got moab?

It was our day off in Moab, Utah yesterday and we had an awesome time. Some friends and I got up at 4:30 am and bike 15 miles (and up a not-so-nice hill) to Arches National Park to watch the sun rise. First of all, dessert sunrises beat any other kind of sunrise. Second, the park is unlike anything I have ever seen before. It was beautiful and awesome and unreal all at the same time. We played among the arches and I never realized how large and high they reach. We left the park around ten which was perfect timing because loads of traffic began to come in whereas we had the park all to ourselves when we were there and I wouldn've have done it any other way.

At eleven we went white water rafting on the Colorado River. Since moab is crazy hot in the afternoon, it was a nice way to spend it. The river is tame at this time of year, but we had some crazy water fights and they let us take the inflatable kayaks. Luke fell out in one rapid and it was pretty funny to watch. our raft (and kayaks) sort of terrorized everyone some played along with us, and others... well they have no sense of fun. I stole a bucket from some guy on another raft and I think I might have hurt him. I feel bad about that.

Then in the evening we checked out some all natural homes. One was made from hay bales and the other from dirt bricks. I didn't know what to expect, but they look exactly like a regular home. The hay- bale home (hay is insulation surrounded by clay and the ground is packed dirt - an adobe floor). I want to live in one when I get older. The lady who lives there spends so much time at the sink that there is a slight dent where her feet are in the ground. The air conditioning system uses water evaporation and its essentially a fan blowing through wet aspens. The house also faces south to take full advantage of the sun. It was an awesome house. All the material used to build it are from within 50 miles from the home and a lot of the materials are from the lot site itself. I might spend a semester or something out here working on these kinds of homes as the most expensive part of buidling them is the labor. And so it is another type of affordable housing. check out communityrebuilds.org

Then I passed out after an awesome day off.

Today was 52 miles to Green river.
100 miles tomorrow and 100 miles the day after that...

Missouri!

We crossed the mississippi river yesterday and the amount of flooding was incredible. I'd never really seen flooding before except for maybe when there was two feet of water over the road or something in Connecticut. We had to reroute onto the interstate because the bridge we would have taken was closed due to the flooding. So in Hannibal, Missouri yesterday we where they put up the levees (back in '94) and the sandbags and such and the water was over swing sets, rail roads, and much of the downtown. And it was weird to be looking at the Mississippi since you spend so much time reading about it and then to see levees and sand bags just added to the experience. It was crazy. We went to the Mark Twain museum since Tom and Huck lived in Hannibal.

Today we road about 70 miles to Moberly, Missouri. I'm still entertained by the scenery of just seeing flat and open fields, something my brother tells me I will get bored of soon. But the sky also seems to stretch on forever and it makes me glad to be a on a bike. However, the head wind is rediculous and (I don't know if I've already talked about this) but it cuts our speed in half.

Peace out.

Hoosiers

We got into Indiana yesterday and so far I am enjoying its relatively flat terrain and giant wheat fields. Apparently, people in Indiana also like to steal street signs to hang in their barns and the state just got tired of replacing them... so for us cyclists trying to get to Bedford, we had to rely on the kindness of the few passerbys. we would come to a four-way and there would be the pole, but with nothing on it. We also learned that people around here where there are no street signs rely on directions like, "right at the field, over the railroad tracks, you'll come to a river... go over the bridge and the road will fork. you want the left fork." "uh, ok" and then we would forget and have to ask some person sitting on their porch with the meanest looking dog in the world. I've noticed that when I talk to people with accents I aquire a twang for the durationg that I'm talking to them.

I am constantly surprised by the generosity of people. Today, a few of us were in the post office of Linton, IN and a man just gave us a twenty towards our cause. It was pretty awesome. The food we get donated is also amzing. Last night we had tacos at the church and they had everything from the rice and and the guac and the sour cream. Amazing. I also learned what a hoosier is. Or rather how it was derived. It's what people in Indiana would shout in the fields when the saw a visitor approaching. It's supposed to sound like "Who's there"

I just realized I've been sitting in this Library fiddling with the Internet and I'm still wearing my helmet. Awesome job, Mo.

We did 45 miles today which is like a break for us. Tommorrow is 75 miles to Illinois and into a new time zone.

Ohio Welcomes You

We survived West Virginia. I now know why it is called the Mountain State. It is all uphill with limited downhills. I think the best climb we had was a 4.5 mile long 9% grade. The nice part was lunch was at the top. The bad part is that we thought it would be a nice long downhill after that. No. West Virginia likes to torture us with making a slight downhill followed by some serious uphills. West Virginia was gorgeous. The mountains were awesome and then there were times when it would just open up into farmland.

Yesterday, we got caught in two thunderstorms. The first one we biked through followed by several cars who told us to stop cycling or we would die. Yea, I definitely thought that between the severe rain, lightning, and logging trucks that I was going to die. At some point it was like we were biking towards lightning bolts and then the lightning bolts were actually in front of us and we had to stop and jump a barb wire fence into a Verizon factory for shelter. I was also chased by a dog today.

As a part of our affordable housing education we learned that West Virginia had the largest gap between minimum wage and minimum housing wage and it was definitly evident in the ride. We saw a lot of houses made just from tin sheets and it was hard to imagine them in the winter. As soon as we crossed the border into Ohio there was a noticeable difference in standard of living and it was just fascinating to see.

Tomorrow we ride 85 miles to Wellston, OH.

Yahoo!

Hey all, I know it's been a while...

We're now in Harrisburg, PA and it has been a crazy 400+ miles to here. I don't know if you knew this but the northeast has been experiencing a heat wave and we've been biking 85 miles in 97 degree heat (which is around 100 on the pavement) we've had some people get sent to the hospital with heat stroke... but they're better now. Tomorrow we work on a house and I'm super duper excited. I think we get to work alongside some 17 year old kids from the local high school. When we got to Harrisburg, we showered, dinner, ect. and played an awesome game of kickball and jumprope with some kids from the high school and it was pretty so much fun. Some of the girls were on the cheerleading squad and we traded a cheer for an insnaely dangerous human pyramid.

As for the road, I've had a bunch falls so far and two flat tires. We passed Hershey park today and yesterday, some vast fields of farmland. It was gorgeous. I also saw a legit horse and buggy for the first time to. What else? oh yesterday, another girl and I were caught in a storm about 8 miles from our destination and we can ride in the rain... but we're not aloud to ride in hail. The pizza place we stopped at gave us some free pizza which was delicious. As we waited for the van to get us (which evidently experienced a lightnigh bolt hit a power line and blue sparks fly out of said poll and the powerlines just falling front of the van) it's been crazy. We've encountered all sorts of problems - one of which required everyone to sleep half naked in the sanctuary of a church. good times. In the stretch from Danbury, CT to Middletown, NY, another kid and I were sweep which means we ride last. We got lost by 15 miles and still had to climb three mountains (one of which was Bear Mountain) in 97 degree heat.

But we've met some really amzing people along they way to Harrisburg. A woman told me about how her father is also bike across country (but from west to east which is easier) and some kids fundraising to get to a state tournament and a woman who's dog is the champion in some division and she delivered water to us in a cooler. A lot of random people. We've been handing out business cards and spreading the word and it's been an awesome time so far. I'm very happy that I came and that this is how I am spending my summer.

I'll put up some pictures the next chance i get.

Connecticut!

so this morning we dipped our back wheels into the "Atlantic" in providence and rode about thirty miles to Connecticut. It felt good to cross a state line for the first time and took a bunch of pictures. I will post them eventually. I think one of the other highlights was in ri when we coasted down this hill (i hit thirty mph) and then everything just opened up to a bridge right on the water on both sides. Like riding on water.

We're staying at a church in Plainfield, ct and the kids were crazy but the food is crazy good. I think were sleeping in the pews tonight

Biking and Building

So I'm finally here. All the kids a pretty cool and relaxed so it looks like it's going to be a good summer. Today we helped out at the Habitat for Humanity in Providence where I got to see Herman DeKoe again (sight and sound: doc, you know who he is) which is always entertaining. We built the walls for an upcoming duplex for somewhere in Providence. Tomorrow we leave for the first day of cycling for Plainfield, CT (37 miles) it's a good start. But getting up at 6:30 am is hard. I haven't done that since high school. We'll dip our back wheel in to the "Atlantic" (i guess it technically is) at the Brown University Boathouse and then it's biking time. I'm excited to be sweep which isn't for another few days when we back from CT to NY (75 Miles). Sweep means that I just have to make sure i'm last and that when I get to where ever I am supposed to be, everyone is already there. Basically, it's an excuse to take my time.

We went on a shake-down ride yesterday and it was thirteen miles, but I got a taste for what this summer was going to be like because me and three other kids got lost, and the trip, I don't know what it was, but it was more than 13 miles. Good times.

I know a few people wanted to know how they could mail me, so here it is:

Address the maile with:

Bike & Build
Attn: Elizabeth Mo
USPS General Delivery
"Street Address"
"City, ST, zip code"

June 12: 5901 Jonestown RD, Harrisburg, PA 17108-9998
June 19: 610 Gay St, Portsmouth, OH 45662-9998
June 26: 300 S Main St, Taylorville, IL 62568-9998
July 03: 645 Vermont St, Lawrence, KS 66044-9998
July 10: 226 S Interocean Ave, Holyoke, CO 80734-1535
July 17: 200 N Wisconcisin St, Gunnison, CO 81230-2626
July 24: 75 W Main St, Torrey, UT 84775-8001
July 31: 120 N Maine Street, Fallon, NV 89406-9995
August 07: 2020 5th Street, Davis, CA, 95616-9998

I can't wait to start cycling tomorrow and see everyone at the end of the summer and thanks so much everyone for your support!

Eyeballs

So "training" has been on hold because I strained my eyeballs over the weekend. The eye doctor gave me some liquid steroids to drip into them over the next week... basically until Bike and Build begins and was like, "stay out of the sun and don't wear your contacts." Well, if you know me, you know I (a) like the sun and (b) love my contacts. Needless to say, both those things are required for biking. Not to mention my glasses are horrible because they don't know how to stay on my face. Over the past week in general, I think my body has just been hating on me. My dad thinks its my body catching up with me from all the physical activity I've suddenly put it through since school, which may or may not be true. Maybe I have Lyme disease. That would really suck. Tomorrow is my last chance on a bike before the trip because I have to (yes, have to) go to Cape Cod on Saturday until Monday where I will then go to Providence and begin my summer's journey. I haven't ridden my bike in six days which is pretty, um, bad. So tomorrow, I will strap in my contacts, wear my sunglasses and bike off into the high sun to get one last day of cycling in regardless of what my doctor says.

I spent that last few days in New York with all good intentions of putting in my papers to work at the Post-Production desk go to EMS and everywhere else so that I wouldn't have to use gas back in Connecticut. Well, I did none of that and had a delightful time. I got to catch up with everyone who stayed in the city this summer and see Sue who I haven't seen since Christmas. It was a great time to just hang in the park, eat Cafetasia, and just goof around at such fine establishments as Hook and Ladder.

4 more days!

Relief

I've been fishing around on the Bike and Build site and found out that in other riders' blogs, they've been training like fifty times more than me. Nervous, I texted Mike and Lou asking how much they trained. And then my phone immediately lost service because my house is a black hole. Anyway, I was comforted to wake up and (when my phone found service in Bridgeport) find Mike's reply, "Not much at all. The first three states will be your training." Ah, relief. Needless to say I'm cutting out the ride to Candlewood because I value life and instead, found the route of the Bloomin' Metric, the Sound Cyclists 100 km (64 miles) event in the Fairfield area. Coincidentally, it's a combination of my 20 mile loop on Redding Road (see previous posts) and my thirty mile loop on Valley Forge. Fun Stuff.

That thirty mile loop was from Easton to Weston to Redding to Georgetown to Wilton and back to Weston and back to Easton. I rode past the Saugatuck Reservoir in Redding which is almost as beautiful as the Easton Reservoir. Actually, they look identical, but I'm biased. In the second to last five miles of the ride, I swear every street in Wesont had the word "hill" in it. My favorite was Steep Hill Road which was, in fact very steep. But Kellogg Hill Road was the killer. Freakin' Weston. I'm looking out the window while I type this out and our neighbor is out riding his bike. He still has his training wheels and is just going back and forth. Those were the days...

Here's a picture I snapped of a mill on the border of Weston and Easton at the intersection of Old Redding Road and Easton Road (Rte. 136). It was built around 1940 by some guy who wanted to make his property prettier - I consulted Mr. Cruson.

Eight More Days...

Still training...

I like that passing "No Trespassing" signs is easier with a bike.

Oh and I don't know how to link this with my flickr account (apparently I can), but I'm working on it.

I only had two free hours today so I just did a nice and easy 14 mile loop through Morehouse and came back on Black Rock. I also fell for the first time. I was stopping to snap a picture of a field and my right foot didn't come out of the clip so... yea... luckily it was in grass and not on pavement. But the best part is it was in front of Matt Warde's house and I'm pretty sure him and his friends were playing basketball and I'm pretty sure I yelped as I fell over. I imagine I looked like a calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) as I went. It's always awkward to fall off your bike. Especially when you're 19. And you remind yourself of a six-year-old cartoon. And in front of someone you went to high school with. Eh, it happens.

I'm planning to bike up to Candlewood Lake in Danbury on Sunday (it's going to be so crowded, I forgot it's a holiday weekend). Hopefully I can get a fifty mile ride in on Tuesday... Then I'll be back in the city! Just to drop in and say hello, and then try try to get a sixty mile ride in before I take off for Providence. I don't even know where I can go for a sixty mile loop. Whatever, I'll worry about that when I get there... I need to get to Candlewood Lake and back in one piece first.

Elvis Lives

I took Black Rock Turnpike to Redding Road to Hulls Farm Road to Westport. It was a great ride. There’s the Easton Reservoir (which I learned is in fact called Hemlock Reservoir and that Easton actually has two reservoirs – the other is actually the Easton Reservoir, but everyone calls Hemlock the Easton Reservoir anyways) on Black Rock Turnpike. It was a little distracting because I kept looking out at the water and forgetting that I had a road and cars to pay attention to. One stretch of road is actually right on the water and it feels like biking on water. Of course, the rain only added to the effect.

Redding Road and Hulls Farm Road is filled with the kind of houses people dream about. Myself included. Large houses set back from the road with gorgeous gardens complete with horses. I rode past a horse grazing in a field speckled with yellow buttercups and it looked more like a painting than real life. It was a relatively empty long stretch of road, which is always nice because I can shout and talk to myself and make weird noises (a habit I picked up from my brother) without caring if someone heard me. The few cars that did come along were always something like a Maserati or a Lexus, but my absolute favorite was the old van painted with peace signs and “Elvis Lives” on the back with big, enthusiastic yellow spray paint.

At first, I was a little bummed by the rain, but in the end it made the ride that much more enjoyable. The road was void of any other cyclists (I think I passed one) or dog walkers or whatever. Not to mention I felt really hard-core with my new raincoat. Sometimes I felt like I was in a Nike commercial. And the rain here is not like the rain in New York. In the words of Halpin, “New York rain water is like stomach acid falling from the sky.” It’s pretty disgusting and as soon as you get indoors you just feel grimy and the only thing you want to do is shower. But here, the rain feels like a shower. After my two-hour ride, I felt as clean as when I started. Of course, I did shower anyways so not to worry.

Other times, Forrest Gump’s voice would pop into my head. I don’t know how, it just sort of did. I thought about his cross-country run and my cross-country bike ride. And I thought about all the fascinating and wonderful things he saw and how happy he was to tell Jenny about it. And, I suppose, since I have no male equivalent of Jenny to tell my cross-country story to, I am writing this for whoever is willing to listen.

Or read, I guess.

Cycling shoes

You know how when you learn a new word that just has a great sound and you can't help but repeat that word over and over again for that day? That's kind of like what my new shoes are like. I snap in and out of the pedals. Over and over and over again. Granted, I almost fell on several occasions... I saw roadkill the other day and had the horrible image of falling into said corpse and then having to bike onward with dead raccoon juices all over me.

Am I a biker now?

I bought cycling shorts. It was an amazing experience. Thank you, EMS.

Of course, after cycling shorts comes a 4,000 mile bike ride across America. I have two weeks to train, renew my passport (ugh), visit everyone in the city, see a doctor, be tortured by a dentist, get CPR re-certified for work, and watch the entire Indiana Jones series. This sounds like I'm complaining. I'm not. 14 days and counting!