Cross-Country Katy: Let the Fun Begin

Design for one side of our trailer - it's all downhill baby!!

Where do I even start to describe the past week? I don't think my words can sum up the whirlwind that has been rider orientation and the first several days of this journey, so I'll keep it brief and let pictures do the talking. Our group quickly latched on to one another during 2.5 days of rider orientation, which involved icebreakers, presentations, trailer-painting, a shakedown ride, and a birthday celebration on day two for one of the riders. I'm blown away at how quickly we've become so close, and how much I adore and care about the 32 other people I'll be with all summer.

On the last day of orientation we had our first build day with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland. We worked on two different homes on the same lot and completed a TON of work in one day - roofing, insulation, painting and all sorts of other build terms I'm not quite familiar with yet. I did learn that the insulation techniques that Habitat uses can help cut annual energy costs by up to 2/3 of the average (which can translate into several thousand dollars). I also spent a fair amount of time on a ladder, hanging out of windows, and up and down scaffolding, which greatly appealed to my inner monkey. The local news station came and put together a piece for the nightly news, seen here:

Volunters Riding Bikes and Building Homes for the Summer

Bro team on roofing duty

Becca taking the saw to some blue board

Part of our crew of 33 lined up for the wheel dip.

Then on Friday we experienced the moment we had been waiting for for so long (6+ months!) - the wheel dip ceremony in the Atlantic Ocean and the official start of our trip. We had a short ride from the church we stayed at down to the beach, and a few riders took a slight detour and added on some "bonus miles" as we like to call it. We have quickly come to find that getting lost and making wrong turns is always bound to happen and is nothing to sweat. Once everyone arrived, we lined up to dip our back tires in the water before taking off (with a lot of picture-taking and chanting in between). It's hard to believe that we'll be doing the same thing with our front wheels in the Pacific by the end of the summer.

Host-pitality

From Portland we made our way to Kittery, ME along winding coastal Maine roads and a shaded gravel trail. Any time my group made a wrong turn, we ended up somewhere awesome - a rocky beach with a view, a worn-down boat dock/shack covered in bouys, etc. We tacked on 5-10 bonus miles that day and arrived at the host site happier than ever. I've been blown away by the hospitality of the hosts (mostly churches and schools) that we stay with. There are personalized signs, welcoming parties, homemade meals, snacks and more awaiting our arrival. The locals have been incredibly hospitable and interested in our adventure, and I've already had countless conversations with people who felt like a good friend by the time we left the next morning. We even had a spontaneous drum/dance circle in a gazebo in the middle of a park in downtown Fitchburg, MA that was maybe my favorite moment of the trip thus far (so many to choose from!!).

Here's a few more pictures from this first week. I don't think I'll have much time to blog, but I hope I can continue posting pictures and brief updates/descriptions of how the trip has been going. I sent out my first 10 donor postcards yesterday, so be on the lookout for those! In a nutshell, I'm having the freaking time of my life.