On A Rainy Day The Frogs Come Out To Play

Yesterday we had a build day with Habitat of southwest Alabama, specifically in Mobile.  Despite the rain, the local Habitat chapter found lots of inside work for us to tackle.  A large majority of us tried our skills at flooring and some of us got the chance to work with baseboards and paint.  

Meet Jobeth and Kirsten, two of my teammates who worked on flooring with me.  

As we were cleaning up and preparing to leave the worksite, Kirsten found a froggy! 

After the work day, we shuttled back to the host site where we held a bike clinic for local families and children.  We taught the kids about safe riding techniques and how to signal to other riders and drivers their intentions.  

Gaurang pretended to be an obstacle, specifically a deer. 

The Mail Time Blues

SUS14 got mail!!!  Every Thursday while on the road our route gets a mail drop.  How does that work you ask?  Go to this link for more information: 

http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,347/

You could also go to Bike & Build's website, follow the link on the left hand side that reads "2014 Mail Drops" and scroll down to Southern US. 

Today many of my riders got packages and I rode in the van back from the build site with the parcels in my lap.  Alas, no mail for Molly. 

So if anyone is feeling super generous, I love surprises :) 

Friendly notes, cool pictures, funky clothes, and facial moisturizer (man my skin is drying out from the sun and wind) are all much appreciated care package items.  The team loves Nutella and crunchy peanut butter.  Really, we love everything edible.  

So maybe next Thursday will be like Christmas morning? 

Century Old Is A Century Young

Yesterday I biked a century!!!  What does that mean? It means I biked 100 miles.  

With two stops for lunch and several short breaks to get our bearings, Micah, Laura and I averaged 12.5 mph from the time we left the host site yesterday morning. Actual riding time, Laura and I were clipping along at 21 mph to first lunch until a storm began to move in and the wind picked up.  Once the headwind hit, Micah joined us and we averaged about 16 or 17 mph to the host site 63 miles away.  The three of us were the first to arrive at the host at 3:20, about 40 minutes before any of our teammates.  

While en route, we rode through a gorgeous scenic highway along the gulf coast.  

So for those of you that are confused why we had two lunches yesterday but not every day, I am going to explain the "90 or 90 rule". On days where we either bike over 90 miles or the temperature is over 90 degrees (or both for southern) we get to stop for lunch twice.  Lunch stops entail the van and trailer driving ahead of all of us, choosing a good location for eating, waiting for all riders to come through and grab a bite of food, and then heading on to the host site or heading on to choose a second lunch site for 90-90 days.  

We Bike & Builders like food so we like two lunch days.  

Finally, today is our last day in Florida.  We are biking 94 miles to Mobile, Alabama this evening.  One state about to be checked off the list.  

Sleeping Beauty And The Seven Dwarves

When we painted the trailer in St. Augustine, our team decided to write the words "sleep, eat, bike, build".  Little did we know that those four words would be such a fully-encompassing summary of our time with Bike & Build. 

Sure, you guys have all realized that we are doing a considerable amount of biking and building this summer, but to underline our love of food and our love of naps, let me provide these snapshots of yesterday's lunch break.  

Sleeping. (I'm the horizontal one in the middle). 

Eating.  

Sleeping and eating. 

There have also been some questions about our lovely and generous hosts.  This past night, we stayed at East Baptist Church of De Funiak Springs.  When we arrived, several members of the church family were there to greet us with snacks and directions around the church.  

Our first move is always to establish a place for our bicycles.  After the bikes are situated in a room, a lot of us scout out the different sleeping locations.  Anything softer than a tile floor is prime realestate and couches are absolute gems.  Most days, riders are able to relax and shower between when they arrive at the host site and 6pm, the normal dinner time.  After dinner, we sometimes give presentations to the host sites that would like one and sometimes we have other responsibilities.  

Today was a special day because it was our third riding day.  Every third riding day, Bike & Builders do...LAUNDRY!!!  We lay out a 20X20 tarp and after everyone's stuff is thrown in, we burrito the tarp and take it to the nearest laundry mat.  We dominate about half the laundry mat's machines and when everything is dried, we reburrito it in the tarp and take it back to the host site for all our teammates to sort through.  

After returning from laundry around 9pm, we begin to wind down and get ready for bed.  Ideally, bags are 95% packed the night before.  On ride days, curfew is 11pm and most riders begin crashing before that deadline because we are generally awake by 5am the next morning.  On build days, curfew is 1am with a 7am wake up.  

In the morning, people roll out of their sleeping bags blurry eyed and hoping for 5 more minutes of rest.  We pack up, change, eat breakfast, pack trailers, fill coolers, do maintenance on our bikes and have a group route meeting that outlines the day's plans and details.  After route meeting, riders are free to hit the road.  

So that is an abbreviated day in the life.  Sleeping.  Eating.  Biking.  And building.  

A Wind Wall Is A Winning Wall

There was a time change!!!  We are now in central time which also meant an extra hour of sleep.  In addition to the extra hour, our leaders pushed back our wake up time from 5am to 6am which meant 2 extra hours, and believe me, sleep is like currency on this trip.  To prove my point, when everyone arrived to the host site yesterday and the doors weren't yet open, we sought shade and crashed. 

On the ride to Panama City four of us hammered down and went fast to escape the hottest part of the day.  We had a less experienced rider with us so to make his ride a little easier, we formed a wall in front of and beside him to block the wind.  For the whole 40 miles from our lunch spot to the host site, we averaged 21 mph. Shayan, the rider that is improving quickly and markedly got a video of the other three of us clipping along at 22 mph. 

Catfish Casualty

We have finally made it to the Gulf Coast! Our ride into Apalachicola was a wonderful 82 miles along the water.  We had an awesome time at lunch enjoying good views, cool water and conversations with curious floridians.  

Marlee decided to go tree climbing while Dillan struck a pose on flat ground.  

A little while later, Molly M. joined Marlee in the tree.  

A few Bike & Builders made a slight trek away from the lunch location to explore and satiate their climbing desires.  

Morgan and Connor headed out to the end of the pier in Apalachicola to check out the local landscape.  

Charlie bonded with a local kid about their mutual love of fishing.  Note the inverted jersey swim trunks.  

These two goobers are Ashley and Charlie.  

Bike & Build encourages riders to keep their chamois (the biking shorts) clean and dry to combat potential saddle sores and other undesirable health complications.  As a result, rather than jumping into the Gulf in his chamois, he turned his biking shirt into a swimsuit and enjoyed the water.  

Finally, there has been a request for a picture of me taking on this amazing adventure.  Here is me at Atlantic Beach at the start of the trip. More pictures to come! 

Turns Out The Skill Saw Takes Skill

Yesterday's build day was wonderful.  The mobile home community where we spent the morning and afternoon provided refuge for families with children. Some families were dealing with the adversities of only having one parent, of having parents with mental health issues, and of having family members that had previously been incarcerated.  Regardless of these troubles, the entire community was so kind and welcoming.  

Our Bike & Build crew spent the day combatting termite problems, spreading mulch and playing with the little kids that live in the community.  

Meet Gaurong.  He loves getting great pictures with the wheelbarrow. 

Meet Colleen and Morgan, two powerful women ready to show the pests that they mean business. 

Emma became the label queen with all of our nametags decorating her shirt.  

And once again, Micah, having fun with the paper tools. 

The lunch settled heavily in our stomachs and Josiah and Molly M. enjoyed their siesta.  

After lunch, our team had a mulching contest.  

And the winners of the contest were... 

Shayan, Dan K. and Claire!!! Although I have to say I'm not sure their prize was the best. 

Remember Rhys, my teammate who likes to use the power tools?   Well at yesterday's build site, he had a bit if an adventure with the skill saw.  See if you can spot what's wrong with the picture.  

Having trouble? Here is another hint.  

Yes, Rhys cut right through his own chord as he was using the circular saw.  We all got a wonderful core workout as we fell to the ground laughing at his priceless mistake.  

Needless to say, yesterday was an adventure with lots of friends and cool conversations.  What a pleasure to help out the Tallahassee community.  

Raise The Roof! Paint The Town Red!

Today is another build day!  Our last build day was in Atlantic Beach with Beeches Habitat and today in Tallahassee we will be working with Good News Outreach.  Here are some snapshots from last weeks construction fun.  

Meet Micah.  He was roped into doing roofing because he had the forethought to wear pants to the build day and he isn't scared of heights.  

Meet Greg, one of Sus14's route leaders.

 

Meet Maddie (left), Kirsten (center) and Dillan (right).  Maddie is also one of our route leaders and she really likes hammering and cutting wood.  

Meet Ashley (left), Shayan (center) and Dan S. (right).  All three are first time riders. 

Meet Angela and Dan K.  Dan K. is one of our route leaders.  

Meet Rhys who loves to cut things with the power saw.  

Food: The Way To A B&Bers Heart

Yesterday was hot!!!  But thankfully my cycling group skipped the morning heat and was the first group to arrive to lunch at 10:30am.  40 miles in 2.3 hours, not too shabby.  

Our lunch spot was beautiful, shady and breezy, three qualities I have learned to really appreciate on these ride days.  

You can see me sitting down to the left of the green box. 

Some of my teammates got super adventurous over lunch time and went foraging for wild berries.  

The afternoon winds and heat made the remaining 35 miles considerably more challenging but I made the ride in 2 hours, arriving 3rd at 2:15pm.  

Later in the afternoon as we were relaxing, a bunch of my teammates decided to stack their hammocks.  What do you think, does it look like fun? 

Despite the heat and sunburn, the achy muscles and the saddle sores, this experience is unreal.  I am so glad to be participating in Bike & Build and I can't wait for tomorrow's build day in Tallahassee.  

I'm Gonna Need A Fat Tire For These Flat Tires

Yesterday's experience as sweep was...an adventure.  My teammates and I got on the road around 8:30am.  Before 11am, three members of my group had gotten flat tires.  By the end of the day, the count was up to 7, one chain had come loose and a girl passed out from heat exhaustion.  As always, pictures to back it up.  

However, all riders are okay and we are on the road to Perry FL.