A lot can happen in a week and a half... including 700+ miles of riding! Best way to see the country is by bike! After a thorough examination of roads east of the Mississippi, I have to say, hands down, Wisconsin is the nicest place to ride. The roads are smooth and the landscape is beautiful. Wisconsin provided us with miles and miles and miles (and miles) of biker friendly roads, for which we are very grateful. They were so nice, that we decided to ride a little bit extra! And by decided to ride a little extra, I mean, took a few wrong turns. But today we all made it to Minnesota.
From Michigan we made our way to the windy city of Chicago. We were supposed to have a build day in Chicago. Unfortunately, we arrived, at the end of 112 miles, on a Saturday night, and no building occurs on Sunday. Fortunately, that meant we had our first day off, and we got to explore Chicago! In the morning, a small group of us gave a presentation and bike clinic at our host church, then we set out for a day of exploring. The highlights: seeing the Vietnam Memorial (and taking a nice nap by it), getting deep dish pizza, taking a ride up the supersonic elevator in the Hancock Building to get an amazing view from the 96th floor, and finishing it off with Sundaes at Ghiradelli. All in all, a very productive day. The ride out of Chicago on Monday was only 40 miles, which meant we got to do a little bit of exploring in the morning as well. I took a detour to Wrigley's Field so I could take a picture and prove I really had been to Chicago. My second viewing of the home of the Cubs was much nicer than the one I had on Saturday night. On Saturday, we rode through that area just as a game was getting out, so instead of dodging cars, we got to dodge 100s of Cubs fans, which proved much more challenging than cars.
On Tuesday we arrived in Wisconsin, and it was smooth roads from there to here! Wisconsin has a wide variety of terrain, and a lot more hills than I anticipated! We rode into Madison, Wisconsin on Wednesday, and had our first "official" day off on Thursday. The Capitol Building in Madison is quite daunting. While in Madison we got to try some real Wisconsin cheese and icecream. Both key points to the visit!
Leaving Madison proved a little more difficult than anticipated. We were heading southwest to Gays Mills, and we knew it was going to be a long day... 102 miles. What we didn't anticipate was wrong turns, confusion, and getting to ride up the hills we had just come down. At the end of the day, most of the group had been on their bikes for 120 miles or more, and the last people didn't make it into town until 8:30, as dusk was turning into night. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day and a beautiful ride, so spirits were still high when we arrived. Our hosts were amazing, making sure we all got showers, cold drinks, and a warm dinner when we arrived. Leaving Gays Mills, we were all happy to see that we would be riding half the distance, only 60 miles that day! But we packed a lot into that 60 miles, crossing the Mississippi twice so we could hit three states: Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. We stayed the night in LaCrosse and were well refreshed to spend another 75 miles along the Mississippi the next day, to arrive in Pepin, Wisconsin - population:878.
On the ride to Pepin I did something I said I would never do, and I did it twice. I went swimming in the Mississippi. It is a beautiful river this far north, and I could hardly believe it is the muddy river that I lived next to for two years. The water was mostly clear (a little bit of algae) and quite refreshing both during the ride and after. I think it goes without saying, that the church that hosted us last night was fabulous and the food delicious. If you want an amazing meal prepared for you every evening, I strongly recommend biking across the country. Few people eat as well as we do!
Today we made it out of Wisconsin, and so far, the roads are still smooth. We had an 80 mile day into Minnesota, and to spice things up, we had a scavenger hunt! Some highlights from the list: a unicorn, a picture with a baby cow, a bike and builder 10 feet off the ground, and a bike and builder trading rides with a motorcyclists. The list included much more and provided great entertainment for the 44 miles on the highway 35. Tonight we are being hosted by another great church and have a rare treat... host families! That means going to a real home and sleeping in a real bed! Something I intend to go enjoy at this time!
To Joy's mom: Nemo is loving the ride!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Another new state!
So it has been well over a week since my last blog and obviously, a lot has happened, as it tends to do on this trip. It's hard to even decide where to begin, or how to simply share the most interesting details with you. They all seem so interesting!
Every host stay seems to outdo the one before it! Everyone we meet is so welcoming and takes such amazing care of us. A couple of highlights include the accidental detour onto the interstate on the way into Ohio... followed that evening by a lovely BBQ on the lake. I have officially swam in two Great Lakes at this point - Erie and Ontario. So that makes life pretty awesome.
Since my last post we have leant a hand at two habitat sites. The first was in Rochester, NY, where we helped to prepare lots for landscaping and for new houses. Imagine a lot overgrown with weeds as tall as a person. Ok well, not any person, just as tall as me. Make sure you imagine dense growth. Good... now multiply that density by ten. That's what we got to attack with various garden tools. By the end of the day we had cleared the jungle, removing not just weeds but dead trees, a giant stump (definitely bigger than me), and rocks and you could recognize it as a space where someone might live. And just so you know, landscaping = a lot of hard work. Good thing there are 30 of us.
Our other build day was in Cleveland. We had arrived in Avon Lake the previous evening and had just enjoyed a rare treat... real beds. The members of the United Church of Christ in Avon Lake, OH graciously invited us into their homes. So we had an excellent night's sleep at our hosts to prepare us for a day of building. Good thing! We needed it to get through the day. 30 people did the work of heavy machines that day as we moved MOUNTAINS of dirt. We were backfilling the house. Piles of dirt made there way into the ground to give support to the foundation. But we were well rewarded for our toils. The great city of Cleveland decided to thanks us (and perhaps apologize for the bumpy roads!) by inviting us into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There we got to tour 6 floors of Rock History... for free. New fact I learned - The Song "Hey Jude" (goes with out saying... Beatles song!) was originally "Hey Jules" and was written for John Lennon's son, Julian. Also, the factoid blurbs on the wall confirmed that "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was written in reference to a drawing done by Julian, not LSD... as I have been trying to tell people for years!
And a very quick rundown, because the lights have been turned out and it is well past bedtime.!! Yesterday, after our longest day yet (97 miles) we rolled into Bowling Green for our last night in Ohio. Now you may know that Bowling Green is home to a college with an excellent music program. But let me tell you the more important fact. Bowling Green is home of the one and only Scott Hamilton, a fan favorite for years. So that was pretty exciting! Today we finally made it through Ohio and the land of bumpy roads. After miles of corn fields, wheat fields, and thankfully rolling hills, we made it to Michigan. So now I have finally been to Michigan. If I can just get to Kentucky, I'll have been to all of the states east of the Mississippi, so that will be awesome.
A few shout outs!
Thanks to my mommy for some great trail mix in Lockport.
Thanks to Katie for an excellent care package in Camden.
And Thanks to Joy's mom: I'm in Michigan and you're not!
Until next time.. All we are asking, is give peace a chance!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
A Quick rundown of what happened...
Ok, so I'm a week behind. Hopefully I can quickly catch you up to where we are now. But so much has happened!
The ride to Indian Lake was beautiful. Started out with a beautiful sky and passed great views of Lake George. Then there were some uphills. And that beautiful blue sky, didn't seem so beautiful anymore. Because uphill means not much wind, and blue skies mean lots of sun, and together, they mean really hot! So some of those hills on the open road, where a bit hot, but then we got to leave them for a road that followed a nice shady creek. That part of the ride was absolutely gorgeous! We ate lunch on the Hudson River, where I stayed to long looking at the fish and trying to get the perfect picture of a funny looking spider on a rock. I did not get the perfect picture, but at least the spider didn't jump on me, because it was a jumping spider.
Staying at lunch might have been a bad idea... depending on your opinion of what makes for good riding weather. Shortly after lunch, it started pouring. While riding in the rain, isn't ideal, I liked it. It mean that the giant climbs in the afternoon weren't in the brutal heat, but rather in the cold, wet rain. I prefer the rain (not everyone agrees). Of course, with the rain, came the horseflies, they were not as welcomed. And frankly, they kind of hurt. I said some kind of mean things to them, but what would you do in that situation?
Getting to Indian Lake was a little more difficult than expected. After 20 miles on Route 28, we had no trouble finding our first left turn. The next turn was a little more difficult. The cue sheet said left. So, we chalked an arrow and went left. About a mile down the road, Christopher is coming at us driving the van and signals us to turn around, so we turn around and go back to the intersection, where we should have turned right. So you would think, after we crossed out the first arrow and drew a new one, everything would be all right. It was... except for one little detail. Erik, Craig, Joy and I had gone down the road. Erik, Kate, Joy, and I came back up the road. Where was Craig? Erik went on a hunt. Then, to escape the biting horseflies, I decided to check the roads going off the one we were on. I came across one road, but it went up a hill. It was the end of the day, who would choose to ride up a hill? I ruled it out as a place to find Craig and continued down the road. After about a mile, I hadn't found Craig... or Erik. I decided the road was a vortex and returned to the infamous intersection. Craig and Erik returned shortly after me. I was wrong, Craig had gone up the hill... crazy boy!
From there we went to the campsite. Where we fought the horseflies and mosquitoes in a desperate attempt to erect the tents. We had four of them up when it began to pour again. A logical time to take a break and get a snack. While we hid under our tarp, Dan returned from town bearing news of great joy, or at least a dry place to sleep. Two churches had graciously agreed to house us, and all of our sick for the night. The girls slept in the Baptist Church and the boys slept in the Methodist Church. It was quite a blessing to be out of the rain and away from the hungry mouths of flies and mosquitoes.
From Indian Lake we set out to Boonville, one of the few days that it didn't rain. In Boonville we did laundry, which was a long, expensive ordeal. I can tell you this, because I am laundry crew this week. And since I've got you almost caught up to where we are, I'll leave you thinking about laundry, since that's what I'm about to go do.
Visualize: two, giant blue tarps spread out on the basement floor. On one lies our everyday clothes: socks, t-shirts, shorts, nothing to exciting. But on the other tarp is where things get scary... chamois, lots and lots of dirty, smelly, sweaty chamois... and our jerseys. Just think about that. If I get another chance to write, I'll tell you how tonight goes.
The ride to Indian Lake was beautiful. Started out with a beautiful sky and passed great views of Lake George. Then there were some uphills. And that beautiful blue sky, didn't seem so beautiful anymore. Because uphill means not much wind, and blue skies mean lots of sun, and together, they mean really hot! So some of those hills on the open road, where a bit hot, but then we got to leave them for a road that followed a nice shady creek. That part of the ride was absolutely gorgeous! We ate lunch on the Hudson River, where I stayed to long looking at the fish and trying to get the perfect picture of a funny looking spider on a rock. I did not get the perfect picture, but at least the spider didn't jump on me, because it was a jumping spider.
Staying at lunch might have been a bad idea... depending on your opinion of what makes for good riding weather. Shortly after lunch, it started pouring. While riding in the rain, isn't ideal, I liked it. It mean that the giant climbs in the afternoon weren't in the brutal heat, but rather in the cold, wet rain. I prefer the rain (not everyone agrees). Of course, with the rain, came the horseflies, they were not as welcomed. And frankly, they kind of hurt. I said some kind of mean things to them, but what would you do in that situation?
Getting to Indian Lake was a little more difficult than expected. After 20 miles on Route 28, we had no trouble finding our first left turn. The next turn was a little more difficult. The cue sheet said left. So, we chalked an arrow and went left. About a mile down the road, Christopher is coming at us driving the van and signals us to turn around, so we turn around and go back to the intersection, where we should have turned right. So you would think, after we crossed out the first arrow and drew a new one, everything would be all right. It was... except for one little detail. Erik, Craig, Joy and I had gone down the road. Erik, Kate, Joy, and I came back up the road. Where was Craig? Erik went on a hunt. Then, to escape the biting horseflies, I decided to check the roads going off the one we were on. I came across one road, but it went up a hill. It was the end of the day, who would choose to ride up a hill? I ruled it out as a place to find Craig and continued down the road. After about a mile, I hadn't found Craig... or Erik. I decided the road was a vortex and returned to the infamous intersection. Craig and Erik returned shortly after me. I was wrong, Craig had gone up the hill... crazy boy!
From there we went to the campsite. Where we fought the horseflies and mosquitoes in a desperate attempt to erect the tents. We had four of them up when it began to pour again. A logical time to take a break and get a snack. While we hid under our tarp, Dan returned from town bearing news of great joy, or at least a dry place to sleep. Two churches had graciously agreed to house us, and all of our sick for the night. The girls slept in the Baptist Church and the boys slept in the Methodist Church. It was quite a blessing to be out of the rain and away from the hungry mouths of flies and mosquitoes.
From Indian Lake we set out to Boonville, one of the few days that it didn't rain. In Boonville we did laundry, which was a long, expensive ordeal. I can tell you this, because I am laundry crew this week. And since I've got you almost caught up to where we are, I'll leave you thinking about laundry, since that's what I'm about to go do.
Visualize: two, giant blue tarps spread out on the basement floor. On one lies our everyday clothes: socks, t-shirts, shorts, nothing to exciting. But on the other tarp is where things get scary... chamois, lots and lots of dirty, smelly, sweaty chamois... and our jerseys. Just think about that. If I get another chance to write, I'll tell you how tonight goes.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
After spending nearly a week in New Hampshire, we were in Vermont for less than two days. We left Rochester by going up another mountain. We road uphill for about 10 miles, but most of it was gradual, so it wasn't too bad. The top of this mountain was much more fun then Mount Bethel. For one, you could actually tell that it was the top, because it started going downhill, unlike Mt Bethel, where the top had a little downhill... and then some more up... Also, this one actually had an elevation sign, so that lead to many pictures. The Long Trail passed over this mountain. But the best part of the top, and the most welcomed, was the trucks use low gear sign. Because that only means one thing... downhills! So after 10 miles of uphill, we were rewarded by not having to pedal for four miles!
At the base of the mountain we found Brandon, another quaint New England town. Lucky for us, Brandon was the site of a lovely farmers' market. The booths were filled with maple syrup, delicious jams, banana bread, zucchini bread, and best of all STRAWBERRIES!
The ride from Rochester, VT to NY was probably our most interesting. After leaving the mountains, and Brandon, we found ourselves riding through rolling hills surrounded by farms. The warm sun was a nice change from the rain of the day before, but it got a bit hot as you climbed the hills and lost the breeze.
From lunch we set out to finally leave VT... after only 1 night. Our journey to NY state involved a short ferry ride that took us to historic Ticonderoga. After taking a picture at the NY sign, I regret to say that I passed up the chance to stop by the Fort. I figured I had been there before, so I may as well see what else the area had to offer.... mistake. The next day was the 250th anniversary of the battle at Fort Ticonderoga, and preparations were in full swing. Preparations that involved 1000s (not 100s, 1000s) of reenactors, and you didn't even have to pay to go inside to see them, they were everywhere.
Instead, joy and I took some comparatively tame photos by the falls and a covered bridge in historic downtown. After climbing yet another hill in the heat, we stopped for some ice cream... which I must say, was pretty good, and continued on our way. Whilst pedaling along, we see Zach, standing on the left side of the road. Was there a problem or a treat in store? Obviously a treat! Lake George provided a great escape from the heat as we jumped in and swam around before finally pedaling our way to the evening's destination, the YMCA in Silver Bay.
Now I say YMCA... but I'm sure you have all seen Dirty Dancing. Remember that resort? It was more like that. Beautiful camp style buildings on Lake George and plenty of entertainment provided. Just to name a few of the wonderful attractions... swimming, kayaking, sailing (though there wasn't much wind), archery, a full dining hall... and perhaps the best part.... beds!
In the morning we all enjoyed overeating in the dining hall before beginning our journey to Indian Lake.
At the base of the mountain we found Brandon, another quaint New England town. Lucky for us, Brandon was the site of a lovely farmers' market. The booths were filled with maple syrup, delicious jams, banana bread, zucchini bread, and best of all STRAWBERRIES!
The ride from Rochester, VT to NY was probably our most interesting. After leaving the mountains, and Brandon, we found ourselves riding through rolling hills surrounded by farms. The warm sun was a nice change from the rain of the day before, but it got a bit hot as you climbed the hills and lost the breeze.
From lunch we set out to finally leave VT... after only 1 night. Our journey to NY state involved a short ferry ride that took us to historic Ticonderoga. After taking a picture at the NY sign, I regret to say that I passed up the chance to stop by the Fort. I figured I had been there before, so I may as well see what else the area had to offer.... mistake. The next day was the 250th anniversary of the battle at Fort Ticonderoga, and preparations were in full swing. Preparations that involved 1000s (not 100s, 1000s) of reenactors, and you didn't even have to pay to go inside to see them, they were everywhere.
Instead, joy and I took some comparatively tame photos by the falls and a covered bridge in historic downtown. After climbing yet another hill in the heat, we stopped for some ice cream... which I must say, was pretty good, and continued on our way. Whilst pedaling along, we see Zach, standing on the left side of the road. Was there a problem or a treat in store? Obviously a treat! Lake George provided a great escape from the heat as we jumped in and swam around before finally pedaling our way to the evening's destination, the YMCA in Silver Bay.
Now I say YMCA... but I'm sure you have all seen Dirty Dancing. Remember that resort? It was more like that. Beautiful camp style buildings on Lake George and plenty of entertainment provided. Just to name a few of the wonderful attractions... swimming, kayaking, sailing (though there wasn't much wind), archery, a full dining hall... and perhaps the best part.... beds!
In the morning we all enjoyed overeating in the dining hall before beginning our journey to Indian Lake.
Well, it's been quite some time since my one and only blog entry and a lot has happened. For one, we're no longer in New Hampshire, finally! And we've actually passed through Vermont and are well into New York. We spent two days building two houses in the area. I worked at the house in Lebanon, hitting out cement ties and putting insulation on the basement for two mornings. The second afternoon we all got to join the group working on a roof in Norwich, VT. A very steep roof, and one of my jobs involved leaning forward to pull things onto the steep roof... that was fun. They also let me use a nail gun, not sure they thought that one through! All in all it was a very productive two days and we made real progress on the houses.
The day we left Lebanon was rumored to be "the hardest day of the trip" Good thing we had two days of rest (for our legs) under our belts. The morning was nice with rolling hills. I remember there was rain. But there's been a lot of rain. The end of the 60 miles involved a mountain. Mount Bethel. 6 miles of steep grades and sharp curves, and not the fun downhill ones, but the uphill ones. Also fun, but with a little more pain. It was a long slow climb. Some people saw some record lows on their odometers, one girl reported seeing 2mph for at least part of her ride. But after the uphill, there were 4 miles of really fun downhills! Although, the road was wet, so that made them fun. When we made it to the bottom of the Mountain, we learned that the church, was not where we thought it was... so there was some riding up and down of hills until we found a nice driver to tell us where it was. We stayed the night in Rochester, VT. A small, quaint New England town nestled in the mountains. And in a situation very similiar to Avon, small year round population, but lots of second homes. They also had a bike shop and an AMAZING cafe with some quality baked goods. The guys at the bike shop warned us we had a "gnarly ride" coming the next day.
And now it's time to go to dinner... so I've caught you up to last week, I'll try to write more later!
The day we left Lebanon was rumored to be "the hardest day of the trip" Good thing we had two days of rest (for our legs) under our belts. The morning was nice with rolling hills. I remember there was rain. But there's been a lot of rain. The end of the 60 miles involved a mountain. Mount Bethel. 6 miles of steep grades and sharp curves, and not the fun downhill ones, but the uphill ones. Also fun, but with a little more pain. It was a long slow climb. Some people saw some record lows on their odometers, one girl reported seeing 2mph for at least part of her ride. But after the uphill, there were 4 miles of really fun downhills! Although, the road was wet, so that made them fun. When we made it to the bottom of the Mountain, we learned that the church, was not where we thought it was... so there was some riding up and down of hills until we found a nice driver to tell us where it was. We stayed the night in Rochester, VT. A small, quaint New England town nestled in the mountains. And in a situation very similiar to Avon, small year round population, but lots of second homes. They also had a bike shop and an AMAZING cafe with some quality baked goods. The guys at the bike shop warned us we had a "gnarly ride" coming the next day.
And now it's time to go to dinner... so I've caught you up to last week, I'll try to write more later!
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