I have ants in my pants! (Literally)

Today was a day of ups and downs - literally and figuratively.

I started off the morning waking up from some crazy nightmares - not a good way to start my day :(. As soon as I changed out of my pjs and into my spandex at 6 am, I had this severe pain shooting through my rear. I started getting nervous that maybe I had a little nerve damage or a twisted nerve and that I wouldn't be able to ride because I was literally unable to sit. 

So, I stood up and the pain didn't go away.  I reached down into my spandex to see if I maybe was starting to get saddle sores, but my bum seemed to feel fine. So then, I asked if one of my leaders would look at it (yeah, we're this close already). As I was waiting in line to go into the bathroom to check out my "condition" I reached into my shorts again and felt a hard little nugget near my chamois. I pulled it out, and what was it?! Fire ants! I literally had ants in my pants! I started screaming in the big room we were all in - "I have ants in my pants, I have ants in my pants!" and quickly ran over to my bin and ripped those babies off faster than I could say Mylanta. Anyway, that was an interesting start. So much for my modesty :/

Last night, it stormed in Rochester, VT (where we stayed at an old youth hostel owned by the avid cyclists) and I was hoping that the rain had come and gone. We started on the road around 7:30 am, and we had a fairly easy  first 5 miles. However, I was feeling pretty stiff from all that climbing we did yesterday. As soon as those five miles were over, it started to rain, right as we started climbing up what would be a 10 mile climb. OH MY GOSH WAS IT AWFUL!!jalskfjd;laksdjf;las

The rain started falling super hard and the climb went on forever and ever and ever. Then, as we were nearing the top (after 9 miles of straight uphill), this terrible wind started blowing directly in our faces. My shoes were so full of water that it literally felt like I was submerged in a little pond in each foot. I thought I was going to blow off my bike. About 100 yards from the top, me, Kate, and two of my leaders got off of our bikes and did a little rain dance to boost morale. I have to say, I was still pretty miserable. I just kept telling myself, "Sarah, this is more mental than physical, you can do it!"

Then, we hit the much anticipated top of the mountain and got ready for the descent. Normally, this is really fun because we can hit really high speeds and it's like a little break for our legs. The descent was 7 miles long with a 12% grade. However, with rain as hard as it was and wind so strong, I was terrified. I white knuckled my brakes so hard, my hands were literally in pain. Needless to say, we made it, and by the end, the rain had pretty much ceased. After that climb, we had a series of hills - I'm getting kind of used to them by now, but they still aren't fun, especially on sore and tired legs. Mentally, I was just kind of out of it.

We had lunch at mile 28 and that was where I had my turn around. I ate a solid lunch (I've learned my lesson) and hit the road again. The hills out of lunch were awful! I had to get off my bike and walk up one of them. Today, was kind of special, though. At mile 37, we had to board a ferry to take us across Lake Champlain (sp?) to get from Vermont to New York. That was a nice little rest for all of us. On the ferry, we listened to the "I'm on a boat" (SNL song). We all danced and hung out on the 20 minute ride. Way fun!

We had reached New York! Three states crossed in as many days! The last 15 miles, I kicked it into high gear. I decided to just power through those last hills and I surprisingly felt pretty good. I am now a huge fan of the Clif Shot Blocks and will definitely be picking some up when I get to Janesville. They are a huge burst of energy. 

We are staying in a YMCA in Silver Bay, NY tonight. The last 10 miles of today (53.1 in total) were awesome. Very hilly but we were surrounded by amazing scenery and passed through some pretty cool resort towns on the way to our destination. The leaders of the trip did a good job at keeping where we were staying tonight a secret. I knew it was a YMCA, but this YMCA is practically a high-end resort. We all have beds and individual rooms (well, two to a room) with sinks in the room and showers down the hall - this is pure luxury on this trip, you have no idea!! There is sailing, swimming, kayaking, tennis, archery, and never ending amounts of amazing food. The most amazing thing about all of this experience at the YMCA is that they are hosting us FREE OF CHARGE! Honestly, not a day goes by where we aren't blown away from the support we are receiving - both in hospitality and in words of encouragement.

 As soon as I got here, we all jumped in the lake and it was a blast! Then, I journaled a little bit on a dock and have just been enjoying myself. I am so tired and will probably be going to bed pretty soon. This is day two of a six day stretch of riding every day. I don't expect the hills to stop any time soon. We have our next (third) Build Day in Rochester, NY. The next day: only a 20 mile ride to Niagara Falls. Ahh, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Until I blog again, night!

We climb mountains

Exhausted. Today was the day we'd all been dreading - we were going to scale a mountain (Bethel Mountain, to be specific) and were warned we'd have an 8 mile climb. I literally worked myself into a panic over it last night, and made sure I ate enough carbohydrates to last a normal person three months. Which reminds me: last night = amazing!

We stayed in Lebanon again last night after a full day of volunteering at a build site in Vermont with an affordable housing/home repair group called Cover. Since there are so many of us, the group was split up and each group went to a different project. Myself and eight others drove a half hour into Vermont where we sided a trailer home that was in desperate need of repair. We got so much done and I was so proud of our efforts. I got to use a skillsaw for the first time. I have to admit, I felt pretty cool.

When we got home around 5 pm, we ran to the showers at the nearby community building and returned just in time for a lasagna dinner. It was delicious. Afterwards, one of the church members who had made us a pancake breakfast earlier that day suggested that we all participate in a sing along. A few of us were weary of the idea at the beginning, but it instantly became one of the highlights of the trip and a memory we'll never forget. We sang John Denver's "Country Road, Take Me Home" at the tops of our lungs and swayed back in forth arm in arm. The relationships I'm building with the people around me are amazing. After only a week of knowing each other, I feel like some of these people are my best friend. We get along so well, and it is amazing to see us having the time of our lives - every day! I truly feel so lucky to be a part of this group. :)

Anyway, back to today. We woke up at 6 am this morning to start our 42.1 mile trek into our first new state of the trip - Vermont! The first 30 miles were great - pretty flat and some downhill and absolutely beautiful scenery. Pictures below! :)

Then at lunch (around 9:45 am), I had the crazy idea to plan on getting ZERO flats the entire trip. Lesson learned: stop making goals; if you're me, Murphy's law always seems to apply. Not surprisingly, I ended up with not one, but two flats and a nice hole in my tire all of two miles down the road. Fortunately, my fellow and awesome B&B'ers stayed with me while I changed my tubes and waited to "Mom"gela to come to the rescue in the van. After two tubes and new tire, I was all set to climb.

The first couple of miles went just fine. Obviously a climb, but I was able to push through it. Then, about three miles in, hills like I'd never seen before appeared. I'm pretty sure the mere encounter of the hill in front of me was enough to eject me from my bike. I gave it a go, but I was off my bike in no time, pushing it uphill. I'm slightly disappointed in myself for not having biked up the whole thing (as some of  the riders did), but I wholly subscribe to the idea of not torturing myself, and climbing that steep of an incline seemed brutal, and honestly, I think I walked my bike up just as fast.

At the top of the hill, we all breathed a celebratory sigh of relief and got ready to white knuckle our brakes for the 4 mile descent. Some people reached 53 miles per hour on their bikes! I'm a bit of a chicken, so I only hit 37 (my highest of the trip has been 41.5 mph). As soon as we arrived in Rochester, VT, a few of us headed to the river to 'shower' off. The water was ice cold, but it felt so good!

It's only 4 pm, but I think if I had it my way, I'd be headed to bed by 6.

I love Bike & Build!!!!

Hello, hello from Lebanon, New Hampshire! We had absolutely the best day today! For one, the ride was short (35 miles) and it was almost completely downhill, with the exception of a few moderate hills. What a relief, as I actually cried during some of the hills we climbed up yesterday - that's a whole other story, and I'm trying to keep this thing positive!

The weather today is absolutely gorgeous. Last night, we stayed at Our Lady Fatima Catholic Church in the very hilly city (seemed more like a village) of New London, NH. We had a delicious dinner and were able to stroll into town to check out the place. Since yesterday was kind of rough for me (note: eat lunch, even if it's at 10:45 am when you're doing strenuous hills), I was pretty anxious about today and nervous we might have the same type of climbs. However, it couldn't have been any better!

I was assigned the role of sweep along with Mark Broz for today's ride. Sweep means that we ride behind all of the other riders to make sure no one gets left behind. This is a great "job" because it means we get to stop when all of the other riders feel like stopping, which today meant swimming in a lake, stopping for ice cream, and taking awesome photos along the way. (Promise I'll upload those things soon). It only took us about 2.5 hours to get to our destination, and when we arrived there was a small city carnival of sorts happening in the downtown area of Lebanon, right next to the church we're staying at.

I have been having major issues with my seat moving, and I was getting really frustrated that it kept happening more and more no matter how much I was tightening it. I was worried I was going to have to fork over a lot of money to get a new seat and post (biking = expensive hobby), but fortunately there is a bike shop half a mile away from where we're staying. The whole group of us stopped in and I had my seat post replaced for only 20 bucks - awesome! I hope this will be the solution to my seat problems. Seriously a pain in the butt. ;)

Tonight, we're going to be eating at a community dinner in Lebanon. Up until this trip, I never loved food as much as I love food now. I seriously feel like my days consist of sleeping, biking, eating, eating, eating, building, biking, etc. The food donations have been amazing and I am still completely overwhelmed by all of the generosity.

Tomorrow, we have our second build day in Lebanon. While build days are definitely not days off, I am looking forward to having a day off of my bike to let my legs kind of recover from the grueling hills I've been forcing them to do.

Tonight, the group is going to go out together after dinner. I'm excited to wear something other than athletic shorts and cotton t-shirts.

Well, my time on the library computer is nearly up, so I'm going to get going.

3 weeks until Janesville!!

Day 4 of 69

First day of pedaling: done and done. We had a 6am wakeup call and got ourselves pumped up during breakfast and route meeting with Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA. We were all so excited! We had a delicious hot breakfast cooked by some of the members of the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. It was delicious!! Then, we were off! We biked 6 miles over to the beach where we dipped our tires. Francie, Luke, and Matt Osgood (my surrogate family pre-Bike & Build orientation) came to see us off! We all got together and dipped our back tires and set off on a 60 miles trek. Some of the best miles I've biked thus far. It was so much fun and I had so much pride riding as a team!

However, after all of that great excitement and riding, I am exhausted! Having trained in Madison, I didn't get a whole lot of exposure to hills. Today was just a taste of the climbs to come, and already I thought my legs were going to burn off my body. 60 miles of which I felt like I rode 90% in 'granny gear' (aka the lowest gear).

Kate Terry, Tony Bohr, and I (midwest represent!!!!) formed a nice little group since we all kept the same pace today and dubbed ourselves Tony's Angels. True love already. We're now in Concord - New Hampshire's capitol. It's a really pretty, historic town.

Yesterday, I blogged before dinner and now wish I  would have waited to blog after dinner, because one of the highlights of the trip thus far occurred: the local Habitat for Humanity of the Portsmouth area delivered the news to an unsuspecting family that they had been chosen as recipients of a new, affordable home. Almost everyone was in tears - it was so moving and really showed us the impact of our efforts. The family was so gracious and we all enjoyed a great meal together. I am so proud of everyone on this trip - we get along great and we're really accomplishing some amazing things.

Now, I'm going to try to distract myself from the anxiety I have for tomorrow's climb. Missing everyone back home already!

Day 3 of 69

Today was our first build day. I'm hoping to upload pictures to my blog soon, but haven't had "Photos 101" yet, so I'm not sure how we'll all be doing it.

It was great to spend a day using our collective manpower to put up siding, build porches, and learn how to  use a power drill. It was really hot earlier today, so I'm wiped. We're having a cookout tonight made by beneficiaries of our labor from last year. It's really true that you get what you give. The generosity so far has been amazing. We've been learning about "Donation Magic" and how easy it is to get food and other necessities when you just ask. People are happy to help out, especially when they know that their generosity allows us to put more of the money we raise directly toward affordable housing.

Tomorrow is the day we've all been anticipating - the Atlantic tire dip! I am SO EXCITED! We're starting our day tomorrow with a 65 mile ride. I'm all sorts of antsy to get going. I'm a little nervous, as the Appalachian mountains are supposed to be a very, very, very difficult bump to get over.

I've named my bike Lu Ann. So glad that's taken care of.

Alright, must go eat!

Happy in Portsmouth!

Hi everyone!

Quick post to let everyone know I've been having the time of my life in Portsmouth, NH! Staying with relatives of the Ryan family (my ride out to Portsmouth - thanks Jim and Nigella!) and have been having a blast. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon after an 18 hour drive that was super fun.

Max and I biked 75 miles along the Atlantic coast up into Maine on Thursday. Beautiful! Max popped his tire, and I had to ride to a bike store a few miles down the road. But all ended well and it was good experience for the inevitable tire changes I'll encounter on the road. We biked to Kennebunkport (sp?) and had a delicious, albeit expensive lobster roll and got a taste of what biking in the rain feels like. Not as terrible as one (or, at least me) would imagine.

Yesterday, I spent the day in Boston with Kate (fellow NUS'er) and her brother, Ali Kolste (NUS alum), and her sister, Tori. We had a blast, but I was definitely hot! We ended the night with delicious seafood from Legal Seafood right on the water's edge with a friend of Kate's mom's. I thought I was going to explode post-dinner.

Alright, well must head to Swampscott to wish our friend Max a safe and happy trip as he departs from Boston early tomorrow morning! I can't believe this day is finally here!

Sarah

Wow! I know some amazing people!

Today has been wonderful! As of last night, around 10 pm, I was about $215 away from my $4000 goal. Not bad, I thought, but I was preparing myself to maybe have to donate a little more than the 10% I had committed to contribute toward the trip in an effort to get that money raised by Tuesday.

I decided, given that I leave for New Hampshire on Tuesday morning, that I should send out an email to those near and dear to me about how they can follow my journey via blog and the Bike & Build Web site. As of right now (8:30 pm) I am $45 away from my goal. I cannot believe the generosity!

I have always felt so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life who have been so supportive of everything I do. Today that feeling reached a whole new level. I included one of my professors on my mailing list - Ahna Skop - because she was a great professor, but also just a great mentor who I really enjoyed getting to know over the last semester. Well, Ahna passed on my email to some of her colleagues, and I have been delighted by emails of encouraging words and even more unbelievable, donations to Bike & Build! To have people donating to a cause in my name that have never even met me is testament to what an amazing organization Bike & Build truly is. I have had a grin on my face from ear to ear today, and I am just so, so, so grateful to have such great friends and support as I excitedly, but nervously, embark on this experience of a lifetime!

Thank you all so much! Now, every mile I bike will be worth a dollar to support affordable housing. This experience will surely change my life for the better, but what's more important is that this experience, and my involvement, will forever change the lives of hundreds of families I meet along the way. I can't wait, and I couldn't have done this without every one of you who has contributed to this cause and sent me well wishes.

I have just entirely moved out of my bedroom as of tonight. It's sad to leave places you've built so many memories in. However, the memories I make on this trip will be well worth the small sacrifice of not spending a summer in lovely Madison.

Four more days!