For those of you who'd like to send me something during the Summer (nudge nudge), it's super easy! just write to following in the address
Bike & Build
Attn: Will Paradis
General Delivery
City Name, City Zip Code
..and for the cities to send to, here's the list with the dates we'll be picking up mail:
June 3
Georgetown, OH 45121
June 10
Greenville, IL 62246
June 17
Kansas City, MO 64108
June 24
Phillipsburg, KS 67661
June 28
Denver, CO 80202
July 08
Vernal, UT 84078
July 15
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
July 22
Ontario, OR 97914
July 29
Gresham, OR 97030
Friday, May 28, 2010
Day 10: Lexington, Virginia: "What Makes The Hills Worth It"
Where to start. Where to start.
Today kicked my butt. I can't recall the last time my physical, mental and emotional well-being were all put through suh a serious test.
It started at 5am with a vibrating phone. The team groggily stirred awake and proceeded to pack up and clean up Tri-Sig. Chore groups switched last night, so as of today my group is now responsible for the coolers, and the way the system works it takes up a good deal of the morning. I made 10 gallons of Gatorade in the sorority's shower and rushed to pack up the coolers and the rest of my life.
Fortunately I had a little extra time because I was part of sweeps for the first time today. Sweeps is super important for what we do. If a team member breaks something, or if someone gets injured, or if someone just wants to turn into some random location, we're the folks who patch them up and make sure they get to the next location safe, sound, and satisfied.
I was rolling sweeps with Sarah Crawford, which was great because she's the Sarah I've so far spent the least time with, and the day allowed us to take it low and get to know eachother a little better. At least at first. We drifted along an took lots of pictures, since it was such a beautiful morning. The highlight was definitely a wheat field that'd been harvested except for a patch about 30 feet around which had been groomed into a really sweet smiley face.
Coasting out of Charlottesville was a breeze, and remained so until about Afton Mountain Road, where we started to actually climb into those mighty Blue Ridge Mountains. Kathryn's knee was flaring up like whoa, so she stuck behind with myself and Sarah. I dunno if you're aware, but knees are kinda crucial for biking, and injuring one is no fun, so we crawled up the hill and tried to get Kathryn at least to the top of the mountain. However, her knee had other plans, and we wound up calling Aileen to drive back with the van to grab her.
So sweeps was considerably behind the rest of the group at this point, but the day was still young and we were still into stopping about every half a mile to look at cool things. In Afton, VA we stopped next to what looked like a store and I planned to walk around back to take a whiz when I then saw around the corner, the most glorious of signs"
"JUNE CURRY- COOKIE LADY"
It was the Cookie Lady! THE Cookie Lady! The one of international fame who offers free food and housing to Bikers who're passing through the Blue Ridge. Naturally we had to stop in. I shook her hand and helped myself to some free nutrigrain bars and lotion. Her house was nothing short of incredible, teeming to the brim with postcards, letters, and souvenirs from all over the world, all tokens of gratitude from countless bikers who had enjoyed this woman's hospitality. Seeing their letters, imagining their journeys, was about the coolest thing ever.
With morale properly boosted Sarah and I crawled to the top of Afton Mountain and onto the iconic Blue Ridge trail. In about a half hour we'd more than doubled our elevation, from 800 to 1800 feet. We took pictures of the incredible view from the first overlook and celebrated our accomplishment.
At about mile 32 we rolled into lunch and I enjoyed, are you ready for this? A PB&J&Cream Cheese&Pretzels&Dried Cranberries.
Now before you judge too hard let me ask you, what the heck would YOU have eaten? A sweeps we were luky to get a few slices of bread, let alone all these sweet toppings, and we still had about 50 miles of mountain to cross and palettes that demanded creativity. It was also really good.
We stopped at a rest stop for lunch where tons of tourists, all crossing the blue ridge, would roll in and, seeing our massive group, ask what we were all about. I gave the spiel to Joe, a motorcylcists traveling cross-country with his wife, and a woman named Mayzelle from Alabama, who was easily 90 years old. Mayzelle's eyes lit up when we explained what BNB was, and, as she puffed on her cigarette, she told us it was good to see that "not all young people are bad". I'm so glad I could show this woman the light.
After lunch Sarah and I proceeded along the parkway, climbing more and more hill and dreaming more and more of some downhill, or at least some flat land. The views of the mountains were still breathtaking, both figuratively and literally. At about mile 43 we stopped to snack, and appreciated that it was a long hard day, but at least it wasn't raining.
This was perhaps our downfall.
The entire nature of the day changed after that conversation. The mountains got brutal, the climbs got exhausting and, as luck would have it, rain clouds started drifting right towards us. We decided it was best to try and keep biking to beat the storm, and managed to make our way to easily the most fun downhill section of the entire trip.
Imagine, if you will, a ski slope that just doesn't stop. For a good ten minutes I was flying down the mountain, thinking I was going to beat the rain and get into town safe and sound. There was underlying pressure to make it out of the storm, but it was still the most peaceful part of the day's ride, and I couldn't help but smile. I threw my arms out and coasted, hoping to find my way to shelter soon. For me, that was what made the hills worth it, that incredible moment of freedom and thrill. It was about as close to the sensation of human flight as I can hope to achieve.
Then the road started climbing the same distance up. Then the rain started pouring. Hard. Then the lightning started striking.
Sarah and I decided to start walking our bikes uphill, since we were exhausted but couldn't stop since it was getting very late in the day. Sarah is actually quite scared of thunder, so I explained that if we wanted to have shelter we'd have to stay close to the trees. I also figured that, if we came to any downhill any time soon, it would be a good idea to bike, since our rubber tires would protect us from ground shock.
I at least convinced myself of this
We walked about a mile or two uphill in a serious thunderstorm when, at mile 70, as if sent from heaven, Aileen appeared over the hill crest with the van. She loaded us up and Kathryn handed us a bowl of watermelon while Aileen cranked up the heat and music. We tried to find a good spot to turn around and wound up getting stuck in mud for a good ten minutes, but I was just thrilled to be out of the weather and off the road. Partially bummed, but I knew it would've been insane to try and finish the route in a thunderstorm, especially considering how exhausted I was. I napped in the van and we proceeded to Lexington.
Waiting in the Lexington Presbyterian Church for me was my thermarest and a massive order of pizza, which Sarah Graham had managed to get donated from a local dominos. I stuffed my face, threw off my wet clothes, threw on my kashmere PJs (thanks, Mom), and napped like a champ.
I am indeed awake again. Now that I've updated I intend to overload with more calories and then get right to sleep. I want to bring my A-Game to tomorrow's ride since today was so intense.
At least I'm on the other side. I'm here, I'm dry, and I have good friends. Life is, overall, still very sweet.
But good God, what a day.
Today kicked my butt. I can't recall the last time my physical, mental and emotional well-being were all put through suh a serious test.
It started at 5am with a vibrating phone. The team groggily stirred awake and proceeded to pack up and clean up Tri-Sig. Chore groups switched last night, so as of today my group is now responsible for the coolers, and the way the system works it takes up a good deal of the morning. I made 10 gallons of Gatorade in the sorority's shower and rushed to pack up the coolers and the rest of my life.
Fortunately I had a little extra time because I was part of sweeps for the first time today. Sweeps is super important for what we do. If a team member breaks something, or if someone gets injured, or if someone just wants to turn into some random location, we're the folks who patch them up and make sure they get to the next location safe, sound, and satisfied.
I was rolling sweeps with Sarah Crawford, which was great because she's the Sarah I've so far spent the least time with, and the day allowed us to take it low and get to know eachother a little better. At least at first. We drifted along an took lots of pictures, since it was such a beautiful morning. The highlight was definitely a wheat field that'd been harvested except for a patch about 30 feet around which had been groomed into a really sweet smiley face.
Coasting out of Charlottesville was a breeze, and remained so until about Afton Mountain Road, where we started to actually climb into those mighty Blue Ridge Mountains. Kathryn's knee was flaring up like whoa, so she stuck behind with myself and Sarah. I dunno if you're aware, but knees are kinda crucial for biking, and injuring one is no fun, so we crawled up the hill and tried to get Kathryn at least to the top of the mountain. However, her knee had other plans, and we wound up calling Aileen to drive back with the van to grab her.
So sweeps was considerably behind the rest of the group at this point, but the day was still young and we were still into stopping about every half a mile to look at cool things. In Afton, VA we stopped next to what looked like a store and I planned to walk around back to take a whiz when I then saw around the corner, the most glorious of signs"
"JUNE CURRY- COOKIE LADY"
It was the Cookie Lady! THE Cookie Lady! The one of international fame who offers free food and housing to Bikers who're passing through the Blue Ridge. Naturally we had to stop in. I shook her hand and helped myself to some free nutrigrain bars and lotion. Her house was nothing short of incredible, teeming to the brim with postcards, letters, and souvenirs from all over the world, all tokens of gratitude from countless bikers who had enjoyed this woman's hospitality. Seeing their letters, imagining their journeys, was about the coolest thing ever.
With morale properly boosted Sarah and I crawled to the top of Afton Mountain and onto the iconic Blue Ridge trail. In about a half hour we'd more than doubled our elevation, from 800 to 1800 feet. We took pictures of the incredible view from the first overlook and celebrated our accomplishment.
At about mile 32 we rolled into lunch and I enjoyed, are you ready for this? A PB&J&Cream Cheese&Pretzels&Dried Cranberries.
Now before you judge too hard let me ask you, what the heck would YOU have eaten? A sweeps we were luky to get a few slices of bread, let alone all these sweet toppings, and we still had about 50 miles of mountain to cross and palettes that demanded creativity. It was also really good.
We stopped at a rest stop for lunch where tons of tourists, all crossing the blue ridge, would roll in and, seeing our massive group, ask what we were all about. I gave the spiel to Joe, a motorcylcists traveling cross-country with his wife, and a woman named Mayzelle from Alabama, who was easily 90 years old. Mayzelle's eyes lit up when we explained what BNB was, and, as she puffed on her cigarette, she told us it was good to see that "not all young people are bad". I'm so glad I could show this woman the light.
After lunch Sarah and I proceeded along the parkway, climbing more and more hill and dreaming more and more of some downhill, or at least some flat land. The views of the mountains were still breathtaking, both figuratively and literally. At about mile 43 we stopped to snack, and appreciated that it was a long hard day, but at least it wasn't raining.
This was perhaps our downfall.
The entire nature of the day changed after that conversation. The mountains got brutal, the climbs got exhausting and, as luck would have it, rain clouds started drifting right towards us. We decided it was best to try and keep biking to beat the storm, and managed to make our way to easily the most fun downhill section of the entire trip.
Imagine, if you will, a ski slope that just doesn't stop. For a good ten minutes I was flying down the mountain, thinking I was going to beat the rain and get into town safe and sound. There was underlying pressure to make it out of the storm, but it was still the most peaceful part of the day's ride, and I couldn't help but smile. I threw my arms out and coasted, hoping to find my way to shelter soon. For me, that was what made the hills worth it, that incredible moment of freedom and thrill. It was about as close to the sensation of human flight as I can hope to achieve.
Then the road started climbing the same distance up. Then the rain started pouring. Hard. Then the lightning started striking.
Sarah and I decided to start walking our bikes uphill, since we were exhausted but couldn't stop since it was getting very late in the day. Sarah is actually quite scared of thunder, so I explained that if we wanted to have shelter we'd have to stay close to the trees. I also figured that, if we came to any downhill any time soon, it would be a good idea to bike, since our rubber tires would protect us from ground shock.
I at least convinced myself of this
We walked about a mile or two uphill in a serious thunderstorm when, at mile 70, as if sent from heaven, Aileen appeared over the hill crest with the van. She loaded us up and Kathryn handed us a bowl of watermelon while Aileen cranked up the heat and music. We tried to find a good spot to turn around and wound up getting stuck in mud for a good ten minutes, but I was just thrilled to be out of the weather and off the road. Partially bummed, but I knew it would've been insane to try and finish the route in a thunderstorm, especially considering how exhausted I was. I napped in the van and we proceeded to Lexington.
Waiting in the Lexington Presbyterian Church for me was my thermarest and a massive order of pizza, which Sarah Graham had managed to get donated from a local dominos. I stuffed my face, threw off my wet clothes, threw on my kashmere PJs (thanks, Mom), and napped like a champ.
I am indeed awake again. Now that I've updated I intend to overload with more calories and then get right to sleep. I want to bring my A-Game to tomorrow's ride since today was so intense.
At least I'm on the other side. I'm here, I'm dry, and I have good friends. Life is, overall, still very sweet.
But good God, what a day.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Day 9: Charlottesville, Virginia: "And Build"
Once again I must subject my audience to a mad-long entry. Charlottesville has been action=packed and filled to the brim with college-town goodness and community service.
After bed on the first night in CVille I woke early enough to walk to the corner with Heather (the record store girl), Kathryn (tax accountant from Oklahoma...doing BNB?), Jen (from Florida, out to see the world), and Jesse (Of Americorp fame). We got a hot breakfast and real coffee at Bodo's, and the meandered back to Tri-Sig house to get ready for our first build day.
I threw on my BNB shirt and helmet, hopped on my bike, and we all biked across town to Habitat's build site. On the way I randomly ran into two more friends, Paige and Mia, as we were rounding the corner. The rest of the team heckled me for being so popular. Psh.
We arrived at the build site and split up into smaller groups to tackle some projects across the city. I was assigned to work on the first build day a the Habitat Store, and wound up learning a great deal about Habitat and how the store works. basically they take donations from the community in the form of furniture and furnishings, clean it up, sell it at a discount price, and donate all the profits to the local Habitat chapter. That in turn produces about 3 or 4 houses a year, according to the manager, Buck. Pretty awesome stuff.
Buck split us up further and four of us rode out to Stanardsville to collect some donations being made from a long-time customer who was moving to DC. On the way out to her house I had the chance to ride with Larry, the spokesperson for the store. His story is a tremendous testament to Habitat's success. He'd always lived on the brink of poverty, and roamed the country for most of his life, struggling with alcoholism, a lack of formal education, and a lack of a supportive family. When he moved to Charlottesville, however, Habitat served as the catalyst that turned his life around. The work he put into his house allowed him to get a good deal of self esteem and security for his family. He wound up sobering up and now he actually works as an employee for the Habitat Store. It was amazing to see the kind of good this work could do, and it made me certain that I was dedicating myself to a worthwhile cause.
We arrived in Stanardsville about 30 minutes later, a little wiser from our conversation with Larry, and got the break-down from the house's owner, Jamie. She warned us to watch for wasps, bobcats, snakes, and bears while we were working. This was an incomplete list. Her house was way out in the sticks and up in some very serene wood. We spent that morning deconstructing her porch, which was especially difficult considering our drills weren't charged, so we had to remove screws manually with regular screw-drivers.
After a lovely lunch where Larry hilariously recounted his trip to Niger to meet his wife's family, we picked up serious steam with our newly charged drills and wound up finishing off the porch. We also gathered a sizable window which Buck anticipated would turn around to make a good deal of profit for the store in a short amount of time. By then, it was time to ride back.
Arriving back after our first Build Day to Tri-Sig, I immediately headed out to visit my friend Kirsten before her move to Mississippi. Kirsten and I like to say we were high school friends, even though that's not really possible since I went to an all-guys high school. This just feels right to us. We had a great visited as she made me regale the details of the trip and...pulled a few juicier details out of me, as is her way.
Dinner, back at the Tri-Sig house, was provided by two BNB alums, Whitney and Marie. They made an incredible spread of bread, salad, and chicken, and enthusiastically told us about their time in BNB and how excited they were for us. When I asked for advice, all they could say was cherish it. When I asked for highlights, all they could say was everything.You could see just by talking that this experience transformed them, and I really hope (and feel like I'm beginning) to get a similar feeling about it all.
Dinner was followed by an epic porch jam where people were using anything they wished as an instrument. Guitars, bongos, bike spokes, it was all good. Following the jam, we got on the subject of the Haka.
The Haka, for those unaware, is the New Zealand Maori war dance made famous by the New Zealand All-Blacks, the country's national rugby team. It's entire purpose is to psyche a team up for war, and after explaining what it was to my team, they insisted I teach it to them.
We then proceeded to rehearse the Haka right in the street. It was hilarious. I mean, how do you teach a person to look as terrifying as possible? "Stomp with enough force to break the Earth" "Dig deep into the diaphram". "Remember: grab the chicken, snap the neck". We had an awesome time. My best guess is within a week the team will have it down. By the time we get to Cannon beach the goal is to have the entire team do the Haka in the waters of the Pacific. It. Will. Be. Epic.
The Haka lesson was followed by a collective migration to the bars in town. Being underage and restless, I worked to convince people to come steam tunneling with me. Fortunately I can be very persuasive when I want to be. I managed to convince Emma, Chicago Jesse, and a BNB alum named Lynn to join me for adventure and mischief of the highest degree.
So we did that. We walked into grounds, snuck into the tunnel system under the school, and avoided detection from about 30+ construction workers working right above us. I showed them some quality graffiti, and then we exited.
However, Lynn, as it turns out, is a chemistry TA, and was excited to show us the lab, which even I had never seen before. We explored the chem building and played with liquid nitrogen, freezing grapes and then smashing them on the lab floor. Such good times. And educational too!
We then finally meandered back to Tri-Sig. I got another Gus (sorry, Dad) and then went to bed.
Then the next day we all mixed it up and went to new volunteer sites. I was at the build site and spent my morning painting the house and my afternoon caulking the bathrooms and making immature jokes inspired by the caulking.
Today's volunteering was followed by a brief trip to a new sprinkler park which has recently opened. It was only about 2 blocks away from the build site, and we were the oldest folks on site by, oh, about two decades. We had a ball though and cooled off in the fountains that were obviously not built for people our size.
We then biked back to Tri-Sig. I got a shower and shaved my beard for the team beard-off which will be taking place. Starting today, we have until June 30th to grow the best beards we can. The women will judge based on length, volume, and "effect". The next day will be a creativity day, in which we are free to trim our beards in intriguing was however we please.
We had dinner at Gabe's house and raised a ruckus in his mom's living room, laughing and hollering as if we'd known eachother for seven years, not seven days, but that seems to be the effect when you're never seperated from the company of these folks. Plus, they're just so cool.
We had a town hall meeting where we all gave highs and lows from the trip and shoutouts to each other. It's one of my favorite things that we've done. It just illustrates perfectly that this is not any one person's individual challenge. Seperately, we have strengths and weaknesses, but as a full team we our unstoppable. We ended the meeting by talking up tomorrow's ride, which will easily be our most challenging thus far. Not only our we leaving civilization, but we're waking at five, biking 80+ miles, and doing a considerable chunk of those 80 over our first actual mountains.
We will make it to Lexington. Of this I am certain. Tomorrow will be a long day but a great day. As for now, I've definitely written enough and feel it's time to start getting some sleep.
After bed on the first night in CVille I woke early enough to walk to the corner with Heather (the record store girl), Kathryn (tax accountant from Oklahoma...doing BNB?), Jen (from Florida, out to see the world), and Jesse (Of Americorp fame). We got a hot breakfast and real coffee at Bodo's, and the meandered back to Tri-Sig house to get ready for our first build day.
I threw on my BNB shirt and helmet, hopped on my bike, and we all biked across town to Habitat's build site. On the way I randomly ran into two more friends, Paige and Mia, as we were rounding the corner. The rest of the team heckled me for being so popular. Psh.
We arrived at the build site and split up into smaller groups to tackle some projects across the city. I was assigned to work on the first build day a the Habitat Store, and wound up learning a great deal about Habitat and how the store works. basically they take donations from the community in the form of furniture and furnishings, clean it up, sell it at a discount price, and donate all the profits to the local Habitat chapter. That in turn produces about 3 or 4 houses a year, according to the manager, Buck. Pretty awesome stuff.
Buck split us up further and four of us rode out to Stanardsville to collect some donations being made from a long-time customer who was moving to DC. On the way out to her house I had the chance to ride with Larry, the spokesperson for the store. His story is a tremendous testament to Habitat's success. He'd always lived on the brink of poverty, and roamed the country for most of his life, struggling with alcoholism, a lack of formal education, and a lack of a supportive family. When he moved to Charlottesville, however, Habitat served as the catalyst that turned his life around. The work he put into his house allowed him to get a good deal of self esteem and security for his family. He wound up sobering up and now he actually works as an employee for the Habitat Store. It was amazing to see the kind of good this work could do, and it made me certain that I was dedicating myself to a worthwhile cause.
We arrived in Stanardsville about 30 minutes later, a little wiser from our conversation with Larry, and got the break-down from the house's owner, Jamie. She warned us to watch for wasps, bobcats, snakes, and bears while we were working. This was an incomplete list. Her house was way out in the sticks and up in some very serene wood. We spent that morning deconstructing her porch, which was especially difficult considering our drills weren't charged, so we had to remove screws manually with regular screw-drivers.
After a lovely lunch where Larry hilariously recounted his trip to Niger to meet his wife's family, we picked up serious steam with our newly charged drills and wound up finishing off the porch. We also gathered a sizable window which Buck anticipated would turn around to make a good deal of profit for the store in a short amount of time. By then, it was time to ride back.
Arriving back after our first Build Day to Tri-Sig, I immediately headed out to visit my friend Kirsten before her move to Mississippi. Kirsten and I like to say we were high school friends, even though that's not really possible since I went to an all-guys high school. This just feels right to us. We had a great visited as she made me regale the details of the trip and...pulled a few juicier details out of me, as is her way.
Dinner, back at the Tri-Sig house, was provided by two BNB alums, Whitney and Marie. They made an incredible spread of bread, salad, and chicken, and enthusiastically told us about their time in BNB and how excited they were for us. When I asked for advice, all they could say was cherish it. When I asked for highlights, all they could say was everything.You could see just by talking that this experience transformed them, and I really hope (and feel like I'm beginning) to get a similar feeling about it all.
Dinner was followed by an epic porch jam where people were using anything they wished as an instrument. Guitars, bongos, bike spokes, it was all good. Following the jam, we got on the subject of the Haka.
The Haka, for those unaware, is the New Zealand Maori war dance made famous by the New Zealand All-Blacks, the country's national rugby team. It's entire purpose is to psyche a team up for war, and after explaining what it was to my team, they insisted I teach it to them.
We then proceeded to rehearse the Haka right in the street. It was hilarious. I mean, how do you teach a person to look as terrifying as possible? "Stomp with enough force to break the Earth" "Dig deep into the diaphram". "Remember: grab the chicken, snap the neck". We had an awesome time. My best guess is within a week the team will have it down. By the time we get to Cannon beach the goal is to have the entire team do the Haka in the waters of the Pacific. It. Will. Be. Epic.
The Haka lesson was followed by a collective migration to the bars in town. Being underage and restless, I worked to convince people to come steam tunneling with me. Fortunately I can be very persuasive when I want to be. I managed to convince Emma, Chicago Jesse, and a BNB alum named Lynn to join me for adventure and mischief of the highest degree.
So we did that. We walked into grounds, snuck into the tunnel system under the school, and avoided detection from about 30+ construction workers working right above us. I showed them some quality graffiti, and then we exited.
However, Lynn, as it turns out, is a chemistry TA, and was excited to show us the lab, which even I had never seen before. We explored the chem building and played with liquid nitrogen, freezing grapes and then smashing them on the lab floor. Such good times. And educational too!
We then finally meandered back to Tri-Sig. I got another Gus (sorry, Dad) and then went to bed.
Then the next day we all mixed it up and went to new volunteer sites. I was at the build site and spent my morning painting the house and my afternoon caulking the bathrooms and making immature jokes inspired by the caulking.
Today's volunteering was followed by a brief trip to a new sprinkler park which has recently opened. It was only about 2 blocks away from the build site, and we were the oldest folks on site by, oh, about two decades. We had a ball though and cooled off in the fountains that were obviously not built for people our size.
We then biked back to Tri-Sig. I got a shower and shaved my beard for the team beard-off which will be taking place. Starting today, we have until June 30th to grow the best beards we can. The women will judge based on length, volume, and "effect". The next day will be a creativity day, in which we are free to trim our beards in intriguing was however we please.
We had dinner at Gabe's house and raised a ruckus in his mom's living room, laughing and hollering as if we'd known eachother for seven years, not seven days, but that seems to be the effect when you're never seperated from the company of these folks. Plus, they're just so cool.
We had a town hall meeting where we all gave highs and lows from the trip and shoutouts to each other. It's one of my favorite things that we've done. It just illustrates perfectly that this is not any one person's individual challenge. Seperately, we have strengths and weaknesses, but as a full team we our unstoppable. We ended the meeting by talking up tomorrow's ride, which will easily be our most challenging thus far. Not only our we leaving civilization, but we're waking at five, biking 80+ miles, and doing a considerable chunk of those 80 over our first actual mountains.
We will make it to Lexington. Of this I am certain. Tomorrow will be a long day but a great day. As for now, I've definitely written enough and feel it's time to start getting some sleep.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Day 7: Charlottesville, Virginia: "Wahoowa"
Today was an insanely long day. This was, like, 3 days worth of events packed into one day, so I apologize in advance for the length of this entry.
My biological clock is really starting to adjust to Bike & Build. This morning I woke around 6 to the sound of chirping found myself lying awake, alone with my thoughts, reflecting on all the awesomeness that’s been packed in the last week. Soon enough the rest of the team stirred awake, and the day got rolling at breakneck speed inside of about ten minutes.
It was Raleigh’s birthday today, and in celebration her fellow tarheel and friend Laura prepared an exquisite playlist for us to pack up to. I found myself rocking out before 7 to the Avett Brothers, Girl Talk, and Bill Withers among others. As I tossed my whole life back into my duffel, I couldn’t help but allow my mind to drift in Charlottesville’s direction to ponder all the fun that would/will be had during our stay.
With thoughts of Gus Burgers and Steam Tunnels and general Wahoowa on my mind, I packed in record time and set out on my bike with the first group as soon as we finished our morning route meeting.
Thomas Jefferson probably said something about patience. As I write this I don’t have any internet, but this is where I’d include that quote, and you’d feel a little wiser having heard it. I feel like such a quote is appropriate for a few reasons. First, Thomas Jefferson is, of course, the founder of the University of Virginia, my college and the cultural centerpiece of Charlottesville. Second, I needed to work on my fraking patience toady.
First my group got mad lost, which is surprising considering the size (or lack thereof) of Dillwyn. When we finally found the right way out of town Texas Sarah, riding ahead of me, started laughing and pointed out to me how her camelbak was leaking on her. I made some snarky comment about how that just meant it liked her, but then immediately froze, realizing that I’d left my own camelbak back at the church.
I rolled back, and lo and behold Alyson was standing in the front yard with my pack in her hand, laughing. I thanked her profusely, and started rolling with JC and Scott, who were sweeping that day.
And just when I thought I was ready to blast through the hills and into Charlottesville, my derailer started freaking out. Every five feet it would pop, and I decided that this was not a good thing. Closer inspection revealed that a kink had formed in my chain, most likely from me having not cleaned it since Sharif showed me how back in Suffolk, because hey, I like to live dangerously. We couldn’t fix the problem, however, and I wound up having to sit the first leg of the ride out until an experienced cyclist could look at it and assess the situation.
So I wound up riding the first 20 miles in the van with Alyson. I was bummed at first, but made the most of it. We surfed the radio, ranted about how inhospitable Virginia is, and I hollered encouraging words at the rest of the team as we rolled by.
We set up lunch and greeted the other bikers as they rolled in from the hilly but beautiful countryside, and Noah, one of the people on our team who, like, is actually a cyclist, looked at my chain, prescribed a lot of lube, and assured me I could ride it to Charlottesville if I greased up the kink and worked it out.
So with the news that I would in fact get to roll into Charlottesville, I stuffed down a PB&Banana&Pretzels and started grinding my way up the road.
The second half of the route was equally beautiful, and riddled with lots of awesome downhill sections as we rolled into the bowl of Charlottesville. Each downhill seemed to get better than the last, but perhaps that was more due to how quickly the hills we actually had to climb took a toll on our muscles.
Even though I only rode about 10 or 12 miles today, it was pretty grueling. However, I kept pumping, and when we rolled onto Jefferson Park Avenue I started grinning from ear to ear. Being there really gave me tangible physical evidence by which to gauge my accomplishment. I had biked there, with my team, all the way from the ocean. Back to UVA, my own personal Hogwarts.
Naturally we stopped on the Lawn and got lots of pictures riding around on our bikes in front of the Rotunda. After that we hauled off to the Sigma Sigma Sigma house, our home for the next three nights. After a much needed shower I led a crew to the Corner for our first coffee in a week at Para. Following that we walked to a soup kitchen at the Downtown Mall where we received an exquisite free dinner, and I talked up APO with Leena, the women in charge of the kitchen, because it immediately struck me that they would be an awesome future project for APO to help with. Over the course of the day I actually ran into 3 of my APO friends, which made me look really cool in front of my new BNB friends so, you know, thanks guys!
After dinner was a tour of Charlottesville and all its goodness. Gelato at Splendora’s. Hookah at the Twisted Branch, along with mint tea and a tea called Macha, which Florida Jenn ordered. It looked more like pea soup than tea. It was thick, green, and served in a large bowl. As for the flavor, it was like warm liquid seaweed. I understand how nasty that sounds, but it was delicious. Jenn, Jesse and Kathryn and I soaked in the Bazaar’s atmosphere and started into those conversations where you could feel real roots of friendship forming.
We took the trolley back to Grounds and I enjoyed a great conversation with the driver and a man visiting from UC Berkeley along the way. I then showed off our library. We strolled back to the corner, hit up Michael’s Bistro to allow Jesse and Jenn to enjoy a beer whilst we admired Charlottesville from the second story porch, and then finished the night with what was easily the most satisfying gus burger of my life at the White Spot. For those unaware, the White Spot is a UVA institution, and the gus burger, a great glob of greasy cheeseburger with a fired egg on top, is their claim to fame. I had a double. After a week on the Bike & build diet, this was tremendously satisfying. The guy working the grill actually laughed at how fast I wolfed down my gus. I had no shame. I thanked the universe for this moment, along my glorious journey, where old experiences and new friends were mingling and making sweet music.
…and that was only night one of three is sweet sweet Cville.
Tomorrow we’ll be heading out for our first of two Build Days with Habitat For Humanity in the city. After that, who knows what else we’ll get up to.
As for now, I’mma slip into a food coma.
Wahoowa.
My biological clock is really starting to adjust to Bike & Build. This morning I woke around 6 to the sound of chirping found myself lying awake, alone with my thoughts, reflecting on all the awesomeness that’s been packed in the last week. Soon enough the rest of the team stirred awake, and the day got rolling at breakneck speed inside of about ten minutes.
It was Raleigh’s birthday today, and in celebration her fellow tarheel and friend Laura prepared an exquisite playlist for us to pack up to. I found myself rocking out before 7 to the Avett Brothers, Girl Talk, and Bill Withers among others. As I tossed my whole life back into my duffel, I couldn’t help but allow my mind to drift in Charlottesville’s direction to ponder all the fun that would/will be had during our stay.
With thoughts of Gus Burgers and Steam Tunnels and general Wahoowa on my mind, I packed in record time and set out on my bike with the first group as soon as we finished our morning route meeting.
Thomas Jefferson probably said something about patience. As I write this I don’t have any internet, but this is where I’d include that quote, and you’d feel a little wiser having heard it. I feel like such a quote is appropriate for a few reasons. First, Thomas Jefferson is, of course, the founder of the University of Virginia, my college and the cultural centerpiece of Charlottesville. Second, I needed to work on my fraking patience toady.
First my group got mad lost, which is surprising considering the size (or lack thereof) of Dillwyn. When we finally found the right way out of town Texas Sarah, riding ahead of me, started laughing and pointed out to me how her camelbak was leaking on her. I made some snarky comment about how that just meant it liked her, but then immediately froze, realizing that I’d left my own camelbak back at the church.
I rolled back, and lo and behold Alyson was standing in the front yard with my pack in her hand, laughing. I thanked her profusely, and started rolling with JC and Scott, who were sweeping that day.
And just when I thought I was ready to blast through the hills and into Charlottesville, my derailer started freaking out. Every five feet it would pop, and I decided that this was not a good thing. Closer inspection revealed that a kink had formed in my chain, most likely from me having not cleaned it since Sharif showed me how back in Suffolk, because hey, I like to live dangerously. We couldn’t fix the problem, however, and I wound up having to sit the first leg of the ride out until an experienced cyclist could look at it and assess the situation.
So I wound up riding the first 20 miles in the van with Alyson. I was bummed at first, but made the most of it. We surfed the radio, ranted about how inhospitable Virginia is, and I hollered encouraging words at the rest of the team as we rolled by.
We set up lunch and greeted the other bikers as they rolled in from the hilly but beautiful countryside, and Noah, one of the people on our team who, like, is actually a cyclist, looked at my chain, prescribed a lot of lube, and assured me I could ride it to Charlottesville if I greased up the kink and worked it out.
So with the news that I would in fact get to roll into Charlottesville, I stuffed down a PB&Banana&Pretzels and started grinding my way up the road.
The second half of the route was equally beautiful, and riddled with lots of awesome downhill sections as we rolled into the bowl of Charlottesville. Each downhill seemed to get better than the last, but perhaps that was more due to how quickly the hills we actually had to climb took a toll on our muscles.
Even though I only rode about 10 or 12 miles today, it was pretty grueling. However, I kept pumping, and when we rolled onto Jefferson Park Avenue I started grinning from ear to ear. Being there really gave me tangible physical evidence by which to gauge my accomplishment. I had biked there, with my team, all the way from the ocean. Back to UVA, my own personal Hogwarts.
Naturally we stopped on the Lawn and got lots of pictures riding around on our bikes in front of the Rotunda. After that we hauled off to the Sigma Sigma Sigma house, our home for the next three nights. After a much needed shower I led a crew to the Corner for our first coffee in a week at Para. Following that we walked to a soup kitchen at the Downtown Mall where we received an exquisite free dinner, and I talked up APO with Leena, the women in charge of the kitchen, because it immediately struck me that they would be an awesome future project for APO to help with. Over the course of the day I actually ran into 3 of my APO friends, which made me look really cool in front of my new BNB friends so, you know, thanks guys!
After dinner was a tour of Charlottesville and all its goodness. Gelato at Splendora’s. Hookah at the Twisted Branch, along with mint tea and a tea called Macha, which Florida Jenn ordered. It looked more like pea soup than tea. It was thick, green, and served in a large bowl. As for the flavor, it was like warm liquid seaweed. I understand how nasty that sounds, but it was delicious. Jenn, Jesse and Kathryn and I soaked in the Bazaar’s atmosphere and started into those conversations where you could feel real roots of friendship forming.
We took the trolley back to Grounds and I enjoyed a great conversation with the driver and a man visiting from UC Berkeley along the way. I then showed off our library. We strolled back to the corner, hit up Michael’s Bistro to allow Jesse and Jenn to enjoy a beer whilst we admired Charlottesville from the second story porch, and then finished the night with what was easily the most satisfying gus burger of my life at the White Spot. For those unaware, the White Spot is a UVA institution, and the gus burger, a great glob of greasy cheeseburger with a fired egg on top, is their claim to fame. I had a double. After a week on the Bike & build diet, this was tremendously satisfying. The guy working the grill actually laughed at how fast I wolfed down my gus. I had no shame. I thanked the universe for this moment, along my glorious journey, where old experiences and new friends were mingling and making sweet music.
…and that was only night one of three is sweet sweet Cville.
Tomorrow we’ll be heading out for our first of two Build Days with Habitat For Humanity in the city. After that, who knows what else we’ll get up to.
As for now, I’mma slip into a food coma.
Wahoowa.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Day 6: Dillwyn, Virginia: "There Is No Now Here"
Last night’s stay in Fort Pickett ended in just about the best way possible. One of our Jesse’s knows a good deal about computers and managed to hack the fort’s internet access. Following this, my fellow Louisvillian and LOST fan, Scott, found a site which was streaming the LOST series finale live. This. Was. Awesome. I was terrified that I’d have the finale spoiled for me somewhere between here and Oregon, but watching it live, on an illegal website, via stolen internet, was all kinds of satisfying. As for the finale itself, yes, perhaps it was a bit cheesy, but I liked it, and I like it more the more I think about it because each character’s individual story ends in a satisfying manner.
After LOST I enjoyed sleep in a real bed, and woke up with my knee feeling great and my body ready for the day’s work.
For a lot of people today was the worst ride, and I will agree that it was our most trying. We started wet, we got lost right away, we spent the majority of the day on the terrifying highways of rural Virginia dodging logging trucks, it was one of our longest days yet, and we were finally getting into some serious Blue Ridge foothills. All that being said, however, for whatever reason I had a great ride today. My energy was always up, and while my knee flared up frequently the views of the hilly countryside were breathtaking and the people I rode with made it a blast.
Also, if there’s one benefit to riding on the highway, it’s that those long stretches allow you to roar down the roads. We hit lunch, at mile 30, in just over an hour, and while eating we had the pleasure of talking with a Bike & Build alum who was stalking our trip. His name is Evan, and he works now for a newspaper outside of Farmville. He regaled us with some great stories from the Road and sized up our team, saying we were a really positive group, and stressing that that was all that really mattered at the end of the day.
Evan took our picture for the local paper and then after a good stretch to work the kinks out of my left knee I moved on with a group of about five others through the town of Farmville. On the other side of town was our Landmark of the Day: A train caboose which had been converted into a mobile office. We climbed the outside of it and got some great pictures, and the worked into Serious Hill Country. Crawling up an especially brutal hill one of our many Jenn’s, in lieu of profanities, screamed “I LOVE BIKE AND BUILD” loud enough to be heard from the next county. We were suffering but conversation never broke into serious complaining. When one of us was struggling the rest were there to keep them pedaling forward and up.
We stopped at a gas station to get a snack and I was challenged to go inside and get the manager to donate some Snicker’s bars to us. To the group’s surprise, I actually stepped up to this challenge and managed to talk the dude into giving us two bars for free. I gave him my spiel, and turned my Southern accent up just enough (from, like, a 2 to a 7), to work some generosity out of the guy. Grinning from ear to ear, I exited the station and chucked my donated bounty out to my BNB brethren.
After I knocked back one of those free bars I got a great little boost of energy and decided to solo the last 15 or so miles. It was great to be alone with my thoughts for a bit and to reflect on all the distance I’d covered thus far, and all the bonds I’d been forming. I was riding on a Bike and Build high for sure.
I stopped in a store 3 miles away from our host to get some advil and wound up having a pretty extensive conversation with an elderly woman named Anna. She said the internet was too confusing for her to try and follow us, but she was very excited with our team’s efforts.
Rolling out of the store I got a bit lost, but only for about a quarter mile, and then hopped back on the proper road to Dillwyn. I arrived at the church, washed my face, and took a serious nap with my earphones playing “Carboot Soul” by Nightmares On Wax, AKA the best napping album ever.
The nap was followed by trailer painting, since it was finally sunny enough again for our paint to not run. We got a great idea for our trailer and I’m excited to see how it plays out. The idea is that we get hosts and other folks we meet to sign our trailer around our ridiculously accurate map of the US, so that by the summer’s end we’ll have hundreds of small messages of encouragement from all the people we meet on our journey. The pastor of the church signed, as well as the twelve (!) brothers and sisters who were sketchily playing across the street on a rusty run-down van all afternoon. Cute kids, but it was kinda like something from a Stephen King novel.
At dinner I had a great talk with Americorps Jesse, Kristen, and Florida Jenn, three of the most interesting folks I’ve met on this trip. Jenn regaled her many travels out West and her dream of working as a Ski Bum in Colorado. Naturally I approved of all of this, and insisted that she tell me the secret to her life.
The talk was followed by an effort to play some guitar, but my fingers are shot from all the weight I’m putting on my hands these days. It was for the best, however, because I hadn’t talked to my family since I started, and decided to make a call. Got a chance to talk to Dad and Hank, unfortunately Mom was buried under a pile of laundry. However, all is well at home, and Hank is gonna destroy his last two exams. I’m proud of him.
Coming back inside, Derrick demanded a mandatory game of “Ha”, in which players lay down on the floor, with heads rested on eachother’s bellies, as we go down the line, saying “ha” and telling jokes. Naturally we all giggled a lot, and this naturally led to our heads bouncing around a lot. This led to more giggling, which created a positive-feedback loop of sorts. It was good times.
And that leads us to right now. As I finish this entry, everyone else is either fast asleep or quickly dosing off. I intend to follow suit, and get some good rest for tomorrow when I get into Charlottesville and get a chance to show my new BNB friends a little piece of my pre-BNB life.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Day 5: Blackstone, Virginia: "Not Honey Bear"
This morning we woke up 30 minutes earlier than usual in the interest of beating the rain that was rolling into our part of Virginia. We cleaned the house, packed up, and were on the road by 7:30, ironically right when the rain started. This was my first serious ride in the rain and, honestly? it was a great time. One of the pearls of wisdom that I picked up with my 10 Summers at Camp Carolina is that skin is, in fact, waterproof. This was definitely put to the test. I was pretty much eating the watery rooster tails thrown up from the bikers in front of my all morning. What was awesome though is that no one complained. In fact I think today was the most talkative day I've had on the road, and there was heaps of cheering and encouragement.
The rain clouds baked away after about an hour and we starting rolling into our first real hills. Today's route actually called for us to turn left out of the church, turn left at the first intersection, and stay on the same road for 42 miles. The clouds cleared and I was humming along, having a great conversation with one of our many Jenns when the morning got a little more interesting. In a split second I saw something shiny, dodged it with my front wheel, and then heard my back pop and immediately run flat.
I dunno if you're aware of this but littering is REALLY cool. It's convenient, it's rebellious, and it makes you more attractive to the opposite sex. This is clinically proven.
One wise individual, knowing this, had decided to discard his/her glass bottle of "grape drink with assorted liquor" right out on the side of the road. Right where, say, a biker might run over it.
I immediately made sure I cleared off the other shards and proceeded to change my first tire on the side of the road. That shard in one fell swoop had bitten right through the space-age rubber tire and into the tube, meaning the entire thing needed to be replaced.
I and a few other team mates chilled on the side of the road and waited for today's sweepers, Emma and Mark. Eventually they rolled up and I successfully changed my flat, albeit at an embarrassingly slow rate. I'm sure I'll get really good by the end of the Summer though, especially since littering is, like, cooler than sky-diving into a fireworks, pillow, puppy and candy factory.
So we proceeded along our route, got to lunch, and I refueled. After lunch we rolled on, and about 7 miles later found ourselves stopping, briefly, at the Hungry Bear Country Store. Jesse wanted to buy some honey for future lunches, but the women standing out on the porch smoking her cigs told us that it was the Hungry Bear Country Store, and gave us a look, for a brief second, which seemed judgmental of our reading ability. A gentlemen leaning against the rails asked where we were headed, and we proceeded to give our spiel. I gave the woman, Sharon, one of our cards and she couldn't give enough praise to our efforts and cause, since she herself was struggling with finding an affordable home and explained that it was a problem that plagued the entire area.
I think that's one of the coolest things about this program. Affordable Housing is something everyone, and I mean everyone, can get behind. The means by which this goal is accomplished our open to debate, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a person who didn't agree that a secure home can make all the difference for a family, and can transform the entire nature of a community.
We had been climbing a pretty serious hill right before the Hungry Bear, but it all paid off in the downhill that followed right after. We roared into the next valley, maxing at about 30 mph (!)
I think something really cool about this adventure as well is that, when I thought about it, I realized that, since we're going from sea-level to sea-level again, every inch we climb up is gonna be answered with an inch back down.
Anyways, we rolled along the countryside, and my knee started acting up until I got creative with my stretches. Blazing down another huge hill Mark and I somehow got on the subject of Pokemon and started singing/screaming the themesong to stay pumped after mile 50. I suggest you look it up right now. Is it mega-cheesy? Yes. but does it get you moving? Ohhhhhhh yes.
We rolled up into the last leg, which would lead us to our host tonight, which is a military base actually larger than the town. Whether or not a person is excited by the military, I think it's easy to agree that they certainly do a lot from the standpoint of improving a towns infrastructure. Those roads were smoooooooth, and the "Tank Crossing" signs made us chuckle, even if they weren't meant to be jokes.
Let's talk about our host site tonight as well. To summarize, we each have our own private room, we have a laundry machine, and we don't have to drive anywhere to go bathe. I never thought I'd say this, but these army dudes have the good life.
There's not a whole lot to do on the base but I expect more jams, more cards, and more ice-breaking for sure. For now, I'm gonna go enjoy my actual bed and get a sick nap in.
The rain clouds baked away after about an hour and we starting rolling into our first real hills. Today's route actually called for us to turn left out of the church, turn left at the first intersection, and stay on the same road for 42 miles. The clouds cleared and I was humming along, having a great conversation with one of our many Jenns when the morning got a little more interesting. In a split second I saw something shiny, dodged it with my front wheel, and then heard my back pop and immediately run flat.
I dunno if you're aware of this but littering is REALLY cool. It's convenient, it's rebellious, and it makes you more attractive to the opposite sex. This is clinically proven.
One wise individual, knowing this, had decided to discard his/her glass bottle of "grape drink with assorted liquor" right out on the side of the road. Right where, say, a biker might run over it.
I immediately made sure I cleared off the other shards and proceeded to change my first tire on the side of the road. That shard in one fell swoop had bitten right through the space-age rubber tire and into the tube, meaning the entire thing needed to be replaced.
I and a few other team mates chilled on the side of the road and waited for today's sweepers, Emma and Mark. Eventually they rolled up and I successfully changed my flat, albeit at an embarrassingly slow rate. I'm sure I'll get really good by the end of the Summer though, especially since littering is, like, cooler than sky-diving into a fireworks, pillow, puppy and candy factory.
So we proceeded along our route, got to lunch, and I refueled. After lunch we rolled on, and about 7 miles later found ourselves stopping, briefly, at the Hungry Bear Country Store. Jesse wanted to buy some honey for future lunches, but the women standing out on the porch smoking her cigs told us that it was the Hungry Bear Country Store, and gave us a look, for a brief second, which seemed judgmental of our reading ability. A gentlemen leaning against the rails asked where we were headed, and we proceeded to give our spiel. I gave the woman, Sharon, one of our cards and she couldn't give enough praise to our efforts and cause, since she herself was struggling with finding an affordable home and explained that it was a problem that plagued the entire area.
I think that's one of the coolest things about this program. Affordable Housing is something everyone, and I mean everyone, can get behind. The means by which this goal is accomplished our open to debate, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a person who didn't agree that a secure home can make all the difference for a family, and can transform the entire nature of a community.
We had been climbing a pretty serious hill right before the Hungry Bear, but it all paid off in the downhill that followed right after. We roared into the next valley, maxing at about 30 mph (!)
I think something really cool about this adventure as well is that, when I thought about it, I realized that, since we're going from sea-level to sea-level again, every inch we climb up is gonna be answered with an inch back down.
Anyways, we rolled along the countryside, and my knee started acting up until I got creative with my stretches. Blazing down another huge hill Mark and I somehow got on the subject of Pokemon and started singing/screaming the themesong to stay pumped after mile 50. I suggest you look it up right now. Is it mega-cheesy? Yes. but does it get you moving? Ohhhhhhh yes.
We rolled up into the last leg, which would lead us to our host tonight, which is a military base actually larger than the town. Whether or not a person is excited by the military, I think it's easy to agree that they certainly do a lot from the standpoint of improving a towns infrastructure. Those roads were smoooooooth, and the "Tank Crossing" signs made us chuckle, even if they weren't meant to be jokes.
Let's talk about our host site tonight as well. To summarize, we each have our own private room, we have a laundry machine, and we don't have to drive anywhere to go bathe. I never thought I'd say this, but these army dudes have the good life.
There's not a whole lot to do on the base but I expect more jams, more cards, and more ice-breaking for sure. For now, I'm gonna go enjoy my actual bed and get a sick nap in.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Day 4: Waverly, Virginia: "I'll Make Ya Snort"
As I hoped, sleep last night was awesome. I even had some vivid dreams, which is not normal for me.
but of course sleep had to end eventually. we awoke to a Justin Bieber remix and got ready for the Road. I made good sure to get lots of sunscreen on today, because I already have a fierce farmer's tan going.
At our pre-route meeting Emma, who did the research for the next town, got up to speak, hesitated, and said "So Waverly is...really small". This was certainly not an exaggeration. The town has just a little over two-thousand residents and is about 3.1 square miles in size, surrounded on all sides by big beautiful farmland. It was obvious that at this point we were moving away from the coast and into rural Virginia. There were huge open fields of wheat with the occasional run-down tractor or barn rising up from the horizon. Clouds of flies moved like wisps of smoke over the wheat. We stopped and had our picture taken with a pretty legit scarecrow, and made sure to put a helmet on his head so he didn't feel out of place. And of course there was the majestic farmland fauna. A pack of buzzards pecked at something ripe right off the side of one of our first roads. A dog chased one of our trip leaders, Alyson, for a good 50 feet.
I hummed along with the front-group all through the morning, and we blasted the first 20 or so miles in a little over 1.5 hours, stopping for "lunch" at 9:40. We danced to the Darkness and made interesting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I'm personally a big fan of the PB&J&Potato Chips. Tomorrow I intend to try out some PB&Oreos.
I stayed with the front pack the entire ride, which was great for a couple reasons. First, it's helping me prove to myself that I'm prepared to do this ride. Second, and more important, however, riding in front allows us to stop pretty much whenever we please to soak in the sights.
A few miles after our "lunch" stop we hit a solid 3 or 4 miles of pure gravel, but miraculously none of us caught flats. It did, however, make for plenty of turbulence, to where I couldn't help but start singing the "Indiana Jones" themesong.
After the gravel we rolled through a beautiful field with a flat, straight road which provided the perfect space for me to practice that no-hands biking that cool bikers do. I'm pretty decent but I need to work on my swivel. After that we roared through a tshaded forest, and then immediately following found ourselves riding along the edge of the prettiest swamp I've certainly ever seen. black water, green trees, trunks rising from the water, and turtles swimming all around. We hung our feet over the edge of a dock/shack and enjoyed the serenity.
When we finally decided to hit the Road again Waverly was a mere 3 miles away. We got there around 1 and decided to kill time by exploring the town, which was, as Emma anticipated, pretty bare. We hit up a McDonalds and then sought out "The First Peanut Museum in America", which was actually still closed for another hour or so. Instead we got our picture with the creepy Uncle Sam in the front, and then rolled back to the church we were staying at for epic naps.
I woke up about an hour later in a puddle of my own drool, and meandered into the main hall where Aileen, another one of our trip leaders taught me how to play cribbage, a card game, which, as Derrick put, is played by "really, REALLY old people and mid-westerners". It took a while to catch on because it's, like, 3 games inside of a game, but still, quite fun.
Cribbage was followed by a fried-chicken dinner. Heaven. Pure heaven.
Following dinner the team had a spontaneous massage-party right on the steps of the church. There was a hilarious amount of innuendo. This is honestly probably my highlight from the trip so far because we were all laughing hard. You could hear the personal bubbles bursting. I also picked up a reputation right away as a champion massage-giver *Brush brush*.
We strolled into town and I got a yoohoo from a gas station. Since that was about all there was to do we turned right around, but not before the cops caught up with us and told us it probably wasn't a good idea to be in town this late at night.
And that leads us to this moment. I'm listening to Harry Manx and I hear laughter upstairs, so if you'll excuse me, I think I've written plenty for the day.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Day 3: Suffolk, Virginia: "Nothing To Get Hung About"
Last night ended in what can only be described as pure unadulterated ruckus. About six or seven other participants and I stood out in the front lawn of MANSE House playing guitar, drumming on coolers, and singing Avett Brothers songs at the top of our lungs. Two of our girls are from North Carolina, and naturally both are huge fans. We screamed lyrics until we were politely advised by one of our trip leaders to shut up.
And of course there was this morning. It all started with the leaders blaring Lady Gaga at 6am. We packed like fiends, we sucked down breakfast like vacuums, and then proceeded to the beach for our wheel-dipping ceremony.
SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO MARK MANNING, my college friend and fellow pledge brother in Alpha Phi Omega, who took time off from substitute teaching to roll down to the beach with a camera to see me off proper.
Derrick said some inspirational words which are a little too PG-13 to be reprinted, we dipped our wheels in the Atlantic, and then, just like that, we hit the Road. I hopped on my trusted steed, Fritzelicious the Love Machine, and we hauled our way down Pacific Avenue towards the outskirts of town.
We didn't make it maybe 4 blocks before people were yelling at us from cars asking us to explain what we were doing. There were smiles and waves from everywhere as we rolled out of Virginia Beach.
Weird Landmark of the Day: A giant (like, 40 foot tall) gorilla in a hawaiian shirt overlooking our team from an amusement park on the side of the highway.
I was shocked by how easy the first ride was. I'd been building it up in my mind for, oh, like 3 months, wondering if I could make it today. But, honestly? Pretty easy for being 55 miles long.
The roads were almost entirely flat, the only exceptions being various bridges leading over the bays outside of town. We rolled past some swamp and forest, and eventually started working our way out to the fields and farms.
The highlight of today's ride was easily at about mile 40, when I started to feel like I was crashing, since I forgot to pack a snack. I was feeling my tank running low, wondering what to do about the situation, when BAM! Those angels delivered us to a pick-your-own strawberry farm.
Heather, the LA girl who worked for the record companies, immediately squeeled "OOOOH STRAWBERRIES" and peeled off without a second thought into the parking lot. I followed suit and we found about a dozen other participants out in the field. I bought a quart of fresh strawberries and wolfed them down as soon as I got off the field. They were some of the best I've ever had, probably due in large part to the mileage I put into my bike to get there.
We pulled out of the farm after we were satisfied with out frolicking and pigging out, and cranked out the last 12 or so miles to our host in Suffolk, another church, only this one was air-conditioned (!) and noticeably larger.
After dinner we popped in a DVD (Disney's "Up", one of the very best). The lights in our large room have been dimmed, and we're all enjoying our movie on the projector screen.
Sleep will undoubtedly be incredible. hopefully I get enough to do all that biking all over again!
And of course there was this morning. It all started with the leaders blaring Lady Gaga at 6am. We packed like fiends, we sucked down breakfast like vacuums, and then proceeded to the beach for our wheel-dipping ceremony.
SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO MARK MANNING, my college friend and fellow pledge brother in Alpha Phi Omega, who took time off from substitute teaching to roll down to the beach with a camera to see me off proper.
Derrick said some inspirational words which are a little too PG-13 to be reprinted, we dipped our wheels in the Atlantic, and then, just like that, we hit the Road. I hopped on my trusted steed, Fritzelicious the Love Machine, and we hauled our way down Pacific Avenue towards the outskirts of town.
We didn't make it maybe 4 blocks before people were yelling at us from cars asking us to explain what we were doing. There were smiles and waves from everywhere as we rolled out of Virginia Beach.
Weird Landmark of the Day: A giant (like, 40 foot tall) gorilla in a hawaiian shirt overlooking our team from an amusement park on the side of the highway.
I was shocked by how easy the first ride was. I'd been building it up in my mind for, oh, like 3 months, wondering if I could make it today. But, honestly? Pretty easy for being 55 miles long.
The roads were almost entirely flat, the only exceptions being various bridges leading over the bays outside of town. We rolled past some swamp and forest, and eventually started working our way out to the fields and farms.
The highlight of today's ride was easily at about mile 40, when I started to feel like I was crashing, since I forgot to pack a snack. I was feeling my tank running low, wondering what to do about the situation, when BAM! Those angels delivered us to a pick-your-own strawberry farm.
Heather, the LA girl who worked for the record companies, immediately squeeled "OOOOH STRAWBERRIES" and peeled off without a second thought into the parking lot. I followed suit and we found about a dozen other participants out in the field. I bought a quart of fresh strawberries and wolfed them down as soon as I got off the field. They were some of the best I've ever had, probably due in large part to the mileage I put into my bike to get there.
We pulled out of the farm after we were satisfied with out frolicking and pigging out, and cranked out the last 12 or so miles to our host in Suffolk, another church, only this one was air-conditioned (!) and noticeably larger.
After dinner we popped in a DVD (Disney's "Up", one of the very best). The lights in our large room have been dimmed, and we're all enjoying our movie on the projector screen.
Sleep will undoubtedly be incredible. hopefully I get enough to do all that biking all over again!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Day 2: Virginia Beach, Virginia: "Angels Follow You"
You wanna talk about eventful? let's talk about the last day and a half.
I arrived at orientation yesterday around 2 in the afternoon, at MANSE House, which is the retreat house affiliated with the First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach. Day one was a LOT of ice-breaking, which is great for me because I thrive in socially awkward environments. Whatever bone people have in their spines that makes them hesitate from opening up to people, I threw that out a long time ago. Honestly, I don't think there's any time for it on something like this. These other bikers have amazing stories. Example: One of my trip leaders? He broke. His. Pelvis. halfway through his first Bike & Build trip. But did he let that little snag slow him down? No sir. Defying all medical advice and physical reality, Derrick finished his trip on a broken. Pelvis.
Did I mention that he broke his pelvis? Can I stress enough how crucial a working pelvis is for the kind of thing we do?
Anyways, I kind of anticipated to be a fish out of water. I was expecting to be in a large group of Semi-Pro Cylcers, the type of people who can change a tire blind-folded and take their biking very seriously. Honestly, though, I see now that a person like that ultimately isn't cut out for this trip. It requires an inhuman amount of flexibility and the complete abandonment of things like social bubbles and competitive natures.
My team is awesome. They're funny, engaged, and generous people, and collectively we are at this stage an unstoppable force of excitement and energy. A dude named Jesse served in Americorps for a year. One girl moved out to LA and has been working for record companies. We have perhaps Texas' only hippie. We have one girl who decided the only adjective that could best describe her was "Raztastic"
I could go on for a while about these folks.
So yeah, ice-breaking was a breeze. Following that there were a few policy clinics, a very inspiring presentation given by some Bike & Build alumni, and then sleep. So much sleep. Glorious sleep.
This morning we woke to a modest breakfast, took a clinic on how to change a flat (sorely needed info for yours truly) and then a clinic on bike safety. Lunch was enormous. One of the alums moms baked RICE KRISPIE TREATS FOR 30+ COLLEGE STUDENTS.
Anyways after that we did our "shakedown ride", i.e. our first actual ride together. Very casual, very easy, just ten miles along the super-flat streets of Virginia Beach. There was an awesome park we biked through, and it was filled with the scent of warm pine, one of my very favorite smells because it reminds me so much of Summer, freedom, adventure, and other buzzwords.
Following the ride we gave a bike clinic to the kids at first Pres. Yours truly led a rousing game of "red light green light". Following that was an enormous dinner hosted by the church, complete with spaghetti, and for dessert red velvet cake (?) and mini-eclairs (?!)
I've noticed I'm writing a lot about food. But maybe that's good. I'm gonna need a mean amount of fuel to actually make it to Oregon. And also I just like bragging about food.
Anyways the folks at First Pres were very gracious. I performed magic tricks for a 3-year-old daughter of one of the board members, and we told them, with heart in throats, about our planned adventure and how excited we were. The title for tonight's blog comes from one of the many annoted maps they hung up on the walls to celebrate our journey. It just hit me in a good place, the thought that as we travel there are hundreds, potentially thousands of people, that care for us, support us, and pray for us.
Anyways following dinner we've begun the work of repainting the team trailer with our logo, info, and the like to show off to the rest of the Road. It's gonna be beautiful. Y'all should come find us when we roll through/near your town just to admire or handywork.
Aaaaaaaaaand that leads us to this exact moment. It's warm. It's dark. It's filled with the sounds of waves, jet planes, and merry young adults on the edge of a great adventure. Tomorrow we start our ride at 8 in the morning. We're going 60 miles. At this time I'm not nearly as afraid of that as I probably should be.
Anyways this is long enough. If you got this far good for you. Internet will be spotty once we finally hit the Road, but I'll update ASAP.
I arrived at orientation yesterday around 2 in the afternoon, at MANSE House, which is the retreat house affiliated with the First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach. Day one was a LOT of ice-breaking, which is great for me because I thrive in socially awkward environments. Whatever bone people have in their spines that makes them hesitate from opening up to people, I threw that out a long time ago. Honestly, I don't think there's any time for it on something like this. These other bikers have amazing stories. Example: One of my trip leaders? He broke. His. Pelvis. halfway through his first Bike & Build trip. But did he let that little snag slow him down? No sir. Defying all medical advice and physical reality, Derrick finished his trip on a broken. Pelvis.
Did I mention that he broke his pelvis? Can I stress enough how crucial a working pelvis is for the kind of thing we do?
Anyways, I kind of anticipated to be a fish out of water. I was expecting to be in a large group of Semi-Pro Cylcers, the type of people who can change a tire blind-folded and take their biking very seriously. Honestly, though, I see now that a person like that ultimately isn't cut out for this trip. It requires an inhuman amount of flexibility and the complete abandonment of things like social bubbles and competitive natures.
My team is awesome. They're funny, engaged, and generous people, and collectively we are at this stage an unstoppable force of excitement and energy. A dude named Jesse served in Americorps for a year. One girl moved out to LA and has been working for record companies. We have perhaps Texas' only hippie. We have one girl who decided the only adjective that could best describe her was "Raztastic"
I could go on for a while about these folks.
So yeah, ice-breaking was a breeze. Following that there were a few policy clinics, a very inspiring presentation given by some Bike & Build alumni, and then sleep. So much sleep. Glorious sleep.
This morning we woke to a modest breakfast, took a clinic on how to change a flat (sorely needed info for yours truly) and then a clinic on bike safety. Lunch was enormous. One of the alums moms baked RICE KRISPIE TREATS FOR 30+ COLLEGE STUDENTS.
Anyways after that we did our "shakedown ride", i.e. our first actual ride together. Very casual, very easy, just ten miles along the super-flat streets of Virginia Beach. There was an awesome park we biked through, and it was filled with the scent of warm pine, one of my very favorite smells because it reminds me so much of Summer, freedom, adventure, and other buzzwords.
Following the ride we gave a bike clinic to the kids at first Pres. Yours truly led a rousing game of "red light green light". Following that was an enormous dinner hosted by the church, complete with spaghetti, and for dessert red velvet cake (?) and mini-eclairs (?!)
I've noticed I'm writing a lot about food. But maybe that's good. I'm gonna need a mean amount of fuel to actually make it to Oregon. And also I just like bragging about food.
Anyways the folks at First Pres were very gracious. I performed magic tricks for a 3-year-old daughter of one of the board members, and we told them, with heart in throats, about our planned adventure and how excited we were. The title for tonight's blog comes from one of the many annoted maps they hung up on the walls to celebrate our journey. It just hit me in a good place, the thought that as we travel there are hundreds, potentially thousands of people, that care for us, support us, and pray for us.
Anyways following dinner we've begun the work of repainting the team trailer with our logo, info, and the like to show off to the rest of the Road. It's gonna be beautiful. Y'all should come find us when we roll through/near your town just to admire or handywork.
Aaaaaaaaaand that leads us to this exact moment. It's warm. It's dark. It's filled with the sounds of waves, jet planes, and merry young adults on the edge of a great adventure. Tomorrow we start our ride at 8 in the morning. We're going 60 miles. At this time I'm not nearly as afraid of that as I probably should be.
Anyways this is long enough. If you got this far good for you. Internet will be spotty once we finally hit the Road, but I'll update ASAP.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Day 0: Virginia Beach, Virginia: "On the Verge"
This may shock some friends, but sometimes I draw complete blanks when it comes to how to initiate something. This blog, and my Bike & Build experience, to which this blog is dedicated, are no exceptions.
Bike & Build started very much on a whim. It was Winter Break, and I was chewing over what to do with my Summer. I wanted a change. I wanted a timeless adventure. I wanted a chance to help others and improve myself in the process.
I found all of those things in Bike & Build. Tomorrow marks the beginning of an adventure as big and mighty as America itself. Tomorrow I meet my team, and in two days we will dip our bike wheels in the Atlantic Ocean, and then bike all the way from Virginia Beach, VA to Cannon Beach, OR. Along the way I'll be learning more about the Affordable Housing cause, and work as an advocate and volunteer for AH efforts.
Up until tomorrow, this has been nothing but a far-off fantasy. This last night always seemed so far away. Now that it's here, two questions stick in my mind: First, where did the time go?! Second, and more important, where will I be after this Summer?
For the next 2.5 months approximately, the road will be my home, my team will be my family, and the Pacific will be my calling. I'm riding right along the edge between excitement and terror, but I'm determined to make this.
If I can do this, I can do anything.
So, on the verge of it all, I suppose all I can say is I'm ready for whatever comes next. I anticipate many highs, many lows, and many tales to tell. Here's to the Road.
Bike & Build started very much on a whim. It was Winter Break, and I was chewing over what to do with my Summer. I wanted a change. I wanted a timeless adventure. I wanted a chance to help others and improve myself in the process.
I found all of those things in Bike & Build. Tomorrow marks the beginning of an adventure as big and mighty as America itself. Tomorrow I meet my team, and in two days we will dip our bike wheels in the Atlantic Ocean, and then bike all the way from Virginia Beach, VA to Cannon Beach, OR. Along the way I'll be learning more about the Affordable Housing cause, and work as an advocate and volunteer for AH efforts.
Up until tomorrow, this has been nothing but a far-off fantasy. This last night always seemed so far away. Now that it's here, two questions stick in my mind: First, where did the time go?! Second, and more important, where will I be after this Summer?
For the next 2.5 months approximately, the road will be my home, my team will be my family, and the Pacific will be my calling. I'm riding right along the edge between excitement and terror, but I'm determined to make this.
If I can do this, I can do anything.
So, on the verge of it all, I suppose all I can say is I'm ready for whatever comes next. I anticipate many highs, many lows, and many tales to tell. Here's to the Road.
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