pittsburgh, pa

I'm writing from a public library in Pittsburgh with a very strict internet policy -- nine minutes before my internet cuts out!

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind. We biked across Mass., over the Berkshires and into NY where we spent two days in Poughkeepsie. Then we biked to Port Jervis, up into Mt. Pocono (whew that was tough), then we started skyrocketing across PA. I rode my first century (100 miles) into State College which was pretty fantastic. I had no idea I would be able to ride that far, but I somehow did. The last 30 miles of the ride were through Amish country. I'd never seen Amish people before, and the rolling hills, horse drawn carts, and laundry lines hung across the yards were absolutely beautiful. One of the coolest things about riding a bike (beyond the blazing endorphins) is how accessible it makes you. People wave, say hi, ask where we're going. I mean, there's 31 of us dressed in red, white, and blue spandex. It makes me feel so much more a part of the country than if I were speeding past in a car. Yesterday, on a particularly busy stretch of road through a series of big box stores outside Pittsburgh, two women dressed in cutoff jeans asked us where we were going while we stopped at a red light. It turned out that one of the women's daughters was living in a Habitat for Humanity home -- pretty cool, huh?

This trip has also been much much harder than I ever expected. First of all, there's a the biking. I love riding my bike but I don't think any amount of training could have prepared me for riding my bike five, to eight, to sometimes ten hours a day. It gets really really tiring, both physically, and mentally, having to push myself up every hill. I bonked twice in the last week, both time around mile fifty: I got queasy and tired and teary and just could not keep riding no matter what I did. It was pretty miserable. So now I am dutifully trying to eat and drink around the clock to make sure it doesn't happen again -- I'm actually getting pretty tired of constantly stuffing my face. Who knew eating was so hard?

Second, it's been pretty hard to get used to life off the bike. A common saying in Bike & Build is, "privacy is biking alone." It's true. Getting used to living with a family of 31 other people, sleeping in the same big rooms, eating the same food, sometimes even showering together -- it's pretty tough. But I think I'm slowly getting used to it, and the other people in our group really astound me with their strengths and experiences. I think I'm going to get a lot more out of this trip than just strong quads.

Poughkeepsie, NY

Today we crossed the state border into New York -- our first state line. While bunch of us stopped to take some photos at the state line, a car drove up and the driver leaned out to ask if we were all ok. We laughed, and someone shouted "we're just happy to be here!" Other highlights from the day included posing with a giant wooden chair, racing a 14 year old on a BMX bike in Hudson, meeting a dairy farmer, an amazing peanut butter - honey - granola sandwich, and singing Hakuna Matata at the top of our lungs while riding into Poughkeepsie. Also, I rode 89 miles today!

building

Today was our first build day in Lawrence, Mass -- an old mill town a few miles from Andover. After a delicious breakfast (thank you Webbers!) we drove to Lawrence from the school we're staying at in Andover. It was crazy to see the transition out the car window from Andover's large stately houses to the rundown cramped Lawrence area.

When we got there, the site director quickly seperated us into three groups: 1. people with construction experience who weren't afraid of heights, 2. people with construction experience who are afraid of heights, and 3. people without construction experience. You can guess which group I was in. As most of the group started tackling the frame and walls of the house, ten of us drove off to another site, where we would dig holes and place the posts separating three new habitat houses from two older habitat duplexes behind them.

I thought it would take us a few hours tops. But then, I started digging. I'd remembered learning in my environmental history courses about the rockiness of New England soils. Well... they're rocky. It took hours of hacking out the ground with shovels, post diggers, and even a crowbar in order to dig the 19 holes (each 2 feet deep) that we needed. After lunch (again, thanks to the Webbers) we returned to our site to mix and pour cement around the posts. It was pretty tiring, but cool to see what we accomplished, and also to get a chance to talk to my fellow B&Bers one-on-one while we struggled through the rocky soil.

Andover, MA

Just checking in -- internet access has been limited but I'm having a great time. It's finally hitting me how crazy this undertaking will be. I'm also astounded at the generosity of our hosts, those who've donated food (eggplant parm beats peanut butter and jelly any day), and just the people who wave and cheer as we bike past.

t minus

I leave for Boston tomorrow for the first day of Bike and Build. For a few days I was really nervous about it. I put the poor workers at CitySports through an epic meltdown. I went in on a lark, thinking that I needed an extra fleece because I might get cold on the trip. Somehow, that morphed into needing tank tops because I only had two packed and I should really have three, because what if I want to wear a tank top three days in a row and don't have a chance to do laundry? After trying on an armload of tank tops I remembered that I had another one that just needed to be washed, so I didn't need a tank top after all. Then i went through the sweatpants (it might be too cold for shorts and i won't feel like jeans), before slinking out of the store with just an on-sale sports bra, trying my best not to look like a crazy person.

After that faze, I've started to become less worried about the trip and more aware of the fact that starting the trip also means leaving Providence, my home for the last four years. I've really gained a family here of people I really care about and will really really miss. I've been so happy here, I can't imagine not being here. Tonight I spent some time with a bunch of different friends trying to do things I think I'll miss (meeting street cookies, swinging in the playground, going to the gcb) and I kept wanting to just stop time and stay in those places forever.

Providence to Newport

On a gray New England morning, Jason and I set off for Newport. We rode over the Seekonk River and flew down the East Bay Bike Path with a brief stop at Your Bike Shop (winner of the best bike shop location ever) in Warren, so I could buy a much-needed pump. The guy in the shop even managed to attach my new pump to the ridiculously curved top tube of my bike. Thanks!


With fully inflated tires, we pressed on, through Bristol to the Mt. Hope Bridge. Now, I'd heard stories of the Mt. Hope Bridge. I'd heard that it was narrow -- only one lane in each direction -- and thus, terrifying. As we rounded the bend towards the bridge, Jason yelled "Good luck!" at me and I took a deep breath. I wasn't prepared for how tall the bridge was but after the long flat bike path I had plenty of strength to power up the bridge and then coast, white-knuckled, down the other side, to Aquidneck Island.

From here, the path was more confusing. We made a wrong turn onto 114 instead of 138 and encountered some of the biggest hills I've ever ridden (ok, smaller than the Appalachians, but still big.) We rode up and down and up and down until we managed to find a road we knew. We took a brief stop for a wander through an old-growth beech forest I'd been to before (I ignored Jason's grumbling about cycling with a biology major -- it was beautiful.)

From then on, it was downhill, through farms and suburbs until we reached the beach.


And even better than the beach, lunch!


So after lunch, we just maybe got lost, and spent an hour riding through the farms in Portsmouth and Middletown. And just maybe, we got tired and turned around and took the ferry home. Not that I consider that giving up or anything, because all together, we rode 50 miles (!!!) and had a great time.

The End.





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bike and build is everywhere

I went to Ben and Jerry's last night with Ayelet and Jonah and while we were sitting, eating our ice cream, a huge group of people walked into the shop. Who are all these people, I wondered, and why are they descending on Ben and Jerry's? Luckily, Ayelet had the answer: they were the Providence to Seattle Bike and Build trip, getting started on a summer of ice cream eating.

The more I run into Bike and Builders in Providence, the more and more I get excited about leaving for Boston next week.

in the merry month of may...

When I was in high school I sang in a choir where we gave a concert every may and sang this ear worm "in the merry month of may..." I love the month of May, especially now that I live in a place where May means sunshine and warm weather have finally arrived. What happened this May, while I wasn't posting on my blog?

First, I graduated college. That was pretty exciting. It's a little wierd to realize I'm not a student anymore, especially since I'm still kicking around Providence. I moved out of my house and into a sublet I have until the trip starts but whenever I walk past my old house, I want to go inside.

I've also been doing lots of bike training. My friend Liz showed me an area in Seekonk, Mass which is full of winding roads through forests and farms. It's been a great place to train and I've been doing a lot of 20-30 mile rides. At first the rides were pretty hard, but now, whenever I finish, I feel like I could keep going all day. I'm planning to ride to Newport tomorrow, which will be 37 miles each way, by far the longest I'll ever have ridden.

I also made a brief appearance at the Providence to San Francisco orientation a few days ago looking for a bike pump to borrow since the floor pump I usually use is back in PA with my roommate. I didn't know quite where orientation was -- my friend just knew it was in a church near Wayland Square. So biked over there and found a car with a black and pink Dolce strapped to the back. Aha, I thought, a Bike and Builder! I followed the car for a bit, then lost it, but managed to find a group of guys with matching Allez's and clip-in shoes at a stop light -- more Bike and Builders! They directed me to the church where i found a pump to borrow and also probably confused a lot of people. Anyway, thanks guys -- having fully inflated tires made my ride much more pleasant and it was also pretty exciting to see so many bike and builders in one place.