i hate wind
joke: knock knock? who´s there? dwyane. Dwyane who? Dwain the tub, I´m dwowning!!!
(complements of Elise)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Devils lake NORTH DAKOTA!
We left Minnesota today and we got a cold stormy welcome to North Dakota. Yesterday was good by the way. I rode with Quang and he has just such a good attitude. we had a 90 mile day, and none of us wanted it. well Quang just let me know that a mile on a bike is just like shooting a fish in a barrel. so its really easy to just shoot a fish in a barrel 90 times. Well the miles just flew by. So a great prelude into our 120 mile today!
Anyway so we had to get up at 4:15 am to leave at 5;30 to get into devils lake by 4 to make it to Isaiah's farm which is absolutely great. well the ride started off perfect (besides the whole 4:15 thing) we got to watch the sunrise in the background as we rode our first 20 miles and made out first lunch stop at 8:30 am. We were booking. Thank God there was no headwind, we were all anticipating it and if it had been there I probably still wouldn't have arrived. By 1130 we made it 80 miles to our second lunch stop where we were warned about an incoming storm. Well the guy that warned us said it was just a storm and didn't really warn us for the severity of this minor hurricane we were about to hit. We were about 10 miles out and started to get nervous with the lightning strikes. Then the rain came harder then the wind came at about 30 mph. This was the first time in the trip i couldn't ride my bike. it was so windy and so hard to see that i couldn't stay vertical. Our group (Kate, Derek, and Craig) ran (or walked because the rain and wind was so hard to stand in) to a wall. that was all we had to protect us from this thing. So we waited about 45 minutes freezing as the wind and lightning passed. i must say i have never been in a worse storm. Anyway we chugged on to get warm and we finally made it! then we headed straight to Isaiah's farm which is awesome. I got to ride a tractor for the first time and then ride a horse for the first time as well. These horses were excellent and we were able to do tricks and jumping onto the horses. So much Fun.
Ok well sorry i couldn't relay how cool this farm is in my writing. Hope all is well!
Anyway so we had to get up at 4:15 am to leave at 5;30 to get into devils lake by 4 to make it to Isaiah's farm which is absolutely great. well the ride started off perfect (besides the whole 4:15 thing) we got to watch the sunrise in the background as we rode our first 20 miles and made out first lunch stop at 8:30 am. We were booking. Thank God there was no headwind, we were all anticipating it and if it had been there I probably still wouldn't have arrived. By 1130 we made it 80 miles to our second lunch stop where we were warned about an incoming storm. Well the guy that warned us said it was just a storm and didn't really warn us for the severity of this minor hurricane we were about to hit. We were about 10 miles out and started to get nervous with the lightning strikes. Then the rain came harder then the wind came at about 30 mph. This was the first time in the trip i couldn't ride my bike. it was so windy and so hard to see that i couldn't stay vertical. Our group (Kate, Derek, and Craig) ran (or walked because the rain and wind was so hard to stand in) to a wall. that was all we had to protect us from this thing. So we waited about 45 minutes freezing as the wind and lightning passed. i must say i have never been in a worse storm. Anyway we chugged on to get warm and we finally made it! then we headed straight to Isaiah's farm which is awesome. I got to ride a tractor for the first time and then ride a horse for the first time as well. These horses were excellent and we were able to do tricks and jumping onto the horses. So much Fun.
Ok well sorry i couldn't relay how cool this farm is in my writing. Hope all is well!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
I Hate Wind
Yesterday i wanted to throw my bike in a ditch light it on fire let the ashes sit in extreme high pressure for thousands of years then separate the remaining oil to form gas by a car and use my bike remains to drive myself to the next church. Basically i am saying is that a headwind is my new worst enemy. Yesterday i started off alone and got to lunch just fine. however when i left lunch the wind decided to pick up to about 20mph. It is the most demoralizing thing while biking. all that you think about is how much you hate the wind and how much faster you would be going without it. Well 7 hours after i started biking i got to our destination exhausted dehydrated and frustrated! I have to thank Katrina and Kate because they waited for me so i could survive to tell the tail. but now i am ok and i love my bike again. Today i was smart got in a pace line. So now we are in the town of Bemidji, MN and we are enjoying all of the big statues.
Until next time.
Joke: the wind is like riding with 2 flat tires. (not really a joke just how i feel)
Until next time.
Joke: the wind is like riding with 2 flat tires. (not really a joke just how i feel)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
DULUTH, MN
I am writing from the awesome town of Duluth, MN. The last few days have been great weather and smooth riding so not much to report here. I apologize for not posting more of my pictures but the sparse internet and the difficulty in posting 600 or so photos has been slightly daunting. But as soon as I am done i will get them all up. well at least the best ones.
The last 2 days we have been riding on a nicely paved bike path which has allowed us to ride side by side and chat along the way making the miles fly by. Today we had a 80ish mile day with about 70 of them on a bike path! Apparently the longest in the world!
Anyway nothing exciting to report other than the amazing hosts and paths we have had.
check in later!
Joke answer: A pirate getting hit by a cAAAARRRG
Joke: If toast always falls butter side down what happens when you strap a piece of toast to a cat and drop it? (complements of Joy)
Monday, July 21, 2008
St. Paul, MN!
Hello again from some random computer in a random library. BUT thank God they are here for me to use. I am kinda upset how dependent on Internet and a computer. I guess that's my generation though. Couldn't imagine doing this trip without a cell i guess you would get lost a lot more. So the last few days have been pretty much equivalent. Avg distances of 75 or 80 miles on absolutely gorgeous terrain and beautiful days. The routes have been great and the miles just keep flying by. Its hard to believe that we are nearly half way across now and just a few months ago i thought my 40 mile jaunt was difficult. Now i pray for a 40 mile day. But all is well in bike and build. We have stayed at some pretty extravagant churches with church members as nice as ever and giving us so much delicious food (like fresh fruit) and ice cream floats and muffins the size of my head and so much else. Tonight is extra ordinary where we get to sleep in a nice bed in host families houses, so i am looking forward to that. Sadly we left the awesome roads of Wisconsin and amazingly upgraded to bike paths in Minnesota all the way to Duluth! However the Wisconsin Dairy was absolutely delish and i stuffed myself with as much Ice cream and cheese as my body can handle. I will test out Minnesota's selection and let you know.
Today's ride was pretty good. Fabulous day with great weather and now that the biking part of bike and build is getting a little monotonous and our butts getting sorer by the day one of the leaders decided to have a picture scavenger hunt. This includes about 30 tasks and each task is assigned a point value based on the ridiculousness of it. My group of 4, Anson, Pen, Kevin and myself got nearly ever item on the list believe it our not. but apparently there is one group that will be challenging us for the victory. For your enjoyment i typed out the tasks and posted some of the pictures.
1) Dead Frog
2) Person in uniform
3)Motorcyclist on a bicycle
4) Ice Cream scooper (Funny story about that. my group was busy taking pictures with our found ice cream scoopers at a lovely place called Nesbitt's Nursery which had ice cream, apple cider donuts and a whole bunch of cool stuff, but anyway we saw another coming up and they noticed that we had one of the tasks on the list that they didn't have so it was a mad dash by both groups to try and grab all of the scoopers before the others could get to it. Quite a funny spectacle, but my group managed to get the scoopers but then they actually bought ice cream meaning we had to give back the scoopers :( )
5) B&Ber name on a headstone
6) Live Non domesticated mammal
7) picture of baby cow
8) Purple flower
9)Unicorn (we found a real one)
10) Bike and Builder over 10 feet above the ground
11) B&Ber mimicking a statue while standing next to it
12) Abe Lincoln look alike
13)person in a shawl
14)person wearing waders
15) mail carrier
16)yellow ball
17) B&Ber handing out a buissness card to complete stranger
18)misspelled sign
19)road sign pertaining to bike safety
20) girl under 7 years old
21) pop sign under 500
22) B&Ber smelling fake flowers
23)Person wearing foam hands
24) license plate from a state bordering the ocean
25)discarded glove on the side of the road
26)a mullet
27)person eating a carrot (this was the hard one)
28) an open umbrella
29)someone sitting on a park bench
30) Discarded beer can on the side of the road
ok well that's it! ill let you know the victor when we have the totalling and voting
Joke answer: A stick
Joke: Whats worse than a biker who thinks he is a pirate? (complements of Pen)
Today's ride was pretty good. Fabulous day with great weather and now that the biking part of bike and build is getting a little monotonous and our butts getting sorer by the day one of the leaders decided to have a picture scavenger hunt. This includes about 30 tasks and each task is assigned a point value based on the ridiculousness of it. My group of 4, Anson, Pen, Kevin and myself got nearly ever item on the list believe it our not. but apparently there is one group that will be challenging us for the victory. For your enjoyment i typed out the tasks and posted some of the pictures.
1) Dead Frog
2) Person in uniform
3)Motorcyclist on a bicycle
4) Ice Cream scooper (Funny story about that. my group was busy taking pictures with our found ice cream scoopers at a lovely place called Nesbitt's Nursery which had ice cream, apple cider donuts and a whole bunch of cool stuff, but anyway we saw another coming up and they noticed that we had one of the tasks on the list that they didn't have so it was a mad dash by both groups to try and grab all of the scoopers before the others could get to it. Quite a funny spectacle, but my group managed to get the scoopers but then they actually bought ice cream meaning we had to give back the scoopers :( )
5) B&Ber name on a headstone
6) Live Non domesticated mammal
7) picture of baby cow
8) Purple flower
9)Unicorn (we found a real one)
10) Bike and Builder over 10 feet above the ground
11) B&Ber mimicking a statue while standing next to it
12) Abe Lincoln look alike
13)person in a shawl
14)person wearing waders
15) mail carrier
16)yellow ball
17) B&Ber handing out a buissness card to complete stranger
18)misspelled sign
19)road sign pertaining to bike safety
20) girl under 7 years old
21) pop sign under 500
22) B&Ber smelling fake flowers
23)Person wearing foam hands
24) license plate from a state bordering the ocean
25)discarded glove on the side of the road
26)a mullet
27)person eating a carrot (this was the hard one)
28) an open umbrella
29)someone sitting on a park bench
30) Discarded beer can on the side of the road
ok well that's it! ill let you know the victor when we have the totalling and voting
Joke answer: A stick
Joke: Whats worse than a biker who thinks he is a pirate? (complements of Pen)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
La Crosse
Well the extra sleep didn't last for long. So Thursday night after an excellent day off in Madison of eating a lot and just relaxing some of us thought it would be an excellent idea to see Dark Knight, the new batman movie. While I completely agreed, the only downside was that it was opening Friday so that meant midnight showing! Oh lets not forget the next day we are supposed to have a long day like 104 miles, its supposed to be hilly, and its supposed to rain might even hail. So with all this in the mix of course we saw the movie and only got 2 hours of sleep to make it the next day. Let me say, IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT. That movie was great, absolutely phenomenal, kept you guessing and on edge the whole way through. The movie ended at around 3....am.... with a wake up call at 5:30 the next morning. But we made it! and yes we could have just waited until another night to see it but it made it so much better at midnight. The next day was grueling though despite the lack of sleep. Even the ones who didn't see the movie were struggling. The day turned out to be great; No rain, hot and sunny. So that made riding a lot easier. So the day was predicted to be 104 miles from Madison to Gays Mills. So around mile 20 everything is going great and we are cruising along. Normally the wind is in our face and its a struggle to get past 15, but for some reason that day i was just flying; flying meaning 20. Well it was still pretty early in the morning and i noticed something i don't usually see riding. It was the sun, we were heading straight into it. Being early with lack of sleep I didn't think much of it at the time, but then i realized that meant we were heading EAST in an east to west trip, something you really don't want to do. Well after about an hour of asking strangers and breaking out maps we turned around and headed west. The detour only added 14 miles to our trip but on a hundred mile trip 14 miles is an extra hour of riding on an long day to begin with. Well everyone on the trip took it well and rolled with it, literally. So we finally made it around 6:30 7:00 to the church jumped in the local pool and ate some delicious food provided graciously from the church and went straight to bed. We did nothing else.
So that brings me to today, only 63 miles or so on absolutely beautiful country side and perfect weather. Today was partly cloudy probably in the 80s and the roads were flat mostly all along the Mississippi. We were in 3 states, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota so that was cool. So I am off to visit my thermarest before dinner and then back to the thermarest.
Joke: Whats brown and Sticky?
So that brings me to today, only 63 miles or so on absolutely beautiful country side and perfect weather. Today was partly cloudy probably in the 80s and the roads were flat mostly all along the Mississippi. We were in 3 states, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota so that was cool. So I am off to visit my thermarest before dinner and then back to the thermarest.
Joke: Whats brown and Sticky?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Madison
Well we made it Madison, Wisconsin.
I finally get to catch up on some sleep and be able to enjoy the day. Last night i went out for some ice cream and it was delicious. They made it in the store and from all of Wisconsin's dairy. Fabulous ice cream, what made it even better was the store really didn't have a name, all that identified it was a picture of a giant cow...that's it.
Today is our day off and i am excited to search for some Wisconsin Cheese and other local dairy products. So i will keep you informed on how Wisconsin compares to Happy cows from California. And yesterday we finally made it to a decent sized bike shop. I was desperate to find a good bike shop for another pair of shorts and brand new tires since i have been "rollin' on stocks" since I got my bike. So i spoiled myself and got the best pair the shop offered, which definitely hurt the wallet, but oh well, at least they should last a long time, and I cant think of a better use of my money other than buying cheese and ice cream.
In terms of Bike and Build i am continually amazed at the hospitality given by our hosts. We are taken in and fed and all they ask for in return is a little of our time to tell our stories about our trip. I have no way of thanking them enough.
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer!
I finally get to catch up on some sleep and be able to enjoy the day. Last night i went out for some ice cream and it was delicious. They made it in the store and from all of Wisconsin's dairy. Fabulous ice cream, what made it even better was the store really didn't have a name, all that identified it was a picture of a giant cow...that's it.
Today is our day off and i am excited to search for some Wisconsin Cheese and other local dairy products. So i will keep you informed on how Wisconsin compares to Happy cows from California. And yesterday we finally made it to a decent sized bike shop. I was desperate to find a good bike shop for another pair of shorts and brand new tires since i have been "rollin' on stocks" since I got my bike. So i spoiled myself and got the best pair the shop offered, which definitely hurt the wallet, but oh well, at least they should last a long time, and I cant think of a better use of my money other than buying cheese and ice cream.
In terms of Bike and Build i am continually amazed at the hospitality given by our hosts. We are taken in and fed and all they ask for in return is a little of our time to tell our stories about our trip. I have no way of thanking them enough.
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
update
What a long couple of days. Believe it or not i am in Wisconsin (dont ask me how it happened). We just keep on riding and the hours and miles just keep rolling by. The scenery has remained about the same since we left the Adirondacks, except we haven't gotten much rain! Though from what I hear on the streets this coming week will be HOT and HUMID something that does not work well for 6 hour bike rides.
Anyway, the rides have been pretty standard since Camden, MI. Though we are very disappointed these Midwest States HAVE NO WELCOME signs. We passed though Indiana, Illinois and now Wisconsin without seeing a single road sign welcoming us. Our rides have been mixed with some of the smoothest, most scenic, to streets that were paved with a dump-truck then run over by a pothole machine then torn up by IRON MAN himself. Oh not to mention big-rigs and over-sized loads and even tractors pushing us off the road. But other than a few terrible roads the rides have been quite nice. Going into Chicago was pretty incredible. We started in Edwardsberg, MI, at around 6:30 am. Well it started raining around 7am leaving us all wet and miserable. then at about mile 25 we hit a dirt road, meaning we went on a detour which lead us about 2 miles further than normal (but we apparently saved our tires from about a mile of loose gravel and dirt) After asking about 10 people how to get back on track and finally doing so it started to rain again. At mile 40 we had our first lunch stop. Yup first lunch stop. then it cleared up and was nice for the rest of the day thankfully. So we just kept riding past Indiana Dunes State Park. We saw about 30 signs for that, yet they cant seem to put up one state sign. At mile 80 we had our second lunch stop. Right before hand poor Pen accidental got on the Interstate and had a police officer drive him back to the entrance...with his bike bungeed to the back. At around mile 100 we finally saw the city's skyline and as it so happened there was a very nice bike path for us to use. I was quite proud of myself...my first century ride after only a couple of weeks of riding. So I was psyched however i didn't realize we still had 20 more miles to tack on. But the rest of the ride was cool because it was right on the lakefront and was a nicely paved bike path completely separate from the cars and we had to weave through other cyclists and pedestrians.
We finally made it to the church after 8 hours and 45 min of riding time (thats time actually on the bike moving...yeah i know kinda ridiculous its amazing i even wanted to touch that bike again). Thankfully we had the next day off in Chicago, so we all went out on the town. The Next day was fun as well but i will spare you of the details until a later posting. Make sure you remind me.
We finished off our night in Chicago with a delicious deep dish pizza all i have to say is yumm.
So tonight we are staying in Janesville and enjoying some good hospitality as always and a huge veggie platter.
Joke: (Still nothing)
Riddle: (Fresh out...need more)
I will update again when i can. Thanks again for reading this ridiculously long blog entry hope you are enjoying it.
Erik
Anyway, the rides have been pretty standard since Camden, MI. Though we are very disappointed these Midwest States HAVE NO WELCOME signs. We passed though Indiana, Illinois and now Wisconsin without seeing a single road sign welcoming us. Our rides have been mixed with some of the smoothest, most scenic, to streets that were paved with a dump-truck then run over by a pothole machine then torn up by IRON MAN himself. Oh not to mention big-rigs and over-sized loads and even tractors pushing us off the road. But other than a few terrible roads the rides have been quite nice. Going into Chicago was pretty incredible. We started in Edwardsberg, MI, at around 6:30 am. Well it started raining around 7am leaving us all wet and miserable. then at about mile 25 we hit a dirt road, meaning we went on a detour which lead us about 2 miles further than normal (but we apparently saved our tires from about a mile of loose gravel and dirt) After asking about 10 people how to get back on track and finally doing so it started to rain again. At mile 40 we had our first lunch stop. Yup first lunch stop. then it cleared up and was nice for the rest of the day thankfully. So we just kept riding past Indiana Dunes State Park. We saw about 30 signs for that, yet they cant seem to put up one state sign. At mile 80 we had our second lunch stop. Right before hand poor Pen accidental got on the Interstate and had a police officer drive him back to the entrance...with his bike bungeed to the back. At around mile 100 we finally saw the city's skyline and as it so happened there was a very nice bike path for us to use. I was quite proud of myself...my first century ride after only a couple of weeks of riding. So I was psyched however i didn't realize we still had 20 more miles to tack on. But the rest of the ride was cool because it was right on the lakefront and was a nicely paved bike path completely separate from the cars and we had to weave through other cyclists and pedestrians.
We finally made it to the church after 8 hours and 45 min of riding time (thats time actually on the bike moving...yeah i know kinda ridiculous its amazing i even wanted to touch that bike again). Thankfully we had the next day off in Chicago, so we all went out on the town. The Next day was fun as well but i will spare you of the details until a later posting. Make sure you remind me.
We finished off our night in Chicago with a delicious deep dish pizza all i have to say is yumm.
So tonight we are staying in Janesville and enjoying some good hospitality as always and a huge veggie platter.
Joke: (Still nothing)
Riddle: (Fresh out...need more)
I will update again when i can. Thanks again for reading this ridiculously long blog entry hope you are enjoying it.
Erik
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Thrursday? ?
So... It has been a long few days. to be honest i had to ask someone for the date, and i am ready to fall asleep in about 30 min making it a bedtime of 8pm. So I could bore you all with a full day by day update but i think i will pass and just let you know the basics. It has been a week since my last blog at RIT. Basically I have followed two roads the whole way. US rt 20. And 6 west. Both of which have almost no shoulder and have no idea the concept of repaving. Since RIT we have peddled our way through Lockport, NY, Niagara Falls, NY, Westfield, NY, All of Pennsylvania, Ashtabula, OH, Avon Lake, OH, (with a build day) and Bowling Green, OH, and tonight we are staying in Camden, MI. I have had quite the adventures since then.
Luckily for the fourth of July we had an 18 mile day which took all of about an hour to complete then the rest of the day we had off. Almost everyone went into Niagara Falls. I was able to take my first international steps into Canada! (including my first stamp on my passport). We spent the day walking around the falls and checking out Canada then went back for the fireworks. Sadly it was the worst fireworks display i have ever seen on the forth of July, but thats alright it was a fun trip anyway. The trip was pretty normal going through Westfield, and Ashtabula was great since we had families donate their showers and we had a delicious bbq on a nice lakefront property. The cake that they made for us was outstanding. half vanilla, half chocolate, with a frosting job that would put ace of cakes to the test.
I have also discovered through my travels and missing out on good opportunities that when you have a change to swim, you should. I have passed too many swimming locations because i always say "oh the next one" well... the next one doesnt always show up. But the few times i have jumped in i haven't regretted even though lake Erie needs some hard core clean up.
So the trip to Avon Lake was probably the most theatrical. Our route takes us straight through downtown cleaveland then follows the lake to Avon lake. So the day started as usual but very quickly turned into some hard riding. by hard i don't mean hilly or windy but stressful and dangerous. For example we stayed on US route 20 basically the whole way and had to avoid pot holes, construction and semis. Craig, a very easy going Dartmouth grad who i have not heard anything negative come from his mouth chalked into the road in bold letters "I HATE RT 20". I agreed with him. But anyway the road was terrible and to make matters worst we were entering East Cleveland. Lets just say its not the best place to be young, on a bike and in spandex. So we tried to get though that as quickly as possible. But the ride continued to get better throughout the day. The roads got better as we approached Downtown and so did the neighborhood. As soon as we left the city the roads got perfect for bikers including our own bike lane, and the rest of the ride was glorious. We thought it couldn't get better...then we got to the church... These people were so incredibly friendly and nice and willing to help. We stayed in their homes after a huge dinner with a complete spread. I stayed with a family with lake front property with a water trampoline and inflatable log-running-thingy which everyone played on all afternoon. It was the funniest thing i have ever seen. 30 eighteen to twenty five year olds trying to run 15 feet on a inflatable cylinder. It was continuous laughter for about 45 min. And the house was gorgeous. All in all AVON LAKE ROCKS! Just amazing people and place and i really cant thank them enough. What was even better was that we had a build day there as well so we could all enjoy it for even longer. (I feel that i am not giving Avon lake enough credit. They were amazing and no amount of words can describe it (well at least the way i write)).
So now we are in Camden, MI. The rides recently have been very difficult, and even more exhausting. The distance isnt what made these rides hard, it has been the wind. A constant headwind has always been present in Ohio making riding very very difficult. If i have to choose between wind or hills. I might pick hills because at least you get a downhill. The wind just never stops.
So i will end the agony there. thanks for reading this far and thank you so much for all of your support! I love the comments and the riddles!
I need more to think about so send them my way!
Joke: ?
(send those too)
Bed
Luckily for the fourth of July we had an 18 mile day which took all of about an hour to complete then the rest of the day we had off. Almost everyone went into Niagara Falls. I was able to take my first international steps into Canada! (including my first stamp on my passport). We spent the day walking around the falls and checking out Canada then went back for the fireworks. Sadly it was the worst fireworks display i have ever seen on the forth of July, but thats alright it was a fun trip anyway. The trip was pretty normal going through Westfield, and Ashtabula was great since we had families donate their showers and we had a delicious bbq on a nice lakefront property. The cake that they made for us was outstanding. half vanilla, half chocolate, with a frosting job that would put ace of cakes to the test.
I have also discovered through my travels and missing out on good opportunities that when you have a change to swim, you should. I have passed too many swimming locations because i always say "oh the next one" well... the next one doesnt always show up. But the few times i have jumped in i haven't regretted even though lake Erie needs some hard core clean up.
So the trip to Avon Lake was probably the most theatrical. Our route takes us straight through downtown cleaveland then follows the lake to Avon lake. So the day started as usual but very quickly turned into some hard riding. by hard i don't mean hilly or windy but stressful and dangerous. For example we stayed on US route 20 basically the whole way and had to avoid pot holes, construction and semis. Craig, a very easy going Dartmouth grad who i have not heard anything negative come from his mouth chalked into the road in bold letters "I HATE RT 20". I agreed with him. But anyway the road was terrible and to make matters worst we were entering East Cleveland. Lets just say its not the best place to be young, on a bike and in spandex. So we tried to get though that as quickly as possible. But the ride continued to get better throughout the day. The roads got better as we approached Downtown and so did the neighborhood. As soon as we left the city the roads got perfect for bikers including our own bike lane, and the rest of the ride was glorious. We thought it couldn't get better...then we got to the church... These people were so incredibly friendly and nice and willing to help. We stayed in their homes after a huge dinner with a complete spread. I stayed with a family with lake front property with a water trampoline and inflatable log-running-thingy which everyone played on all afternoon. It was the funniest thing i have ever seen. 30 eighteen to twenty five year olds trying to run 15 feet on a inflatable cylinder. It was continuous laughter for about 45 min. And the house was gorgeous. All in all AVON LAKE ROCKS! Just amazing people and place and i really cant thank them enough. What was even better was that we had a build day there as well so we could all enjoy it for even longer. (I feel that i am not giving Avon lake enough credit. They were amazing and no amount of words can describe it (well at least the way i write)).
So now we are in Camden, MI. The rides recently have been very difficult, and even more exhausting. The distance isnt what made these rides hard, it has been the wind. A constant headwind has always been present in Ohio making riding very very difficult. If i have to choose between wind or hills. I might pick hills because at least you get a downhill. The wind just never stops.
So i will end the agony there. thanks for reading this far and thank you so much for all of your support! I love the comments and the riddles!
I need more to think about so send them my way!
Joke: ?
(send those too)
Bed
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Thursday?
Is it really Thursday already?
Anyway it was an easier day today only 57.7 miles and 4 hours and 15 min of riding time. So we have lots of time in the town of Lockport. Its a pretty decent sized town so it looks like we will be able to walk around and get some ice cream.
The ride was scenic until it started pouring. From about mile 15 till 40 the rain was non-stop and heavy. Luckily there was a nice women that let us warm up and dry off in her house for our lunch stop. The rain is getting quite comical because it was raining so hard today that it was stinging through my rain coat. I am so happy my camel back has a raincoat its self. Otherwise all my stuff would be drenched.
Hope all is well and dry for all of you.
Answer: Arhg its drivin' mee nuts
Joke: A man walked into a bar and said ouch.
Anyway it was an easier day today only 57.7 miles and 4 hours and 15 min of riding time. So we have lots of time in the town of Lockport. Its a pretty decent sized town so it looks like we will be able to walk around and get some ice cream.
The ride was scenic until it started pouring. From about mile 15 till 40 the rain was non-stop and heavy. Luckily there was a nice women that let us warm up and dry off in her house for our lunch stop. The rain is getting quite comical because it was raining so hard today that it was stinging through my rain coat. I am so happy my camel back has a raincoat its self. Otherwise all my stuff would be drenched.
Hope all is well and dry for all of you.
Answer: Arhg its drivin' mee nuts
Joke: A man walked into a bar and said ouch.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
ok back at library
Hey again. I know you are tired of my babbling on. But i did have a few more things to say.
This trip if anything has really opened my eyes to a lot of people willing to help. From people walking on the street to the churches we sleep in every night. these people are so gracious and helpful it really wouldn't be possible without them. I feel i am getting spoiled. so far every night i have been stuffed to the brim with food and I can't figure out enough to say to these kind people. The same is true for my donors. If you wouldn't have donated I would have never been able to meet these great people and have a great summer. I really cant wait for the rest of the summer. I fear though, that it will all be over before i know it. And these houses that we are helping to build are great houses and its really encouraging when the future home owners are out there building with us.
So far i couldn't be more pleased with this trip. Hopefully we can keep it up.
Joke (provided by a fellow rider): a pirate walks into a bar, and the bar tender asks why do you have a wheel in your pants?
p.s. i love the riddles keep them coming
This trip if anything has really opened my eyes to a lot of people willing to help. From people walking on the street to the churches we sleep in every night. these people are so gracious and helpful it really wouldn't be possible without them. I feel i am getting spoiled. so far every night i have been stuffed to the brim with food and I can't figure out enough to say to these kind people. The same is true for my donors. If you wouldn't have donated I would have never been able to meet these great people and have a great summer. I really cant wait for the rest of the summer. I fear though, that it will all be over before i know it. And these houses that we are helping to build are great houses and its really encouraging when the future home owners are out there building with us.
So far i couldn't be more pleased with this trip. Hopefully we can keep it up.
Joke (provided by a fellow rider): a pirate walks into a bar, and the bar tender asks why do you have a wheel in your pants?
p.s. i love the riddles keep them coming
A lot of days....
So sorry for the long delay it has almost been a week and i haven't let you all know how tired i am. Well now you know. Honestly it isn't that bad now and it looks like it will continually get better. Though i must say i went through a lot to post this blog. Tonight we are staying at RIT in NY, and I have been trying to get on a computer here since last night. We had a build day today and we did lots of landscaping to clear a lot for a new home. This area had 10 Habitat homes done recently. But anyways so i got back from that about an hour ago and have been looking for Internet ever since. I tried one place they told me to go to another place, who told me to go to another place, finally i found the right place and now i have to catch you up on almost a weeks worth of material in 15 min since we have dinner soon.
So my last post left you at silver bay which was great. the beds that we had were comfy and their were activities all over the place. I wish we had a few more days staying there so we could explore all the different options on the lake. But we left early that morning with as much breakfast as we could handle and as much bagels we could carry to the van for lunch. The day started off fine until a mile into it we hit the steepest longest hill i think i have ever been on. this road just kept climbing and curving so we couldn't get a full grasp on how tall it actually was. About an hour after starting the hill I finished, and Dan i would agree this day was the hardest yet. After this daunting hill was over we would run into a hill exactly like it... then another...then another... I would love to know the total elevation gain we had that day because it seemed all of the hills went up and only a few went down and if they did they didn't do it for long. So we made it to lunch. about mile 35 right on the Hudson. It was great. pb and banana with some honey. Then we started off again and what was ahead of us was more hills.....then it started raining again...and then we climbed another hill again...then it continued raining...then another hill...you get the idea. So we finally made it off of rt 28 (i think we were on it for 53 some miles or something like that). then we got lost, found all of our members then got lost again...then finally after a really long wet day we found our campground. We were all getting soaked and getting eaten alive by bugs which the remnants are still itching and we were not in a good mood though i think everyone here likes camping. Anyway thankfully we found 2 separate churches that would host all girls and all boys so we packed up all of our gear and headed out. Thankfully i got to sleep inside and out of the rain though all of my stuff was drenched so it didn't really mater anyway.
The next morning. June 29th we rode from Indian lake to Boonville. Another very long ride. the longest yet i think at 75 miles. Though this is the first day i tried a real pace line and i loved it. though we didn't stop much it was really nice to go fast for a long time. We averaged 16.4 mph (i know it doesn't seem that fast but it really is for a 4 hour and 30 min ride). The ride was hilly but not too bad. So now i like pace lines. Oh and it was the second day of our trip that it didn't rain on us while riding!
Monday was similar to Sunday in that we had no rain and it was a very aesthetic ride. Kevin and i decided to take it easy and just stay in the back. The only problem was that we didn't realize that we needed to make a turn so we went approximately 17 extra miles... it turned out to be a great ride and we really weren't to mad at the extra mileage. The sweeps were quite surprised when we told them that we were about an hour and half back when we had only been riding for an hour and a half. But the ride was great. we finished the day going 81.5 miles and had a lot of fun while doing it. the others however got to nap at the church something that i have yet to be able to do. Tammy the Church leader in Palermo (where we stayed) was very nice and had some great stories of the past B and B groups.
Tuesday's ride was the longest ride so far at about 87.8 miles. It was quite a long day and seemed much longer than the previous day. it took 6 hours and 15 min of riding time averaging 14mph. We stopped for lunch on a bay that connects to Ontario Lake. The day was perfect though and we took lots of breaks to stop in local stores and get some fresh cherries and strawberries. it was very very very good. we bought a qt of cherries on the side of the road for $1. talk about a dollar menu. Anyway we finally made it to RIT and are enjoying the dorms and real beds.
Well I hope all is well. That was the fastest i could type so hopefully not to many typos and hopefully it made sense.
Joke will have to wait
So my last post left you at silver bay which was great. the beds that we had were comfy and their were activities all over the place. I wish we had a few more days staying there so we could explore all the different options on the lake. But we left early that morning with as much breakfast as we could handle and as much bagels we could carry to the van for lunch. The day started off fine until a mile into it we hit the steepest longest hill i think i have ever been on. this road just kept climbing and curving so we couldn't get a full grasp on how tall it actually was. About an hour after starting the hill I finished, and Dan i would agree this day was the hardest yet. After this daunting hill was over we would run into a hill exactly like it... then another...then another... I would love to know the total elevation gain we had that day because it seemed all of the hills went up and only a few went down and if they did they didn't do it for long. So we made it to lunch. about mile 35 right on the Hudson. It was great. pb and banana with some honey. Then we started off again and what was ahead of us was more hills.....then it started raining again...and then we climbed another hill again...then it continued raining...then another hill...you get the idea. So we finally made it off of rt 28 (i think we were on it for 53 some miles or something like that). then we got lost, found all of our members then got lost again...then finally after a really long wet day we found our campground. We were all getting soaked and getting eaten alive by bugs which the remnants are still itching and we were not in a good mood though i think everyone here likes camping. Anyway thankfully we found 2 separate churches that would host all girls and all boys so we packed up all of our gear and headed out. Thankfully i got to sleep inside and out of the rain though all of my stuff was drenched so it didn't really mater anyway.
The next morning. June 29th we rode from Indian lake to Boonville. Another very long ride. the longest yet i think at 75 miles. Though this is the first day i tried a real pace line and i loved it. though we didn't stop much it was really nice to go fast for a long time. We averaged 16.4 mph (i know it doesn't seem that fast but it really is for a 4 hour and 30 min ride). The ride was hilly but not too bad. So now i like pace lines. Oh and it was the second day of our trip that it didn't rain on us while riding!
Monday was similar to Sunday in that we had no rain and it was a very aesthetic ride. Kevin and i decided to take it easy and just stay in the back. The only problem was that we didn't realize that we needed to make a turn so we went approximately 17 extra miles... it turned out to be a great ride and we really weren't to mad at the extra mileage. The sweeps were quite surprised when we told them that we were about an hour and half back when we had only been riding for an hour and a half. But the ride was great. we finished the day going 81.5 miles and had a lot of fun while doing it. the others however got to nap at the church something that i have yet to be able to do. Tammy the Church leader in Palermo (where we stayed) was very nice and had some great stories of the past B and B groups.
Tuesday's ride was the longest ride so far at about 87.8 miles. It was quite a long day and seemed much longer than the previous day. it took 6 hours and 15 min of riding time averaging 14mph. We stopped for lunch on a bay that connects to Ontario Lake. The day was perfect though and we took lots of breaks to stop in local stores and get some fresh cherries and strawberries. it was very very very good. we bought a qt of cherries on the side of the road for $1. talk about a dollar menu. Anyway we finally made it to RIT and are enjoying the dorms and real beds.
Well I hope all is well. That was the fastest i could type so hopefully not to many typos and hopefully it made sense.
Joke will have to wait
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