The ride into Wallace, ID was pretty intense. We substituted a mountain pass for I-90 in order to avoid construction in the morning. It was several miles of climbing and a sweet downhill, but there were hardly any cars, and many riders agreed it was beautiful. Unfortunately, the next mountain pass we did that day was on I-90. The shoulder was full of broken shards of glass, the asphalt was a mess, and there were cars roaring past us at awful speeds. Not everyone thought Lookout pass was all that bad, but I sure did.


Some of us got some respite from I-90 near the end though. There was a bike path paralleling the highway, so we went off the cue sheet. It followed a clear stream of water, and it was in a steep mountain valley covered with pine trees.


Wallace, ID is a town that began as a silver mining town. There were many quirky antique shops to explore, as well as a diner that served huckleberry milkshakes. Apparently the day we rode in was 50’s day, so many of the shop keepers were dressed in poodle skirts and there was fifties music playing. They were also really friendly and easy to converse with. Many of them asked about us and what we were doing in town, and they seemed to be actually interested.


The dinner was spectacular that night. They provided a mixed greens salad that included avocado (a rare treat) and pears, as well as delicious burritos as the main course. The cake they brought had bikes drawn on it, and it made us feel especially welcome.

After a great day off in Missoula, the ride to Superior was pretty lax. It was only 62 miles, most of which was downhill following a beautiful river. We all felt very fresh and enjoyed taking our time at lunch while enjoying yummy pastries from a grocery store donation. In the afternoon, a group stopped at the river and went for a swim. It was a bit chilly but felt great!!!! This seems to be a regular weekly occurrence for some that adds to the excitement/enjoyment of the trip.


Our dinner totally rocked in Superior too and was a great change of pace. There was a fair going on in the city and the church cooked us up some delicious ribs that literally had the best seasoning to them. While eating, we got to enjoy a live band and watch some rodeo roping.

Despite all the fun, none of us are quite ready for tomorrow to come for a couple reasons: 1) We leave the state of Montana which most of us have absolutely loved and 2) that means August 1st which just seems way too darn close to the end of this amazing adventure. Until tomorrow…

Well, it’s been quite a few time zones since my last journal entry but I can safely say that today’s ride from Caspar to Shoshoni WY was one of the best so far. As I’m sure everyone can attest, Wyoming is infinitely better to ride through than Nebraska was, what with it’s lack of wind and the abundance of beautiful scenery. What stands out most, however, is the geological disparity of the state as a whole. Every region of Wyoming has been unique and distinctly different from the one before it. When we first entered, we were greeted with rolling hills and beautiful rocky buttes; now Wyoming seems a lot more like the southwest. In a single day you can see plains, pine covered mountains, and red rock canyons. Today we got to see one of Wyoming’s most interesting geological structures, Hell’s Half Acre.


The short and skinny of Hell’s Half Acre is that it’s a really gnarly canyon. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of watching Starship Troopers, then you’ve seen Hell’s Half Acre. It literally looks like another planet. Needless to say, we were all ecstatic that the canyon was situated right next to our first lunch stop, some forty miles down the road. A combination of tailwinds and high energy brought us all into first lunch relatively quickly, a fact that many of us relished. Most of us spent our lunch break looking out over the canyon with sandwich in hand. Myself, I spent part of it changing a flat tire; my first in fact.


The remainder of the ride between first and second lunch was spent, as many of my rides are, singing songs with other riders. My usual repertoire of Beatles, Queen, Van Halen and Weezer was expanded with a number of Brooke and Willa originals. My personal favorite was their rap, “Riding Across America”. While riding with Willa, I was able to learn that this part of Wyoming looks remarkably similar to New Mexico. I also learned that Wyoming could still be windy as heck. By the time we reached second lunch, some eighty miles from the start, most of us were in considerable pain. Our solution? Cruise on into town with the Sweeps after a long lunch.


Riding into Shoshoni was absolutely beautiful, looking something like the desert after a bloom. Unfortunately, the last three or so miles were spent crawling at ten miles an hour through a wicked headwind. It’s moments like that where cycling becomes much more a mental labor than a physical one, when you know full and well that you’re a mere mile from your destination, but also know it’ll take you way longer than it should to reach it. Fortunately, we were able to take a breather right inside town at a renowned malt shop and enjoy some cool treats and water. Really takes the sting out of what was essentially a hundred mile day.


Tomorrow we head through the Wind River Indian Reservation, a place where the locals have jokingly warned us we will encounter unleashed dogs. I think we’re ready at this point, we’ve seen a lot of dogs by now. It’s been real folks, I hope you enjoyed reading the blog. Mark out.

We biked closely by the perimeter of Yellowstone on Route 191. I found it to be very scenic, though not enough in the wilderness that we saw grizzlies or bison.


We followed the river for most of the ride; the gentle downhill helped us keep biking briskly in spite of the intermittent wind.



We took two lunch stops: the first by the side of the highway where one B&Ber found the bone of some unidentified being, the second by the side of the river where a bunch of intrepid souls maneuvering through the only slightly white white-H20.


We biked through the town Big Sky, where we spotted some cowboys riding their horses on some ranch whose entry exhibited the skull of an elk or deer. To prevent boredom, we discussed numerous "would-you-ruthers" (like whether we would kill a puppy or one well-nigh extinct species) to comic effect.




I found the church/ministry that hosted us, Christus Collegium, to be luxurious by Bike & Build's criterions: roomy, showers onsite, the interior lightly-scented, plus a set of 88 ivories to tickle with my music deprived fingers. Furthermore for dinner they presented us with delicious fried chicken for and brownie bites for dessert.

I know we have many friends and family members coming out to our 'beach landing' in Seattle. I'm sure you would all like to know the itinerary of how these two days are going to go, so you can make your own plans. I've been working on it, and at the request of several parents, am putting up all dates and times I know at the moment. August 10th and 11th will go as follows:


August 10th:


MORNING:
- We have a 40 mile ride (short for us) from Everett, WA into Seattle. We're riding into Alki Beach, in West Seattle, closest to the intersection of 59th st and Alki Ave. Here's a map: http://tinyurl.com/5ppddp (so just northeast of the Alki Bathhouse).

- We'll aim to hit the water/beach around 11 a.m.-12 noon. But you will want to get there a little early, maybe by 30 mins. Seattle will be hard and slow to bike through, but we will make our route know at least a couple days out, in case people want to watch us ride in.
- Hana Kawai's (a rider on our trip) parents will be providing lunch. If you want to provide food, please keep reading...

- We will most likely be staying at a church about 4 blocks from the beach. Unfortunately, only riders are able to stay there.


AFTERNOON:
- The afternoon of the 10th will be free time for the riders and families. We have a bunch of last minute errands to do, including packing and shipping off bikes for those who need it, and primarily preparing dinner for that night.


EVENING (an important part to read):

- We will be hosting a banquet for the riders and their family/friends this night. It'll be held on Alki Beach, around 6 p.m., in picnic area #1, which we have reserved. There is a grill. Please WRITE A COMMENT BELOW if you plan on attending, with the number of family and friends that will be representing your rider. It's very important to get this number down.
- Riders often buy, prepare, and serve this dinner. However, we would love to make this more of a potluck-like dinner, with parents also bringing along/preparing/grilling food. This will take alot of the cost and dinner-prep-stress off the riders. If you are interested in providing a dish, please ADD WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BRING to your comment. Hopefully, we can round out the meal by filling in the gaps as people post below.


Monday the 11th:

MORNING TO AFTERNOON
- We will be working with Rebuilding Together on a house site south of Alki Beach in West Seattle. It'll be from about 8-4 or so, and only riders are able to build- thirty riders on a housing site is already alot, the addition of more will be overkill.


EVENING

- The riders will have our last meal together as a group. Afterwards, we will likely have a campfire on the beach. However, riders are welcome to split off from the group, if they wish, to hang out with the 'rents.


Tuesday, the 12th:
- Riders will begin to leave, and generally, Bike & Build is officially over. Riders will have one additional day to stay overnight if needed.


This is what I've got to the best of my knowledge. The plan is about 90% complete right now; I'll be working hard to get a solid plan down asap.


Jake Stangel

Nestled snugly into a log-cabin church in a picturesque town at the foot of the Rockies, we are all full of ribs, chicken, and anticipation. Today was an exciting day! Scattered throughout Lander and its environs we woke up this morning in beds and real homes and had real breakfasts (all thanks to our super-generous homestay hosts in lovely Lander). It was an auspicious start to an exciting day, 70 miles of steady climbing with snow covered peaks poking out from behind buttes and hillsides to the west all day. Some lovely views of the mountainous rides ahead kept the drudgery of chugging up steady inclines into a headwind all day from becoming discouraging--my personal favorite was emerging from a canyon only to see flat fields of golden-brown grass stretching off in the distance to the Rockies (technically the "Wind River Mountains" as the particular range was called.) The ride got even more beautiful (and not quite so tedious) after lunch, in the tiny outpost of Crowheart. Towards the end of the day we biked upstream along the wind river into Dubois, and at one point followed it through a beautiful gorge with deep red bluffs overhanging the road. A few of us stopped, slipped under the ubiquitous roadside barbed wire, and took a quick dunk in the frigid and surging waters of the river (we found a quiet eddy by the bank, it was TOTALLY safe, we promise). Upon arrival in Dubois we were tired but energized--the local drugstore sold truly fantastic milkshakes, and the snow covered peaks now looming tantalizingly nearby promised a day tomorrow unlike anything we've done before. We can't wait!!!

We woke up at 5am today and had mixed feelings about going another 80-plus miles today after our century yesterday. A few people decided to hit up a gas station for a customary coffee stop, while others went straight into tackling some unexpected hills. The route flattened out as the day went on. The temperature, however, hovered in the high 80’s / low 90’s for most of the day. We stopped for lunch at a local eatery/ice cream stand, but arrived 10 minutes before it opened. When they finally opened at 11, we promptly inundated them with several orders including onion rings, waffle cones, and fruit smoothies. The day’s route was originally planned to divert from US 20 for a few miles, but at the supposed branch-off point our alternate route never materialized. We decided instead to follow US 20 the rest of the way into Plainview. We were worried the road would be too much like a highway, but it turned out to be alright. There were the typical potholes and cracks, but also the slightly-less-typical shrubbery growing out of said cracks. For the most part, however, the road was adequate to ride on. There was a large shoulder for most of the way, and the traffic was relatively light for such a road. We arrived in Plainview and were welcomed for the night by the United Methodist Church. After showering, a few of us checked out the free-to-all Plainview “Klown Doll Museum.” I only looked in the window after it had closed, but the name was relatively self-explanatory. There were a few small rooms with plenty of clown dolls on shelves, hanging from the ceiling, and on a carousel in the middle of one of the rooms. Dinner was a tasty mix of different lasagna’s accompanied by a variety of veggies. We capped off the night with our weekly affordable housing meeting and decided to get some rest. We are definitely getting as much sleep as we can these days; 180 miles the last two days and 80 again tomorrow as we pedal to Stuart, Nebraska.
Marty Meterko

Today many of our riders rode their first century, or 100+ mile ride.
We rose at 4:30—a new trip record—and were on the road by 6:40.

Thanks to the 90/90 rule (over 90 miles/over 90 degrees) we had two
lunches, around miles 45 and 80. By the time we crossed over the

Missouri River on US-20, our mileages ranged from 102-115 (though most
of us were around 103). Our accommodations for the night were at a

YMCA on the riverfront—in Nebraska, but right on the border. The
terrain proved difficult as we journeyed over hill after hill, yet we

all persevered and managed to avoid riding in the van. By the time we
finished (4:00 for most riders) we were jubilant and group pictures

and celebration ensued. Needless to say, we were exhausted and, after
a great dinner that was provided, we were off to bed quickly. Our

group affordable housing presentations were supposed to be at night,
but given the state of our group (mostly asleep) we decided to

postpone them until the next night.


All in all, everyone did a great job. Marita made a great route that
avoided many of the busy roads in Iowa which we've previously

experienced. We all rode over 100 miles despite high heat and big
elevation changes. It was a wonderful experience and one that we'll

not soon forget.
Today many of our riders rode their first century, or 100+ mile ride.

We rose at 4:30—a new trip record—and were on the road by 6:40.
Thanks to the 90/90 rule (over 90 miles/over 90 degrees) we had two

lunches, around miles 45 and 80. By the time we crossed over the
Missouri River on US-20, our mileages ranged from 102-115 (though most

of us were around 103). Our accommodations for the night were at a
YMCA on the riverfront—in Nebraska, but right on the border. The

terrain proved difficult as we journeyed over hill after hill, yet we
all persevered and managed to avoid riding in the van. By the time we

finished (4:00 for most riders) we were jubilant and group pictures
and celebration ensued. Needless to say, we were exhausted and, after

a great dinner that was provided, we were off to bed quickly. Our
group affordable housing presentations were supposed to be at night,

but given the state of our group (mostly asleep) we decided to
postpone them until the next night.


All in all, everyone did a great job. Marita made a great route that

avoided many of the busy roads in Iowa which we've previously
experienced. We all rode over 100 miles despite high heat and big

elevation changes. It was a wonderful experience and one that we'll

not soon forget.

Marshalltown, IA July 4th


Today we woke up in the Mount Vernon Community High School gymnasium at 5:00 a.m. with thoughts of patriotism, need for food, need for more sleep, and Will Smith saving the world on our mind (we watched Independence Day last night). After going through our daily morning routine we gathered outside on a chilly but sunny morning for our route meeting to prepare for the 88 mile ride ahead of us. We went over the directions for the day’s ride ahead of us while some riders decorated their bikes with red white and blue. We read a daily quote for laughter, awarded a rider with the pin-wheel (in recognition of motivating other riders), awarded a rider with “Gilbert” a monkey who goes to the rider who spreads the most laughter, and listened to an awesome 4th of July pump-up speech from Michael.





Spirits were high when we left; however, cycling through the flood damaged Czech Village of downtown Cedar Rapids was really demoralizing. All of us rode in silence as we gazed at the mountains of debris along the streets with mud lines near the roofs of houses from the waters, which reached 11 ft above the highest previous flood. As sad as the sight was, it made all of us recognize just how important the affordable housing cause really is.





A much needed lunch stop in the countryside with perfect weather outside helped improve moral. Several riders napped under the shade of a tree before riding the remaining 40 miles of rolling hills to Marshalltown. This was some of the most enjoyable riding we’ve had, with the exception of being on highway 30 for part of the ride, which was really intimidating because of numerous semis, pot-holes, and small shoulders. We reached Hope United Methodist in the early afternoon, and because it was the 4th with most places closed, we were with “community showers” in the truest meaning – a hose outside the church. After cleaning up, we had a typical American cook-out with burgers, bratwursts (thanks Eric), and watermelon while listening to Paul Simon. Finally, we were shuttled into the park in downtown Marshalltown, and listened to a live band while we waited for fireworks to start. Because we stayed up late for then awesome display of fireworks, we were informed we could sleep in to 7 a.m.!! with a short ride to Ames tomorrow.





That pretty much sums up the day. Thank you to all Bike and Build supporters. Happy 4th of July. -Chad

Our ride out of Pontiac, IL into Peru, IL was shrouded in excitement, particularly for the two CUS 07’ alums (Shira and myself). Adam Bohr- rider from CUS 07’, native Illinois resident, and all around Amazing American Hero- had arranged to join us for the second half of our superfast ride into Peru, AND had organized a pool party for us (with the help of Kayla, his girlfriend, as well as Kayla’s mom) at the house of his girlfriend’s grandparents, who live in Peru.


This delicious treat of a pool party, which lay at the end of our ride, made us all ride extra fast to get straight to the goods. I rode the entire day with our Texan speedster, Eric Rowell, as well as our corn-fed Iowan champion, Chad Olson. Our three-rider team met up with Adam about 20 miles out of Peru, and the four of us proceeded to hold a 20-22 mph average the entire way into town. It was great to catch up with Adam after a year of email-based communication, and it was also funny to see that he’s stayed in such ridiculously good muscular shape that he could easily be placed in a Giorgio Armani underwear ad, sans double-take.


After we rolled into St. John’s Parish in Peru, to an array of excellent snacks set out by our wonderful hosts, we quickly shuttled everyone to Kayla’s grandparent’s house. Her grandparents, Nana and Grandpa, had put out an amazing spread of pool party snacks as well as burgers, all set next to their perfectly sized pool. After a number of hard days from the past week, the pool party was the perfect way to chill out and give our bodies some rest. We swam and tanned the day away, all with intermitted reading, eating, and socializing mixed in. Again, thank you so much to Adam, Kayla, and her family for an amazing day that we are all still talking about.


As mentioned, St. John’s Parish was an amazing host, and we returned to the church that night to easily devour a second dinner. I believe the events of breakfast in the morning with them will fall on the next journal writer, but, just in case it is omitted, the breakfast was unbelievably amazing. Egg bakes, kiwis, strawberries, and fresh muffins were all topped off with hands-down, the BEST blueberry French toast known to peoplekind. I’m drooling just thinking about it. As most of our hosts know, food is the way to our rider’s hearts, and we can’t thank the hospitable folks at St. John’s enough for their support and good wishes.


Ride on…
Jake Stangel

On our day off, many of us took the opportunity to sleep in and eat a leisurely brunch at a local breakfast place. Later in the day, we did normal day off type activities, such as watching movies. "Wall-E" was really cute, albeit very leftist and slightly disturbing at times. There was a really nice nature trail that was also accompanied by many hungry bugs, and the Route 66 Museum. The grocery store was conveniently located within walking distance, allowing us to pick up little necessities, and they were also kind enough to donate some of their day old produce and bread (including some tasty bright yellow peppers). Many of us also caught up on bike maintenance.


The fireflies lit up the evening. All in all, we had a very relaxing day off.

Only 50 miles to Pontiac!!!!


I’m pretty sure that all of our bodies were starting to wear down after 3 consecutive days of 90 miles, so it was great to give it a rest and enjoy a 50 mile ride with less of a head wind than the last couple days. There was definitely some pace-lining going on but it wasn’t unbearable to feel like you could ride abreast and have a conversation without either yelling at the top of your lungs or running out of breath because of the strong winds.
Eight of us stopped this morning about 12 miles out of Gilman to attend St. Peters Catholic mass. Because we were pretty early, we enjoyed a yummy breakfast at a diner in town even though we had our first breakfast an hour earlier. These small town diners are turning out to be such highlights on our trip. Anyways, during the service the priest gave us a couple shout outs which was great and we had quite a few people asking us questions about our journey once the mass ended. For some, it was good to go to church again and for others, it was a good experience.

The other more exciting part of the day of course deals with food…go figure!!! We all got to enjoy loads of left over food during our lunch break from the wonderful ethnic (Korean) meal that Sophia’s parents cooked us last night. Its inevitable that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were still made, but most of us took advantage of delicious steak ribs, marinated tofu, cooked veggies, and more.
So now we are in Pontiac staying at United Methodist Church for the next couple nights because tomorrow we have our first real day off. In addition to enjoying some family and friends that have come into town, sleeping in or at least attempting to sleep in is the only other item on the agenda. Thanks for Reading!!!

After a classic evening of good ole American baseball and a feast on the stadium goodies, we were sad to leave Dayton. The hosts were fantastic and working with the Ohio H4H was so fun! Then on top of all that, the Dayton police escorted us out of town this morning! Police squads flickered their lights and sounded their alarms to guide us through intersections and we were legally allowed to run red lights! We are lowriders and "in" with the law...BB is so hardcore!
It was another long day in the plains of Ohio. 95 miles, two delicious lunches and of course, a thunderstorm The looming darkness was clearly ahead on our route and it looked scary! This was not going to be a passing storm and all of our people took cover with the locals. Anything from a covered barn to a family den to a small town pub...the locals all sympathized with our drenched riders and gave us shelter from the storm...hmmmm...I think that's a christina aguilera song...

Of course, we are all here in Hartford City, well-fed and gloating over care packages we have received from our mail drops. Even if you are not my family or friends, thank you for the goods! We will all certainly enjoy them!

We close the day gazing at another glorious rainbow over this little town. The storm has cleared and we are ready for a new day. Oooo I feel so good!

A Constructive Day


And it certainly was, as well as a very memorable day. Our forth build day found us in Dayton, OH staying at St. Paul’s Global Ministry. It began with a delicious egg casserole breakfast provided by Dayton Habitat Family Selection Committee. Happy to be wearing shorts and t-shirts for the day, we walked the few blocks to the build site. There we met Shawn and Brock, the site managers in charge of the five-lot construction site. Although not complete, three houses already stood in place, while two were waiting for foundations to be poured.


Following a short introduction into the tasks that we would be doing during the day, we gathered outside one of the homes that we would be working on for a brief ceremony with Dayton Chief of Police, Richard Biehl. With local reporters and TV cameras rolling, Ashley and Michael represented our group as they shared the stage, the front porch, with Dayton Habitat Director, Diana Graham and Police Chief Biehl. They shared a few words about Bike & Build, our trip in particular, and our mission. Diana contributed some words about Habitat’s efforts in Dayton and introduced the Chief of Police who shared his thoughts on community involvement. Following the ceremony a number of other riders participated in TV interviews with the reporters. The cameras stayed around as we began work at our various tasks for the day. It was certainly an exciting way to start the build day.


The rest of the afternoon we worked in groups on a variety of tasks which included: mudding sheetrock walls, building a decorative stonewall, clearing the sidewalk of accumulated construction debris and dirt, and pouring footers for two new foundations. While the day was hot, riders could rotate into the shade of the house to mud when they needed a break from the sun. Those that were pouring footers where enjoying their first cement experience so much they even worked through the pizza lunch, in order to keep up with the steady flow of cement trucks. It was a very rewarding feeling to see the accomplishments of the day and especially to see the foundation that we had started for the two houses.


For the evening meal and entertainment, Dayton Habitat treated us to slice of Americana, a Dayton Dragons Minor League baseball team. Timing with the weather was perfect. It rained while we showered at the YMCA leaving us with an amazing sunset to add to the ballgame atmosphere, free baseball cap, and nice new stadium. A highlight for many was the sampling of fried cookie dough. The ballgame was a special way to end a productive and constructive day.

We woke up this morning feeling extra refreshed thanks to Kenyon College putting us up in the dorms last night. Beds with sheets and pillows were a special treat, and then this morning we were lucky enough to get an all you can eat breakfast in the cafeteria. Its funny how even the simplest things have become special treats to us over the last few weeks. At our route meeting I passed the Pinwheel (given daily to an especially encouraging or motivating person) on to Lisa for being an awesome riding buddy for 93 miles yesterday.


With our bellies still full we hit the road on a 52 mile trek to Columbus, home of “the” Ohio State University. Hannah Wagley and I rode at the front of the group for most of the morning before stopping to stretch and wait for company. 10 or 12 of us rode into lunch together where we waited on the van for a few minutes. Chad and I rode together after lunch at a pretty fast pace, fighting the strong winds most of the way. We got a little turned around at one point, but with some help from a local we were quickly back on track. The ride was pretty nice, but most of us were pretty sore from the long day yesterday.


The group reached Columbus pretty early, and we’re staying at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus tonight. The afternoon has been spent hanging out, running errands, and relaxing. The pool was definitely the highlight of the day. Most of the group went swimming, and we were able to show off our awesome tan lines. We played on the slides for a while, and then Lindsey, Hanna D. and I got in trouble when we all went down the slides at the same time. Hilarity ensued when we decided to play “Marco Polo,” but “Bike Build” was used instead. After showers we relaxed, a group headed off to the bike shop, and a few of the girls took a taxi to the mall. The local Pizza Hut is donating pizza for dinner tonight, and the bike shop group should be back with it soon.


48 days to Seattle.


-Eric

6.20.08 : Brooke Jarrett
Youngstown, OH to Akron, OH


With one last look at the stone church, towering three stories high, I clipped my shoes into my bike and took off with Jake Curtis and the sweeps by my side. My knees and my quads were quiet, compliant and they worked the first twenty miles without complaint. Since I was expecting the day to be a long 80 (which is approximately 85+ versus the short 80 which is 80-85), I clutched to my sleeping bag as long as possible this morning. I needed to wring as much sleep from it as possible with the miles we were facing. Fortunately, Joe announced at the route meeting this morning that our trip would be a mere 41.6- including a few extra miles to account for us getting lost. Smiles spread through the group quickly, and we all inhaled our breakfast which was courtesy of the Dubansky clan.


Back on the road, we pushed through a detour and over cracks in Mahoning Avenue. The bumps and unevenness in the street made everything hurt twice as much, and we suddenly found ourselves riding through wet, sticky asphalt.


“Is that truck filling in pot holes in the road?”

“What are they doing? Seriously? That’s fresh asphalt that they’re dumping up there.”


Construction workers pulling black grits from a truck were “smoothing” out the cracks by splattering it on like icing to cake and shaping with a fine rake. Youngstown’s street maintenance is not exactly extraordinary; in fact, it’s the worst roads we’ve seen since we started riding. The county line is remarkably well defined because as soon as you roll out of town, you can feel and see the difference just by the lack of maintenance. I wondered how much money the government pays for the roads here.


Anyways, throw in a wholesome McDonald’s second breakfast (the double sausage McMuffin plus hashbrowns and coffee meal), a short-lived game of bike tag, and a failed search for a beach to lounge on in the hot weather… You’ve pretty much summarized the first part of the ride. Lunchtime came complete with a bag of donuts, and then we flew towards Akron along a highway under construction. With the fumes and dust that the truck expelled, it made me wonder how many particulates we inhale and exhale each breath we take. With our proximity to the traffic, I can’t even imagine the build up. I guess it beats the indoors any old day.


With 90% of the average person’s time spent indoors, bike and builders are blowing the statistics away. Being on bikes or outside for 8-10 hours a day, we probably are indoors a mere 60% of the time. The Church of God in Tallmadge, OH was a great relief to find. Since we’re working with Rebuilding Together tomorrow, we’re all pretty psyched to sleep in especially since the space we’re staying has a basketball court and foursquare court.


Paul of Rebuilding Together gave a great welcoming speech. People are dropping like flies into naps, and dinner is beginning to waft through the building. Tonight at Town Hall, we’ll all meet and discuss any concerns or suggestions about the trip so we can make things better/more efficient.


Take care.
And if any one has any idea about the comparative concentrations between open air and being nearby traffic… or even a resource for truss strain in bicycles and why they’re built the way they’re built… or where the name A-1 steak sauce came from…

You know, let me know. I’ve been wondering on my bike.


Over and out!

Greetings from Youngstown, Ohio! We're here, safe if a little road-weary, glad for the first time in three days not to pull into the host location soggy and cold. This whole biking thing is actually starting to feel routine — today was a 50-miler from Franklin, PA. It began there with waffles (waffles!!!) and fresh fruit (fresh fruit!!!) provided by our fantastic host/cycling guru Pastor Sam. Then it was off, over the rolling hills of westernmost Pennsylvania. The open space is slowly but surely beginning to open up along our routes—the hillside pastures are getting larger, the vistas a little longer, but we were disappointed to find that officially reaching the Midwest (we crossed the Ohio border after lunch) did not mean all those hills just instantly disappear. That said, we all have really sexy, high-functioning quads at this point, and what would have felt like a tough ride a week and a half ago now feels like a breather. The last of us arrived at St. John's Episcopal Church by 3:00, and that was including a 20-minute roadside siesta on someone's lawn a little ways past lunch. (The church we are staying in tonight is a particularly beautiful one, by the way, conveniently located between our showers on the campus of Youngstown State University—go Penguins!—and the public library, where I'm typing this entry.)
It's about 5:30 right now, and two massive tarps of sweaty, stinky spandex (extra this cycle because of the cold and rain pressing our warm gear into its first use) and assorted undies are at the Laundromat with this week's intrepid laundry crew. Many of the rest of us are napping today—must be that it's cloudy, lots of people have been drowsy post-ride. In about an hour we will all shuttle over to Hannah Dubansky's cousin's house for a delicious barbeque. In fact, I better run. If I make the first vanload I bet I can get first pick of the burgers!

18 June 2008, Wednesday



Today we biked from the city of Warren to the city of Franklin, both in Pennsylvania. Although it is often said that it is “always sunny in Philadelphia,” the saying is obviously not true for other cities in the state. Occasional showers throughout the duration of the ride ensured that brakes stayed squeaky and socks stayed wet, except for my (Jeff Hunt’s) socks, because once they got wet I took them off. This did not exactly make my feet dry, but once the weather got nicer, my feet did feel a whole lot warmer, and if it had been sunny, I would not have gotten a sock tan line.

With that said, despite the poor weather spirits where high, as everyone in general seemed to have a great ride. Being as it was the second day in a row of rain, people had learned how to bundle up properly, and so they were able to enjoy the ride from the shelter of their rain jackets and leg warmers. The route itself was not just on roads, but bike paths as well, which was a nice change from the regular traffic-dodging routine. The paths themselves followed various rivers, and the scenery was beautiful; the trees were green, ferns glistened with water, and wildlife ran amuck -- so amuck in fact that a chipmunk actually ran in front of Lindsey Perria’s tire and unfortunately met its demise.
After the accidental chipmunk-cide we came to a stop at the First Presbyterian church of Franklin, after which nearly everyone went directly to the nearby YMCA to enjoy hot showers and a sauna room. After that, everyone walked over to Subway, where delicious meals were served by the inch, thanks to the generosity of Pastor Sam. It was a good day, and upon arriving back at the church we discovered a 62 inch TV with cable, and Hannah Dubaski discovered “So You Think You Can Dance?” was about to begin. While some people groaned, she declared it was the best day ever, and it certainly may have been, but not because of the television programming.

We left the town of Coudersport for Warren this morning, meaning we left some of the softest, warmest couches that I’ve ever had the pleasure of sleeping on. To add injury to insult, we left them for storm clouds. Today we had our first rainy day, the first of many I’d imagine, and it was cold to boot. Although all of us knew it was coming, I don’t think anyone was prepared for just how cold and uncomfortable today’s ride would be. There’s an old cycling adage that states: if you’re warm in the first fifteen minutes of riding, you’re wearing too much. We started our ride the way that seasoned cyclists would say we were supposed to… freezing. Still, despite bad weather this was probably my favorite ride of the trip so far.


To begin, the route was absolutely beautiful. After climbing through the Catskills in New York, and before that powering up the foothills of Connecticut, Pennsylvania’s rolling hills didn’t feel all that bad. Honestly, they felt pretty easy, and I’m happy to say that I finally enjoy climbing. It only took riding through three states. But as I was saying, the route we took brought us through some of the prettiest forestland that the Northeast has to offer. We climbed one thousand feet through Alleghany National Forest before a four mile descent to the Kinzua Dam, which sported some of the best views we’ve seen. For the first time, I saw exactly what I’d imagined I’d see on a cross country bike trip. It’s also very likely I went the fastest I ever have on the trip today.


I like to describe myself as a “middler”. Before I continue my story, let me tell you a little bit about our group dynamic. There’s a fairly broad range among us, in terms of relative fitness and cycling ability. A handful of riders are on cyclist teams, or are Bike and Build alums or tri-athletes. They all have the capacity to cream the majority of us on the road, and usually do unless they are feeling generous or lazy. A large majority of us are middlemen, characterized by moderate cycling ability and average or above average athleticism. The last group… well just try to imagine the average joe who embarked on a cross country bike trip after having their bike for a few weeks or less. This group always amazes me with their sheer determination to finish every ride, usually not far behind the middle group.


Like I said before, I’m comfortably in the middle usually, but today I flew up those hills. There’s nothing more satisfying than biking really fast and realizing just how much stronger you’ve become because you’ve biked something like six hundred miles in the last week. The only thing better is jumping into a sauna after a cold day of riding in the rain, a ritual that I’ve become addicted to over the last few days, thanks to the efforts of Jake-Staz-Stangle. Thankfully, the YMCA that we’re staying at tonight provided us with saunas, showers, and a heated therapeutic pool. Life is good.


Thanks for reading this incredibly long journal, I was just tired of seeing a paragraph long journal entry just telling you about how much we ate and rode and ate again. You’ll be getting more of the same in a few weeks when I write the journal again. Until then,
Mark Smiley-Out.

There’s a beautiful park in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, where we collapsed in the grass under trees this afternoon. It’s diagonally across from the church we’re staying at tonight, so a collection of us came back after dinner to lounge a little longer and wish our dads a happy Father’s Day over the phone. The sun’s going down. This morning in Towanda, we woke up to a cloudy sky, but it soon cleared into a perfect biking day, warm and sunny enough to reveal the green green green all around us. We had sixty miles of rolling hills. Some of the inclines were long and I climbed them slowly, but I felt strong the whole day. Willa told me that it helps to look at the white line as you go up hills instead of craning your neck to see the top. It feels better to take the hills a few feet at a time.
Jake wants me to mention that he bought a three-scoop ice cream cone for $2.25 today. I ordered a peach smoothie, and we sat at a picnic table putting off the next thirteen miles for a few more minutes. Once I got back on my bike, I thought about how much I love seeing highway signs with the word “west,” reminding me of our constant forward motion. Earlier this evening, we ate cheeseburgers and berry crisp at the Wellsboro diner. Soon, we’ll curl up on our green Thermarests on the church basement floor. Tomorrow, we’ll eat cereal and drink orange juice, fill our Camelbaks, then reset our odometers and ride away again.

Today we are in the tiny village of Standing Stone, PA. We are just outside the town of Towanda. Our ride here started out nice, flat and fairly uneventful. However, about 5 miles from our destination, we fought our first rainstorm of the summer. A few sprinkles soon turned into a lengthy downpour.


We stopped to have lunch outside the small town of Nichols, NY in a community park. So far, today’s lunch was my favorite of the entire trip. Although it was the usual peanut butter sandwiches with fruit and granola, the location couldn’t be beat. The park was filled with swings, teeter-totters and other childhood favorites that we all had a blast playing on for the first time in quite a while.


In total, we biked around 60 miles today. We are having dinner and sleeping at The Vesper Church here in Standing Stone. It is on a beautiful and quite road in a small village. Since we are somewhat removed from Towanda, we are keeping ourselves occupied with games such as Catch Phrase and Rummy.


Tomorrow we are heading to the town of Wellsboro, PA. It should be another fun, beautiful and yes, hilly day in this state. Can’t wait!

Today we left for Towanda, planning on a 50 mile ride, but it ended up being about 75 miles in the end, due to some confusion with directions. It was a relatively flat, easy ride for the most part which made for many happy riders. Some of us stopped in a local bookstore, and then at a family-run strawberry patch before lunch. We ended up getting free strawberries in addition to a generous donation. It has been amazing to continue to see how much individuals and communities reach out to us once they are informed of what we are doing. We had lunch at a park about thirty miles into the ride. Some of us waited there for a thunderstorm to pass, but others biked ahead and were stuck in the rain. After lunch we climbed a few gradual hills and experienced some amazing views of rivers and vast expanses of farm land. The directions were relatively simple aside from some confusion at the end- apparently the church we stayed in was not in Towanda, so we had an additional 9 mile bike to get there. The sleeping conditions were snug, but there was a beautiful sanctuary and many of us enjoyed a mosaic inside the church as it was too rainy to sit outside. Ending with about 75 miles, the day was longer than expected but concluded with a beautiful sunset and much needed sleep.

6/13/08 - David Tuck


Various descriptive terms were employed in, perhaps feable, attempts at describing this trip before it began. "No problem," "no sweat," and the ever-prescient "easy" weren't any of them. Having spent the entirety of the first week with a busted hip flexor causing searing-hot daggers of pain to shoot up my spine, accompanied with a vague semblance of feeling sorry for myself, I now have a more thorough understanding as to why specific vocabulary was avoided.
Nonetheless, my complaints are few and of little consequence. Having now spent over a week on the road, I can assert with confidence that this is an exceedingly impactful (and difficult!) experience. Certain aspects of our world don a different context from the seat of a bicycle; tarnished brass antiques of yesteryear granted new splendor. Powering through the crest of a rural Pennsylvanian hill, countryside exploding in ferocious grandeur, existing for you and you alone in those few, immaculate moments; words are no substitute for these experiences, molding the whole reason any of us are here to begin with into an easily-accessible form.

If the allegorical philosophy is a little heavy-handed, muh' bad. For the sake of all involved's interest levels, how about what we did on Friday the 13th of June? Ominous! I'm currently sitting in a park in breathtaking Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, which apparently has free, public WiFi (hint: rest of America, catch up), and this blog entry is unfortunately a couple days overdue. I blame a number of non-directed and nebulous factors. Regardless, last Friday was the date of our first build day on the road in Binghamton, New York. Amy, our host and director of the local Habitat for Humanity chapter, was more than gracious and I for one can only hope that our endless graditude was expressed accordingly. The build itself was uneventful, at least in comparison to biking days, but it was certainly productive. Our task of the morning was to spread 80 tons of topsoil across the front- and backyards of a house intended for a family of seven. Imagine thirty-one, sweaty, twenty-somethings and college students shoveling, spreading, and wheelbarrowing dirt for four hours and that's exactly what happened. Or, perhaps a more accurate number would be thirty. I spent most of the build limping around with a busted hip flexor and the daggers and the feeling sorry and you get it. I did my best, perhaps to the frustration of others, but it was an amazing day wherein which some amazing things occurred. What we're doing is important, and for me, this was one of the first times that it really hit me.
The evening was filled with showering, laundry, and exploring the city in a brief, fleeting moment where bicycles took a second seat. The ride out of Binghamton was fantastic, but that's a job for another blogger. Keep fresh, readers.


~dzt

Hey there, this is Jake, one of the P2S leader for this summer's ride. We are now in Binghamton, NY. And the weather is now cooler.


I just wanted to give a heads up to all you wonderful journal/photo followers: we've got journals written from every day over the past week, and they will now be trickling onto the website over the next day or so. Internet has been sparse, and we've been kept busy, so we apologize for the delay. Comment writers: thanks for all your support (holla at CUS 07').


Also, be sure to check out the posted photos, as well at our rider's personal blogs, as we continue to ride across the country.

Roscoe to Binghamton:
Today started with an amazing breakfast of pancakes and eggs at the Bait and Tackle restaurant in Roscoe, NY. The ROscoe community was extremely hospitable and we were all well rested after sleeping in beds and airconditioned rooms. We rode along the river for a while, and the ride was pleasantly not too hilly or challenging. The day became increasingly exciting when we had a police escort for a few miles down the interstate. A faster group ended up going straight over a Catskill by accident and had biked about 60 miles before lunch, but most of us stopped for lunch after about 40 miles. At lunch Frannie received an interesting donation to B&B- hair scrunchies. Sweep spend a fair amount of time on the side of the road with Emily and her record of six flats, but it was fun to take it slow. After lunch the ride was relatively smooth except for one steep hill which most of us conquered despite how daunting it looked. The end of the ride was along a big road into BInghamton- after passing many churches we finally found the one we were staying in and we were welcomed warmly by Amy and the members of the First Congressional Church. We got in around 6pm, showered at the Binghamton YMCA, and enjoyed fried chicken for dinner. Most of us were extremely excited and grateful that the following day would be a build day, because our legs were starting to wear down after six consecutive days of biking. All in all, it was another good day with a mix of highs and lows.

My friends told me that cycling across America would give me buns of steel. Days like today make me wonder when exactly this transformation is going to take place. Apparently not this soon. Today, day five, was by far the hardest and best day of the trip. We left the town of Poughkeepsie, NY and planed on riding the 73 miles to Roscoe, NY. 85 miles later we made it to Roscoe. You might say we got lost but I prefer to call it an unplanned scenic detour that was a bit painful. Many of us have quickly learned that getting lost is just part of the Bike and Build challenge and it tends to add just a little more excitement (and pain) to the trip. This ride was the toughest for most everyone in the group because: 1.) it was the longest many of us have ever done 2.) it was mostly up a mountain with a 1000 ft elevation gain. 3.) we got lost. This day was also one of the most amazing for me as well as rest of the group. This is mainly due to the sense of achievement we all felt after climbing that high and possibly the loopyness that came with being that exhausted. Counting lunch breaks and ride breaks I biked a total of 11 hours. But it was so much fun! After about mile 62 miles me and the people I was with couldn’t stop laughing. In tough situations like that, that’s all you can do. The highlight came when we arrived at the great town of Roscoe. The hosts went way above and beyond. We had an absolutely amazing meal at The United Church. I’m pretty sure our group of 31 can eat enough to feed 100 normal people. Then the top 10 best surprise of my life came afterwards. We are used to sleeping on the floor at gyms and churches (which are great!) but this time we were handed keys to a resort! You might think that the bus ride to the resort after an exhausting day like this might be filled with silence. But it was just the opposite. Everyone was so amazed at what we accomplished and at the awesome beds to come that I’m sure the bus driver wanted to throw us out. This was the perfect end to the perfect day.


# of miles we were lost: 11
# of times people complained about this: 0

# of people just a little loopy at the end of the ride due to exhaustion and disbelief: 31
# of graveyards passed since start of trip: 21

Fastest speed down the mountain (for me): 42ish
Fastest speed up a mountain: Ha!

Today we left Kent, Connecticut and set out for Poughkeepsie, New York. We were expecting a pretty easy ride today, only just 30 miles. We didn’t know that it would be straight uphill! All joking aside, we climbed about 800 feet right after we entered New York. We were all exhausted because the climb was steep, but we all made it! The climb was worth it when we saw the scenery at the top, and racing back down. We made it to Poughkeepsie around noon, and after the van got un-lost we had lunch at the host site. We were all glad to get inside to some A/C after being out in 90-degree heat. The St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie provided dinner. They put out a huge spread for us; hamburgers, meatballs, sausage, pasta, salad, corn pudding, beans, and more. For dessert there was apple pie, pumpkin pie, angel food cake, cookies, and ice cream. It was more than we could handle, but we all needed to eat up if we’re going to make it 70 miles tomorrow! After dinner we gave a presentation to a few members of the church. Tonight was our first night of affordable housing presentations. The first group to go was Willa, Jake Curtis, Hanna, and Peter. Now we’re all getting ready to go to sleep early. Goodnight!

Kent Journal, June 9th


Hey Bike and Build followers!


As hot as today was while biking, it turned out to be an awesome ride! We had a 55 mile ride filled with some nice climbs, but even nicer down hills. Then about ten miles after lunch a bike and build alum, Andy, met us with chilled Gatorade and water. The best part though was he told us there was a waterfall about ten miles away. Appropriately, I chugged my Gatorade and hopped on my bike, pedaling my heart out to get to the waterfall.


The waterfall was AMAZING!! The ice cold water felt great after spending the majority of the morning sweating probably the equivalent of five buckets out. This also was a great photo op. for some sweet pictures.


Once we got to Kent, CT we unloaded our stuff into the gymnasium of The Kent School. Later on they made us a delicious bbq, and good food makes Bike and Builders happy ! After dinner, Ashley, Frannie, Dave, and Hana gave a solid presentation about Bike and Build.


Overall, it was a great day, but I’m hoping the weather cools off. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this summer brings. I hope everyone is having a great summer. I’m gonna also have to give a special shout out to my Fleet Feet gang, friends, family, and CUS buddies (I hope you’re stalking me).


-Shira

We left Woodstock early this morning and headed to Granby on a longer than anticipated 56 mile ride. The group is just starting to establish a routine, so we left a little late this morning in getting out on the road. The group is divided in to chore groups (all with team names from 80s hair bands) and we all have various responsibilities- breakfast, cleanup, coolers, laundry, etc. We're still working the kinks out, but we all work hard as a team to prepare us for the day.





Our route today took us through incredibly hilly countryside, filled with mostly gradual yet extensive ascents and screamingly fast descents that wove through pine and mixed forests, marshes, farmland, lakes, and the occaisional quaint New England town. For many of us, it was one of the first experiences of such tough elevation changes so we really had workout today. The day's average speed ranged from barely 4mph to over 40mph on the steepest hills. Seriously, we were actually breaking the speed limit at times.


The heat was a big issue with the temperatures ranging into the mid 90s (98º according to a local bank thermometer) so we all took care to pack our Camelbaks with ice and bring extra fluids. I stopped frequently to soak up the scenery, take hold of good photo ops, and see the sites in the towns we pass through. A lot of riders stopped in West Granby for a country fair where we listened to a live big band, ate a bunch of fair food and took photos of a local oddity- painted statues of turkeys


Even with the difficult route, hot temperatures and the occasional mechanical problem, we're coming together as a team and really supporting one another. It only day two but I feel like I've been traveling with this wonderful group of people for weeks and I can't wait for the bigger challenges that lay ahead.


Now on to the New York border!



Jake Curtis

Greetings from Providence! We've been staying in Brown University's dorms which are extremely nice and it's been a blast so far getting to know everyone over the past two and a half days. We've come from all over the country and are all getting anxious to hit the road tomorrow.


We've been busy getting to know one another, getting oriented, and getting last minute items before the real riding begins. Yesterday we went on our "shakedown" ride which was a quick 20 mile ride around Providence, courtesy of some members of a local cycling club. Finally in possession of our jerseys, we were a formidable sight, 31 of us clad in spandex and stylish tops. The group managed to stick together for the most part, and riding together was a blast.


Last night we heard from the director of Providence Habitat, who filled us in on what our hard-earned fundraising efforts were contributing to: a whole new Habitat house (1/2 from us, 1/2 from he other Providence trip). We got filled in on the state of Habitat Providence as well as what our contributions were sure to provide for in the future.


Today we had our first build day with Habitat for Humanity Providence.
We finished up the good work that Providence to San Fransisco started just a few days before us (although they made it on local news instead of us), finishing all of the wall prefabrication for a new duplex. We split up into 6 teams in a warehouse, each constructing different parts of the frame. We ended up building 13 sections between all of us. Later on we are going to paint our trailer for the rest of the trip and, after some more free time, listen to a B+B alumnus share his thoughts with us.


Tomorrow we dip our tires into the Atlantic and set off on our journey. It should be a fairly short day and the weather is supposed to get a bit warmer in our favor. For now, I think we're all quite excited to get on our way!


Peter Bailis

I am writing to you from the top of the lost and found pile. Brianne organized all our unclaimed objects in what appeared to be a huge tag sale. This was after the trailer and van were both completely emptied of everything from harlequin romance novels (Pat was an aficionado of these) to aloe for our sunburn to a Wyoming trailer license plate. All the debris at the end of our trip is evidence of the ridiculous things we?_Tve been through.


Yesterday we left Everett as late as possible and rolled through 23 miles to Seattle. The energy was overflowing. We?_Td scream and hoot at random, feeding off each other?_Ts energy. We all met at the corner of 15th Ave and 85th NW in a small parking lot. Riding into Golden Garden Park together was amazing. We were met by our friends and family, cheering and cameras flashing. Every Bike and Builder rushed by all this wonderful love, dropped our camelbacks and ran over the sand to the water. Rejoicing with everyone in the salty Sound and our close ones there to celebrate with us was the perfect way to finish our last ride together. However, the trip itself was not over.


Today we awoke at 4:30 am, threw our belongings together, raced out of St. George?_Ts (who is welcoming us back tomorrow night, thank goodness) and waited at the ferry terminal for the second van load (shuttling 30 people across Seattle takes a while). Traffic nearly prevented the second shift and van from being on time, but they made it ?_" just barely. Mount Rainier was beautiful, the clouds were hiding and people bought coffee to try to break the intense sleepiness. Debbie and Margaret from Vashon Household met us at the dock and we proceeded to our build site.


Our build day was wonderful. The whole site is 19 houses and we had people working in at least 6 maybe 7 of them. Today was different because we had riders as well as friends and family building with us. We worked alongside several people who are receiving houses, got to learn from them, talk with them and get a lot done. Most exciting of all ?_" we are going back tomorrow. All the jobs that weren?_Tt quite done at 4 pm today we will finish tomorrow. Then we?_Tll do more.


I spent all day framing and then raising walls with John O?_TBrien, Nate?_Ts dad as well as Katie, A J (who is getting a house), Carrie, and several others who floated in and out. It was pretty satisfying to be working hard all day. At lunch we sang happy birthday to Candace and chowed down on cake. She is now 19 as well as much older and wiser than she was before the trip. Shortly after cake, Bronwyn was the first to leave. It took a while because hugs and tears can?_Tt and shouldn?_Tt be hurried.


The Church of the Holy Spirit in Vashon is putting us up for the night. We had a fantastic dinner and then a second informal award ceremony. Each rider was recognized for something characteristic as pointed out by Win, Bridget and Derrick (makers of the awards). Make sure to check out our spoke cards ?_" courtesy of Tommy. Finally Marie and Lauren headed up Sunshine for a Hard Ride which are sheets of observations and comments for every rider from everyone else. Those two lovely ladies as well as several others read the full Sunshine for each leader and also awarded up a piece of wood from the build site today, signed by everyone, bordered by a tube, with a picture from the dock in Providence on the front. Tomorrow we?_Tll build, go back to Seattle and head out one by one.


This has been the best summer I?_Tve had and I?_Tm sad to see everyone go, but I?_Tm glad to have done this with you all.


~Emily

Today we awoke at 4 am. Yes, that's right, the day after arriving in Seattle we woke up at 4 to catch a ferry to Vashon Island for our penultimate day of building. The Vashon build is going great-we have three houses to frame, four roofs to deck, and siding on several more houses. This is a great way to finish our trip. I don't really feel like writing more, so here's the speech I gave to the riders and families at our final dinner. *and thanks again to all our hosts and donors!*


I am very proud of this group.
We have ridden our bikes across the country, raised over $125,000 for affordable housing groups, built in several different states affecting families and communities in ways that we don't even know, and we have spread the news of our mission from coast to coast. All of this is great, but there is something about this group that is great than that. Over the summer I have spent time with each and every rider of p2s and I have come to realize that they are some of the most caring, genuine, and conscientious your adults that I have ever known. Everyday there would be examples of a rider reaching out to another, helping with something they didn't have to, engaging strangers in conversation. I've come to realize that this is who these people are-they are passionate about the world and people around them and they want to play an active role in it. This summer they did that and I am proud of this group.

I in hopeful of this group.
I used to be cynical about our generation. I say used to. These riders are full of life, are sometimes too crazy, and are all well versed in the art of laughing. Several will be serving their communities this year with Americorps, others are exploring it as a future option. One will spend the next year working with inner city youths, still others will be teaching. Most will be back in school and I venture to say that all will be volunteering in several different capacities. All have the option, if they choose, of being beacons in their communities, leading others in action. It may not always be easy for them, but I have hope in this group.

I am challenging these riders.
We have had a summer that we will never forget. I challenge you to remember the families and mission we have served and the people who we worked with along the way. I challenge you to go further, to take what you have gained this summer and build upon it. Find a cause that you are passionate about and pursue it. If there is a cause that you are passionate about but there are no outlets for you to follow, create them. You are young and there is power in youth. Here are your examples-Wendy Kopp created Teach for America while she was an undergraduate at Princeton. Michael Brown and Alan Kjazei started City Year while they were students at Havard Law. Gandhis' radicalization began when he was thrown off a South African train for refusing to downgrade his seat when he was 24. Decades later Martin Luther King saw a need and started the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at age 28. There is a raw power in passionate youth and I am challenging you to use it! Set your goals high and then set them even higher. Work towards these goals and bring others with you. I am challenging you to challenge other people, young and old, to work and make this world a better place.

I am challenging you.
I believe in this group.

On Saturday we climbed Washington and Rainy Pass, both over the north Cascades. It was a day that we all, with some anxiety, knew was coming. Two days prior to it a rider turned to me and said, "we're ready. If there is anyone ready to climb these passes, it's us." He was right. And if there is anyone who is ready to go out and make their marks on the world, it's you. I believe that you will never loose your positive attitudes. I believe that you will always laugh when going down a mountain and that you will run towards the person in need instead of walking in the other direction. I believe that you are ready to be challenged.
I believe in all of you.


------------------------

godspeed ya'll!

prof ta'daigle

I have the daunting task of describing August 13, 2007 to you. Many of our days over the course of this summer have felt indescribable. The scenery is too foreign, the changes in lanscape so abrupt, the conversations so silly or so meaningful, the feelings so pure. But today seems especially out of the reach of words. That's why I'm so grateful that my parents and so many other riders' family and friends were able to make it to Golden Gardens Park in Seattle to see us all ride in (literally) to Puget Sound. At least they got one day's glimpse into what our lives have been like this entire summer. They saw it all come pouring out of us as we rounded that last corner, steep and downhill, onto the beach, into the water, screaming, jumping, squirting champagne, chanting, hugging, crying, laughing, embracing, rejoicing, splashing and living right in that moment. They know as well as possible just how indescribable the moment was.


I had been thinking about this task of writing about our last ride together and in doing so, remembered a moment we all shared on our very first day back in Providence. Bowman, a P2SF alum, started us off by passing on a tradition from her trip. We all went around in a circle and said two words for that moment. I thought it might be appropriate to ask the same 30 for two more words on our last day. Here are the responses I got, exactly how they were written:


Marie - FO' EVA EVA LOVE
Katya - Keep Riding

Evan - loves hills!
Win - SHAZAAAAAM!

Logan - KNEE, BENDS?
Patrick - Okay, okay. That's disgusting.

Lauren - ABOUT TIME (YO)
Chantel - Pacific Ocean (Puget Sound)

Bridget - Bitter Sweet
Derrick - so close

Courtney - I'm alive!
Nate - DOUBLE SPAN!

Brianne - FINALLY HOME!
Candace - Corn fields

Carrie - Mom?! Dad?!
Emily - It's over?

Bronwyn - meaningful struggles
Eric - Just beginning

Katie - final stretch
Elle - Truely Grateful

Sam - My family!
Kyle - Piece of cake!

Amelia - In it
Tommy - Let's !@#$%^& go!

Jackie - I love you Bike & Build!
Greg - quivering MANticipation

Whitney - love you all
Me - Keep going

Sarah and Anne seem to have found themselves speechless (understandable).


After the indescribable, we were all showered with hugs and welcomes from family and friends and prepared an amazing feast organized by Shelby Rhyne. Most of us were just slightly less than freezing to death because we were all wet from the ocean water and sitting still in the shade and breeze, but that didn't seem to matter too much. The adrenaline and company kept us warm as we ate and mingled and packed up our bikes. (Special thanks to Erin Kinneen of P2S04 for arranging for bike storage and shuttling all our bikes!)


Later in the evening we all gathered at the Lake City church for an informal ceremony where we ate hors d'oeuvrs. Patrick, Sarah, Emily and Tommy all prepared a little to say about each of the riders, attempting again to describe a bit of the indescribable to all those in attendance. They did a really great job and everyone appreciated their thoughfulness.


The next two days will be spent on Vashon Island building with Vashon Household, a local affordable housing organization. Since we have that to look forward to, we don't have to leave each other yet, but the thought of not biking with everyone again at least for a long while is a bit strange. Personally, I will be heading down south to San Francisco with my pannier-laden bicycle. A bunch of others are off to school, flying home, moving to new cities, or exploring jobs around the country. Thank you all for the memories, I'll have them close in mind as fuel to keep going and looking forward to that San Francisco skyline.

Omak-->Early Winters


I?_Tve come to enjoy it when locals tell us that passes are going to be impossible. Today, we heard from numerous locals in Omak, Washington that Loup Loup Pass would be ?_oquite a big deal.?__ A bystander in one of the ubiquitous Northwest espresso shacks told me that it was ?_o10 miles up, 10 miles down; a real truck-killer!?__ I?_Tve come to appreciate phrases like that.


Loup Loup Pass wasn?_Tt a ?_otruck-killer,?__ but it sure caught some of us by surprise. We climbed out of Omak along scrubby, desert-y brush and into towering pines. The grade stayed constant, and the trees blocked any potential views. Riders were left alone with their thoughts, their sweat, and the constantly changing light, filtered through fir and spruce.


Fellow riders have spoken of hills as ?_opersonal,?__ a solo trek that?_Tll show you who you ?_oreally are.?__ I agree with that, I think?_"I started out with a group, but felt my body telling me to go faster, so I listened. Tommy caught me and passed me, as he does everybody (apparently, when you ride your bike every day, all day, for a job, you become ridiculously good at biking) and I pushed past a few riders myself. Every time my greeting was echoed with flushed enthusiasm. We all worked our way up that pass with the knowledge that it was one of our very last true tests, and we?_Td gone over countless like it before. Passes can be brutal, can be ?_obike-breakers,?__ but this one was a labor of love. We loved that pass, loved what it stood for, and loved getting to the top.


Just past the summit, a road led away from the highway, 1.5 miles further up into the pines. At a break in the trees sat the Cascades, waiting, their stony spires snow-capped and still. Bronwyn and I broke into giddy, improvised song, to the tune of ?_oMy Bonny Lies Over the Ocean.?__


See-attle lies over those mountains,
See-attle lies down by the sea.

See-attle lies over those mountains,
Oh, bike to Seattle with me?_?


The rest of the day was spent approaching ?_othose mountains,?__ through towns with names like Twisp, Winthrop, and Mazama (which prompted another cover, to the melody of ?_oShe?_Ts a Bad Mama-Jama," called ?_oLet?_Ts All Go to Mazama?__) along the Methow (Met-How) Valley.


In Mazama, we found three storefronts: a real-estate office, a general store/coffee shop, and D-Tour Bike Shop, which was arguably one of the coolest bike shops we?_Tve come across in our far-flung travels. Dave, the owner, has had the shop for about 8 years and got to ride with Lance and Team Livestrong this year in RAGBRAI. He gave us free stickers, instantly winning a place in our sticker-loving hearts.


After Mazama, we pressed on to Early Winters Campground, where we were treated to snowmelt riverbed ?_oshowers,?__ a bear-safety lesson from Park Ranger Pat, and a cracklin?_T campfire, courtesy of Lumberjack Logan. And then we all went into hibernation before our Cascades crossing.


More to come later. ?_oSee-attle lies over those mountains?_?__


-Sam

http://sandbb.blogspot.com

I?_Tve discovered that most of our days follow a similar pattern. For my final entry, I?_Tve taken our typical day and left spaces for you to fill it in similar to a MadLib story. The actual fill-ins are provided at the end. Enjoy!


I woke up in the small town of (1. place) in a (2. noun) at 6am. The usual crew stopped for (3. noun) to start off our (4. number) mile day. The beginning of the day started off a bit (5. adjective) and the wheat fields reminded me of (6. noun). The day?_Ts first attraction was chalked by (7. person) and directed some riders to the nearby (8. noun). The landscape transformed into a (9. noun)and led us downhill to the famous (10. noun). After crossing the dam, we climbed up through an (11. place) where our trailer and lunch were stopped. For lunch, we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and were attacked by (12. noun). Many found respite at the local gas station and Candice even found a childhood classic: (13. noun). We were warned about a small hill following lunch that turned out to be a 15-mile climb finishing at Desautos pass. Fortunately it was downhill from there all the way to Omak except that the (14. plural noun) made even that part pretty challenging. Upon arriving in town, Whitney, Katya, and I made our daily end-of-the-day visit to a (15. place) for some sodas (noun) and snacks. Only to be followed by another stop into Omak?_Ts organic food store, which had exceptional granola. We didn?_Tt have much time to shower, so I quickly walked over to the high school to wash off in their (16. place). The taco dinner prepared by the church was superb and I especially enjoyed the (17. adjective) bread. Some riders grabbed their laptops and postcards to correspond with friends and family. A few went out to see the rodeo, which concluded with a (18. event) where horses are raced down a hill and across a river at breaking pace. It?_Ts a tradition in the area and only lasts (19. number) seconds. I stayed at the church and cleaned my (20. noun) with Derrick and Jackie and eventually called a quits and went to sleep on a (21. noun).


What actually happened:
1) Wilbur 2) tent 3) coffee 4) 70 5) hilly 6) Nebraska 7) Patrick Farmer 8) crop circles 9) dessert 10) Coolie Dam 11) Indian reservation 12) bees 13) warheads 14) cross winds 15) gas station 16) locker rooms 17) fried 18) ?_osuicide race?__ 19) ten 20) bike 21) pew


Katie B

If the simply divine state of Montana was a flashy 5-star hotel, and I was asked to fill out a guest satisfaction survey and drop it in one of those fancy little "suggestion boxes," I think for most of us it would go sometime like the following:


1. Length of Stay:
One Week

2. Reason for visiting:
To Save the World--affordable housing style

3. Room Type:
Montana would be two double beds, with a mini-fridge, jet-tube, two-head shower, heavy down

covers

Day Off in Missoula, Montana!


Wow. I think that can pretty much sum up our day off in Missoula, for all of us riders. We love Missoula. For me, it just seems like a nice place to live, with a lot of character, life, and energy. Friendly people and cute dress shops and soooo close to crystal-clear rivers and soft green mountains. A city center filled with lots of things to do and see, lots of festivals and commotion going on. And there are BIKE LANES!! We fall head over heels for bike lanes. Missoula is, as the sign for its Carousel proclaims, a place "where dreams are followed and promises are kept, and where people believe in making a life as well as making a living."


So, this magical city offered us a plethora of experiences. Carrie, Katya, and I went to the carousel in the morning, this beautiful wonder of childhood dreams that was built and maintained mostly by local volunteers. Each horse is painted in a different theme and has an individual name, and all are exquisite. I rode on Cannonball, and we tried to grab the plastic rings from the dragon head (which I didn't even know that they had anymore) as we whizzed by at speeds of 11 mph. None of us grabbed the gold ring for a free ride, but one was enough for a nice flashback into memory lane.


Then, there was the Children's Festival by the river, where Katya got a pink bicycle painted on her cheek to match her pink T-shirt, and we bought random Missoula "Kids in Action" T-shirts for a dollar. We met up with Derrick, Whitney, and Katie, and went to lunch at a Thai food place that some lady recommended to us while walking by on the street, when she'd stopped to chat a little bit because she'd overheard some loud, pitchy comment that I (of course) had made. =)


We then popped by for a visit to the Adventure Cycling Headquarters here in grand ole' Missoula (another reason to love the city), and helped ourselves to free ice cream, internet, and tons of cycling pictures and info. They're a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging bicycle travel, and have info and maps on travelling by bike all over the US. For me, what caught my eye was a poster that showcased mountain biking the Continental Divide, from Montana to New Mexico. It sounded amazing - remote locations, stunning views, and over 200,000 feet of elevation gain. Yikes! B&B reunion, anyone?


On our way back to the Church, we bumped into Marie and Logan, who informed us of...cliff jumping plans! Well, we threw on our swimsuits, packed 15 of us in the van, chaperoned by our equally crazy and fearless leader Sarah, and drove to the river a few miles out of the city to go cliff jumping! Cliff jumping is exactly what it sounds - you stand on a big rock cropping out over the river, and you jump off. In our case, the rock was an estimated 25 feet high. Notable cliff jumpers:
Bridget: "I just want to jump and get this over with so I can go back to sitting on the sand."

Greg: oh boy...
Courtney: double back flip, twist, tuck, into the water...am I missing anything here?

Emily: "It helps if you scream."
Me: in somebody else's words, "took 30 seconds to go the first time, and 2 hours to go the second time."

Anne: who just took 2 hours to go, period. =)
Sarah: cliff jumper extraordinaire and awesome pep-talker for those who took 2 hours to go.

It was awesome. It was beautiful. I now remember every rock and tree and creature along that stretch of river because I was up on that freakin' rock for so long.


So after getting in our adrenaline rushes for the day, we shuttled back to the Church, where we were treated to a delightful dinner. We paid our mandatory visit to the Big Dipper Ice Cream Shop for ice cream, sundaes, floats, and more, and then, it was time for bed to prepare for our next day of adventures!


PS.
On a side note, Laundry Crew did laundry yesterday at Sparkle Laundry, and a bunch of us all got awesome T-shirts from there. It seems we've been purchasing rather similar stuff along the way (not unusual when you do essentially the same exact thing with 29 other people day in and day out). But to celebrate this (and because we love lists), I've collected a list of matching or similarly matching items bought or owned by people on this trip. Though we may be far away in the future, may you think of each other when wearing (or otherwise using) these valuables:


Sparkle Laundry T-Shirts: Katya, Katie, Win, Brianne, Jackie, someone else..?

Bicycle parts bracelet from bike shop outside of Kellogg, ID: Katya, Katie, Carrie
Moccasins in Wyoming: Carrie, Katya, Whitney, Jackie

Cedar Rapids, IA Farmer's Market earrings: Katya, Jackie
Dress from Target: Katie, Elle

Dress from Walmart: Katya, Jackie
Dress from Betty's Divine, Missoula: Marie, Bronwyn

Cowboy hats: Bridget, Whitney, Courtney
Antler earrings from...somewhere in Pennsylvania???: Marie, Lauren

Bicycle license plates from Pennsylvania: Courtney, Emily
Streamers off the handlebars: Marie, Lauren, Katya

Coeur d'Alene, ID Street Market skirt: Amelia, Jackie
Full-body ski suit complete with bright red stripe: bought for Logan, worn by Sam through the Cascades

Cycling caps: TOO MANY TO COUNT!!!


I'll miss you all,

Jackie

July 29th ?_" West Yellowstone, MT to Bozeman, MT


The day was too beautiful to describe straight out, so I?_Tll just tell you the questions that ran through my mind, as I rode through Yellowstone and the Gallatin National Forest along the gorgeous Gallatin River.


When do bears wake up in the morning?


Do the mountains feel naked, when the sun removes their dressing gowns?


Is a walk through the forest worth the wet socks?


Are there tics in this grass?


Why am I hungry already at mile eleven?


What war are the soldier-stacked pine trees preparing for?


Who blessed us with eighty miles of downhill?


Why is peanut butter still so good?


If I nap by the river, will they leave me behind?


We won?_Tt have to climb out of this canyon, will we?


When will Bridget finish Harry Potter?


Who would pick me up if I floated downstream on a log?


Is the fisherman I met yesterday wondering what I?_Tm doing, too?


Have I ever felt this good for this long?


All my love to all of you,
Amelia

After a brief but beautiful dip into Idaho, we entered the Big Sky state today. The first half of our ride was incredibly scenic- as we climbed, we were able to see the formidable Tetons behind us. It seemed slightly strange to be moving away from, rather than towards, them and to know that only yesterday, the thirty of us had traversed them by bike. Also exciting, our route took us by two magnificent waterfalls, complete with rainbows and all.


Lunch was had in the parking lot of a gas station, which of course was very exciting because it meant that soda was near! It is amazing how cycling can make you crave refined sugar... After a particularly long lunch break, we set off only to find ourselves heading towards a rather ominous looking sky. Feeling optimistic, Derrick and I thought that we could maybe continue on our way, but we quickly found ourselves soaked, freezing, and unable to see. So, after another stop at a gas station to let the hail and lighting pass, we once again hit the road, this time slightly soggy.


We were greeted by a rather brutal head wind as we neared Montana, a head wind coupled with a slight climb as we crossed the continental divide for the second time. But shortly after reaching the Montana border, we were in West Yellowstone. Though we had originially intended on camping in the park, plans fell through as we discovered that rather than the $75 it was supposed to cost, we would have to pay about $460 for the evening. So thanks to Tommy, Candace, and a very generous pastor, we ended up staying in a beautiful church and saving a whole lot of money.


All in all, it was another great day filled with amazing scenery and awesome people.

hello to all of our families and friends-


we wanted to give everyone an update of plans for the end of the trip. so, as of now, here it is:


on august 13th, p2s will be arriving at the golden gardens park in seattle. it will be a short ride for us, so we will hopefully be there be there sometime between 10 and 11. we have a shelter and grills reserved, so we'll have lunch with all of our friends. it'll be swell.
we will be staying at st. georges episcopal church in north seattle. as of now (we hope this will stick) we are planning on having a banquet on the evening of the 13th at st. georges. we are currently contacting local restraunts and trying to secure donations. any suggestions are welcome.

there will be two build days with vashon household, a non-profit, affordable housing group on the island. please let us know if you are planning on working on site with us.
shelby rhyne, mother of rider logan (the kid) rhyne, will be helping with coordination of donations, so please let me know if you can help out and we will all work together.

as always, please email me at tdaigle@bikeandbuild.org if you have any questions!


professor Ta'Daigle


ps- i just learned how to link things.

Today we had a build day with the Habitat affiliate in Jackson, which is somewhat ironic because there seems to be no affordable housing anywhere in this city. Apparently the median house price here is nearly $1.2 million. It?_Ts hard to imagine, but I?_Tve heard from several people that millionaires are moving out of Jackson so that the billionaires can move in. Thus, the housing here really isn?_Tt affordable, but it is great that Habitat is still trying to make it so for certain families.


We all had a great time at the build site, especially since everywhere in Jackson has unbelievable views of the mountains. Two houses were being built, so there was plenty of work to do. One of the houses was actually a ?_owomen?_Ts build,?__, so anyone with a Y chromosome wasn?_Tt allowed to work there. This was rather unfortunate for us guys since some of the genes on the double X chromosomes of the AmeriCorps team we worked with were very attractive. Anyways, people were painting, cutting boards, putting up walls, moving dirt, etc. My job for the day was preparing the driveway so that cement could be poured. Basically Pat, Evan, Greg, Sam, and I were digging holes in the cobblestone with a pickaxe and shovel all day. Hard labor.


One aspect that I really enjoyed about the build day was that we worked with an AmeriCorps VISTA team spending their summer in Jackson. This meant a lot to me because I?_Tm starting a 10 month AmeriCorps program in October, and it was great to talk to the team members to learn about their experiences with AmeriCorps so far.


After finishing at the build site, we returned to the church, which apparently is not terribly fond of us since they had us stay in one room downstairs and would not allow us to use their kitchen. Thus, my dinner crew team had to cook on the camp stove outside. Of course, once we got rolling it started to rain. The hostel across the street allowed us to set up under their parking lot overhang, which was much appreciated until the owner drove up and rudely kicked us out. As with many things Bike & Build, tonight?_Ts dinner didn?_Tt go perfectly smoothly but still turned out great.


Nate

Casper, WY to Shoshoni. WY


Today was a long, hot ride. As we were told by the Habitat people in Casper, ?_oFlat and hot.?__ They were pretty much right. It wasn?_Tt entirely flat; we climbed the first half of the day, reaching an elevation of 6000 feet then descended the second half down to 4820 feet. All of this was very gradual however. Essentially flat.
Anyway, I was worried that this day would be boring and I would have nothing to write about. I should have known better. No day with Bike and Build is ever boring. The first 45 miles I rode by myself and I was losing hope. ?_oI?_Tm going to have to write about herds of antelope and prairie dog towns,?__ I thought.

What I did learn in those miles was that the people in Wyoming are very friendly (with a couple exceptions who almost ran me off the road). I stopped a couple times to stretch and/or have a snack and each time someone pulled over to make sure I was alright. Brianne also discovered the friendly Wyomingers when a whole car full waved to her. In fact, all afternoon, there were friendly honks and waves. That wasn?_Tt the impression I got when we first entered Wyoming, so perhaps they?_Tre all tourists on their way to and from Yellowstone. Either way, it made the ride more pleasant.
First lunch came unbearably late. I had been really excited in the morning when Pat told us first lunch would be at Hell?_Ts Half Acre. Sounded pretty exciting. But as I rode, I began to ask myself, ?_oReally, is there a reason we have to eat at Hell?_Ts Half Acre??__ I resented Pat?_Ts clear determination that we should eat there, at mile 46.

But Pat knew what he was doing, as usual... With the restaurant closed, all that was left at Hell?_Ts Half Acre was a most spectacular view. Red, orange, purple stone jags rising inexplicably out of the ground. According to a blurb in the rest stop a couple miles down the road: ?_oThe fantastic colors and shapes are a result of erosion. Caps of red and brown sandstone protect certain spots resulting in spires and odd formations.?__
Another interesting tidbit: The movie Starship Troopers was filmed there. The landscape does feel of another world. ?_oIt looks like a layered jello mold,?__ Eric observed.

So that on its own was exciting enough for the whole day.
After lunch I caught up with Katie and Jackie at a rest stop and we rode the rest of the way together, through incredible landscape and blisteringly hot headwinds. Our second lunch stop was in Moneta, a non-existent town. Patrick was off to Shoshoni to get water because the water in Moneta is not potable.

From there we rode to Shoshoni with one thought. ?_oWorld renowned?__ malts and shakes from the Yellowstone Pharmacy were waiting for us. And they were fabulous. I had a boysenberry shake. They had so many flavors people wanted to go back later to have another. Alas, they closed early because of "lack of inventory". Very sad indeed.
Best of all was the cold glass of water that I drank first. Arriving in town, my throat was parched. My legs were coated in salt from sweat that barely even left my body before it evaporated away. The camelbak on my back was almost empty despite the fact that the tea water in there was not satisfying at all.

We were all in before 4 pm, sweeps included. It?_Ts incredible how we can all travel the same stretch of road but have entirely different experiences. While we came in through hot headwinds, the sweeps were pushed in by cool tailwinds from the storm brewing behind them.
We had an exciting home for the night- the Shoshoni Volunteer Fire Department. They had a room that was blissfully air-conditioned. Most people knocked out right away.

After a 100 miles in the heat, it?_Ts pretty much all you want to do.
~Katya

I woke up this morning alone, in a cool bed with white linen. My host, Scott, was cooking what would be one of the best breakfasts I?_Tve had on this trip. The other rider was already preparing for our ride into Dubois, leaving the room completely, and blissfully, silent. I can?_Tt think of too many things that I?_Tve missed since starting this trip (besides my extremely comfortable bed) except for the privilege of morning solitude.
Scott hears me as I walk into the living room and gives me the best surprise possible. I had commented on his CD collection, specifically his Pete Yorn albums, the night before. The song ?_olife on a chain?__, escapes my head and fills the room ?_" he had put on my favorite album to accompany breakfast. After filling up with blueberries, grapes, pancakes and scrambled egg, Amelia and I rode out the park where we had dinner the other night to meet the rest of the riders.

Leaving the town, we passed Crowheart Butte. Legend has it that a Shoshone chief, Washakie, and a Crow warrior fought at the location to settle once and for all which tribe would control the valley. The two warriors disappeared into a haze of smoke to battle; eventually, Washakie emerged victorious holding his opponent's heart and eating it to honor the man's courage. The Shoshone still reside in the Wind River Reservation (the site of Crowheart). Ironically, they share the reservation with the Arapaho, the historical enemy of the Shoshone due to the government?_Ts allocation of land.
The ride from Lander to Dubois marked our first day of riding in the Rockies. Contrary to the traditional Douglas Fir ?_" clad mountains, this area was a rainbow of sandstone. It felt like riding through my childhood ?_" the red, black and maroon formations reminded me of Moab, Goblin Valley, Escalante or Bryce Canyon. We stopped by a creek for lunch. Across the highway was an old log shack that reminded me of the prospector era. It was a beautiful rest area, but I began to feel pressure from the clock.

Besides our first day in the Rockies, today was also the last day of summer courses. I have been taking an online class throughout this ride, and the final was scheduled for four at the Dubois library. I left lunch alone, nervously considering the possibility of hills, headwinds or other factors that would make me late for the exam. The red rock dropped into a canyon followed by a creek. It was one of the most beautiful rides of this trip; I wish I could have ridden through it more leisurely; conversely, the rush added a fun element to the ride.
I breezed into Dubois, which looked like an old western town ?_" all aged wood and cabin style. When I left the post office (where I had made arrangements to mail my exam), it had just finished raining. Apparently, several of the other riders had been caught in the storm. With a little over an hour left on the clock, I arrived at the library for some last minute studying. I learned something interesting today: it?_Ts harder to turn the crank arm of a bike once after three hours of sitting between a 75 mile bike ride than it is to complete the 75 miles itself.

Buzz-crunch! Buzz-crunch! Buzz-crunch! The screw guns are singing as square foot by square foot, we give this nearly finished house a floor. It's a catchy tune, this mounting melody, and soon our own harmonious voices join the racket. Our site supervisor, Dean, has music in his soul, so as far as he's concerned we're not working if we're not crooning like a band of Bike and Build Bing Crosbys. Lucky for us, Bridget knows enough oldies to keep us and Dean going all day.


Spending so much time scuttling around the floor, I can't help thinking of the lives that will be built on this foundation. See the feet that will tiptoe across the threshold on that first move-in day, struggling to believe that this new world is real. See the two pairs of shoes that will dance after everyone has left, perfectly in love with each other and their life together. See the little baby toes that will run and run through the years into love-knit booties and school-time saddle shoes and basketball sneakers and maybe one day even polished wing-tips. See them standing tall, straight as these beams we've pulled up into walls, and daring perhaps for the first time to believe that they can walk themselves anywhere.


I hope those future home-owners know that each board of this floor has been screwed into place with a wish for their success and a song to lead them there.


~ Pat

I really enjoyed the views today as the buttes rose out of the horizon; we could feel the approach of the Rockies! The wind was kind and the sun gently hid behind spotty clouds. I felt good enough to eat a 1/2 typical B&B breakfast (equal to about half a day's worth of cereal and banana for the average person), which served me well for the first half of the ride. However, I bonked hard up the only hill (very mild grade, but 3 miles long) because my core had no energy from not eating much yesterday. (I had been feeling queasy for a few days prior.) So I took it easy the rest of the ride. We played some word games to make the ride more enjoyable.


Having been slightly sick recently, it makes me more aware of how well everything else works. I become far more appreciative of not suffering severe knee problems, numb hands, or prohibitive saddle sores. Slight injuries are a great reminder that larger injuries have been dodged. On that note, we all are so grateful for the delicious meals, friendly folk, and sleeping quarters every night.


I didn't have my cyclocomputer in a spot where I could see it, so I rode the whole day not knowing how fast or how far I was going. Usually, I'm pretty unconsiously obsessive about this data under the guise that I need it to make the right turns according to our cue sheet. However, since our route was to take 81.5 miles on Route 20 westbound, I figured I could go without for a day. I enjoyed letting my body tell me how fast or slow to go, instead of my spedometer. I also found that I relaxed about "the miles left to go" before it gets hot, because all I could do was ride the same pace, anyway. I think I'll try this again while the route is a straight-shot, as a way to focus more in the moment.


Oh, did we mention we did 566 miles last week, but who's counting?


Upon reaching our destination I promptly downed a Gatorade and took a siesta. This has become my enjoyable post-ride practice, as of late. I further enjoyed a ridiculously cold popsicle (which clung to my lips so surprisingly well I lost some skin to it) and a trip to the local library. While waiting for dinner, in a lethargic state, I slid into a teeny room packed with couches to watch a few episodes of "the Office". Us being used to close quarters, weren't phased one bit as the room filled quickly past the typical occupancy, threefold.


Dinner was delicious! We had a great pasta dish with veggies and chicken, plus a rice-salad-esque mix with fruit, and so much more! Oh, did I mention Snickerdoodles! Delicious!


During dinner I had the pleasure of talking with Loydaine (I hope I spelled your name right!) and learned some crazy stuff about the Wyoming weather. Apparently, it could snow any month of the year in these parts, and still be 50A? on Christmas! 50-60 mph winds aren't uncommon, and consequentially, the weather can change drastically with short notice. Loydaine and Tom have been fantastically helpful in coordinating our stay and just wait to hear what they set up for us tomorrow night....


Evan

Our day off. Almost The Fur Trade Days in Chadron, NE?_? but not quite. Our schedule just misses local events over and over. This time we got to see all the detritus from what was apparently a rousing celebration of local history. Still, I enjoyed getting to know the town. I?_Tm learning about the infrastructure that makes a town self-sufficient. When we roll in, we ask for a church or YMCA, a public library (internet access), grocery store, gas station, post office, drug store, medical clinic (our aches and pains have gotten worse as we move West) and then local sights and possibly a restaurant. Most days, we don?_Tt get to do the normal life maintenance that keeps you going. I don?_Tt check my email more than once, possibly twice a week, so I jumped on the chance the library?_Ts internet gave me to catch up. These ?_olife maintenance?__ activities like buying bath soap or mailing a letter are obviously necessary for everyone outside Bike and Build as well, so the towns we visit generally have one of everything. I had never considered the logistics of how a town works, so seeing them during a normal time rather than a special event makes me reflect differently than I would have.
The other thing that is interesting about our collective obsession with seemingly simple, but staple, elements of a town is that we take over. I couldn?_Tt go 5 minutes without seeing another Bike and Builder. Katie and I crossed the street going opposite directions, and then I walked into the post office and ran into Pat and Carrie. Both Pat and I needed tooth-cleaning tools, so off to the drugstore we went. Parting ways with Pat, I caught up with a gaggle of riders at the library. We seem to be everywhere at once because 30 people can be a lot in a downtown 3 streets wide and 8 blocks long. Courtney commented to me that it was nice to have a day with nothing to do, but it was totally the opposite. It was nice to have a day in which to do everything!
After sleeping soundly in nice air conditioning, our breakfast crew made delicious pancakes, coffee, set out fruit and juice and we devoured it all. By 11 am most people had dispersed to check out all those places that are important to us. The exact location of a coffee shop, for example, is passed on by word of mouth or simply following someone. Frequently one person knows the first direction and someone else knows the second and by traveling in groups we piece together the actual route to somewhere. A lot of our knowledge is communal in this way. Sometimes it seems magical how things get passed along ?_" I think there is no possible way that Bridget knows where the host is, but she ran into someone who described the building to her and she already knew where the street was, so she can lead other people there. Or just pass on what she knows. Stories (and sometimes gossip) buzz through the group at an amazing speed. The dynamic of how we live and work with each other is very bizarre. We have no secrets and we share all our knowledge. Well, problems arise because we don?_Tt share all our knowledge, but eventually people find what they need.

Thanks guys, I love the wierdnesses of how we are living. I get to be a part of this small community, visit larger ones and hopefully give something back to an even larger group.

Emily

That's what was written on the glass I drank from at Grandma's Playhouse and Ice Cream Shop