Yea, it's my B

So, it seems the farther we go, the more irresponsible I get about updating my blog. Instead of trying to update you on each day I've missed since we entered colorful Colorado, I'm just going to give you some highlights. 

We had our first really good state sign when we got to Colorado, which really excited everyone. We spent at least 25 minutes at this sign taking pictures. This one was taken before anyone was ready, which makes it my favorite.

This picture is of the sunset over Pike's Peak, and was the backdrop for our camp-out on the Chico Basin Ranch near Colorado Springs, CO. It's an 87,000 acre nature conservancy with free-roaming cattle and horses and other wild animals. It was gorgeous. The ride into Chico Basin was our first sight of the Rocky Mountains, but because they're so expansive, we had about 4 days to think about climbing them...

Our first day into the Rockies began as we passed through the Garden of the Gods outside of CO Springs. It was incredible and well-deserving of its name, as you can see. Every day we've ridden through the Rocky Mountains has been breathtaking (both figuratively and literally, people have been having some issues with the altitude). The highest elevation we climbed to was 11,312 feet at the summit of Monarch Pass. 

We took a tramway to the very top of the mountain and there was snow! Here Jordan and I (the Floridians) are having a snowball fight. Super-awesome photograph taken by Sam Thomas.

This picture was taken at the summit of Molas Pass just yesterday. We had 3 mountain passes to climb on the 4th of July over the "Million Dollar Highway" and it was beautiful. This legendary 30 mile descent into Durango, CO that we've heard so much about was...kind of non-existant. So we were all a bit disappointed about that. And we've had some pretty outrageous headwinds the last few days in the flatter areas, which is really unfortunate because that means if we're not climbing mountains, we're holding onto our bikes for dear life trying not to get blown off the road (or into traffic). Tomorrow's ride to Cortez will be our last day in the Rockies, and though I never thought I'd be saying this...I am really sad to see them fade into the distance behind us. These are some of the most beautiful parts of the country that I've ever seen, and I am borderline obsessed with Colorado. Absolutely my favorite state so far. 
Here are some other tidbits:
In Colorado Springs we went to a bike shop to get new chains and stuff, and after I'd made my initial purchases, I was wandering around the store looking at other things while we were waiting on our ride. I found the coolest socks, they are blue and black and have the Colorado flag with the Rockies in the background around the ankle, and I had to have them. I went up to the counter to pay for them, and the guy just gave them to me. 
Also in Colorado Springs, at the tail-end of a 9-day stretch of straight biking with no rest, we all got what has been deemed "the sickness." A 24-hr stomach bug ravaged the ranks of NC2SD10 and took out about 15 of us total, myself included (though I luckily had a milder case and wasn't as sick as some others). AND it was on Jeremy's 19th birthday, no less. Sorry, Jeremy, we'll make it up. So while it was really unpleasant to have so much gastric distress, I must say, I've never had so much fun being sick. We were all quarantined in a room together, periodically sprinting to the bathroom, cracking jokes, getting filmed talking about what Bike & Build has done to us, collectively groaning, eating saltine crackers and drinking ginger ale, downing Tums and Pepto, and it was honestly a really good time. Then we all slept for 10 hours and felt better.
KELLY GOT ENGAGED!! Congrats Kelly and Drew :D 
Last night we celebrated America and Daniel's birthdays (4th of July) here in Durango with fireworks and dancing in a chinese restaurant (no lie). We all went to the multi-celebration dinner at the local brewhouse, and they were showing the Tour de France on TV. There is nothing more entertaining than watching real cyclists with a bunch of wanna-be cyclists. At one point they showed the topographic map of the Tour and when they panned over the mountain stages we all screamed like idiots. It was awesome. Sincerest apologies to Carver's Brewing Co. of Durango, CO. Love, Bike & Build. And HBD Daniel America Leader ;)
Finally, some new things I love to do:
1. Going to local coffee shops in the towns we pass through, reading a periodical and talking to people.
2. Spending 45 minutes in bookstores looking for books and reading parts of them, but not actually buying anything.
3. Going into bike shops. Just in general. I like to collect their water bottles, and touch bikes that are too good for me. 
That's what I got for now. Hope it halfway describes how awesome Colorado is :D

Carryin' on from Kansas

Well once again I write you as we prepare to enter a new state. Kansas has been more fun and more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Tonight we are in Garden City, but let me tell you about our 3 short stops in the sunflower state.
We entered Kansas and stayed the night in Coldwater. We actually camped out on Lake Coldwater, which was quite an experience... Let me tell you, the bugs in Kansas are approximately twice as big and 100x as ferocious as anywhere else I've ever been. The mosquitoes are relentless. We got torn up. Luckily, our tents protected us, and while the rain threatened, we actually had gorgeous camping weather. We had dinner in town at Dave's Pizza (big ups to the owner who comped our meal, and Sami's parents for picking up the tip!) and then proceeded to celebrate John's 21st birthday. We had a drink in town at a "member's only" bar on  the tab of a man named Tim who obviously didn't know what he was getting himself into. But the real party was back at the campsite, where several of us sat around the campfire enjoying one another's company and talking about silliness and making John have the "best birthday ever" (which he told us over and over again). It was a good night. Happy birthday John :)
We escaped the mosquitoes the next morning and rode off to Dodge City. Yes, THE Dodge City. The ride started out fantastic, Laem and I rode with our counterparts John and Kevin, respectively, and were just flying through the first 14 miles. We picked up a train that ended up being about 10 people total (that's really big) and just tore down the highway toward Protection, KS where we stopped at a great diner to have second breakfast. It was delicious. The ride after that got a little less thrilling though, because we were all lethargic and food-comatose. The wind was really strong, too. Most of us got separated and the ride into lunch was pretty hard. After lunch however, we turned toward the North and had a ridiculous tailwind. I'm talking, I was doing 28 mph without really even pedaling hard. And I am not fast. John was probably doing 75mph. So the last 30 miles were gravy and as I coasted into Dodge I ran into Stutte, Sam and Andrew at an ice cream shop and got some awesome Horchata (Spanish rice milk deliciousness). Sam also got some sort of tomato/tobasco/really odd tasting popsicle by accident and then ate the whole thing because Andrew said he'd give her a 30 minute massage if she did. Oh the things we'll do for massages. That stuff was gross. 
This morning we got the hell outta Dodge bandit-style and headed for Garden City. We had a nice short ride of 53 miles today, and it was desperately needed. We've been riding 5 straight days now and have 4 more coming before a break, so our bodies are crying for rest and people are getting a little testy. We were supposed to have prom tonight, so everyone stopped at the Goodwill in town to get super outfits, but prom has been delayed due to the fact that we have to get up at 4:30am and ride over 100 miles to Lamar, CO tomorrow. We also cross into our third time zone, Mountain Time! AND we've ridden over 2,000 miles. Man, I'm so excited about Colorado...I'm going to go to bed and dream about it. Then I'll tell you about it when I get there. BIKE & BUILD!

Oklahoma is OK!

Can you believe it, tomorrow we leave Oklahoma and enter Kansas. It seems like we arrived only days ago...oh right, it was only days ago. We are just blowing through states these days, which is doubly impressive because the wind is blowing us in the opposite direction. Honestly, that Oklahoma musical song where they talk about the wind sweeping down the plain? Outrageous understatement. This state has flattened out as promised, however the headwinds we've had to ride into have been pretty powerful. It has also been incredibly hot. And Kansas is supposed to be windier and hotter. This is the life...
So our first stop in Oklahoma was Grove, and that ride is probably my favorite of the trip so far. I was sweep that day with Joe (Air Force Sweep, woo!) and we had such a good time. He is so great to hang out with and talk to. At lunch Sanna played Tim McGraw and we got to jam out country style. We also rode through 3 different states that day, so we got lots of good pictures. The miles went by effortlessly, I absolutely loved it. As we approached town, we could see thunderheads off in the distance, flashing periodically and threatening rain. We made it in to the church just minutes before the skies opened up. It was a beautiful summer thunderstorm. It came on fast and stormed HARD, lasted an hour or two and then the sun came out again. It reminded me of home.
We headed next to Bartlesville, OK. The city was a fantastic surprise. We arrived at the church to find "Welcome Bike & Build" up on their marquis. They were amazing hosts. They fed us full, planned out meals for breakfast and dinner both days we were there, and the Sunday School kids made us little trail mix baggies to take with us to the build site. I worked on painting the exterior of a Habitat home that is almost ready for dedication. We finished 2 coats on almost the entire house (only missed the parts that the scaffolding couldn't reach). We also met the neighbors who were Habitat homeowners, which was really cool because we got to see a family enjoying their home the way someone would one day enjoy the home we were working on. They also had the most adorable puppy in the world named Lulu and I almost stole her. I almost stole a puppy from a small child. She was that cute. (Don't worry Leo, you know I love you the most.) The man from the church who kind of shuttled us around for the 2 days we were in Bartlesville was so nice too, he gave us a short tour whenever we were riding around town. They also stopped for us on the way to the build sites to let us take pictures with the cool stuff in the downtown area. And you know how we Bike & Builders love photo ops...
From Bartlesville we headed on to Ponca City. Laem, Sanna and I rode together and it was really fun. When we reached the top of one of the long sloping hills, we looked at the countryside and realized it looked just like the pride land in Disney's "The Lion King" (my favorite childhood movie). So we took lots of pictures. Once we got to Ponca we walked to Sonic which was just a half mile away AND had indoor seating! Indoor AIR CONDITIONED seating at a Sonic! So clutch in the 100 degree heat. Later that evening we had movie night and watched "Wedding Crashers." It's always a lot of fun to do one big group activity like that.
One of the local cyclists from Ponca City rode with us today as we headed out to Cherokee. Big shout out to Mr. Mudd for getting out there with us! Cherokee is a really small town (though we are going to the even smaller Coldwater, Kansas tomorrow). We are definitely in wheat country now. "Amber waves of grain" is also not an inaccurate song lyric. Today's ride was the most intense wind. It was also an 80 miler, so we were all pretty beat. Most of us showered and took naps before dinner. Now we're all calling it an early night because we have a 4:30am wake up to try to beat the heat to Kansas. P.S. We've now officially ridden more than half of our total mileage. We're more than halfway across the country! And we have just 32 short days left...

A short state stay

Here's what I've learned about blogging: it takes time and internet connectivity. Here's what I've learned about blogging while on Bike & Build: those two things rarely coincide. So while I'm already 158 miles into Oklahoma, I haven't really told you anything about our week in Arkansas. Here we go:

From Brinkley we headed to Little Rock, the capitol city of Arkansas, and had a build day there. The ride into Little Rock was awesome. I rode with Kevin and Kelly all day and we had a lot of fun talking and taking pictures. The ride was really interesting too. We had a neat lunch spot in a city park along the way, and once we got close to the city we took a local bike trail up to and over the Arkansas River. It was absolutely beautiful. People finally appreciated the Arkansas scenery after an admittedly poor first impression on the eastern side. The church we stayed in looked like a ski lodge, and had big comfy couches and a giant projector and screen that we could watch movies on. Our build day in Little Rock was a first for us on this trip: Deconstruction.  A man bought a house and is remodeling it basically from bare walls, so he invited Habitat to salvage anything they could sell in the ReStore. Profits from the sale of these items go to fund the building of new Habitat homes. DECON WAS AWESOME. Tools required: sledgehammers and crowbars. I was on the crew working in the kitchen, and we removed the cabinetry (which is a lot harder than you think when you're trying to keep it intact for resale). When we got to the countertop and lower kitchen cabinets though, they were deemed unsalvageable, and we got to go to town tearing them out. If you ever get the chance, destroy something for a good cause. It's invigorating.

From Little Rock we rode our first century (a ride of over 100 miles) to Clarksville. I was excited 1) because it would be my first century and 2) because I have a lot of family who live about 20 minutes from Clarksville. The ride was actually really great. Laem and I started the day off flying and before we knew it we were at lunch. I kept loading up on GU periodically so I could keep it going, and I felt great the whole day. Molly joined us for the last 30 miles or so, and I'm so proud of her for pushing through even though she was feeling kind of sick. We sang a whole lot of 90s boy band music, which always helps the miles pass. We stayed in a dorm at the University of the Ozarks, and my cousins Kenny, Sarah, and Tracy came to see me! It was awesome, we drove around a bit and got milkshakes at Sonic, and it was just really good to see them and catch up. The A/C wasn't working in the wing of the dorm I was sleeping in, so they brought in an industrial fan...I was so tired the noise didn't even faze me. It did, however, prevent me from hearing the wake-up call and Allison had to pry me out of my sleeping bag about 15 minutes late. I got it together though.

Between Clarksville and our next stop, Fayetteville (home of the University of Arkansas) we met the Ozark mountains. I can't believe I'm saying this, but they weren't that bad. I suppose I am getting stronger, but I almost don't mind climbs anymore. Until my back starts hurting. Then I loathe them. The Ozarks were not nearly as intense as the Blue Ridge in NC, but they also didn't have very impressive descents. The ride down the mountain is what makes the climb worth it! But it was really beautiful. Our church in Fayetteville was right in the middle of town, just off Dickson Street...primo location. We had a potluck dinner with people from the church, local Habitat for Humanity, and a local cycling club. One of these people walked into our room before dinner, looked right at me and goes, "Are you Brooke?" "Yes..." I replied. She says, "I'm your cousin." Typical Arkansas, right? Haha, but really, I met my 2nd cousin Ony who I had apparently met a few times before when I was very young. She is a member of the cycling club that came to our dinner, and had seen my Dad a week earlier at the family reunion. He told her I wasn't there because I was on this cross country cycling trip...and here we are. Randomly met a family member.

I also got to hang out with Kenny again and my other cousin Lauren in Fayetteville when we went out to Dickson Street that night. It's just so good to see them and get to hang out with them, especially while I'm on a trip like this. It's so neat that we are traveling through these areas so close to my family and where I have so many great memories. 

So we were in and out of Arkansas in under a week. We're making serious moves now...no more baby 30-40 mile days for us. It's pretty cool though that people are actually impressed now when we tell them where we came from. We'll try to enjoy the long days in the plains while we can...Colorado and the Rockies are coming in hot!

Ar-Kansas!

Well we made it to Arkansas safe and sound after a somewhat treacherous ride today. It began with an 8-mile ride out to the I-55 bridge across the Mississippi River. It is obviously incredibly dangerous to ride across an interstate bridge with no shoulder over a river, so we had a interesting path across the Arkansas state line...
We walked up some steps under the bridge and made our way to a sidewalk that is covered in debris and broken glass. For this reason we had to carry our bicycles. I suppose it was a "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" situation because our bikes carry us around all the time, and we literally walked a mile with our bikes on our backs. Let me tell you, it was not fun. But we did get to see our first real state sign and take some pictures, even with the semis flying by us like freight trains. We had to meet up with the van and trailer on the other side to be escorted onto the interstate for a mile, so there was a bit of waiting around.  It was a much longer morning than usual, for sure. We survived the interstate and safely entered Arkansas to begin a 65 mile ride on ONE ROAD. We also had a pretty strong headwind which took away from how blissfully flat the terrain was. The road wasn't in great repair either, lots of potholes and bumps and debris, so it was just kind of a rough ride all around. I rode with Myles, Dave, and Laem the whole day though, and we always find ways to make the time pass (for instance, pictures of Myles and Dave holding hands).
At lunch we were really excited to find leftover pasta and everybody ate it up. I immediately regretted that decision about a mile after lunch when I felt heavy and miserable and it was SO HOT outside. We found a gas station about 10 miles down the road in Forrest City and the people there were really interested in what we were doing, so it was cool to chill out for a while in the shade and chat with the locals. I also had a Sprite and my stomach felt much better. It was a hot, bumpy ride the rest of the way into Brinkley, but we arrived to a glorious spread of fruit and veggie trays with dip, chips, crackers and hummus, and even some candy (post-ride snickers = bank). When a host takes care of us like that it totally washes away the pain of a hard ride. We thought we were going to have to make our own dinner, but then a guy passing the church saw our trailer and started talking to our leaders and offered to buy us all pizza. Amazing.
It's Thursday so we had family meeting tonight, and we conference-called Tri-Sean in so he could hear our highs and lows. It was pretty cool to still have him kind of around for that. Sean: We definitely all miss you and hope to have you back! After dinner was chill/bike maintenance time and now here we are.  Tomorrow we head to Little Rock, the capitol of the Natural State, and we will have a build day there so we're all pretty excited to get another break so soon :) Here's hoping for a tailwind and nice roads to make those flats count while we can.

Breaking 1000 and the 1st Day Off

Well we rode for 7 straight days (our longest stretch of the trip yet without a day off the saddle) and finally arrived in Memphis, TN for our first day off of the trip. To this point the closest we've come to days off are build days, because we (generally) don't have to ride our bikes and get to sleep a little later, etc. We made it count.
We crossed the 1000 mile mark on the ride from Pulaski to Adamsville. It was our longest ride yet, 90 miles.  And in case you were unaware, Adamsville is the home of Sheriff Buford Pusser, inspiration for the movie "Walking Tall" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and boy are they proud of it. And might I say, I've seen Walking Tall and I didn't know it was based on this guy or Adamsville, but I did think it was a decent film. Anyway, there were signs everywhere for this guy, which made me chuckle because he has a silly name. Daniel's Mom and sister Elizabeth came and made us a superb BBQ dinner and tons of desserts, which was just outstanding of them.  We're so lucky to have people support us like that. Wouldn't be possible without them :) So other than how great Daniel's family is, Adamsville was pretty unremarkable.
Our next stop was Bolivar, TN. When we arrived the church had Subway sandwiches and Gatorade waiting for us...so great. There is nothing like riding hard all day and coming in to find food waiting for you. The really awesome youth pastor drove us in a shuttle bus to the Fire Station down the street for showers. I am sad to report that they did not have a fire pole to slide down, but it was really nice of them to offer us warm showers. And while we waited for everyone to finish, we watched part of one of the sequels to "Men in Black" on their flat screen TV which was pretty cool. Also, our church was literally right next door to McDonald's, so milkshakes were just footsteps away (have I told you guys yet that my favorite thing to have after a ride is a milkshake? It's wonderful). The youth pastor also made us a spaghetti dinner.  After we ate we did affordable housing presentations (which Jeremy and I rocked, I might add) and then began a really serious game of 4 square with a playground ball we found in the gym. I'm talking hours of 4 square. I won't get into details about how the King's rules panned out, but it was a pretty hilarious spectacle by the end.
Our ride day into Memphis started out really well, excellent roads and nice cloud cover to save us from the sun...then we hit the city. It was the most stressful, hot, frustrating, unpleasant 10 miles of riding we have done thus far (and this is including climbing the practically vertical Daus Mountain).  Traffic was terrible and people were driving like buffoons, the roads were full of potholes and giant metal plates and it was just terrible.  Luckily Laem, Dave, Stutte and I stuck together and made it through. Once we got here it was all gravy. Dinner wasn't provided, but dinner crew made us some awesome Chili and we still had leftovers from what Daniel's mom made us so it was a very solid meal. We went to an "Urban Salon" with some local authorities on affordable housing here in Memphis and got to hear about the issues here and how they are working with them...it was pretty enlightening. After that it was party time. The people here at the church offered to drive us downtown to Beale Street so we wouldn't have to pay a cab. We had an incredible time. All but about 3 of us came out so we just took over, sang karaoke, danced to live music...top night for sure. Definitely provided some good stories to recap over breakfast, which we had after we SLEPT IN because we didn't have to bike or build for the first time in 27 days. We ate at a local place called "Brother Juniper's College Inn" and it was fantastical. They even gave us a 15% discount after we told them about Bike & Build. The rest of the day was nice and relaxing...we all just sat around and enjoyed one another's company, which we don't get to do very often. I'm on laundry crew this week, so we had to hit the laundromat this afternoon while some others went to the Civil Rights Museum (heard it was really powerful and I'm bummed I missed it). For dinner we all went to Central BBQ and I had some delicious ribs. Also Molly ordered this Peanut Butter Pie which was so good it didn't make sense (she let me steal some bites). If you're ever in Memphis, go get some Peanut Butter Pie (and anything else on the menu) from Central BBQ. Tonight after dinner was fun because we all just hung out talking and laughing about stuff while simultaneously trying to get our act together before tomorrow's 5am wake up and ride across the Mississippi River into Arkansas. Stay tuned for how tomorrow goes, I hear it's a pretty silly set of instructions for how to legally get across the river on your bicycle (can't ride it).
Two states and one-third of the trip mileage down already...get ready Arkansas.

Dinner with the Mayor

Hey Everybody.
Sorry it's been a few days...west Tennessee is a little rough on internet connection, and we've been moving at light speed across this state.  Since I last posted in Winchester, we headed to Pulaski, TN, which we learned is the origin of the KKK.  Apparently they've been trying to make up for that little lapse in judgement ever since, because Pulaski was pretty awesome.  The ride was glorious.  It was our first ride in a while where we stayed on the same road for extended mileage, which usually makes for a boring ride BUT...it was also our first taste of anything remotely close to flat land, which meant we could ride in bigger groups...and the road shoulder was as wide as a regular lane, so we could double up.  This combination meant 30 miles of group a-capella singing of 90s pop songs.  It was the most fun I've had riding yet this trip, and the miles flew by like nothing.  Also, I rode with Kevin and John (the perpetually fastest riders on the trip) the entire day.  It was exhilarating.  We rolled into town first and the van and trailer hadn't arrived yet, so someone called Sanna and she told us to wait at Martin Methodist College for our contact person, Dan Spear.  We were waiting around one of the dorms when a woman walked out and we asked her if she knew where we could find Dan Spear, thinking she might know because she appeared to be a Resident Assistant or something else involved with the college.  She paused for a moment then said, "Umm...Dan Spear is the Mayor of Pulaski..."  We obviously became very confused/excited, and found out shortly after that Mayor Dan Spear has hosted the riders every time Bike & Build has come through Pulaski with a dinner and pool party at his private home.  Bank. 
We stayed the night in a dormitory of Martin Methodist College, which not only meant we all got to relive our freshman year of college for one night, but we got to sleep in real beds on real mattresses and had such glorious showers (especially when you compare them to a week straight of cold showers).  We played music and had a short dance party in the dorm hall, then went to Reeve's Drug Store for milkshakes.  Yes, I realize that sounds strange, we thought so too, but a local suggested it to us so we took our chances.  We walked into the drug store and...it looked like a drug store, so we thought we'd been duped.  Then we walked further to the back and there was a whole fountain shoppe with ice cream, sandwiches, snacks, and 5 cent Cokes.  That's right, 5 cents.  This place was amazing (and really cheap).  I had a delicious mint chocolate chip milkshake and nachos.  The people were so great too, they were all so interested in what we were doing, and this really cute boy in his little league uniform came up and asked if he could write an article for the newspaper about us.  The people at the table next to us offered to buy us all Sun Drop sodas if we'd never had it...it was just a really great, friendly environment.  We walked back to campus to find 3 guys from a local bike shop cleaning bikes for free.  Then a shuttle came to pick us up to take us to the Mayor's house...
Mayor Dan Spear is a great American.  When we arrived he welcomed us to his home and walked us down to his pool, a table full of snacks and a cooler full of beer.  Sitting in that pool in the afternoon sun, having a beer and laughing with my fellow Bike & Builders is absolutely my favorite moment of this trip so far.  They catered some Tennessee BBQ for us for dinner and we all got to introduce ourselves and chat with the Mayor's people at the party, it was a really nice evening.  Suffice it to say, nobody wanted to get on the shuttle back to the dorms.
We were all pretty beat by the time we got back so we just hung out a little while and then treated ourselves to a night's sleep on an actual mattress. 
Best day ever.