Final Entry :-(

As I sit here in my Grandparents apartment in San Francisco, Ca, I've had plenty of time to reflect on the amazing journey that I just completed. I'll first explain the days I left off and then my extreme withdraw from the bike and build life. After our final build day in Prescott, we started our seven day biking stretch into San Diego. We first headed to Wickenburg, Az. This was the day in which we were to drop 4,000 ft in 60 miles, which also meant we would gain about 20 degrees of heat. Now we were told it was going to be hot, however, I don't think anyone was really aware of how hot 114 degrees is until we made our descent down the mountain and realized it for ourselves. It was the strangest feeling going down the very windy mountain and feeling it getting hotter and hotter. When we finally reached the bottom, it had to be over 100 degrees and we had about 20-30 more miles to go to get into our host site. We pace-lined it the rest of the way in, averaging about 22 mph, just to get out of the heat. I believed we arrived around 10 or 11 am look at our phones to realize that we were riding in 114 degree heat. We all sat in an air conditioning room for about an hour, trying to regain strength and courage to go walk 1/2 mile down the road to a pool and showers. I think the walk was just as difficult as the ride.

After this first experience with the heat, we started to wake up at 4 am to try and beat the heat of the day. Our next ride was only 48 miles and to Wenden, Az. This was mine and Ginger's last sweep day and we made sweep history, getting in at 9:20 am. It was awesome. The ride wasn't to bad, hot (but not as hot as it could have been) and pretty flat.

The next day was our ride into Blythe, CA. Blythe is right on the border of California, so we got there right at the end of the day and took plenty of pictures with the state sign. Oh and this was also the last day in which I fell on my bike and I definetly went out in style. We were pace lining in the morning, and I was feeling great because I was keeping up with Drew and Nhan (the Macho Men of the group), when all of a sudden Drew's leg cramped up so he pulled out, and then as Nhan was saying slowing I was asking Drew if he was okay and didn't here the slowing call. I somehow locked my front tire with Neel's back tire, unclipped both my feet, fell off my seat, and begin to drag my feet on the ground while slamming my breaks (its what we call a JJ stop, named after the 7 year old kid from the Chapel Hill bike Clinic). Anyways what was so cool about it, was that there were sparks coming out from under my feet from my cleats and the road colliding. When I finally stopped, it wasn't much of a fall, but a tip over because there wasn't anything left for me to do. That was about all for that day.

The next day was an emotional day for us all as we were all reminded of the dangers of biking cross country. About 2 miles out from our host site, 3 of our riders were struck by a pick-up truck from behind. All three were airlifted to the hospital in Palm Springs and given proper medical treatment. Two were discharged that night with minor injuries, and one is still recovering, but should make a full recovery in due time. The whole day was very scary for our entire group because we were unable to get any details until late at night. However, the situation was handled amazingly by our leaders and the locals from Brawley (where we were headed that night). The rest of us made it safely to Brawley, crossing over the Sand Dunes where Tremors was filmed (population 6, but 2 were on vacation).

The next few days were rough, as we were missing a part of our group still. The ride into Julian was physically one of the hardest days for me as I bonked at about mile 35 of 70. It was an extremely hot day in the dessert, so hot that my phone wouldn't even work because it got over heated, and we had a huge climb at the end of the day. After I was feeling better in Julian, CA we went out for pizza and a the famous Julian's apple pie. It was about 3 miles to the pizza place and we didn't have a ride, and no one wanted to ride their bikes after the day so we decided to hitchhike. After walking no more than .1 mi the nine of us got picked up by a Prius...and all fit. On the way back it took a little longer but we got picked up by a pick-up truck. The best part about it was driving by the people who decided to bike and seeing their faces as we passed them both times.

Ok, I'm just going to skip the day into El Cajon, mostly because I was way to excited to remember anything from that day (except that we the first time we saw the ocean right after a climb we all waited for everyone to do the cupid shuffle). My mind was to focused on the next day into San Diego. We woke up at 8 AM, unheard of in the bike and build world, finished watching Anchorman, had a dance party, and a couple of us painted our faces for Minitank (the nickname of the person who was still in the hospital recovering). We finally got on the road at 10 am and rode with all 31 of us. We stopped several times due to one flat and 2 broken spokes and to make sure we were all together. With about a mile away we all stopped again to regroup and to pick up one of the people that was in the accident to ride in the last mile with us (the other one rode the whole ride in one gear because his bike wouldn't change gears). At this point we could see the ocean and were all freaking out. As we turned the corner onto the boardwalk, we were all screaming, the beach was packed with random people cheering us on. We found the first place we could to drop our bikes, strip down and run to the beach. It was one of the most incredible feelings in the world to run into the ocean with this amazing group of people after all that we've been through. This trip was an experience of a lifetime and something I will never forget. I've met so many incredible people and seen some of the most beautiful places our country has to offer.

Arizona before the real heat

Its been awhile since my last update, but that's only because I am
having so much fun, and never want to stop hanging out with people
long enough to write a blog entry. We left the sketchyness of Tuba
City and entered the beautiful grand canyon. The ride itself was quite
challenging, as there were some suprise climbs and headwind up to the
grand canyon. It was pretty amazing getting to ride through the entire
park and seeing all the different look outs. After about 20 miles of
riding around in the park we got to our campsite and hung out for a
bit. The only downside I would have to say about the grand canyon was
it was very touristy. They had all kinds of grocery stores and gift
shops...and even there own post office, which kind of threw me off
guard. When we got in Michelle, Andy and I went to a local cafe and
basically chilled for an hour and a half. Afterwards we went back to
the campsite, people made hobo meals and watched the full moon rise.
Afterwards we slept 9 people in our tent because last time we camped
the krazy Kansas storm took out one of our tents. We woke up to a
beautiful morning and headed out to Williams, Az. What we thought was
going to be an 80 mile ride really turned into a 65 mile ride, which
meant we could make some stops along the way. While causually riding
on the open road, going at a solid pace, danielle, dennis and I spot
bedrock city, home of the flintstones. As we stopped and stared at it
strangely, we noticed that there were some fellow bike and builders
there. We went to Fred's diner, and had an amazing breakfast sandwhich
and a 5 cent coffee. The rest of the ride was pretty nice and as we
entered Williams, I finally realized that people really do live in
Arizona. I was starting to think Arizona was made up of cacti and
constant headwind. Williams marked the last day in which our chore
group had to make dinner, and it was a glorious dinner at that. We
made hamburger sliders, mash potatoes, and salad (all of which was
donated from local restaurants). After dinner, there was a church
group blasting terrible self-conducted Christian music, so I decided
to go out with a couple of people and watch the tour de France. We met
some other local cyclists, who told us of a much better route to take
the next day to Prescott. Instead of having to take I-40, we took this
beautiful mountain road, followed by a 10 mile gravel stretch. The
gravel road was a bit scary at first, but once I realized I could go
more than 5 mph on it, it wasn't so bad. The rest of the ride was
nice, a couple of small climbs but nothing too bad.

Prescott is where we have spent the past three nights. The first night
all 31 of us went out for kareoke. It was so much fun. I personally
sang "Scrubs" by TLC with danielle and michelle, "I believe I can fly"
with amy (in which anna was air lifted the entire song "flying"), and
"Ring of Fire" by jonny cash with Steve. We basically took over the
place and it was awesome. The next morning was our first build day
here. We were split up into two groups. One house was doing painting
and landscaping, and the other one was doing dry wall. I went to the
house doing the painting. It was a lot of fun, and pretty relaxing.
We were all pretty tired that day, and the Arizona heat wasn't
helping, but we got through it. When we got back I passed out and took
a nice nap, woke up to bike to a dinner that the habitat office put on
for us. Here we got to eat dinner with the families of the house we
were building for. The lady we were building for, Tony, was so sweet.
You could really tell she appreciated everything we were doing. After
dinner we went downtown, where there was live music being played on
the town square. We dances until it was over, once again kind of
taking over the place, and then went to a local coffee shop to hang
out and hear some locals at the open mic. Today we had our last build
day of the trip :-(, and I went back to work on painting the house. We
were a much more lively group, and tony even made us sloppy joes and
chocolate milk for lunch. It definetly beat the usual pb&j we our
constantly eating. At the end of the day we were finished painting and
landscaping the entire house. We said goodbye to toby after taking a
group picture with her and went back to the middle school we were
staying at to take another nap. Afterwards a couple of us went to a
local Mexican restaurant (okay, I've had better) an then came back to
work on Gabe's birthday suprise. We took his entire bike apart, seran
wrapped all the pieces, then duck taped them, then put them in various
locations. It was awesome. Hopefully he won't get to mad, since he
lies putting bikes together. He hasn't gotten back yet, so we haven't
seen his reaction, but u can't wait to see it tomorrow.

We are told that tomorrow is suppose to be mostly downhill, as we are
dropping 4,000 ft, but it is also suppose to be extremely hot as were
gaining about 20 degrees. Tomorrow the weather forcast is a high of
115 and a low of 85, it should be interesting.

Well that's about all I have to report. I can't believe I only have 7
days left of this trip. It is so unreal.

Beginning of Arizona

I haven't written in a while, mainly because for the last four nights
I have been on dinner crew, and had to make dinner for everyone. It's
been fun, but I don't get in my daily nap, or blog session. So for the
updates, we rode into Cortez, Co on the 3rd. It was a short ride,
don't remember to much from it, but the next day was awesome. We left
Cortez to head to teec nos pos, Az for our fourth of July celebration.
We rode through four corners, which was pretty cool, I took some
awesome pictures. However, I did not take part in the human pyramid
from fear that my 8th grade broken wrist incident would happen once
again. Instead, I took the picture. We stayed at four corners for
awhile to eat lunch and then headed out for the last 20 or so miles.
Teec nos pos was quite the desolate town. There was a medical center
and a school, we stayed at the school. The whole day we were awaiting
the infamous thrift store prom. We decorated the gym, including a
photo booth, and then began the dance party. It was incredibly fun. We
danced the night away in our awesome outfits. Me and my date, the
wonderful Andrew Erwin, had matching outfits. I rocked a jean dress,
while he wore a jean onesie, and we both had tie dye headbands. The
night started off with the pledge of allegiance, and everything got
crazy from there. We stayed up extra late...probably until midnight,
which is huge in the bike and build world.

The next morning we were all extremely tired and took a couple extra
hours to get ready, while finishing the amazing left over dairy queen
ice cream cake. The day thankfully was a shorter day, all on one road
to Kayenta, Az. In Kayenta we made the most delicious dinner we have
had yet, brought to you by the one and only genghis khan chore group
(all our chore groups our named after fearless dictators). We made
stir fry with tofu and brown rice, and it was delicious. After dinner
we played wiffle ball an then poker with popcorn kernels. I won
everyones popcorn in poker, totally beginners luck. Today we arrived
in Tuba City to some interesting locals, had dinner, and then did an
affordable housing presentation. Now it's bed time, good night.

I rocked the Rockies!

I could basically sum up the past few days with the words Colorado is
freakin awesome. We've been in the rocky mountains for about a week
now and it's been absolutely incredible. At the beginning of the trip
I would have never thought that I would ever like climbing up a
mountain, but now I absolutely love it. The views have been amazing,
and the descents down are sooo much fun. This past ride going into
Durango, I hit my top speed of the trip at 53.4 mph. It was going
straight down a 7% grade (no curves), standing up, leaning forward,
and tucked in. It was awesome, although I don't know if I'll ever be
able to do that again.

These past few days we've biked from Gunnison to Ouray, which was an
absolutely gorgeous ride. This was our last planned century ride, and
it had a couple of climbs early on, nothing too terrible. Before we
got in anna, Neel, Bennett, and I went swimming in the river right by
the road. Ouray was a really cool town, very touristy, but also
absolutely beautiful. It's hard to describe all these places, not even
the pictures do it justice.

We left Ouray to head to Durango. As soon as we left the church we
started our climb to about 11,100 ft for about 12 miles. One of my
favorite parts of this ride was seeing all of these giant natural
waterfalls on the side of the mountain. It was also a bit scary at
times because it was one of those mountains with no guard rail and
just dropped right down. When we got to the top we dropped another
3,000 ft and climbed back up to approx 10,000 ft for 7 miles, then we
dropped again and did our last climb to another 10,000 ft for about 3
miles, and then... it was 30 miles down hill. It was a hard day, but
so fun. I rode with cindy the whole day and had a blast, we were
straight up jammin on those mountains.

Today we had a build day in Durango and worked on a duplex with
habitat and ameri cor. We painted the outside, did installation, and
amanda and I got to put on the last piece of siding for the house. The
rest of the day we had a BBQ with some of the locals, went for a walk
by the river, and just hung out.

The Rockies are sweet

I've decided I'm officially in love with Colorado. It is absolutely
beautiful. My obsession started on our 128 day, continued into our
build day which had the most incredible view (best place to get a
habitat house ever). The whitewater rafting made me want to become a
rafting instructor in Colorado next summer. It was the most incredible
view going down the river. We were in a canon do there were mountains
all around us. It was awesome.

The next day it was back to biking with 104 miles and 3 mountain peaks
with the highest around 9,500 ft. It was mentally a very tough day for
me. After second lunch, I felt like I could have fallen asleep on the
bike and I then began to feel really sick, but I pushed through and
made it through the day. The best part of the day was the last 10
miles where we descended down a mountain leading into Buena Vista. I'm
a little upset that I didn't get to take in a lot of the scenary
because I was so focused on getting through the day, but I made up for
it today.

Today was awesome. We biked into Gunnison with one awesome climb of
11,315 ft. It was pretty hard, but had an incredible view all through
out and especially at the top. We all waited at the top for everyone
to get up there so we could do our traditional Cupid shuffle on top of
every hard mountain. As we were biking up there a former bike and
builder noticed our trailer and decided to stop and say hey. He was an
alumni from the very first route and creator of the famous bike and
build bodies in a motion video. What are the chances? We also saw
several other cross country bikers, one of which Amanda knew from
school, also really weird. There were a ton of freindly people on the
roads today and the top of the mountain, lots of thumbs up. Sure beats
yesterday when I got called a dumbass and honked at several times. So
after our "sexy summit" dance we all went down the mountain, and it
was sooooo fun! The rest of the ride was so beautiful as the
mountains surrounded us. I got in with a pretty big group of people
and we decided to hit up this pizza joint we had seen on the way in.
It was awesome...I got my usual pineapple pizza. That's about all I
have to report. We have 2 more days of mountains before we hit the
heat of Arizona. Yea it was totally weird being in leggings and arm
warmers all day from the altitude. All in all today was a really good
day. It was one of my favorite climbs, comes close to awesomeness with
the first climb in Ashevile.

Colorado...before we climb the mountains

So I made it through Kansas and I am now in Colorado Springs. We left
Kansas and went to Lamar for our second official century ride of the
trip. I got my first flat tire of the trip on this day, along with 2
other people who got flats. After we hit the 2,000 mile mark people
have been getting flats like crazy. It's about that time to change
tires. I don't remember much from this ride, except for the fact that
it had an awesome Colorado state sign. The next day was a shorter ride
of 67 miles and not only did we gain an hour of sleep, we also got to
sleep in an extra hour. It was sweet. We woke up and headed over to
the local community center for an awesome breakfast that they were
having in honor of everyone who bikes to work...and they invited us to
come along. Then we got our cue sheets for the day, which was actually
a giant crossword puzzle with all the answers being people on our
trip. It was really nice just to be able to relax in the morning and
hang out with everyone. For the rest of the day we rode in a pretty
big group just relaxing and talking with everyone. It was all one
road, but still turned out to be a really nice ride.

The next day, into Colorado Springs, was awesome. For almost the
entire 128 miles you could see the Rocky Mountains. Each mile they got
closer and closer until we reached the foothills, which were
absolutely gorgeous. Although it was a long ride, the scenary was
breath taking. I can't even imagine what it's gonna be like when we
climb the Rockies. Throughout the day our group got 6 flat tires, most
of them in the last 25 miles. However, there wasn't a moment in time
when I thought I wasn't going to make it. It was one of those things
that we all dreaded at the very beginning of the trip, but once the
time had come we were all incredibly pumped for it. This group is such
an amazing bunch that it's hard to even consider faliure as an option.
The day ended with a van escort into town because of the busy roads,
which was an obsticle in itself. Overall, I don't know if I'll ever
have the mental capacity to do 128 miles again, but it was definetly
an epic ride.

Today was the start of the bike and build blitz build, where our group
comes in a builds the foundation for the sc2sc group to finish the
house. This habitat home is being built completely by bike and build
which I think is absolutely amazing, and I'm so glad that our group
gets to be a part of it. We didn't get to meet the people who will be
living in this house, but we did get to meet an incredible woman
living in the neighborhood. It's so nice when we get to see the people
and families that we are helping out along the way. All in all a good
build day.

Tomorrow is our last day off and a lot of us are going crazy in
Colorado. A group of 11 of us, including myself, are going white water
rafting. There is a group of 10 that our going sky diving, and the.
There is a smaller group going rock climbing. Basically Colorado is
awesome for outdoor activities, especially just staring out at the
mountains, which I find myself doing a lot.

Well that's all for now...I love Bike & Build!

Longest bike ride I will ever do

Enough said, I'm exhausted, woke up at 4 and just got in, I'll post
when I recover

HOLY CRAP THAT'S A DEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

link to the most amazing youtube video you will ever see:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Z_0GqW2f4>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Z_0GqW2f4

A man we met in Arkansas. Heck of a guy.

Currently jammin out in the church

The B&B band takes another jam session. Oh yea and I forgot to write
about our awesome camping session two nights ago in Coldwater, Kansas.
We camped out by a lake, hung out all night, made s'mores, shared
stories, jammed out by the fire, and watched shooting stars. It made
me want to camp every night, and go on more camping trips when I get
home.

Krazy in Kansas

So this is probably going to be a really long post because Kansas has
been way to awesome to stop and take time to write in the blog. The
last full day in Oklahoma was probably the hardest biking day for me,
even though it was only about 85 miles, and not extremely hilly. There
was about a 30 mph crosswind along with a huge rain storm, that was
absolutely miserable. When I got in I was in such a bad mood, but as
usual everyone was there to cheer me up.

The next morning I woke up a little scared of what to expect based on
the day before, but it ended up being one of my top days on the trip.
At the very beginning of each day we pass out words of encouragement
that other people write you, and this morning I got about 7 from
different people I'm the group. It was so nice to start the day off
with such a great feeling from everyone around me. We left Oklahoma to
enter Kansas. It was a 90 mile ride, so we claimed it 90's on 90 day,
which meant that we were going to sing 90s music all day. I started
out the day riding with all the girls singing old school 90s songs and
everytime we passed a group we would sing brittney spears, "hit me
baby one more time.". Although it was pouring rain for most of the
time until first lunch, it was a lot of fun. We then ate a really
quick lunch cause it was raining and we didn't have any where to find
shelter. I rode the rest of the day with Rebecca and we had to make
like 4 pee stops in the middle of the rain with practically no
privacy. I had my bibs on too, which meant that each time I went to
the bathroom I had to take my jersey off. It was definetly an
interesting experince peeing in the middle of a sunflower patch
basically naked with rain pouring down your back. Even though it was
raining the ride was absolutely gorgeous. We rode over the gypsum
hills and they were so fun and an incredible site. I got a couple of
good pics.

The next day was a pretty good ride too, we started off the day with
about 7 of us riding together and we deemed ourselves team picture, in
which we were determined to get the classic wheat field and hay sack
pictures. We definetely got some good ones. By the end of the day I
was riding with Nhan, Ben, and Michelle and it was really nice. We had
really good conversation and games played, along with some more
pictures. Don't worry I'll try to put them up when I get Internet
access...and I have some great additions from today.

Then today we had a bit of a shorter day so we all decided to go Krazy
in Kansas with a scavenger hunt. It was sooooo much fun. I was in a
group with boy alex, beth, andrew, matt, and andy. It was probably the
craIest scavenger hunt I did. Some of the tasks we had to complete
were: ride a buffalo (we found a wooden one to rode), get handcuffs
put on you, ride in a cop car, ride on farm equipment, create a
tumbleweed helmet, cook an egg outside, and get a kiss from a local.
There was much more, but these were just a few of my favorites...which
our team all completed. My favorite part of the day had to be when we
passed through this small town called Ingalls. It was off the main
road, so we were a bit rellictant to go, but I am so glad we did. We
ended up trading a baby doll for some cool antique stamp pins, and
then walking into this co-op shop in hopes of riding the tractor
outside and ended up meeting the mayor of the town. She was an
incredibly nice women. She called her friend Preston, who brought over
the city tractor and let all 6 of us get on and ride it (as the mayor
took video footage). She then told us about this local cafe, so we
went in it with her and had root beer floats with the mayor. As we
were in there she gave alex a kiss on the cheek, made a local named
joe babe give us the shirt off of his back, and made another local
lend us a cowboy hat for a picture. She then showed us this park with
a windmill in it so we could do a human pyramid (don't worry mom and
dad I wasn't on the bottom and I didn't break my wrist). The park also
had a wooden buffalo, moose and coyotes we could pose with. We then
said our good byes to the mayor and went on our way with the rest of
the scavenger hunt. We didn't do to much after that, except cook an
egg outside and switch spots with a motorcyclist (only standing of
course). The day was so much fun, filled with tons of memories...and
my camera was the group camera, so I have some quality pictures from
that too. I am almost sad to leave Kansas tomorrow, it's been such a
great state. Who would have thought Kansas would have been so awesome,
but it most definetly was. Colorado is tomorrow, along with another
time zone change.

Tonight were having enchiladas! I'm pumped. Hope that wasn't too long.

Water park day

Today was kind of a mix of emotions day, I hit some low and high
points. The day started off really bad. Cindy got an overnight flat so
"team riding dirty" got started a little late (that's what Jackie and
cindy call ourselves...and Gabe our HDR, honorary dirty rider). With
about 7 miles in I saw a dog get hit by a car. It was very upsetting.
The driver drove off, so we had to stop and tell the owner. It has
been really hard to get the image out of my head, especially everytime
a dog chases us.

Things got a lot better as the day went on. The next road we turned on
was beautiful and barely any cars. We then got back on to US-60 with
some intense head/side winds. When I got to the 40 mile mark I was
exhausted, but there was good news ahead. At our first lunch stop we
were told that there was a water park around mile 75, and since we
were riding with one of the leaders we got to take a short cut there
that cut out 15 miles. It was something that I really needed today.
For some reason I just felt lethargic the whole day. Anyways so we
took 60 all the way down till the water park and hung out there for
about an hour and a half before heading out to our host site. Despite
the fact that it was the smallest water park I have ever been too, it
was a ton of fun. Oh and right before we got there we saw a group of
prarie dogs, and I saw a tarantula crossing the road.

Today was our first of eight straight riding days, ending with the
infamous 124 mile day. Jackie and I joked today that it's like a
Jewish holiday. We should get presents at the end of each ride, and
have a giant feast after the 124 day. Well that's all for now. My body
is in pain, only not from soar muscles, but from all the cuts and
bruises from falling the other day. They just won't go away.

Day off in Oklahoma

I am currently in Bartelsville, Oklahoma probably about to go to bed right after this post because we have a 4:30 am wake up tomorrow morning. It is suppose to reach 105 degrees with 30 mph headwinds, meaning its gonna be a great day. Our stay in Bartelsville has been pretty awesome, great hospitality, food, and people. To the left is a picture of a bunch of us stopped to take a picture with the historic route 66 sign, which we biked on yesterday. It was a really nice bike day, although it was very hot. Last night may have been one of my favorite nights on the trip. We all went bowling for a couple of hours and then came back to the church and had the most epic dance party I have ever been a part of.....soooo much fun. And to top it all of we had a midnight game of knock-out (which I won...with out my glasses or contacts on) and then all went to bed on AIR MATTRESSES!!!!!

Today we woke up to an amazing southern style breakfast, I cleaned my bike, headed down town to walk around a bit, went to a movie, and then came back for our biggest BBQ and presentation crowd yet.I am only in the bottom picture because I took the other ones, but I'm sure I'll be tagged on facebook with me in the other ones. The two state sign pictures are from the 3 state day. And for all you facebook users, Tennessee and Arkansas pictures are up, so enjoy!

I bikes through 3 states today

Since the last time I posted we have had 3 riding days. The first one
after our build day was a 104 mile day and it was pretty awesome. I
was able to pace line a bit that day going at a constant 18mph, which
was so much fun. Cindy, Jackie and I broke off from the pace line
about 20 miles before the end and went to a bike shop to get some
things that I needed to replace from my fall. One of the things being
some pretty sweet duke blue handle bar tape. I was shocked at how much
fun doing over 100 miles was, and how well my body was handling it.

Yesterday was an 83 mile day and at the very beggining of the ride my
legs were feeling very tired, but after lunch my legs seemed to kind
of kick in to gear, which was good since that was when we climbed over
the Ozark mountain. This climb really just showed me how much I've
improved biking wise, I was able to do the entire climb without
stopping. Just about a mile after getting down the mountain of begun
to thunder storm, so we stopped at this local diner/burger place and
got a bite to eat. We took about an hour and half break to wait the
rain out, which prob wasn't the best idea but it was fun. I also
decided on this ride that I was going to name my bike flash. Yesterday
was a fun ride. There were times Jackie would say something while we
were going up a hill and I would just hysterically start laughing and
end up going 3 mph up the hill. It was definetly a fun day, with lots
of laughs.

Today was also a lot of fun, I rode with 8 other people the whole day
(which is pretty unusual), and we bikes through 3 states...Arkansas,
Missouri, and Oklahoma...and the best part was I got pics in front of
these state signs. Over the past three days, I have determined that
Arkansas has to be one of the worst smelling states around, but the
people are extremely nice...with the exception of a few drivers. We
must have drove by 30 or 40 chicken coops in the past 3 days, and it
has not been a pleasant smell what so ever.

I am currently in Grove, Oklahoma. Not too much to report here, except
for the fact that it is extremely hot.

Oh yea and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!....sorry Sam you didn't get a
shout out, but I didn't blog that day.

Another random pic

Random pic from build day today

Oh what a day

I am currently witnessing the first bike and build trading post. Today
was mail drop day so everyone got new biking food and now everyone
wants to try the different flavors. It is absolutely hilarious to watch.

Anyways today we rode into little rock, 83 miles, and all was going
well until about mile 50. We were riding in a line of about 6 people,
fairly slow, probably around 13-14 mph, when a car decided to pass
other cars in the opposing lane and knocked me over. Basically there
was no shoulder to run off into, and as the rest of the group slowed
down to pull over, I didn't realize the car coming head on towards us
at a very high speed. It quickly passed, had to be less than 3 ft away
from me, and knocked me down to the pavement. I think I was more
flustered by the situation, than I was hurt. I got a couple of bruises
and scrapes, but nothing too major. However, as I looked at my bike, I
thought it was totaled. The back wheel flew off bending the quick
realease, the bracks and handle bars both shifted and my chain was
just hanging, but with about 45 minutes of repairs, I was back on the
bike and rollin down the road. It was a scary experience, but I can
only hope it made me stronger. And my bike is fine, I just have to re-
tape my handle bars, and replace the quick realease.

After this incidence we got to ride on a bike path (which was
especially nice after this experience) and the largest pedestrian
bridge in America called "The Big Dam Bridge." After we got in we went
to a picnic/festival dinner sponsored by the Arkansas bike club. They
were very nice people, and tried to give us incite into the ozarks
(the Arkansas mountains range we climb next).

Today was a long difficult day, but everyone was very supportive and
encouraging. It's amazing how these people get you through each
difficult day here, and by the end of the day you almost forget how
hard it was that day.

Arkansas state line

Walking our bikes across the Mississippi river here

"Walking in Memphis"

As we were about to begin our day of biking into Memphis, I started off the day plugging my iphone into our group speakers that we listen to every morning and blasted the song "Walking in Memphis" by Lonestar. Despite the fact that I am not a huge fan of the song, it pumped me up for the day and all the days after as well (as it is continuously in my head). We actually were staying in Germantown, TN, right outside of Memphis, but we got to go into Memphis several times, which was awesome. The night we got there, we first went to this awesome bbq place and then a minor league baseball game (tickets were donated). It's amazing how many times I can have bbq and not get sick of it. Just about every host has given us bbq, and if not we all happen to find a local bbq joint around town and go. I think the best part about having so much bbq is that it is different every single time. It's amazing, almost every host serves us the same types of things, but it is always delicious and different.

After the baseball game in Memphis, a lot of us went down to Beale street to hang out. It was a lot of fun. Beale street was really cool. Everything was lit up and we just kind of roamed around everywhere, checking out the local hot spots. My favorite place, was this Irish pub place , Sulky's, who had live piano music. These two guys would basically play anything we suggested to them on the piano. And by the end of the night, we got them to tell the crowd about what we were doing and our casue, and when we left the restaurant we got a standing ovation from the crowd. It was kinda crazy.

I didn't realize the Memphis had so much history to it: Martin Luther KIng Jr was shot there, Elvis Presely lived and died there, it's where St. Jude's Children Hospital is, plus al the musical history.

The next day we had a day off to do whatever we wanted (our second day off out of the four on the trip). A majority of us woke up...around 9 o'clock, feeling so well rested and headed to a local diner. After that Michelle, Danielle, and I walked around Germantowna bit, checking out the local shopping, a lot of cute stuff, but we none of uss goyt anything :-(. After that, a couple of us decided to head back towards Memphis and go to Graceland, where Elvis lived and died. It was a pretty cool exerience getting to see his mansion, plane, cars, all his records and movies, and all the different exhibits on him. I didn't really know much on Elvis going in, but it was a lot of fun seeing all that he accomplished. After graceland, we went to Anna's aunt's house for another amazing pool party! It was a very nice night. I enjoyed just sitting outside hanging out with everyone.

Today, we made it into Arkansas, by going on the interstate for about 1.5 miles, and then walking our bikes on a bridge full of glass. It was quite the interesting experience, and it was totally legal, because the only way to get across the Mississippi river was this way. I wasn't able to get a picture of me with the Arkansas state sign because it was in the middle of the interstate, but I did get a picture of it. The rest of the ride was basically flat, with terrible roads and head winds. We basically just pace lined the whole day (getting in one minor collision, but no one was seriously injured).

I tried uploading pictures on to facebook tonight, but it failed several times, so I gave up. I'll try to upload pictures the next opportunity I get.

Tomorrow is Little Rock, AK and we got invited to the annual bikers festival...I'm pumped. I'll end this with a nice quote from Michelle, "We left the Tennessee bottle throwers, to come to the Arkansas sock throwers." Yes I did get a wet sock thrown at me today by a guy in a tractor. The things that amuse people these days.

Raquetball room in graceland

At graceland

I am le tired

So for some reason or another, I forgot to tell the most hilarious
thing that has happened to me on the trip when I was sweep the other
day. As Ginger and I were taking our sweet ole time down the road, we
heard a pick up truck rev it's engine. This was just odd in general
because there were no cars around and they could have easily passed
us, but we get I formation anyways and it begins to speed pass us with
a little kid hanging his head out the window. If this wasn't odd
enough, we then noticed that the kid driving the car (that happened to
be swerving everywhere) was also a little kid that couldn't be more
than 12 years old. The passenger then proceeded to moon us. Ginger and
I were probably laughing for a good 5 minutes straight.

Yesterday we rode into adamsville, about a 90 mile, with beautiful
weather. It was a long day, but after dinner we decided we would have
a girls night. So all us girls went out, got ice cream and had an
awesome dance party. It was a lot of fun. One of the best parts about
it was walking back into the gym and seeing all the guys just
sleeping, we totally had more fun then them.

Today, we rode into boliver about a 60 mile day...my legs were
definetly tired by the end of the day. I think this is our 6th day
riding in a row. I was actually one of the first people to get in
today. The only stop we made was lunch, which was in some state park
with a lake, that I dipped my feet in...very relaxing. I've been
slacking on the picture taking, mostly because everything is starting
to look kind of the same. Today we've kind of just been hanging out,
playing knock out and ping pong. I haven't taken my usual nap and I
feel like I could go to bed now...it's 7:40, this is what my life has
come to. Well I guess I'm gonna go try to find something to do in here
ole adamsville. Tomorrow we make it to Memphis. Were not staying in
the downtown area, but hopefully I'll be able to make it down there,
especially since we have a day off after tomorrow!!!!

We entered the start of week 4 today...so crazy

So yesterday we climbed our last and steepest mountain of the
Appalachian mountains, Daus Mountain. It was really hard, but as soon
as everyone got to the top we did the Cupid shuffle. It was the most
rewarding dance of my life. The interesting thing about yesterday was
that after out climb we never went down the mountain, instead, we
stayed in a really cool mountain community in Monteagle. We got to
stay in houses...with beds!!!! Probably the best sleep of my life.

Today I was sweep and it was one of my favorite days. We started off
the day with a 30 min nap at this very nice ladys house, Toby. We then
entered the extreme fog and went down the mountain. After about 12
miles we stopped at this awesome diner and got some breakfast...and
they gave us some free homemade apple crawlers. I am loving all the
free stuff. The ride today was so beautiful, some more rolling hills
(a couple basically half mountains), 75 degree weather, and amazing
scenery. I was literally on a bike and build high today. I love biking
when it's beautiful out. We got in pretty late cause of sweep, a
couple of bike issues from other riders, and it being a 90 mile day.
As soon as we got in we went to the mayor of Pulaski's house for a BBQ
and pool party. It was so much fun. The people were all so nice and
energetic, and the food, as usual was fantastic. Tomorrow is another
85-90 day so I gotta go shower and rest up...and play catch phrase.
All in all today was awesome!

I crossed time zones today!

First off, sorry about some of the formatting and lack of pictures.
It's really hard to get computer time so most of the posts come
directly from my phone.

Ok so here's the quick update on the past couple of days. We biked to
our build site (about 6 miles away) in Maryville, TN. It was a really
hot day, but an awesome build site cause we got to put down the entire
floor, and I got to work the power saw (my favorite thing to do on the
work site). After our build we went to this restaurant called Aubreys
and they covered our entrées, drinks, and dessert. It was sooooo good.

Yesterday was a short ride into sweetwater, about 40 miles. I really
enjoyed this ride, mainly cause it was just rolling hills. We stayed
at Sweetwater national gaurd armry last night, so we had to make our
own dinner. I was on dinner crew, and we made some pretty delicious
burritos. I never realized how difficult it is to cook for 30 very
hungry people, especially under a $50 budget. Oh yea and before dinner
we all got to go take a tour at the nations largest underground lake,
which turned out to be really cool.

Today was about an 80 mile day, with only one difficult climb. It was
a hard day, but rewarding at the same time. I could see a lot of
improvement in my climbing. My favorite part of the day had to be sexy
at sixty. At mile mark 60, which just happened to be at the bottom of
the scariest mountain I have ever gone down, we all met up and had a
dance party in the middle of the road. It originated because one of
the riders, Stephen, claims that everyday aroud mile 60 he starts to
feel real sexy, so we all decided to join him today. I'm sure they'll
be many more Cupid shuffles being done right around mile 60 this
summer. Oh and this was right around the time where we entered central
time zone. It's crazy to think that I've biked through an entire time
zone. As soon as we got in a lot of us went to this amazing BBQ place
and then came back and took naps (typical on this trip). Were staying
at another armry tonight. It's kinda cool and weird at the same time,
but I've found that I can pretty much sleep anywhere now. That's all
for now.

Fwd:

So I had journals for our last build day so I'll just include that
along with a quick and painful update about the mountains.
>

> On May 29th we had our 3rd build day in which we split up into three
> different groups to go to three different organizations and sites.
> One group worked on building a handicap accessible ramp for Mountain
> Housing Opportunities. A second group did roofing with the
> Henderson Habitat for Humanity, and my group initially called the
> painting crew, turned light bulb crew, worked with Asheville Housing
> Authority.
>
> In my group we went around to a set of government owned buildings to
> change out old light bulbs with energy efficient ones. I personally
> was working with Danielle, Jackie, and Cindy, which proposed a bit
> of a height problem for our whole group in installing these bulbs,
> but we made it through with lots of laughs and a couple of pump up
> tunes. By installing these light bulbs for this community, we were
> able to save a ton of money and time for both the Asheville Housing
> Authority and the community members. The only downside of the day
> was when I talked with Samantha, our main contact person for this
> project; she told us that a lot of these community members abuse the
> system and housing projects. The neighborhood we worked in was
> supposed to be temporary housing, but she told us that a lot of
> times it wasn't that way. In fact, one family had been there for fi
> ve generations. This boggled my mind as to why these families didn'
> t want to achieve more, but then Samantha explained that once they g
> et a job they have to start giving a percentage of their money back
> to the system for rent. It was almost like they were being punished
> for improving their life. I felt that what we were doing wasn't as
> appreciated as it previously was, but I just had to keep telling my
> self that I was making a difference and that we were helping out.
>
> After we were done installing hundreds of energy efficient light
> bulbs, Samantha took us to Subway, where we "vegged-out" and then
> went to the general store in Asheville where they gave us a 25% disc
> ount off everything in the store. I personally didn't buy anything,
> but a lot of people in my group did. They had a lot of good campin
> g gear, and some amazing looking old-fashion candy. All-in-all it w
> as a good day, a little unconventional from our typical build day, b
> ut it was nice to help out different types of organizations.

Yesterday was the hardest day ever. We technically climbed 2 mountains
but I count it as 3 because we never got to go down the first climb,
instead we went straight from our 9% grade into climbing the blue
ridge parkway. The parkway was awesome. Going down felt so good,
except for the fact that right after that we had the most massive
climb ever for about 15 miles. At around 5:30 there were 10 of us
that got pulled from the mountain because we hadn't made it to the
peak of the mountain and we had about 20 miles left and were not going
to make it in. It sucked being pulled even though a third of our trip
was. It was sooooo hard. Anyways the rest of the day we got back had a
nice spaghetti dinner and them showered in semi brown and luke warm
water. Not the best conditions but I dealt with it. We camped out
afterwards for the first time which wasn't too bad. I actually kind of
liked it, besides for the extreme possibility of being attacked by a
bear...but I survived, and made it to our next biking day. We got to
sleep in to about 7 and then headed off for only 40 miles of biking.
We took it nice and slow and made a ton of long stops, including a
local lunch stop, a 3 mile hike to a waterfall after our 7 mile climb,
and a stop at a local bike shop. It was a long day because of all the
stops, but still a good time. We are now hangin out at the church
playing rock band and then our going to hang out in the town.

Oh yea and I'm now in Tennessee. Basically to some of all up I climbed
about 10,000 miles in 3 days and I'm tired and am up in rock band,
peace!

Lake lure

Lake lure before the climb...awesome view

Beach before mountains

Look at the mountains (Tuli or Susie better be reading this)

Today was the first day of mountains and it was awesome. I was so
nervous going into the day and came out feeling so accomplished. We
had a 9 mile climb uphill, which I probably averaged 4-5mph, but I
made it...without walking. I think that's what I am most proud of
today. I didn't walk once. I stopped several times, but never walked
up the hills. It was an incredible feeling. Unfortunately, I didn't
get a pic of me at the top because we had one of the riders bonk (get
really dehydrated and sick in biker terms) at the top of the hill and
then it started to rain, but it was so cool being at the top. It took
about 2 hours to climb and about 10 min to go down.

I am now staying in a dorm at unca, which is really cool cause it
means we all get beds. Since we didn't have a host group we were on
our own for dinner. A couple of the guys and I went to get Thai and it
was bangin, then we met up with the rest of the people at a pizza
joint and I got my first free t shirt of the trip, saweet...and I
didn't even eat there!

I have a couple of pics I took on my phone that I'll send to the blog,
but none r that great. Sorry I just haven't had a lot of real computer
time. Build day tomorrow, I'm excited!

Charlotte

I am currently in Charlotte, NC staying at Zach Wright's house (an alumni from NC2SD 2007). Yesterday I biked about 93 miles to get here with of course the last 10 miles in the pouring down rain. I told someone on the trip that in 4th grade I had learned about the geography of North Carolina, with the flat beaches, the hill rolling Piedmont, and the very hilly mountains; yet I never thought back then I would truly get to experience it. It's amazing how you can tell exactly what part of NC we are in based on the terrain. We are clearly in the Piedmont area now...hills everywhere.

I have learned that the mileage on the website is completely false. We usually end up going about 10-20 miles longer than what is suppose to be ridden. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just a bit more challenging. Over this past week I have learned that biking is almost 95% mental 4% skill and 1% balance (I clearly made those numbers up, but it really is a huge mental sport). By the end of the day you start to look at the last 20 miles as if it is nothing. You just have to look back on the accomplishments and adventures you had during the day and try to push forward. I know that in the days to come (Appalachian mountains), the biking is going to become very difficult, but I am trying to prepare myself mentally for it now.

Today, we had our second build day in Davidson, NC. It was a different experience than before because we were working with a local group called HAMMERS. Unlike Habitat for Humanity, they don't require sweat equity hours, and they don't build full houses; instead they repair much needed damage for those 80% below the poverty line. We put in dry wall for the family, but it was a bit weird at times cause there were several kids in there the entire time playing video games. All in all, it was rewarding to work with an affordable housing group that is not so well known nationally.

Tonight were staying at Zach's house, were having another pool party at his uncle's house, and Anna's (one of the trip leaders) family is making dinner. I'm having a great time, and about to go clean my bike. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Oh what a day

Well today was a VERY long day. We woke up at 5:00am and I got in from
biking at around 5:30pm. Today I was sweep which means that you have
to be last and basically make sure noone is left behind. It started
off really relaxing. We (Danielle and I) made it to lunch around 11:30
just in time to see the rest of the group leave lunch. I made one if
the bests PB&J's of my life on a French bagette (so nicely donated by
weaver street). We hung around for about 30 min until we hit the road
again. As danielle and I were falling asleep on our bikes we stopped
at the nearest gas station and grabbed a cup of coffee, plus we were
beginning to catch up with the rest of the group. The gas station was
probably the highlight of my day. As we sat outside sipping on our
coffee allowing a bit of afternoon showers to leave we begun to see
several middle aged men with pick up trucks come to this very gas
station. At any normal gas station you would expect these people to
fill up their tanks and maybe grab a candy bar, oh but no. These men
each walked in and bought some at least a 12 pack of beer at 12 in the
afternoon. By about the 7th man in a span of about 30min we begin to
make bets on which beer they were going to get. We later came to
realize that alcohol cannot be sold Sunday before 12. Suddenly it all
made sense. Oh and don't let me forget to mention the man standing
outside reading the newspaper in his underwear.

After that experience we went on our way, making several pee stops
along the way due to the 200 oz of water I consumed today, and
casually taking our time. With about 20 miles left to go we met up
with the last group of people and decided to stay together the rest of
the way. Unfortunately one of the girls chain got twisted and we had
to wait about 30 min for that to be fixed. It got to a point where I
really just wanted to be back, but I stuck with it trying to encourage
everyoe to finish. It was a tough mental day cause I wanted to go a
little faster than I was, but I made it through it and was even able
to fit in a game of knock out afterwards. We finally made it to
Winston Salem after the 86 slow mile day. Tomorrow we have another 5am
wake up with some miles ahead of us. Were having a movie night
tonight, but I have a feeling I might pass out as soon as that goes on.

Oh and I didn't get any pictures today :-(. Mainly cause by the time I
found something picture worthy, I just wanted to be back at the
church, and because Tristen said I was slacking off and taking too
many pics. Haha jk I just thought I'd start calling people out to keep
it interesting.

CHAPEL HILL

So i am currently in my bed typing this because we have one of our 3 days off tomorrow which means we have no curfew, which means I can sleep at home. I never realized how comfortable my bed was until now. Anyways, some updates on the trip: We rode into chapel hill on Thursday, where I say a couple of people from high school randomly around Franklin street, and my mom twice on the road. I stopped at the loop for lunch where they gave us a 10% discount for what we were doing before trekking it up the Franklin street hill. It was kinda weird knowing exactly where to go...except for which church we were at. Although it was my home town, I still managed to get lost some how. I missed the church on Franklin st, and didn't realize it until I made it to Carborro. Kind of got made fun of for that one. After we got in from our bike ride, we had our first bike clinic, which went really well. There were a lot of kids that came out, and it was a lot of fun to teach them the importance of bike safety, how to ride, and play with them. The clinic ended around 5, we ate dinner around 7 and then I met up with my sister, Kendall and Renee and just kind of hung out. By the time I make it to the night time I am always ready to pass out. This whole waking up at 6am and doing strenuous activity really makes you want to go to bed early. I ended up heading back to the church to go to sleep around 11:30, had a minor dance party with us underage folks, and then passed out.

Today was our first of nine build days. It was a lot of fun. When we first got there there was only a foundation laid down. We ended up putting up all the walls for the house. There's not much to say about the build day. It was very tiring yet also very rewarding. The people we were working with were so nice and appreciative, and last night we actually got to meet the family we were building for. Chapel Hill has really treated us nicely.

Tomorrow is our day off, and mostly everyone is coming over for a pool party!!!! I probably wont update tomorrow seeing as I will be spending my entire day lounging, can't wait! Well thats really all for now.

Hills hurt my quads

This is going to be an extremely short post, as I am exhausted and
probably going to bed in like 10 min. To make a long story short, the
ride was suppose to be 84 miles and turned into 96 miles due to
unlabeled roads and wrong cue sheets. Today was a mental day for me,
but I made it through and I am le tired. I am in wake forest and it
seemed like it was hill after hill after hill. Chapel hill tomorrow
and a possible sleep in...maybe like 7, whoop whoop

NO RAIN=HEAVEN

Belhaven treated us real nice. The food was glorious, the people were awesome (they gave us a check donation and auctioned off bikes for the kids). All in all it was a real friendly town, one of my favorites yet...out of the 4 days lol.

I am currently sitting in a sweet computer room in Greenville, NC eating ice cream and reflecting on the day. It was another 6am wake up today only today there was NO RAIN!!!!!!!!!!! It was actually a really nice day, a little cold in the morning...meaning I couldn't work on my sweet tan lines cause I was all covered up. We even had a few turns we had to make, instead of the usual 60 miles down one road. It made the miles go bye a little quicker because we were looking out for the streets. I even made a few stops and took some pictues. I will update some pictures soon, I am thinking to make an album for each state, but as my roomates will tell you I tend to wait a long time to post pictures. Anyways back to today, after the nice ride we came to this nice church/school/gym/I don't really know, but they had showers on site which was nice. So I took a shower, napped until I was awoken by raging group of 6 year olds running through to get their snacks for after school. We then all decided to re paint our support trailer, and i got pain splattered all over myself...cool. Then it was dinner time. We didn't have a huge pot luck tonight with all the church guest, but the cold cuts still hit the spot. We then had our first affordable housing presentation, which was relaxing, and now I'm here, trying to figure out my next move. Everyone's just hanging out now, as I continue to find mosquito bites all over my body ahhhhhh. Alright I'm gonna go get in a nice stretch. O and i have service today yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sarah Anscher
Philanthropy chairman
Kappa Alpha Theta-Eta Xi
Quinnipiac University '11
(919)360-8489

I still don't like rain

Yet again I have no service here in belhaven, but when I send these
messages they some how make it to my blog from one town to the next,
although I don't know how cause I continue to be in the middle of no
where. Today we only did 35 miles but it was about 45 degrees in the
rain the entire way. When I got here around 10:30 I couldn't feel my
feet, but it's around 5 now and I'm back and kickin, don't worry. It's
nice to kind of look back on the day and know what you did, and a
couple of hours later you begin to forget the pain you were in
before...and then you stand and all the memories come rushing back.

The day today has been pretty chill. When we got in a couple of us
headed to a bed and breakfast to take showers, sit in by the
fireplace, and drink hot chocolate. It was awesome after the cold day.
After that my chore group was in charge of laundry, so we did that and
checked out some of the local hot spots (and by hot spots I mean the
drug store and a burger place/any other greasy food you wanted place).
After that we lounged, cleaned our bikes, and then lounged again. Were
all looking forward to the food tonight (...except for alex who ate a
6 pound burger for free). We heard that last year they had a full pig
roast, can't wait!!

That pretty much sums it up so far, back to the lounging

Pictures

Sarah Anscher
Philanthropy chairman
Kappa Alpha Theta-Eta Xi
Quinnipiac University '11
(919)360-8489I can send pics one by one from my phone so I'll try to keep you updated

No me gusta rain

I am currently in swan quarter, nc and have absolutely no service so
this post is going to go out whenever I get service, which could quite
possibly be a while, but I figured I'd write it while it's fresh on my
mind. First off mom, if your reading this I am alive. I made it 68
miles today, and I am not in too much pain. The wheel dipping ceremony
was really nice. Thanks to my dad and aunt for coming out and showing
support. It was a really nice day to start off. I found a group with a
real steady pace, kind of in the middle of the group and held about a
12-15mph pace basically the whole way.

With about 15 miles left to go it started to down pour. I think I
biked my fastest the last 15 because I was convinced that I might be
able to out bike the storm...lies. It's still here and pouring. There
wasn't much to see on the road today. It was pretty much flat straight
road. The only challenge was the head wind and the rain, nothing us
bike and builders can't handle (found this out today).

We finally arrived in this real rural town of swan quarter and soon
after headed out to take showers at two local houses. They were so
nice letting us into their houses. I actually got to talk to the
people in both houses which was really cool. I then came back to the
church and was fed some awesome food. Some true southern hospitality
here. I talked to some pretty cool locals, one man had to be about 70,
and he told me a story about how him and his wife took the motor cycle
out to nags head and saw a bear. That's when I came to the conclusion
that if a 70 year old man can still rock the motor cycle than I should
be able to ride cross country, right? We'll see.

So it's now about 8:51 and I am exhausted (5:30 wake up) so I will
probs be going to bed very soon.

Orientation

So today was our first real day. I woke up today wore my white theta
sweatshirt, only to get bike grease all over it while doing early
morning bike maitnence. However, I did find out that one of my leaders
was a theta at William and Mary, which is so cool. It's crazy how I
can go and do something completely random and still make connections
with people. There are a lot of really cool people here. Everyone is
so chill and down to earth.

Today we went on our first bike ride out to the lighthouse of Nags
Head and back. We met this 90 year old man who served in four wars and
also had hand-painted the light house himself back in the 30s. The
bike ride itself wasn't bad at all except that we hit some bad rain,
but other than that of was a lot of fun. I got to wear my bike and
build jersey which was pretty sweet.

Ok well I'm going to eat dinner from our hosts here at nags head.
Sorry some of these may be short, but most are being types on my
phone. Tomorrow's when we head out and ok super pumped!!!!!

Sarah

52 miles

So yesterday I made a pit stop in Richmond, Va while driving back from school and participated in the capital to capital ride. There was an option to do the century ride (100 mi...not at that level yet), half-century (50 mi...yes mam), and 25 mi ride(...psh). I obviously chose the 50 mile one. In what I thought was going to be a terrible thunderstorm ride, turned out to be a sunny and scenic route through the historical civil war battle fields of Richmond.

I was a little nervous to start the day off because I knew that if I couldn't do this, that I would be in some serious trouble for the trip. Well turns out I could do the ride, no problem....except for my very sore bum and feet afterwards. My legs were fine, which was kind of surprising. I wasn't even that sore when I woke up today.

I plan on going on a small 15-20 mile ride today and then immediately jumping in the pool afterwards and having a mother's day cookout. I love summer.

Ok well just thought I'd start updating this thing, so that when I actually start my trip (T minus 5 days), I will actually use it. Ok gotta go bike!

Fundraising complete!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally raised the $4,000, which means I'm officially going to be biking cross country this summer! I have 1 hour left to do for my sweat equity portion of the trip, which I will complete on April 4th. Although, I haven't posted much yet I plan to post as often as possible on the trip.

I can't wait to get started. I've been able to go outside a couple of times and ride, but for the most part it has been very cold up here. My rule is that it has to be at least 50 degrees for me to go out and ride. Now that were getting in to April, I should be able to ride a lot more often. I've gotten used to the clipless pedals, which I'm pretty proud of. I only almost fell once.

Things have been pretty crazed in my life. Between school, theta, and biking, I feel like I'm constantly doing something. My mind is almost completely occupied with Kicks for Casa (university-wide Kick Ball tournament I am planning for Theta to raise money for CASA) as it is next Sunday. The following week I have 4 tests, 2 of which are the day after Kicks. However, once those 2 weeks are over, I will be able to bascially focus completely on Bike & Build.

I'm starting to get really excited for the trip and what this summer has to offer me!

~Sarah

How to donate

So I've had this blog on the internet for awhile now and originally its sole purpose was to just keep people who have already donated updated on my fundraising and over the summer updated on my trip. It only recently came to my attention that someone interested donating might happen to stumble upon this website...so if your one of those people here's how you donate to such an amazing cause:
Click on the link below:
http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,118/
Select (Anscher, Sarah) under riders name, and follow the directions.

Now for a quick update:
I just bought some new biking equipment, half of which I'm not exactly sure how to use, and I've been able to get out and ride a lot more lately. To this day I've raised $2,655 which means that I only need $1,345 to reach my goal of $4,000. I'm so grateful for all who have donated thus far, however I seem to find myself still worried about raising enough money. I've pretty much asked everyone I know already, so now its up to me to have some more killer bake sales! If anyone has any ideas please leave me a comment, I need as much help with all of this as I can get.

~Sarah