It's over...

Well. I failed at blogging for the entire last month of the trip.

Cannon Beach (the final destination) was the greatest thing in the entire world. I've never felt more emotions at one time in my entire life. I ran around the beach yelli.ng about how confused I was. Reaching the beach was a strange mixture of excited, elated, sad, antsy, unbelieving, and a whole range of other things. I was yelling throughout the entire bike ride through the town of Cannon Beach and then started hyperventilating and semi-crying when we got there, and then it was just a huge celebration. Everyone lined up next to the lifeguard station and we counted up to the sprint to the ocean! It was crazy. Everyone was screaming and people were crying and everyone was hugging. The water was so cold that I literally went numb from the waist down, but my adrenaline was so strong that it didn't feel cold until I got back to the beach. We all circled up and remembered Paige before we got into the Haka. Nothing felt better than being in that circle of family and not being able to comprehend the fact that, yes, we had just bicycled across the entirety of the continent. Wow.

The entire trip was nothing but one blessing after the other. Things that would normally keep us down brought us closer together. When people talk to me about giving up my summer I know that I can safely say that I didn't lose anything, but rather I gained 30 brothers and sisters, a renewed view of humanity, and an experience that has left me stronger both physically and mentally. I love my Bike and Build family and I miss them everyday, however I am slowly realizing that it's finished and so I need to take what I've done this summer and apply it back to what we all call "real life."

Before I started this trip I was reading a previous CUS-ers blog and he said that he gave the entire experience a 98 on a scale of 100. I can't give it 100 for the sole reason that it would be ridiculous and nothing is perfect; however I would definitely give it at least a 98.5/100. I have only happy memories from the whole thing despite heat, mountains, saddle sores, and centuries. Oh how I do love biking.

To wrap it all up for now, I can't thank everyone who supported me throughout this adventure enough for their thoughts, prayers, notes of encouragement, money, etc. Despite the fact that it may seem as though my now sculpted legs got me across this country I know that this trip was 80%, if not more, mental...so thank you SO much for getting me coast to coast!

Lots of Bike and Build love,
Sarah

Colorado

Too much to catch you all up on....sorry!

Today and yesterday were absolutely EPIC. Trail Ridge Road is what we scaled today, which is the highest continuously paved road in the United States. There is literally no getting higher on a bike than what we did today. Soooo crazy. 12,183 feet- to think we started at 0. The climb was a mixture of climbing, gravel, headwinds, traffic, construction, and cold all rolled up into one ascent. The climb was around 20 miles and it took quite a bit of time to accomplish, but it happened AND I did it on my compact double. Boom. Today was way more mentally challenging for me than yesterdays climb to Estes Park. The road was really curvy and I couldn't see where the road wound around when it came to the top of the mountains. Every time I thought "Oh, there's really nothing above me anymore, this HAS to be the final turn into the lunch stop" I'd wind around the bend and see even more to climb. I rode the entire way up alone, too because in the beginning of the day I took a wrong turn which put me behind the crew I usually bike with. That was a bummer as well, but it also gave me the opportunity to really test my abilities as a cyclist, and even though I averaged maybe 5 mph up the mountain I did it. When I got to lunch the feeling was incredible. A mixture of joy, frustration, and sadness that this is the highest point of the trip and now we only go "down." As I was eating my bagel and peanut butter the Killers song "All These Things That I've Done" (this is the song that we play in our informational video...so it kind of represents B&B for me) and I was standing in the same place that the guys in the video were standing as they dance on top of the mountain. I could hardly control myself. I started screaming and jumping and everyone got so pumped because we did it. CUS 2010 made it over the most epic climb. We literally biked across the continental divide today. I wish I could explain it more, but unfortunately there are just no words.

Phew, anyway we're currently chilling in a library in Granby, CO. Tonight is B&B Prom and tomorrow is both the 4th of July AND our first camping day!

Hopefully someday I'll be able to add more about yesterday's ride into Estes Park. Just suffice it to say that the descent into Estes was so beautiful I felt like I was on another planet. I'm so sad we're (I think??) finished with the Rockies. Crossing fingers for more climbing days- they're my favorite.

p.s. We are young and we can change the world.

Clay Center

Re-reading my last blog made me realize how incredibly emo that first paragraph was...woops. Essentially, what I'm saying without being incredibly over-dramatic is that CUS2010 has touched my life in profound ways that I think I can grasp at this moment, but I know will continue to shape my life in ways that I will probably never be able to understand. That's a little better, right?

Today was an excessively easy day with only 40 miles of riding- totaling a long 2.5 hour ride. I'm not sure I remember what it's like being on a bike for 6 or more hours at a time...I'll remember soon enough, for sure. It's going to be a long stretch from here to our next 2 night host site (Denver, CO) where we get an interesting day off of sorts. From what I have gathered we're going to be-hopefully- raising 10K for Bike and Build by participating in a cross-town cycling scavenger hunt all benefiting this life changing organization. How cool is that? The details are hazy and I'm not really sure what or how it's all going to work, but I'll be sure to keep you informed. Short blog entry today because I'm attempting to put pictures online but it's slow and cumbersome and annoying so we'll see how it goes.

The biggest ball of twine is coming!

The Little Apple

I have never before been satisfied enough with living to say that I would be alright with dying. Tonight I had, for the first time in my life, that feeling. I have never been more satisfied with life than I am at this moment. We feasted at the Methodist Church thanks to the care and support of total strangers. They made vegan food for Emily, there was banana pudding, and the gratitude that people showed towards us was astounding. Everyone keeps saying that making us food and housing us is just them thanking us for "giving up" our summers, but I didn't give anything up- I've only gained. Watching the Bike and Build promotional video (that we've seen at least 30 times) still gives me chills even though I've been living it for the past 4 weeks.

But I'm getting ahead of myself seeing as I haven't updated since arriving in Kansas City. Well, as you can imagine after 100 miles nobody really felt up to doing anything too exciting so sleep came early for everyone. The next day we got to build with the KC Habitat and it has definitely been my personal favorite build day thus far. The people we worked with were awesome- super helpful and engaging and there was tons to do so we kept busy the entire time. I worked in the warehouse building interior and exterior walls for future habitat homes and so my hammering skills are killer right now. It got so hot the first day, though, that we were let out at 2:30 instead of 3:00. That night we were privileged enough to get some Royals baseball tickets donated to us and that was a blast! There was a 3 run homerun which led the Royals to a victory- fireworks ensued. We played Fuzzy Duck in the parking lot for about 45 minutes after that waiting for our van to come and pick us up and take us home. The next day at the build site was equally as awesome and this time we were all 31 together after lunch. More wall building led into building two doghouses (thanks to the direction of Zach and Noah) which Habitat sells at their Re-Store in order to raise money for their organization. So much fun! Again, everything was awesome and we got some KC BBQ as well as a suprise of popsicles from one of the home owners.

The next day it was time to bike again, but I won't bore you with all of those shenanigans. As per usual it was great times. The best day was when we were leaving KC heading to Lawrence we went on this crazy 18 mile bike trail that had trees down, bridges out, and lots of traffic. Bike & Hike & Build was the name of the game that day. It stormed pretty badly that day too, but watching the ominous clouds roll up on the Kansas plains was astonishingly beautiful. Lawrence was a treat when we got there because of the most awesome bike shop ever- Sunflower. The guys working were super helpful and looked at our bikes for free...which was especially great because guess who went through their 4th tire? Yep, this girl. The guy changed it for me though and told me that the new tire I have SHOULD last for a long time...here's to hoping.

Phew, I hope you're not bored yet! Finally, onto today which was our first day off in 34 days. I got to sleep until 9:30...luxury. The day held nothing but excitment from there- there were more massages, shopping, coffee, thrifting, relaxing, and of course tons of eating. Checking out Aggieville (as historic downtown Manhattan is lovingly deemed) was great! And like I mentioned in the first paragraph the love and support is rejuvinating.

Can't wait to pedal away tomorrow! AND the biggest ball of twine is coming up in the near future....HUZZAH!!!!

First Century

So, yesterday, I rode 100 miles....woah. I've never rode that far in one sitting in my entire bicycling career. It felt so good to hit that 100 mark- especially because I pulled up to the church with Noah and Christina and we still had about 4 miles to go so we just biked around scenic Raytown, MO for a little while. The rides are getting progressively warmer as the summer continues and we continue to not climb into the mountains. We're going to be in Colorado soon enough though...too soon.

Prior to that, however we biked to Washington, Jeff City, and then Sedalia, MO. We were on the Katy Trail for nearly 100 miles between those three biking days which was a lovely change of pace, but when we got off the loose gravel I'm pretty sure nobody complained. There was an outbreak of popped tires (none for me, hopefully my luck has changed) and plagues of the most gigantic mosquitoes I have ever seen in my life but other than that it was super great to be on nearly empty roads and just chill and talk to people while riding. Speaking of mosquitoes- because they were so bad when people had to change their tubes they had to do it while running sometimes the bugs wer so thick. West Nile?

While we were in Washington we got a chance to walk down to the Missouri River which was a blast. The sun was setting and the water was pink, purple, and blue with the reflection of the sky. I got some really awesome pictures and it kills me that I can't put them up (no computer capabilities) so once I get home or to somehwere I can upload them hopefully I'll be able to put some in. Jeff City was really cool too, but I basically slept the entire time I was there aside from visiting a small coffee shop with Tina. Sedalia- I stayed in the church basement the entire time, BUT the good people of that church were so kind as to set us up with FREE massages and chiropractic adjustments! CUS route is by far the most awesome thing ever.

This all brings me back to how incredibly awesome people are in the world. Some of these hosts have been having us back year after year and they are still so excited about it. The man in Jeff City was like our guardian angel- he brought us the most delicious muffins in the entire world, drove Britt and Aileen to our host site after Britt fell, AND helped Emily out with her flat tire. He was incredible. And the chiropractors/massage therapist? I can't even begin to thank or contemplate the generosity of people sometimes. It's so great.

So now we're in "Kansas City" and we had our first of two build days. My group built walls for future homes (awesome) and it was really sweaty/hot. The heat index reached 100 today- I think for the first time- so we had to leave the build site at 2:30 which was a bummer because we were coasting up to that point...and then the nails started getting warm and maleable.

But yeah, these past few days of biking have been pretty challenging for me. Leaving St. Louis was a wonderful day and I was feeling great on the bike, however the days after that have been rough. I'm hoping these two days of building give my legs enough of a break to make it to Monday which is our first day off- Huzzah! Tonight we're lucky enough to go to a Kansas City Royals game for free thanks to Emily! It should be a blasty-blast. I believe that's all for now...I don't think I missed anything.

(1400 miles of) Pedaling for Affordable Housing!

Met you in st Louie

Okay i'm exhausted after another intense day of building. Today we were with rebuilding together in north city ( off kingshighway) . I got to nail down the beginings of a new kitchen floor, spakled the walls and ceilings, and then put sealent over the whole room. It was st Louis hot so that was both pleasant and awful. In the past 24 hours I have been such a st louisan! I ate Ted drewes, pork steaks, and roasted ravioli, went up inside the arch and rode the metro. Woah. I'm not exactly sure how everyone liked st Louis necessarily... Coming in through riverview and natural bridge and then staying at umsl may have left a slightly poor impression on our group. The food was great though and that's usually what we remember so I hope that made a great impression!
Aside from all that I got to see people I'vebeen missing in my life these past few weeks. Seeing people from "real life" was both awesome and interesting in a way that I can't really define. For example I just got into a weir mood tonight once things started chilling out. I just couldn't get cannon beach out of my mind and that just made me so sad! I'm so glad st Louis isn't the for real halfway point (people just think it is). I'm glad I'm leaving st Louis which may sound awful or strange since it is my hometown but I'm done with real life for now. I just want my safe haven of bikenbuild back!

Here's to riding a bike to forget your troubles!

Ps why do I use exclamation points so excessively?

One more day until st Louis!

Woah. I'm returning to my home town tomorrow. That's a crazy feeling. I just want to show everyone my hometown so badly. the arch has never seemed so exciting.
Yesterday we had solidarity day which means that everyone painted their eyes to match christinas black ones. She thought she was dreaming when she woke up and then she looked at ne and called me stupid. Silly girl. Today was 'dois DES la locos' or the day of the crazys. We basically need something.... anything to keep our minds occupied through the southern tip of Illinois. It's always a great day on bike and build but these past few days have been flat and low mileage therefore we've been going crazy. Look to the left Corn look to the right corn.... I miss climbing the mountains! I got to wear my lifeguard swimming suit over my biking outfit. Super cute! Some people went all out and drew on themselves with sharpies. There were a lot of backwards jerseys and pre-ride we did our now daily twenty second dance party! Huzzah!
Currently I'm in a coffee shop with mark Emma Jen Dave and zach. I'm really tired because the whole time zone change had really thrown me for a loop. So I guess today is chill day but yesterday was a nap day. dinner is still over 2 hours away! Gah! Okay well this blog entry js about as vacant as the countryside we have been biking through so I'm going to end it here before I bore myself to death.
Meet me in St. Louis??