Howdy from Memphis, TX and Happy 4th of July! The past month has been a whirl wind of incredible experiences on and off the road with my fellow SUS 2010 Bike & Builders. We've biked, we've built, we went swimming in the Gulf Coast, we crossed state lines, taken detours, met inspiring people, and maybe even inspired a few along the way...
Thank you to everyone who has, and continues to support the efforts of Bike & Build and my own personal cross country cycling adventure. You all are "the wind beneath my wings".
Follow the journey online: http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/route.php?route=SUS&year=2010
You can read our group rider blog, track our progress, and see pictures from the ride!
Last minute donation? http://tinyurl.com/help-v
This past weekend was something of an odyssey; from California to New York on Saturday and New York City to Montauk on Sunday, I was truly all over the place. Saturday's journey was defined by overhead monotone announcements informing half-awake travelers of delayed flights. While Sunday's adventure was an amazing trek that challenged me both mentally and physically. It was definitely a weekend like no other.
At 3am, I woke to my alarm, floundered about my room in darkness and donned my bike gear that I had laid out just an hour ago. My brain was still sleeping even though the alarm jump started my body into motion. Had I not carefully laid out my clothes and backpack I definitely would have had trouble finding and sorting gear for the day.
It was surreal crossing the East River into Brooklyn. The sun rose as I made my way across the Williamsburg Bridge, pacing myself behind someone far more awesome than I could ever imagine: a young woman who was completing the 145 miles in flip flops. Her amazing-ness coupled with the beautiful sunrise and my adrenaline set the day off on a wonderful note.
The first rest stop was in Queens, though I didn't tarry long nor did I stock up on foodstuffs (I regretted this trend later on). The second stop was in Babylon where I stopped long enough to snap a photo. Unfortunately, I lost the cue sheet while riding from the finish line, so I can't quite recall the remaining rest stops other than the very last one, at Water Mill, where I actually stopped to eat 2 bananas and an apple as I'm quite certain I had depleted all glucose stores in my muscles. Had I actually utilized the rest stops to rest and replenish sugar levels and whatnot, maybe the ride wouldn't have been as... interesting.
I discovered my physical threshold around 90 miles into the ride. That's when all sorts of interesting things happened. My leg muscles began to feel like they were constantly contracted, as if at any moment they'd implode. My lungs had that same sensation as I would have had after the last 100 meters of running a mile- except instead of being sharp and lasting a minute or so, the feeling was somewhat subdued and lasted for the remaining hours of the ride. To keep myself going, I remembered the people who believed in me and donated to the Bike & Build Fund as well as thinking of all the pain that people go through who can't afford housing. It was an excruciating mental and physical exercise.
Thankfully, I found a friend to pace to, or rather, he found me- thanks to my Bike & Build jersey. Matt noticed my super snazzy gear as he was passing by and cycled alongside me for a good amount of the second half of the trek. I did my best to keep pace with him, which ironically increased my average speed for the last bit of the journey. Matt also gave me invaluable tips on shifting gears and tackling hills, which completely altered my hill strategy- okay fine! I didn't have any strategy for hills before Sunday. Needless to say, Matt was a lifesaver.
I rolled through the finish line around 4pm - 11 hours after starting and completely spent. It was incredible. After parking my bike on the lawn, I took a shower and sat in the shade of a truck to munch on some turkey jerky and reflect on the journey. Everything was great. The shower, the jerky, the lawn... I was riding a wave of endorphins. It was a beautiful experience on so many levels; it was an incredible journey in so many ways. A perfect primer for the awesomeness that is Bike & Build.
I made an earnest attempt at cleaning my bicycle over the weekend. Oh sure, anyone might look at the end result of my efforts and scoff or put on that parental mask of admiration over such crude work- but hey, it's all in good fun. My bike's slightly cleaner now, so that's a step in the right direction.
In preparation for the Montauk Century, I went for a weekend ride to Medford, Long Island this past Saturday/Sunday. The idea was to familiarize myself with the lay of the land, as I've not invested enough time exploring "the island" for an all out trek across it. So with that mindset, a deviously roundabout route was created to get from NYC to Medford: cutting through Brooklyn, and following the South Shore eastward. With this routing, what should have been about 60 miles transformed into a nice little 85 mile day trip (plus the miles added on from "creative" "improvisations" to the route).
Day 1: Saturday morning was brisk and cool, the skies murky with clouds that shook showers, but I was prepared for the weather, wearing leg warmers over the tights underneath my cycling shorts and a rain jacket on top of the arm warmers over the thermal underarmor beneath my Bike & Build jersey... Yes, I do enjoy layering. I find it fun- and useful, for though it was cold for the first half of the day, by the afternoon the clouds had scattered and it was a warm spring day.





It's not my fault. The button on the website said "click here" so I did. Now I'm registered for the Montauk Century Ride- and not the 60 or 100 mile ride either, mind you... I've gone and done myself in with the 145 mile ride.
This past weekend was the 12th annual blessing of the bikes at at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York city. Considering my recent close encounter of the automobile kind, I figured a little divine help was a good idea. So, I woke up early Saturday morning and hopped into my super fabulous bike shorts and bike & build jersey, put on my gloves and shoes, and strapped on my helmet for the quick morning ride.
I arrived at the church early, event information warned to be on-time or risk missing the blessing altogether. I spent the down time watching cyclists arrive, some brought fancy road bikes, others brought mountain bikes, frames... a man mused that he might just bring his derailer next year, as a man walked in with a wheel.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd enjoy the sound of bagpipes as much as I did on Saturday. There were hundreds of players, and I never thought I'd say this, but I think the more bagpipes the better. It was simply wonderful- and the drummers! I was absolutely entranced by their twirling batons, it looked incredibly fun to do, but must take a good deal of hand-eye coordination to pull off in time while marching. Maybe the kilts help.
The parade lasted for about an hour, with various groups and associations displaying their pride and showcasing their talents. One of my favorites was the Scottish Terrier owners. While I'm usually not a fan of dressing up animals... this kilted pup got two thumbs up for being super awesome. This Terrier is captaining her wheeled ship down the street. Look closely and you'll see there's a pirate skull on the back. This is one cool dog with an outfit that works.
Well, I did it, NYC to New Haven, CT and back in one piece and two days! It was an epic trip, the stuff of straight-to-DVD comedies, full of events that could/should never happen in real life, but somehow do... I rode logged over 200 miles in 2 days, fell a few times, crashed & burned, saw new places, met interesting people, and had an all around awesome adventure. Sure, it was a foolish, last minute decision- but I don't regret the experience garnered from this ride.
FRIDAY: I checked my favorite online maps resource for directions and wrote them down rather than relying on my memory as I did for my last but-not-quite-epic ride to West Orange, NJ when I nearly doubled the distance I should have ridden to get to my destination. Not wanting to pull out an actual map or piece of paper while riding, I opted for a more natural and readily accessible solution: my arm. With directions on arm, I packed my backpack with a change of clothes and vitals for the road: 2 liter camelpack water supply, 2 packs of jerky per day, 2 cliff bars (apple cranberry and apricot- yum!), and 2 amazing meal blends for each water bottle per day. Gear-wise I brought 2 tire levers, 2 spare tubes, a multitool, and a tire pump. Once everything was sorted and stowed away, I started riding around 8am, east and north through the Bronx.
I took Pelham Parkway, riding through Pelham Bay Park, and turned onto the Boston Post Road in New Rochelle. I ended up disregarding my original directions and opted to follow the old postal route, roughly the current US-1, to New Haven. I was thrilled to be riding the path that postal riders used to deliver mail to colonists hundreds of years ago- it helped to distract my mind from physical distractions like the inevitable pain and fatigue. Along the route there are milestones dating back to the 18th century, however I didn't see any during my ride.
I stopped to take a few pictures in Greenwich and Stamford, Connecticut. They were quiet and hilly towns, though Stamford was definitely larger. Some colonial style buildings still stood and the harbors were beautiful, but I didn't tarry too long as I hoped to be in New Haven sooner than later.
side door has more give than my current saddle, the Selle Royal Seta W... Yes, I abandoned my directions for more creative routing and, yes, I was hit by a car- a lovely silver CRV. I added quite a few miles to the trip and the collision scratched up my right side a bit though my backpack and helmet took the brunt of the impact when I was thrown off of the bike.
Following my gut instincts, I rode eastward passing through Fairfield and into Bridgeport where I reconnected with US-1 by pure luck. Bridgeport was the largest city outside of New Haven that I rode through; even so, it still had a very contained and small-town feel. One of its most famous residents was the circus-promoter, PT Barnum- incidently, the road that led me to US-1 was Barnum Ave.
SATURDAY: With Friday's lessons and events freshly set in my mind, I started the day around 8am, cruising onto US-1 West with the sun at my back. The ride back seemed shorter, perhaps because the landscape was familiar and I stopped less. However I did have one major setback.
Speeding down the hill entering Bridgeport, I hit a series of cracks in the road and sustained a flat tire from the wear. While trying to fill the tire, I could hear air hissing from the tube... as luck would have it, a police officer pulled into a parking spot nearby and, seeing my dilemma, directed me towards a bike shop, Chris's Spoke & Wheel, just a half mile away. Figuring I could get my brake handle realigned and an overall frame check, I made my way to the bike shop. Bubba, the shop puppy,
kept me company while my bike was tuned up and checked for damages that may have been overlooked.
It's April Fools, and I've stolen the fool's crown. Perhaps it was Sony's prank for the day, but for the life of me, I could not log into the server, rendering me nearly useless and unreachable. While biding my time "researching future project ideas", I discovered that Sony takes off Good Friday, so suddenly I have a three day weekend! Having taken the fool's crown as my own, doing something foolish with my new found time was mandatory. 
After a few foolish moments of half-hearted research, I decided upon a destination: New Haven, CT. I've never been there before and it's only about 90 miles away - a day's ride. Foolishly perfect. See you on the road.
I'm so close to reaching my fund raising goal of $4000!!! And I've got a special donation from a wonderful friend and cake master baker in Northern California. Sarah from Sarah Lindsay Cakes of San Francisco is donating a 6" cake to anyone in the Bay Area.





