Go 65.1 Miles. Turn Left into Church

Well I may have complained that I had climbed the biggest hill I'd ever seen, but I was sorely mistaken. I spent yesterday on "Sweep" making sure all of the riders made it in. We turned out of the YMCA to what was the biggest hill of the trip. We slowly climbed it, moved on and came to what was arguably the biggest climb of the trip. We slowly climbed it, ate some lunch, had an impromptu dance party and moved onto a tough climb up to the next host. The wind decided to pick up making it arguably the biggest climb of the trip. (Notice a pattern?) We arrived in Indian Lake, which is one of the last wilderness counties in the U.S. (no internet and no cell service). It was a nice little town. We woke up at 6:00 today to prep for our first 75 mile ride of the trip, and it was awesome. We only made one major turn which was crazy. We finally found those "rolling hills" we'd heard about and it made it much easier. I rode most of the day with Beth and we powered into Boonesville, NY. We walked the city for a while and grabbed some pizza from a very angry Italian man who thought we should surely buy one more piece. The good news is we finally have cell service so all of you who have been desperately trying to get ahold of me can call now. Overall, the last few days have been a blast with some major mountain climbing combined with belting out "The Climb" or "Climb Every Mountain" You'd be surprised how hard it is to sing and bike up a 9% grade at the same time. Luckily, I'm a multitasker so fear not. Hope all of you are well and feel free to send me mail! For more info go to nus.bikeandbuild.org and find info on mail drops. More later

Where the HILL are we?

Sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog, but it has been tough to get computer time and cell phone service around here. We arrived in Portsmouth, NH just last Sunday and started out with our orientation. We did our first shake down ride Monday and did a build on Tuesday with Habitat for Humanity. Unfortunately, I was a bit ill and had to spend the afternoon in the van. We headed out from Portsmouth on Wednesday on some rides through New London, NH, Concord, NH, and Lebanon, NH. One thing I've learned is that the East coast has hills that we've never even seen in Indiana. It has been pretty brutal, but I'm hangin in there. We did a build in Lebanon, NH and landscaped an entire yard for a duplex house. It was a lot of fun, and we were able to see the change from start to finish. New Hampshire provided us with some great times, but we headed out form Lebanon and crossed the state line into Rochester, VT. Along the way, we climbed Bethel Mountain, our first major climb of the trip totaling 6 miles and 2,109 ft. The downhill was so rewarding though even though I thought I was going to pass out on the way up. We stayed at the house of Ginny Bowman, who lives in a former youth hostel. It was so amazing to be able to hear all of her stories and of her adventure biking across the country. She cooked us some incredible food, and we headed off today to cross yet another state line into Silver Bay, NY. We are staying at a YMCA camp and it was such a huge surprise. We all have our own beds, bedding, and fresh towels. We spent the day at the lake and doing some archery and grabbed some Prime Rib from the dining hall. We're all a little spoiled. We then learned that Beth and Jess, two of our riders had a major collision today on a hill. Luckily, they are both okay, but it was scary to hear about it. Hopefully it'll be the last of our crashes. Tomorrow we head into the deep woods of upstate NY, and I will still be without cell service (3 days running). For those who are dying to know, my bike is now named "Sacajawea," which is pretty funny. Although she carries a whining baby on her back (me sometimes), she will eventually get Lewis and Clark (my leg muscles) to the West Coast. Hope you all enjoy. I'll try to send more updates soon, but the line for the computer is long. Hope you all are well!!!

Is This Already Happening? / This is Taking Forever

Well, last night Kelly and I spent nearly an hour packing my bike. It was kind of a disaster, but all is well in the world now. My bike has been shipped off to Portsmouth, NH and is currently waiting my arrival. It seems like the time has flown since we started planning this trip, and I can't wait to get started. It also seems like this week is going to take FOREVER! Oh, well! In no time at all, I'll be in NH ready to start my 3,800 mile journey across the U.S. Can't wait to get started! More to come later. Also, my poor bike is nameless. Any suggestions for names? Trust me, we've already come up with several, but I'm not sure we've found one that would be at all appropriate for the road with 31 people I haven't yet met. Send those ideas my way!