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.