Texas is God’s Convection Oven

The last few days of riding have been incredibly hot. The high temperatures have been ranging from 107 to 110 degrees over the last three days, and that’s hot even for Texas. The heat we have been riding in has broken several weather records, and in every town we ride through people comment on how crazy we are for riding in it. Several people have had to ride in the van after suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion. Luckily I am not one of them yet.

The landscape is changing into southwestern-looking grassy landscapes with few trees for shade and less civilization. It feels very desert-like to me even though we aren’t actually in the desert yet, probably because of the drought. Amarillo has seen only 0.68 inches of rain since the beginning of the year. It’s very cool in the morning because without moisture the atmosphere loses heat quickly, but temperatures soar in the afternoon. The wind is not refreshing either. When it blows it feels like someone is aiming a giant hair dryer at you. The wind is also against us more often than not which continues to be a challenge.

Christine S. and Galen leave Oklahoma on the way to Memphis, Texas.

It was my turn to ride sweep with Summer into Wichita Falls Wednesday (meaning we had to stay behind everyone with extra supplies). It was pretty hot, but not as bad as the past few days. We stopped to take a nap at a picnic area to rest and let others get ahead, and later on we stopped for another rider, but I don’t remember many other details.

Thursday we rode into Altus, Oklahoma. It was a very hot day. There was some confusion in the beginning when a group ahead of us chalked incorrect directions. Different groups went in different directions, but ultimately both routes came back together (one was a business road and the other was a bypass). I got a flat soon after that–I think it was a slow leak from the day before because my tire was unusually flat when I pumped it before leaving that morning. After changing the flat the people who stopped for my “flat party” took a nap, so I did likewise for a while. Later that day I rode with Sonja, Jillian, Coleman, Kenan, and Josh E. (the “Big Katz Squad” because of the man in the cheetah-painted van who dropped off water with us at the Oklahoma state line). Coleman was having some sort of problem with his wheels and got about 7 flats (we lost count). The most disappointing was the one that was right outside our destination.

The next day we left Altus for Memphis, Texas. In the morning the temperatures were cooler, but we had to fight through strong headwinds. Later in the day the winds were not as bad, but the temperatures rose and the terrain became very hilly. Corey was nice enough to get drinks from Sonic donated, and he dropped them off with us on the road after he checked up on some people who had run out of water after they decided to skip second lunch. One thing that I have been paying closer attention to is my water. We usually pass through a couple towns out here every day, but in between those towns there is almost nothing in the way of civilization.

There was one humongous hill right before Memphis. At the top we looked down and saw the town below us–a refreshing sight with a large downhill ahead of us.

Hills on the way into Memphis, Texas.

On the morning of our ride into Amarillo we got up an hour earlier at 4:30 am to try to beat the heat. We’ve had some problems getting out the door fast enough, but with the earlier wake-up time we were able to start biking shortly after sunrise at 6 am. In the morning I actually felt cold and thought about putting on my jacket but that changed pretty quick.

I spent most of the day riding alone because being around people all day is mentally exhausting after a while. However, later in the day in the heat it was difficult to keep my mind off the heat and keep a steady pace so I stopped for a while under some trees. When Christine C. and Sadie caught up to me I joined up with them for the rest of the ride.

The day before Kelly’s mom had come down with Bike & Build alums Kristin and Jesse along with Kristin’s mom. We had some awesome food provided by Kelly and Kristin’s moms at first lunch and Grant’s parents bought us Dairy Queen at second lunch.

Today has been a day off, and it’s been a great break from riding. We’ve been hanging out at Coleman’s house and his parents have been taking care of us and feeding us, which has been awesome. Yesterday evening we jumped in the neighbors pool. We have one more host in Texas and then we go to New Mexico.

I’ve posted more pictures to the Flickr account. I’m still running the live tracker, but it has not been working well due to poor cell phone service for the past few days.

Louisiana to Texas

I never thought I’d have to pound it down a hill in my small crank, but that’s exactly what happened on the way to Dallas Saturday between first and second lunch. To get to Dallas we had to pedal into 30 mph headwinds along one stretch. Fortunately right after second lunch we turned north a little and had a tailwind that allowed me to crank over some uphills at 30 mph. Strong winds are what has characterized Texas so far.

A 30 mph headwind worked against us as we pedaled down this downhill and the following flat stretch, which culminated in a large uphill. Luckily second lunch was right after the uphill.

We’re in Decatur now, and I’ve taken another long break from posting, so I’m going try to hit the highlights of Louisiana and the past few days in Texas. For more pictures check the Flickr account, as always.

New Orleans was great. We worked on rebuilding houses in the aftermath of Katrina with the St. Bernard Project in the St. Bernard Parish for a week. We had the incredible fortune of working with Bike & Build alums Colin and Nate. They also brought us crawlfish on the day we rode in. We also had a great time exploring New Orleans and the French Quarter.

Eating crawlfish provided by Nate and Colin on our first day in New Orleans.

On our first day riding out of New Orleans we biked to Baton Rouge. We took the levee trail and the river road alongside the Mississippi for most of the way. The route was 112 miles, but it was a good day with no hills or headwind and most people agreed that it wasn’t hard. Nate and Colin also joined up with us for the ride.

In Baton Rouge we had another build day. The morning of the build day we also rode with a Texas state senator who was in town, and who was really into improving cycling infrastructure in cities.

The next day we rode to Opelousas. We originally were supposed to roll to Melville, but due to flooding in Melville this part of the route was changed. Coming out of Opelousas we had a police escort–very unnecessary, but it was just for kicks.

When we got to Natchitoches we were greeted by an assistant president of the state university there who rode the last mile in with us. It also turned out that he was really good at racquetball and extremely competitive–Josh Epstein didn’t stand a chance.

A couple of days later we crossed into Texas. Coleman is the Texan on the trip and we all made a point of waiting to cross into Texas with him. It was an awesome experience, and afterwards we all recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Texas flag. I didn’t realize other states had pledges until now, but apparently it’s a big deal in Texas.

Coleman leads us into Texas.

I take my turn with the flag.

Our first host in Texas was near Carthage. It was the parents of a Bike & Build alumna. It was an awesome time. Their house was great and so was the pool.

The ride to Athens the next day was difficult. The past few days had been fairly difficult with more hills and stronger winds, but this ride was also 90 miles long. We also started out competing in an on-the-road scavenger hunt. It would’ve been great on a short ride, but it turned out to be a really bad idea when we wasted all of our cooler time in the morning.

As I mentioned above, the ride into Dallas was also very windy and difficult. However, when we arrived in Dallas we were welcomed by the best host so far on the trip. We stayed in a middle school, but we ate and hung out in the pool at Sally and Peter’s house. We were also taken to a Rodeo and a Ranger’s baseball game in Dallas. During our two build days there we worked with them on Habitat houses.

During the national anthem at the opening of the rodeo.

A bull rider at the rodeo.

We are now in Decatur, Texas. Unfortunately we did not ride our bikes here. There were some pretty bad storms in the morning and it was judged too dangerous for us to bike, so we where shuttled here to keep up with our reservations with hosts. It’s now storming again as I type this, but it should clear up by morning.

There is now a live tracker on ride days. See the Live Tracker and Photos page.

I’ve starting posting some of my favorite photos of the trip to Flickr. View my photostream here.

Tallahassee through Mobile

We’ve just finished our build in Baton Rouge. Since it’s been a while since anything has been posted here I’ll try catch up with everything with a series of posts.

However, before I start there is some really sad news that we received Monday night from the South Carolina to Santa Cruz route. Christina Genco, one of the leaders on the route, was struck and killed by a vehicle while passing through Alabama. Please keep her family, friends, and all the cyclists in your thoughts and prayers–particularly the SC2SC riders.

On our build day in Tallahassee we worked with a local organization on fixing up a house that was in horrible condition. Much of the wood in the house was rotting away and it was infested with fleas, among other problems. Many of us worked on the exterior while others perfomed demolition inside so that parts of the house could be replaced.  It was hard to imagine living in the conditions that the homeowner was living in.

       

The next day we biked into Apalachicola. All I remember is that much of the ride was along the gulf coast. It was very scenic, but it was one of several days along the gulf coast where there was a stiff headwind. After that we biked into Panama City.

Biking into Apalachicola

A boat from a bridge on the way to Panama City

In Panama City we did a bike clinic for kids at the church.

Kids at the bike clinic

After going through DeFuniak Springs and Pensacola we crossed into Alabama. On the way into Mobile we were on a highway that ran right along open ocean with the waves crashing right on the wall next to the road. There were also other impressive-looking overpasses running out over the water. On the way into Mobile everyone stopped after we discovered we had accidentally been routed through a tunnel on the highway. Luckily a local cyclist that commuted through the area found us and led us along a route that took us over a humongous suspension bridge. It was incredibly tall and the view was spectacular. Unfortunately I do not have pictures of any of this because I left my bag with my camera in the van earlier that day to shed some weight on our first 90+ mile day.

Across the bay in Pensacola

Crossing into Alabama

A Challenging Start

We’re currently in Tallahassee, Florida after biking 280 miles in the past four days from Jacksonville. Tallahassee isn’t quite that far from Jacksonville, but we detoured down to Palatka before starting west due to the way the route and our hosts worked out.

The first three days were called “the hardest start in Bike & Build history.” Typically the routes ease the riders into biking across the country, but because of the way hosting for us worked out this summer we had to ride three 75 mile rides in 95 degree weather Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. They were pretty tough, but now I have more confidence that I can go across the country.

On Saturday we had the wheel dip ceremony before we left Jacksonville where we all dipped our rear wheels in the Atlantic before taking off.

After the wheel dip we started our ride out of Jacksonville. It turned out that our first day was my turn to ride sweep with Will. “Riding sweep” means that you stay behind everyone else and make sure that they make it to the host, helping with any problems along the way. We rode south through St. Augustine and on to Palatka and wound up getting in around 6 p.m.–a little later than we were going for.

The second day we left Palatka for Lake City, traveling north and west. I got a flat tire early on and decided to replace the tire as well as the tube with a folding tire that Brettly had. Later in the route we all ran into more trouble when we were accidentally routed down a four mile stretch of dirt road. In this case the dirt was sand and it was absolutely impossible to ride on. Walking it with a bike was very uncomfortable in the middle of the day with no shade. I walked it for a mile and a half before finally being picked up by someone with a truck who was nice enough to help us out.

      

The third day we biked to Perry. This was our third 70+ mile ride in a row and it was fairly difficult. However, we did stop to play Frisbee in a field. We finally arrived in Perry and stayed at Taylor County Middle School.

Today we rode to Tallahassee. The first half of the ride to Tallahasse was nice because we left earlier and reached lunch before the sun rose over the trees lining the highway. One new obstacle on the way to Tallahassee were rolling hills. The climbs were difficult, but I thought they were at least more interesting than the flatness of the rest of the trip.

Over the past four days we have biked 280 miles. Tomorrow is our second build day. It will be nice to use different muscles for a day. We also had another build day in Jacksonville where we worked with the Jacksonville Beaches Habitat for Humanity.

“A day in Bike&Build is like a week in real life”

SUS ’11 has gone down in history as the hardest first day in B&B history. Due to some last minute rerouting we ended up riding 76miles our first day instead of the original 56miles. This was followed my two more 70+ days. Some fellow riders we joking that we were more productive by 9am than we would be in a whole day during a normal summer. Also, this is more mileage than many of us rode over several months. We feel that we could go home and feel accomplished for the rest of the summer just after 3 short days.

These days have been extremely mentally and physically tough. The heat has been over 90 degrees and there is little shade. At one point we walked while pushing or carrying our bikes for 3miles through “sugar sand” during day two.  Here’s my routine for a typical bike day:

Wake up at 6am to shhushsushshs of thermarests and sleeping bags being folded and packed up. Followed by changing into spandex and stuffing my stuff into my ever exploding bin. Then it’s breakfast time, clean up and route meeting. We go over the directions for the day, expected weather, any important notes and we’re off. We head out in groups of 2-6 and bike. And bike. And bike. And bike. If there is something cool along the way, say the oldest city in the US, St. Augustine we get off our bikes and explore. Then it’s back to biking! First lunch is usually about a third of the way in the trip followed by second lunch 2/3 down the road. Lunch is usually peanut butter and jelly, fruit and chips as well as any donated food items.  We get into the host around 4 (or sometimes 6:30 on the really tough days) and take a shower, eat dinner, relax and get ready to do it all again the next day.

It may not sound like a ton of fun, and this may be due to how tired I am (and it’s only 8:43pm!). But there’s no where else I’d want to be. The other 33 people are so much fun and interesting. Seeing everything by bicycle makes you appreciate it in a totally different perspective than a car affords. Although rural Florida hasn’t been my favorite (the gnats have certainly enjoyed my presence) I still wake up with excitement and anticipation for the day ahead of me. Here’s to shorter days and being in better shape!

“There are no bad days on Bike&Build some days are just harder than others”

We’re now oriented

Woooo!! We’re here!!!
So David and I arrived yesterday afternoon to a group of new faces and new friends. After a quick complimentary bike tune-up from a local bike shop, we joined everyone in a circle for a few ice breakers. After meeting with or small groups for a short time, 8 of us decided to take a venture down the road and check out the beach.

I’ll leave it here and let David or Sonja update a little more. Bottom line is it’s an awesome time so far and I’m very much excited for what’s to come.
-Mark

Only 12 Days!

So there’s only 12 days left until Sonja, David and I are to meet everyone in Jacksonville! I’m still buying gear and getting everything squared away and ready to go. I’ve got a nice little Bike and Build pile of stuff accumulating in my room as everything else is getting boxed up.

Fundraising update!
So last Sunday my wonderful friends Ariel, Amy, Lauren, Katrina, and Kristin held a yard sale outside of their house. Together with their stuff and mine we made over $350 for B&B! Also, Empire Eats of Raleigh donated $50 in giftcards to all 5 of their restaurants which I’m selling at face value. I have ones to Fai Thai and Gravy left if anyone is interested! I’m also having a fundraising night at the Player’s Retreat this Monday, 5/9, from 6pm-9pm where a portion of all food sales will go to Bike & Build. This should leave me with just a few hundred to go for my last week.

On the training side of things, as David mentioned, we’ve been doing some moderate rides recently. Took one through the tornado stricken area that was a good 35 mile trek. Last Tuesday, David and I rode from Raleigh to Chapel Hill and back, which made for a nice 67 mile ride. On our way there, we took a wrong turn in Cary… I thought that place just never ended, buuut we were just going in a circle. So after our little 8 mile detour, we finally got on track and made it fine the rest of the way. Next time we’ll have to bring sunscreen ’cause I’m still red from that ride.

I think I’ll wrap it up here for now. Hopefully we’ll get some awesome pictures once everything gets started in Jacksonville! I know text is a little boring at times. Always remember you can check out my rider profile and donate at http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/4552!

Gearing Up for April

It’s April, and I can’t believe how close I am to leaving! We’re only a month and a half away! I’m ready for summer to start, but it almost feels too close when I think about all the homework, projects, exams, and Bike & Build prep I have to get through between now and May 18.

First, an update on fundraising: Currently, I’m almost halfway to raising the $4000 dollars for Bike & Build. I hope to meet or exceed that goal by the end of the first week in May, so I have a lot of fundraising to do in April! You can find my profile and donation information online.

I have a road bike now, and riding it has been a blast. I was blown away by how different it feels from a mountain bike, which is what I’ve been using to commute. I’ve been going on several short (15-25 mile) rides around Raleigh and Cary with Mark, Sonja, and some other friends, but I need to put many more hours into training during April. I’m guessing I’ve gone about 80 to 100 miles so far, but I just installed a cycling computer on my bike, so I should be able to keep track from this point forward.

Last Saturday I worked on a Habitat construction site in Raleigh with NCSU’s chapter. We worked on putting up some frames for the wall and nailing down plywood. I really enjoyed building, and it was really cool because the people who would be moving into the house were working there as well. I wasn’t able to make it back out this Saturday, but hopefully I can go back to the same house next Saturday.

That’s all I have for now. I’ve never kept a blog. At first it feels kind of awkward–like worse than talking to an answering machine. It’s pretty cool though. Once the trips starts I’ll be sharing pictures as well.