I'm officially one of the many B&B Alumni

So I can't believe it's over. This summer has been the best ever. Two days ago 29 young adults ran into the Pacific waters on the Vancouver shore to end their summer of biking and building across the US. Now, we are all slowly leaving, saying our goodbyes, and missing each other. I don't know about the rest, but I realized I have a small hollow feeling, like I'm not doing something that I should be doing. Oh yeah, getting up at 6am and bicycling or 7am and building my way across the country. I can't even put into words what this summer has meant to me...already just writing that I'm starting to get teary-eyed.
So, the 25th we got up a little later than usual...7:30am...and did a massive over-haul clean-up inventory session. We didn't start biking until 9:30 or 10am. Such a late start! We ended up riding most of the way together because we basically "wrote our own cue-sheet" by following a bike path most of the way from Surrey to Vancouver. It's cool though, we made it to Stanley Park by 2:30 I believe. Then it was crazy. We ran into the ocean and started yelling and singing. It was amazing. And now it's kind of sad because it's over.
Today, Theo, Julian, and I went on a bike ride to Stanley Park then North Vancouver where we had breakfast at Denny's, and then we ended up at this park with trails and a suspension bridge. We pushed our bikes across the bridge and several people said, "you should ride it!" lol It was a really great way to spend our last day in Vancouver. I'm already missing those guys and everyone else. I hope we all can stay in touch with each other.

Sandpoint, Idaho 17 August, 2009

I thought it was the 15th today, and it turns out it's the 17th. So I asked Julia, "Where did the last two days go?" and she said, "Bicycles?" Lol. So true.

I can't believe the summer is almost over. Truly, I would slow it down and make it last longer if I could. Right now, we (Julia, Rachel, Jon, and I) are in a coffee/used book shop called "Common Knowledge" which is a block away from the UMC at which we are staying. It is a really neat shop and I found a few books I want, one of which I am buying. I might yet buy a couple more, but have not decided...giving myself some time to think it over.

Anyway, the last few ride days were absolutely beautiful. Going from Eureka to Libby, MT then Libby, MT to Sandpoint, ID were both some of my favorite biking days yet. From Eureka to Libby, we rode along a lake for about 16 miles and saw some bald eagles and bald eagle nests. It was perfect and timeless. And the ride yesterday was on a little trafficked road lined with evergreen trees. I love the smell of evergreens. The mornings have been a bit chillier, though. I actually had to wear a long-sleeve shirt. In Eureka, MT, I went to a yarn shop and bought some yarn and knitting needles and started a hat. It is almost done. I'm calling it the Northwestern Montana Hat because it is greens and a little bit of brown and gray...the colors of northwestern Montana. I'm enjoying this part of the country so much. It reminds me of home, a little bit, but it's bigger and more rugged or wild or something. Everything is farther apart, too.

Our last build day was in Whitefish, MT. It was bittersweet to be working on the last build site this summer. So nice to be able to help and accomplish something, yet so sad that it's the last one we'll be working on this summer. It's so interesting to travel by bike across the country and help build along the way. Each place and person has left an impact on me, and I hope our group has left an impact on them, too. One of my favorite things is seen the enthusiasm in each person, from my fellow Bike & Builders, to the site managers, to the pastors, to the future home-owners. I hope we all are able to keep that enthusiasm even after the summer is over.

Montana Monday 4 August 2009

I can't believe it's already August. This morning we started off in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and then rode 95 miles to Culberston, MT. Last night, we camped there at the TRNP, and although it was 30 miles out of the way, I'm so very glad we did that. TRNP ("turnip") is amazing. Riding our bicycles out of the park, we saw bison. A herd of bison. We were on our bicycles. I stayed pretty far back, but it was still amazing. And the views were spectacular. I don't even know how to describe it. There are buttes partially covered with vegetation, but you can still see all the layers that they're made of. You can see time in these here hills. One butte had red lines regularly spaced, so it lookes like some repeated event happened every so often. I wish I knew a little more about geology. Oh well. There were more of these formations along our ride today, even along the banks of the Missouri river, which we crossed today. Not to mention we are now in the Mountain time zone. I've never been in the Mountain time zone before. Wow. For the most part "wow" is all I could think of today. Big sky out here, too. It's been quite some time that I've wanted to see this Big Sky Country. Montana is pretty awesome. You can see for miles and miles and then there are these formations rising up out of the land...these formations that are eroding away which gives them an ancient and rugged, yet fragile, beatuy. Each layer represents a period of history. In which layer did the dinosaurs live? What layer saw the Native Americans arrive on the continent? Which layer saw the Civil War? So much history in a pile of sandstone that is being washed away by the rain. Granted, that is taking thousands of years. Oh Montana, thank you for the best first impression ever.

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!

Sunday 28 June 2009

What a week! I can't believe it's been a week since we started to ride out of Portsmouth, NH on the 21st! Today we rode about 75 miles from Indian Lake, NY to Boonville, NY. Before that we were in Silver Bay, NY where we stayed at the Silver Bay YMCA...and let me tell you, I've never seen a YMCA like that before. It was more like a resort than a gym. There were triathletes there, too, according to signs that said, "triathletes register here" etc. It was cool to ride in dressed in our Bike&Build jerseys, though. I felt so "professional" lol. Anyway, the last few days were hilly...very hilly. In Vermont we climed Bethle Mountain. That was difficult. Then, there were the Adirondacks. The slope was not as steep, but it was a constant 3% or so grade for miles and miles. Today, on the other hand, we rode out of the Adirondacks and it was a much easier day. Fun roads, flat, pretty wide shoulders. I wish I could post pictures...which I probaby could, but I don't want to hog the computer. Plus, we're watching "Breaking Away" I think, and I don't want to miss that. (We've got a projector to watch the film). Anyway...I'll probaby write again in a week or so. This is so much fun...the landscapes are beautiful. Our morning routine time is getting cut more and more each day...which is nice. Ok....until next time! laters