I know I haven't been good about updating very often, but we stay very busy and rarely have internet access. But I have a little bit of time on the comp, so i'll give ya'll a quick update. I'm trying a different approach to posts.. let's see how it goes.....
-We're in Brinkley, Arkansas! We crossed over from Tennessee this morning via the bridge over the Mississippi River.. it was pretty sweet. Pictures were taken, but not posted yet (surprise surprise...)
-My knee is still damaged! Yes. The knee still hurts, but it has improved. Supposedly we're heading into the Ozarks tomorrow, so wish me luck with that. It's gotten to the point where my knee is okay most of the time... but still is strained on climbs.
-Memphis was a lot of fun. We got to go downtown and party on the famous Beale St Monday night. Yesterday was a day off... and I spent the majority of it sitting around, except for the pool party, which was awesome. Didn't get to Graceland like I'd hoped, i heard it was expensive. But did get some Memphis-style barbecue from the Commissary. Amazingness.
-I did not ride today, nor did Dennis and Alex. The three of us were "vanned" for misbehavior. We won't go into details, but basically we were bad bike n' builders, so we were punished for the day. But we're all riding tomorrow!
-A few days ago we passed thru Lynchburg, TN... home of the Jack Daniels Distillery. Of course we stopped and took the hour-long tour. It was a dream come true. Tons of pics to come.. eventually. We also had a pool -party in Pulaski, TN, with the MAYOR of Pulaski. He was insane, and absolutely a blast.
-The tan lines are getting extreme, and our legs are getting ridiculously strong. I guess it was a matter of time.
-I miss my family! A bunch of us sat around yesterday evening at the pool party in Memphis, exchanging stories of family traditions, memories, etc. Not that I didn't miss them before, but after last night, I miss them like crazy. Luckily I'm meeting them in Hilton Head immediately after BnB.
-Our trip is over 1/3 completed! It has seemed to fly by, and it's gonna end before we know it. We're already in our 3rd state... then Oklahoma... then Kansas... and less than 2 weeks from now..... Colorado ALREADY. It's been amazing, I don't want it to end.
-Still not a huge fan of cycling. Downhills are a blast (~40mph... curves... exhilarating), and pacelining is fun too (average 26mph over a 20 mile span, and it's almost effortless). But all in all, it's still just a mode of transportation.
-Supposedly my Diploma showed up at the house. I guess I'm officially a college graduate now! But... still no job. Anyone reading this want to employ me? My plan right now, assuming I don't get a teaching job, is to move to the beach, wait tables/ bartend at night, and substitute teach during the day. I figure it's an easy way to get my foot in the door of a school system, and then when a position becomes available, it'll be mine for the taking...
-Tomorrow we head into Little Rock, Arkansas. I'm not sure what to expect yet, but at least we have a build day on Friday! Amazingly, it'll be our 5th build day already. Oh, for those who are wondering, I'll update the mileage.......
Mileage to date...
According to website: 1213 According to cue sheets: 1249 My Actual: 1134 (thanks to injuries and today's punishment, where we missed 84 miles...it's ok, i'll make up for it eventually)
Days w/ Rain: 6 Build Days: 4 Days off: 2
Oh, and for anyone interested.. I know i'm a slacker when it comes to posting pictures and updating my blog, but other members on my team are not as lazy as I am. Go to our website's route tracker, http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/route.php?route=NC2SD&year=2009, and you can access our entire team's journal (updated daily by a different person every time), our pictures, and everyone's blogs (especially check out Nhan's and Sharif's... they're good about updates) via the links on the right. Hope everyone at home, etc is doing well! I'm doing GREAT! Thanks for all the continued support, and keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Later ya'll!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Day 17, Sweetwater, TN....
So a lot has happened since my last post. Let's see what I can fill ya'll in on...
I left off telling ya'll about our first day in Asheville. I forgot to mention that we stayed in UNC-As dorms! Yes. That's right. We slept in beds for 2 nights. It was awesome. Since we weren't at a church, we had to provide dinner for ourselves for the first time of the trip. A lot of us went to Asheville Pizza and Brewing company. I had an absolutely AMAZING pizza that I created.... w/ a black peppercorn crust, cajun chicken, chorizo sausage and jalapenos. The brews were good as well. We enjoyed our night on the town since we had a build day the next day.
Day 13, BUILD DAY in Asheville, NC
Upon waking up, my first thought was THANK GOD I do not have to ride my bike today, because my legs (and knee especially), were KILLING me from the day before's ride thru the mountains to Asheville. Upon walking into the lounge for breakfast, we're informed that due to smaller build sites, we would be divided and sent to 3 different sites. No big deal. Except. My group would be the ONLY group that HAD to ride our bikes to the site. Shoot me. No big deal, right? 3 miles. But. We're in the mountains, and my legs hurt, so it wasn't fun. The build day was amazing though. We built a wheelchair ramp for a house with Mountain Housing Opportunities. It was a blast, and we were one heck of a team. That night we had to provide dinner for ourselves again, so we went to a burrito place, then downstairs from it for ice cream. The night ended with Affordable Housing presentations, and myself staying up LATE (like tonight again), to update the blog.
Day 14, Asheville, NC to Gatlinburg, TN
YES! The day has arrived! We leave NC to venture into the beyond! But this was my day from hell, as well for other riders. Let's just say that the "mountains" we climbed into Asheville were definitely put to shame by this ride. And that my knee was totally shot by the time I got yanked by the van at 5:30... but we'll get to that. This ride was a tough one because there were 3 major climbs... and did I mention the mileage for the day was about 90 miles? The day started out pretty easily, with rolling hills and such, which my knee was very thankful for. Then the first mountain, which destroyed me, and I almost threw the towel in at the first lunch break. But, being the stubborn person I am, I decided to push it and ride on. The rest of the climb was just as miserable as the first half, but thanks to my buddy Andy encouraging me and sticking by my side, I made it to the Blue Ridge Parkway. That starts the 2nd climb, which wasn't as steep, but was long. I was determined to continue on, eventually cresting it, despite the copious amounts of motorcycles wizzing by us. The next few miles were worth every bit of pain that I had just put myself through. We decended from 5200ft to about 1000ft within about 10 minutes. It was AMAZING. I think I topped out at 45mph... although I could've gone faster. Then we entered the Great Smokey Mtns... 3rd climb of the day. This mountain fooled us, because it started kind of gradually. Turns out, It was not a nice mountain, and took its toll on my knee. I bowed out about 6 miles from the top, and tried to call the van to get me, but had no phone service. So I chilled for a little while, and luckily was picked up soon after. Amy was driving the van on this particular day, and had to pick up anyone that had not crested the final mountain by 5:30. I was one of 10 to be picked up, thank God, because we still had about 18 miles to go after the mountain. The rest of the night was fairly uneventful, camping on the lawn of First Baptist Church in Gatlinburg.
Miles to date...... (not handy, sorry).
Day 15, Gatlinburg, TN to Maryville, TN
This was a short ride, about 40 miles with one large climb and the rest rolling hills. I wouldn't know from experience though, because I was in the van riding shotgun. The leaders and I decided I should take a day off from riding to rest my knee. I really did not want to because I'd rather participate in EVERY ride and have my trek across the country be legit. But. It was for the best, and it was a short ride anyways. Gabe and I stopped on the side of the rode with a lot of the riders to hike to a waterfall, it was pretty sweet. The rest of the day was pretty chill, including going out to a bar downtown that night.
Day 16, BUILD DAY in Maryville, TN
Absolutely AWESOME day!! We ROCKED it out there! The entire team rode about 6 miles each way on our bikes to the build site. Blount County Habitat greeted us with cowbells as we rode in. I'm still not a fan of biking on our day off from biking, but I do think it's pretty sweet that we literally Bike AND Build in the same day... hence our name. This job site was amazing. We built the entire flooring system of a house, from the main support, up to the sub floor. We worked like a machine and made it happen. The weather was gorgeous, and I'm still a redneck thanks to it, haha. Last night we ate at Aubrey's, a restaurant in Maryville. It was totally free except for drinks and tip. The service was awesome, and the food was even better. (I had a salad... yes, I did.)
Day 17, Maryville, TN to Sweetwater, TN
Today was like any other..... AWESOME! This trip has been amazing, I don't think I can reiterate it enough. We woke up at 7am to pack and clean the church. I decided to ride and test my knee out, and it wasn't too bad today. Mike Vail and I were sweep for this one. A lot of people really dread their sweep days, but we got lucky. Today was a 39 mile ride thru rolling hills in the Tennessee countryside. We had some gorgeous views and a really relaxed ride since we had to hold down the caboose. Upon arriving at the host site (Sweetwater National Guard Armory...), we showered and immediately got in the van with the rest of the crew to go to The Lost Sea! Haha. This is the largest underground lake in the US, second largest in the world, and it's here in Sweetwater about 5 miles from our host. It was pretty sweet... kind of a tourist trap, but nice to be in a 56 degree cave rather than the 85 degree sun. 27 of the 31 of us went to the cave for a fun, relaxed afternoon, and it wouldn't have been the same without all of us. The rest of the day has consisted of us hanging out at the armory. By the way, I'm sad they won't let us drive the Humvee... haha. Tomorrow should be a nice ride, with rolling hills, and supposedly 80 miles..... we'll see about that, haha. Pray for my knee, and for my entire team's health as we continue... almost 800 miles so far!! Until next time, Gnight!
Miles to date... (sorry, not handy... next time, haha)
According to website: 735 Cue Sheets: --- Actual: ---
Days with Rain: 6
Pictures STILL to come... I promise. (Check out Facebook...)
I left off telling ya'll about our first day in Asheville. I forgot to mention that we stayed in UNC-As dorms! Yes. That's right. We slept in beds for 2 nights. It was awesome. Since we weren't at a church, we had to provide dinner for ourselves for the first time of the trip. A lot of us went to Asheville Pizza and Brewing company. I had an absolutely AMAZING pizza that I created.... w/ a black peppercorn crust, cajun chicken, chorizo sausage and jalapenos. The brews were good as well. We enjoyed our night on the town since we had a build day the next day.
Day 13, BUILD DAY in Asheville, NC
Upon waking up, my first thought was THANK GOD I do not have to ride my bike today, because my legs (and knee especially), were KILLING me from the day before's ride thru the mountains to Asheville. Upon walking into the lounge for breakfast, we're informed that due to smaller build sites, we would be divided and sent to 3 different sites. No big deal. Except. My group would be the ONLY group that HAD to ride our bikes to the site. Shoot me. No big deal, right? 3 miles. But. We're in the mountains, and my legs hurt, so it wasn't fun. The build day was amazing though. We built a wheelchair ramp for a house with Mountain Housing Opportunities. It was a blast, and we were one heck of a team. That night we had to provide dinner for ourselves again, so we went to a burrito place, then downstairs from it for ice cream. The night ended with Affordable Housing presentations, and myself staying up LATE (like tonight again), to update the blog.
Day 14, Asheville, NC to Gatlinburg, TN
YES! The day has arrived! We leave NC to venture into the beyond! But this was my day from hell, as well for other riders. Let's just say that the "mountains" we climbed into Asheville were definitely put to shame by this ride. And that my knee was totally shot by the time I got yanked by the van at 5:30... but we'll get to that. This ride was a tough one because there were 3 major climbs... and did I mention the mileage for the day was about 90 miles? The day started out pretty easily, with rolling hills and such, which my knee was very thankful for. Then the first mountain, which destroyed me, and I almost threw the towel in at the first lunch break. But, being the stubborn person I am, I decided to push it and ride on. The rest of the climb was just as miserable as the first half, but thanks to my buddy Andy encouraging me and sticking by my side, I made it to the Blue Ridge Parkway. That starts the 2nd climb, which wasn't as steep, but was long. I was determined to continue on, eventually cresting it, despite the copious amounts of motorcycles wizzing by us. The next few miles were worth every bit of pain that I had just put myself through. We decended from 5200ft to about 1000ft within about 10 minutes. It was AMAZING. I think I topped out at 45mph... although I could've gone faster. Then we entered the Great Smokey Mtns... 3rd climb of the day. This mountain fooled us, because it started kind of gradually. Turns out, It was not a nice mountain, and took its toll on my knee. I bowed out about 6 miles from the top, and tried to call the van to get me, but had no phone service. So I chilled for a little while, and luckily was picked up soon after. Amy was driving the van on this particular day, and had to pick up anyone that had not crested the final mountain by 5:30. I was one of 10 to be picked up, thank God, because we still had about 18 miles to go after the mountain. The rest of the night was fairly uneventful, camping on the lawn of First Baptist Church in Gatlinburg.
Miles to date...... (not handy, sorry).
Day 15, Gatlinburg, TN to Maryville, TN
This was a short ride, about 40 miles with one large climb and the rest rolling hills. I wouldn't know from experience though, because I was in the van riding shotgun. The leaders and I decided I should take a day off from riding to rest my knee. I really did not want to because I'd rather participate in EVERY ride and have my trek across the country be legit. But. It was for the best, and it was a short ride anyways. Gabe and I stopped on the side of the rode with a lot of the riders to hike to a waterfall, it was pretty sweet. The rest of the day was pretty chill, including going out to a bar downtown that night.
Day 16, BUILD DAY in Maryville, TN
Absolutely AWESOME day!! We ROCKED it out there! The entire team rode about 6 miles each way on our bikes to the build site. Blount County Habitat greeted us with cowbells as we rode in. I'm still not a fan of biking on our day off from biking, but I do think it's pretty sweet that we literally Bike AND Build in the same day... hence our name. This job site was amazing. We built the entire flooring system of a house, from the main support, up to the sub floor. We worked like a machine and made it happen. The weather was gorgeous, and I'm still a redneck thanks to it, haha. Last night we ate at Aubrey's, a restaurant in Maryville. It was totally free except for drinks and tip. The service was awesome, and the food was even better. (I had a salad... yes, I did.)
Day 17, Maryville, TN to Sweetwater, TN
Today was like any other..... AWESOME! This trip has been amazing, I don't think I can reiterate it enough. We woke up at 7am to pack and clean the church. I decided to ride and test my knee out, and it wasn't too bad today. Mike Vail and I were sweep for this one. A lot of people really dread their sweep days, but we got lucky. Today was a 39 mile ride thru rolling hills in the Tennessee countryside. We had some gorgeous views and a really relaxed ride since we had to hold down the caboose. Upon arriving at the host site (Sweetwater National Guard Armory...), we showered and immediately got in the van with the rest of the crew to go to The Lost Sea! Haha. This is the largest underground lake in the US, second largest in the world, and it's here in Sweetwater about 5 miles from our host. It was pretty sweet... kind of a tourist trap, but nice to be in a 56 degree cave rather than the 85 degree sun. 27 of the 31 of us went to the cave for a fun, relaxed afternoon, and it wouldn't have been the same without all of us. The rest of the day has consisted of us hanging out at the armory. By the way, I'm sad they won't let us drive the Humvee... haha. Tomorrow should be a nice ride, with rolling hills, and supposedly 80 miles..... we'll see about that, haha. Pray for my knee, and for my entire team's health as we continue... almost 800 miles so far!! Until next time, Gnight!
Miles to date... (sorry, not handy... next time, haha)
According to website: 735 Cue Sheets: --- Actual: ---
Days with Rain: 6
Pictures STILL to come... I promise. (Check out Facebook...)
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