Alright, where did I leave off? After Wellsboro, PA we rode to Coudersport, PA where we stayed at an alliance church. I had never heard of an alliance church before, but they served great food and had a baseball diamond where we played a game of kickball. We also did laundry at a laundromat in town, which was badly needed as usual.
Next stop was Warren, PA. On the way I participated in a great game of categories with Liz and Sarah, during which we attempted to name all the bands we knew for each letter of the alphabet. It passed the time quite well. it was a good day for conversation, since there were relatively few steep uphills. Most people stopped and swam in the resevoir that was on our way, but I didn't get a chance since we were one of the last groups of riders to get there. We stayed in a YMCA, which had all our needs in one place: showers, a gym to sleep in, and the internet. I went for a short walk to explore and I liked the town a lot. Lots of industrial stuff, related to oil I assume, but otherwise a pretty nice place.
After that was Franklin, PA. On the way we went through Oil City, which I've visited before since I have famliy members there. It was sureal since it was the first place that I recognized on the trip. It is also probably the only place I will recognize. In Franklin we stayed in a very big church with a great basement. They had a big tv and we all watched the Matrix. Another great place to stay.
After Franklin we crossed into a whole new state, Ohio! We got a break in Youngstown because it was our second build day. We helped finish up a house that was almost ready to be given over to the homeowner. I found out I was pretty good at installing doorknobs.
We had a pretty short ride into Akron, OH where we got a free meal at Fred's diner. I had an interesting conversation with an Acron local about how The World Cup affects worker productivity. We also went bowling. I had a lucky streak at first but my luck ran out pretty quick. It was a fun distraction.
Next stop was Gambier, OH and Kenyon College. We got to stay in the college dorms, which were superb. That was probably my best night sleep so far. A thermarest is pretty comfortable when you're really tired, but it can't quite match a real bed, even if it is a dorm room bed.
As we rolled into Columbus, OH we were told we were staying in a "Mega Church". We got there and entered one of the largest church buildings I had ever seen. It had a stage and even room for a basketball net. I was a little confused since there were only folding charis. How could they do services with just folding chairs? It turns out we were just in one of the church's buildings, we never even saw the sanctuary. The church has a weekly attendence of 4500 people!! We got dinner that night at the home of some friends of a rider and it was very delicious, we also got to relax by the pool.
That brings me to our current location of Dayton, OH. We're staying at Sinclair Community College in a nice gym. We got to go to the city's free music festival called "Folk Fest" and hear a great blues singer (If I remember her name I'll let you know). We also had a build day today and we installed drywall, which was something I had done before, but didn't really remember how to do. We even got on the local news! We ended the day with an awesome fireworks display.
I have to wake up at 5am tomorrow for our first 100 mile day. I hope the weather is nice!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Adventure Begins/Began....
Hey readers! If you have been avidly checking this page you deserve a detailed update about what has been going on. I hope my twitter posts have provided something to assure you that I was still alive, but I know that you can't convey much through a twitter post. This has been a great trip so far, I can tell you that much for sure. So many great people and so many awesome things to see.
Providence, RI is a very nice city for us to have started out in. Even my cab driver from the airport to my hotel was very supportive and interested in the trip. Orientation started at the Brown University Hillel and it was very quickly clear that this was a trip like no other. Bikes were being put together, sleeping pads distributed, and at the same time everyone was trying to get to know each other. That first day was mostly icebreaker games and logistics. Everyone got along super well.
The next day was more orientation including a "shake-down" ride in the area to make sure our bikes were all working well. They also had a Bike and Build alumni come and give a type of motivational speech about leadership and stuff like that. I don't think it was anything new for the 30 born leaders there, but it was interesting.
Then there was the first build day. we painted a habitat house in providence and got acquainted with Herman, the director of the Providence area Habitat affiliate, who is a very interesting dutch guy who has worked with many previous Bike and Build trips.
Our first riding day came all too quickly and we went down to the Brown University boathouse to have a wheel dip ceremony, in which we all dip our bike tires in the Atlantic Ocean to mark the beginning of our trip. From there we rode to our first destination, Pomfret, CT, where we got a great welcome from the First Congregational Church of Pomfret.
After that was Granby, CT. I had an interesting adventure on the way to Granby because I got separated from the group I was riding with. Somewhere along the way I missed a turn, but fortunately for me three other bikers ahead of me had taken the same wrong turn. When I caught up to them they were asking two local people, one of them the mailman, for directions. We figured out that the directions our fearless leaders had given us were actually pointing us to a dirt road that was under construction, so we may have been better off taking the wrong turn, since we were going basically in the right direction. Since being lost also had caused us to miss the designated lunch stop, we stopped and ate at a local pizza place. They were very interested in our journey and fed us some very delicious pizza. Our day ended at the First Congregational Church of Granby with a very relaxing yoga session.
Our next day was a ride to Kent, CT, where we stayed in a very nice school gymnasium. From Kent we rode to Poughkeepsie, NY where we got to do a little swimming and clean our bikes. After Poughkeepsie was Roscoe, which was a tiny little town where we stayed in another gym. We gave some local kids a bike clinic and they asked lots of inquisitive questions about our trip and about how our bikes worked. We went to sleep before the sun had even gone down, to prepare for our longest ride day yet.
We got up at the crisp hour of 5am and started our 85ish mile journey. There was beautiful mist everywhere and it was a very nice start. I got my first flat tire that day and discovered that there were some pretty big gashes in my tires. With those replaced, the day continued and I made it to Binghamton, NY. We had our first day off in Binghamton and we got to go see Toy Story 3, which was a great movie.
The next day was a comparatively short trip to Wysox, PA where we saw our first significant amount of rain. Also, consequently a day I decided not to bring my rain jacket with me, but fortunately I got to the building we were staying in before it really got nasty.
That brings me to today and our trip to Wellsboro, PA which was a pretty ugly trip since we had to drive along side tons of oil trucks and other noisey, un-bikefriendly vehicles.
More details to come and I promise there will be more frequent updates from now on. Be sure to click on the "Route Tracker" link to the right if you want to see where we are, what were doing, pictures and other rider's journal entries. Thanks for Reading!
Providence, RI is a very nice city for us to have started out in. Even my cab driver from the airport to my hotel was very supportive and interested in the trip. Orientation started at the Brown University Hillel and it was very quickly clear that this was a trip like no other. Bikes were being put together, sleeping pads distributed, and at the same time everyone was trying to get to know each other. That first day was mostly icebreaker games and logistics. Everyone got along super well.
The next day was more orientation including a "shake-down" ride in the area to make sure our bikes were all working well. They also had a Bike and Build alumni come and give a type of motivational speech about leadership and stuff like that. I don't think it was anything new for the 30 born leaders there, but it was interesting.
Then there was the first build day. we painted a habitat house in providence and got acquainted with Herman, the director of the Providence area Habitat affiliate, who is a very interesting dutch guy who has worked with many previous Bike and Build trips.
Our first riding day came all too quickly and we went down to the Brown University boathouse to have a wheel dip ceremony, in which we all dip our bike tires in the Atlantic Ocean to mark the beginning of our trip. From there we rode to our first destination, Pomfret, CT, where we got a great welcome from the First Congregational Church of Pomfret.
After that was Granby, CT. I had an interesting adventure on the way to Granby because I got separated from the group I was riding with. Somewhere along the way I missed a turn, but fortunately for me three other bikers ahead of me had taken the same wrong turn. When I caught up to them they were asking two local people, one of them the mailman, for directions. We figured out that the directions our fearless leaders had given us were actually pointing us to a dirt road that was under construction, so we may have been better off taking the wrong turn, since we were going basically in the right direction. Since being lost also had caused us to miss the designated lunch stop, we stopped and ate at a local pizza place. They were very interested in our journey and fed us some very delicious pizza. Our day ended at the First Congregational Church of Granby with a very relaxing yoga session.
Our next day was a ride to Kent, CT, where we stayed in a very nice school gymnasium. From Kent we rode to Poughkeepsie, NY where we got to do a little swimming and clean our bikes. After Poughkeepsie was Roscoe, which was a tiny little town where we stayed in another gym. We gave some local kids a bike clinic and they asked lots of inquisitive questions about our trip and about how our bikes worked. We went to sleep before the sun had even gone down, to prepare for our longest ride day yet.
We got up at the crisp hour of 5am and started our 85ish mile journey. There was beautiful mist everywhere and it was a very nice start. I got my first flat tire that day and discovered that there were some pretty big gashes in my tires. With those replaced, the day continued and I made it to Binghamton, NY. We had our first day off in Binghamton and we got to go see Toy Story 3, which was a great movie.
The next day was a comparatively short trip to Wysox, PA where we saw our first significant amount of rain. Also, consequently a day I decided not to bring my rain jacket with me, but fortunately I got to the building we were staying in before it really got nasty.
That brings me to today and our trip to Wellsboro, PA which was a pretty ugly trip since we had to drive along side tons of oil trucks and other noisey, un-bikefriendly vehicles.
More details to come and I promise there will be more frequent updates from now on. Be sure to click on the "Route Tracker" link to the right if you want to see where we are, what were doing, pictures and other rider's journal entries. Thanks for Reading!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
One Week To Go!
It's getting really close, just one week to go. I'm pretty much prepared with just $317 left to raise. If you were thinking of donating, now is your chance.
I went on a 65 mile bike ride to Albuquerque last weekend to celebrate my birthday with friends. I still have some training to do, so this week I'll be riding everywhere.
Check out the nice looking bike I get to ride across the country:
I get to Providence, Rhode Island on Friday the 11th and the trip begins from there. That's when the more interesting blog entries will start.
I went on a 65 mile bike ride to Albuquerque last weekend to celebrate my birthday with friends. I still have some training to do, so this week I'll be riding everywhere.
Check out the nice looking bike I get to ride across the country:
I get to Providence, Rhode Island on Friday the 11th and the trip begins from there. That's when the more interesting blog entries will start.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Welcome!
Hello! Here is the place where my summer will be chronicled. If you're interested in what I'll be doing, please check back often and I'll do my best to keep you up to date with all the details.
The plan is to ride my bicycle (not the one above, fortunately) across the country from Providence, RI to Seattle, WA. Along the way my 30 new friends and I will be helping build affordable houses and raising awareness about the affordable housing problems in this country.
It is going to be a great experience and I hope I come back a better person, in better shape, with lots of great memories.
The trip starts on June 12th and I have to finishing raising $4000 by then. So far I'm at $2740. Help me out by donating here: bikeandbuild.org/rider/4001
Thanks for your support, check back soon!
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