Pontiac, IL - Day Off FINALLY!

We had a tough few days leading up to this glorious day off in Pontiac, IL where I sit here writing to you from yet another lovely church full of lovely people feeding us and letting us sleep on our blow up thermarest mattresses and sleeping bags on their floor for free.

After Columbus we had a 75 mile day to reach Dayton, OH. I was riding as sweep that day with a cute blond girl from Texas on the trip named Hannah and we set off for a Starbucks the woman working at the Jewish Community Center gave me directions to. It was nice to see something so familiar since most days there are not too many chain stores or restaurants that we pass through our travels. We sat and had a nice cup of coffee and talked to a few regulars about our travels.

Overall, the day was great. It included a stop at McDonalds where I got a delicious chocolate milkshake and witnesses Hannah eating her first Big Mac of her life (very entertaining haha). We then made it to lunch and set off once again for our final destination. Unfortunately, we missed a turn shortly after lunch and ended up doing an extra 10 miles on the day to make it 85 instead of the planned 75. The terrain has gotten pretty flat by now though and the wind was pretty comparable to what I am used to riding in back home in FL, so it was not too dificult a day for me and I actually really enjoyed it.

It's really cool the contrast between the colors of the extremely green fields, the golden parts where they gro wheat, and the huge blue sky... it really was a gorgeous day for riding and I was happy to be out there enjoying it all and trying to soak it up as much as possible.

Dayton was a great city to spend two nights in due to the overwhelmingly warm welcome we received from the church, local Habitat, and City of Dayton itself. After a delicious dinner provided by our hosts, a few of us snuck upstairs to watch the church choir during their rehersal. It was an incredible experience. The congregation is made up primarily of black Americans, and the choir was no different. They were all so full of joy and you could see how they put every bit of their soul into their singing. They all had beautiful voices that nearly brought me to tears during one song. It was really fun to watch them sing and dance and be so happy to live in the moment. I truly enjoyed listening to them.

The next day we had what I think was our best build day so far with the Dayton Habitat for Humanity. They have three lots they are currently working on in the same neighborhood so we were able to do a lot of different types of work from dry walling (which I am now an expert at if you ever need any help in that area) to more landscaping (aka manual labor) to pouring cement for the foundation of on the future houses. The Chief of Police even came to give us a speech and thank us for our work in Dayton. The media also showed up and taped the presentation as well as interviewed a few of our riders. We heard we made both the 7pm and 11pm local news, but never saw it. I think the leaders were trying to get a copy of it. It was a long day full of hard work, but it left us all feeling helpful and satisfied with our efforts.

We were more than rewarded when that night we went to the Dayton Dragons minor league baseball game. Habitat was kind enough to get us all tickets along with coupons for a free Dragons hat and $10 certificates that we could use to buy food with at the concession stands throughout the park. It was an awesome time that we all really enjoyed. Nothing gets better than summer baseball with some friends on a beautiful night in Ohio.

The next day we packed up for our ride to Hartford City, Indiana. We had our longest day so far ahead of us at 96 miles. Luckily the Chief of Police extended his efforts to us once again by providing us with a police escort out of the city. We not only had two officers on bicycles, but also had two police cars complete with flashing lights to stop traffic for us at red lights. It was probably one of the coolest experiences I have had so far on the trip. We seriously felt like we were in a parade or something with all the people staring at the spectacle we were making riding by. I asked the two officers on the bikes if they felt like riding with us the entire 96 mile day with promise of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, but they declined (though the sandwiches did sound tempting they admitted haha).

The rest of the day although long and at times fairly hard wasn’t too bad until the last 10 or so miles when the clouds became dark, the wind picked up, and it looked like it could start pouring down rain at any minute. We saw lightning and immediately pulled into the first place we could find cover, which happened to be a small car mechanic shop on the side of the road. We were really lucky it was there since there literally was nothing else around except for fields and houses and cows. As soon as we pulled up to the front door and were about to turn the knob to go in, a woman opened the door and ushered us in. At this point the thunder and lightning were terrible and no sooner than we got inside it started torrentially down pouring. The mechanics were really nice and let us stay there until the storm passed about 45 minutes later. The church we were staying at ended up being only a couple miles down the rode… we were so close to beating the storm, but yet so far.

The next day was an 80 mile ride to Lafayette, Indiana. This was a really tough day for me since I decided to go way to fast and push myself way too hard for the first 40 miles of the ride. After lunch, the second 40 miles were brutal and I was so tired that at one point without realizing how close we were to the church, I felt I could not pedal anymore into what we later heard were head on winds of up to 35mph, and I had to stop and take a rest for 15 minutes or so. The church was only a few miles down the road, but from confusion of road signs, we thought we still had like 10-15 more miles. I was very happy to see otherwise and collapsed on the floor when I got there never feeling more happy to be done with my day of riding. We actually had a tornado warning later that night where they made us all go into the bathrooms and wait for about a half hour before they told us it was safe to come out. The storms and weather has been pretty strange so far for our trip.

88 miles to Gilman, Illinois was the last of our really hard days. This day was the hardest of the entire trip for a bunch of people on the trip. I definitely thought it was hard, but for me personally a couple days in CT and PA climbing the mountains was way harder. I think just the combination of three 80+ mile days in a row and the strong head winds all day left people cursing Mark Bush’s name (the originator of Bike and Build; why did he think it was a good idea to ride east to west against the winds?). We all made it though (plus there was our first time change when we crossed the Illinois border) and we were greeted by a girl on the trip’s parents who are Korean and made us an authentic Korean BBQ dinner. The food was amazing! Homemade dumplings, grilled veggies, rice, and much more was provided and it was all so delcious and a great change of pace from the food we are normally fed on B&B. It was a real treat that everyone really appreciated.

Thankfully, the ride to Pontiac, Illinois was only 44 miles. I had a great day of riding! I rode a lot of it alone which was a nice change. Since it was so short, and the weather was so beautiful it gave me a good amount of much needed alone time to soak up the sun, scenery, think about a lot of different things, reflect on where I am currently at in my life, and sing songs to myself. I really enjoyed my day of pedaling =)

Pontiac is also where we had our first real complete day off (1 of 3 for the entire trip). I woke up this morning and went out to a great breakfast with some of the greatest new people in my life. We laughed, recapped the events from last night’s trip to the bar, and enjoyed the great food, coffee, and company. The rest of the day I spent cleaning my bike, watching a movie, eating, and napping. It was a much needed day of rest and recovery that we all were so happy to have. Tomorrow we are off once again though on our bicycles for Peru, Illinois. Although it is a short only 50ish mile day, we are getting up at 5am to leave an hour earlier in hopes of arriving early in Peru. I Bike & Build alum from the Central US route last year lives close by and is throwing us a pool party =) Should be a good time. As much as we all loved our day off, I think we are all refreshed, anxious, and more than excited to get back on our bicycles and keep on pedaling.

I’m still in awe sometimes of where I am, and the fact that I have ridden my bicycle here. From talk at the bar last night, I am pretty sure we are well over 1,200 miles of riding so far and about a third of our adventure is already over…. Unreal.

92 miles to Gambier and Then a Beautiful 52 to Columbus

Hope everyone enjoyed my guest blogger who posted before this one about our build day with Rebuilding Together in Akron. I literally wrote one sentence and then there was a van about to leave for Wal-Mart that I ran to get it leaving my blog still up on Marty's computer who I was borrowing to write. He took it upon himself to write his version of my blog, which I later was too tired to finish and allowed him to post haha.

Anyways, the build day was pretty good. It's always so nice to have a day off for your butt... trust me, it needs the rest after being on a bike seat for hundreds of miles over the course of days. The house we helped out on belonged to a really sweet 82 yr old woman and we did a variety of tasks around her house including cleaning out her basement (and moving a very heavy fridge from the 50s), some landscaping, and painting. Overall it was a great day, and Marty was not lying about the amazing box lunches we were given that did include a very tasty mint. He was also not lying about my taking a nap while waiting for the van to come pick us all up... hey. there are two things I am learning from this trip and that is I am very tired and very hungry pretty much all the time and yet complain about it all never since I'm having such an amazing time =)

That night it rained and thundered all throughout dinner time, which we didn't mind one bit since we were inside and happily eating all the delicious food prepared for us by our host. After dinner the rain finally stopped and a gorgeous full rainbow appeared in the sky. We all went outside and stared at it for a really long time. It was so bright and clear it seriously looked like it wasn't even real... it was so cool. The sky and clouds were also really beautiful and we all enjoyed the view and each other's company until it started getting dark and decided to go inside to get to bed since we were doing 92 miles the next day.

The day started at 5am when the alarm went off (we decided to start an hour earlier that day since it was going to be such a long day mileage wise and there was also a prediction of afternoon showers). The first twenty miles or so went smoothly with some rolling hills, but nothing too difficult. About five or six of us stopped to use a restroom around this time and when we were getting ready to hit the road again one of the girls I was with noticed a man lying on the ground across the street from where we were. She said it looked like he was having a seizure or something and that she thought she saw him shaking. She started walking towards him and I'm not sure why, but something in me just told me to run over there. So I made someone hold my bike and took off running over to the man.

I was the first one to get to him and immediately noticed the pool of blood around his head. He was laying on his back and he was breathing heavily, but his eyes were closed and he was not responding to anything we were saying to him. I called 911 (the first time I ever have in my life) and calmly explained to the operator that we needed an ambulance. There was a bike on the ground by the man and it looked like he must have fallen off it and hit his head. The ambulance showed up in a few minutes and they managed to get a bandage on his head, put a neck brace on him, and took him to the hospital where he would probably going to have to have stitches. The whole encounter was really scary and definitely shook me up for a lot of the day, but in the end I felt like everything was ok and we helped someone who otherwise may not have gotten the help he needed.

The rest of the ride was interesting since we were officially in Amish Country. It was pretty crazy to see these people rolling around in their horse drawn carriages and funny hats and beards. The scenery was really beautiful though. Who knew Ohio was so green! We got to have two lunches since it was such a long day. We have what they call a 90/90 rule: if the temperature is over 90 degrees or if the mileage is over 90 than we get two lunches that day =). Although feeling pretty tired before the second lunch, getting that food and gatorade in me gave me what I needed to finish the last 20 miles pretty hard. The last 10 or so we rode in the rain, but at the end of the day it felt so good to arrive.

We stayed in Kenyon College's dorms and it was soooo nice to have a bed! They even gave us sheets and towels so we didn't have to use our sleeping bags or quick dry towels (they feel like you're rubbing your body with felt lol). We made our own dinner since no dinner was provided to us... pasta (which they burned and set off the fire alarm and the fire dept. came to turn it off hahaha) and cake and ice cream for dinner. I was so exhausted and slept really soundly in my nice dorm room bed.

This morning we woke up to our cue sheets saying we only had 52 miles to ride to Columbus. We were all in good spirits about that after our long almost century ride yesterday. The college provided us with breakfast at their dining hall and it was AMAZING. The ride was beautiful and fairly uneventful (which isn't always a bad thing lol) and I arrived in the first group at the JCC where we are staying tonight. We all decided to go swimming in their outside pool with water slides! It was really fun to swim and hang out and see everyone's horrible spandex tan lines haha. We also played a modified version of the game "Marco Polo" by simply changing the words. The person who was "it" would say "Bike" and we would all respond "Build", it was pretty funny and the lifeguards on duty got a good kick out of it.

So far I am having an unbelievable time on this trip... it's so hard to describe just how awesome it is. One thing that's really funny though is just how much you start to appreciate the simple things in life being on Bike & Build: Eating, sleeping, showering, a good cup of coffee (or some mornings any coffee lol), friends, amazing scenery, and the sun shining on you while riding along and singing a good song with your cycling buddies... does life get any better?

Rebuilding Together in Akron, OH

Today we had a build day in Akron with Rebuilding Together. I worked in the basement clearing out a smörgåsbord of dusty belongings accumulated over the past 50 years. I think I was getting a reaction from the dust, so After lunch i switched to scraping lead paint (obviously the better job.) Lunch, however, was very enjoyable. Box lunches complete with after dinner mint and moist towelettes were provided. I was able to fit in a short nap after building, utilizing one of my coworkers as a pillow ( a trend I am quickly learning to love)

P.s. Jess sends her love, but she was at Wall-Mart and/or sleeping/eating all day.
this was written by her pillow.

Oh and we are riding 92 miles tomorrow

Akron, OH - A Beautiful, Easy Day

For those of you who are following the route through the Bike & Build website may have noticed that today was suppose to be about an 85mile ride from Youngstown (where we were last night) to Akron (where we arrived this afternoon). The website is officially WAY wrong. The ride was only 42 miles and it was glorious! I rode with a few of the faster riders today (Shira is an animal on the bicycle) and flew to lunch arriving to find a ton of food that was donated to us by a local grocery store in Youngstown. People stuffed their faces with day old doughnuts, pastries, bagels, fruit, and cookies. Peanut butter also is used on just about everything on this trip, so that was also floating around. We were also given four cakes, muffins, cupcakes, more cookies, and enough different types of breads to feed a small army (which we kind of are, so it works).

After everyone stuffed their faces, and joked about who could eat the most doughnuts since we were given a garbage bag full of them lol, people layed in the sun, took naps, gave each other massages, played with bubbles (no one still is sure where Joe got them from lol), and just enjoyed each other's company and the warm sun. I personally took a nap in the sun and tried to even out some of my ever increasing spandex short tan lines. When I woke up it was a little past noon and decided it was probably time to get back on that bicycle and finish the last ten miles of the day.

The ride was easy, relaxed, and I even got to stop at a Super Wal-Mart before reaching the church we are staying at for the next two nights. People are hanging out before dinner that is being provided by our wonderful hosts. Some people went on a trip to the bike store where I am being picked up some more butt cream. It's surprising that I've almost gone through an entire tube, but seriously, we bike A LOT.

Tomorrow we are having a build day (yay of rest for our butts) with an affordable housing organization called Rebuilding Together. I have never worked with them before and am really excited about it. Rumor is that we will be doing painting, carpentry work, and landscaping, but who knows if it this is true or just another thing going around what we know call the Bike and Build "rumor mill" haha. Either way it's a day our butts are not glued to our saddles and that is always a plus =)

Goodbye Pennslyvania, Hello Ohio!

After what turned out to be a very wet and cold day of riding yesterday, we arrived in Franklin, PA (about 70 miles). The first 40 miles before lunch were extremely wet, semi-hilly, not the best of scenery, and I was frozen by the time we got to the stop. About 5 miles away I was joking with the guy I was riding with about my toes probably needing to be amputated since they were so frozen and I couldn't feel them since we left Warren. Thankfully Marita (the leader driving the van yesterday) was awesome and pulled through on finding an AMAZING lunch stop. It was this cute little coutry store/restaurant type place called Nancy's. It reminded me a lot of a Cracker Barrel except not so commerical and more quaint. Marita somehow managed to talk the manager into letting us all have lunch there, dripping wet, muddy, and shivering. She even let us bring our own food and drinks in and just sit at their tables and eat. A lot of us ended up ordering hot drinks (coffee =) !), soup, or compelte meals. I ordere the "Logger" which included 3 awesome wheat pancakes, two eggs, homefries, and sausage. It was delicious, just what I needed, and totally hit the spot to help me get through the next 30 miles.

The second half of the ride was really nice since we took two really pretty bike paths into Franklin. The pastor of the church we stayed at in Franklin, Pastor Sam, is an avid cyclist himself and he actually rode the 70 miles to Warren the previous day so he could ride with us and show us the route. He was an animal on that bike! He can really pedal. The last 30 miles weren't too bad at all and ended with me and three other people happily pedaling and singing beach boys songs haha.

Pastor Sam was really kind to us all and bought all 31 of us Subway sandwiches for dinner and even showed us a really cool coffee shop in town that his son worked at (best peppermint vanilla latte ever!). After a good night's sleep on the church floor and waffles for breakfast that Pastor Sam also provided us with, we waved goodbye and began pedaling once again with sights set on Ohio.

The ride started out extremely hilly, with more than a few big climbs. The downhills of course are always fun, and do make all that hard work somewhat worthwhile. The sky threatened us with rain all day, but ended up just being really overcast with no showers (thankfully, I don't know if I could have handled another day of wet, cold, and shivering). It was a bit chilly though and I was wearing quite a few layers to get me through the day. It was a pretty short and easy ride of 60 miles.

The best part of the day though was definitely around mile 50 when out in the distance I could see the blue "welcome to Ohio" sign. I got so excited and pedaled really fast to get there. We all got off our bikes and took pictures. There was also a field right next to the sign on the side of the highway that had huge bales of hay in it, so I ran and jumped on top of one, which was pretty fun and caused everyone to come and jump on them as well. After some more pictures and playing, we got back on our saddles for the last 10 miles into Youngstown, OH.

We are staying at a church here and walked about 10 minutes to the Youngstown State University where they allowed us to shower in one of their dorms. Tonight we are having dinner at one of the girls on the trip's cousin's house in Youngstown. They are having a BBQ for us (yay cheeseburgers!). Of course, as the theme of the trip goes, dinner is hours away and I am starving. I am at the public library which is right next door to the church we are staying at so I am just going to finish up this post and probably go find a snack.

Tomorrow we are going to Akron, OH which is suppose to be about 85 miles (our longest ride so far) and we are staying in Akron for two nights. We have a build day there on Saturday. I am so excited about being in Ohio! Pennslyvania although prettier than I thought, did not treat B&B well with it's wet and cold rain and monstrous rolling hills.

Warren, PA ~ 75 miles

Woke up today in Caudersport, PA at 5:45am (normal wake up time for me on this trip) on the floor of a church's youth center. I noticed immediately it was a little chilly, and reluctantly I crawled out of my sleeping bag, which somehow I managed to turn in the opposite direction in the middle of the night (I was later informed by the guy sleeping on the ground next to me that I kicked him in the back in the middle of the night. My guess is this occurred during the turning haha). With 31 of us sometimes crammed into tight areas you really have zero privacy and are practically sleeping on top of each other some nights. Anyways, we got ready, packed our bags and the trailer, had breakfast (pb&j on a bagel for me and coffee of course), and set off for Warren, PA which we were told was about 69 miles away.

The forcast for today said rain and they weren't kidding. First of all, the temperature in the morning was 53 degrees and it ended up not getting too much warmer throughout the day. I was freezing! And once it started raining, I was wet and freezing which is never a good combination. Mile 40 (after a couple long climbs up a mountain) led to a much needed lunch break. We all piled into the van and cranked on the heat. After a good half hour in there, a turkey sandwich, peanut butter sandwich, apple, and half a cliff bar later, I was starting to be able to feel my toes again. Everyone who was planning on finishing the ride had already left by this point except a few of us so we all gathered our courage, went outside and faced the wind, rain, and cold once again for the last 30 or so miles.

I actually had a ton of energy and my legs and butt were feeling really good today (maybe they were numb from the cold and I just couldn't feel the pain?) and I ended up leaving the two girls I was cycling with. I caught up with another two girls who gave me the final directions for the last 10 miles of the ride since I lost my cue sheet (directions the leaders make for us) in the rain when it got soaking wet in the terrential downpour and and pretty much fell apart. I passed them and kept going strong towards Warren, PA.

I made the first turn I was suppose to make just fine, but then missed the second one since the road I was looking for had a different name at the point where I was suppose to turn onto it. I ended up going about 2 miles past the turn when I was alone and realized I wasn't going the right direction. My cell phone hasn't been getting service for the past four days so I started getting scared that I was going to be lost, alone, and have no way of contacting anyone, but luckily when I turned my cell on I got service! (and about 15 texts and voicemails). I called someone for directions and was back on track again. I ended up getting to the YMCA in Warren where we are staying tonight and was really wet and cold, but so satisfied and proud to have made it and once again overcome more than I thought my body could physically or emotionally handle.

It's kind of sad when after an hour at the Y I really feel like I have been at a spa and pampered hahaha. They have a sauna here, which I layed in for a good half hour and it was amazing. Then I took a nice long hot shower which was also amazing. After that I plucked my eyebrows and used the blowdryer they had in the women's locker room, put some makeup on and I feel like a million bucks lol. I am anxiously awaiting dinner. It is our first time cooking one for ourselves and a few people are making burritos for everyone.

Tomorrow we ride to Franklin, PA (rumor is it's about 65 miles, but we will see). After that we cross into Ohio! We will be having a much needed day of rest from the saddle with a build day with the local Habitat in Akron, OH.

I'm having a unbelivable time so far and am amazed at how nice everyone on my trip is. People are so willing to share with each other, be flexible, and step up when things need to be done it's really cool to see so many young people like this. I am going to say though that sometimes the lack of privacy is overwhelming at some much needed alone time is needed, but overall I really am enjoying these people that I feel so close to after only a couple weeks. One of the leaders who did the central US B&B route last year was telling us the other day that when this is all over it will actually feel weird to shower, eat, sleep, or do pretty much any day to day activity alone at first since we really are together 24 hours a day 7 days a week right now haha. We will just have to wait and see...

PS - The weather forcast for tomorrow isn't looking much better than it was today. Supposedly 45 degrees (I thought it was summer?) and chances of showers... BOO

Wellsboro and Coudersport, PA

We crossed the border from NY and into PA! Yay! I have never done this much biking in my life and honestly, my butt is starting to hurt pretty bad lol. Life is pretty good though all around, really can't complain too much.

Wellsboro, PA is where we stayed last night on the floor of a very cramped church. I had a pretty rough ride coming into the city. I was just really tired, and I definitely have not been stretching enough after my rides and it was starting to catch up to me. My muscles in the my legs had been so tight they felt like they were going to rip in half for the first like 10 miles. I think the ride was only suppose to be about 50 miles, but it ended up being about 68 (more mileage is becoming way too common of a theme this summer lol). It was nice though stopping in a really cute looking town called Mansfield along the way where we all got ice cream. I got this flavor called "Buffalo Sabres" and it was delicious. Vanilla ice cream, fudge, chocolate covered pieces of cone, and peanuts (YUM!).

Wellboro was a really awesome town too. We walked a few blocks to a local gym that allowed us to take showers (the best shower I've had so far this trip). There was also a sauna there that I layed in for a good 15 minutes before my shower that really helped losen up the muscles. The church we were staying at didn't provide us with dinner, so a bunch of us went to a local diner and I got a great omlette breakfast for dinner and had awesome conversation with three other guys on the trip with me. Everyone on the trip is really cool, which I am so happy about. We laughed and ate and laughed some more pretty much all dinner. I'm really happy to be getting to know these people, and know that I will have life long amazing memories with them forever.

Today was actually a great ride. Didn't get lost (YES!). Only one large climb towards the end of the ride, and was at the church by 2ish. The ride was really fun today. The shoulder of the highway we were riding on was large enough for two of us to ride side by side and me and a girl Lindsey rode the entire trip together today sharing stories, laughing, and enjoying the beautiful PA scenery. We also managed to escape the downpour of rain just in time!

Dinner is now here, and as always on this trip, I'm starving! I'm also going on about day 4 of no cell phone service... stupid Sprint. Until next time... =)

Build Day in Binghamton, NY

We stopped for lunch yesterday in a small town in NY called Deposit and apparently it was a hot story in which the bank (who's parking lot we were parked in) called the newspaper to get over there ASAP and talk to us haha. Here is the article she emailed to us. Some of the info is a little inaccurate.. oh well. We actually were required to each raise $4,000, but on average our route raised $4,300 per rider with our route's total being about $140,000.

Thanks so much Jake and everyone for the opportunity to do a photo and put your story in The Deposit Courier, Deposit New York. Hope its a great summer for all of you!

WITH A TIP from Mary Fineout of NBT Bank on Front Street The Deposit Courier went down to snap a picture of bikers, in back of the NBT parking lot, who stopped to take a rest on Thursday, June 12. The group of 31 bikers, ranging in age from 18 to 24 years old and from all parts of the country, are part of the bikeandbuild.org who are pedaling to end poverty housing.

Through fund-raising cycling trips, Bike & Build raises money for awareness of affordable housing efforts. Their events act as a catalyst to build homes, foster the spirit of service, and empower young adults...mile by mile, house by house.

Their trek began in Providence, RI and will end in Seattle, WA. This group's goal was to raise 4,000 this trip. They have already raised 4,300. Their group alone has raised 140,000 in the past. So far combined groups have raised 475,000 this year, and a total of 1.1 million in the history of the group.

The cyclists were ready to head towards Binghamton at 2:00 p.m. where they were stopping Friday to help build a house. They are partnered with Habitat for Humanity.

It will take them a total of 70 days total to reach their destination. Most of them will fly back to their homes, but there are some who plan on, (imagine that,) biking back.

For more information or if you wish to make a donation go to their website bikeand build.org

Today we had a build day in Binghamton, NY with the local Habitat for Humanity. We woke up at 7am and arrived on site by about 8:30 am to see four HUGE piles of soil. I think the director said it was about 16 tons! Our job was to shovel it all and spread it all over the yard. It took a while and was a lot of hard work, but I actually really enjoyed shoveling it! It was a good workout and worked different muscles than we are using everyday on the bike.

We had a lunch of pizza and fruit which was nice since we all seem to be starving all the time. After lunch we finished spreading the soil and then got to work on planting the grass. First we put down fertilizer. Then, some lime. And last the grass seeds. Then you rake it all so to mix the seeds into the top layer of soil. Then we covered the ground with hay which helps keep the ground moist and keeps the seeds from drying out. They had the sprinklers going as we pulled away in our van. It was a lot of hard manual labor, but I had a lot of fun doing it.

Tomorrow we set out for Towanda, Pennslyvania which should be about 70 miles. Hoping to not get lost. We will see...

You can check my photos that I uploaded directly onto the bike and build website (and everyone else's photos from my route) at this link http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,257/

love everyone! xoxo

Days 1 - 6 of Riding

Hey everyone! OMG so it's been crazy past week or so. I am sitting at an internet cafe in Binghamton, NY so I am going to try to make this kinda quick... sorry.

We started our first day in Providence and rode what was suppose to be a quick 30 miles to Woodstock, CT and stayed at The Hyde boarding school. I was sweep (had to ride at the end to make sure everyone got there safe) and it ended up being a longer day than I thought. Three of our riders actually got extremely lost and ended up in Massachusetts (we were suppose to be heading towards Connecticut!). But in the end, we all got there. The heat was so bad the first three days of riding though, it was so awful. It was hotter up here than down in Miami! It was in the high 90s for a good four days or so and it happened to be our first days of riding. A lot of people were not used to riding in it, but I was ok for the most part.

Our hosts were really nice and provided us with a cookout dinner of hamburgers, hotdogs, etc. So far all our food has been provided, we havent had to cook, and it' s all been really delicious!

Day 2 we headed out of Woodstock for Granby, CT where we stayed at the First Congressional Church of Granby on their basement floor. Dinner was awesome!

Day 3 was probably my favorite day when we headed Kent, CT. It was so unbelievably hot and we had a nice 55 mile ride ahead of us. We were all near death and heat exhaustion when we came upon the Kent Falls. These waterfalls are supposedly really famous and people come from miles around to see them. They were gorgeous! I will post pics later, but forgot my camera. We all stripped down to spandex and sports bras and went swimming in th falls. The water was really cold, but felt amazing since it was like 97 degrees outside and we had been riding and sweaating for hours.

That night we stayed at the Kent boarding school on the gym floor. The only problem was the heat! It was so hot, I ended up dragging my sleeping bag out onto the football field and sleeping under the stars. They were so pretty and bright! it was also surrounded by rolling hillls all around and although I woke up a bit damp and dewy, it was totally worth it.

Day 4 we set off for Poughkeepsie, NY. It again was suppose to only be a 35 mile ride, but again people got lost. This is a common theme on the Bike and Build trips I am coming to see. We all get lost at least once a day. It helps when people write arrows in the right direction on the road in chalk that we all carry around in our camelbacks. This had been getting better over the days. I actually was lucky enough to not get lost that day since I was in the last group to leave and by that point we had realized they all took the wrong turn out of the school. So instead I went and got coffee in town, had coffee, chatted with some locals about B&B and our trip, rode back to the school and still peopel had not gotten back from riding the wrong direction. 5mins later they were there and i left with them.

We stayed at an Episcopal church in Pough. and they were extremely nice, as I am noticing a lot of people are. Again, we stayed on their basement floor. They fed us breakfast the next morning and we set off for Roscoe, NY. This was suppose to be a 70mile ride and ended up being 85! We got extremely lost, and the hills (or i really should call them mountains because they were!) were ridicuolous. The grade on some of them were so ridiculous that most people walked their bikes up a lot of them. I was determined to not get off and although I stopped to rest a lot, I fought hard and rode up every single hill (some at about 2mph). It seriously was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life and definitely the longest hardest day I've ever had on the bike. The leaders also apologized and claimed that should be like the hardest day we will have all summer. The day was about 11 hours long, 8 hours in the saddle (on my bike). It sucked really bad. By the time we arrived at the church I was shaking from hunger and exhaustion. Food was ready when we arrived and I ate more than I ever have. It was so so good. FYI... more then half of our group eneded up getting picked up by the van because they couldnt finish the ride and only a handful who did finish actually rode every mile and did not walk their bike up any hills (ME!!) I was so proud of myself after getting up like 10 miles of ridiculousness that when I arrived at the top surrounded by a gorgeous view I literally was overcome with emotion and accomplishment that I started crying... I know, it was emotional and crazy.

We actually got to stay at an Inn in the mountains and got to sleep in beds! it was amazing! I woke up feeling still tired, but had a great night's sleep. We had breakfast at the local habitat for humanity's restaurant that he owns in Roscoe. The pancakes were awesome. They filled me up nice and we set off for Binghamton, NY.

Today was a 70mile ride. I did not get lost and it really was like 70 miles. The only issue in the day was mountain biking for a good 5 miles. Apparently if we decided to not go on the dirt, rock, gravel road then it would have added another 10 miles to the trip. So we stuck it out with the gravel. We all arived at the First Congressional Church here and are sleeping on a basement floor once again tonight. We are actually staying here two nights since tomorrow we have a build day with the Habitat here. We are all VERY happy to get off our bikes for a day.

I will try to post more often! It's harder to find internet than I thought. I will try to come back to this cafe again tomorrow and post more/ picures. Last, I just want to say that one amazing thing about this trip is that I am starting to have hope again that there are a lot more good, kind and generous people out there than I thought. People have been so incredible kind to us wherever we go that it is so refreshing. Take care everyone and I will write again soon!

PS - the best part about going up hills/mountains is coming down. My max speed downhill so far is 42.7mps =) I got scared and hit the brakes at that.

First Build Day!

Last night we had a great dinner of footlong subs donated by Subway, which we happily munched on while listening to the director from the Providence Habitat for Humanity talk with us a little about what we are dedicating our lives to this summer. Today we woke up and actually got to get out there and build with them.

My day started with a nice trip to Starbucks where I got a tall sugar free caramel coffee and then met up with the group for a short walk to a local Brown University favorite diner called Louie's. They were kind enough to donate or meal. We had a choice of made to order egg breakfast that included toast and homefries (I got this), pancakes, or french toast. Breakfast was nice, the food was good, he service about as good as you're going to get at a diner, and the conversation with what is becoming new great friendships was entertaining.

After breakfast, and waiting for 31 people to use the bathroom, we piled into our two 15 passenger vans and were off for our first build day. Unfortunately, we did not get to go to the actual site where the house we were helping to construct was going to be that day. There have been some legal issues with the piece of land that the Providence Habitat for Humanity is trying to build this particular house on, and for this reason we instead were in a huge warehouse hammering away... literally. Our job today was to construct all the wall frames for the soon to be house. This required looking at drawings and placing the correct pieces of wood in the correct places and hammering them into place. It was really cool to learn how to read the plans (they were simple enough with the number and lettering system they use) and actually use a hammer and nail together these soon to be walls.

We took a lunch break a few hours in (also donated by a local rib house) and we had ribs, chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, and cornbread. My favorite part was definitely the cornbread mmm... It turns out the the house we were building that day was paid for by the money raised by the Providence to Seattle Bike and Build trip from last year. It was cool to see and know that the money we are raising on this trip is truly being put to good use, and it felt awesome to be a part of it. After lunch, we started hammering away again for another couple hours, and ended up finishing around 2:00pm. It was a really fun build day, and made me so excited for our next one.

I am much more excited though that tomorrow is our first day of riding! I am actually assigned as a sweeper for tomorrow's ride. Every day two riders are assigned as sweepers. The sweepers' responsibilities are just to ride at the very end of the group to make sure no one gets left behind. I am kind of glad that one of my days I am assigned this is tomorrow since it is going to be such a short ride and most of the group will be riding together anyways.

Dinner tonight was also a really fabulous donated meal that I know more than a couple people reading this will truly appreciate.... burritos from Chipotle! They were really good, except for some reason the one I picked was guacamole free while the other 3 burritos being ravishly consumed around me were full of the green gold and it made me slightly jealous. We also had a Bike and Build alumi from last year's Providence to San Francisco route come talk to us about his experience, what to expect, and answer any questions we may still have. He was really funny and got us all pretty pumped about our trip's official pedaling start tomorrow.

I am hoping to learn a lot, laugh a lot, experience the country both through the beautiful scenery and the wonderful people I meet in each town, and feel like I have accomplished something great at the end of this awesome journey.

Some fun and cool facts I learned tonight:
Since Bike and Build's 1st trips in 2002, they have raised over $1.1 MILLION for affordable housing and donated over 20,000 hours of volunteering to affordable housing groups.

This year's trips alone have raised over $150,000 and will be donating over 12,000 hours in volunteering.

Pretty amazing!

Things I have been contemplating the past few days of orientation:
Things I am already missing and/or think I am going to definitely be missing when I reach Seattle:

hair dryer, straightener, hair products
my bed (and not a 1 inch thick blow-up mattress with sleeping bag)
my own room (and not sleeping on the floor surrounded by 30 of my new "closest" friends, who may or may not snore... TBD)
not dressing like a slob/bum everyday
makeup and perfume
my own laptop... i miss it already
privacy
not having to shower with other people (i was told a traditional gym showering environment is what is to be expected)
going back to FL where the riding is flat (except for the bridges that get you to the beach)
not having to label EVERYTHING with my name

so far, this is all I have come up with... but i will definitely up date and/or correct as the trip unfolds....

Orientation & Shakedown Ride

So far things are good. We are just hanging out at Brown U. not doing all too much. There has been getting to know people, which so far seems ok. People seem really nice and I think I will end up getting along fine with everyone. There has been passing of information about just daily chores (we have chore groups that switch responsibilities every week), bike safety, riding in the van if you are sick or injured, hygiene (yeah we get to shower!), host sites and being nice to the people letting us stay with them and feeding us for free, and other just basic what to expect this summer. There has been a lot of free time and just hanging out and eating.

We went on what they called a "Shakedown Ride" today, which was just a slow 20 mile ride to make sure everyone was comfortable riding in a group, clipping into their pedals, and that everyone's bike is working properly. It was kind of a tease I think to most of us since we are all pretty anxious to get on the road and start this adventure. It was good though. I am starting to feel a lot more comfortable on hills, and the leaders of our group have also done a really good job as far as setting the tone for the trip. Go at you're own pace, we are all going to make it in the end, and most of all have fun!

Tonight all that is on the agenda is dinner at 7 (seems really far away right now, I'm starving!) and then some guest speakers from the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity to talk with us about affordable housing, the cause we have all worked so hard to fundraise for, and have decided to dedicate our summers to. Tomorrow we get to have our first build day, yay! And then Saturday is finally the big day we are all waiting for... first day of biking! I really think this is going to be the most incredible summer of my life and cannot wait to see how it all turns out.

As I have already said, I am going to try and post as much as possible to this, but I did go to the Brown bookstore today and bought a journal to write in just in case I cannot get to a computer. I don't want the days to get all fuzzy and not be able to remember what happened where, etc. Also, for those of you who did not already know this, you can follow my group's trip on the Bike & Build website. www.bikeandbuild.org Click on the Providence to Seattle route and there is a route tracker which shows you where we are on that day as well as any pictures that anyone on the trip has uploaded. The leaders were showing us all this morning how the website worked and everything we could do with it and it's really cool. One person is also assigned a few days throughout the trip where they are responsible for writing the journal entry for our group on the website. So you guys can all check that out too if you want to get a better perspective of what's going on everyday. Miss everyone already, and the biking hasn't even officially started!

6 Months All Leading Up To Today

In about 3 hours I will officially be checked in and have started my trip. I am getting really excited and a little nervous. The past few days have been crazy trying to pack my very tiny bag many different times in different ways to see what works the best. Unfortunately, my laptop will be going back to Florida and not with me on this adventure due to space limitations. It really is insane how little I am bringing with me and still how much less space I have for it all. In one day I went to camping/outdoors stores 4 times to return, exchange, and purchase items. I think I made it very obvious to the people working there I have no idea what I am doing, and know absolutely nothing about sleeping bags, duffel bags, compression sacks, stuff sacks, or any other outdoorsy gear. It was a long couple day, and as frustrated as it got me (people who know me know just how much I love packing), it is over and the day I have been waiting for for 6 months is finally here.

We will spend 3 nights at Brown University in Providence, RI in their dorms. Two days of orientation... bike safety, learning how to maitain our bikes, change flats, purchase last minute equipment, decide everyone's daily responsibilies, etc. Friday we get to have a build day with the local Habitat for Humanity. Then Saturday we are finally off on our bicycles! I can't wait to get after it.

Providence is a really cute little town and so far I have had a great time here. Josh and I got here last night around 5 or 6 and went to dinner and all. On the way to dinner a guy working in the hotel we are staying at asked if we were going to fire water. My first thought was that fire water was some cool restaurant or something, but it actually is fire on the water (the river) in town. After dinner we walked over to where it was and it was really cool. I took some pictures, but they didn't really come out all the good (see for yourself). Basically it was like 20 campfires on the water, which looked really awesome. I don't understand our fascination with watching fire burn, but it's fun.

Anyways, today is the day my summer adventure officially starts... I will not say wish me luck, but I will say wish me safety. Since I am not bringing my laptop I do not know how often I will be able to post, but I promise to try my best to borrow people's computers or seek out public access ones as much as possible. Also know that emails j.lortie2@umiami.edu, facebook messages, and texts/phone calls are a good idea and will be answered.

WATER FIRE!!!

The Boston Commons on a beautiful spring day

View of the city from the Duck Tours boat

Fenway Park! We had tickets for the game the day after Lester's no hitter... @&%$!

Josh with Sam Adams at the Sam Adams Brewery tour