DeFuniak, Pensacola, and Mobile Alabama!

I haven't posted in a while but I've been so busy!! We had our first 100 mile ride on the way into Pensacola Beach. It was really difficult and hard for me to get through mentally, but I was so happy when I finished and so happy to get done! The ride into Pensacola was so pretty because we got to ride right on the coast on the way in. One of my favorite things about this route is that we get to ride along the coast for so long. 

Gaurang and I got to do our presentation on affordable housing and how it effects your health and we killed it! We had everyone do a skit on a certain aspect of the presentation and then when they were done, we went through all the facts of it. Everyone's skits were really funny and it made me happy to see everyone participate and be enthusiastic about it. 

Mobile was another really long (95 mile) ride. It POURED the first part of the ride but we just put our rain jackets on and kept going! At mile 60 we took a ferry across the bay and then continued the ride on the other side! There was a HUGE bridge that we took that went from the island the ferry took us to over to the main land. The end of the bridge was gorgeous because on one side of us was the ocean and the other side was a huge prairie. 

So far, all of the drivers in Alabama are much more patient and kind than in Florida and if think it will continue to improve across America!

When we got to Mobile, we all hung out until the last of the crew came in (we had an accident and one of our members had to be a little patched up - but she's ok!). A small group and I went out to a Mediterranean restaurant and just had a really relaxing and chill night. 

Panama City

We started the morning with a GORGEOUS coffee stop where we got the goods at sat on the pier by the bay! We were able to take a second and have some peaceful relaxation time before a 61 mile ride. Gaurang, Kirstin and I rode together and crushed the whole ride. We averaged 18 and maintained 20 mph for a lot of it. I think that 50 miles is starting to be a short ride and that's really cool to think because 50 always seemed so long to me. 

The group is coming together very well. We have been getting to know each other on a way more personal level and are definitely getting much more comfortable with each other! We played Cards Against Humanity (which is hilarious!) and a bunch of other games. We also had a very good group effort today to get a lot of good food donated to our group! 

Apalachicola

Today was, hands down, the MOST beautiful ride if ever been on! The entire highway was either through a national forest or along the coast of Florida. It was 81 miles and I rode with Colleen and Connor the whole way. We had an amazing time and got to stop at a really cool lunch stop on a beach. The second lunch was even on the beach too! When we got into the town, Colleen, Connor, Corina, Marlee and I went to an ice cream shop and after talking to these older people, got free ice cream! They loved what we were doing and they thought that we were really fun and wanted to help us out a little. It was really sweet :) 

I love being on the ocean and I'm so happy to be here right now. 

Build Day 2

For our second build day, we worked with the Good News Outreach Program in Tallahassee Florida. This program provides affordable housing to families and single parents with kids! Their neighborhood was a mobile home community and many of these homes needed repairs due to termite damage. We worked to remove 4 inches of the wooden skirting around the bottom of the homes and then reinforce it so that the termites could no longer get into the houses via the support beams along the bottom of the houses. It's kind of complicated to explain via text because I don't know any technical terms but it was actually a lot of fun! I learned the art of the electric drill and got really good at it! The site supervisor, Tom, was so nice and so helpful throughout the day and really inspired me with his stories about the families and kids that he works with and interacts with. One kid, Trevor, is 14 years old and is already trying to find work around the neighborhood he can do and trying to help in anyway possible. He has a difficult living situation and is breaks my heart because he was such an amazing kid. It made me happy to meet the kids in the neighborhood that we were helping and working on their houses so that they could live more happily and comfortably. 

I think today was when I realized that I am not only biking across the country... I'm biking TO build sites. The destination is these build sites and these are the days that really matter and make this trip worth having. I was thinking about it that we were biking from city to city but really, we are just taking breaks at night as we are biking from build to build. I'm excited for our next one and ready to hit the road. We have a 400+ week coming up.. And my butt is already mad at me! 

Perry and Tallahassee FL

Two days ago, we made it to Perry FL. The 75 mile ride was definitely the most difficult for me so far. I'm getting preeeeetty tired and my legs are feelin riding day after day. In Perry, we stayed at a KOA campground in our tents we have! Each tent holds about 5 people and it actually wasn't as difficult to sleep in as a thought it was going to be! When we got there, we all jumped in the pool and swam for a little while, which was one of the most wonderful and relaxing things ever. We also got our mail!! Everyone was so excited to even just get a little letter from home. My parents and mommom and poppop sent me some little treats like Gu's and my parents sent beef jerky :) which is so delicious! We had a pretty busy day because of all the presentations that we were giving so I felt constantly on a schedule. 

Yesterday was our ride into Tallahassee! Only 58 miles (I know, 58 is a short day.. That's crazy to me) but it felt soooo much longer than that! Greg and I rode together again and struggled to lunch but then killed it afterwards. This was also our first introduction to hills! Hills aren't do bad for me though. It keeps the terrain interesting and the speeds changing which I like. At lunch, we met a man, John, that is cycling around the entire world! He is from London an has already finished all of Eurasia and arrived in the US a little while ago to bike from San Francisco to Jacksonville (just like us but backwards)! He says he averages about 130 miles a day through the US and has been biking for about a year and two weeks. His favorite place to bike through was Iran because everyone there was so supportive and friendly. He even had a man take him and a few other traveling cyclists into his home and feed them for a week. Apparently this man finds every traveling cyclist that goes through and takes care of him. He's like super well known for doing this! He told us that the general theme of his ride is that kindness and hospitality are the universal languages and that everyone along the way was so supportive and nice to him! Now that we are in Tallahassee, we have a build day today so we got to sleep in a little bit! Last night, the non-21 year old bikers and I all went down to the FSU fountain and wadded around in it for a little while and just spent some time talking. Also! Yesterday after the ride, I got some froyo for the first time in forever and was in heaven! It's the simple things this summer that make all the difference! 

Time to go build!!

Lake City

We had a veeeeery long ride today.. And an early wake up. We were up at five and the Knights if Columbus in Palatka made us an awesome breakfast. We had a 79 mile ride to Lake City and I rode the whole thing with my girl JoBeth! We had a group that changed frequently but we were always together. On the road, we saw a fire tower and we stopped at a random drive way and met a turtle. There were seven flats today (4 of them from Gaurang, which was sad for him!) and lots of complications with the wake up calls of the intensness and severity of what we are doing. Now that we are in Lake City, I'm happy to have jumped into the tough stuff and I'm ready for the rest!

Sleep deprivation is real though.. I'm so sleepy!

Palatka FL

I was sweep today which means that I'm the caboose no matter what happens and I have to be the last one to the host site. It was an okay job but it could get pretty frustrating. I did have fun going to a lighthouse today though! I rode with Greg and we did 40 miles. I also got my first flat of my whole life today and use a CO2 cartridge wonderfully. We are staying in a church tonight and they made us a huge, wonderful home made meal! This is a short post because I have a long day tomorrow but here's some pics!

St. Augustine

Today we woke up and got ready for the first ride of Bike and Build! We biked over to the beach in the morning and played around in the water and took some pictures. Then we lined up and put our letters to ourselves in the "time capsule" to be sent to Monterey. We dipped our back tires into the ocean water and that's when the trip began! We are officially underway to cross the country! 

Today's ride was 33 miles and the A1A was the perfect rode for riding! I rode with Connor, Colleen and Katie. There was a bike lane the entire way and the cars were surprisingly very very considerate of our space! (With the exception of one crazy lady who ran out of her house to yell at us......???? It was weird). We stopped halfway through the ride for lunch and had a beautiful view!! 

St. Augustine is a beautiful city that I wish I could have more time in. We biked around for a little while and tried to get some donation magic so that we would be able to eat for free tonight. The less we spend on the road, the more money we have to donate to the cause which is awesome! We were able to get some pralines, chocolate turtles, a cake, and some turkey wraps in my group and then other groups were able to get some good stuff too! 

My favorite part of the day was after dinner when we all hung out at the host site and painted the trailer. Everyone really pulled through to make it look awesome and very beautiful (pictures to come). We really got a chance to hang out and get to know eachother a little bit more. Loooots of goofing around. Lots of goof balls in this group and I could ask for nothing more! 

Shake Out Ride

We started the morning with some safety presentations and learning some bike maintenance such as changing a flat or tire and cleaning the bike. The cleaning part was good because I don't (well, didn't!) really know how to do that. After all of the learning how the bike works and how to bike safely on the road, we went out to a parking lot and practiced clipping in, calling out obsticals, and looking behind the back. All of this stuff was very time intensive and good to know!! I'm excited that everyone is getting more comfortable on their bikes and we will soon be able to call eachother cyclists!

After all of the precautionary stuff, we were able to go out on a group ride and test out our new skills. It was 19.3 miles and at whatever pace our group decided to go. I went with Rhys, Dusty, Micah, Josiah, and Dillon. We stayed around 17mph so we were holding a pretty good pace! I was really happy with the ride. Natalie even rode with us for a little while. After the ride, the guys messed around doing pull ups on the monkey bars (I did one half of a pull up).. And then we waited for the people that work for Habitat to make us dinner! The appreciation that they continue to show us is overwhelming and so wonderful! It was so so nice of them to come and grill out for us. 

Laura, Colleen and I all went for a short 2 mile run before dinner started and made our way to the beach real quick for a picture! It was some good time to get to know them a little more and also some time to clear my head and get a little jog in. 

At the end of the night, we all wrote letters to ourselves to read when we get to Monterey. I think that will be fun to look back and see how I was feeling the first few days and during orientation. 

This was definitely a full day and I am feeling the effects of it! Long day but a fun one!

Build Day One

We had an early 6:00 wake up today to get to the build site by 7:30. We tried to practice packing up in thirty minutes or less and did not make the cut.. It's apparently a lot harder to do than you would think! I have to try changing in my sleeping bag and having everything ready to go before I fall asleep at night! 

At the build, there were three build sites and they broke up our group into the different houses. I was in the house that was in the middle.. Not almost done and not brand new. I was in charge of climbing up the scaffolding and painting the exterior of the house in pretty beach colors! Baby blue siding and white trim (mom would have love loved it). We were there from 7:30-4:00 and I am beat! I wouldn't have thought it would have been so difficult! I think it might have been especially tired because the group started doing push ups the night before (try to avoid muscle imbalances). Hopefully by the end of the summer, I will be good at push ups!

After the build day, the CEO of the Beaches Habitat for Humanity, Donna Rex, came to where we were staying and talked to us a little but about what the organization is doing in the community and to thank us for our help that day. It was so amazing to see how grateful she was for our help and the impact that we made simply by spending a single day lending a hand. She told us that without our help, the affiliate wouldn't have made their deadline for the lots we were on in July and that they were going to be fined  $300,000.. It's amazing that the small amount of work we did made THAT huge of a difference. I love that the money I raised for this trip is being put into the homes and I am able to see the direct benefits and results of the build day. It was also really coo getting to talk to the site supervisors and what they're future plans are and why they are at Habitat. The woman I worked with was there with AmeriCorps doing her hours with the Beaches Habitat. The woman that was going to be moving into the house we were working on was also there working on the house so that was awesome to see! Donna really touched my heart when she explained how helpful we were and that we are taking a family and giving them a life when we give them a home. I'm happy this was the first build site we did! It set the trip off to a great tone. 

Orientation

Today, I showed up to a tiny little habitat for humanity house in Atlantic beach Florida around 1:30 for my first day of B&B orientation! When I got there, I got my thermarest (a tiny little blow up camping pad), two new bike and build jerseys, some bib shorts, my bike and build shirt that we wear when we build and a new water bottle! Everyone was immediately so so nice and welcoming to the point that I was more excited than nervous. We started by just hanging around for everyone to get there and then started doing some ice breakers and getting to know you games! After that, we had a few hours of going over what to expect and the guidelines and rules for the rest of the trip. My favorite thing the leader kept saying was "it's your summer and your trip so you will make it as fun as you want and we can do what you guys want." I like how clear it was that we are all equal and being treated like adults rather than like I'm at a summer camp with counselors. Now we are at the community center, sleeping on our thermarests in one big room together and we have a 6am wake up time so that we can go to our first build tomorrow!! I can already tell this is going to be an amazing summer. Everyone is awesome! 

Let's Do This Thing

Me and mom drove down to Jacksonville early Wednesday morning so that we would get to spend some time together and enjoy the ocean before I head out on my big trip! Everything was so amazing! We stayed in the Four Points Hotel (right on the ocean!!) and found so many awesome places to eat out at! I'm definitely glad we did this and I got some relaxing down time before I start sleeping on the ground and being super sweaty all the time! Tomorrow is the big day... The anticipation is killing me! I can't wait to meet my team members and new friends.. I'm about the have one of the best summers of my life and meet so many cool people, see some AWESOME places and learn a lot about myself and the things I'm capable of (and get some sweet tan lines). I would never be able to do this with out my family. I'm so grateful for the support and help they have given me throughout this process and for everything they do! They are my rock.

 

I know I'm going to have a hard time sleeping tonight! IM SO EXCITED FOR MY SUMMER TO BEGIN!! Everything I've been working for is here and I couldn't be more ready! Bring it on Bike and Build. Let's do this thing.