An update from real life...

Well, its been just over two weeks since 30 of us arrived in San Fran to dip our wheels in the Pacific and yet my experience with Bike & Build this summer stills to consume all of my thoughts, daily conversations and life really. While from the start I was conscious of what a special opportunity this trip was, I never thought it would truly have such an effect on me. Not to be corny, but it was nothing short of life changing.

As I sit and reflect on this summer, there is such a rush of fun memories, intense moments, terrible climbs and amazing descents. My time on the bike is so different now, it is so much more meaningful every time I hop back on. And like everyone else in the B&B community, for the rest of my life, I will always be riding for Paige.

There are so many people and organizations that made this summer possible. First off, thanks to my mom and dad for not telling me I was crazy when I told them I would be biking across the country last October! And also thanks for mail dropping me my bills! :)

To all my friends and family who so generously donated to the Bike & Build cause - I truly could not have done this without you. Know that your donation was put to good use! The 30 of us successfully raised and donated $150,000.00 for the affordable housing cause in the U.S.

To all the hosts along the way - your generosity was amazing. It was always so heart warming to see how much you were all willing to do for us. You let us use your facilities, shower at your homes, you cooked us meals and gave us goody bags...the list is endless. We appreciate all that you did for us this summer, and again, this was such a collaborative effort, we really could not have done it without you!!

In the same category, donation magic providers! Nothing is better than finding out you have scored an awesome free meal just because someone has heard what you are doing and wants to help. We essentially survive on donation magic and we could not be more grateful!

To the numerous affordable housing groups across the country that are working to provide safe and decent housing for all people in this country: keep doing what you do! It is clear that your work is effectively changing the lives of others in such a positive way. You guys inspire us all!

And last but so so far from least, my P2SF2010 Bike & Builders. You guys are the most amazing group of individuals and I feel so privileged to have experienced this summer with each and every one of you. We had so many highs and certainly a number of really tough lows, and we got each other through all of this, together as a unit. I think I said this early on, maybe even in week one, but it is so uncommon for a group as large as we are to become so close so quickly and mesh in such a natural way as we all did. You guys are my friends for life, and better yet, my B&B family for life! Any time any of you want to lazy arm dance yourselves clean, give me a call. I'll always be down. Much much love to you all!

Blog readers - thanks so much for sticking around through my inconsistent and spastic updates! I will post pertinent things from time to time, so feel free to check back! Just as an update of my whereabouts these days, I am living in East Harlem while attending Columbia to get my masters in human rights studies. My life will be a bit more sedentary (there is no feasible way to keep up 6 hours of biking a day if you have plans to get ANYTHING else done) but I hope to keep cycling along forever! Wish me luck!

DAY 69 - San Rafael to SAN FRANCISCO, CA!

Wow. This is actually happening.

Well today's ride was short, a whopping 15 miles. I think it is safe to say that we all would have done about another 70 more just to keep the final ride from ending. We started the morning by watching a 45 minute slide show of pictures from the entire summer. It was so cool to recap and see all the places we have been and how far we have come. It was certainly emotional just to even watch.

Love.

We then had a wonderfully drawn out route meeting turned dance party turned photo shoot. We danced ourselves clean one last time, war painted up, and were on our way. We did encounter some hills but the 30 of us stuck together for the whole ride. It was such an awesome rush and the best feeling ever.

Final pump up for Silver Fox (because of course, he had a slow leak...cool)

As we caught our first glimpse of the city, and later our first glimpse of the bridge, you could just hear shrieks of excitement 30 deep. I will never forget that moment! We all reconvened just before the bridge so that we could cross together, as a team. It was kind of a stressful ride, as you can imagine the Golden Gate bridge is quite trafficky and there were tons of cyclists as well. Our first sighting of parents occurred just as we were turning onto the bike lane.

Look what we found!

Connor's family was there with signs, posters and chalk. It was so exciting to see them! We then crossed the bridge, down the bike lane and into Chrissy Field, where we spastically tried to find our friends and family. My mom, nanny and Mara, all made the trip out to watch us roll in - Thanks you guys! (My mom has the pics, I'll upload them soon!) Once we were all down, we took our bikes to the Pacific for the final ceremony of the summer: the wheel dip. Just 69 days prior we had done the same thing, but we were strangers in Providence. This wheel dip, as you can imagine carried a bit more weight.

We miss you Sarah! You are with us in spirit (and have been all summer!) Love you girlie!

Shortly thereafter, 30 of us dropped our bikes and rushed into the Pacific ocean where we had a few (brisk) moments of hugging, splashing, singing. It was surreal. It was so great. It was a bit overwhelming that this was it, and everyone's friends and families being there kind of sent that home. Haha - it sounds kind of weird, but it was the first time all summer we had to share each other with others.

Almost immediately after, some of our teammates had to leave us for their respective travel plans. It just felt so unnatural that something so significant and regular could end so abruptly. Later that night we had a cookout with friends and family in a park in Oakland and then we all headed out to a local bar as kind of a last hoorah. It was a great night, just really overwhelming!

Day 68 - Santa Rosa to San Rafael, CA

Agh! SO painfully close! The only reason it is painful is because no one is ready for this incredible summer to end!

We had another great ride into San Rafael. I rode sweep yet again, this time with Miss Molly. It was a fairly uneventful ride minus Eileen giving Steph a headache and a half...I know its shocking and totally out of character, but I passed out on the side of the road while we waited for the van to bring Steph an new wheel. (Anyone who knows me can sense the sarcasm there...)

Oh, and how could I forget, In-N-Out mania has been taking place. Today, all 30 of us took over an In-N-Out burger just before our lunch break. While we all snacked on different things, Drew and Kevin challenged each other to a 4x4 eating contest...(4 patties and 4 slices of cheese) INCLUDING fries and a shake. They both completed the challenge with relative ease, and decided to keep going! Ultimately, Kevin was the champion and by lunch time, they were both in food comas by the side of a lake...

What a champ...

We had a great dinner with the church members and then did a number of chores (fun - van cleaning, trailer packing etc. etc.) After that we all headed out to a local bar to just hang out, relax and enjoy our last night on the road. Which is weird to say, because at the time I don't think it had hit any of us that this was really going to end!

Day 67 - Davis to Santa Rosa, CA

73 miles

I RODE MY BIKE TO MARA'S HOUSE!

Well sort of anyway, she came and picked me up at the host! It was so so good to see her and spend time with the Hochman fam! I was able to do some laundry and have a lovely dinner with them, thanks again you guys, and see you next week!

Our ride to Santa Rosa was great, but freaking hard! I would go as far to say that our toughest climb of the trip was coming out of Napa and into Santa Rosa. It was intense. We all kinda struggled all the way up, but was inspired to hear cheering voices of Steph and Connor when we were close to the top. I think that it was a consistent 10% grade for the entire 4 mile climb. Whew.

Mustache monday at its finest...you should see them on warpaint wednesdays!

We were all on a high coming in, as tough climbs (followed by descents, of course) tend to do to us. I cannot believe we only have 3 rides left!

Day 66 - Auburn to Davis, CA

64 miles

Shout out to the cycling capital of the world! Davis, we love you (and your awesome farmer's market!) Pretty much all but the last few miles of our ride was on a bike path. God, we love you California!

We spent much of our evening doing grants for affordable housing organizations. The way we disperse the funds we raise is through a competitive grant process. Affordable housing organizations from around the country fill out an application and then the applications are sent to us while we are on the road. Then together, as a group we get to read and evaluate the applications, and then decide how much money should be allocated where. It is really empowering to have the ability to decide where the money you worked so hard to raise will go. Ahh, yet another thing that makes Bike & Build so amazing!

Brendan, Zach and Nicole with some pre-grant pump up jams

Day 63 and 64 - Sparks to South Lake Tahoeeee

CALI BABY!

60 miles

But seriously...peace out Nevada...

Today I rode sweep with Rudy girl and we had a great ride. There were parts coming out of Reno (as one might expect) that made it difficult to talk and ride, but we managed. Everyone got to lunch pretty quickly as the terrain was not to challenging. As we started the second half of the ride, we prepped for a climb that proved to be quite tough. During one of the pull offs, I happen to check my tires as they felt shakey. Low and behold, flat number 13 of the trip (but who's counting?)

Found some friends at the state line! (Laura, Chris, Rudy and I)

We did a quick change-a-roo and headed up to the summit. As we arrived at the summit, we were pleasantly surprised by tons of chalked messages out teammates had left for us. It still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. It was our last big climb before crossing the california border. It was all sinking in...I tried not to let myself get too nostalgic while I waited for Rudy to come back from the bathroom, then I remembered, wait! Day off tomorrow and tons of riding left, no need to be nostalgic yet! I think its just the realization that this trip, will, in fact, come to an end quite soon. I can't speak for anyone else, but I can certainly say, I would do it all over again if I could. (Maybe west to east this time, just for the sake of the headwind issue...:)

When we descended into Tahoe I was shocked. The water was as blue as the ocean in the Caribbean. Absolutely gorgeous. We headed into the host and found a lovely surprise, some of Kristie's teammates from p2s'09 had shown up to surprise her, and Brendan, our director was there to do the rest of the ride with us. Yay for more Bike & Builders!

We had a great time that night, and celebrated our last day off. It started with some Mexican food (and a margarita the size of my head) which was followed by drinking and star gazing at the beach. We then headed to a local karaoke bar, which we all know, is where we all shine.

The next day we spent chilling out at the beach, blogging, writing, just some serious hanging out. It felt really good to relax and play!

A reason why you do not wear a temporary tattoo while cycling in Nevada...

Yes, the flaming peace sign tat was super cool yesterday, today however, not so much...

Not to mention the situation I have going on above that...haha man oh man...

Days 56 - 62 never again Nevada, never again...

The state that only deserves one post.

It may sound harsh, but Nevada sucks. It is hot, it is hilly, it is windy, there is nothing! Yes, I'll admit, day 1 in Nevada was exciting and beautiful. But daily rides consisting of 10 mile climbs up mountains followed by 30 miles in a wind tunnel of a valley over and over again gets old fast.

This is what we stared at for over 400 miles over the course of 5 days...

We did ALL of our travels through Nevada on one single road - highway 50. In 1986, it was named the "loneliest road in America" and advised drivers stay off of the road unless they were prepared for emergencies and very experienced. This is because there is roughly 80 miles between gas stations and towns, with NOTHING else in between. Don't believe me? You should...there is nothing.

Someone somewhere decided to capitalize on this idea of being the "loneliest road in America" to help encourage some tourism revenue. Therefore, when you enter the first town on highway 50 (Baker, NV) you are instructed to pick up your Nevada "passport". Then at each of the 6 towns that are off highway 50 (over the course of 410 miles) you can stop at local establishments (usually the ONE restaurant in that town) to get a stamp. At the end of the trip you can send in your stamped passport for some kind of "I survived highway 50

" souvenir. Not sure what it is yet...I'll let you know when I get it...

Here was our itinerary through the state:

Day 56 - Baker 82 miles

Day 57 - Ely 62 miles

Day 58 - Eureka 73 miles

Day 59 - Austin 66 miles (don't be fooled by low milage, hardest day yet, sustained 20 mph winds 30 mph gusts!)

Day 60 - Fallon 110 miles

Day 61 - Sparks 67 miles

Day 62 - Build in Reno

That being said, we didn't let Nevada beat us. Yes we were fried and grumpy but we did it! And there were a number of things we did to keep ourselves sane...the most obvious, of course, being PROM!

To keep things short, here is a bulleted list of the highlights of highway 50:

1. I was knocked off my bike due to a horrendous headwind (I am ok)

2. There was a day where we hit 4 7,000 foot summits

3. I peed on a red ant hill and was bit all over my butt (there were actually ants IN my chamios...)

4. We camped in a gas station parking lot (as seen here:)

5. Met a man in his 50's doing a 10,000 mile ride in the U.S. (www.findingwarren.com)

6. We got a ride in a pick up truck due to hot sticky asphalt on the road

7. We visited the famed "shoe tree"

8. Became concerned about our food supply when the grocery store in the town we were in only had 2 loaves of bread

9. We consistently blamed all bad things that happened on the state of Nevada

10. We found a dollar bill from P2SF 07 and 09 hanging in a cafe, we of course added ours to the collection!

One of Nevada's redeeming qualities...so much for being bummed your're on laundry crew!

Was it really that bad? No, I guess not. We certainly are good at having fun where ever we are , so we have that going for us! But, like I said, I will not be cycling through Nevada anytime soon!

Prom was a complete success. It was an anything but clothes theme and everyone dressed accordingly. We had decor (a photo backdrop made of the lunch tarps featuring the coolers and the Jeff Gordon poster as props, streamers, balloons, blinky lights from our bikes, an entry way lined by all of our cleats...you get the idea) music (a pre-approved play list featuring your typical middle school dance songs...) prom court, and a king and queen (congrats Kristie and Mark! Hahaha) The prom after party was at a local bar a few blocks away and it was all in all a really fun but totally ridiculous night...Certainly a trip highlight!

All of us, dressed in our finest...

Day 55 - Otter Creek to Milford, Ut

100 miles

The good luck we had at the beginning of the summer in terms of the weather is seemingly catching up with us these days. We started out the morning knowing that there was a chance of thunderstorms, but about 20 miles into the ride, lightning began striking the mountain ahead of us. Freaked out and in the middle of nowhere, 7 of us pacelined all the way into a town where were promptly found the van and everyone else camping out in a cafe. Just in time for second breakfast!

Taking over yet another cafe

While we were eating, the storm intensified and it was pouring! We were able to look up the forecast with a radar in the area and it looked as if it was goi

ng to get a lot worse before it got better.

Waiting it out

Once we finished breakfast, we were all just hanging out the storm and waiting it out when Kevin stood up and proclaimed he had an announcement. He then called Bree and I up in front of everyone just as Drew was unzipping his shirt. There, bike greased on his chest was Prom? That's creativity right there. After much laughter, we both accepted. And so the proposals continue.

Kevin and Drew scheming...

After we filed out of the cafe, the leaders made a game time decision that we would have to shuttle everyone to the host. This did not make us happy, but then again it was what was most safe. So, small bikes were sacrificed first (i.e. short people and their bikes had to be vanned...me...) It turned out that most of the others were able to finish out the ride because the storm cleared, and they all had an epic ride. I was bummed that I couldn't do it, but it was out of my hands - so proud of everyone that was able to finish!

Here's the pic of Connor and Steph asking Megan via PB & J (p.s. Steph doesn't always have a mustache, it was just mustache monday...duh) Oh the things we do to occupy our selves in Nevada..

Day 54 - Otter Creek State Park, UT

80 miles

Yet another day of wind, lightning, rain and heat! It is so crazy! I did much of the ride by myself which was fine until the storm picked up. The wind was some of the worst we have had so far, many people just got off their bikes and tried to wait it out. Worse than the wind was the pelting hail (always fun right?). I finally met up with Arthur with about 10 miles to go. The weather started to clear and we were able to see the lake where we would be camping.

We encountered some early morning flooding...ooops! Little did we know we were headed to a road with three miles of gravel, ugh!

There have been a number of prom proposals along the way...Connor and Steph asked Megan with a PB & J, Thom chalked "Melon, will you go to prom with me?" outside her bike at a cafe, Kevin did a choreographed song and dance to ask Kristie, Pau recited a poem to rudy as she drove by, Joel hid a piece of paper that said "Will you go to prom with me check yes or no" in Megan's back pack...But perhaps the best proposal was Nicole's to Zach. She rounded up a few of us and wrote "Zach will you go to prom with me?" on our butts. Then, after dinner, we spontaneously arranged ourselves and mooned him as Nicole got on one knee with a bouquet of weeds...it was great. See the pic below...

How could you say no to that?

The host site was great - there was a pavilion with picnic tables that we actually set our tents up under (to avoid early morning sprinklers). Also, believe it or not, they had some of the best showers of the summer (or maybe it was just the fact we were excited they HAD showers at all, as we hadn't showered in two days...gross.)

We had a delicious dinner made for us by the dinner crew and then a P2SF07 alum stopped by and gave us brownies! So cute! Thanks again!

We had a campfire under the stars that night before bed and Joel tried to organize some of the prom details...haha this is out of control.

Day 53 - Green River to Capitol Reef National Park

92 miles

Well today was one for the books, and I'm not even talking about the ride! Despite the intense desert heat, the ride was gorgeous as many have been the past few days. The rock formations and landscape in general continue to blow my mind. It is pretty desolate out here and we stopped for our first lunch around mile 35 on the side of the road and tried to hang the laundry tarp over the side of the van for some shade. We'll take anything we can get! I rode with a pretty big group today and it was full of sing singing and impersonations to get us through. We stopped and hung out at a local motel for second lunch. Sweep was still pretty far back at that point and there were some clouds rolling in, so it was looking like people were going to have to be picked up.

A few of us posing with the rocks...

Capitol Reef turned out to be more like a natural playground than anything. The canyons were unreal, the walls looked much like coral reef. It is estimated that the canyon walls here were once completely underwater, giving them the look they have today. The last 10 or so miles to the camp site were all in the park so we took advantage and made some stops. And of course went swimming at a waterfall we later dubbed "The Chocolate River!"

Though it may look dirty, the water was crystal clear!

Just sitting by the chocolate waterfall!

Here's where things got interesting. When we arrived at the camp site, you could just feel the stress and tension in the air. Mind you, it was dark, it had started lightning and everyone was sitting under a pavilion. Most of the tents had been set up but not all. That's when I learned that they had already unpacked the trailer at a site that wasn't ours and had to repack it to move. Then the van had to go out and make sure everyone was ok (due to darkness and weather) and took all of the food and coolers with her. Meaning - we were not able to start cooking or eat dinner, and we were pushing 9 pm. So we did what any Bike & Builders would do. We all went halvsies on cans of cold Spaghetti O's that we opened with someone's leatherman. We also had packaged danishes and cliff bars for dessert. YUM! Haha. Like I said, a very memorable evening.

As the rain started to clear up, the lightning continued and the sky was also full of amazing stars in some areas. It was breath taking! I wish we had more time to explore!

Hands down, most amazing sunset I have ever seen in my life. It was followed by crazy lightning and then some seriously fantastic stars...Capitol Reef is also on the must see list!

Day 52 - Moab to Green River, UT

57 miles for most (73 for some...namely Nicole, Lindsey, Molly, Lindsay, Megan and I) Oops.

Yes, that's right - there was a bit of a miscommunication and the six of us did a 16 mile detour...ugh, so much for it being s short day! It wasn't until we had all stopped and wondered why no one had passed us (we were riding at a leisurely pace that morning) that we realized we had missed a turn. The good news is, the "scenic" route we took in our adventure, was breathtaking. I would totally do it again, if for nothing else other than the views.

Unbelievable...

Riding into Green River you were hit with the sense that not too much is going on here. Most of the buildings were vacant and dilapidated, there were not any stores, a lot of the road was dirt. Let's just say, not exactly what your next vacation destination...When we arrived at the host, we were greeted by a few Americorps fellows who were incredibly enthusiastic and awesome.

The Americorps fellows work for the community center here in Green River, which is appropriately called "The EpiCenter." I kid you not, this place is the epicenter. At the center, the Americorps volunteers host after school programs, are actively rehab-ing and rebuilding buildings downtown, run an affordable housing program, are implementing community programs to help spur on the local economy, have a free food and delivery program for the elderly, the list is seemingly never-ending. There are about 8 (or so) of them that are doing all of this, and I am pretty sure they are all younger than 30. Almost single handedly, they are seemingly saving Green River.

They gave us a walking tour of Green River and provided us with some information of the history and where the town stands as of today.

An interesting point that was noted on the tour is the fact that Green River is one of four Amtrak stops in Utah. Now, if you were traveling through Utah and stopped to get a night's sleep or something, you would assume that there would be maybe a hotel, restaurant, maybe a place to rent a car, right? I would. However, this is not the case. When you get off the train there, you are essentially staring at what looks like to be an old ghost town from the mid 1800's. It is really crazy.

And that is where Americorps kids have stepped in. There is so much potential here for economic growth and development, and yet no one is really doing anything about it. The building of the new EpiCenter downtown will help the community with their own projects, but will also serve as a kind of information center for people getting off of the Amtrak in GR.

One of their most successful events yet was a music festival last spring that was hosted by the Epicenter/Americorps fellows. All of the money that was generated was donated to the affordable housing cause in Green River. They noted that it was also a great experience for the youth in the community as they do not really have opportunities to do and attend things like concerts. Many of them had never had seen live music before!

I was sparked by a sense of re-inspiration in Moab, and our experiences here in Green River have just doubled that. Again, real people, young people, getting things done and truly changing the world. The impact these people are having on this community is immeasurable. It is not an experience I will ever forget.

So in other news, to fight our soon to be boredom and frustration while riding in Nevada (think highway 50 "loneliest highway in America" for 6 days) we have decided that we will have a Bike & Build prom. Joel has headed up the prom committee, and truly has a vision as how this will all go down. It is not to be missed...

The first prom related event took place while we were in Green River...A series of personal challenges to determine who would be on the prom committee. The event was short lived as Drew unfortunately had quite a crash trying to our granny gear everyone else. He is fine, but his front wheel is not...haha

Later that evening we had some Granny Gear races to determine who would be on prom committee. The things you do after 50+ days on the road...

Day 51 - Build Day with Community Rebuilds

So today we built with a local affordable housing organization here in Moab, Ut - Community Rebuilds. The whole mission of Community Rebuilds is to provide energy efficient, affordable housing for the workforce citizens of Moab who are currently living in pre-1976 single wide trailers, using only local materials. In Moab, they are focusing onbuilding with green materials and practices. Therefore, when they are working on a home, they recycle as much of the existing home as they can and then build the new home using straw bale hay and earth.

From what I could see on the site, straw bale hay construction is incredibly efficient and sustainable for Moab. The materials they use are earth, clay, sand and straw, which all come from the local area. The homes are durable, well insulated and have very little impact on the environment. Not to mention they are beautiful!

The straw bale hay home we worked on!

Because Moab is a major tourist destination, it is an extremely expensive place to live. Additionally, the people who are specifically living in pre-1976 single wide trailers do not qualify for loans to finance a mortgage. With the help of Community Rebuilds, the family applies for a loan to finance the cost of construction of their new home that will replace the trailer. However, because the organization uses donated labor and materials, the loan amount is significantly less than what it would be for a different project.

Another major component to the Community Rebuilds organization, is their education program. Each semester, they recruit students to come work on the construction of their green homes. In doing so, not only do the students get invaluable on-site experience in the building of green homes (that they can then take with them wherever they go after Moab) but they also have classes on sustainable living.

It was such a cool experience to work with an organization that was small scale, working from a grassroots level, and getting so much done! It was so evident that everyone involved in the Community Rebuilds projects was completely dedicated and so passionate about their cause and mission. The organization is so impressive and progressive. While we have worked with other AH groups on projects where there were green components or aspects to the materials or construction, but this is truly sustainable building here. Local materials, local labor, local homeowners...for the people, the earth and the community, it is win-win-win all around.

Tamp, tamp, tamp it out! Tamping the earth with homemade tools. It was surprising how hard pact we were able to get the floors just by pounding it with simple tools....

I find that it can be easy to lose sight of, or forget the core reason why we are here doing what we are doing. It is organizations like Community Rebuilds that kind of spark a re-inspiration in us if you will. They too are young, getting things done, and changing people's lives. It is such an empowering thing to think about.

Days - 49 and 50 - Ride into Moab and Day off #2!

Oh, hey Utah...

Our 4 am wake up call has become more of a regular occurrence. It really doesn't have too much of an effect on me (mostly because I never know what time it is...often a full hour after wake up I find myself wondering "wait. did we get up at 4 or 5? right now is it 5 or 6?") However, this morning we had a 4 am wake up call forgetting that we were on a time zone line. Womp womp. This meant that we had to wait for an hour, fully dressed and ready to go, before the sun came up and it was safe to ride. Haha. Makes for a good story :) This is not the first time this happened (remember McCook?) At least today, we were at a host and not camping, so we had somewhere to hang out!

Only 2 state lines left! So crazy!

I started my morning out with Nicole. I was excited to get moving as I wanted to maximize my time in Moab. However, 3 miles in, explosion. My tube (which had been put in by a bike shop ironically when I was buying new tires!) was pinched and I got a flat. We stopped to change it when we were completely attacked by mosquitos. We are talking like swarms of them, we were breathing them in. Nicole was totally freaked out and I told her to go on and I would ride back to sweep to get a new tube. Figures, I WOULD get a flat in a mosquito nesting ground. Drew and Heather were sweep that day and they helped me out (mosquitos weren't too much better where they were...we were getting bitten through our chamois!) Thanks guys!

About 25 miles in, I finally spotted the first sighting of some of the B&B'ers. They had all stopped at an old country store that was literally in the middle of nowhere. I stopped in, got a snack and we got a little bit of history of the place. The Bedrock Store, I am pretty sure is the longest continually operating store in Colorado. It was built in 1881 and the structure stands as it was originally built. It was pretty wild.

We had some climbing to do today, which was ok, I suppose. We all had this mentality that once we were out of the Rockies, it would be smooth sailing all the way in...haha, Oh ya, except for those Sierra Nevadas...

Nicole somehow ended up getting her chain caught in her cassette while trying to shift. Somehow, this resulted in a collision between her, Connor and Lindsey, but in the end, they were all ok. Lindsey and I ended up riding together as Nicole had to wait for the van for tools to get her chain out (they ended up waiting two hours because we are in the middle of nowhere and there was ZERO cell service! Ouch...) We had a great ride, you know, the afternoon storm that covered us in red mud, winds...the typical stuff.

As the storm blew over, the sun was very quickly scorching. That's when we realized we were in fact in the desert. It was unreal how quickly the scenery changed. All of a sudden, I felt like I was on Mars. We were rounding a corner, in this unbelievable canyon, when we saw it: "Hole in the Wall." For those of you familiar with South of the Border, I like to think that this is Nevada's equivalent.

What is Hole in the Rock you ask? Well, it is a 5,000 square foot home that was carved entirely out of the bedrock as seen here. A couple in the 1930's did it by hand and then lived there their whole lives. Their son, now in his 80's, sold it a few years ago under the condition that tours would be offered daily, just as his mother had wished. Yes, we paid 5.00 for a 12 minute tour. It was pretty cool, wouldn't do it again...haha

And naturally, there is also ice cream, a petting zoo (?) and other terrible tourist traps. It was painful, yet a must see I suppose.

We arrived at the host quite late, as you can see, it was an eventful day. After dinner we decided to take a ride over to Arches National Park. As soon as we arrived, the most intense lightning storm I have ever been in took place. People's hair was standing as a result of the amount of electricity in the air. Needless to say, we were determined to see the arches, so we caught a glimpse and ran back to the cars...it was pretty exciting.

Riding into Moab! BEAUTIFUL!

The next day, we had a day off! WOO! Second one of the summer! And yet, we didn't do much relaxing...A group of 6 (ish) got up in the morning and went skydiving and the rest of us went white water rafting in the afternoon. It was a total blast. The rapids were class 2 (i.e. not really rapids at all...) so it turned into a huge water fight, with king-of -the-mountain-type activities. The goal of the day was to take out and take over the Lindseys boat...it didn't happen.

The Lindseys boat in the beautiful Colorado River!

Mother duck...

Day 48 - Montrose to Naturita

87 Miles

And the rain continues...

Today was a tough day: cold, uphill, wet and muddy. When we got into the host many of us (and our bikes were caked with red mud which was just lovely. The climb into lunch and the descent out of lunch was miserable. I tried to squirrel myself in the trailer b

ut was then dragged out by Nicole, Bree and Lindsey.

We had quite a few visitors on this ride. Two of Kristie's P2S'ers from last year joined us and then a B2SB '09 alum who lives in Moab came out with us too!

Bree and Nicole, excited to have survived the weather!

The last 20 miles of the day turned around and were amazing. The whole scenery around us seem to change before our eyes. We were no longer in the mountains and found ourselves riding across these amazing and beautiful plateaus. We made a pit stop to wait out some rain at an amazing bar/cafe/music venue (Two Candlesticks was the name maybe?) Coffee, pool tables, jukebox, we're there. Naturally, this led to a spontaneous wagon wheel dance party. A very cool spot!

We ended the evening at a local dive bar in Naturita. We are talking real small town here...the population was under 700 and everything was on a single road. It was a good time had by all!

Day 47 - Gunnison to Montrose

Black Canyon National Park!

After a tough start to the day, (3 flats and a busted tire all before 8 am...thank god sweep carries a spare!) today's ride ended up being one of the most rewarding yet. As we got our cue sheets in the morning, I noted that there was a 6 mile, optional, uphill detour just outside of Montrose to visit Black Canyon National Park. At the time I thought ya right, today is already full of some serious climbs...there is no way I will do an additional 6 mile, 1,500 foot climb at a 7% grade. And yet 5 hours later, I found myself climbing the intense grade at 3.2 miles per hour with my friends Cap, Drew and Paul.

The guys climbed a bit faster than us, but they stuck around every few miles and we would catch them. When we got to the entrance of the park, it was just closing so we did not have to pay an entrance fee, which was great. The four of us, giddy and on a high from the climb we just did, approached the first scenic overlook, and I literally shrieked in amazement. It was breathtaking, I have never seen anything quite like it. As we took some pictures and talked to some tourists, we spotted Zach and Connor rounding the corner. We were so excited to see some friends and share this awesome moment. They had been exploring other overlooks and told us we had to go about a mile down to see the really amazing views...

Connor, Drew, Cap, Me, Zach and Paul

As we treked down to the visitors center, we locked up our bikes an hiked down the trail to the overlook. The canyons here were 2,000 feet high and shot down into a crystal blue river below. We just sat and stared for a good half an hour. It was such a cool experience.

Cap, Paul, Me, and Drew - The photos do no justice...

As black clouds started to roll in, we decided to take off as we sill had 10 miles left to town. As tough as the climb into the park was, the descent was unreal, 7% downhill grade full of twists and turns. As we were coming down we saw Kevin, Joel, Mark and Sweep coming up. We yelled to them it was worth the climb and continued down. They unfortunately, ended up getting caught in a hail storm up there and had to wait it out before riding into the hose. But I think they would agree that it was totally worthwhile...!

Case and point: Black Canyon National Park is a must see. I certainly will be visiting again!