Nebraska now. If Nebraska is half as nice as Iowa then I will be happy. So far Iowa has been my favorite state. Who would have thought Iowa would have been so amazingly beautiful and hilly? On a sad note 2 of our riders had to leave. Julie, a national competitor in tae kwon do, received a broken arm from doing tae kwon do at the YMCA and Hanah had to leave for a while to be with a friend in need. But we plan for both to be back soon. They will be greatly missed by all.

On an interesting side note, I found it very funny that most the people on this trip do not know what a hushpuppy is. That's like asking what a French fry is! I never knew that hushpuppies were such a southern food. I also never relized how different things could be up here. Today I had to discribe what a fire ant and a red wasp was. Also, the amount of fried food consumed up here is like 1/4 the amount that would be consumed where I'm from. One of the first things I'm going to eat when I get back is chicken fried steak smothered in gravy (also a dish that many have never heard of) But I love learning new things and seeing how other people do stuff.

1,350 miles and counting

So we're in Iowa now. Is there less corn? Yes! And more hills! (I love hills) But the wind is still here and I feel it is too stubborn to leave anytime soon. So the States I have successfully biked through so far are: Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, PA, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Before this trip I had only been to one of these states (New York). We still have Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana (really looking forward to that one) and of course Seattle. None of which I have ever visited. We've already biked about 1,350 miles, passed 81 cemeteries and countless roadkill, fallen about 17 times (approximate group total), and got approximately 3 flat tires per person ( I beat the average with a total of 8 flat tires). I think either next week or the week after that is our halfway point. Wow how time flys when you're having fun!

Yesterday I had one of the best rides I've had on this entire trip. It was early morning, the wind hadn't really picked up yet, the sky was blue, it was nice and cool, and the birds were chirping. It was just really pretty. I think I've finally made my peace with the flatness and found the beauty of cornfields. Afterwards, we all went to a pool party that one of the previous Bike and Builders hosted. It was a blast! A perfect ending to a perfect day. Today was a little tougher (82 miles) but was interesting. Some of us stopped at the Dairy Queen for a break. I've found we make plenty of food stops. The local news reporters just happened to be there and we got on T.V. They just asked us a few questions about the organization and filmed us riding around the parking lot. I'm glad we got some good press for afordable housing.

Against the Wind

Well it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry. Between the lack of internet access and being super tired everyday I come in, I just haven't been able to blog. We've all a sudden had a big increase in daily millage. The past few days have been something like 96, 85, 89, 79, 93, 49 miles and I am tired! Today is our first official day off! We have 0 miles planed and we're not building any houses. So to recap the past week. We've moved out of the mountains and hills and are now in the plains. The scenery went from constantly changing amazing views seen from the tops of hills to um...... cornfields. And more cornfields. I have to say that the plains aren't my favorite but every place is beautiful in it's own way. And I have a long while to discover this beauty. The hardest thing about the plains are the non-stop winds. Normally, when one bikes across the country, they go from west to east in order to have the summer westward ends at there backs. But I guess Bike and Build choses to start in on the east coast and head westward because biking across the country isn't hard enough for us. Ha! So what does this mean? Well the Midwest winds are blowing directly against us about 90% of the time with winds ranging anywhere from 17 to 45mph. I've never experienced anything like this before. The added challenge of these winds will only make Seattle more rewarding.

We had a build day about a week ago and it was very memorable. Our task was drywalling and cementing which went well but requires patience. The chief of police of Dayton, Ohio came to say a few words to all of us and we got on the news. That afternoon our hosts all gave us tickets to the professional AAA baseball game to watch the Dayton Dragons. And that morning we had police escorts to escort us out of Dayton. I'd visit this place again. We went through the states of Ohio, Indiana, and we're working getting out of Illinois. Next is Iowa and I'm really hoping to see less corn. We'll I have to go b/c I'm borrowing somebody's computer and they want it back but I'll still try to post as much as possible. Thanks for the support.

How's your butt?

This seems to be the most common question asked among the group. This fact implies 3 things: 1.) Most have butt problems of some form. Anything ranging from saddle sores too bad some have to miss a day of riding to bruises on the butt (my butt's fine actually. I'm just having a lot bike problems). But when you spend most of your summer sitting on a seat that is half a size of your butt, it is not that surprising. 2.) That we as a group actually care enough about one another to ask about the current butt situation. We realize that help and support from each other is crucial if we want to reach the West coast. Everyone is pretty much considerate of each other's problems and want to help out in any way. 3.) That we have actually gotten close enough in the 2 weeks that we have known each other to ask about the delicate situation of a person's butt. Gender is not an issue. Iwould say that more is learned about someone here in a 2 week time period than elsewhere in a 6 month time period. Even if there are some things you rather not know. And we have 8 more weeks.

Yesterday was a tough day. I woke up to the sound of rain coming down hard on the roof. It did not stop. On top of that we left when is was 51 degrees out side. It was so cold that I could see my breath. Oh and did I mention it was raining. I put on 4 layers of clothes. As Nike says "Just do it". And I did it. And it was so much more fun than I would have anticipated. Yeah we were all cold,wet, and shaking at lunch, but other than that it was an epic ride. The presence of cars had decreased due to the weather and the dogs where hiding in their houses. So we had the roads to ourselfs. After doing a ride like that I can now say that we are all now officially cyclists. Our accommodations were excellent too. We stayed at a church where the preacher was an avid cyclists. He got us all the gear we needed. And he fixed my bike! I was having so much trouble shifting gears that I was told I would have to buy a new derailer. I had already spent a lot of money on other bike problems on the trip that I didn't want to have to buy a new derailer too. In case I haven't mentioned, I've had way too many bike problems than is normal. I've already had to buy a new wheel, tire, tubes, etc. But this awesome guy just happened to have an extra derailer laying around so he totally fixed it. Now I don't have to get off my bike and manually shift it with my fingers (it's what i had been doing) Oh and now we are in Ohio. So it's been Rhode Island, Conneticute, New York, PA, and Ohio. And I need to rest up for tomorrow b/c I think we have like an 85ish ride tomorrow up mountains.

Hey

Daily Mileage so far:
35
54
51
42
83
70
off
74
57
58
40
We'll start getting up there in mileage until we average about 70 per day.

Extra mileage due to getting lost: 44
Graveyards passed: 39 (not to sure why I'm keeping up with this)
Current Elevation: 2424 (I think)
Dead deers on the side of the road: 3 or 4
Fastest Speed going down a mountain: 40ish (used the breaks the whole time)
Speed going up a mountain: ha!
Total flat tires for me: 5

So I feel like I pee way more on the side of the road than I do in an actual toilet. So far it's been going great (not the peeing just the actual trip. Although I guess that's going great too.). We're in the second week into the trip and this is by far the easiest of the 2. The first week was like a body shock and this week I think I'm certainly beginning to adjust. Except for today. Today was for sure the worst day of the trip. We woke up and it was like 55* outside. We all thought it would warm up b/c well this is the summer. Then it started raining. Then my gears wouldn't shift correctly and I was stuck with one hard gear for climbing the mountains. Then my knees started getting to me b/c of the hard gears. Then we all started shivering and shaking. In the summer! Then I got into the support van for the remainder of the ride. But if that's the hardest day yet then I think it's pretty good. Plus I still have a lot of extra miles stored up from getting lost that I'm still above the projected total mileage. I hope I can get my bike fixed before tomorrow so I can ride. (I've been having a lot of bike problems)

But I'm through talking about the bad stuff b/c there are so many cool things on this trip. Me and a few other riders went to the grand canyon of Pennsylvania. It was only 10 miles out of the way and was so worth it. It's no Arizona but it was pretty cool. We got tons of pictures and it was overall a great day. Actually everyday has been great. I'm getting used to getting up a 6:00 every morning and riding these crazy mountains. I'm getting used to sleeping on the floor with the next person half a finger width away (we are very cramped for space here) The views on the mountains are incredible and are totally worth the climb. Another bear was spotted by someone else on the trip. I wish there was more time to type but these little boys are waiting for me to get off so they can play video games :( Oh and we got to stay at the YMCA today and it has a steam room! And showers with curtains! Yay!

Hi

There's so much to say and so little time b/c people are waiting for me to get off the Internet. We've been to Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. It's been 6 days into the trip and all I can say is Wow! The tough times and the good times have varied about as much as the terrain. And this is the mountains! The former is usually experienced about halfway up the 6 mile climb to get to the mountain. But, thankfully, the fun times are much more prevalent. It usually happens when I'm flying down a mountain at 40t miles per hour. The hard time comes when you run into a huge pot hole going this speed. As I have found, this isn't good for the body or bike (but I didn't fall!) The coolest thing was when we spotted an amazing waterfall. Everyone then preceded to strip down to bike shorts and sports bra and jump in. Cool stuff like this happens all the time on this trip. Also one of the girls on the trip (Frannie) spotted a bear crossing the road not to far in front of her. The constant companionship from a variety of people with different backgrounds and view has also been great. The last few days of trials have made us really grow closer as a group and it's only been a week! By the end of this trip we'll be like a big family.

The hardest and also the most epic day was yesterday. On the trip we hadn't ridden more than 53 miles and we had 73 miles scheduled for yesterday. Most of this was to be ridden up a mountain with a 200ft to 1,200 feet elevation gain. Well we all got lost. We ended up riding 83 miles with the majority being up a mountain. Including breaks, it took 11 hours. Without breaks it took about 9.5 hours of pure pedaling. The people that I rode with made it so much more fun. We were all a little loopy by mile 62 from pure exhausting work and after that we pretty much just laughed the whole time. I fell down going up a hill and couldn't get up after that for a while b/c we were just laughingso hard. Cars were driving by wondering what the heck was going on. But when we got to our host we knew we had it made. We are used to sleeping on the floor of gyms but this host gave us keys to a resort. Sweet! We had our own beds and everything. The best day so far! The sense of achievement felt after a day like that is indescribable and can only be felt after pushing through intense pain.

Providence!

Well the past few days have been great. I managed to squeeze everything I'll be using in a little bitty bag. I only have 3 shirts for the whole trip. I also managed to successfully navigate to the city of Providence which is an accomplishment in itself. No lost luggage and no missed flights. We've just been hanging around here in Providence for orientation for the past few days. Tomorrow is when we officially leave on our bikes to start this thing. We're all just getting to know each other since we'll be spending almost every waking hour together for the next 2.5 months. Everyone is great and very easy to get along with. They're the only people besides me who doesn't think biking across the country is crazy (hmmm wonder why?) The only problem is slight communication difficulties. Most everyone is from the north so I have to get asked a few times to repeat what I just said. Especially the word oil. Lets just say that the southern draw isn't very common here! But it's actually a very refreshing change and highlights the diversity of America.

We had a short 20 mile "shakedown" ride yesterday around the city of Providence which was absolutely insane. The city, I've learned, is somewhere we're I never want to ride again. Cars, stoplights, and clipless pedals do not go together. In case you don't know what clipless pedals are, it is a type of pedal that you actually clip into (kinda like skis). So basically you're stuck in these pedals unless you do a certain twisting motion to get out. This twisting motion must be learned or you will fall for inability to get out of the peddles. It's great for biking because you are able to pull up as well as down which is more efficient. Yet it is not so great for the stopping and starting that is common in the city. Well apparently the city didn't phase anyone else and they were able to get out of the pedals fast enough. Not me. I was the first fall of the trip. And so far the only. But hey at least I'll go down in the books as the first. It was in a very nice, soft patch in the grass and I just sort of tumbled over in front of the red light. Good thing that 95% of our riding will be out if the crazy city.

P.S: And get this. I just had to close the window to my dorm (where we're staying at) because I got to cold. Ha!