Where the Heck is SUS '12?

Well the video has been put together and (BIG BIG BIG) thanks to Allison, we have a custom made mix of all the HOT SUS jams to go with our super fly dance moves!  Also thanks to everyone who filmed (Ben, Nate, Chika, Bri, Krisitna, Marcus, just to name a few), added their creative juices (Marcus and Jay) and of course to everyone who DANCED!!!

So what are you waiting for ... check out the dance!

As for the next adventure who knows, maybe I will be crazy enough to transverse the country again.  If you want to keep up with the current goings on in Baltimore check out the new blog.  Ride on!

This Is Why We Are Hot

One of the great skills people developed while riding bikes was creating Bike and Build lyrics to a variety of popular songs.  Marcus, Ben and Jay pulled their talents and came up with This is Why Bike and Build is Hot.  

The average high temperature among destination cities on the trip was 91.5 degrees F.  

It was definitely HOT!!

Penultimate Post

It is hard to believe that just over a week ago we finally arrived at the Pacific Ocean for our wheel dip ceremony. A trip that I had been planning and thinking about for months (November 2011) finally began and what a world-wind experience it was. 

One of my biggest trepidations about this trip was that I would not enjoy the company of any of the riders. Sure I had thoroughly stalked each on Facebook and read their bios several times before I left for Jville, but you still never know. I also kept telling myself that only a certain, slightly crazy person would sign up for an adventure like this so surely I would be able to find at least one person with whom I could bike; turns out I found 26. From the moment we started throwing around a beach ball littered with questions and people jumped at the chance to go bowling I knew this was the start of something good. Living with a group 24/7 for eleven weeks means you get comfortable quickly and long bike rides meant plenty of time for some hot seat action. Each of us came from an extremely different background (hometown, volunteer and cycling background, education), but somehow we morphed into the definition of a dysfunctional family with very few, if any, boundaries by the time we reached California. 

 

No matter how many pictures we post on the facy-space or words we use in a blog post the trip, the adventure and the people we met along the way will never be done justice. As much as I hate to say it, the only way you can really understand Bike and Build is to get out there and do it and even then each trip has its own different culture; this was something the team learned when we ran into the SC2SC trip. 

The statement "there are no bad days on Bike and Build, some are only harder than others" could not be more true. We survived everything from the heat of Death Valley with no water to the freezing temps/rain out of the Grand Canyon from early morning wake ups to longing for the Hoff and second lunch. The cliche what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger holds true because even in the hardest moments you had your teammates pushing you (literally sometimes up hills) and that voice in the back of your head reminding you why you were riding in the fist place.  We learned quickly how much this trip would be a game of mental stamina with a sprinkling of leg muscles and cardio. In fact the hard days usually had the best stories ie the first hard ride int Lake City or the day of 21 flats among 4 people or the day of rain and lightening so hard we were holed up in a McDonalds for three hours. While the huge amounts of endorphins running through our veins probably had something to do with masking the hardships on the road, maybe with a splash of blue Gatorade, it was the sense of camaraderie among teammates, the laughter, the story telling and the ability to DM a milkshake at all hours of the day that really got us through the trip. 

 

 

By far one of the best parts was meeting people along the way whether it be at hosts, at a random "stop and smell the roses" location or at a build site. After living all my life on the east coast, I was exposed to a HUGE part of the county I had never seen or known existed. We were continually blown away by the generosity of strangers who would stop on the side of the road to offer us water and/or a ride to a local bike shop when we were changing flats or invite us to pull up a chair at their family's BBQ. These small actions restored my faith in humanity and hopefully will serve as a reminder for myself to pay it forward when I am back in the real world. Similarly our ride would not have been possible without the support of local churches and community groups who opened their buildings up and fed us some amazing meals. It was great to share some of the local cuisine and hear about life in these small towns; many of the residents had never strayed too far from the place they grew up. 

 

 

Even more inspiring were the people working with the affordable housing movement, especially those who were working on their sweat equity hours with the hopes that one day soon they would be moving into their own home. After hearing some of the heartbreaking stories and feeling almost as frustrated with what is at times is a broken system, we stared to understand just how important affordable housing is not only for families, but also for communities. Many of us looked past the fact that we were biking across the country and instead saw ourselves as part of the possibility and movement to make some real change. The bike trip was the hook to educate people on the road about the work being done and it was great to hear that we in turn restored the older generations faith in young adults as well.  

The trip also taught us about patients and really living in the moment. So often in life, speaking from personal experience, we are rushing to get from one place to the next. Traveling at 17 mph gave us the time to really take in the country and because you can only bike so far we could stop for some amazing side trips along the way. There were definitely days when the cue sheet could not be more wrong and paved roads turned into gravel, but again those usually had some of the best stories and will be retold again and again at future SUS reunions. Being completely unplugged from the outside world was great; emails could wait for another day and facebook was only used to show friends an family we were alive and well and maybe make people a tad bit jealous that we were on the adventure of a lifetime. For the first time in a longtime we were able to focus what we were doing without the constant distractions to which we have become accustomed. All we had was each other and tons of time to kill on the bike; as a result, we could take the time to really get to know one another. 

It has been an absolute privilege and an honor to have had you all following along with me. Your notes, thoughts and prayers (it was the Southern route) got me through even the hardest days. 

 

At out last lunch stop before the beach in Monterey, Natalie told us to find some adventure which would raise the bar even higher than biking across the country. While I have no idea what that is, you can be sure I will find a good one. Maybe my next big one is surviving the nurse practitioner program I am beginning in a few weeks or maybe I will sail around the world - who knows. Let me know if you hear of anything good.

 

So with that in mind, I will not say goodbye, but until the next big adventure!

Xoxo, Emily 

PS: Don't take me off your google reader just yet. In the coming week(s) I am hoping to have our famous dance video put together.

Welcome Home to Mr. Oliver Harrison!!

During our week in New Orleans we worked on Oliver's house and we just found out that he was able to move in just a few days ago.  Very exciting!!

The Gentleman's Club

As I have entered back into society one of the things I am missing is the chivalry of the Gentleman's Club. Throughout the summer the eight men graciously opened doors, let the ladies get their choice of carbs/other delicious food at meal time and planned some great prom proposals. 

Bike Ride to Monterey

Hollister to Monterey: 44.2 miles
Total Mileage: 4027.8 miles

We all woke up this morning a little sad and very excited about what the morning had in store for us.  As we were all packing our bins Jack had a slide show going of pictures from the entire summer set to some of our team's songs. 

After our crew packed the trailer for the last time we all hit the road.  This morning I headed out with Julie, Megan, Kristina and Bri.  Despite being on the Southern Route things were COLD and misty.  Thankfully we all had the foresight to leave some of our warmer clothes out so we were able to survive. 

The one hard part of the ride would be one final hill climb which was of unknown length and unknown grade.  While the sun was out at the bottom, as we began to climb the mist rolled in; at one point you could only see a few feet in front of you.  As we were coming down from the climb, we all decided that we would need to get some coffee and a snack.  Half way through the trip, literally half way, we came across several team members drinking hot chocolate and coffee outside a deli.

After about two hours of hanging out we had to get on the road because we had friends and family waiting for us at the beach. 

The last bit of the ride took us along a bike path and when we were about five miles away we could finally see the water.  Our group decided to stop and take a quick picture just in case we did not get one in before we hit the water. 

At breakfast we had decided that we were going to wait at a Best Western for everyone to arrive and then ride the last few miles to the beach together.  We were able to grab some lunch, take pictures, read the last of the kudos and have one last dance party.  Marcus was also able to string his flag up on his bike for a grand entrance. 

We also made Jay his first peanut butter and jelly sandwich of the trip

And then it was off to the beach with Marcus and his flag leading the pack.  It was crazy to think that in just a few miles we would be hitting the water and dunking our front wheels in the Pacific Ocean.  As we came around the last turn we saw the huge crowd of friends and family members waiting for us which made it even better. 

Final picture with Bernard

Chore Group

The Orphans (those with no friends/family) 

The crew who biked every mile (I missed it by about 10 because of my crash just outside of NOLA)

The rest of the afternoon was filled with eating, drinking and meeting people's family/friends  

Man look how far we have come!!!

Bike Ride to Hollister

Fresno to Hollister: 120.6 miles
Total Mileage: 3983.6 miles

This morning the six pack was going to head out together for our penultimate ride with Arden subbing in for Susan. We had a great ride riding two by two, chatting about random things and talking about plans post Bike and Build. 

Unfortunately the cue sheet was a little off and instead of turning right, the sheet it told us to turn left.  It Added about four extra miles to our ride, but we were able to stop at this BOMB bakery which helped to supplement our breakfast. 

We had gotten a bit further down the road when Jay discovered he had a flat.  What we did not realize was that the entire shoulder was covered with burs and as soon as we put our bikes down tires started blowing.  I lost both my front and back tires in one foul swoop.  After we changed them and got back on the road I lost another one.  Half way through changing that one Nate lost a tire and then Arden lost one.  I, however, cannot feel too badly about her losing her front wheel because it still had the original tube from Florida in it.  I think that all in all the flats took us at least 90 minutes to fix and it all happened within 50 feet - a new record for sure. 

The temperature was starting to pick up as we biked towards mile 80 where we would find second lunch.  Not only were things warmer, but we were tackling some hills.  They were definitely much smaller than things we had seen over the past few days, but because of overuse, the slight headwind and the bumps it was hard to get any real momentum going.  When we pulled over for Marcus to change a flat, a local stopped by and mentioned that there was a bar at the end of the road where we would be able to get water and ice; this turned out to be the place where second lunch was set up. 

The bar was an oasis in the middle of no where.  Despite being SUPER behind at first lunch, we had caught up with a good number of people at the bar.  How great is that picture. 

Sandwiches and sodas were consumed by all before we headed back into a HUGE headwind to conquer the last 40 miles of the trip.  The scenery was great and reminded us a lot of the ride out of Yosemite.   

One of the last things on my bucket list was to climb a windmill.  Sadly I do not have the picture from said windmill as it is on Marcus' camera, but you can see it in the background of our last major summit (not too bad, especially in comparison to Tioga).

The last part of the ride was pretty cool and off in the distance we could see a huge fog bank rolling in; just another sign that we were getting closer to the Pacific Ocean.  Despite the extra miles and slow start we got because of all the flats, we arrived in the middle of the pack and not too far behind the first groups to arrive (apparently their headwind was much worst than ours was).  It was pretty much the perfect Bike and Build Day: great scenery, wrong cue sheet, getting lost and then found again, two oasis pit stops and laughing to the point where you could pee your pants multiple times. 

Pictures Are Up

So I was able to get my devices talking again which means pictures from previous posts are up!

Final Build Day!!

This morning, tired from prom, we piled into two shuttles and headed over to our build site.  As a part of the first crew we got to get a quick nap in. 

The Habitat crew here usually only has bud days on Saturdays, but they made an exception when they heard we were coming through town. This affiliate builds on average 7 homes a year and have three projects going at once, one starting every six weeks. This machine is so well oiled that they have a building schedule a year out and they and they an tell you how far in a project they will be/ace volunteers at that point too. All of homes they build are finished in 20 Saturdays which is crazy. They also do everything the old fashioned way, no nail guns, because they want to have as many people in the community as possible contributing at a build site as possible which is a really cool thought.

Once we arrived at the site we were split into three groups: one to do roofing, one to out on siding and paint the exterior and one to prime the inside of a house. Due to the warm temperatures here in Fresno and the long biking days we have had, I volunteered my group for the indoor painting project. There was something very calming about using a roller this late in the game.

Lunch was prepared by a woman who received a home about seven years ago. Fresno has a large Hmung population because after the Vietnam war this city was one of three places displaced persons were brought. She had graciously made us her first place spring rolls and fried rice. Awesome!!!

Due to their volunteer schedule we only worked a half day, but no complaints here because I was able to get caught up with some internet and real world things.

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