Hello beautiful Colorado

I realize that I have not updated my blog since Arkansas. We have flown through Oklahoma and Kansas. I cannot believe we are already in Colorado. This state is one of my favorites so far. As we were riding into pueblo today, I could see the Rockies in the distance and I was so excited to see mountains again. 

Oklahoma and Kansas have been tough, but good for the team at the same time. We love a good challenge. We had the opportunity to have a build day in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. We worked along side the local habitat to paint a house and another group worked on building components for framing a house. I got to work with Vinny, Abby, and Emma. We had a fantastic day getting to know each other while volunteering. 

We had a great ride into Wichita, where we stayed at the united Methodist church. Our wonderful hosts had a picnic in the park that night for us. From there we headed to stafford and the wind was brutal! We had a crosswind and it was everything I could do to pedal along at 11 mph. The Kansas winds were so brutal. 

In stafford we worked with their economic development office. A group of us did a demolition project and then another group helped paint a store front, a shed, and bleachers. I am so thankful for the hospitality those in stafford showed us. 

Fayettechill

The past couple days have been absolutely amazing, but definitely challenging in new ways. After Little Rock , we had another century day too Clarksville. A century, build day, then a century was tough work. I decided that I was going to stop having expectations about century rides. My new plan was just to get on my bike and take it as it comes. I rode with Jackie, zack, and Melissa. This was definitely my favorite century so far. We got lost twice and added nine extra miles to our route, but we all remained positive and just brushed it off our shoulders. On century days, we have two lunches, usually about one third and two thirds if the way there. I was so ready for second lunch by mile 75! I could feel a crash coming, so I had no shame about the iced coffee I drank to get me through my ride. 

Around mile 100, I took over for zack and led the group into the host. We stayed at university if the ozarks and it was so cool to be in a college dorm! Our hosts cooked a delicious spaghetti dinner for us and I was so thankful for their hospitality. We also picked names out of a hat (well.... Emma's hand) for NC2SD prom. Yes, we are having prom in Colorado. I will keep you guys posted on who received my name and how they ask me. 

The next day we headed to Fayetteville, a 83 mile ride. I ride with Emma and Steven and we had such a great time! We were team victory dance. We rolled up to lunch around mile 40 and I made one of my most successful lunches thus far... Avocado (what a treat), banana, an raisins on a bagel. Don't judge me... 

We got to climb the ozarks after lunch! This was one of my favorite rides so far and one of the most beautiful parts of the country I've seen yet. I remember cycling through the rain with Steven and Emma thinking to myelf, wow. This is amazing. I can't believe I have the opportunity to ride my bike through such a beautiful place. I had an overwelming sense of gratitude and joy in that moment. The ozarks made me feel at peace. The ozarks made me respect the mountain. I embraced the mountain that day; I didn't fight it. I loved it. 

The descent was cool, but we had to use caution in the rain. We rode into Fayetteville and climbed one last giant hill before we got to our host, First Christian Church. This church has hosted NC2SD the past seven years and let me tell you... They are an awesome group of people! Last night they had a potluck dinner for us and I think I should get an award for how much I ate. 

Today we got to sleep in until 7:00 and it was glorious! I had to wake up everyone in my room because they were not having it. Haha. The church members cooked breakfast for us and we headed to the build site, where we worked with habitat. Dave, the construction manager and Michelle, the resource development manager met us with smiling faces. They were so welcoming and glad to have us there. Dave created such a chill atmosphere at the site, so not only did I feel welcome, I felt at home and very comfortable. We worked on some scaffolding, house wrapping, and we wen got to meet a family who is receiving a habitat home. Sara, the new homeowner, was open with us and shared her story with me and Maura. It is amazing to hear stories of human resilience in this trip and  to see how strong people are and how far they have come. I love this journey... More to come soon .... Xoxo. 

Enjoy the journey, the destination will come soon enough. 

Happy wedding day Jennifer!

"The ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other or of the self, the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone." -David Whyte 

Today I missed my best friend's wedding.  Jennifer Marshall became Jennifer Lott. To Jennifer, I hope you had the BEST day ever and I'm sorry I wasn't there to be a part of your special day. I love you. Thank you for being an amazing friend alllll these long years. (24 to be exact.) thank you do understanding my need for adventure and for a new challenge. I'm there in spirit and you can come to me for anything.... Even when in I'm Arkansas. You're an amazing friend. Love ya to the moon and back girl. 

Soo... I'm in Arkansas! Two days ago we crossed over the Mississippi from Memphis. We actually had to be shuttled over in three groups on the van becaus it's illegal to ride your bike over that bridge. (And super dangerous.) after shuttling across, Marlee dropped us off and we headed to Forrest City. I was really surprised by the sudden terrain change once we crossed over the Mississippi. The city if Memohis had suddenly faded into a flat farmland in just a matter of miles. 

After Forrest City, we had a century into Little Rock. Carolyn and I were sweep. Sweep's job is to stay behind and make sure everybody gets in safely. We also carry a med kit and spare tires. Tess also joined our group and we named ourselves, sweep's angels. 

We had a really long day, but all in all it was a great one. I really enjoyed riding with Tess and Carolyn. They have both grown so much as cyclists and it was cool to ride with them and see their confidence grow. 

We stayed at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock. A huge shout out to Doug for letting us stay there and everyone who cooked for us and made us feel at home. The next day (Jennifer's wedding day) we had a build day. We worked with Habitat at their awesome ReStore. We also helped clear a lot where they were gunna plant a garden. 

Doug was nice enough to shuttle us all to the bike shop after our build day and a couple of us walked to Starbucks to get our coffee on. Big surprise, huh? The night was filled with a dance party, lots of food, and prom commitee meetings (yes, we're having prom.)

We had another century today! I can honestly say that this was my favorite one yet. I rode with Zack, Melissa, and Jackie. We got lost twice and did an extra nine miles, but we all remained positive and had a blast. 

 

The longer I stay in Bike and Build land, the more I love it. I love waking up everyday before 5:00 am (ehhh) to awesome music, putting on my spandex, rushing around to get my bike stuff together, and hitting the road super early. Every day I get to ride with new people and have different adventures. I never know what I'm gunna get. I love that about bike and build. I also love that I'm pushed on this trip. I've done so many things I've never thought possible. So... Thank you bike and build and thank you to everyone who has been a part of this so far. More to come.... 

And Jennifer... Love you and congratulations. 

The socks were good LUCK indeed. 😉

You're the only TEN I See

Hey guys! I'm sorry I have not updated my blog as much as I should have in Tennessee. From now on, I am going to try to update every three days. Right now I'm coming to you from a cool local coffee shop in Memphis called, Otherlands. We finally have a day off! This past week has been filled with so many fun adventures, but I have also been through every emotion on the human spectrum. I have laughed, cried, hugged friends, sat on the side of the road in disbelief, become closer to my teammates, met new people, conquered fears, and overcome obstacles. Tennessee has been a challenge, but I'm thankful for everything it was thrown at me. I'm becoming stronger, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Tennessee has rocked my world. 

After Maryville, we headed to cleveland and then over to Dunlap. Every ride this week has been spectacular in one way or another. Since I'm so behind in my blogging, I'll give you guys one story from each ride this week. 

On the way to cleveland I rode with Marlee, Scott, and Jackie. We had a blast! As we were riding a long, a bug got lodged between my eye and my sunglasses. Ouch! It hurt so bad. I couldn't see and there were tears streaming down my eyes. I screamed at my group to "bail" just after I had called "semi back!" Needless to say, everyone thought a semi truck was coming to take them out and so we all hopped off the road into a shoulder that was not the greatest place to pull off. Scott got a giant tree stuck in his bike and he was super salty. My eye is fine and everyone is okay. 

I really enjoyed the ride to Dunlap. I ride with Steven and Michael, two really strong athletes. We were crushing the  60 mi ride when Steven got a flat! Not only did he get a flat, his gatorskin tire was completely ripped. We think he may have run over some crazy scrap metal. Then we climbed 2,000 feet to get to lunch. It was a super painful climb, but I felt so accomplished when I got to the top. 

The ride to Monteagle was 40 miles, which was a nice break for us. We stayed at a camp, where we had a bonfire and got to go swimming. Such a great day. The next day we headed to Pulaski and I rode with Tess, Ben, Melissa, and Scott. My exciting story about this ride involves my poor gatorskin tire. So I'm leading the group, just riding along trying to get to the host when I hear a pssssttt noise. I was in such denial that my tire was deflating I didn't wanna pull off. I pulled off and we came to a quick realization that my tire was done for. We also hit 1,000 miles on this ride! Yay! Pulaski greeted us with food, a pool, bike mechanics, and a chiropractor. It was a really great day. I want to thank all those who helped us while we were there. Y'all's kindness is very appreciated and I'm so thankful for everything you guys did for us. 

The next day was my first century and I've never felt like that in my entire life. First of all, I was completely exhausted and second, I am so proud of myself for getting through that. A century is a huge accomplishment! I rode with Carolyn, vinny, and Jackie. This ride was amazing because I felt like we laughed the whole day away. Even though the ride was really challenging, I had a great time with these people. They made it that much better. I love this team. Sometimes we'll be riding along and I'll be hurting and someone will scream out song lyrics or encouraging words. It makes all the difference to have that when you're riding your bike. 

After a short ride to Bolivar and a fast ride to Memphis, we had a day off. I know I keep saying this, but I had one of the greatest days yet. Last night we danced the night away on Beale Street. 

Today I had coffee at a great local place and got a massage with Jackie. After that we went to the civil rights museum and it was one of the most powerful museums I've ever been to....

 

I'm really thankful I had the opportunity to visit this place. I felt moved by everything I saw today. 

I also wanna give a HUGE shoutout to my friend Kaleigh and her husband, Grant for taking me out to dinner tonight and for spreading the word about Bike and Build. Through their church and gym, they were able to donate lots of food and snacks for us! Yay! Also to Teresa, who had a poker tournament and raised 80$ for our trip. Thank you guys so much. This trip wouldn't happen without yalls kindness. 

More coming soon..... 

We have a duty to help one another. Don't forget it.

Mountain Magic

"The best dreams happen when you're awake...at 4:00 in the morning." -Maura Moloney 

I've really had to wrap my mind the last two days before I could blog about it. These past two days have been amazing...my favorite of the trip. On May 30th we woke up at 5:00 am in waynesville and began the process of heading to Tennessee. I am on trailer crew this week, so we creatively used our bike lights in the dark to pack up trailer moon. We all ate a quick breakfast and started heading up the mountain. I rode with Nyx, one of our team leaders. This was such a cool experience getting to know Nyx (who also shares my obsession with owls) and riding UP the blue ridge parkway. This ride was so scenic and literally the beauty of the parkway is indescribable unless you've experienced it yourself. It's different than seeing the parkway by car, which I've done a million times. Everything was moving so much slower (reallyyyy slow sine we were climbing.) I have never appreciated simple things in nature like I have during this trip. The sky is so magnificent and the trees are so lusciously green. It seems so small, but when you're climbing a mountain on your bike, it's so beautiful. Everything in nature has a meaning. I felt so close God during this ride and I could feel his presence all in my surroundings. 

The descent off of the mountain was hands down one of the best feelings I've ever had. When I was flying down the mountain at 30 mph I felt so free. 

After lunch, Nyx and I headed up another mountain towards Tennessee. This climb was the MOST intense climb I've ever done. It was straight uphill. We climbed for hours. Something really neat about this was that a butterfly followed us for hours. I felt like that butterfly was a good omen for us. 

When we reached the top, we were soooo happy and not to mention, ready to get down the mountain. The rain was coming in, so we made the decision to descent as safely and quickly as possible. For those who don't know, descending in the rain on a bike is very sketchy. Tennessee greeted us with rough roads, crazy drivers, rain, and bright lights of Gaitlinburg. It was super strange to be in nature ALL day long and fly off the mountain into Gaitlinburg. Gaitlinburg is like a giant state fair all the time. 

We had a lot going on after our 7,664 foot climb and had no dinner planned. It was really cool to see my team pull together and DM dinner from various places all over Gaitlinburg. What started out as nothing, became a gigantic feast and everyone was full. Thirty-one tired individuals came together to cook, call restaurants, and share positivity. It was really neat. 

The next day was also a 5:00 am wake up and we headed to Maryville. I rode with two guys, hunter and Evan. As were riding along, climbing hills, a group flags is down. We had gone 11 miles the wrong way! We stayed in constant contact with our leaders and waited for a reroute. 

Despite a frustrating situation, the team came together again. We headed back to Gaitlinburg to get our new cue sheets. The mileage had been changed to 41 and I felt like since I'd already done 22, I could definitely do this. The Tennessee back roads were gorgeous and the new route took us through some really neat areas. 

After bonking, which includes delirium and a lot of laughter, and a lot of chalking, we made it to the host! Yay! 

Now I am in Maryville with a day off. We are cycling the next seven days straight. I am nervous, but I have also learned on this trip that I can do anything. I love this team. They are such a positive group of people and I'm excited to ride with them through Tennessee. Here's to the next week of adventures... 

Xoxo

Try not to judge people at first glance. You never know what you're going to get. Keep an open mind and learn to embrace people. There's a reason for their presence in your life.