Crossing the Mississippi

Saturday, our second day off, was relaxing and nice - a bunch of us biked over to a campground in Pittsfield that had a lake, a volleyball court, and horseshoes. We hung out for a while and went swimming before we headed back to the Church. After dinner, we shuttled over to the Western Illinois County Fair, whose main attraction was a school bus demolition derby. They let each of us in for only $2, and we got to watch 12 school busses crash into each other! Then we ran over to the rides, got sno-cones, and called it a night.

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day because we finally crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri! We got in pretty early and biked over to the local movie theater to see WALLE. It was pretty much unanimous - it was great. Afterwards, we headed over to the Mark Twain historic district and looked around the museum for a while. We also saw some of the flooding of the Mississippi River in Hannibal - they had to put up extra levees to make sure the water doesn't get into the city. After dinner we hung around the YMCA, where we were staying. It was laundry night, so after everything came back we headed to bed. It's pretty nice going to bed at 10 every night, and definitely a change from my usual schedule.

Today we had a pretty normal day - about 70 miles into Moberly, MO. This morning, I rode with Mo, Brian, and Nikki on a closed road next to the road we were supposed to be on. It was great - like a giant bike path! We spent most of it practicing riding with no hands and making balloon animals that Brian had gotten for his birthday yesterday. This afternoon Amy and I took it pretty slow, but it was a really nice ride and we got in around 2. We are staying at a building that has basically everything we could ever want - showers, video games, a pool table, couches, and computers! We are going to have a good night.

the rain held off until today

The past few days have been really great. We had a pretty long day on Wednesday (almost 90 miles), complete with heat and headwinds that caused us to slow to an average of about 12 miles per hour. It was frustrating, but we had an extra hour because we crossed time zones, so we got in at a reasonable hour. The host had prepared macaroni and cheese and taco salad for us. And there were showers in the church, so we had everything we needed. Yesterday we had a pretty short day - only 60 miles. The last 15 miles or so were on a pretty busy road, but Amy and I were riding together and realized that there was a beautiful bike path running right next to the road. It was such a nice break to be able to carry on a conversation and not worry about cars and trucks flying by. We got to the YMCA around 1:15 and hung out for the afternoon, unloaded the trailer, and went in the pool. This YMCA had a pool like nothing I have ever seen before, complete with a water slide, a whirlpool, a lazy river, and a hot tub. We couldn't have been happier. We were supposed to make dinner, but some of the Bike and Builders who arrived early went into the town and convinced a pizza place to donate food! People have just been so generous and helpful.

We have been hearing all week that it is going to rain, but it has been pretty sunny every afternoon. However, we woke up this morning to thunderstorms, and the weather report did not look good. Our leaders made the decision that it would be safest to spend the day shuttling us into Pittsfield, Illinois. I'm sad we don't get to ride, but it would be terrible to be stuck basically in the middle of nowhere on our bikes. So we are spending the day exploring the tiny town of Pittsfield - we've already hit up the post office and the thrift store. We have to get ready because we are having P2SF Prom tonight! We all picked dates out of a hat. I bought a beautiful polka dotted dress, complete with shoulder pads. It should be exciting. Tomorrow is our day off, and apparently there is a county fair about seven miles away. Hopefully the storm will be over and we can ride there. I'm excited to finally get some rest.

Day Off! and welcome to Indiana

Sunday was our first day off, and we spent it exploring Louisville, Kentucky. After getting up at 10 am (!), eating breakfast, and cleaning our bikes, we set out for Churchill Downs, the site of the Kentucky Derby. After a few wrong directions, we finally arrived, and were surprised to find out that there were horse races going on. With some convincing, we were able to get in for free, and some of us even placed bets. Then we visited the gift shop and headed back to the host site. We stopped at McDonald's on the way back and realized that it was about ready to pour, so we biked as fast as we could back to the host site. About 30 seconds after we got in the doors, it started pouring! We were happy to have gotten in before the storm, especially because we spent all morning cleaning our bikes. We watched a movie and had some pasta, and then a few of us went out to get some ice cream. It was a great day off - fun to bike around and explore Louisville, even though we did end up biking 27 miles... but it was worth it to see the sights.

This morning we entered Indiana! We were pleasantly surprised when there were no thunderstorms and (almost) no hills! We were on a straight, flat road for a while and were able to practice riding with no hands and a little pace lining to combat the headwinds. Everything went smoothly until about mile 60, when we turned off the main road. We were intrigued by the lack of street signs, but a man told us that they had been replacing stolen street signs for a long time and had finally given up. Not great for us, but we had fun exploring. I and 5 others were in the first group today, so we were responsible for making chalk arrows to help the others figure out where to go, and I think we talked to more people today than I have on any other day. But some of them didn't even know which street they were on, even though they lived there! We couldn't believe it. But we made it to the church around 2:45 and found a beautiful building with showers, a ping pong table, couches, and TVs! I'm about to go watch Jurassic Park (for the first time...)

Kentucky!

It was my turn to post in the group journal today, so check that out to see what I'm up to - it should be up in the next few days.(http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,66/)

Also, we have mail drops every week - here they are in case you want to send me something! http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/content/view/55/217/

welcome to ohio

Hello from the public library in Wellston, Ohio! The 3 days in West Virginia were pretty tough - lots of mountains - but we pushed through and were rewarded with a 5 1/2 mile downhill into the host location in Parsons, WV. The people in West Virginia were absolutely amazing. Every person we met was so generous. On the second day in WV, I took a break with a friend to get some hot chocolate and breakfast to warm up after being caught in a thunderstorm. We were talking to a man sitting at a table next to us, and on his way out he gave us $20 to pay for our breakfast! It is awesome to feel the support of so many people as we cross the country, and WV was definitely the place where we felt it the most.
Yesterday afternoon, after biking almost 85 miles, we finally crossed the border into Marietta, Ohio! A great reward after a long day. It was really exciting, especially because it is the first time that I feel really far from home. We all gathered around to look at a map last night, and we were amazed at how far we have come in only 2 weeks. And how far we still have to go...but at least the Great Plains lie between us and the Rockies.
The trip has really been great so far. Even though we get up at 5:30 every morning, it is so nice to wake up early and spend the day outside, riding my bike with 30 other awesome people. Today was another pretty long day (80ish miles), but tomorrow we are headed to Portsmouth, Ohio, which is only about 47 miles away! It is crazy how 47 miles has become a short day - it is longer than our first 2 days of the trip. Hopefully, we can get up pretty early, get out fast, and have the afternoon to rest once we get there, and maybe do some exploring. Today we had already done 45 miles by noon, so I think it's a definite possibility. Then Friday and Saturday are bike days to Kentucky, and Sunday is our first day off in Louisville!
I'll try and keep you posted as much as I can - thanks for reading!

Our first build day

We had our first build day in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania today. I was in a group of people that was fixing up an old building that is going to be used for the Habitat For Humanity Headquarters in Harrisburg so that they can put all of their offices in one place. Our lunch break included our new obsession - double dutch jump rope, which we had learned from some high schoolers who were at our dinner last night. We started doing double dutch with two kids across the street from one of the houses we were working on, and a woman drove up in her car and joined in! That is one of the greatest things about this trip. It is really exciting to meet the people who live in each of the areas we go through. It was fun to have a build day, but everyone was pretty exhausted after seven straight days of biking. We ended the day around 2:30 and headed back to the host church. I volunteered to do laundry, so we took two huge tarps that had everyone's clothes and lugged them to the laundromat. Then we had dinner at another church, which was cooked for us by a gourmet chef. Pretty awesome. It is amazing how supportive people are of what we are doing.
Tomorrow we are headed to another town in Pennsylvania where we will be camping! I'm excited to sleep outside and make s'mores.

the long awaited first post!

hey everyone!

sorry it has taken me so long to make my first post. things have been a little crazy for the past week. but i'll try and give you a quick recap. here goes. so i got to providence on monday (june 2) and we had some general orientation type stuff, then a bike safety/maintainence clinic the next day, and then a build day the next day. building was pretty awesome - we got to build frames for the first story of a house, and our group finished all of them! it was really rewarding to have accomplished so much in just one day. then, all of a sudden, it was wednesday night and we were getting ready for our very first day of biking.

wednesday morning we got up around 6 and headed down to india point park to dip our tires in the "atlantic ocean." it was really cool because the local news came and taped the ceremony. after that, we were off! we got to our first stop 37 miles later, in plainfield, connecticut. from there, we went to middletown and then over to danbury. let's just say that connecticut was a little hillier than we all expected. it came as quite the shock, and i think we were all pretty tired after a couple long days of hills - especially the day from middletown to danbury. but sure enough, we made it, and on sunday morning we crossed the border into new york state! we were all really excited. it seemed at first that new york was going to flatten out, but we hit some mountains in the early afternoon. but we also hit some incredible downhills (going almost 40 mph!) and some awesome views. it was really a beautiful day.

the next day (monday), we crossed the border into pennsylvania, stopping in a city called stroudsberg. then it was on to reading, and now to harrisburg. i can't believe we're already in pennsylvania. it has definitely been my favorite place yet. some rolling hills, but beautiful scenery. although monday and tuesday were almost 100 degrees, today was much cooler and much easier to ride in. today was also really exciting because we passed by hershey park! a bunch of people stopped to take a break and go in, but the group i was with decided to ride on. we took some funny pictures by the signs. so now we are in harrisburg until friday morning because tomorrow we have a build day! i am really excited to take a little break from biking - my muscles are getting pretty sore, and i think a day to recover will be perfect for everyone.

now that the trip is more settled down, i will hopefully be able to write more often, and more in detail. the trip has been great so far, and i am excited for what is to come.