BikeandBuild.org

Hey, so uh...I rode my bike across the country.
Here it is...the blog you've all been waiting for. Or, more likely, the blog you had already conceded would never come.

So there we were, 31 Bike and Builders, waking up in Vernonia, OR to the same playlist that woke us our very first morning in Virginia Beach. In a way, it was just another morning--packing up our bins, eating breakfast, loading the trailer--but at the same time, this morning was different. Never again would we all wake up together to ride our bikes. And the next morning, we would be able to wake up and say, "We rode our bikes across the country."

From the moment I opened my eyes, I was ecstatic. I made sure to hug every single person before we took off (Even Sarah Whitehurst, who saves her hugs for special occasions, willingly hugged me!). We all ended up stopping at a coffee shop in town, where we lingered for a while, trying with all our might to make the day last. Jake, a B&B alum who lives in Portland, drove the van so the leaders could ride. He also brought a tandem so Sarah Crawford could ride the last day with her injured arm. Mark rode the tandem with her most of the day, and finally felt the aches and pains that the rest of us mere mortals feel daily.

I'm used to east coast beaches, where the land is flat and marshy miles before you get to the beach. In Oregon, however, it's pretty much mountains until the very end. This was strange for me; I kept wondering when we would get to the flatlands. About a mile before the beach, everyone stopped at a pull out on the side of the road. By the time I arrived, most people were there already. They grabbed my bike and told me to go stand on that rock and look through the trees. I climbed up, peered out towards the horizon, and there it was...the PACIFIC OCEAN. It was a moment I'll never forget. I can still feel it. Tears of joy, excitement, amazement, and pride rolled down my face. 4000 miles.

We waited for everyone to get there as Jake went ahead and made sure all the friends and families were in the right spot. Jen Carboni took over as Sarah's tandem partner for the last leg into Cannon Beach. When we got the go-ahead from Jake, we rolled out for the last time. The excitement was briefly replaced by burning fears of a 31-person pile-up as we rode down the hill into town, with yells of "SLOWING!" echoing through the streets. But then...as if seeing the ocean through the trees weren't amazing enough, we cleared the trees and were presented with the image that had been in our heads all summer. The image that got us over the mountains, across the plains, and through the headwinds. The image that was the subject of roadside chalk drawings across the country. Haystack rock. Before, it was only a picture. Now it was real, and right there in front of us. We rode our bikes there.

My face was exploding with excitement as we rode through town. I felt like a Tour de France rider rolling into Paris on the last day. The streets were filled with people screaming and cheering. They probably had no idea what they were cheering for, but it made us feel good nonetheless. We sang, danced, chanted and yelled our way through the town. (I'm getting teary-eyed just writing this). We hammered up our last hill to the beach access. We carried our bikes down some steps to the beach, to the cheers of friends and family. I felt like a war hero returning from battle. We set our bikes down, ripped off our jerseys and shoes, then lined up for the final sprint. Once everyone was ready, we counted down and sprinted across the sand, the last few yards of our 4000 mile journey, and plunged into the ocean that had been waiting for us for 10 weeks. Hugging, screaming, fist-pumping, laughing, dancing, and splashing ensued. Then it was time for the Haka. Will Paradis taught us this tribal chant that the New Zealand Rugby team does before every match to intimidate their opponents. It is quite intimidating, and adds to the cultishness of Bike and Build when we circle up and scream nonsense words in unison, with matching hand gestures. But our dream was to do it in the Pacific Ocean, and that we did. Best Haka ever.

After much celebrating, we got cleaned up at the church and continued the celebrations well into the night with a picnic dinner and bonfire on the beach. All day I really felt like my face was going to explode. I have never smiled so much in my life. WE DID IT. We RODE our BIKES across the COUNTRY. So much happened between Virginia Beach and that final day. More than any blog could ever convey. More than I will ever be able to explain to anyone. This summer was the best experience of my life. So thank you all for our continuing support--I couldn't have done it without you.

PS. ::sniff sniff:: YEAH. <<