Last Entry

Welp, I finally made it back to the east coast and my epic trip is over. I just thought I'd write a quick thank you to everyone who read my blog all summer - whether I know about you or not :). And also to everyone who donated to my cause and trip. I hope that you realize that it was absolutly life changing for me and I'm so glad I spent my summer in my own backyard.

Thanks again!

-- Diane

Location:Philadelphia, PA

Meeting Lee Smith

So we woke up this morning with a game plan. We headed to the corner of Robson and Granville for some crepes and smoothies. Then off we went to Stanley park to go roller blading around.

Personally, I loved it! But doug who was a little more roller blading challenged was a trooper. He only fell once, but he spent so much time concentrating on not falling that he couldn't really look around like me. We did the 10k loop around the park and stopped all along the way. I felt like I was back on bike and build, skating along and checking out all the terrain and pit stops as we went. I think I really like exploring this way now.

Here are pictures:











After this, we went to steamworks brewing company for dinner before going to a minor league baseball game. The Vancouver canadians played the Salem-Keizer volcanos. It was a fun game. We met lee smith there which doug really enjoyed :). Came back a little early because we have to wake up at 3:15 to catch our flight tomorrow! Wow. The trip is finally over!

-- Diane and Doug

Doug Turns 10

Well the highlights of yesterday were checking out the sea wall and Canada Place as well as the capilano suspension bridge.

I slept in while doug went for a run in the morning. My body is exhaused and I can finally catch up on sleep in a real bed.

Then we went to the grocery store for a picnic lunch and caught a shuttle up to the bridge. It is just north of the city.

This bridge is a long swinging cable bridge across a canyon. When we arrived, we got a tour of the history of the bridge by Matt.

During the tour doug first began acting like he was
10 years old, as him and the other little kid freaked out when they saw ice cream. Then we went inside the gift shop for free fudge samples, where again, 10 year old doug and another little kid loved the cookies and cream fudge. Well when we went across the bridge, it was confirmed - doug is 10.



So the bridge was large enough for just two people across, and it moved alot! It was pretty neat to walk across but also to watch other people walk across. We had our picnic on the otherside in the rainforest as we learned on the tour. Who knew there was a rainforest so close?

Then we walked around looking for banana slugs and learning about Douglas firs, red cedars, and hemlocks. I also told a joke - what were tarzans last words? Who greased the vine? Doug just shook his head.

Coming back the bus driver was crazy - he was giving us play by play on the loud speaker of his driving situations. It was funny and he was nice enough.

Then we got off at Canada place and saw this digital whale art. I liked it alot.

By this time is was getting late, so we spent a while walking around to find pho, ate it and then watched a movie. We also wrote and mailed some postcards. Good day.


-- Diane and Doug

Location:Vancouver

Canadian Bacon

So I have some help writing now. Doug is behind the blogs too now. We are trading paragraphs in tonights issue.

Most of the bike and build team was still in Vancouver today so in the morning we left our hotel and walked the 8 or so blocks to the church where everyone was staying. After checking in with the group we walked over to Robson street to shop. Well, more like Diane dragged me along for the ride to Robson St so she could shop.

To be fair, doug said he might be interested in a jacket because it is cool in Vancouver. But most of the stores we stopped in were my idea. I found a super comfy pair of sweatpants from a company called roots for an awesome price. There is background here of Erica having these sweatpants and me wearing them once and realizing just how awesome they are. So I got myself a pair. Did alot of other window shopping but nothing major. Doug didnt find a jacket, but we didnt look that hard either. Then we met back up with the group at 12:30 to go to the Granville Island Farmers Market, which is like reading terminal in Philly, and the strip in Pittsburgh.

The market area had a ton of shops and so much to look at...I couldn't keep up.


It was nice to walk around that area and get food - we had our apple pie a la mode first before the burgers because we didn't want the ice cream to melt. It worked out well. Later in the afternoon we then took the aquaferry back across the water to put us back in downtown Vancouver.

Well at this point we had done a ton of walking, so we headed back to the hotel for a break. We napped for about an hour before waking back up to have sushi with AK and Denis for dinner. Doug ordered way too much food! The sushi rolls were huge -and we didn't know that. But it was a real good place. It was fun - a double date of sorts. Then we had some hot chocolate and listen to denis tell us about his favorite cross country experience.

Finally we went back to the church and I said goodbye to the team. It was sad. I'll miss everyone - alot. I'm slowly readjusting to real life again.

-- Diane (and Doug)

Location:Vancouver

I Can See Clearly Now The Rain Is Gone

For once I woke up before the alarms at 6 am. We're riding to Vancouver today!! I had to be patient all morning. All I wanted to do was get to second beach and see Doug. But we wouldn't be doing that until noon. Also, a group of guys had taken Nolan in the day before and gotten mad lost, so today we split into 4 groups with leaders. I rode with denis as my leader.

It was cold and rainy, and we were getting lost. What a way to ride in. I had on lots of layers and the last thing I wanted to do was run into the ocean.

We regrouped at the science center and waited until noon to ride over. In the last two miles of the ride, the clouds parted and the rain stopped. It was finally hitting all of us - what we had done this summer.

As we turned the corner to Stanley park we started screaming and cheering past all of our parents and friends. Dropped our bikes, stripped down and ran for the ocean.

It was warmer than expected but there were huge rocks, so I cut my foot up pretty bad by accident. We huged and sang and cheered in the ocean. Finally came back and dipped our front wheels in the ocean. All of my pics are on my camera unfortunatly. You'll have to wait for it.

We spent the rest of the day celebrating and packing bikes and celebrating and saying good bye. We also handed out superlatives, I got most likely to become a spin class instructor.

Great day. Saw doug, and it's nice to have him back. I can't believe I made it the whole way. My trip is over.

These are my lyrics to closing time:

Vancouver
Run into the ocean
And dip your front wheel in the sea

Vancouver
What an epic summer
Its 32 bikes, 1 country

Vancouver
Let's Gather up some hammers
And put up a new house for them

Vancouver
Every plate of pasta
and every last cookie are gone

I know I won't miss my thermarest
No more packing trailers b'for breakfast
I know that my bag is just a mess...it's just a mess

Vancouver
No more flats to bring you down
Or road morphs to pump you back up

Vancouver
Life long friends and memories
Bike and build withdrawl is here.

Vancouver
Every new beginning
Comes from some other beginings end


Stats of the Day

Total Distance: 23.90
Avg Speed: 7.79
Max Speed: 33.23


-- Diane

Location:Vancouver BC

Canada Eh?

Welp, we made it to Canada today. I mailed my last pieces in the US and then answered some questions and crossed the border. As we crossed, Angela decided she needed to pee, so she told Kelsey who was still at the window to ask the guard if Canada has bathrooms. So Kelsey did just that, and the guard cracked a smile.

I rode so slow today. It was hillier than expected, but still a good ride. When we got to our host, we were informed they were hosting a day camp, so we couldn't actually come in until 5ish. That gave us like 4 hours of time to do whatever. So we just hung. It's been a long night of inventory and winding the trip down. We aren't in the best area of town tonight but it's only one more day to Vancouver. I think we'll make it.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 40.34
Avg Speed: 12.23
Max Speed: 41.12


-- Diane

Location:Surrey, BC

Last Day in America

Today is the last day we are in America. The ride was a little crazy. There was little sholder and trucks - always makes for close calls unfortunatly.

The funny part of the day came when I got a flat tire. I was sitting on the side of the road with the tire off my bike, changing the tube when I heard a dog bark. I looked up, through two fences - a wood one and a metal one, and thought I'm fine. Well then I saw a hole in the metal one and the wood one wouldn't stop the dog to begin with. So I jumped up and yelled at AK and put the wheel between the dog and me and started yelling at it. It slowed down and all I could think of is I'm down I can't escape. I have no tire. Well very luckily, the owner was in her yard, and she began yelling at the dog as it got with in feet. I yelled at her I'm just changing a tire, and luckily all casualties were avoided.

Then on the way in I began making up songs. I wrote a Washington song to the tune of
Oh Christmas tree:

Oh Washington oh Washington,
Your mountains aren't really that high.

I climbed on you for five days straight. I sailed down you to eat some grapes.

Oh washington, oh Washington, it's on to oh Canada.

I also wrote a Vancouver song that I will debut in Vancouver of course.

I will also announce now that I'll blog while doug and I are in Vancouver - so you guys can all still keep up. I'll be there till the 31st. It's been an unbelievable trip and it's not over yet.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 76.89
Avg Speed: 14.61
Max Speed: 31.08

-- Diane

Location:Lyndon, WA

Eye of the Tiger

Woke up this morning cold so I put all my clothes on. Then slowly took them all off while doing morning chores, but brought them all with me bc I thought it would be cold at the top of the pass - I mean there is snow up there.

So it was the last day of climbing, and it was time to go with the big boys. Jamie, denis, Nolan, Travis, sam and I set off for the peak. Well I was with them for the first 15 miles, and in the last half mile I began dropping. I'm not too upset about it tho. We were going fast. Kyle kept pulling up next to us playing eye of the tiger on the van speakers on the way up which made it all the more epic. There were also switchbacks so you could see where you came from.

This is the view from atop Washington pass:


I think I developed an extra muscle in my quad from all this climbing. We hit rainy pass next which was no big deal.

On the downhills I let the boys race and go my own pace. I don't need any accidents.

We swam in cold water again after lunch and then went through a pitch black tunnel. It was scary. And epic.

Then Nolan, sam and I pushed until about 8 miles of tonights campground. We saw a gas station and were stuck. After a milkshake I felt better but it had been a long day. I did the last 8 miles on my own and ended up getting lost and adding in a few extra miles. Whatever it was all still fun.

Last town hall. High - all the climbs and sandpoint. Low - having four of us cross tires and Nolan crashing.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 85.47
Avg Speed: 15.87
Max Speed: 40.33

-- Diane

Location:Rockport, WA

Water is Cold

Well I'm writing this blog a day late because we were so busy yesterday, but it was the Loup Loup climb.

I've been climbing with the boys all week basically (and Stephanie) because it is just harder to climb slow. At my pace we climb for over an hour and a half so to slow down and struggle for over two hours.

After the climb we found a river with a rapid of sorts following a long sand bar. Only problem, the river was freezing! But we pretended to be salmon and did it anyways. The current was real strong.




Then we entered a town called Winthrop where everything looked like it was from the old west. Leaving there, sam had a flat. It was Nolan, sam and I and as soon as Nolan said it was a shark tooth that caused the flat I knew we were in for a good final 13 miles.

At the camp site, we took a bath in the river - just as cold as the first, and put our milk in there to keep it cold over night.

We spent the majority of the night reviewing grants and determining how much money each group should get. I am definitely partial to grants that have a unique project over grants that are just building homes.




Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 63.42

I forgot to write down the others.

-- Diane

Location:Early winters, WA

All of It?

Today the climb began within half a mile of the ride. It was about 12 or 13 miles to the top of Wauconda Pass - 4310 ft. So nothing in comparison to yesterday but still a hike.

Downhill was awesome, I took tons of pictures of the desert mountains around us, but none with my phone because might drop it. Sorry.

At lunch I heard a gross story. Two days ago, Kyle G was bit by a spider on his cheek. Last night he woke up in pain and walked to the hosiptal. The doctor found the bite inside his mouth (yep the spider went in his mouth while he slept). He got a shot of anti-venom and anti swelling because it was a hobo spider. You can wiki it. But gross! I feel bad for him.

Then I waited around at lunch a while so I could ride with AK now that the climb was over. We got chased by a dog - and didn't even realize he was coming till he was half a foot from my pedal. We got scared and the boys infront wouldn't speed up. Luckily he lost interest. Sneak attack.

We also saw a dust bowl storm thing today where in the distance you had a funnel of dust from the ground a few hundred feet into the air. Pretty cool.

Tonight my only prank of the trip finally played out! Nolan, the trip prankster was busted. We had a guy take all his clothes while he was in the shower and replaced them with abbys dress - result he had to wear it the whole walk back :)


Count it!

Then we had a long long affordable housing meeting where we discussed all the grants we recieved and how to split up the money we fundraised. Part two will be tomorrow.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 65.40
Avg Speed: 16.09
Max Speed: 32.58


-- Diane

Location:Republic, WA

Are you sure man (Sherman)?

So it's day two of the climbs, and it was a close one. We had a really pumped group this morning - denis, sam, Nolan, and heather who made it well known they were going to kill the climb. So over breakfast I debated joining the group or not, and decided with camping and more passes to come, I would make a b team to climb with. So chris and Michael and I set off.

Before lunch and the climb we were chased by the littlest dog ever which we thought was hilarious.

The climb was 22 miles. And Josh and Nolan wrecked the a team, leaving the rest of the a team straggling up the mountain. We were Stopped on the side when they passed us (we left before them). So we jumped back in just after sam. Well this was a mistake because it gave me someone to chase. So I dragged Michael and chris up slowly catching sam. I was trying to keep them with me but they got too tired. Then next thing I knew I was 400 meters in front of sam too. I just felt good and was going for it. Well about a 1/2 mile from the very top I stopped take a photo of the view and that's when I realized I was not okay. Some how in climbing 22 miles I got tired and used all my energy. So I waited on the side of the road and yelled at sam to give me his gatorade (I didn't have any just water). He tossed me his bottle as he went by but it started rolling down hill, so I went and caught it as quickly as possible. I made the last 1/2 mile of the climb with sam to the summit.




Then it was time for the downhill. Even tho the sun is out, it is still cold because of the elevation. So I put my new arm earners on and began the decent. I was struggling. And it was downhill. Another red flag. I made it into town tho, and stopped at the first gas station I saw. I got a twix bar, starburst, ramen noodles, and poptarts. I sat down and ate the twix. Then I coaxed myself back on the bike to go the last 3 blocks to our host site, where I ate the rest of the food and realized how bad of shape I was in. I laid down and passed out. I woke up a few hours later and feel good again. This is what we call here as being on the verge of bonking.

Tomorrow is another day and another climb. Well see how the legs feel.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 76.51
Avg Speed: 15.16
Max Speed: 34.25


-- Diane

Location:Republic, WA

They Didnt Tell Me We Had to Climb

So started the day with cage and Tony. We got to Washington and then got some fruit from safeway. At lunch I ate alot as usual, and it was super easy at this point. Well no one told me we had to climb today. And after lunch it began. We were headed up chewelah mountain which apparently means snake in the grass.

This is the view from atop:


The pass was at an elevation of 4046ft. Today was the start of 6 passes in 5 days. So get ready legs!

When we got into the host, Denis came in sadened that he lost a flip flop at some point today. So I went to the thrif shop and bought him some hugh heffner style slippers for 98 cents. He loves them! And they will work for the last week of the trip.

Tonight we went bowling, and after took one of denis' new slippers. We framed AK and are all enjoying the prank.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 72.08
Avg Speed: 14.45
Max Speed: 38.36

-- Diane

Location:N 2nd St W,Chewelah,United States

Accident

So not 10 miles into our ride today we had a pile up - and I got out of it standing. The line order went like this: Stephanie, Josh, Sam, Me, Nolan. For some reason, Stephanie put on her brakes and didn't tell any of us - and our tires are like 3-4 inches from eachother. Josh slammed his on, and the wheel crossing began. Sam and I were sandwhiched with both our wheels crossing the wheels of the people ahead and behind us. I felt nolans wheel on mine, and I reached back almost like a baton pass and grabed ahold of his bike. I got out of Sams back wheel and steered over and hit the brakes. Nolan went down in slow motion, but he's the only on who fell. It could have been so much worse.

Made it to first lunch pretty fast, and then on to Idaho.




Steph and Josh always make the letter abreviation under the state signs.

Just before second lunch, we met hippy John in the blue bomber. He was a man on the side of the road, living out of his van. It was wild.

At second lunch we took a little swiming break, and then rolled in to Sandpoint.

We went to this bar called the dive - they had a mechanical bull. You also threw peanut shells on the floor and there were dogs inside, reminding me of the green door. It was fun to ride it and I like to think I wasn't too bad - it's all about leg and stomach strength.

We also had a day off in sandpoint today, and a group of us went water tubing and skiing on the lake. We rented a boat and off we went - some of the guys knew how to drive it and it was an awesome day on the water. Nolan was real good at water skiing and I spent quite a bit of time on the back of the tube - I was steering it so that I wouldn't get thrown off. Everyone else has tons of pictures.

When I got back from that, it was mail drop and I was like why do I have a huge pile?? So unexpected - but totally awesome. Thanks to everyone for sending cards :). I can't believe it's less than 500 miles and 8 days to go before I'll have riden my bike the whole country. I've also come to realize just how many people read my blog. Not even people I know - random coworkers and my friends from school and family. Knowing people read it had made me keep up with it this summer and really feel alot of support from everyone because they care enough to read it. Thanks!

Stats from Yesterday:

Total Mileage: 98.04
Avg Speed: 16.31
Max Speed: 31.96


-- Diane

Location:Sandpoint, ID

Making All Situations Awesome

So today was so full of all sorts of adventure. Aunt Mary Faith is very good at predicting routes because we are in Libby tonight and took highway 37 here along the koocanusa lake. I started the morning with chris and Michael and Sarah, but the road was weird, and we couldn't tell if we were going uphill or downhill - only by the speed and effort put into our bikes. We think it's because the rock cliffs went up at an angle skewing the visual look of the road. Anyways, this is the view I had all day:



I rode for about 6 miles by myself and it was sweet because I stopped and all I could hear was nature. It's a cool feeling.

Lunch was atop a cliff, where people made rock towers and I pelted lesil with silly string and water ballons for her birthday.

After lunch, we wanted to swim but were above the water level. So we found a road to take us down there - problem is if you go down you have to come up. The water was freezing, but that didn't stop us, in we went and it was awesome. Then coming back up the hill, it turned out didn't take as much effort as we thought, so that was just as good.

Coming into town, we saw another swimming opportunity so in we went again, then laid around for a while before getting back on the bike. I'm learning to take any situation and have fun with it. It rocks.

After dinner was town hall where we handed out the competitive grants. These are grants affordable housing organizations submit that we as a group discuss and then allocate out the money we raised to do the trip. It's pretty cool - so I'll be reading those apps over the next few days.

Sam and I had a heart to heart tonight about bike and build ending and what life is gonna be like after. He brought it up becuase he's at a cross roads - and I think alot of people are on this trip. I'm obviously in a different spot because I have a job when I get back. And I'm very glad I do. But it's also good that the people who don't have plans can talk about it together and figure stuff out. We are all at formidable points in our lives and people here have the potential to do big things. I think part of this trip is getting to know yourself and figure that out. I've learned I'm happy with where I am at. Anyways enough of that.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 74.58
Avg Speed: 14.02
Max Speed: 36.19

-- Diane

Location:Libby, MT

Sadie Hawkins

Today I woke up in a fantastic mood. It was Sadie Hawkins date ride day, so Angela and I set off with steph as our third wheel since her date Andrew was in the van. Also, we double dated with AP and Kelsey.

After an hour in bike shops, we set off for eureka, MT. We found lunch early, and took some biker photos -




And also enjoyed some super burgers and fries. Then AK and I sat around on a swing in the shade for an hour.

After lunch I was not feeling the biking fast thing, so at a snails pace we continued on. We saw the most beautiful lake ever. It was a georgeous blue green color surrounded by pine tree mountains. It was called lake dicky and we had to stop. When we got there, we met these people who took us water tubing - yup that's right I went water tubing today in a lake so clear you could see 25 feet down. Awesome. After that we swam a bit before getting back on the bike.

We stopped again later to pet some horses. They were so nice and wanted to be right in your face. I fed them some grass.

When we got into the host, we heard about the funniest naked mile experience. Some people have been planning all summer to do a naked mile on the bike. Well I guess today they tried it, only to have the first car that came upon them be the sheriff! So funny. They didn't get in trouble but hilarous for the rest of us. I won't be doing it that's for sure.

Stats of the Day:

60.43
15.09
35.19

-- Diane

Location:Eureka, MT

Last Build Day

Today rivals Portsmouth for best build day of the trip. Jamie, Dennis and I built a closet and stair rail from scratch today. They are both architects, and me? Well I can cut wood and do math. So I absolutly learned alot today about building structures. It was awesome.






I did have one golden moment whether the boys wanna give me credit for it or not. We were building a criple, and the one piece was only 2 inches long. When you used the nail gun, it split the wood right away. So they were stuck and I had an idea. We needed a 3.5 x 2 inch block, so I cut the wood so the grain would run the long end (3.5 in) and suggested we hand hammer because it's less pressure. Dennis initially said it wouldn't work, but I went and cut the piece anyways, and gave it to him, and what do you know...we had a cripple. Success!

After the build, I put new brakes on my bike and cleaned it up. Then I got sent on a chocolate donut scavenger hunt for my Sadie hawkens date...(I volunteered to be a 'guy' so that there would be even numbers). And also so that I wouldn't have to ask anyone :). It was awesome. I grabed a glass of milk and followed the clues to AK! Best ride buddy ever!!

Oh and Aunt Mary Faith said take more pictures, so this is our view -



I folded up all the tents also so that they wouldn't get wet tomorrow morning, making drying them useless.

Stats from Yesterday:

Total Mileage: 81.45
Avg Speed: 15.12
Max Speed: 33.46


-- Diane

Location:Whitefish MT

Switching Sweep

Talk about a loaded day. After our tent nearly collapsed last night, we woke up at 4 to begin the day. If we didn't wanna have to take the shuttle, we had to be 50 miles through the ride by 11 am. 5 hours including a climb and 50 miles as sweep I knew I wasn't gonna make it, and worse than anything I didn't wanna shuttle. I wanted to bike the pass.

Well either way, I started the morning with a flat as my nozzle came off my tube. So I changed it. As we rode up on Liz and Kate and Kelsey it was clear people have different priorities on bike and build. The three of them wanted to stop everywhere and take pictures and didn't care if they made it down the mountain by bike or shuttle. On the other hand while I would have liked to take my time because we were restricted by the pass closure to bikes at 11 am, I knew I wanted to be through there because I wanna bike the whole way. So like I said, luckily they were willing to switch with us. And off we went to make up for lost time.

Since I am a fast climber comparitivly, I would stop on occation and take pictures and catch back up. The scenery was amazing dispite the fog and rain. It reminded me of the japaneese countryside. Glacier is somewhere I would wanna come back and spend a week at.

Well the real challenge came when we reached the contential divide. We had 33 miles to go and only an hour and 15 mintues to do it. Now if you pay attention to my stats ever, you'll realize that normally we go about 15 or 16 mph. So determined we set off. Even though 12 miles were downhill, it was switchbacks so we couldn't take off. Not to mention the decent was freezing my arms were shaking and my teeth chattering and I had plastic bags around my feet to keep the wind out.

We got to the bottom and Dennis pulled but then didn't eat enough and trailed off. Sam, whose shifter broke at the bottom on the otherwise only had 2 gears, so we dropped him on a hill, and then it was jillian and I. So I did math while I pulled above 20 mph for 45 minutes pacing to reach the designated spot before 11 am. Sam and Dennis did catch back up but I still pulled. It was epic. I learned alot right there about how you can cycle vs run based on how your legs feel. Conclusion: we made it to mile 50 at 10:59! Awesome. I had a huckleberry milkshake to celebrate.

After lunch, Kyle said he was leaving and was only going to go about 15. Thinking my legs were horribly tired from the climb and the pull I thought going slow would be perfect. Think again... Kyle never went below 20...and at least I wasn't pulling but dang did we roll today.

I picked up some new brakes from the bike shop. After 5000 miles and that decent today mine are shot. Had some huckleberry ice cream and we build tomorrow. Should be real good.

I don't have the stats but I'll put em up tomorrow. I wish I had pics to post but I can't pull my phone out when it rains. I'm so glad I made it the whole way without having to shuttle. I could have been in such a bad mood. But we have an awesome team and in the end everyone was happy. Love it!

Didn't see any bears. Perfectly okay with that.



-- Diane

Location:Whitefish, MT

Glacier

Talk about an epic day.

I was heating up even though I was freezing.

It was gorgeous even though it was raining.

The mountains were there even though you couldn't see them.

I can't even describe glacier. (and I don't think I can spell it either but oh well). The climbs the decent amazing. And all in the soaking rain.

We are sleeping in tents in the pouring rain. It's about to get real. We were very creative this afternoon building shelters and keeping bags dry. Awesome. I got two flats on the road from staples in my tires. And in the end, today was epic. Epic.

Also, said goodbye to mark. Here's his lyrics - to John denvers leaving on a jet plane. So sad.

All marks bags are packed
He's ready to go
He's standing here with a pbj
He Hates to remove his shammies and say goodbye

But the dawn is breaking
The trailers packed
The van is waiting
He's shipped his bike

Already We're so lonesome We could bonk

So bike into Vancouver for him.
Kira said she'll wait for him
Shell hold him and never let him go

Cuz marks leaving on a bush plane
Back to groceries once a year
Man oh man he hates to go.

There's so many photos Hes snapped of you
So many builds Hes filmed us do
I tell you now the best he's ever seen

Everyplace we've been He'll tell his kids
Everysong He sings He'll wave his flag
When He gets home He'll dream of all of us.

So bike into Vancouver for him.
Kira said shell wait for him
Shell hold him and never let him go

Cuz marks leaving on a bush plane
No more root beer floats this year
Man oh man he hates to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me ride with you
Close your eyes I'll be sawing logs

I'll dream about a year to come
When I come back for CWM
About the times I won't have to say

Bike into Vancouver for him.
Kira said she'll wait for him
Shell hold him and never let him go

Cuz marks leaving on a bush plane
We won't be listening to stories no more.
Man oh man he hates to go

But marks leaving on a bush plane
It's the end of bike and build for him
Man oh man he hates to go.

Stats of the day:

Total Mileage: 66.98
Avg Speed: 13.46
Max Speed: 35.34


-- Diane

Location:Glacier National Park

Dust in the Wind

Today was by far the hardest day I've had on the bike. The wind was incredible and I felt even deep in the pace line it was a struggle. I feel bad sometimes because I know other people have to work harder to go as fast as I do sometimes so in situations like this I figure if I pull longer we are all putting in the same effort.

Well with about 15 miles before lunch, I joined with Dennis and Angela. We sang all the songs we knew at the top of our lungs to try and take our minds off the wind. By the time we got into lunch, all I wanted were chocolate donuts. So I bee lined for the gas station.

It was hard to get me out of lunch, but reluctantly, Michael and I set off. We were both in the kind of mood where we got temporary turrets. We decided to stop every 10 min for a break.

Finally we got in but it was rough. Wow. Also what kept me going was that is was mail day which meant i got my package! Cookies were great - everyone liked them although i ate about 8 myself. Also doug wrote a very hilaious letter to me. Thanks buddy - just what I needed after a tough day.

Cool thing tho - we saw the Rockies today in the distance.

- i've now biked from the east coast to the Rockies

- I have to climb that tomorrow and it's gonna be awesome!

Also I made up a song about Montana today - (tune of oh suzanna)

Oh Montana!
Oh don't do meth for me
Cuz I come from north Dakota
With a mountain still to see.

After a shower I cleaned my bike up all pretty and then had a good chat with Sam about the summer. We took mark out to the bar for a final drink (he leaves to go back to alaska after tomorrows ride). I stole Takas awesome toast as I was last in the circle to say good things about him. It went like this:

Saying Mark without thinking Broz is like saying arkansas without Alaska, sauna with out ahhhh, and bike without build. So drink up, here's to mark Broz.

I think it was a hit.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 67.95
Avg Speed: 13.48
Max Speed: 26.88

-- Diane

Location:Cut Bank, MT

Hot Momma from Montana

Rode through Havre today, which is not pronounced like Favre sorry. They had an underground city there at one point which is pretty cool. This caused a series of stops in which we traveled about a mile in over an hour.

I first convinced Angela and lesil to get chocolate donuts from me at the gas station. Then we stopped at walmart, where we met syvia, the hot mamma from Montana. She was about 60 and pretty crazy. But funny for sure.

We got back on the bikes finally and made it to lunch. At lunch I used the weirdest gas station bathroom. Gas was 1.93 and when we walked in no one was inside. So we used the bathroom, and then while walking out saw a vending machine that sold 65 cent cans of bud light. It was weird.

Another group came upon a fire just before lunch. The suspicion is that a cigarette butt started it, but when their water bottles failed and the wind blew it bigger they called the fire department. Bike and build prevents forest fires now too.

After lunch I raced a train. It was going pretty slow so I decided to go for it. The conductor was cheering me on as I hit 31 mph. It was fun for about a half a mile. Then I was just tired.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 84.32

Avg Speed: 16.48

Max Speed: 31.96 - did it on flat ground!

-- Diane

Location:Chester, MT

Flat # 2

Rode the day with Liz, and about a mile before lunch my back tire was low. So I rode it in anyways and ate lunch first. I've been craving chocolate donuts lately, so I had some of those. Then I pryed a small rock out of my tire and changed the tube. This was of course the best place to get a flat since I could use the big pump. So two flats in a row - I'm heating up.

Just before leaving, a stray dog appeared and raised it's leg over kyles helmet. It got a sprinkling as we yelled at it, but heathers camelback took the most of it. So glad it wasn't mine.

After lunch the wind picked up and it was Sarah me and Liz. Sarah was having the hardest day of the trip (just a bad day for her body), so I pulled both of them the 25 more miles into chinook. I really like pulling and working hard on the bike.

Upon arrival I spent an hour perfecting my song about mark. Mark is leaving us in glacier to go back and teach in America, so I rewrote John denvers song leaving on a jet plane. I'll post the lyrics when I perform it in glacier.

Then the past two days I've had about 2 hours between when I am hungry and dinner, so I took a nap so I wouldn't have to be upset I couldn't eat yet.

Town hall tonight, and I don't have any lows because my lows are my highs.

-falling out of the tent and getting all those flats with Angela.

Town hall wasn't as painful tonight as it normally is so that's good too.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 68.85

Avg Speed: 14.33

Max Speed: 20.66

-- Diane

Location:Chinook, MT

Flat Tires

Well Angela started the day with a flat tire and before it was all over the two of us would have 4 flats in all.

We had been warned we were about to go through serious mosquito territory in the next 2-3 days. Even riding we were warned we'd be bit. So I brought the bug spray in my cammelback today.

About 9 miles into the ride Angela got her first flat. I gave her my tube so that it would go faster. Back on the road, and we made it to lunch with out any mosquito bites.

At lunch I took a 10 min nap and a train came by. It blew it's whistle so loud I thought I was laying on the tracks for a second.

Four miles out of lunch Angela got anoter flat. We went through 3 tubes changing that one because we had holes in all of em. We even flagged the van down for help while angela ran away from an angry bee, but still no Mosquitos.

Well about 4 miles after that, my back tire was low. I decided I'd just try and pump it up and not worry about it but sure enough a mile later it was low again. So out came the tube and I changed that sucker. My perfect record shattered. But still no mosquitos.

Well luckily after that Angela and I made it with no more flats. When the van came I let her use my extra tire which is way better than the stock kenda.

Still a real enjoyable ride, and when we got in everyone else talked about how bad the mosqutos were holding to their legs while biking. It's like angela and I took a different route or something.

Dinner tonight was pasta we made. I really miss it when we don't have dinner provided. Less than 3 weeks remaining in the trip. It's pretty crazy - and we still have to do the rockies.

Stats of the day:

Total Mileage: 71.87

Avg Speed: 14.62

Max Speed: 25.34

-- Diane

Location:Malta, MT

Montana Rodeos

Decided to ride with Kyle Lee today since I really haven't ridden with him yet. We had some good convos - he's studying to be a catholic preist and everyone knows it, but we really didn't talk to much about religion, we talked about other stuff.

When we got in, I played raquetball for a few hours, then Angela and I went to a bar for a drink. We ended up talking to the lady for like 2 hours - she told us lots about the area and the Indian culture. It was cool. Unfortunatly this made Angela late for dinner crew, and she told me how her chore group doesn't really get along - I never realized before because ours works so well together. Oh well.

Then of course we went to the rodeo! It was alot like the st marys fair.



Stats of day:

Total Mileage: 50.81

Avg Speed: 16.41

Max Speed: 25.92

-- Diane

Location:3rd St S,Glasgow,United States

Pow Wow

We've been treading along the edges of Indian reservations for a while and found ourselves in the dead center of one tonight.

It was a 54 mile day but it was one of the hardest yet. Wind and rough roads made it slow, and with a sholder only big enough for one rider, a little boring too.

Sarah, Michael, and I made it here first - we just wanted the ride over. Close call with a few dogs, and passed through a town called poplar which is supposedly real rough.

We got to go swimming at the local pool and then headed down to the annual pow wow which happened to be occuring while we were here. It was really cool to see all the outfits and dancing and drums. We weren't allowed to take photos tho sadly.

I learned alot about the indian culture and how a reservation works. And the laws, like it being illegal for a white person to touch an eagles feather here.

Montana has it's own rules - you do what you want as long as you don't cause no one else trouble, but I'm learning real quick it's a rough area, compared to other places we've been. Life just has less comodities than I'm used to.

Tomorrow is another short day, but hopefully it will be less windy and be an easier ride.

3 weeks left - incredible. Oh and I forgot to mention yesterday that I had an ephiphany of sorts. I realized that I can't remember the last time I have been so relaxed and care free. I bike everyday and that's all there is to it. I see awesome things, I don't know what will happen, but I don't have to worry about much other than packing my bag. Love it!

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 55.30

Avg Speed: 13.64

Max Speed: 30.51


-- Diane

Location:Wolf Point, MT

I tripped

Today was an awesome day from mile 0 to 97. We woke up from camping at 5am. I opened my tent to go get my bag out of the van (only space for people in the tents), and opened the door about a quarter of the way and decided I could jump out. Well that was a mistake because I didn't make it and tripped/fell. My whole tent thought it was hillarious and I did too. It was a great way to wake up.

When we finally left, we got stopped at around mile 3 due to a buffalo in the middle of the road. The van drove up to it and it slowly moved off the road. 3 riders followed and the buffalo started to charge them a bit. While all this was going on, I decided it was my chance to make my move, so off I went. The buffalo (named Bill) started me down from about 20 meters away. Pretty freaking cool!

We were at lunch in no time and spent the day enjoying the scenic views. We also entered the best state ever - Montana!! (that's for you Erica)




Tons of rolling hills today, and now that I was over my sickness I loved climbing them. About 3 miles out, we found the Missouri river. So down we trecked for a swim break. The water was so cool, but the current was really strong. I didn't go out past my knees because of it.

I'm guessing phone service will be spotty all through Montana, so when I have wifi I can post, but like today, I may be posting multiple blogs on the same day.

Stats of the day:

Total Mileage: 97.94
Avg Speed: 15.84
Max Speed: 31.08

-- Diane

Location:Culbertson, MT

Rattle Wranglers

TRNP stands for TRNP. I felt better when I woke up this morning but my body was exhaused when I got on the bike.

The scenery was gorgeous today, and we took all back roads. It was slow moving and all thenrolling hills had me breathing hard, but I made it.

We did about 25 miles on dirt roads, which made me glad I had half and half pedals. I unclipped and rode that way which saved me from falling twice. Other people tho ate it.

Also we were warned that once we passed the bridge about 5 miles in we were in rattle snake country. So all day I kept an eye out and I'm pretty sure we heard them as we biked by.

At TRNP we pitched tents and had a hobo dinner over the fire. I took another nap and feel surprisingly better now.








Stats of the day:

Total Mileage: 77.09

Avg Speed: 11.93

Max Speed: 33.23

-- Diane

Location:TRNP

Highway 23

Windiest day of the trip so far. Weather.com said 15 - 25 mph, and you guess it, we biked right into it. We passed lots of oil pumps, all with windsocks, to confirm this further.

The terrain was interesting today because it was hilly, but you could see for over a mile if you were at the top of a hill. I rode with Sam all day, and Nolan after lunch, so we drafted a bit, but did alot of pulling as well. I would try and pick out landmarks (not many to choose from) and guess how far away they were - amazing how far you can see.

I am also very sick today. Sore throat and stuffy nose, but I refuse to get in the van. You're gonna have to carry me into that thing. I decided I would push through the day, get in early and sleep. Up through lunch my plan worked well, Sam and I were cooking and pushing through the wind.

After lunch, however, it got harder. The wind picked up and I was started to feel it alot worse. Coughing and spitting - no fun. We passed over a dozen oil pumps, and one that was being drilled. It was pretty cool to see the stuff upclose, though I had tons of questions, since I know mostly about downstream vs. upstream.

We stopped alot after lunch, for trucks with wide loads, flat tires, sore bodies, you name it - we were struggling. Somehow we made it into the parking lot of the taste freeze tho - and got some ice cream. Then I ran next door and bought a can of chicken noodle soup.

Apparently some of the other groups of riders were having alot more trouble with truckers than Sam and Nolan and I experienced. The road was dangerous today - no sholder, so you had to be real careful. When its dangerous like this, I'd much rather ride with 2-3 other people, not 5-6 because people can't communicate well enough. Luckily we all made it in.

When I got to the school I took a shower and went to sleep for a good 3 hours. I woke up, ate some soup and went back to bed. I've been in and out of bed the rest of the night, but am trying to stay awake until bed time now so that I will get good sleep tonight. Hopefully between the sudafed, and the liquids, and the sleep, I'll feel better tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is a big day - we enter rattlesnake teritory and are camping in Teddy Roosevelt National Park tomorrow night. Prolly won't have serivce again, and no school computer to use, but all is well with me.

It was mail drop tonight, and its gonna be hard waiting a whole week for Doug's surprise. But I'll be patient.

Today we also started the longest stretch of continuous riding on the trip - 11 days. One down, 10 to go.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 75.02

Avg Speed: 15.41

Max Speed: 25.23

My Thumb Is Not a Nail

Build day in Minot involved building a shed from the ground up. We arrived and began the frame work. There was lots of nailing to be done, and we got the ground and a wall up before lunch.

After lunch all but 10 of us left to go to landscaping at another site. I had a little bit of the after lunch tiredness, so I forced myself to climb up on the roof and work there beause I would have to stay awake. We had these nails, and I don't really know what was wrong with them, but it was impossible to nail them in straight. Everyone was having problems, so I don't think it was me. Well in the process of putting one of the roof boards on, I nailed my thumb pretty hard instead of the nail I was holding. It has a nice blueish color to it and a huge blister just to the right of the nail. Since I don't like body parts that don't look normal, I wont put a picture up - but its wrapped up good now.

We worked late - until about 5, with Jamie and I putting on the final touch of a lock for the doors. We stopped by the bike store, where the water cooler exploded on Nolan (very funny) and then went for showers. We returned just in time for dinner, and then it was town hall meeting time.

High - final 15 miles into Devil's Lake were we pushed

Low - hammering my thumb

After that, I didn't feel well and went to bed before 9.

Location: Minot, ND

Drafting Behind a Semi

Started the day out yesterday by myself. It was a day to ride alone and think about random things. So about 5 miles down route 2 we ran into road work where there was one lane and no sholder. In these situations, we do what is called taking the lane, where you get into a group of at least 4 and you ride two abreast accross the lane so that cars won't pass you. So since I rode alone, this was a slight problem for me. There was a group ahead of me doing this, slowing a tractor trailer down to about 17 mph. I sped up and got right behind it. Tailgating it in any normal circumstance. Now the brilliance of this is I was now sandwiched between two cars ( an SUV ) behind, so I knew they saw me and wouldn't squish me, and I was drafting like no ones business so I barely had to pedal. It was awesome.

Once we got out of the construction zone it was back to the grind. When I got to lunch I ate 3 sandwhiches before teaming up with chris, Michael, steph and Josh to ride the last 20 miles of the day. In the last 2 miles of the day a train was crossing the tracks so we stopped to wait. It then for some reason decided to back up. So we waited some more. When the train disappeared, we were left staring at the only hill in north Dakota. And it wasn't a hill, it was a wall. So we sucked it up and climbed it.

Then I watched part of two movies - breaking away and American flyers...I'll have to finish both sometime.

Stats of the Day

Total Mileage: 65.43

Avg Speed: 16.96

Max Speed: 23.02

-- Diane

Llama Proma A Day on the Farm

Prolly the most interesting thing of the day is that Rugby north Dakota is the geographic center of north America.

We've been on rt 2 for close to a week now and it's getting to me. There are no turns.

We got to the school tonight and I decided to take a nap. There was this damn fly that wouldn't leave me alone though, making my life difficult.

Later it was time for llama proma. Everyone embraced the theme and it was quite the turn out. Steve jobs should put the flash on the iPhone so I could post pics. All just good fun, ending the night with waving flag and I don't feel like dancing.

Stats of the Day

Total Mileage: 60.76

Avg Speed: 16.20

Max Speed: 25.01


-- Diane

Location:Rugby, ND

Wear Sunscreen

Woke up this morning in the fog knowing I had the longest day ahead of me.

I did pace lines all day and about 25 miles in we hit North Dakota. We had 114 miles on highway 2. Talk about boring. At least there is a big sholder.

Between miles 60 and 65 I didn't know if I was going to make it. I was dying.

At second lunch (mile 80) Michael, chris, beth and I made a dumb and dumber spoof. And totally redeam yourself! It involved putting on sunscreen, which is ironic because I forgot to put any on today. That was a mistake but I don't think it's horrible.

With 15 miles to go, I started the epic pull. I pulled for 9 miles, then told Michael and chris they each had to do two miles and I would pull the end. We flew in about 20 miles an hour, and I love it because of the adrenaline rush that comes from it.

We went for a shower tonight at Lakewood bible camp, this is the camp from the documentary Jesus Camp. On the drive back we saw devils lake - all the trees closest to the lake are dead. There is too much sulfur in the lake. It looks really different. Also, the lake is experiencing unexplained flooding which is causing huge problems for the community. This is one I retesting place.

Sunset:



Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 118.46

Avg Speed: 16.37

Max Speed: 24.17


-- Diane

Location:Devils Lake, ND

Pulling Angela

Sweep challenge of the day was to change the lyrics to build
Me up buttercup, so Angela (AP) and I wrote this in the first 8 miles...

Why don't you lube me up
D'Z nuts baby
Just to let me down
And rub me around
And the worst of all
You always chafe baby
When you say you won't
But I love you still
I need you
More than Vaseline baby
You know that I have from porstmouth
So lube me up
D'Z nuts don't chafe my butt.

Saddles galore, it don't matter no more
I still chafe
You gave me saddle sores
Assos is new
And it looks a little blue
But what's great?
It makes my booty shake

Hey hey hey baby baby I try to find
A better butt'r
That keeps me feelin fine

On my bike
I'll be aisde hwy 2
Waiting for you

Oooooo ooooooo

Then we rode together the rest of the day talking. We rolled along at a good clip all day, but after second lunch, I was ready to get in, so I began a 10 mile pull. A pull is where you would normally stay in front of a group blocking wind and cycling hard for 30 seconds to a minute. I pulled Angela for 10 miles, so I got a workout in for sure. It felt great tho. Tired and exhausted, I arrived at the church for nachos and a nap. I naped till dinner and woke up and ate more. Tomorrow is a 115 mile day, so I'll need lots of energy!


Stats of the Day

Total Mileage: 91.42
Avg Speed: 17.49
Max Speed: 24.59


-- Diane

Location:Crookston, MN

A Decorated Bike

So much happened today how to I recap all the amazingness? My morning started with a rose. Someone told me to meet them st the trailer at lunch. I went down to eat breakfast to find my bike decorated and more roses.




Then sam asked me to go to walmmart with him before we left. I told him I was no spring chicken but that I would go. So when I did arrive at lunch I began playing volleyball. My team huddled and all of a sudden started singing L is for the way you look at me... And then Kyle G appeared and asked me to prom. So summer and William meet again.

Some of the other guys rode horses to ask their date, dressed like 300, made a stalkerish slideshow, or dressed like this guy -


Obviously we are all having fun with it!

Jaime and I also made a commercial for the competition of the day, it was me laying in the same position as a kangaroo (which we found at an attraction on the road) and selling aussie hair products. More roo for
your do!

Of course I did laundry tonight. Doing 32 peoples clothes take up alot of dryers.


Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 77.24

Avg Speed: 16.17

Max Speed: 25.96


-- Diane

Location:Bemidji, MN

Sweep Sandwich Sweepstakes

So today Leisl and I were sweep. While I enjoyed being with Leisl all day, boy was it a tough day to get through. We had super strong headwinds, and rather than push through them I had to go through them slowly because I couldn't pass people. We left this morning at 8 and didn't get in until 6. That's a long day on the bike.

But backing up slightly, last night I came up with this idea, jess did the drawing and I did the letters -


We put it on the trailer so people can add their ailments to the picture.

So today Leisl and I made our sweep challenge who can make us the best sandwich at lunch. Best presentation went to Jillian -as seen below:



But the overall winner was Kira and mark for their cookie sandwhich.

Nolan also had a bit of fun on the golf carts at lunch today too...




We stopped at a garage sale to wait for some fellow bikers and met three little blonde boys with mullets. They were named mitchel, bubba, and gale. Talk about naming children :). Once we finally got here, we ate, I showered and had to give an affordable housing presentation on hope VI right away. Chris and I didn't rehearse but I think it went well. I never did like talking for long in front of a group so I kept it short.

Now I'm just exhaused from the long day.

Stats of the day:

Total Mileage: 85.01

Avg Speed: 12.31

Max Speed: 23.45

-- Diane

Cliff Jump

So we spent the whole day on a bike path basically, and about 20 miles outside of Duluth, we went over a high bridge with rocks and a river below. We stopped and talked to the locals. They said you could jump from the rocks or the bridge. So all the guys I was with and Kristen went for it. I was so scared when Travis jumped in first because no one actually checked it was deep enough.



Then we got into duluth and enjoyed the rest of the night because it is a day off today!

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 76.23

Avg Speed: 15.81

Max Speed: 28.34. - which I hit on a flat playing catch up.

-- Diane

Christmas Songs

Home stays in st Paul were interesting. Per (pronounced Pear) didn't wake up this morning to take us back to the church, so we had Elvis come pick us up. And thus we finally left the per orchard.

Yesterday we removed lead paint from a house all day. Don't worry we had masks and gloves, but still made for a dirty job.

So today we made up Christmas songs modified for sweep. Steven and I spent all day redoing frosty the snowman. Here's how it turned out:

KK the sweepers
From wisconsin and Texas
With a first aid kit, a spare inner tube, and two cell phones just in case.

Kate is our home girl
With a very blinged out bike
And there's special k, who runs every day, and wears magnets round her wrist.

There must have been some DM on that old green sash they wore. For when they placed it on themselves they began to bike in back.

Oh KK the sweepers, came along a rider down.
So they yelled hey sweep my front tires low can you help me on my way?

Fippity fipple fipple,
Fippity fipple Fipple
Off to sand stone
Fippity fipple fipple,
Fippity fipple Fipple
Over the hills we go

KK the swepers
Will they ever get to lunch
They have to wait for everyone to eat
Before they can bike away

Last into the town
With a journal left to write
No one crashed today
Hip hip horray
Time for Christmas in July.

We'll see if we win. Steven and I rode together all day - it was fun and I like riding with him because he'll stop anywhere and do anything!

After dinner I was back on laundry rotation, so I'm sitting at the laundromat now. I think I just made a bunch of people mad because I wanted to go clean the tarp in the trailer because it smelt really gross and was dirty. I guess no one else thought it needed cleaning or didn't want to do it, but I'm pretty sure people don't like me right now. Oh well such is life. The tarp is clean. Hopefully it blows over.

Well we had Christmas in July. I got 20 fake nails which should come in handy for prom! I wonder who drew my name tonight.

Steven and I also presented our song, won first prize and a free bike cleaning!! Nailed it :)

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 94.83
Avg Speed: 14.61
Max Speed: 23.27


-- Diane

Location:Sandstone,United States

Pirates of the Road

So we hit a new state today! I started the morning with Andrew and Angela, until Andrews rear derailer snapped in the middle of a hill. He had to get in the van because you can't fix that on the road. Angela and I continued until lunch.

At lunch I made the breakfast club - pixie stick and potatoe chips on a piece of bread. It actually tasted pretty good. We also pelted beth with water ballon and met an awesome dog named buster.

Back on the road and it was Nolan, Jaime, and Travis and me. We were pirates and would catch up to other riders, prepare to board and CHARGE! We used our water bottles as cannons and would take over their ships. It was pretty fun and we made really good time.

Usually when we come into big cities, the roads are a bit heavy, but we used a bike path today that was awesome!

Got to our hosts tonight and it was like home alone. Our hosts went out and left us here which was nice to relax!

Stats of the Day:

Total mileage: 78.81

Avg Speed: 14.42

Max Speed: 35.43

-- Diane

Location:St Paul, MN

Rain rain go away.

So this morning it was pouring! But we bike anyway, everything went into ziplock bags and off we went after a dance party in the rain.

The challenge of the day was to write haikus. We have 3 good ones seen below:

Haikus:

T-Bear, Drew, Sweet Dee
Leap Frog in the Sprinklin' Showers
Thumb Wrestle They Shall

We have a video of this one!

Worship Us Nolan
Decidant sweet muscle, YES!
We are Josh's calves.

This is golden - if we take home gold it will be with this one. We have a picture of joshs calves to go with this one.

Snow, wind, rain, or hail
Sam, t-bear, sweet Dee, prevail
Challengers, Bring IT!

This one is not one we say outloud. We are just proud we are 2 for 2 in competitions!

Once we got in, we pelted Josh with water ballons and introduced him to Alejandro.




He was excited when he found his towel so he could take a shower.

Later we showcased our haikus. Lots of really good ones. And the winner is...

Jillian, Kelsey, and Steven -

Oh soggy shammy
You chafe my parts red and raw
Love you anyway

I really though we had a winner but the team really stepped up and got into it this time. Also a competition we didn't enter was best sweep gift. Here is sweep chowing down on the second place prize - two pickles on a stick.




Total Mileage: 65.97

Avg Speed: 15.69

Max Speed: 25.23


-- Diane

Location:Pepin, WI

Planning Joshs Birthday

For anyone who hasn't heard, deepest sympathy to the P2S route as they lost a leader in a collision yesterday. All of the groups are feeling the dangers of what we are doing, and can hardly grasp the reality of what has happened. If you want to read more, bike and build has an official statement on their website.

We woke up this morning, still shaken from the events last night. We opted to leave later and give everyone some time to recouperate. In the mean time, Nolan enjoyed opening his bike much like a kid on chirstmas, and vowed to get beth back a million times over.

We also played about an hour of knockout in the school gym.





Then it was time to get on our bikes and ride. We stopped about 5 miles into the trip to see a bathtub on the side of the road. That's right, a bathtub. A spring with the best water in the county cam flowing out of a pipe into this tub. So we all filled up our waterbottles with the cool water and continued on our way. (don't worry we were told we could drink the water)

Jamie and I stopped about 10 miles from lunch and he downed half a gallon of chocolate milk and a box of Nilla wafers! He was prematurly bonking haha! The scenery was awesome with rolling hills of farmland.

At lunch I couldn't eat enough. My body kept telling me to eat more. I think it had to do with the century from yesterday. Then I passed out under a tree for about an hour. I woke up, ate a little more and headed out with sam Andrew and mark.

We stopped at a wendys because the boys wanted frosties and met a man with about a million questions for us. Travis though he was weird and choose to sit by a lamp post outside for the rest of the stop.

We continued on and stopped at a kmart to go shopping for joshs birthday tomorrow. We bought Alejandro the piñata. He rode on the back of marks bike for 10 miles.



We stuffed it with joshs clothes and will set it up for him tomorrow.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 65.01

Avg Speed: 14.91

Max Speed: 31.66

-- Diane

Location:Lacross, WI

One Month Anniversary

Today is the one month anniversary of our bike and build trip. To celebrate, Kyle and I rode past a goodwill and decided to stop in and dress up. He was William Wallace V and I was Summer Brownfoot. He was wearing John Lennon glasses a vest and a plaid skirt we cut to knee length. I was wearing a flowery shirt with trumpet sleeves, and a purple and white cheerleadibg skirt. We didn't tell anyone we were doing this, just showed up at second lunch. Everyone loved it! Kyle and I also spent most of our time changing the lyrics of sonny and chers duet I got you to apply to bike and build. It will most likey be revealed at the talent show.

Jumping back a minute, first lunch was on a dairy farm - lots of flies but I liked hanging with the cows.



This was our second century. It was rolling hills so harder than Chicago. We pulled into the school, and they have a track so I did a couple pick ups to keep the turnover up :) haha. There are all these stuffed animals in the school which is a bit weird, but Nolan took a deer head down and snuck up on Leisl with the rest of us watching. Hilaious!

Sam and Kyle and I then spent some time making a scavenger hunt for the group. Also town meeting:

High - chalk day
Low - moldy mail

Also best prank ever...this is nolans bike



Stats of the Day

Total Mileage: 106.41

Avg Speed: 14.88

Max Speed: 36.88


-- Diane

Chalk Day

Stats from entering Jainsville that I forget to post:

Total Mileage: 73.11

Avg Speed: 15.47

Max Speed: 29.44

Woke up 15 min late today. That was bad - now I'm just a little behind forgeting things here and there like shorts for when we get to th host site.

Talk about a change of pace in the day. Sweep decided to hold two competitions - best jumping picture and best chalking. Well long story short, Travis sam and I won both competitions. You can see all of the chalking we did here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2146142&id=4811965&l=058bac2e06

We chalked many scenes, from swimming pools to Godzilla to laser fights on the moon to modern art. We jumped on a cow swinger slid and on a trampoline and got some free watermellon.

It took us 8 hours to go 40 miles we stopped so much.

Last night we went out to a pub and Angela and I played some pool. We started good but couldn't hold on.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 44.84

Avg Speed: 13.92

Max Speed: 28.20

-- Diane

Location:Madison, WI

Big Booty

So today's build site was pretty typical though it was real hot out. We roofed, installed windows and doors, and did siding. I was allover the power tools - saws mostly. I had saw dust everywhere, and did some back bending moves to get down the scaffolding.

Then best part of the day was we went to kates house for a party. They had ladder golf - a game I had never played before, a cheese hat, and lots of hand slapping games. Best part, they made us shirts -








Awesome! It was a fun night and I'm really starting to feel at home with everyone. It's good.

-- Diane

Location:Janesville, WI

Head Winds!

We entered Wisconsin today!




This was supposed to be a jumping picture but it got taken too soon. Oh well.

We got to lunch and played two games of sand volleyball. Awesome! I got sand down my pants but nothing you can't brush off.

After lunch was interesting...Angela, Paul, Sam, and I left lunch, and Angela and I were talking and were in the back and sam and Paul missed the turn. Well I decided I'd go catch them but they were 300 meters ahead. So I sprinted. Up a hill at close to 24mph yelling for them to stop. I wish I had a louder voice! I caught them completley out of breath. We continued and stopped about 15 miles out for some shade under a tree at this point it was Nolan sam and I and we learned Nolan had eaten a whole jar of pickles, juice included for lunch. Yuck! We got back on our bikes and began flying. We were facing awesome headwinds, but we didn't care, adreniline kicked in. We killed 10 miles and kates mom appeared with popsicles! I had two just what I needed cuz I was out of water. Then we killed the last 5 miles, yelling encouragement the whole way - again awesome biking high!

Will post stats tomorrow my bike is not near me. Went to sarahs for a sweet bonfire!

Gnight. We build tomorrow.

-- Diane

Moldy Mail

After visiting wrigley this morning we left at 1030 for a 50 mile ride. The going was slow with lots of lights leaving the city but we made it. Josh and I used sticks to chalk when we were on a limestone trail.

When we got here we got in the lake, myself included even though I couldn't see the bottom.

Mail came! I got a letter from Taylor and Daisy Mae. Yes Taylor, you have better spelling than me! A post card from doug where I learned of takas late night whereabouts (don't do that). And pumpkin bread from my mom, which would have tasted wonderful except it had mold :(

I returned to the post office to mail Erica her bday present and doug his shirt and my clothes that I do not need. Thy just take up space in my suitcase.

Then I went to dinner with Leslie (my new roommate in dc) and her parents. It was really fun!

Upon returning, I got a new tattoo-


Yep it sparkles!

Then I entered Travis and Andrews fort which is deluxe because it is dark and has a fan. Not too jealous tho because Andrew snores.

Overall excellent day.

Stats of the Day:

Total mileage: 49.67

Avg Speed: 14.41

Max Speed: 26.34

-- Diane

Location:Grays Lake, IL

Chi-Town

So yesterday we came into Chicago, completing our first century!

We started the day with a tailwind, meaning you would think you could fly anywhere you move so fast without and working. After first lunch we approached Gary, indiana and went right through the heart of it. There were potholes everywhere and clearly was not the place to get a flat or take a break.

Second lunch was just before Chicago, and after we came into the city from the southside. Angela and chris and I made a wrong turn and got stuck even longer in the wrong section of town than we should have. I would say for the first time this trip I didn't feel safe in my bike. The combo of road conditions, heavy traffic, and neighborhood made me nervous.

When we finally got on the bike path, we saw lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. I jumped in lake michigan and rode the last 10 miles with sand in my shammy due to a depth perception error of how shallow the water was. Still worth it.

We went out for deep dish last night. I had trouble using the metro - why I dunno it's not like I've never done it before. But I just couldn't put the peices together - maybe it was something to do with the 106 miles I had biked earlier.

This morning I woke up at 7 (we got lucky and wake up is at 9), and biked to wrigley field with lesil. It was cool!





Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 106.48

Avg Speed: 15.22

Max Speed: 26.39

-- Diane

Location:Chicago, IL

Taking A Nap

So yesterday we biked, today we build. Rode a long way yesterday, crossing into Indiana and passing through Notre Dame. I found an awesome grassy spot in the afternoon and pulled over and took a nap before continuing out to second lunch for root beer floats. Awesome! We hit a big mix of roads yesterday - bumpy ones, busy ones, no sholder ones, smooth ones. You had to pay attention.

After pulling into a Mennonite church and reading their display on their church, we went to a pool party organized by Nolans family. Pool party was awesome and I got the ever important shower.

Today we woke up real early and got to the build site. Lots of action...laid sod, weed wacked, planted flowers, cleaned garages, set up fencing around a porch, and pulled some pranks. Overall, good build day.







As far as pranks, we had Nolan in a trashcan while pulling in a sucker (chris) to throw something away only to find a person in the trash can.

Thr other prank involved Michael and the porta potty. We had a set of steps, and waited patiently for someone to enter the porta potty. We even handed out Gatorade to everyone to speed up the process. So when Michael got in, we quickly assembled by yelling sprinkler, and moved the steps in front of the door and sat on them. I would guess Michael didn't like being stuck in the porta potty!

Town hall meeting tonight:

High - llama kisses
Low - not being able to ride into Avon lake.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 94.87

Avg Speed: 15.25

Max Speed: 28.48


-- Diane

Location:South Bend, IN

Is your mama a llama?

Started the day off practicing riding with no hands! I'm getting better. I rode with a ton of people. Started with the BBG's before lunch, then switched it up with lesiel, Kelsey, Kristen, chris, and a few others. We talked and sang and got through the miles. Then we saw the llamas!



Sorry for the finger in the screen. We kissed putter and chipper for a while - they were awesosmly curious!

Got through Ohio and into Michigan-




Took a shower watched Spain score a goal, forgot my towel, cleaned my bike, did a bike clinic, had a potato bar for dinner, listened to a presentation, entertained by marks Alaska stories, got my towel back, and did an affordable housing presentation.

Tonights topic was health care reform. Well you know what this started - another strong opinioned talk. These are good though. I sit back and listened to what everyone thinks and make my own decisions in my head.

So tired. Want to go to bed. Indiana tomorrow!!!

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 78.23

Avg. Speed: 13.80

Max Speed: 23.50


-- Diane

Location:Camden, MI

Riding Alone

So I woke up pretty refreshed this morning but still pretty upset about yesterday. I started my ride with people and by 1st lunch wasn't feeling well. I didn't have any appetite (weird for me) but forced myself to eat a little something.

From there till second lunch I rode by myself and I rode first. There was no one infront of me and no one catching me so it was like I was by myself. Turned out, this was exactly what I needed. I cried a little and screamed a little - no one could hear me. When I got to second lunch I downed a whole bottle of Gatorade and all of a sudden I was ready to be social again. I had finally got the bad energy out of me.

So I rode the last 20 miles with a group, but in the 89th mile I saw this sign:





So of course I stopped and got doug a shirt!

When we arrived here tonight Abby told me about a game where you put people you meet on your friends teams. All you do is point someone out and say he's on your team. So I am proud to announce the number 1 draft pick of my team: (the man in the middle)




We had a team building exercise tonight where we had to compliment everyone else and then they complimented us back. I had no problem complimenting people but I was so embaressed when it was my turn to be complimented. It's weird being put on the spot like that. My face red, really hot, no fun. In the end it was good tho - left everyone feeling good I think.

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 93.09

Avg. Speed: 16.58

Max Speed: 25.68

-- Diane

Location:Bowling Green, OH

It can't all be berries and creme

Well for all the good days that happen, there will be bad ones too. I'm not going to write much because it doesn't make sense to complain, but today was not the best of days.

The leaders decided the weather was too bad to ride in, so we were taken in vans to Avon lake. This really upsets me because now I have not biked the whole way and the situation was out of my control.

I'm not going to talk about all the not so good stuff that happened today but I'm just hoping that it all happened at once.

On the bright side, the host here is super nice and I'm sleeping in a water bed tonight! This is out first time staying with hosts in small numbers at their houses and being transported back to the church in the morning. Don't worry I'm with someone else from
the group still.

Tomorrows another day, and I just hope I don't wake up in a pool of water :)


-- Diane

Location:Avon Lake, OH

I shouldn't start fights.

Slept in today because it was a build day. Got up at 7:30 to the sound of my thermarest being deflated. It was kyles new technique to wake me up.

We were going to paint all day. When we got to the site, the fence looked like this:



And further down it was missing pieces of wood. When we finished, it looked like this:




Kelsey called it smokers tooth white. We also painted the building, and I was up on the ladder for most of it.

As we were cleaning up the battle began. Steven and I grabbed one tub of water and poured it all over Travis. Sam was going to empty the second jug so Travis and I went overto pour the third jug of water on him. This was sucessful but we acted too soon and sam had ammo to get us back. So of course I got soaked. My plan backfired but it was still fun. Travis also got skunked with a strip of white paint going down his dark hair.

We came back, showered and had affordable housing presentations. One was on homelessness which inspired a huge convo about it. I didn't have much to say because I don't know that much about it, but it was interesting to listen to 31 other peoples views.

Stats of the Yesterday:

Total Mileage: 76.42

Avg Speed: 14.86

Max Speed: 31.96

-- Diane

Location:Ashtabula, OH

3 states

It's hard to write alot on the day before a build day because we stay busy later, but here's the short version...

Yesterday was town hall:

High- epic dance party when we got back from mini golf and go karts

Low - packing my bag every morning

Today's highlights included:

Amazing lunch from nolans parents.

Thinking I had a flat only to find it was a leaf in my brakes.

Crossing through 3 states.

Sticking my head in the ice machine.

Watching sam spill soda everywhere.

Swiming and getting a real towel at the host site.

Realizing I really want a russel terrier of my own (I think that's the breed of dog).

Not so awesome highlights of the day include:

Sam flipping over his handle bars and landing on his back when he got stuck in tracks and shot out. Luckily he was fine!

I rode the last 15 miles by myself because I wanted to. It was good I got cranking but I was def dehydrated. When I got to the church I called doug because I was just exhaused and slightly out of it. I realized I gotta take care of myself out there. It's hot and the days are getting longer.

Also, to make Travis happy, I would like to say that I do have better grammar than this blog. I type on my iPhone so as long as it is legible I don't worry about it at all.

I can't believe we are already over 600 miles into the trip! Spent a while tonight talking with Sam and Kyle about life. Good talk but we missed Club Northern. Bummer. Oh well. Build day tomorrow - I'll be painting, and will have pics tomorrow. Also the stats from today because my bike is not near me right now.

-- Diane

Location:Ashtabula, OH

Stop

Today we woke up at 5. I almost slept next to Paul last night but moved at the last minute for an area with more space. Great decision because Paul ended up in a pool of water. We slept in a basement and I guess the ground leaked.

Josh and I were sweep, which means we are the last two bikers on the route. We carry the med kit and have sashes to wear. The roads were so rough today! I saw the stadium the sabers play in, and narrowly avoided many cars as we entered downtown buffalo at 9am! Liz fell and there were 3 flat tires.




We also ran into a guy who was on his last day of his bike tour around the perimeter of the US. His website is tourduculture.com.

We stopped at mile 67 for a lake side dive. We were on lake erie and some people gave us a cookout and we swam in the lake.



It was grape country today -




At the host we swam in a pool, played some games and showered. Then an epic foosball game went down with me Kira mark and sam. I didn't win. Steven and my ping pong game ended when we lost the ball.

Josh and I hit every stop light on the route. Changed right as we got up to them. Horrible!

Stats of the Day:

Total Mileage: 87.59

Avg Speed: 14.24

Max Speed: 35.53

-- Diane

Location:Clinton St,Westfield,United States