More!

It's weird to think about how much life has changed since I started this trip. I didn't go outside much, I didn't exercise much, I didn't eat much, and I didn't sleep much.

I guess the not sleeping thing has changed, but everything else has. We are outside for about 10 hours a day. 10 hours!!!!!!!! We are living a dream, it's so crazy. But, alas, I have ended up getting some patchy sunburns. Mary and I have concluded that spray-on sunblock is a sham. Every time I use it I get streaks of sunburn all over my non-spandexed body parts, and I'm getting tired of it.
And we exercise. A lot. We biked 104 miles over the Ozarks (supposedly) the other day (I still can't believe it), then had a build day, a 50 mile day, and another 90 mile day. It's wild. Yet I still look basically the same. How long does it take for the Amazon woman's body to develop? I'm pretty sure I'm on my way, but full development would probably require me to bike back from Oregon to Florida, and I don't think I would be able to handle that.

I also eat an average of about 12 cookies a day. That average is directly related to when the last mail drop was. Thank you, parents and friends! You're baking keeps the meat on our bones, whether we want it there or not.

But not anything about Bike and Build is perfect. For example, if the leaders could please just tell us where the lightning will strike, we wouldn't have to stop every time it thunderstorms. We could just avoid those places. Or if Amelia or Kristian could maybe go through our 3800 miles of road and spraypaint every pothole on the shoulder, that would really help too. Does that seem like too much to ask?

What's fun about little glitches in our day-to-day lives is that it makes B&B a legitimate adventure. Sure, we don't carry our packs and the most food foraging we do is through our coolers, but getting lost once in a while and rerouting and those kinds of things makes everyone (and by everyone, I mean myself) feel like we are really travelling from place to place, and that bikes are simply our means of transportation to and from each build site.

And while I've been yelled at and honked at by my fair share of drivers, most are pretty good to cyclists. And the people who host us are amazinggggggggggggg. And the people on the trip are amazing too. Everyone likes each other, it's so bizarre. Since when have you been in a group where all 31 people are close friends and practically a family? I'm a little nervous to go back home after this. I think I'm going to make Anna (my roommate in Gainesville) sleep in my bed with me since I've gotten so used to sharing a room with at least a dozen other people. But we'll see.

Also, I am sitting next to the creepiest man in the library right now. He is looking at his MySpace and dancing a lot. I am not overexaggerating. This is bizarre. I think I have to go, for my own safety's sake. And because laughing in the library is generally frowned upon.

P.S. Manhattan is awesome!!!!!!!! We had a feaux prom last night, I'll post pictures eventually. I wore a tablecloth.

Outlining B&B Lifestyles

I just fell out of my chair in the Manhattan Public Library. It was pretty funny. As was the past week or two since I've posted!

We made it to Kansas!!! And we did our first century!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But let's see...how about a few bulletpoints from my journal of bulletpoints?
--Joe is ridiculously good at DDR
--tornadoes are bad, bad news
--cracking your helmet always leads to being in the van for the day, no matter how wimpy the crack is
--I've gotten very good at cleaning my bike and am able to notice a derailleur difference when the chain's dirty
--did I mention I biked a century? As in, over 100 miles in one day
--27 Dresses is a horrible movie
--Bell choruses are the neatest things I've heard in a long time
--Some may think that God is in the wind, but obviously they've never ridden through the Midwest on a bike
--I always feel like Barack Obama's last name is spelled incorrectly (note: If he threw in an apostrophe and capital B, he might be able to pull the Irish vote)
--sometimes when you stop at gas stations, neat things like drug raids happen
--Limestone really doesn't take the place of pavement, no matter how clear the traffic is

So today began poorly, but eventually got much better. We woke up at 5 A.M., which I thought was delightful, but then I got talked to about this blog. And then I got a flat tire. But then we got to ride 60 miles on a trail (no cars!) and it was a marvelous, marvelous experience. But I suppose it is time to make a few clarifications/apologies.
(1) I am not very good at telling stories. Partially because I zone out a bit, and partially because I usually use the wrong words for things. So here is one clarification: Lois got stitches. While the definition of facial reconstructive surgery includes, but is not limited to, stitches, I can see how some would think the term is too severe for simple stitches, so hence the clarification. Lois got stitches—no eyeballs were falling out, no ears were hanging by a string—just stitches. I apologize if I freaked anyone out with my misinformation…but it did make for a better story, didn’t it? From now on, I think I might abstain from delivering news. It’s kind of boring to talk about, and I prefer to discuss my thoughts more than my actions on this blog anyway. So cheers to random ideas that pop up while on a bike!
(2) Indiana wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t that great, but I come with a bias. Indiana’s Notre Dame waitlisted me when I was in high school, and since then I have decided to dislike anything affiliated with the school (sorry, alumni). While our routes through Indiana smelled pretty bad, and I did crack my helmet in the state, it was still a state that I biked through and I should be more appreciative of it’s width as well as it’s innards. Plus, as long as you didn’t breathe, the rides were quite enjoyable.
(3) While some construction managers aren’t the friendliest people (usually because they aren’t used to youngins like us), I think everyone on our trip recognizes that they are doing an amazing thing for people, and not being compensated very well for it. So they deserve more respect…but so do we!

So, apologies to all and I hope nobody remains offended by my libel. I will definitely continue to blog because I think this thing is pretty funny and I know that reading Nathan’s blog about his Providence to Seattle trip last year was torture because it was very dry (sorry, Nate) and I’m working on bringing you guys wit here. Also, I apologize if my vocabulary is limited (ex. “sucks”) but it’s difficult to carry a dictionary in our suitcase and 10-letter words are hard to come up with after 8 or so hours of biking. Can you believe it?

Indiana hasn't been the best.

It smells like poop and it is windy. And it owes me a downhill.

One of the most wonderful things about cycling is that once you get to the top of an uphill, eventually there will be a downhill. It may take a few hundred feet, but eventually it will come.

Indiana, you owe me a downhill. I will resent you until it is received.

Ohio, on the other hand, rocks. I don't know if it's just because I finally got past the first 2 weeks (my training weeks, full of pain and doubt and more pain) and was in pretty good shape, or if the hills became less intense (which they probably did) and there wasn't a lot of wind, or if I just got this biking thing down, but Ohio is my favorite state so far.

Ok, sorry for the mixed up posts. All of the 21 and up-ers went to the bars and so the youth don't know what to do with ourselves, but I just found Arrested Development on the internet and now I know what to do with ourselves. Bye!!

Journal - June 1

I wrote the journal one day.  Here you go!

Twas the morning after Build Day

And all through the church

Every cyclist was stirring

Even Hurricane George!*

The jerseys were hung from the clothesline with care

With hopes that the B.O. would no longer be there.

With the cyclists in their chamois, and Janine in her sandals,

Everyone began to mount their saddles and handles,

When out on Kemper Road there arose such a clatter

I sprang from my pedals to see what was the matter.

Away through the construction we hiked like a flash,

Our bikes on our backs to start our adventurous bash.

The hills and the headwinds and the stench of manure

Did not introduce Indiana as a comfortable tour.

When what to my wandering eyes did appear

But a dead skunk, opossum, and a few deceased deer!

With few potholes to interrupt my cycling trip

I knew in a moment I'd avoid those corpses quick.

Less rapid than semis those cyclists did bike,

But the 90 miles ride was completed by all alike.

On to Columbus, then Bloomington, then Illinois we'll ride

And eventually in Cannon Beach we'll see this country's other side.

To the top of those Rockies, and then the beginning of the Pacific!

We'll all be quite delighted, for this trip is terriffic!

As I rolled out of second lunch**slow as molasses

Gabe and Alana mistook their clips and fell on their...butts.

Nary a scratch was had and many laughs ensued

And, for once, no wheels became untrued!

And then, in eight hours, we heard many cheers

For we finished 90 miles with very few tears.

As I jumped off my bike, and headed towards the church towers

Peggy showed up to take us to a gym's lovely showers.

Very clean and hungry, the burritos provided were delicious

But the host may have thought our insane appetites were suspicious.

Each person's 4700 calories*** burned throughout the day

Encouraged a good night's sleep and a very satisfying stay.

*George likes to sleep in these days

**On 90+ mile days, we get 2 lunches

**30 calories per mile, for 90 miles = 2700 calories.  4700 based on a 2000 calorie diet

Thanks for reading!

Build Day

On build day in Columbus, we had a construction manager named Dick who was kind of funny. He told us there was "no funning allowed" and that he would not tolerate our "extraneous noise." Yet funning was had and extraneous noise was prevalent. Then we got to go to Laura's friend's house for a pool party! Woowooo!! The only downer was that for some odd reason my ankles swelled to three times their normal size. It was pretty funny and odd. Same thing happened to Anna so we slept with our legs on the ceiling and couldn't feel the bottom half of our bodies for quite some time.

I am tired. I don't really feel like blogging. So I will be back later.

More days. I'm losing track

Something interesting happens every day on this trip.  Here are a few examples: (1) Lois (one of our leaders) got attacked by a dog, had to get facial reconstructive surgery, and is staying in somebody's house for the next week or so until she's allowed out of bed.  Most recently I heard she reorganized the family's silverware drawers.  We miss her.  B&B isn't the same without our full family.

(2) Betty had a breakdown.  Betty is our van.  She broke down mid-uphill, and Gabe had to hold the break for over an hour until AAA came because the emergency break didn't work.  We rented a Uhaul instead.

(3) Brian had to go home because his cousin is really sick.  See (1)'s last two sentences, but replace "her" with "him."

(4) Jackie came back!!  HUZZAH