Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri

Comin’ at ya from Joplin, where we are spending our last night in the state of Missouri before our final 3-state day tomorrow (Missouri-Kansas-Oklahoma). We are nearing our halfway point, with more than 1,700 miles and a full month under our belts (butts?). Here are a few of the many highlights since my last post:

Bike Clinic/World's Best Potluck:

Jeff, Dan, and Jessica excited for some homemade goodness

Rushville, Indiana will forever have a special place in my heart and my stomach. We rolled into town after a 76 mile day to a greeting of cold drinks, fresh fruit and cookies provided by St. Paul’s UMC.  Before dinner we hosted a bike clinic for kids in the neighborhood and had around 10 kids show up – a much better turnout than our first bike clinic (1). We set up different stations to teach the kids about bike maintenance, safety and skills. At the end they put everything into action with a short ride around the neighborhood, led by some of our fabulous riders. The bike clinic was one of my highlights of the week, as I loved being around the kids and sharing the joy of bike-riding with them.

The welcoming crew at St Paul's UMC in Rushville

After the bike clinic we joined church members for an incredible dinner spread. The pastor took great pride in the meal they provided and requested an e-mail at the end of the trip to see if anyone else had outdone them. The potluck was so big we had to weave in and out of the kitchen to hit every dish and take two plates and bowls apiece to try everything – fried chicken, pastas, casseroles, tacos, fruit salads, pizza, corn on the cob, and everything else 33 famished cyclists could want. The dessert table(s) even included a prize-winning chocolate cake made by one of the youth group members and destined for the state fair. I managed to find room for a piece on my dessert plate in between the apple pie and banana cream pie. This kind of glorious gluttony is exactly how I envisioned my eating habits this summer.

The Best Worst Day Ever:  

1000th mile celebratory headstand

Our last ride in Indiana was perhaps the most memorable of the trip thus far. It was a 95 mile day to Salem, IL, and I was riding sweep (last back) with my buddy Kelsey. The day was a series of ups and downs that included sweeping a couple riders who needed to ride in the van due to illness/injury, jumping on hay bales, riding my 1000^th mile of the trip, crossing our first time zone, and eventually catching up to a group of riders who experienced the misfortune of almost 10 flat tires in a day. Every time they flatted out we stopped to help and admire the view of the endless roadside cornfields. Our progress was painfully slow, as we would make it no more than a couple miles before the next flat. 

By the time we reached second lunch (we have two lunches on 90+ mile days), it was already 4:00. We still had almost 25 miles to go and groups ahead reported a “wicked” storm approaching. As we finished gorging ourselves with snacks, the dark clouds loomed overhead and we decided to try to make it as far as we could before seeking shelter. As we pedaled out of the parking lot and over the adjacent bridge crossing the state line into Illinois, the storm did it’s best to keep us in Indiana. I could barely rotate my pedals to get up and over the bridge as the wind picked up and the rain began. On the other side of the bridge one of my riding partners, Lucas, and I stopped just long enough to take a picture in front of the state sign. We cackled hysterically while getting drenched in our attempt to document the moment. 

Gimme shelter in an abandoned building

About a hundred feet away our group had taken shelter in an abandoned building that appeared to be covered in bullet holes. After waiting out the storm for another 45 minutes, we decided to forego the offer to be picked up by the van and finish the ride. A few miles in we found ourselves riding along a winding country road with a pink sunset over a lake to our left and the thunderclouds moving away from us to the right. The lighting was perfect and everything sparkled with moisture from the storm. That’s when we realized we had made a wrong turn and gone several miles in the wrong direction. On the way back to our route, Chris got another flat. It was almost 7:00, and we had been on the road for a full 12 hours with 15 miles left to go. Out of tubes and unsure if the bikes would hold up, we decided to call it quits and have the van come pick us up. It wasn’t how we envisioned our day ending, but the group morale was high up to the very end. We coined it the “best worst day ever” to encapsulate the highs and lows of the days and the fact that there are no bad days on Bike & Build.       

Build Days in St. Louis and Springfield:

Build day with Rebuilding Together

We had two build days in Missouri – one in St. Louis and one in Springfield. The St. Louis build day was with an organization called Rebuilding Together that does home repairs for low-income housing, focusing on vulnerable populations like veterans, the elderly, and people with disabilities. We worked on two homes on a block of a street where half of the homes had been abandoned and blockaded. My favorite part was spending time on the porch with one of the homeowners and her daughter, listening to their stories about their family and living in St. Louis.  Another Bike & Build group had come through about a month prior to work on her house, and she was thrilled to have our group continue the projects.

Check out your local Habitat Restore!

Our second build day in Missouri was with Habitat for Humanity in Springfield – hometown of Brad Pitt, Bob Barker, and the world’s largest Bass Pro Shop.  We got a different look at the organization by spending the day at the Restore, a home improvement store, donation and recycling center. This particular Restore was quite impressive in size and scope. It included 3 large warehouses and brings in 1.2 million dollars every year, covering all of the affiliate’s operating expenses so that every dollar donated can go directly towards new home construction. We spent the day doing odd jobs around the Restore to help organize and stock the warehouses and home improvement center. If you have a Restore in your area, I highly recommend checking it out, as there are some great (and cheap!) finds that help support an awesome cause.

Onwards to Oooooooooooklahoma tomorrow!

How many B&Bers does it take to screw in a bulb?

Mannequins (and Lucas) on sale at the Restore

Entryway to the Bass Pro headquarters

Special visitors in St. Louis - my parents!!

...& Build

Greetings from outside Eaton, OH! Our crew is en route from Dayton, OH to Rushville, IN, and today I'm driving the van and trailer (every 4th ride day). I'm currently poaching internet from Skyline Chili, where I'm waiting to pick up a lunch order sponsored by one of our rider's parents. Chili dogs and spaghetti for lunch today!!

ME2SB14 on the build site in Columbus, OH

I can't believe it's been more than a week since I last posted from Pittsburgh. The days and weeks are flying by faster than ever, and I never quite know what day of the week it is (this morning I started to write June 26th as the date). Regardless, we've jammed a lot into the last 8 days, including two more state lines (WV and OH), another 300 miles and 3 build days.

The two walls we raised at the house on Duxberry

Which brings me to my focus for this entry - build days. As the group coined during orientation - "biking is the perk, building is the reason" - build days are our reason for being on the road and something I greatly anticipate each time. We've had 6 build days thus far in Portland, ME, Fitchburg, MA, Pittsfield, MA, Columbus, OH (2 days), and Dayton, OH. 3 of our last 4 days have been on  build sites, and it's been so motivating and exciting to see the work that 33 of us can accomplish.

Columbus, OH:

Celebrating a successful build!

I LOVE POWER TOOLS!

Columbus was our first double build day, meaning we spent two full build days (8:00-4:00) and three nights in the city. Building with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Columbus was one of the best build experiences yet. The builds were incredibly well-organized and managed, with the larger group breaking into 4-5 smaller groups on different build sites. I spent both days with our crew leader Dave at a house on Duxberry Ave, a neighborhood in Columbus with a lot of need and a great community of people. My crew constructed stairs and wall framing for the single family home. I spent the first morning using a new (to me) type of saw feeding boards into it to cut them down to a smaller size for constructing headers for above the door and window frames in the walls. I found the smell and feel of the coating of sawdust that covered me by the end to actually be quite pleasant (and possibly exfoliating!). Then we spent the afternoon and following morning putting the headers together and constructing the wall framing. On the afternoon of the second build day came the moment we'd all been waiting and working for - raising the walls! It was so cool to see this process from start to finish, as our group of 8-10 counted down together before lifting each wall and securing them into place. We really are building houses! Still plenty of work to be done on the houses on Duxberry Ave in Columbus, but I'd like to think we pushed their builds ahead of schedule with our swarm of hard-working Bike & Builders.

In Columbus with the fabulous alumni crew

After the satisfaction of completing our second build day in Columbus, we were warmly welcomed and fed by a crew of B&B alumni living in Columbus and elsewhere. Several of the alumni had completed the ME2SB route last year, and even gave us awesome t-shirts and bike bracelets along with a full-spread taco bar. It was so cool to see the continued involvement and generosity of the B&B alumni, and I can't wait to be a part of this network of people. The Northern US (NUS) route goes through Whitefish, MT where I'll be living, so you can bet I'll be spoiling them rotten in future years.

Teeny, Justin, and baby Collin

One other note about Columbus - I got to see a good friend of mine, Christina, from Elon, where I went to college. We hadn't seen each other in 5 years, and I got to see her and her husband and their adorable 3 month old baby, Collin. What a treat to see familiar faces on the road!





Dayton, OH:

Surrounded by corn en route to Dayton

After an unforgettable three days in Columbus, we cycled onward to Dayton, OH. This ride day of about 80 miles was one of my favorite of the trip thus far (I swear I say that every day). It included nearly 40 miles on paved bike trails, and much of the remaining miles was on country roads with 8 ft corn stalks on either side of you and red barns every mile or so. As one of the riders, Lauren, put it, "This is what I imagined biking across the country being like." As we approached Dayton, we pedaled along a trail on the Mad River and couldn't resist the temptation to cool off with a dip in the river. It turns out, Dayton has 330 miles of interconnected bike paths - WOWZA! If you've never been to Dayton (I never had) you should check it out, as I think it is the best kept secret of Ohio. The town has a vibrant community and is making a conscious effort to promote biking and other forms of outdoor recreation, including kayaking, hiking, fly fishing and more. A group of us even found an impressive indoor climbing gym that was converted from an old church and touted the highest climbing walls in the state. What better way to wear ourselves out before the next ride day!

Climbing at Urban Krag in Dayton

Dry wall team assemble!

The focus and determination of Nick Funlap

Our build day in Dayton was with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton, and included dry-walling, siding, insulation and more. I hung dry wall in a house being built for a family from Africa that has 5 kids. I love doing different projects and learning new skills on each build site. Dry wall was new to me and came with all of the joys and frustrations of learning things for the first time. My building partner, Katherine, and I struggled a little bit (understatement) with accurate measurements and installations, so we found ourselves repeating our work several time. Fortunately, our site manager Rick was very patient and had a good sense of humor with us. It took us a full 3 hours after lunch (everything is harder after lunch) to dry-wall a single closet, but by golly we finished it! Construction may not be my greatest strength, but I'm slowly learning the tricks of the trade and really enjoying (laughing at) myself along the way.

Major Taylor Cycling Club of Dayton

The 3-hour closet from dry wall hell!

Another highlight in Dayton was having dinner hosted by the Dayton chapter of the Major Taylor Cycling Club. Major Taylor was an African-American cyclist born in Indiana in the late 1800s who became America's sprint champion in 1899, completing a mile in 1:19 reaching a speed of 45.6 MPH. Having reached 40 MPH on my bike - unintentionally, while going down a steep hill - I can personally attest that that is super freaking fast! Anyways, there are about 15 Major Taylor Cycling Clubs across the country, and the Dayton chapter was very friendly and eager to connect over our shared passion for cycling.

Thanks for following along! Until next time...

Happy Fourth of July from Pittsburgh!

Greetings from the Steel City! We made it into Pittsburgh yesterday after 7 days straight of riding, which included more than 500 miles through scenic NY and PA and lots of hill-climbing through the Berkshires, Poconos, and Alleghenies (we've renamed our current state Painsylvania). The days and weeks are quickly becoming a blur of fun and adventure, and I haven't been doing a good job of journaling, so I'll just paint a picture of a typical ride day and share a few highlights.

A Day in the Life:

You might be wondering what a typical day of Bike & Build looks like. Now that we are two weeks in, I have a pretty good grip of the routine. Wake up is around 5:00, which is generally a welcome event for me (I'm biking across the country for crying out loud!!). The group aims to have the trailer packed with everyone's stuff within 30 minutes of wake-up, and no one eats breakfast until it's done. Trailer packing is a science that must be perfected, and anyone who hinders this process (aka showing up ten minutes late with an overstuffed bag) has to wear their underwear over their helmet for the day. Ok, so this scare tactic has yet to be enforced, but I look forward to the day. Once the trailer is masterfully packed, breakfast commences, which is usually consists of cereal or bagels unless a host is gracious enough to wake up early and prepare a hot breakfast for us. Oh how I relish hot breakfast days. Just the other day the YWCA in Johnstown made us breakfast casseroles, cinnamon rolls, sausage, and potatoes, and I swear I had died and gone to heaven. After we have breakfast, chore groups clean the host site and everyone preps their bikes/gear for the day until route meeting, when we discuss the logistics, terrain, and hand out cue sheets (directions) for the day. We aim to be rolling out by about 1.5 hours after wake-up - no small feat for a group of 33 tired puppies.

After route meeting, everyone is free to break into groups of 2-6 to take off. Everyone is required to wear a helmet at all times (duh), along with a safety triangle, camelbak, spare tube, pump, snacks, etc for the day. We use extensive hand and voice signals in order to ride as safe as possible within our groups, calling out every pothole, stop, turn, and interesting piece of roadkill along the way. I find a strong sense of security, teamwork, and enjoyment in this form of group riding, and we hold the group to high safety standards (i.e. you get put in the van if you ride unsafely, without your helmet, etc.). Two people are designated as "sweeps" to be the last

Napping my way across the country

two riders back, carrying a med kit and spare tire. Everyone else stays in small groups ahead of the sweeps onward to the lunch stop, which is designated by the van driver (myself or one of the other 3 leaders) at roughly halfway through the mileage. We tend to do lunch about 5-10 miles past the halfway point to crank out more mileage when it is cooler and before everyone gets their "lunch legs". On days when we ride more than 90 miles or it is more than 90 degrees, we take TWO lunches to ensure adequate nutrition and hydration, which we've only done once thus far. I usually sneak in a lunchtime nap, whether intentional or not.

Groups roll in and out from lunch at their own pace and complete the day's mileage, aiming to arrive at the host site by 4:00 pm. On less hilly, lower mileage days, there is more time for a leisurely pace and much-needed swimming hole and ice cream stops. My favorite swimming hole thus far was a backyard pond that a guy gave us permission to swim in, complete with cold gatorades and tricks by his dog, Rocky. On days when we have hills (most days) or 70+ miles, we have to budget our time a little better and push the pace to get to the host on time. Generally we have plenty of time to "unclip and smell the roses", seeing as we have all day to ride. 

Once we start trickling into the host site (typically churches, sometimes schools or community organizations), we unpack the trailer assembly-line style, unload the coolers and take showers (warm ones if we're lucky!). Most hosts prepare dinner for us, which is always such a comfort at the end of every day. Our hosts have been unbelievably generous and welcoming. At the UMC in Mt. Pocono, PA, we had one of the best meals (ever, not just in Bike & Build) of four types of tacos with every fixing you could imagine. I am so famished by the end of of the day, that no matter what food is served, it always tastes like the best meal of my life. During dinner we mingle with the hosts (my favorite) and give them a brief presentation to tell them about ourselves, our trip, and Bike & Build as an organization. After dinner we either have affordable housing presentations delivered by the riders, a weekly "town hall" meeting or free time until our 11:00 curfew. I've noticed that with the long days/rides, most people have been crashing well before curfew, myself included.

Pittsburgh Day Off:

Free tix to the Pirates game!

View of Pittsburgh from PNC Park

We have three days off throughout the summer, and our first one conveniently falls on the 4th of July in Pittsburgh. There has likely never been a group of people happier to see Pittsburgh, PA than we were yesterday after a very challenging and rewarding week of riding. We mustered up enough energy to go out as a group to a Pirates baseball game and hit the town before enjoying a night's sleep with no wake-up time in the morning. One person forgot to unset their normal 5:00 am alarm, which led to lots of groaning and cursing (still not sure who the culprit was). I didn't sleep in too late, because I wanted to enjoy the city. There is TONS going on here - a "Furry" convention (look it up), festival and regatta at Point State Park, where the Allegheny and Monogohala Rivers combine to form the Ohio. Tonight we'll enjoy the city's fireworks show from Mt. Washington, overlooking the entire city skyline. Overall, not a bad way to spend a day of and rejuvenate ourselves for the road ahead. Ohio here we come!!

p.s. Thanks to those of you who have sent postcards to me on the road - you have no idea how nice it is to hear from you!! You can reach me at one of our next mail drops by checking out the Contact  page!

Who's on first? Who cares! I'm with 32 of my favorite people. 

Sand creations along the waterfront

ME2SB takes P-burg by storm