25 July 2009

Duluth, MN! We're about half-way across the country now. I don't want the summer to end, so I'm just going to take it day-by-day and not think about tomorrow until it's today. We had a build day today and accomplished A LOT!!! All 30 of us were there, on site, and working on the same house. I helped to put up staging, dig some dirt, nail up some hurricane clips, and put up some plywood sheets on the roof trusses. Another group put up all of the trusses today, obviously before putting on the plywood, so it now looks like a house! It was incredible to see such a transformation today. So far, this has probably been my favorite build day (too bad we only have one more).



Yesterday, the ride from "Sandstone," MN (we really stayed in Askov, MN) to Duluth was nice and relatively short at about 60 miles. The day before was 110 miles. So, back to the ride from Askov to Duluth...it wasn't as easy as one would think, even though it was flat. You see, the night before (which was after our 110 mile ride) we camped out in the yard of Jim, the director of Habitat for Humanity in the Askov/Sandstone area (I believe). Some people decided to sleep on his porch, others slept in tents. Those on the porch were eaten alive by mosquitoes until it started to rain, and by rain I mean buckets of water were pouring out of the sky along with lightening and thunder. That, I am told, chased the bugs away. Most of those who slept in the tents were drenched by the aforementioned rain. I was in one of those tents...that were completely soaked. Therefore, nobody got any sleep. So, around 9am, when I was riding with Laura, I could have easily stopped and taken a nap. And, we were on a really nice bike path for 47 miles!!! It was so nice. The bumps and holes were even spray painted so that we could see them from afar.

The 110 mile day from St. Paul to Askov ("Sandstone" on the website) was also really nice. It was pretty easy riding, no really big hills and not a strong headwind. I rode with several different people throughout the day, too. It is interesting how 90+ mile days feel like three days. Part of that is probably because of the two lunches we have. If I have already mentioned that, sorry...I'm beginning to forget where I have written what.

It's getting late...time for sleep.

Don't want the summer to end.

Thursday 9 July, 2009

Well...I'll start with "every day feels like the same day." Although, now I'm getting better at remembering what day of the week and date it is. Yesterday we rode from Avon Lake, OH to Bowling Green, OH. On the way, there was a grated bridge, which I walked across (it's difficult to control the bike over the grates, and it was kind of narrow). As I was walking, I heard someone call from behind, "Gonna pass ya" or something like that. So, I moved over and looked back. Up rolls a man on a bicycle...too small for him because he was sitting on the seat and literally pushing himself along with one foot (and his knee was still bent). His opposite foot was in a boot-cast. He was steering with one hand, and the other was half steering but mostly holding an open 24 oz can of beer inside a paper bag. First thing he says is, "You coming from Cleveland?" So I say, "Yeah, Avon Lake actually." Then he says, "You got the biggest thighs I ever seen!!!" No joke. So I said something about having powerful legs that helped me climb the Green Mountains and Adirondacks. Then I tell him that I'm riding across the country with a group etc. He's pretty amazed, and tells me he can't ride more than short distances (a couple miles maybe?) Then he says, again, "You got some big thighs." I didn't know what to say...so I thanked him, I think. Anyway, I asked where he was off to that morning, and he says, "I got to go to court at 10:30..." for some drinking thing....I'm thinking drinking and biking maybe? Or possible public intoxication. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this was at about 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning. And then, one last time before we went our separate ways, he marvles over my huge thighs, yet again. Aparently I have big thighs. Lol. It was such an odd interaction that it did kind of make my day...oddly enough. That was our first 90 mile day. I finished at about 3:15pm...and actually appeared to arrive at the church first. It was not on the street that the cue sheet had it on, so I had to chalk arrows pointing to where it was. I felt so accomplished. :-) Really, all I did was ask a local, who looked up the church on her i-phone or blackberry, whatever it was, and found out it was 300 feet away, on the other side of some buildings on Main St.

Oh yeah, at one point on the 90 mile day I passed through a small town called Vermillion, OH. There was a sign for a shop called "Abigail's Antiques and Emporium." I stopped and took a picture. How often do I see a sign with my name on it? That was pretty cool.

Today was a 76 mile day from Bowling Green, OH to Camden, MI. It's so flat out here!!! We saw 4 wind turbines on the way out of Bowling Green. They were really neat to see, turning slowly in the early morning breeze. The wind wasn't too bad until about 1:00 this afternoon. It was also hot today, but not actually too bad. However, the last few miles I was so done, I just wanted off my bike because I was getting sore...yeah. But, it's cool because this morning I stopped by a brick building that was missing 2.5 walls, held up by the corners and a wall and a half. It was at the corner of...County P Rd and...oh I don't remember. Anyway, I stopped and then a few people who had just rode up behind stopped (for a "pee break" as we call it). Walking back to my bike, I looked down at the shoulder of the road and say a four-leaf clover. I picked it and put it in my blood-sugar log-book. That was cool. Today is also mail-drop day, meaning we get mail!!! Yay!!! I got a letter from my mom along with a container of Gold-Bond powder (very important), a letter from my dad, and one more from my friend Azreal. I feel so special. :-) hehe
Oh yeah, you wouldn't believe how much road kill there is! And it's not just in one state or along one stretch of road. It's all over the place. It seems like more than back home, but I imagine that it's just because I haven't noticed it because back home I'm usually in a car. Biking is pretty awesome. I hope to put pictures up soon...maybe tonight because we will have more access to computers and internet than we've had to date.

Thursday 2 July 2009

Time is of the essence right now. I'm in the Lockport, NY public library and it closes in 3 minutes. We rode 57ish miles today, it rained. Big surprise! It's rained almost every day we've ridden so far. But it was a nice ride, flat for the most part. This morning we left Rochester, NY after having a build-day the day before, there. The ride into Rochester was so long! almost 90 miles! it was cool though...or nice.
Anyway, time is up....later dudes!