Picking It Up

I am sitting in a church in Boonville, NY right now and no, don't ask me where that is because I have no idea. We pushed through the Adirondacks which was difficult but incredibly beautiful. Today was the first day we had without rain for a number of days which was fantastic; wet spandex, socks, and shoes are awful to ride in and to smell. It is amazing how much of a stench we as a group carry with us, every where we go smells terrible.

So getting back to the riding today was an 80 mile day, the longest one we've had thus far. Several of us managed to put together a pace-line which was fantastic, it really sped the process up. We were able to cover the 80 miles in about 5 hours and were the first people to the stop in Boonville. The pace-line is a long line of riders placing their tires just inches from the one directly in front of them. In doing this the riders in the back are able to ride in the draft of the first rider making it much easier to ride because there is no wind resistance. After the first rider pulls for awhile they drop to the back and the next person moves up - this continues as long as it has to.

Yesterday on the other hand was pretty rough. It was a 60 mile ride through the mountains the last 20 if which were spent climbing ridiculous mountain passes in pouring rain. The directions were wrong and we were supposed to stay at a camp site as well. Fortunately a local church offered us space which was great, every one was hungry, tired, wet, and angry. It was of course another town with no cell phone service and no stop light, but things should change over the next couple of days. We will be going downhill over the next couple of days and will be in the City of Rochester by Tuesday which is the largest place we've been thus far.

Nearly 400 miles on the odometer and only 3600 miles to go. From here on out the days we have will be at least 60 miles but on much flatter ground than we dealt with in the New England area. My body is also getting used to the abuse I inflict on it everyday.

For all of those that are curious I am getting enough to eat, in fact this trip should be called "Eat & Build." People have been so generous with their space, time, and food, it has been fantastic.

I will continue to post when I get a chance, should be getting Internet access in the next couple of towns. Keep reading and posting, I really like getting comments on blog messages.

Crossing State Lines

We finally crossed out of New Hampshire this morning only to be greeted by a 6 mile 13% grade pass after already pedaling about 40 miles in the rain. Not easy, in fact quite hard, but certainly worth the ride - it was incredible. Rochester, Vermont is a small town located in a valley surrounded by gorgeous tree covered mountains. We will only be in Vermont for one evening but I can already tell I will be needing to make a trip back to this state.

The last two days were spent in Lebanon, NH where we worked at two build sites. Lebanon is quite close to Hanover where Dartmouth is located. Dartmouth, Hanover, and Lebanon are all very cool places, but after 3 days there it was nice to get back on the bike. Tuesday we worked on a site putting in a mail box and prepping the foundation for the frame. The other build site (there were two) we spent on the roof hanging plywood which is to be shingled sometime in the next week. Both sites were interesting in their own different ways and I've come to learn that I feel surprisingly comfortable on a roof. We were also served many excellent meals by church members in Lebanon which is always fantastic; tonight will be a little different, I'm cooking spaghetti. This is also the first town without cell phone service which I find interesting, I thought Verizon and Sprint had visited every town in America.

We're only here for one night and then on to upstate New York tomorrow. The trip will really start to pickup in the coming days which is exciting, sitting on the saddle of a bike and seeing America in the process has been amazing.

Hitting the open road

For the last several days there has been no Internet access; this is the first, a library in Lebanon, NH. Today was the first day we dealt with rain and it was rather uncomfortable. It started out as a sprinkle and by the time we got to lunch it was pouring, pelting down on us like bullets. I opted for the $10 glasses back in Florence, KY and they fog up terribly making it difficult to see in the rain - we'll see what happens.

We left this morning from New London, NH which appears to be a small resort town in the hills of New Hampshire. The church we stayed in was nicely air conditioned and the "women's society" fed us quite well. It rained most of the afternoon after our ride and in the evening it was incredibly foggy.

The first day of the ride - Saturday - we started the morning by peddaling to the Atlantic where everyone gathered to dip the back wheel of our bikes into the water. We will do the same thing on the other side when we dip our front wheels in the Pacific. Following that several of us decided to cycle up from Porstmouth into Maine right across the bridge really only for the sake of saying that we had biked from Maine to Vancouver. From there the goal was the catch the last riders from the other group so everyone was together. After making a wrong turn and going nearly 25 miles out of my way I managed to meet up with everyone at the lunch stop. We then rode in Concord, NH (state capital) where we spent the evening in the town square at a multicultural festival.

So what have I learned?
1. Quick dry towels are weird, it feels like you're drying yourself with a piece of saran wrap
2. Earplugs are a great invention
3. NH has a lot of rolling hills: fun going down, not fun going up...
4. Pelting rain against bare skin on a downhill is no fun
5. Going 50mph on a downhill is fun when it is sunny
6. Tan lines will be quite interesting by the end of the trip
7. I'm sick of NH and I want to start crossing some state lines

I don't know when the next time is I'll be able to post, in time. Write comments, drop emails, whatever, stay in touch.

IK

And so it begins

I am sitting in a church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire right now and I have been here since Monday morning.  Portsmouth is a very cool quaint little town that has a number of restaurants and shops in the downtown area.  Tuesday I spent the day putting my bike together and then taking a ride around Portsmouth and Kittany, Maine which is right across the river.

Yesterday orientation began and there are 29 new people from around the country that are as crazy as I am.  Wednesday we spent the day "ice-breaking" and then spent the evening cooking out - unfortunately, I got food poisoning the night before and wasn't really feeling it.  Today we took our first ride as a group so as to work out the kinks and get everyone comfortable with riding.  This evening we had dinner at another church in town and heard a presentation from the local Habitat for Humanity chapter.  Tomorrow is our first build day which is in Farmington, NH about 45 minutes from here.

Saturday begins the ride - we are riding 65 miles to Concord, NH.  I'm ready to hit the road I'm getting pretty antsy.  

I'll post sometime in the next several days when there is new news from the road: perhaps a bear or a moose.

IK