WE DID IT!

As of today, my Bike & Build fundraising goal of $4,500 has been surpassed! I am overwhelmed by the support and generosity of my family and friends in reaching this goal that I thought would be nearly impossible. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to all of the fabulous people from every chapter of my life who have come forward to make this trip possible for me AND raise money for the affordable housing cause in America. 

I'm On a Bike

Winding along the Clark Fork River Trail

On Friday I helped lead 50 fifth graders on a field trip to downtown Missoula for a picnic in Caras Park - on bikes. When I was in grade school I remember going on field trips to the Memphis Zoo, Pink Palace Museum and Elmwood Cemetery, but it always included a school bus or parent carpool. Sending 50 kids on an 8 mile bike ride in April in Montana is either awesome or just plain crazy. I'm going to go with awesome based on the huge grins on the kids' faces the whole time. Ok, except when one kid got his jeans so badly stuck in his chain I had to rip them out, or when another kid wiped out just blocks from the school and ended up with a bloody lip. You get the point...

I treated the field trip as practice for leading my Bike & Build trip this summer, because I'm sure that leading 50 kids on an 8 mile ride is just like leading 30 young adults on a 4,000 mile trip. There were highlights - hearing the kids talk about how proud they were for riding farther than they ever had, listening to their shrieks of laughter as we rode through tunnels and over bridges, and returning back to the school with everyone safe and intact, mind the bloody lip. There were also obstacles along the way - inexperienced riders, near crashes and collisions, whiners, stragglers, and a chilly headwind on the way back. One girl who had just learned to ride a bike the week before took a spill going into a tunnel where the group had bottlenecked. She was understandably shaken up and wanted to have her mom pick her up and take her back to school. A few deep breaths and words of encouragement later and she was back on the bike, riding confidently the rest of the way to school and stopping only to pose for a picture taken by her proud mother. I'm hopeful that the field trip will leave a positive, lasting impression on her and the rest of the students, just as I am certain that this summer will be an unforgettable experience that will instill a lifetime of cycling and service in myself and everyone else on the trip.

Before the field trip, I gave a bike safety presentation to each of the fifth grade classes to help prepare them for what was ahead. I started out by showing them a rap video that I created with some students a couple years ago. It's called "I'm On a Bike," and Adventure Cycling and Missoula in Motion have featured it on their social media sites. Maybe you'll pick up a couple tips from watching it...

Biking in Portlandia

I'm sure all of the hipsters in Portland hate when it's called Portlandia, but as an outsider I just can't help myself. If you haven't seen the show, Portlandia is a satire/sketch comedy that spoofs all of the things that makes Portland, Oregon the wonderful city that it is. Check out one of my favorite clips, that also happens to involve biking:



It's spring break for the schools in Missoula, which means time for my annual trip to Portland to visit my best friend, Lindsay. This time I twisted my friend Leah's arm to make her tag along for the road trip and a visit to the city she called home for several years. I love making this trip for so many reasons:

Leah and Lindsay chowing down on some naan. 

• I get to see my best friend (duh).
• I leave Montana during the shoulder season when the skiing isn't great, and the biking isn't great, and the weather isn't all that great either. 
• I get out of the Missoula bubble and experience the "big city life" in Portland. 
• I eat tons of delicious ethnic foods that I can't get in Montana, unless you count China Buffet. 
• I bike everywhere!

Portland (and the rest of the Pacific Northwest) is notorious for its extended rainy season and heavy rainfall, and boy did it deliver. We drove almost the whole 8 hours there in the rain and spent our first day in Portland biking all over the city in our rain jackets and rain pants that had completely soaked through. At one point the rain was coming down so hard while we were crossing one of the many bridges over the  Willamette River that it felt like I may as well have been in the river I was so drenched. The three of us could do nothing but laugh at the absurdity of the situation as we pressed on to our next stop - a warmer, drier place. 

Rocking my new flashy tights and bike. 

Portland's bike infrastructure is the best I've seen in a city, big or small. There are bike lanes on almost every major street, designated bike routes that wind through the neighborhoods, indoor and covered bike parking at many establishments, and a number of bike and pedestrian-specific pathways and bridges along the river. In fact, a project is currently underway to complete a new bridge across the Willamette designed to carry light rails, buses, cyclists and pedestrians, but no private vehicles (except emergency responders). Coupled with the awareness and courtesy that motorists have of bike commuters, it just makes Portland downright fun to bike around. While Lindsay was at work, Leah and I spent our last day making a 30-mile loop around Portland's many distinct neighborhoods and downtown area without even a drop of rain falling on us. Then we met Lindsay after work for happy hour on the 30th floor Portland City Grill overlooking the entire city and Mt. Hood. We watched helplessly as a rain cloud moved closer and closer towards us and proceeded to bike home in the pouring rain.

The eye-catching Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge, scheduled to open in September 2015.