...& 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...