San Diego!

We made it to San Diego today without any issues. Wake-up time was pushed back to 7am, but everyone still woke up early as we have been getting up between 4:30 and 5:00am the last week to beat the heat. I will post more to my blog (all the missing entries and more pics) once I get some time. Thanks to all that supported me as I rode across the country.

Kayenta

David and I in Monument Valley

Today we went the short way (57 miles) to Kayenta (the long way would have taken us along the edge of Monument Valley, and would have been 103 miles - in the heat). Once we got in, we took a tour bus to see Monument Valley, which was a good thing as we would not have been able to ride our road bikes on the dirt / pothole ridden roads in the park. The bus had an awesome air conditioning system, with the fan reaching a top speed of 60 mph! (No windows).

Cortez, CO

Today was a short day, but we got an early start as we had to be out of the church by 6:15 for the Men’s club (we are flexible and work with our host sites to minimize any inconvenience). After Angela got a flat before leaving the parking lot, we waited for her to change it (and use the floor pump). We rode over to the Bread (not bombs) Bakery to join up with other riders for a morning coffee break – hey it was a good 0.1 miles away. After everyone left, we hung out for our 15 minute buffer before hitting the road. Lunch was at a local park, which had some shade trees just off the highway (and we devoured some of the awesome chicken left over from Emily’s aunt and uncle). The ride was fairly straight forward, a couple of climbs initially, and then some fun descents. Thanks to the joy of drafting, Michelle was able to not shift gears the entire afternoon. Several riders stopped at a trading post to pick up friendship bracelets. A couple of riders (David G, Ana, Cole) decided to take a 40 mile detour to Mesa Verde – more power to them. We were able to shower at the middle school before hitting up Pizza Hut for dinner (Thanks Ben’s mom). It was wonderful staying at Trinity Lutheran Church, where we were able to sleep anywhere in the lower level and take full advantage of the a/c on a hot day. We had our weekly townhall meeting where everyone unveiled our new t-shirts – light blue with a picture of Cole Emde (our resident bike mechanic expert) and a saying of “The Cole-alition”. On the back, was the Bike and Build logo and the words “Running on Cole Power” “NC2SD – 2008”. Special thanks for the shirts goes to Daven – designing the shirt, Dave G – placing the order, Scott W’s dad – coming up with the idea, Claire – organizing…it was a team effort. The night ended with a viewing of Anchorman, in anticipation of our arrival in San Diego in 2 weeks.

Down the Mountain we go

Dennis and I on the descent - to give you an idea of the amazing views...of course I was more focused on the road as we were going 40mph plus down the mountain (we had to slow down for a motorcycle!).

Ouray

The sights were unbelievable, probably the most beautiful scenery of the trip. Another century, which was great for the 1^st half, but the last 30 miles the road was not conducive to biking. Ouray is an awesome town and the 1^st Presbyterian Church was great. We had ice cream at the local ice cream shop before our dinner crew prepared an amazing dinner – at this point, almost any food is good. I also was heading back to the church when Maura asked if I wanted to get ice cream – sure, why not get seconds? While at the ice cream shop, we were talking with a resident who said the climb up Red Mountain was nearly impossible – sounds like a challenge to me.

Gunning for Gunnison

We woke up at were treated to an all you should eat breakfast by the Optimist Club of Buena Vista – I had 4 pancakes and 2 glasses of OJ. The ride today was challenging, as we climbed from 6,700 ft up to 11,312 feet – Monarch Pass, which is part of the continental divide. The ride was not that bad – 6% for 14 miles, but only because all of the riding has gotten us into biking shape. A couple of riders even stopped for a quick snowball fight. We had lunch at the top of Monarch Pass, and Angela treated everyone to a cup of hot chocolate. Despite the dark clouds, I decided it was time to continue the ride and went down the mountain at 40+ mph. The rain clouds decided to let loose and the rain started to fall, making the descent chilling. My teeth were chattering and my hands were shaking – not good when the hands are controlling the steering. I also had to be careful on turns as the road gets slick with the rain (and all the gas / oil on the road). I made it to the gas station at the bottom of the mountain, to see the thermometer reading 58 degrees. I went inside to warm up, and after another hot chocolate at 40 minutes, we continued our ride – really pushing hard to stay warm and get to Gunnison. We stopped at the Sonic in Gunnison (Happy Hour 2-4) before making our way to the high school for showers and dinner. David, Renee and Dennis then headed to a local bar for a drink and a game of shuffle board. Since we could not shut off the emergency lights in the gym, it was the perfect time to sleep with a t-shirt covering my eyes.

Leaving Buena Vista in the morning, with the Collegiate Peaks in the background.

On to Buena Vista

David and I in Garden of the Gods

Maura and I racing at McDonald's (note that we are wearing helmets)

Today we started our next century (100 mile ride) by going thru Garden of the Gods – it was awesome and we spend a lot of time there, which partially caused such a late arrival. I stopped at the McDonalds in Woodland Park to fill up on water and also took a ride on the bike in the playground. We had some good climbs and stopped at the National Park visitor station for some lemonade and water, courtesy of the VFW. We continued on our way and was lucky enough to avoid the storm before reaching Buena Vista. The members were so nice, but I was so tired and was fighting to stay awake. Ted told us of several great things to do, but I was too tired to acknowledge them. Dinner was great – lasagna, salad and brownies and I got to bed at 8:30 – a sign that the lack of sleep was starting to catch up.

Build Day

Today we got to build with Pikes Peak Habitat – framing! Luckily we already had experience with Orange County (Chapel Hill, NC) Habitat so we were able to get a bunch framed. Lunch consisted of 18 feet of Subway subs (thanks to Aimee), which we completely devoured (of course). Today was also mail drop, and after spending 30 minutes arguing with the post office that I had more than 2 boxes, they proceeded to give me 5 cartons of mail (that’s more like it). One of the packages was from Blount County Habitat, with a thank you note and a bunch of energy bars (Thanks Crystal). We went out to downtown, hitting up a microbrew before going to Cowboys, a country western bar that featured line dancing (and a little bit of rap music). I won’t say that I knew what I was doing, but I was out on the dance floor, moving my feet and music was playing, so I would say that I attempted to dance.

125 Miles to Colorado Springs

So today was the longest ride of the trip – 125 miles. Breakfast was at 5:15, and a huge shout out goes to the church for waking up so early to prepare us breakfast. Once we were on the road, what was going to be a hard day became even tougher, with my group getting 8 flats (I personally got 3 of them – time to buy new tires) – there was a lot of debris on the roadway. The morning started off nice and cool, and became really hot as we entered Pueblo (mile 55). After stopping for a quick bite and to refill our Camelbaks, it was off into the Colorado heat before stopping at mile 80 for some Subway (and to avoid the brief rainstorm). I changed one of my flats at lunch #2 (at mile 90 – usually we are already done at this point), before starting the last 35 miles, and seeing the dark clouds headed our way. The ominous clouds kept getting darker and darker (but had cool flashes of light) before a huge wind gust knocked a couple of riders off their bikes and onto the grass on the side of the road. At this point we decided to search for shelter, and stopped at a hall, where the lady would not let is in, but told us we could stay under the porch. The rain was coming down at a 30 degree angle, pelting us and forcing us to huddle together to stay warm. The storm finally let up and we continued on our way. Once we got into Colorado Springs, we thought the worst was over, as we only had 10 miles to go. Of course, those 10 miles included some steep hills, where we had to be in our easiest gear – not the way to end a 125 mile day. But we made it, got to shower at the YMCA and have dinner from Olive Garden, which Aimee from Pikes Peak Habitat arranged (she was an awesome help with all of the logistics).

Rocky Ford, CO

The ride today was not too bad – I was driving the van. Lunch stop was at a picnic stop right next to the Sheriff department. This proved to be advantageous as I was able to get an inmate (dressed in green/white stripes) that was washing off the sidewalk to refill our water cooler. She was very nice about it and this ensured that we had plenty of Gatorade. After lunch, I stopped by the local library, and upon entering, the librarian asked if I was there for the butterfly exhibit. I informed her that no, I was not, just to check email. The rest of the day was nice and uneventful – stopped for a cherry milkshake before arriving at the church. Showers were at the local community pool, and I had the entertainment of talking to the high schoolers working there. Dinner was great – homemade potluck. We had a bike clinic for the kids that was brought indoors due to rain. We had an early bedtime, and route meeting occurred at night instead of the next morning since we were doing 125 miles the next day.

Lamar, CO (not Lemur, that’s a feline)

Since it was a century (101 mile) day, I wanted to get out early. Of course, 3 miles in, I got a flat. Could not locate the leak, so I took out a spare tube, and managed to break the valve off, after getting the tire back on the bike. I didn’t even get 1 inch out of the tube before it was garbage. Luckily Devon had a spare tube (Renee and Maura had nothing), and I was able to get it replaced. Of course my road morph pump is broken (leaks air, which is bad for a pump) but luckily I had a CO2 cartridge and was able to fill it up and get to lunch. 3 miles after lunch – another flat. This time I was able to locate and patch the leak, and flag down Dan Carmondy, who had a working pump and helped me get back on the road. We stopped briefly at the 2nd lunch stop (just to get some water) before heading into the next town for some ice cream. We stopped at a local Mexican restaurant and I got a cheese quesadilla and French fries – it was an international snack. The best part was we could make our own self-serve ice cream cone. Unfortunately, the vanilla was out, but I made do with chocolate. Using my skills from back in the dorms, I was able to make a large cone, with 8 swirls of ice cream on the cone. Dinner consisted of deli meat (yum), salad (I still eat healthy) and potato chips (Need to replenish my salt).

Get the hell out of Dodge (City) and to Garden City

This was a short day, just 54 miles and we took our time. We stopped at the Dodge City sign to get a picture (to be posted below), a scenic overlook (not so scenic) and arrived in lunch to find that Dan had set up a slip and slide – Bike and Build style. It was 3 blue tarps, body wash soap, dish soap and water. We got in some DQ – Strawberry Cheesecake Blizzard and then another great dinner provided by the Garden Valley Church. A local bike shop owner came by and helped us with maintenance – way cool without charge. We also had our own “talent” show which was very entertaining. I lucked out and got a couch in the youth lounge to sleep on for the night.

I know I am behind

I will hopefully get caught up with postings later this week. The weather (couple of days 100 degrees, wind of 20 mph), lack of sleep and just being tired have delayed the postings. Pictures will also get loaded, as I got new batteries for my camera (some are from several weeks back). Tomorrow, we will be in Colorado, and mountain time.

On to Dodge City

Dodge City was a little shorter ride – only 83 miles. There were some gnarly storms that we could see as we rode, and hoped that we would be able to avoid them. It was a nasty crosswind, but the focus on the ride for the 1st half of the day was watching the storm clouds. We got a little wet before lunch, but just a little sprinkle. After lunch, we turned north and ran into a big headwind – at least 20 mph. It was very slow going and pace lines were imperative. After stopping at a grocery store at mile 60 and getting a Miss Debbie Swiss Cake Roll, I was refueled for the last part of the ride. We stopped again 5 miles later for a quick water refill at the van before Patrick and I decided enough was enough. We were going to town. We took turns pulling/drafting off each other every mile (the mile markers on the highway were huge), which made it much easier both physically and mentally. Of course there was a steep climb up a brick road, which wasn’t too bad except I had to stop at the light partially up the hill. I was surprised at the large Hispanic population in Dodge City – numerous restaurants, stores and churches were evident as we came into town. We got a bite at Wendy’s (not eating nearly as health conscious as before the trip) before returning to the church. Dinner was prepared by our dinner crew, who did an awesome job – beans, rice, corn, soft shells, salsa – an amazing Mexican dinner. I was more than full, but it felt good. The church was also nice enough to let us stay later (originally 7:15 departure so we were gone before services), which was appreciated as we got some more sleep.

Coldwater, KS

Out of Oklahoma and into Kansas. I have a new focus point when riding – water towers. This way I can spot a town from miles away and have something to strive to get to, especially on a 90 mile day like today. It was another HOT (upper 90s) day, and once we got into town, we stopped at a (the) local ice cream shop. Since I knew that we were camping, and I was hungry, I got a chicken sandwich, fries and cherry milkshake. Still wasn’t completely full, but it would hold me over to dinner. Since it was so hot (upper 90s), and there was no air at the campground, I took my time in town, staying as long as I could at the ice cream shop before heading over to the library. We had an amusing time reading some of the magazines (Seventeen in particular) as they provided a wealth of knowledge and humor. I took a 45 minute nap on the floor before it was time to leave as they closed at 5:30. To keep cool at the campground, I would take the hose and run cold water over my head about every 30 minutes. The heat really got to me today. My mom suggested that I get a motel room, but that is not the Bike and Build way. Its all for one and one for all, especially since this is for affordable housing, we should not complain about our accommodations.

Cherokee, OK

It wasn’t the mileage that killed us, it was the heat (101 according to the bank sign) and wind (15 mph – which according to the locals was nothing). We could see a bunch of down limbs and utility poles from a storm 3 weeks earlier that had winds of 90 mph. I am glad we missed that. There was a huge storm that passed overnight, but was clear for our ride the next day. Dinner was great, and the pastor said that after reading our blogs that we would want something other than pasta. It is nice to know that so many of our hosts follow us online. We had mac & cheese (always a popular dish), meatballs, fruit salad, etc (all I know is that I had 2 full plates). The pastor was great and it was evident that he had been a campus minister as he new exactly how we thought. He even called out that we should have some cake – which was called “Better than sex cake.” Never expected to hear that from a pastor. On the ride, we stopped at a well, which was divine, since we were so hot. Of course, 10 minutes after filling up, the water was already hot again from the heat.

Ponca City

Just a mile into our ride, we had an accident – Angela versus hole in pavement. The pavement won. With a deep gash on her elbow, it was evident that she needed stitches. After Emily wrapped it up, I walked her to the support van with her arm up above her head – to keep the wound above the heart, and to make her look like the Statue of Liberty. After being told that she did not need to hold her arm up that high, I responded: I know, its just funnier this way. With the van busy at the hospital, we were on our own for lunch. Luckily it was not an extremely long day (73 miles) and we stopped at Sonic / gas station for some lunch and to refill water. The van caught up with us towards the end to refill our water, as several people had run out. To make Angela not feel left out, I managed to wipe out riding 50 miles into the ride, when I went to give Maura a boost up the hill, hit a rock and wiped out. I am fine. Handlebars had to be readjusted (took most of the fall), rim trued (straightened – at the end of the day, it was still ride able), shoes scratched up and the smallest of scratches on my arm. For how hard I went down, I was lucky. We stopped in town at Dixie Dogs, who had happy hour – half off ice cream. I felt guilty getting a cone for only $0.45, so I ordered a 2nd one. Upon walking in to the church, we were welcomed with snacks and a bunch of string cheese and other cheese assortment (so good). Dinner was probably the best vegetarian lasagna I have ever had. We showered at the high school across the street and I took the laundry crew down the street to wash clothes. It never fails to get weird stares as we bring in our laundry in 2 big blue tarps. I guess some people use laundry baskets.

Bartlesville

Barltesville was a great place to have our 2nd day off. We stayed at the Adams Blvd Church, which went all out for us. They had a popcorn machine with fresh popped popcorn – I had probably 6 bags total, ice tea and lemonade (made a bunch of Arnold Palmers), and cookies. Dinner was great, and I made sure to have a large appetite to show my appreciation (they had a list of what was being served for each meal, which only added to the anticipation). Andy was awesome, driving us to showers at the YMCA, downtown to see the sights (Frank Lloyd Wright designed Price Tower and Phillips 66 company museum) and picking us up. We also had a bachelorette party for Rachel, to celebrate her birthday.

On to Fayetteville

Today was a shorter ride, only 93 miles, but with some good climbs thru the Ozark Mountains. They were not nearly as long as those in the Appalachians, but were challenging with the “rolling” hills. It was a great road to ride – scenic and little traffic. The only drawback was the lack of places to stop for a break – since there is such little traffic. It was a hot day, and we took advantage of the 2nd stop to refill water. The last quarter mile included a climb up a steep hill, not something you want to do at the very end of a ride. The church hooked us up with dinner and a great place to sleep – air conditioned rooms.

All day with Maggie – Our first century

The ride into Clarksville was our first century on the trip (some had done over 100 miles earlier in the trip after taking alternate routes). I was sweeping with Maggie, so we had to make sure that we were the last riders. To start off, once everyone left Little Rock, we took a 20 minute nap in the church before leaving. The buffer was quickly gone as there was some confusion with the route (streets not matching what was shown on a map) and we had to wait as people doubled back. We crossed the Dam Bridge, which is supposedly the longest bridge strictly for biking and walking in the US. Lunch was at mile 37, and since a rider missed a turn and had gotten behind us, we went to the bike store while the van went to pick her up and dropped her off ahead. Assuming we had a big enough buffer to the 2nd lunch (2 lunches if its over 90 miles or 90 degrees – mainly to refill water), we took off, and caught a rider resting at mile 54. Since we still had 20 miles to lunch, we took a nap under a tall oak tree and then watched a train go by. Unfortunately, there were not places to stop when we wanted to. To avoid catching up the rider, we slowed down, and to entertain ourselves, practiced riding no hands on US-64 (made sure cars were not coming). Once we got to lunch, we hung out there for a while, let the riders get a lead and then stopped again (for ice cream) to create another buffer. We waited 20 minutes for a torrential storm to pass – just 6 miles outside of town before rolling in at 6:30, just in time for an awesome pot luck dinner. After 11.5 hours on the road, I was more than ready for it. We headed to the preacher’s house in the country to light some fireworks before going back to the church to sleep.

Little Rock

The ride in to Little Rock had some great back-country roads. After lunch, we stopped at the Dairy Mart for some ice cream (at 10 am) and got a ice cream cone dipped in chocolate for $1.25 – great deal. The last part of the ride, in North Little Rock sucked. The road was absolutely awful – it could compete with any road in Detroit as being the worst. We made in to Little Rock and after a quick shower with the hose, we headed to the riverfront for some food (a lot of what we do revolves around food). Dinner was prepared by Scott, a member of the church, who did an awesome job, preparing all of our breakfasts and dinners.

Working hard at the Rebuild Store (Renee pulling Maura and I on a pallet jack)

We had 2 build days in Little Rock. The first day we split up, with half going to a build site to prep the area to set a house that had already been constructed, and the other half went to the ReStore. There we helped organize the inventory. Maura, Renee, David and I were responsible for mixing donated cans of paint and marking the color on the top of the lid. A couple of lids were not on all the way, so as the machines was spinning them, paint was flying everywhere. Whoops.

The 2nd day was a deconstruction day, where we tore out stuff from a house that was going to be demolished (molding / appliances / anything that could be sold at the ReStore). I spent much of the day getting the nails out of the wood that we had ripped out, as I was able to be outside, in the shade. The news did a story about us, and the clip can be seen here. You may notice I have a lot of camera time…I was trying my best to get in as many shots as possible. I am wearing silver shorts with a blue stripe, if that helps you pick me out (and silver bike shoes). The link to the video is here:

http://www.todaysthv.com/video/default.aspx?aid=68558

Habitat also hooked us up with tickets to the Travelers (AA) baseball game, which was a lot of fun. I got to meet a couple of southern gals, Kathleen and Lauren, who were very entertaining. Lauren tried to convince me that she had class, since she was wearing a dress. Talking with them was a lot more entertaining than watching the game.

Brinkley

My turn to drive the van, so I missed out on getting a picture with the Arkansas sign. On the plus side, I got to drive a van on the interstate, instead of riding my bike and trying to avoid all the broken glass, as everyone did. Still, I would have rather been biking. It was a long day for sweep, as a lady decided to ignore the railroad crossing warnings and go around, even though a train was coming. Since they were there, they called 911 and had to answer a bunch of questions. Everyone was ok, which was good. Our host site was amazing and we stayed in the entertainment room, watching tv and enjoying the plush carpet and a/c. The dinner was great, and the lady warned us that it was high in calories, which did not faze us as it tasted good and the more calories the better.

Walking in Memphis

We spent the night before sleeping and listening to some crazy storms, with the rain pounding the roof and some thunder thrown in for good measure. We waited an extra 45 minutes for the storm to pass before leaving, as the radar was showing a break between storm systems (or as I refer to it as: Green with a chance of light bulbs). David and I took off with the plan of riding fast enough to get into Memphis before the next storm (which ended up going south of where we were). We were first into lunch, with a large group rolling in just minutes later. After lunch, we took off in a huge paceline (12 people deep) and every time a small group would try to break ahead, they would get reeled back in by the pack. This lasted for about 15-20 miles before the pace broke the pack apart and people then rode at a more leisurely speed (but still pedaling). Once we got the host site, we walked over to get some BBQ (wish I was in Texas to enjoy the beef BBQ, as most of the BBQ here is pork). Since the next day was an off day, most of us headed grabbed cabs to downtown, and after dinner at Rendezvous (more BBQ!), it was off to Beale St. I had never heard of it before, but it was a good time. Reminds me of a small Mardi Gras, where the streets are blocked off to vehicles and people can walk in the street with drinks. The also had some street performers and this one kid did about 15 back flips, with the last couple only 1 handed. After walking around enjoying everything, most of us ended up at a small bar and took over the juke box, pushed the tables aside and started dancing. Yes, even I was up and dancing, or at least on my feet trying to move to the music. We left around 1am, jamming 10 people into a mini van cab and after raiding the coolers for some food, went to bed.

I was hurting the next morning and did not get up till 11:30 – way later than normal. Headed over to an Italian car show fundraiser for Memphis Habitat before taking care of some leader responsibilities – went shopping at Costco (tried a bunch of samples), Kroger and then took the laundry crew to the laundry mat to wash our dirty clothes (they always need to be washed) and finally swung by Macaroni Grill to pick up dinner.

Hard at work at the laundry mat - we brought a thermarest and pillow to rest on.

Bolivar

Today was a relatively easy ride - 38 miles on US-64. What should have been an uneventful ride had some adventure because one of the riders has a hard time paying attention and listening. Every morning, we have a route meeting, where we go over the day's route, point on any potential issues as well as showers and internet access. One rider never listens and always asks a bunch of questions...questions that were already answered in the route meeting - which is really annoying. Today, while riding, we were following the sign for US-64 West. Since she didn't know what was going on (and evidently can't read a street sign), she slowed down to ask a construction worker, which led to a chain reaction with the rear rider in the pace line falling. Luckily she was ok, but the rider that caused it decided not to bother wait to see if she was ok and continued on the ride. Later, she was saying how she would rather ride alone since people don't know how to ride. I think its a good idea, for everyone else.

For showers, we got to shower at the Bolivar Fire Department, and then play on the fire truck - see below...

Adamsville

Breakfast at the dorms in Pulaski = good food, brings back memories. The ride was 93 miles and only in the high 80s. Of course my Camel-bak was leaking but I luckily I found this out this morning so I could manage my water (and refill accordingly). After lunch, David and I took off and just flew, going nearly 20 mph (not even drafting) and got in over 3 hours before the last group (some say that its not a race, but they finished after us). We also avoided the storms that some of the other riders got caught in. Once in Adamsville, several of us headed over to Sonic for a snack and Maggie and I shared a Sonic Blast with M&Ms and Reeses (an appetizer before dinner). Today was also mail drop day and I got a sweet letter from Amanda (I coached with Amanda at Westerville Crew).

Pulaski

Today was again my turn to drive the van. What should have been an easy day, was not. We got some food at Kroger’s (great deals on our meager budget) and then dropped the trailer off for the lunch stop before driving 15 miles to take Swaroop to the doctor as he was not feeling well (he’s doing fine). Then I drove back to get the trailer, before heading towards Pulaski. Then I got a call from sweep saying that Suze got in a fight with a car, but that she was fine. I was only 2 miles away and so we stopped to make sure everything was good and filed a police report. The girl in the car turned left in front of Suze’s path and Suze ran into the passenger door, denting the door, but also bending her fork, making her bike unrideable. So Suze and Daven (sweep) got in the van as Suze could not ride and Daven could not ride sweep by himself (dropped Daven up to the last riders so that he could continue riding). After dropping the trailer off at the dorms (awesome), I got a call to go back and pick up a rider (the heat got to her). What should have been a 85 mile ride / drive turned into 150 miles. Dinner was at the mayor of Pulaski’s house, which was delicious. I made 2 trips up, and was stuffed to the point of no more space left in my stomach (it was a good feeling). After camping the night before, the A/C was awesome and I slept well.

Sewanee

The day started with DAUS MOUTAIN Road, 3 miles into the ride. The climb was hard, as the mountain was steep with a lot of switchbacks. I made it a point not to stop at all on the climb, and was in my easiest gear for much of the climb. I even had to get out of the saddle and climb in the easiest gear, but I made it. After that the ride was typical, although we did stop in a small artsy place for some free Gatorade (made from real gators). Dinner was at the Assembly (arranged by Lisa, whose daughter did SUS ’06), which was really good. After finishing my first plate, one of the members told me to go up and get more food, as they did not want to take back any leftovers. This was not an issue as there was no food left when I went back for 2nds. It is amazing how much food we go thru. We camped out tonight (1st time on this trip), and it was so hot, I could not sleep and got out a couple of times to cool off. I also got poison ivy, not from camping but because someone else on the trip got it and put there clothes in the wash instead of keeping them separate.

Sweeping with Maura

Today we got to sleep in to 6am, as everyone forgot to set their alarm clocks (some people wanted a 5am wakeup) – but it worked out well for me. As Maura and I were sweep, we let everyone leave before heading out on the route. After 1 mile, we took our first break of the day at Hardee’s (Maura wanted coffee). One of the customers wanted to know if Maura and I were married (we are not). The day started off cool (relatively) but definitely heated up quickly. The sign in Dunlap showed the temperature at 100 degrees. It seems that people along the route do not feed or chain up their dogs, as there were numerous occasions of riders avoiding dogs. A couple of squirts of water stopped some, while other resorted to simply biking faster than they could run. We are staying at another National Guard Armory, and we are enjoying the air conditioning. Tonight was the first night that we prepared our own dinner, and it was a gourmet meal of pasta, tomato sauce, beans and rice. We are living like kings tonight at the Armory sleeping on military issued cots, and I even got to eat my own MRE of chicken tortillas. The group is pretty tired from the ride so we have all just been hanging low this evening and gearing up for the big climb tomorrow!

On to Sweetwater

The ride to Sweetwater was short (under 40 miles) and we got there early (noon) to the Tennessee National Guard Armory. Unfortunately, the A/C was broken. We laid around watching Semi-Pro and Gladiator and I want to thank Lance for biking over to the grocery store and bringing back popsicles, which were appreciated with the heat.

We headed over to Pizza Hut for dinner (generously provided by Ben Ryan’s parents). I had 11 slices of pizza, which really hit the spot. Afterwards we headed next door to A&W, but I passed on dessert (for some reason I was full). Since it was still hot out, several of us headed over to Kmart to hang out in the A/C. There were several shenanigans that occurred, including riding the bikes around the store, roller-blading, skate boarding, football tossing – the things you would expect, with photos below.

I am under the lampshade...

Getting some more biking in, pulling Renee around Kmart

Testing out a new bike...it was too small

Trying on a pair of waders and a hunter's jacket while Maura models the hunter orange backpack.

Building in Maryville

We had 2 days of building in Maryville. The first day we put in the floor tresses, which was easier then when I did it with Columbus Habitat, as these were I-beam like (Columbus was 2 x 8 and we had to toenail them in). Crystal with Blount County Habitat hooked us up with a deli lunch, and since we were so skilled and ahead of schedule (and it was so hot), we ended early. Several of us went on an evening bike ride with Keith and several local cyclists. Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not want us to ride as a torrential downpour started just a couple miles into the ride. We waited awhile before deciding to end the ride early and head over to dinner, which Keith arranged with Tomato Head. I sat with Keith and some of the riders, which turned out to be a good decision. After eating my meal (and still hungry), I lucked out as one of the riders offered me another half a sandwich, ice cream for dessert, half of Maura’s chocolate chip cookie and a bunch more chips.

The 2nd build day featured a good natured competition between us to see which group could get all of the sub-floor installed first on the 2 houses. Don’t worry, quality control was not an issue as we made sure that all boards were properly installed (and the Habitat crew chief inspected it and pointed out any issues). A couple of other riders also did stucco on both houses. We finished by noon and Crystal hooked us up again with lunch, this time provided by Grant and God’s Planet, a youth outreach ministry. After my afternoon nap, we headed over to Aubrey’s, a really good restaurant in Maryville, that Crystal arranged. As you can tell, the time in Maryville was awesome, and I can not thank Crystal enough, as it would not have been possible without her.

Maryville

Thanks to Charles Brinkley from Blount Habitat

Today was again my turn to drive the van. Wake-up was 9am, but I got up at 8 and ran to the Food City with Ben for some food (Thanks to Les and Food City for the donation). After cleaning up the church, several of us headed over to the Log Cabin Pancake House for breakfast. I was full after the omelete and 3 pancakes, and was glad that I did not have to then ride on that full of a stomach (although others had to - mad props to them). We stopped at the Cycology bike shop for some bike maintenance, and more importantly (to me), dinner. We also were lucky to meet Jeff Roth's widow, who spoke to us about her husband's foundation to change TN law to require cars to travel 3 feet from a cyclist. Then we headed over to Maryville college, where we will be staying the next couple of days (thanks Crystal and Blount County Habitat).

Quote of the day: Its better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Gatlinburg

So today was supposed to be our hardest climb yet, and while it was hard, we were in better shape as we have already done several climb days and the 2 descents were awesome. I did not pedal for 6 miles on the first mountain descent as it was all down hill and I was able to maintain my speed. It was also long - 85 miles and hot - 90s. It also included 3 miles on a highway, as US-19 changed from a back-road to a highway with on and off-ramps (my bad). We got into Gatlinburg, which is a huge tourist destination - very different from the ride in thru the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We stayed at Our Savior Lutheran Church (thanks Matt), who were very generous and showered at the Gatlinburg Community Center, barely making the 8pm closing time. Had dinner at the mexican restaurant and then walked around the main drag of Gatlinburg observing the sites.

Quote of the day: None, to tired. (but wake-up tomorrow is 9am - 4 hours later than today's)

Asheville

We got back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for an 80 mile ride into Asheville (71 on the parkway). Even though the parkway was closed for a section due to rock slides, we were able to avoid the detour. The van took the detour, which made for lunch at mile 52, longer than what we normally would like. The climbs were the hardest to date, but the scenery was the best to date. The descent was also a lot of fun, although I lost my rear light on the descent with the rough road and nearly lost my grip on my handlebars. The road was so bad, I thought I was riding in Michigan. Stayed at the Reuter YMCA, which was great, with a pool, showers on site, and a climbing wall. We had dinner at the Kovachs (Maggie and Samuel's parents), who live up a mountain. Luckily the van got up no problem.

We also had a build day in Asheville. The group split up between Asheville Habitat (stucco) and Mountain Housing (accessibility ramp) on two projects. I was with Habitat as I was driving the van and the last group went to Habitat. We got to put stucco on a house, which I have never done before. Also got to share some laughs while building. John, from Habitat was amused with our conversations. One of the better quotes from Becky to me: "The reason you don't have a girlfriend is because you treat women the same as you treat everyone else." I thought you were supposed to treat everyone the same...so confused. Habitat (Missy) also provided lunch (Little Caesar's Pizza), and Missy said that she got extra pizzas after reading how someone on our trip ate an entire pizza (it was me!). It was a good thing for the extra food as both Ben and I ate an entire pizza. The group that built with Mountain Housing made the ABC local news, as several people commented on the next day. Dinner was down the street at the Volvo (Construction Equipment) headquarters. We also got hooked up by Cane Creek with seat posts and arm warmers. 5am wake up for tomorrow's long ride.

Quote of the day: None, too tired. Only one that I could think of was: I am not a vegetarian because I love animals, I am a vegetarian because I hate plants. I didn't use this as I did not want to offend anyone and was too tired to think of any others.

Altamont

Today we had our first real hard climb of the trip on US-321, and it was under construction, which made it even more of a challenge. My chain fell off while climbing, and since I was going about 2 mph up the hill, I did not have enough speed to shift it back on and was able to unclip and get to the side, before falling or running into the wall of rock. No damage done. We went thru the town of Blowing Rock, which was a cool town, and then on to the famous Blue Ridge Parkway. I hit 35mph going downhill, but the best was yet to come. We got off the parkway onto US-221, which was about 2 miles of descent with switchbacks. I have never gone so fast around such sharp turns, really having to get low into the turns, and using the brakes to avoid the cyclist ahead of me. It was such a rush, hitting 39mph on the hairpin turns.

Quote of the day: None, too tired.

Taylorsville

Today was another harder day - there were some climbs, but it was the weather that was the hardest part - over 90 degrees. Renee was getting too hot, so I made her stop at a grocery store and go inside to cool off in the A/C. There were some kids outside the supermarket publicizing an event at their church, as well as a clown that we got a picture with. We then spent about 15 minutes talking with the kids about our trip and answering all of their questions. They had some great questions and its interactions like this that really make the trip more enjoyable.

We stayed at the 1st Baptist Church, which was awesome. When we arrived they had ice cold Gatorade, cookies and sweet tea. The sweet tea is so good, that I have probably had a gallon of it already. Gary also arranged for us to use the community center pool and today was a laundry day - always a big day given how our clothes smell after biking all day. Gary also gave us a head's up for a

Quote of the day (in honor of Steve from Mt Tabor UMC, who is a huge Chuck Norris fan): When Chuck Norris does a push-up, he is not pushing himself up, he is pushing the world down.

Winston-Salem

Today was the hardest day to date - and I drove the van. It was 89 miles and 85 degrees. It was difficult to get an easy route, and we had to take several busy roads to get to Mt Tabor UMC - Scott Wilkin's church (rider on NC2SD 2008). I was lucky enough to get a couch to sleep on and after shower and a dinner (Thanks to Mt Tabor UMC for the great food), I worked on the cue sheets for the morning and Renee wrote on the white board with the info for the next day. It will become a daily ritual, trying to get the cue sheets done at the last minute. As an FYI, I also try to add a funny quote, and will share them on the blog.

Today's Quote: Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.

Chapel Hill, Day 2

Yesterday we got rained out after just 1 hour of building with Orange County (Chapel Hill) Habitat, so we went back to Chapel of the Cross and hung out, watching a movie and resting up.

Today we had awesome weather - sunny and upper 70s. We framed all the walls (both exterior and interior) and raised them up. Had we not been rained out yesterday, we would have had started on the roof.

After today, I am responsible for the host sites for the next week.

Chapel Hill

The ride from Wake Forest to Chapel Hill was only 38 miles, but had some rolling hills and several of us decided to attack the ride, going pretty hard. It was fun but my legs are feeling it. We got into Chapel Hill just after 11am, which was great since it was so hot. We got into Chapel of the Cross, which is hosting us for the next couple of days, and went into the fridge and found a ton of fruit from Whole Foods. I quickly devoured a container of mixed berries before anyone had a chance to get them, but then waited a little bit before eating two more. Can't go wrong with fresh fruit.

They provided dinner for us and Becky foolishly took a shrimp off my plate. She should know better than to take food for me. 5 minutes later, she tried taking some more food off my plate, and I had to give her the look. I don't know what was going on because after going up for plate #3, Renee decided that she was going to take my food, which I quickly stopped.

Took a tour of UNC campus before heading to a bar on Franklin St. It sucks that North Carolina is not smoke-free because smoking totally sucks. Luckily we were there early (9pm) before the smoking started. They had $.25 Buds and we played several rounds of flip cup. We hit up I Love NY Pizza for a late nite bite before heading back to get some shut-eye. Today we build (I hope)!

Suze and I talking with the 4 year olds at Chapel of the Cross

The ride continues...

Yesterday we stopped in Greenville, NC, home of the ECU Pirates. A couple riders learned the hard way that you need to cross railroad tracks with your tires perpendicular to the tracks, otherwise you wipe out. No one was hurt, just a couple of scratches and bruises. We did 58 miles and had to ride with some fairly heavy traffic - something we did not have to do since leaving Nags Head. We stayed at an abandoned house - not completely abandoned, just no one was living in it and we did have permission to stay there. There was only one shower and I got sick of waiting and used the hose outside to shower - so much faster.

Today was 80 miles to Wake Forest. We were spoiled the last couple of days and had some rolling hills at the end of the ride. It was 85 degrees, also higher than what we had been riding in but still cooler than what is coming up. I went thru 2 water bottles of Gatorade and nearly 2 camel packs of water. I decided to ride up in the front group, averaging a little over 19mph. As the lead group, it was our responsibility to draw chalk arrows on the ground for every turn. For those who have seen the movie Superbad, I modeled my arrows after his drawings in his notebook. The 2nd half of the day, Renee, Ana and I rode in a group together. It was pretty good but we missed the last turn and stopped at a restaurant to ask for directions. A super nice couple helped us out and offered to buy us a beer - which we declined per Bike and Build policy (as I always follow policy), but settled for an ice tea. My new rule: If I am ever lost on this trip, always stop at a restaurant to ask for directions! We had to turn down their offer for dinner as we had to get to the North Wake church to shower. We walk in and the first guy I see is wearing an Appalachian State t-shirt. They were super nice and fed us Papa John's pizza. Don't worry, I ate a full pizza myself, but only after everyone else had a chance to go thru the line. We got some frozen custard and then called it a night. Believe it or not, I have dropped 6 lbs since Nags Head, but not sure how much is water. Tomorrow we head to Chapel Hill where we will build with Orange County Habitat for 2 days.

Belhaven Hospitality

Yesterday I volunteered to drive the van and this morning, it was raining. What are the odds? Oh well, I'd rather have been riding. We stopped by the gas station in Swan Quarter, and the guy has a sign outside that he paints sayings on, but always spells something wrong. It is an honor to make the sign and we were privileged to have it. The miss-spelling was "Biking For Buildings" (Instead of Bike and Build). I wish I had a sign that I could paint comments / sayings on. I am sure that I could come up with some sarcastic / funny things to post.

I got into town early and hoped to get the laundry started early. I opened up the trailer, and after first finding out that the water cooler was double stacked and spilled out all over, the laundry detergent was all the way in the back under all the bags. I stopped at the church to see if I could start to unload the stuff early, and ran into one of the members of the church. After telling her the situation, she said not to worry, that she was headed to the store and would get laundry detergent. She then flagged down another member of the church who opened up the church. 30 minutes later, she brought me the detergent to do laundry.

The southern hospitality in the town of Belhaven is unbelievable. The church did not have showers, so we went to the houses of members of the church to shower. I was talking with the pastor of the church and ran into him in town 5 minutes later and he insisted on buying me an ice cream cone - which I could not turn down. We were also able to stay at the house next to the church and they gave us apple slices, orange slices, bananas, and other snack food and even let me go upstairs and take a nap - talk about making yourself at home. Dinner was at the park down the street with several members of the church. The food was great. We were supposed to have a bike ride with the kids and I was sent to ask the pastor about it, but got distracted and walked over and had a cupcake. I turn around and several fellow riders are laughing and Angela is taking a picture of me eating the cupcake - all while I had no idea why since I had already forgotten that I was supposed to talk to the pastor and not go get food. They gave us all the leftovers including oatmeal cookies that were spiced with a hint of spiced rum. Just need to make sure not to eat them while biking or driving. On a side note, we saw a stoplight. I have not had phone reception since leaving Nags Head but should get it tomorrow in Greenville, as it is a larger city. Too bad Sprint's nationwide coverage is not nationwide.

And we are off!

The trip has officially begun. We got up at 5:15 (and I got up at 5:25 – I needed the extra 10 minutes). We stopped at the Gallop Funeral Home, and after a quick photo op, and then headed to the beach for the wheel dipping ceremony.

We got the police escort out of Nags Head, stopped at the Outer Banks Visitor Center (see photo above), before heading onto US-264 and Swan Quarter, NC. I spent the morning riding with Suze and then later with Angela, Becky and Maura, chilling out and sharing stories and jokes. After going 53 miles on US-264 without seeing a single traffic light (no traffic lights in the county), we arrived at Soule UMC. Total distance was 70 miles. We went at a leisure pace – about 15 mph and it felt good. The pastor was super nice and we got to shower at the high school across the street. There wasn’t any hot water left by the time I got in, but it didn’t matter – the shower felt great. We were then treated to dinner which included home grown sweet corn – delicious. There are a ton of mosquitoes here and I have several bites to prove it. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain in the morning and I will drive the van. Its only 38 miles.

Let's get ready...

So today is the last day before we start riding across the country. Today we had a shake down ride, which is basically a leisure ride to get the legs loose and get used to riding with each others. Maura got the first flat of the trip 1 mile into the ride - don't worry Maura, it gave me a chance to change a flat.

I spend most of the ride riding sweep with Angela, David, Becky, and Maura - just making sure that everyone stayed in front of us. I did get my first sunburn, since I forgot about the back of my legs. I won't make that mistake tomorrow, or any other day.

We painted our trailer - Upload photos below. I had to touch-up the paint job, of course after we had thrown away the paint brushes, so I had to MaGyver it and use a piece of cardboard as a paint brush.

Trailer after the touch up paint job.

Picture of all of us with the trailer with the "Thanks Ace" sign, as Ace generously donated the paint.

The front of the trailer - sure to make kindergarten students everywhere jealous. Check out the hand print at the top right corner of the trailer - I put 2 right hands.

Last minute prep work

Finalizing the last minute logistics before the trip starts. Got the last of the host sites confirmed! Cue sheets (the route we take to get between cities). Here is one of the more difficult rides - Asheville NC to Gatlinburg TN. Total climbing of 17,427 feet, but at least it will be fun going down.


I should have the cue sheets for Colorado done shortly which should have some good climbs as well.

We also got to get out and get in a ride last night. Weather was great. Had to watch out for sand on the road (something that was never an issue in Ohio). Check out the Bike and Build bike jersey I am wearing below - I will be wearing one for the next 2 months (I have 3, so I can wash them). Thanks to Ben Ryan, fellow leader for riding ahead and snapping the pics.


Tomorrow the rest of the riders arrive, and then the trip really gets started. We have a police escort out to ride out of town (No, I have not had one before), and this one is for safety as the traffic will be crazy coming to the OBX for Memorial weekend.

North Carolina, come on and raise up

The trip has officially begun. Friday night at about 10pm, I started to take apart my bike to but in the box to take on the plane. After breaking a wrench getting the pedal off, I finally got everything disassembled and put in the box. I toke a 4 hour nap, and after waking up at 5am, began packing for the trip - don't want to rush. We (David & I) raced to the airport and barely made the flight. The flight was mainly World War II vets heading to Washington DC to see the memorials - and after hearing this, the passengers on the plane started clapping to recognize their contribution to the country. When we got off the plane in Baltimore (lay-over), the people in the airport also clapped as we got of the plane - I am pretty sure they were clapping for the vets and not for us.

We got to the Raleigh-Durham airport and then headed over to Charlotte for the NASCAR race at Lowe's Motorspeedway. It was an interesting experience. There were so many people there. I did not get the race. For the All-star race, they would race several laps, and then reset the race so that they were all bunched up again. Oh well, it was an experience.

Drove over to the outer banks today and met up with my fellow leaders - Angela, Ben and Dan. The weather here is amazing. We are staying at the Nags Head Church - Pastor Rick is very kind and generous. I look forward to 2 days of leader orientation, 2 days with riders and then on Friday we begin riding.

David and I with the Sprint lady, after getting our free tickets. The Sprint hats made us look like legitimate NASCAR fans.

An update

I have been slacking this week, trying to get everything done while landscaping, so this post will be a little bit longer.

First off, I want to thank the HB team of Jen, Laura, Mike and Andrea for the gifts last week - Icy hot, heat pads, and a pillow for my neck (or another part after riding all day). Since they do not have enough to do with the people from NY, I try to keep them entertained, especially since Monica left.

I would like to thank Uncle Gary and Aunt Myra for the very generous donation. I saw them 2 weeks ago as they drove in for Eric's graduation.

I would like to thank Carim Calkins, my former middle school science teacher. Ran into him (not literally) at Costco and after hearing about Bike and Build, and he made a donation on the spot.

Also want to thank Steve Wood, a neighbor who also made a donation on the spot.

I truly have to say that I am amazed by the generosity of others and it has motivated me to be even more kind and generous to others.

As today is my last day before flying down to NC, I still have a lot to do - buy a sleeping bag and pillow, rent a car to go the Nascar race in Charlotte, and of course pack up my bike and stuff to take on the plane.

Articles

I would like to thank Cheryl Woodwards-Nicholls for the article in today's Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/CFP09/805110320/1112. Yes, I made the newspaper as this trip is about helping others and spreading the word to encourage others to help others.

I would also like to thank Jerry Cabakoff for the article in the ESSentials ESS department newsletter at work. Thanks Jerry for the excellent write-up! (I am trying to figure out how to post the article)

Last day at Limited Brands

The time has come, the time is now, for me to begin my 3 month sabbatical. I will miss my team - Doris, Katie, Jackie, Kyle, Stephany and Steve and the rest of my department (Ron, Dave, Kristina, Erin, Paul, Steve, Lauren, Danielle, Gary, Luke, Eric, Kristina) and co-workers (too many to name, some I'm not going to really miss :-) I have faith that Paul will do an admiral job in my absence and Doris will keep him in line (except for Fridays - that is the day Katie is in charge). Remember the golden rule of customer service: We're not satisfied until the customer is not satisfied. I look forward to the break and will be sure to answer all emails and phone calls upon my return on August 12. I am sure (and hope) that most issues are resolved well before then. While I got used to wearing jeans every day to work, I will soon have to get used to my new wardrobe: spandex.

Thanks Alla, Darin and Gabrielle Again

For letting me spend the week at your place, making me breakfast, helping out with bike gear and of course letting me babysit Gabrielle (are you nuts?!?). Don't worry, everything turned out well, and besides, kids heal quickly. Luckily I have had some practice spending time with my cousin Shayna, so I am not completely a novice.

Happy Hour

I'd like to thank all that came out for the happy hour at Buffalo Wild Wings - Bruce, Irene, Jackie, Dave, Ron, Luke, Paul, Brian, Rodney, Khary, Bob, Natalie, Will, Mike, Frank, Anna, Steve and Andrea. If I missed anyone, I apologize - the 2 Hurricanes did me in.

Last week at work - Time for a T-Shirt

I don't want to say that I have begun to check out, but I have gotten some comments from co-workers the last 2 weeks about my attire. Supposedly, jeans and a t-shirt are not acceptable clothing. Here are some of the better quotes:

"Do you think you are on your bike trip - you can just dress however you want?"

"You know we have a dress code"

After wearing a mountain dew t-shirt and jeans: "Is Mountain Dew sponsoring your trip? Is that why you are wearing the t-shirt?"

And of course, after sitting in a meeting:

Scott B: You don't care about this anymore
Me: That's not true. I care about this just as much as I always have. Only now I am showing my feelings on the outside.

Great people to work with

I would like to thank Becky Rousseau, purchasing manager extraordinare for Limited Brands for her generous donation. Becky has made my life a lot easier, working with vendors (LT and Capitol Light especially) to ensure that invoices match POs. The invoices should match the PO, but since that is not always the case, a reconciliation has to be done to resolve the discrepancy. Becky has stayed on top of it and worked with Doris to ensure that things are running smoothly.

I would also like to thank Pinnacle Construction, one of our GCs, for their donation. Vonnie, Greg, and Colby Esterling are great to work with. I have enjoyed working with them and wish them the best. Vonnie is currently trying to maximize my time left at work by trying to clean-up all open items. I'll do my best, but no promises.

Michigan Bottle Deposit - Gotta Love It

This weekend, I helped David Grant (NC2SD) with a fundraiser, going door-to-door collecting empty soda and beer cans / bottles. For those who are not familiar, as was part of a Seinfeld episode, Michigan has a $0.10 deposit on all pop and beer containers to encourage recycling (side note - there is also consideration of adding water / gatorade and other containers to the list but really, people should be recycling on their own to help the environment, not just for financial incentive). As such, we were collecting the cans to then redeem for the deposit and send the money in to Bike and Build. I did not have much (any) success to start. David had passed out fliers earlier in the week to give people the heads up, but it took about 20 houses before I got my first donation. I did have one lady who did not quite understand the point of the can drive and offered me a couple of empty tuna cans from her recycling bin - not exactly what I was looking for. At that point, David had already filled 2 bags and was complaining about having to carry such a heavy bag - I did not have this problem as my bag was nearly empty! Basically, it felt like I was trick-or-treating for cans.

Two Wheel Tango

Here are some pics of David Grant and I in front of Two Wheel Tango bike shop in Ann Arbor this past weekend (sporting our Bike and Build t-shirts). It was a fun day as we had just attended David's graduation ceremony from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). We also met a rider from Bike and Build's Providence to Seattle 2006 ride (small world), who works at the bike shop.

Thanks Alla, Darin and Gabrielle

Thanks to Alla, Darin and Gabrielle (but not scratchy and annabelle) for their generous donation and offer to let me stay at their place for the week that I am still in Columbus without a place to stay. I believe the converstation went like this:

Alla: Where are you staying that last week?

Scott: Not sure. I figure I'll worry about it next week.

Alla: Let me see if Darin minds if you stay here.

Scott: I appreciate it. I am hoping not to inconvenience you. Maybe I should just plan on going out to the bar every night and just finding someone to go home with each night.

More family you can count on

I would like to thank my mom and brother for coming down to Columbus to help me move all of my stuff to storage (well, most of it. The rest is still waiting to be packed and moved before the end of the month). They drove down with my truck and trailer from Michigan, moved everything and then drove back up late at night the same day. I think Brian had a little too much fun driving the truck, as he drove over the curb and lawn to turn around. I am sure my neighbors didn't mind. We did get a little wet as mother nature was not fully cooperating, but it did stop raining once we were done move everything. I will be preparing for the trip, spending the next week and a half sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag.

Here is a picture of my truck, sporting the fashionable yet functional shelving unit that Brian and I constructed to haul flowers for landscaping. Its building skills like this that I hope to utilize on the trip.

Family you can count on

Saturday night we attended the 1st night's sedar at my cousin Susan's house, which was fun family bonding time. I even was able to get my younger cousin Josh (age 4) a little riled up. Since his twin sister Hannah is not very physical, it is up to the Shapiro Bros. to toughen him up. Don't worry Randi, we won't leave any permanent injuries.

It was Saturday night where I was able to once again experience the generosity of my family. I would like to thank Susan for dinner and her donation, Elissa for giving me a 2nd check (after the post office returned half of her initial check after it was torn in 2 in the mail sorting machine), and Robert and Linda, who insisted that I stop by their house after dinner to ensure that I got the donation. Its times like this that you are able to see the generosity in others and who you can truely depend on.

Thank you Keyana

A big thank you to Keyana Milton for her generous donation. I had the pleasure of helping out Keyana with her landscaping and also offering her some suggestions (because I don't always keep my opinions to myself). Perhaps most impressive was while I was working, Keyana got the urge to landscape as well and started weeding (To Keyana's mother: It's true. I witnessed it with my own eyes and she made sure to get the roots). Now the challenge to Keyana is to keep it up all summer. I'll stop in after the trip and I hope to not see any weeds.

Riding to work on my bicycle...

So today the weather in Columbus was amazing and it only made sense to ride to work instead of drive. I thru in a change of clothes in my back-pack, and since my white back-pack would not be highly visible to drivers, I put a bright yellow reflective vest over top (safety first). The 12 mile ride was not bad at all and I made the trip in about 45 minutes. As Paul would tell me later - I was wondering who the hell would be going to LimitedBrands on a bike - It was me! I did get some looks walking into the building with my spandex bike shorts and bike. Oh well, some people just don't know fashion (even if I do work for a fashion company). I think I am going to swing by the bike store and get some non-spandex bike shorts. I didn't feel like riding back home after work, but I had no other option to get home and I was not going to spend the night. After 2 minutes on the bike my energy came back and the ride was a breeze. I think I should do it more often.

26 miles with Van Shuff and crew

Today as I exited work, getting ready to head to spinning class, Van Shuff yelled out to me that he and some buddies were going riding today and that I should join them. It was a tough decision - riding outdoors with the awesome weather or spinning at the gym with the awesome sights. In the end, it made sense to get some time on the bike out on the road. We finished with Red Bank, which is a fairly good climb. Last year, I did this climb on my 2nd group ride and barely made it to the top. Today was much easier and I even passed a couple of riders. Of course the hill still pales in comparison to what we will be seeing in North Carolina and Colorado. Thinking of even riding my bike in to work tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll bring extra deodorant.

Here is a link to a website that summarizes our ride (Not sure how we ended with a net 60 ft elevation decrease as we started and finished at the same location):

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5417454#

Here is a funny cartoon that I think you'll enjoy, and is hopefully not me on this trip: I plan on using a gallon of sun screen. Even if I return as pale as when I start, it beats being as red as a lobster.

Thanks Glicks

Thanks to the Glick family for their donation. Several years ago, my brother Eric had to do a physics project with his partner, Molly. After hours of analyzing the best way to build the project, I knew that they were going to start dating - the chemistry was there. Of course, they did not know the size of the doorway in the basement, as they build their project too big. Since Eric had asked me to deliver the project to school, I solved the problem fairly easily: I just took a circular saw and cut off the unnecessary parts. Several years later they are still dating. No word on where the physics project is.

I'm smiling because you're my brother. I'm laughing because there is nothing you can do about it!

From Left: Brian Shapiro, David Grant, Scott Shapiro

I would like to thank Brian Leroy Shapiro IV, also known as Crew Chief for his generous donation. Brian has always been known for his warm heart and compassion...just like me! We may have fought occasionally in the past (or every second if you ask my mom), but we get along well. I tell him what to do and he listens. Last summer, Brian, David (who is also going on the bike trip) and I traveled to Israel together. It was not as bad as you would expect. We were pretty well behaved, and many on the trip could not figure out from the 3 of us who were brothers (I refer to David as the 4th Shapiro Brother, since he is basically my brother). Although Brian was not able to get the time off to go on the bike trip, he will be with us in spirit. I am sure that he will also be busy with all of the landscaping this year, as I will not be there to help out. Brian has also helped David with his fundraising for the bike trip, because that is the type of guy he is.