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!