Noah's Blog & Build

So many states, so little time!

2010-07-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Well Bike and Build continues to be a whirlwind tour, especially now that we've left lovely Colorado and passed quickly through northeastern Utah and into Wyoming. Despite the fact that we were in Colorado for almost a week and a half, it went by extremely quickly with more wonderful views and rides than I can recount.

After the 4th of July, where we camped in an RV park in Kremmling, CO, we had two nights and a day off in Steamboat Springs. What did I do with myself on my day off? That's right! Riding bikes!
I got to rent a really sweet mountain bike for the day for way less than the shop normally charges and explored the network of trails in the immediate vicinity of town. After Steamboat it was back to camping, so now a quick photo tour:

In Maybell, CO, we were faced with ferocious winds and the need to cook/serve dinner, so after cooking in the back of our trailer we went and sat under the awnings near the bathroom just to stay out of the elements. After the storm passed, sunset was absolutely amazing and the whole campground was lit up with the colors of the sky.

After leaving Maybell we passed through Dinosaur, CO where Dinosaur National Park is located and into UTAH! It was a long day, about 92 miles into Vernal, and the state sign was conveniently located at around the 60 mile mark--perfect for a second lunch stop. We got our obligatory state sign photos then battled hot headwinds the rest of the way into the church.

From Vernal we had a short day to Flaming Gorge, Utah which just so happens to be in Ashley National Forest! (For those of you that don't know, this is a shout-out to my sister). We expected to be closer to the reservoir so we could go swimming, but as it turned out our campground was still up the hill a few miles. The weather was warm and calm, so we were able to get all set up, nap, and have the best evening camping of the trip so far. Given the favorable weather, our evening included the obligatory elements of any good campout: a fire, s'mores, and good company.

Two short days in Utah were all we got, but that also means more fun state sign photos! The Wyoming border was about 15 miles into our ride today, after one of the big climbs but it definitely was not the last.

Lunch was at the top of a good long climb, where the views out over the valley were spectacular and the clouds in the sky surreal. A group of horses seemed to be snacking on the hillside right above us enjoying the same view we were afforded by 3+ hours of climbing and descending throughout the morning.

After lunch it was all downhill into Rock Springs, WY, but that doesn't mean it was easy. It seems that more often than not the winds pick up, as does the temperature, and always manages to make us fight to reach our hosts. Once we were within a few miles some much needed fast food helped boost morale, but confusing directions kept us guessing right up until we reached the host. Warm showers, a nap and dinner provided washed all of our worries away. Tomorrow's another century! Eeeek! We're headed for the Tetons in the next few days which means more beautiful views and lots of climbing!

Boulder, CO (Day....still unknown)

2010-07-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

We're into Colorado and the Rockies are in sight! In fact, from Denver up to Boulder is still a sizable climb, but once we were there we had plenty of time to walk around and explore Pearl Street Mall.

One of the best parts of the ride from Denver was having a few B&B alums ride with us and tell us about their trips. Anna Parker and Sonya Hirsch hung out with us in Denver, got us a sweet discount at the bike shop they work at, and invited us over to their house after dinner one night. Since the days ahead include lots of climbing up to Estes Park and the Trail Ridge Pass (elev. 12, 183 ft.), I picked their brains about what to bring and how to not fall off the side of the mountains.

I was so excited to be in Boulder because in addition to having a day off the bike to build with Habitat, I got to see my friend Hattie who's living in Ft. Collins, CO this summer. We had talked earlier in the summer about meeting up in Colorado, but it just came together that she was able to drive down our first night there. She got to meet some fellow riders and it was such a great chance to catch up since we now live far away from one another.

Our build site was a four-family house, where four small units are a part of one larger building. The Boulder Habitat chapter is able to do some pretty cool things for their homeowners like putting up solar panels which can help pay as much as half of the tenants electricity bills. It should be mentioned that Boulder has over 300 days of sun a year--I'm so jealous. I was with a team putting up the rim boards and then floor joists for the second floor of one unit. All of the lumber was marked with labels that corresponded to their placement on the plans. This made the process of putting them in place much easier and it was neat to see how well coordinated the construction could be. We didn't have to cut any pieces, they were all just delivered ready to go.

In a few days we'll be camping so it's back to radio silence, but the riding after the mountains will hopefully be easier than climbing 7000+ feet in two days. I can't wait!

Day ??? - I LOVE Kansas!

2010-06-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

So after a long radio silence, I'm back! Actually I've never left, I've just been busy, tired, or unmotivated to blog (sorry guys) when faced with the opportunity to bask in the awesomeness that is Bike and Build CUS 2010. Yesterday I was sweep with my lovely co-rider Sarah Graham on an 80-mile day from Beloit to Phillipsburg, Kansas which proved to be a beautifully scenic and fair weathered day. To break up the monotony (or just to get us to stop being so giddy at how pretty everything was), we stopped at every mile for a themed photo. To sum up our day and see a little bit of the landscape, here they are in order:

Mile 10 - Tight at Ten (our morning stretching ritual)

Mile 20 - Tourists at Twenty (we stopped to see the World's Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City). It's really big...and we got to add to it!

Mile 30 - Thristy at Thirty (and we managed to capture this with a bike tripod and self-timer)

Mile 40 - Frolicking at Forty (We eventually caught up to another rider who was kind enough to take photos for us for the rest of the day. I felt like I was in the Sound of Music running through wide open fields)

Mile 50 - Fighting at Fifty (I clearly have the upper hand and had to show Sarah who's boss...don't worry, no sweeps were harmed in the taking of these photos!)

Mile 60 - Sexy at Sixty (so after fighting naturally had to make up--Sarah takes charge)

Mile 70 - Sprinting at Seventy (10 miles to go! We're almost there!)

Mile 80 - Eating at Eighty (We made it! And now we get a mid-afternoon snack, again part of our daily ritual of burning more calories than we stuff in our faces, but we make a solid effort at finding all the delicious spots. The Chubby Pickle was recommended as the roadside place to go in lovely Phillipsburg, pop. ~2000.)

After all of that we had another fantastic dinner, meaning that after just over a month we've still only cooked dinner for ourselves 3 times. My chore group was back to dinner and presentations so we're getting more practice on talking up Bike & Build, which at this point comes naturally and we all love to do it. On Thursday nights we have our group "Town Hall" meeting where we all gather together and give Highs/Lows for the week. Often we'll include something we're looking forward to, but this week a leader changed it up to Confessions and let's just say we were all thoroughly entertained with several no-holds barred offerings. After Highs/Lows come Warm Fuzzies, where people write little shout-outs to other individuals about whatever--being cool, goofy, doing something nice, admiring a budding bromance, you name it. These group meetings are great for the collective spirit because we always end up laughing to the point that we're on the floor crying and it just reaffirms our collective bonds.

One thing I'm looking forward to (and I know I'm not the only one) is getting into Colorado. We're nearing the end of our week plus in Kansas, and while its been great--it's truly the quintessential American landscape--the mountains are drawing us towards them. The excitement grows with each day as people excitement wins out over anxiety of climbing. LIVELOVERIDE!

Day 25 - St. Louis Build Day!

2010-06-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

Today was our fourth build day, but it was the first time we've worked with Rebuilding Together, the other organization Bike & Build frequently partners with for build days.

Unlike Habitat for Humanity that primarily builds from the ground up or rehabs homes for new owners, Rebuilding Together helps out existing homeowners fix up their homes so they have a safe, secure place to live if they can't afford or otherwise perform the repairs themselves. Our M.O. on Bike & Build is that we'll do just about anything under the sun these organizations need us to do, and today we did just that. As a group we were working on three homes on one block doing anything from spackling cracked ceilings to putting down new flooring to fixing fence posts. I was one of the last people to arrive on site so I ended up going to Home Depot with another rider and the crew leader from RT, which was an awesome chance to learn all about St. Louis and how Rebuilding Together operates.

By the time we got back from our errands, it was lunch time and so while I wasn't super hungry, just about everyone else was. The heat and humidity in St. Louis were absolutely oppressive, and while most days on the bike I don't go through my whole 100oz CamelBak of water, it was gone by about 2pm today. We congregated in the shade, taking refuge in any escape from the sun we could find. Needless to say, we were worn out:

After an afternoon of hard work, we managed to cover up the underside of one home's awning that had rotted away, leaving the joists more exposed to the elements and more likely to crumble later.

I wish I had more photos from the rest of the day, but sadly my camera isn't waterproof and thus I can't show you in photos just how wonderful the UMSL pool was after a day in sweltering heat. I think everyone knows the feeling, and I'm getting chills just thinking back about it. Showers and food came next, then more food, then a little ping pong, more food, then badminton! Since we were staying at the gym they had all kinds of things for us to do and I think I speak for all of us who played when I say it was a blast to totally goof around and smash the little birdies back and forth at one another.

Back on the road tomorrow--we're biking all the way to Washington! Washington, Missouri that is....all along the Katy Trail, an old rail line converted into a 225-mile gravel bike path.

Day 24 - St. Louis! Gateway to the West!

2010-06-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

Our day into St. Louis was punctuated with lots of excitement and uncertainty. While it wasn't a really long day in terms of mileage, by the time we arrived at UMiss-St. Louis it felt like an eternity. Along the way we saw lots....and lots....and a whole lot more corn, with the occasional lone tree like this that I've quickly become obsessed with photographing:

After biking almost all the way there, we finally came to the point where we had to cross the Mississippi River (ahhh!!!) and the directions from our well-intentioned leaders became really fuzzy really fast. We stopped at a Lewis & Clark visitors center to escape the highway death trap that is Rt. 3, where we learned of a great bike path along the river. With about 3 miles to go, we decided we could use the break and hopped on the path we were told would lead us directly to the bridge we wanted.

As you may or may not be able to see from the photo, the bike path was not a happy place. Think less bike path and more loose rock service road. Definitely NOT road bike friendly. This may have been the longest 3 miles of our day....We had no idea where we were going, no faith in our tires (but luckily no flats!), and lots of pain to sore rears that don't need any more torture than we already give them.

Eventually we found the old Chain of Rocks Bridge which would deliver us from unpleasant Illinois to a somewhat welcoming Missouri. Had our leader Derrick not been waiting for us at the start of the bridge, I think we would've turned around and continued to be hopelessly lost. What we discovered is that the bridge is actually part of the historic Rt. 66 and we got a few good photos in the middle.

Once into St. Louis we biked through the north part of the city to UMSL where we stayed and a few of us stopped at a rundown roadside barbecue joint for a local treat: pork steaks. Despite the appearance of the place, the delicious food not only lifted our energy but also our spirits after a day of highs and lows.

Now onto some highlights of the evening: THE ARCH!

We were so kindly bussed downtown by one rider's parents and we got to hang out and walk around for a few hours while the sun was setting. In photos it looks big, but for those who haven't been--it's WAAAY bigger in person, and all the more impressive because of it. A cool fact: it's as wide at its base as it is tall--630 feet. Another cool fact: it's elevator is egg-shaped so it can go up the arch. I didn't get to go inside, but that'll definitely we a priority on my next visit. Lying on the grass underneath we could see camera flashes going off from the observation deck at the top. Later that night we went out to an area near WashU in St. Louis called 'The Loop' which has fun shops and bars to kick back and have some good off-the-bike fun.

The first thing off the Metro was this cool sculpture, so I couldn't resist taking photos of it:

Eventually us 21+ year olds found a half decent bar, got ourselves a couple rounds and ordered our umpteenth dinner of the day because yes, we were still hungry... Rebuilding Together tomorrow!

So much Bike & Build love...

Day 20 - Bloomington, IN (College towns are cool)

2010-06-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

Another short ride (and limited battery life) merit another short photo tour of possibly our shortest ride to date. That said, the ride from Columbus to Bloomington, IN was certainly not the least entertaining. About 2/3 of the way rolled into Nashville, IN which is a super cool little artists community with small shops and restaurants.

A few of us stopped for a rare treat--a morning coffee!--at the Muddy Boots Cafe as per the suggestion of another rider, Will Paradis, who had been previously. We were not disappointed. Our stop also featured some bicycle repair excitement as we had to change a tube AND tire after a spontaneous explosion. The underlying cause was later discovered to be the tube, but at the time we just changed it out and got on our way.

To hide her black eye, Christina decided to go for the McDonald's ghost look. As she rolled up with the spare tire we all burst out laughing, but the couldn't help but feel bad since she's now constantly being asked about how she got them (a spill she's quickly recovered from).

The little town of Bloomington is home to Indiana University. As a result, it's also home to lots of great little restaurants, more coffee shops (wahoo!) and legitimate bike shops. Laughing Planet is a vegetarian/vegan burrito place that made one vegan rider, Emily Frost, extremely happy. The coffee shop below, Soma, made my day. Not only was I able to get good coffee, but also some really great postcards. Keep and eye on your mailboxes or send me your address if you can't wait!

As a midday snack we got Tibetan food before exploring the area around IU, but I unfortunately missed out on touring the campus proper. Since our lives revolve around our bikes and food that fuels us, I have to say that dinner was a special one. The parents of a former rider with no affiliation to our trip made us barbecue in a public park about a mile from the church we were staying at. It was a great chance to walk through the residential area of the town and I even spotted some cool street art.

While must of the day was really great, I want to end with one highlight that really made me smile:

That's right--a candy pink Mini Cooper. Tomorrow we ride along Rt. 46 into Terre Haute, IN when we'll hit 1000 miles!

Days 19 - Columbus, INDIANA!

2010-06-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

We've crossed into our fourth (official) state--Indiana! Shortly after leaving Cincinnati we were greeted with intense rains, soaking us so thoroughly that no rain jacket or outerwear could have provided any protection. Water was coming at us from all directions, and even when we thought it had stopped, we were still soaked by cars passing us flying over puddles. Not surprisingly, I have no photos from the rainstorm.

That said, it eventually cleared up and the rest of our 90 mile day into Columbus, IN was fairly pleasant. There was more of the same rolling agricultural countryside, although we've now started passing dairy farms that have, well, a very distinct smell to them. Fortunately we didn't pass to many so I was still able to breathe, but I also now know the smell of roadkill all too well....and I have 3000 miles left to bike. Woo hoo! Now for the exciting photos of the day!

There were some pretty awesome chain grease tattoos (that's been the best one so far).

We passed through lovely Greensburg, IN where they have a tree growing out of a bell/clock tower (don't ask why...):

Then after lunch we passed this huge abandoned barn on the side of the road with it's roof totally caved and we decided to explore. We discovered that it still had electricity (we were able to turn a whopping one light bulb on), really cool timber framing (I'm a huge nerd for that kind of stuff), and some really old but cool looking farm equipment. I'm not sure where we were, but of the many MANY barns we passed, this was definitely one of the coolest simply by virtue of the extent of decay.

And about that whole facial hair thing....I lied!

Day 18 - Cincinatti Build Day

2010-06-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

Sooooo I've been totally slacking this past week on this whole blog/journal thing. Not to make excuses or anything (I'm totally making excuses), but finding wireless internet can be tough in small town America. Anyways, instead of trying to recount all of the events from the past week and show you in photos, I'll start at the present and backdate a few posts if I have time.

Today we had our third build day with Habitat for Humanity in northern Cincinatti, OH. We crossed into Ohio a few days ago and got here midday yesterday. We all slept in the sanctuary here because it's the only air-conditioned space in the church, but as a result the space has stayed calm and quiet as people messed around outside and downstairs where we stashed all of our bikes.

Sign-in this morning was the usual mad dash to find a spot to write, but we got down to work once we'd all filled out the requisite paperwork. Our site today had three houses in a row, all at about the same level of completion. Two houses needed the roof trusses to be put up and the third already has it's trusses up and needed the plywood sheathing.

I worked on one of the houses that needed all of the trusses. The first end truss took us almost all morning, then after lunch we were able to get about six or seven into place (about half the roof). The reason(s) the first truss took so long was that we had to nail plywood, rigid insulation, the vapor barrier (the Tyvek housewrap stuff) and the eaves onto it. All of these steps took at least 45 minutes to an hour because we had to make sure to the n-th degree that things were perfectly aligned, trimmed, squared off, etc. at the request of our project leader.

I believe in tight tolerances, don't get me wrong, but in all the other construction I've done or heard of, there's always a little fudge room. Not today however. Dick, the leader for our house, about had a conniption fit over the eaves beam being about 1/16th of an inch off from the top of the truss, had us pull out about 10 3" nails, clamp it, and reaffix it. Imagine this process, which mind you took about 15 aggravating minutes, then repeat all afternoon. I appreciate the attention to detail, but at a certain point it got to be a bit much, even for me. But enough ranting...

All in all it was an incredibly enjoyable day. After 8 straight days of riding, including some really tough days at the start of that stretch, it was great to swing a hammer once again. In biking we so seldom use our arms and hands other than to keep ourselves going in a straight line. Today, however,
they were put to good use hoisting the trusses you see above up two stories then across the length of the house to put them into place. The only white knuckles today were from gripping the ropes to make sure these huge things didn't crush anyone on the ground or tip over and land on someone moving about on the scaffolding.

Our day was cut short by a quick storm, but being up on scaffolding where there's thunder and lightning really isn't the greatest idea. We were promptly called down at the sound of the first roar, despite the persistence of the HfH workers. Our build days usually start wrapping up about 3pm, and since today the storm rolled in at 2:30, there were fine with letting us go. Having not walked around on scaffolding much before, and with my ankle STILL hurting, I definitely had to dance my way around today. That said, part of the thrill was feeling like a monkey moving around and watching three roofs take shape within only a matter of hours.

I enjoyed another relaxing afternoon and evening at the church, and I'm already looking forward to our next build day. Until then, RIDE YOUR BIKES!

Day 16 - Portsmouth to Georgetown, OH

2010-06-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

Photos from the day (more details to come later because I'm off to bed!):

Bike & Build shirts from the very first year (Georgetown UMC has hosted CUS riders every year!)

Kentucky! It was right across the bridge so we had to go "get" an extra state! Detours never hurt!

Pretty country roads that ended up being super slick with tight turns--this led to a few spills but everyone's OK! More on this later...

Day 15 - Huntington, WV to Portsmouth, OH

2010-06-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

Our third state! O-H-I-O! And it's at the start of the day, right on the bridge out of Huntington! Boy did the scenery change quickly...

We snapped that shot in the few free seconds between cars rushing by on the bridge, our bikes parked just out of sight on the shoulder of the road. Good photographs aren't easy to come by, and we definitely made the most of the opportunity to plan and execute. Shortly after the bridge we turned onto little two-lane country roads that are more typical of our routes from departure to destination.

The countryside immediately change, a perceptible difference from even just a day before in West Virginia. The land was once again back to more rolling farmland like we had seen in Virginia--a welcome change from the busy and fairly ugly stretch of highway into Huntington (which turned out to be quite nice!). Having biked through fairly lush green areas, be they hills or fields, I find it depressing when the scenery turns commercial and neglected. That said, a day later I appreciated even more what most would find mundane scenery simply for the fact that it was back to being green. Along the way we even encountered some friendly horses:

The church we stayed out was just a block or so off the road we took almost the entire day. Since there wasn't much to do nearby we just hung out at the church. Some people picked up some new clothes at the rummage sale they were having in the church. After dinner we had our second installment of our Affordable Housing curriculum where I learned all about how Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together function (ask me! it's interesting!) and some of the issues that lead to individuals' need for affordable housing (there are lots...I'm full of good info). As a result of the lack of entertainment and the need for something to do, a couple guys buzzed their heads (I was not among them) and made changes to their facial hair, removing themselves from the June Beard-Off (this I was a part of). With that, I leave you with a taste of one of the finer groomings:

Joe says: RIDE YOUR BIKES!

Day 11 - Crossing state lines! (VA to WV)

2010-05-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

Our first state line crossed! Woo hoo!!!

At the base of the second super long climb we stopped at a gas station for a bathroom break, at which point Alieen got a text from Derrick since lunch should’ve been about then that we had “an epic hill” but lunch was at the top. We were the first ones up, but that was definitely an epic climb. The second day is always the worst, just like backpacking, and here our legs were tired and we were soooo hungry (the top was about mile 44-45 out of 77), but the view was spectacular. There was an outlook and parking spots and benches, so we all just lounged around and binge ate. As more people arrived we eventually rushed down the hill to form tunnels for people and cheer them on as they reached the top.

At lunch its tough to gauge how much is enough because its such a fine balance between getting enough to keep going and feeling sick as soon as you head out. The mountains make that especially tough because its almost impossible to know when the next climb is and how hard it will be. I’m getting better at fighting through the stomach pain and unease by just letting out the waist strap on my CamelBak and letting my stomach push out as my lungs open up on the hills. And did I mention Kettle Chips!?!?! OMG!! So exciting! I keep getting the dregs of the bags with all the grease, but I know my body needs the fats and besides it just tastes so good. I never know where to wipe my hand afterwards though.

The WVA line was so great, coming just around the corner after the 3^rd big hill. This was definitely an occasion for a bike hoist photo. We got a funny group one on Emma’s camera where she’s running and I look like I’m pooping—the timer took us a few tries to get it right.

Rolling into Marlinton was great because we stopped at the Dairy Queen and got food since we were still way ahead of the trailer/van. I got a chance to talk to Ashley (what day of the week is it? Wait, it’s Saturday? When did that happen? ) and so that was super cool to just catch up since I have A LOT to talk about after even less than two weeks, and probably only a week since we last talked. Unfortunately we then had to continue on and leave town and roll into the next unincorporated area called Edray where the church is actually located.

Dinner was epic, and sleeping downstairs was so nice. They had showers in the bathrooms and we got to all set up in the rooms, with the dining room down the hall. They brought SOOOOO much food. After two hellish days with one where we didn’t get nearly enough food, this blew us out of the water. There were actually leftovers and they insisted on giving us even more. They also helped clean up dinner and put out a huge breakfast spread for us too. Bananas, cereal, bread, PB&J, you name it. The pastor was so nice and our group photo after dinner and the presentation out on the lawn was great—it’ll probably turn up on the local webpage, so I need to remember to look that up. Extra points to anyone who finds in and sends it to me/posts in on Facebook!

Day 10 - Climb Baby Climb (to Lexington)

2010-05-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of epic climbing. 85+ miles, 6172 calories burned (according to my watch), ‘nuf said.

According to Gabe (the 3-time trip leader and former CUS leader), it was probably one of the hardest days we’ll do all summer. While it was incredibly beautiful up on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we had Afton Mountain to climb first. It felt great to get up to the top, but that was quickly trumped by the continuous climbs up to higher and higher outlooks.

A bunch of alums came out to join whom we had met the night before at the barbeque or during our time in Charlottesville. It was great to bike with them, and incredible that they were able to ride along with us after largely being off their bikes. Marie and Whitney turned around first, but the guys and Sarah Canelli (sp?) soldiered on. Today I busted out the cowbell to cheer people on over the rollers up and out of Charlottesville and occasionally later in the day when they were around. All of the climbing definitely broke the group up so it didn’t come out that much later in the day. Climbing just has to be done at your own pace, be it slow or fast, and you can always regroup at the top.

June Curry, aka the Cookie Lady was so awesome. She has her home where she sits on the porch and people can walk up and talk to her as we did, and there’s another house which is filled with biker stuff and acts as a donation-only rest stop for bikes on the Trans-Am route. There were postcards from all over the world and memorabilia and everything. Talking with her was just magical because she still asked everyone’s name and told us stories about how the biking community had reached out to her when she had a stroke and this woman she’d never met but only corresponded with became a close friend after recovering from a traumatic bike accident.

The parkway was beautiful, with lots of stops for entertaining photos and Aileen’s clutch stops. We had a first group rock cheers/wish/toss. At the end of the day, once we were almost into town we rode over this bridge and saw people playing in the river below. We turned around and went back across and down to the bank, stripped down and hopped in! It felt so great, and even though the water was only waist deep, that was all we needed. We got back on our bikes and trudged up a few last hills to get into Lexington. The skies were getting ominous and just as we crested the hill into town we saw big bolts of lightning touch down. Just as soon as we rolled in and got inside the skies just opened up the way they do on muggy days in Philly where it seems like all the rain wants to fall in 10 minutes. Lots of people got caught, but about half didn’t.

We managed to get our acts together and get up to the YMCA shortly before 7 when it closed for showers and even got some pizza donated. The rain set back dinner shopping and laundry, so both came in quite late. Everyone was exhausted (myself included!), but I was glad to get internet at the end of the night. Given my fatigue I was only able to catch up on one entry, but I needed all the sleep I could get for the next day.

Day 9 - Heavy Lifting (Charlottesville Build Day #2)

2010-05-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

While the assumption is often that build days are a welcome rest from the bike, let me assure you that it was just as difficult to climb out of my sleeping bag today, if not more so than on other days. Aside from staying out later, the main factor that fails to be accounted for is the fact that aside from being on our feet all day, we're also using all of those forgotten upper body muscles.

I spent today at the Charlottesville Habitat store that takes donations of furniture and stuff for homes (windows, doors, sinks, paint, etc) as well as buying some stuff at a discount then reselling it for the profit. There were a few remaining tasks from the day before, but our primary job was to unload and sort a huge pickup of windows purchased from a contractor supply store that was moving and didn't want to move all the windows. I now understand why....

There were two huge truckloads of windows that just three people loaded in and drove back to the store, then about 6 or 7 of us pulled them out and stacked them up. Our biggest mistake was to lean them against the metal fence in front of the store. As you can see from the photo above, the score went Windows 1 - Metal Fence 0. There was not a dry shirt in the crowd, and by the end of the day the heat was inescapable. So after leaning about 1/2 of the windows against the fence and then watching it snap and tear out of the concrete, we had to pick up and move all of those windows again into piles sorted by window type. Having to do more work than necessary gets really mentally draining when the temperature outside reaches the high 80s.

But we soldiered on. We got all of the windows out of the first truckload and laid out in front of the store, and then they went back for even more. One thing I forgot to photograph were all of our hands because they were black with dust and soot that had accumulated on the windows as they sat around at the supply yard. In order to make them more presentable, we did our best to wipe all of the windows off (also a huge time killer). Eventually we got into a rhythm where we had stations of people cleaning the windows and several of us moving the windows between clean and dirty piles.

Now of course there are always those who can't follow directions. Actually Emma was just looking to help out more and see if she could lift it, but it just made most of us laugh since the window was taller than she is, she carried it smushed against her face and about an inch off the ground. Just to give you an idea of what we all felt like after moving the super heavy windows around for 7 hours, here's a little taste:

But after a clean shower, we all feel much better--sometimes we even smile!

Dinner was a barbecue prepared for us at the house of a three-time Bike & Build leader Gabe Ofiesh, who helped out with all of our bikes and later rode with us up some of the most intense climbing I've ever done on a bike. But more about that later. As I've said before, we've been spoiled by all of the generosity and outreaching by friends and family of Bike & Builders, and tonight was no exception. I got to meet and hang out with a bunch of Charlottesville B&B alums. It was such a treat to sit outside and have a fantastic dinner and hear their stories and advice from their trips and to learn about how they got involved. Many of them came out the next morning at 6:30-7am to bike with us as well. The cohesion of the Bike & Build alumni family has really impressed me and the bond even with people on different trips is immediately apparent. I can't even express how much look forward to reminiscing about things I have yet experience.

Day 8 - First Build Day!

2010-05-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

Waking up early this morning was no easier than any of the biking mornings. Going out last night certainly didn't help, but not having to pack up and clean the house was such a relief. Sadly I really hurt my heel running around UVA's campus last night, so it was an especially nasty surprise to wake up and hardly be able to stand on it. I was quickly noticed limping around on the hard wood floors in the sorority house, receiving a lot of questions. If you want details, just ask--I've now told the story a million times.

We all biked over to the build site then split up into groups because they needed us all over. I ended up doing a bunch of odd jobs rather than one task all day, but it helped make the time fly by. I dug a hole, put staples in the ground to hold down ground cover, put up house numbers and painted handrails. It was incredibly hot out at the build site and I couldn't wait for lunch, but afterward 3pm completely snuck up on me.

Derrick's mom was so generous and brought a ton of food and fresh fruit along with a blender to make everyone smoothies after the scorching hot build day. They were absolutely delicious, and I made sure to get more than one. After fueling up, I had to get in my other fix--coffee. Emily acted as tour guide yet again and we set off in search of coffee and Clif bars prior to dinner and prior to showering. My search for both ended in success! I basically bought the running store out of Clif bars and then got coffee at a place called Shenandoah Joe's, a local coffee shop and roaster. After pining for coffee for at least a week, my tastes were fully satisfied. And they even had little coffee drippers! In retrospect I wish I had gotten one because I have yet to buy any memorabilia, but I have plenty of time ahead.

A B&B alum Whitney (now I forget her last name) made us a ton of food that was all fantastic. We ate outside on the porch and spread out in the front yard. Like all meals, there were absolutely no leftovers. The night ended with several rounds of Thumper filled with lots of mistakes and lots of laughter at my leader's apartment in Charlottesville. What's the name of the game?!?! THUMPER!!!!

Day 7 - Good evening Mr. Jefferson! (Welcome to Charlottesville)

2010-05-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

Today started slowly but definitely ended with plenty of excitement as we arrived finally in Charlottesville where we'll spend the next few days working with Habitat for Humanity. I found myself still quite groggy after sleeping crammed in like a sardine in the tent and tossing and turning in my ~15" of sleeping space. We're all smiles at our bright and early wake-up calls, see?

One rider's birthday (Raleigh) was today so her bike was completely decorated with fake flowers and streamers and shiny aluminum foil, much to her surprise (creativity on a budget!). I'm pretty sure she biked all the way to Charlottesville with the majority of the decorations on the bike, taking off only the things she needed to get it working.

I ended up biking at the front of the group with two of my fearless leaders, Derrick and Aileen, chalking the turns and attractions for those riders that followed. We saw (among many other surprising sites) a giant white rooster outside of a roadside diner in Scottsville, a sign for Yogaville (a well-known yoga retreat) and lots of funny road names such as The Barn Rd, Self Rd and Fiddlestick Road.

Once we got into to Charlottesville we got a brief tour of the UVA "grounds" as they call them there along with an impromptu info session from a friend of Emily Frost, one of the riders who's a UVA alum. From The Lawn in front of the Rotunda, UVA's original library, we made our way to the tri-Sigma sorority house that will be our home for the next few days. Dinner was prepared for us at The Haven, a new community center with a large industrial kitchen that also acts as a homeless shelter and teaching kitchen to help people get culinary jobs.

After dinner the festivities began. With a little liquid courage for the first time on the trip, so fell many people's guards and we all just had a great time. Given that school is now out for the summer, the bars around campus were able to easily accommodate the large group of us wandering around looking like lost freshmen (aka first years!). One place had karaoke and it was a blast to see my fellow riders belting stuff out I never expected and singing along to familiar songs. On our way back to the sorority house a bunch of us stopped by The Lawn and went up the steps of the Rotunda and peaked through the keyhole where you can see the statue of Thomas Jefferson (they're obsessed with him here!) and people are supposed to say "Good evening, Mr. Jefferson!" The whole evening was lots of fun and I'm already enjoying myself here. I can tell everyone's relaxed and excited about being here for a few days and to have our first build days. More to come soon!

Day 6 - Sweep to Dillwyn, VA (pop. 477)

2010-05-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Throughout the summer, each rider is assigned to ride "sweep" several times and the concept behind it is fairly self explanatory. There are two riders who are required to be the last two to help out in case something happens and bring up the rear with encouragement and enthusiasm. While everyone assumes this is going to be a miserable experience or that riding at the back with the sweeps is somehow a hassle to us, I would argue the contrary and say I had a fantastic experience and am glad I had the experience as early in the trip as I did.

Here's why: 1) Everything is chalked for you. The photo above was the scene that greeted Jesse (my fellow sweep) and I at lunch. As a big team, it's the little things that help us as individuals ("put the sun the sky and the menthol in our chamois" as one rider so eloquently put it), so to see this even after only 20 or so miles was fantastic. And did I mention we eat a lot? I mean A LOT. A LOT A LOT. By 10am I've usually burned the calories that most people burn....in their entire day.

2) The people. One of the people in this photo was having excruciating knee problems. Can you tell who it is? That's what I thought. About 8 miles from Dillwyn we stopped at this little side-of-the-road store because they had a sign for local honey that Jesse had been after and to give Kathryn a rest. We got to talking with the people here and told them all about what we're doing this summer and in turn they told us about how they started as a little antique store but now do mostly food because of the demand for it. We ordered sandwiches (I got perhaps one of the best cheesesteaks I've ever had, and I would honestly say that even if I hadn't already biked 40 miles--it was incredible) and hung out for a good while just talking with them and hearing about the area and all the funny things about rural Virginia. When we went to pay after downing a sandwich and drink a piece they told us they were only charge Jesse for the honey he was getting, and then they offered us apple bread to take to the group. Oh my goodness.... I was ready to pay them and tip them AND buy more stuff just because of how great it all was. And it gets better. They had a cake they offered to us, but since we still had to bike and couldn't carry it, they called the pastor of the church we were staying at, and he drove out, picked up the cake, and brought it to us after dinner. So SOOO nice of them--the generosity and degree to which people have reached out to us even in the first week has been eye-opening and so inspiring.

3) Coming to terms with what I'm doing this summer. This is an epic tour if nothing else. Taking it slow as sweep is so perfect for a rider such as myself who tends to ride for exercise. Some of the best advice I received before the trip was to sloooooooow down and enjoy the scenery and take it all in. You see so much more on a bike than you do in a car, and that's especially true when you look up from the handlebars. The argyle socks are sweet and all, but the point of the trip is not to huff and puff away the beautiful countryside. I never knew I would say this, but Virginia is beautiful. Out here, life is beautiful.

And since that sums up the ride, the rest of the day in short consisted of a hose shower at the pastor's house, tacos/burritos made with so much love by my fellow dinner crew, more trailer painting, playing with the crazy home-schooled kids from across the street, an awesome game of "Ha" (I'll explain if you ask), and sleeping outside! Since the basement was so cramped and hot, we set up two tents outside and a bunch of us piled in (I think there were 7 people in a 4-maybe-5 person tent). It felt so good to unpack a tent I can't even explain it. One thing I didn't know about Boy Scouts while I was in it was the extent to which it would ingrain itself in me and make me appreciate certain things so much more later that I now think I probably took for granted back then or assumed were a part of "ordinary" childhood. I was shocked to learn of people who had never set up a tent before or slept outside. But now I'm glad to have shared the experience with them because that's why I'm out here. A few last photos of trailer painting so you can see our masterpiece in progress:

Day 5 - Rain or Shine to Blackstone

2010-05-23T19:55:00.001-07:00

Today was our first day of rain as the clouds could hold off raining no longer. The downpour started exactly as we climbed on our bikes and got on the road, so several of us hammered away to get on down the road. For the first hour and a half we averaged nearly 21mph (20.7 to be exact), arriving at and finding a spot for "lunch" around the 30 mile mark, halfway for the day. Having consumed breakfast before my stomach was even awake at 7am, I was still hardly hungry come 9am when we stopped. The van got to us several minutes later and we hung out for a good long while. By this point the rain had stopped and despite being wet, there was no need to keep up the pace we were at. We were slowly drying, and while my shoes would be pools for the rest of the day, the weather felt actually really good.

Lunch is quickly proving to be a misnomer for our first food stop of the day. It's more like brunch, or better yet second breakfast, but not the typical Sunday brunch I'd so love it to be. People are already becoming quite creative with their sandwiches (I won't go into what's been eaten), but for the time being I'm pretty content with regular old PB&Js.

Ice cream break! One of the most consistent pieces of advice we've gotten as a group is that you should always, I repeat ALWAYS stop for ice cream. It's always a good idea. We came across Dairy Freeze around 10:15 in the morning, but a swirl cone has never tasted so good. The "small" was anything but and kept me going until we got into Fort Pickett, our lovely home for the evening.

We arrive at Fort Pickett--military barracks! Such a lovely place to stay! Actually tonight we're being spoiled with hot showers, laundry, individual rooms, AND BEDS in said rooms. A shower is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated 5 minutes of my day and today's did not disappoint. Our arrival into the base was deceptive because we had probably another 2-3 miles to bike once we got through the gates. The ground here are sprawling and the building we're in is completely removed from all others.

CocoRoooooos! Around 8:45 we had a large post-dinner cereal eating party in the little kitchen here in the barracks. The rules: enter the kitchen and you have to have a bowl of cereal, find a place to sit, and plant yourself there for at least ten minutes. I was happy to oblige. Off to Dillwyn tomorrow (wherever that is!). I'm sweep so I'm hoping for some good roadside attractions to keep me busy while others ride on ahead.

Day 4 - Off to Waverly

2010-05-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

This morning was a slow start for me. I think I was woken up in the middle of a dream or something because I just kept fumbling around and it took me forever to get packed. I struggle without coffee, and I'm total dead weight when it's 6am.

My back brake also slowed me down again because I couldn't resist tinkering some more, but I got it working well enough to ride and headed out with the sweep riders. After riding towards the front for most of the first day riding, being in the back was actually really enjoyable. The pace was same, and there was no pressure to catch up with anyone although eventually did.

There were some really cool swamps we biked past, one of which had a little hut built out over the water that we went to explore. Aside from the field of corn and wheat, the few interspersed swamps and lakes provided an intriguing and much appreciated change of scenery, not to mention good chances to stop for a break, chat a bit, eat some food, etc.

Once we arrived at the church in the teeny tiny town of Waverly, VA, we got settled in and made good use of their hose for a refreshing but frigid hose shower. I don't think the next door neighbors quite knew what to think seeing a large group of people walking around in spandex and underwear. It was at this point I discovered I had left my big soft towel back in Suffolk at the church from the night before. My grogginess in the morning had caused me to forget my super soft towel...so sad. Luckily I found another little quick-dry towel packed with my camping pillow from trips pasts so I was able to avoid having to drip dry.

The main attraction in Waverly is Peanut Museum (the first in the USA and the world's only!), which on the grounds of this house and folk art museum containing the work of a woodcarver/sculptor from Waverly. This old lady gave us the royal tour around the house, which she apparently lived in. (A small aside: the work was super creepy). We ended up spending the better part of the afternoon there before wandering back to the church and enjoying another delicious dinner after a day of biking. Much needed was the large massage train session after dinner on the front steps in which we all learned who's got the strongest hands and/or actually knows what they're doing. Stiff shoulders and tension quickly melted away into fits of laughter and frantic shuffling around to switch partners.

Day 3 - And we're off!

2010-05-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

The day finally arrived! This morning was the big rear wheel dip in the Atlantic. We all lined up for our photo then rushed bikes in hand to the water. A quick splash, a BIG cheer for Bike & Build, and we were off!

The little cue sheet managed to stay put on my handlebars all day with the help of some little binder clips, but reading it while riding proved a bigger challenge. The bigger challenge still was deciphering what some of those directions actually meant. There were definitely a few missed turns, some standing around and saying "oh, I think I saw that back there!" or "I think we've gone far enough." All in all, everyone made it to lunch (and fairly closely together), and everyone made it to the host site. Our room for the evening is much bigger than the close quarters of the house we had been staying in, so tonight we'll be spoiled with room to move around.

After dinner we all went out and did the necessary chain clean and lube, which even after one day was a necessity. The grime just sneaks up on you! After that, my rear brakes were off center and I attempted to adjust them. I was doing the right thing, but in the process, one of the little screws stripped out, so tomorrow morning I'm off to the bike shop. Yes, already. After biking day one... so sad.... but look how happy I was this morning:

I'm still that happy to be here, just not to have a potentially busted rear brake... At least parts can be fixed/replaced, and I feeling this won't be the last (if that's the case). Tomorrow's a short day as we head to Waverly, VA, but I'm signing off now because I need my rest. Hooray for bicycles!

Day 2 - Orientation continues

2010-05-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

Before I get too far down the road, I want to take this chance to thank each and all of my donors for contributing to Bike & Build. I'm still technically in orientation, but I can already tell this is going to be a fantastic experience and we'll be doing some amazing things.

Today was orientation day #2, which consisted of a quick bike maintenance clinic and little skills clinic in the parking lot behind the house where we're staying. Our group "Shake Down - Like a Polaroid" ride after lunch was a success. No flats, no crashes yet! (Knock on wood...) 11.5 miles out and back hardly caused most riders to sweat, but it feels great to be back on a bike and even better to be with 31 other people in B&B kits who are just as excited to be here.

After dinner and after priming the trailer earlier in the day (covering up last year's...questionable....paint job), we broke into groups to plan out and get started on this year's decorations. You'll have to wait to see the concept fully manifest, but here's a little peak at how we went about it:

Day 1 - Virginia Beach, VA

2010-05-20T04:15:00.001-07:00

I've arrived! The Central US 2010 ride has officially begun with orientation here in sunny Virginia Beach, VA! After waking up altogether too early in Philly, my trusty co-pilot/chauffeur Leonard Klipper and I drove down here yesterday and arrived mid-afternoon. There were plenty of icebreakers and name games (I'm now "Night-Owl Noah"), and oh so many bikes.

I'm going to do my best to keep this updated with photos, my journal (the parts I can publish...), and any other fun facts worth blogging about. But remember, blogging ain't easy, so keep checking back, and you might just be surprised.

Time to start Day 2! Group test ride today--can't wait!