jake on a bike

I’ve been avoiding writing this last entry for days now since it, really, officially signifies the end of Bike & Build in my mind.

As for the final moment, imagine 31 riders (on 30 bikes…go tandem!) yelling and screaming for 2 miles along the coast of West Seattle, creating such a scene last Sunday afternoon, I’m sure, disrupting people’s quiet afternoon on the beach. And once we reached 61st street on Alki beech, the 30 of us screamed even louder but this time our patient family and friends joined us, welcoming us to our final destination. I spotted a bunch of balloons to which Brooke said, “Oh, those must be for me” but upon closer look, saw that it was my aunt, uncle and cousins cheering me on.

I hopped off the bike as soon as I saw them but quickly threw down my gear and hopped in the ocean when I saw (nearly) all riders jump in. The cold water heightened the overwhelming emotions of having completed this incredible journey, adding the bubbling headrush. All of us bobbed in the shallow water, leaping up and hugging one another, entirely elated. I felt an amazing sense of cohesion with the group at that moment and even in that wondrous moment, felt a slight sadness in realizing that this moment meant the end of it all.

I really enjoyed the build day we had on the following day with Rebuilding Together. But when it was completed, I had a sense of unease because although everything in the past few days fell in to the typical pattern of bike, arrive at host site, eat dinner, sleep, wake up, and build, I knew that we weren’t hopping on our bikes the next day per usual.

That night I packed my bikebox, carefully disassembling the parts, adding cushioning and continuously rearranging its contents to prevent damage. The whole process was pretty frustrating since it was such a tight squeeze and just furthered my anxiety of the end of everything. Luckily, Shira was there to watch me pack and make suggestions which helped calm me down.

My goodbyes to everyone were scattered, catching people as they milled around the church taking care of last minute details and felt entirely inadequate. Hard to really express how important everyone in the group was to my experience and in shaping the incredible group dynamic that was P2S08. I truly will miss all 30 of them and am sad that all of us will never be together again.

The entire Bike & Build experience has had a profound impact on my life, much of which I am still reflecting and learning from. Only when I start to encounter new experiences will I truly be able to gage its effect. At least one major takeaway was the heightened desire to seek out adventure and explore my surroundings on a daily basis. Regardless of our surroundings, there was always something to enjoy- natural scenery (ranging from beautiful mountains to windy plains), a local general store, lakes and streams and all the random eateries in between. In this sense, I know I’ll find ways to rediscover my surroundings and find new things to explore and appreciate…ensuring that there never will become overly settled and bored with my environment. Keep on exploring.

Although this is a final post for Bike & Build, I think I’ll continue to occasionally blog about my future cycling and running pursuits as well as insert more photos and fill in some gaps from Bike & Build. So, for sure, this isn’t goodbye.

Heat, Lasers and Stars

OOOOOOOoomak. Omak. So hot today. All of us were delirious by second lunch at the top of Disautel Pass. The normally cooling downhills just felt like riding through a blow dryer and the heat was especially magnified by the recently burned land along the road. Pretty much one of the most challenging rides of the whole summer and the big hills with the semi-arid sage brush grassland and pine tree mix reminded me so much of Nebraska. And any reminder of Nebraska just adds to the displeasure.

But in all seriousness, despite the delirium and suffocating heat, I had a great ride today. One of the major highlights was riding through Grand Coulee Dam, the largest hydroelectric producing dam in North America…really a gargantuan of a dam. Last night we were able to catch a laser show that played on a streaming sheet of water released from the top of the concrete structure. Jeff spearheaded the event based from his childhood memory of watching the show while on a car trip. The narrator was the voice of the Columbia River (of course with Native American overtones) and essentially confirmed the construction of the Columbia Dam Projects despite all the hardship for the Native American population and ecological devastation since it “cured natures mistakes” and “quenched the thirst of the parched landscape.” It even linked its achievements in electrical production as a key in the US winning WWII because of the large amounts of Aluminum production in the northwest, which was then used for weapons/machinery. Hilariously propagandistic….we all had a great time.

And working in reverse furthermore, we camped (our first camping night!) in Wilbur, WA last night. Great times watching the stars through the screens in the ceiling of our tent! I’ve thought it much earlier on the trip, but in this whole time of biking across the country, we’ve been staying in very remote locations…perfect for star-gazing. Problem is that we’re usually in bed before the stars come out, so we’ve really missed out! But in these last few days, I’ve been sure to really take in the stars with a few Bike & Builders and even have gotten to know a few more constellations.

Off to wash my chamois…4 more days of biking and its all done. Yikes!

Just a little update tonight. I’m writing after a very rigorous ride of…..35 miles. Just kidding. Today, was by far the easiest day of all time, routewise, but per usual it was filled with great times and mini adventures along the way.

We started out the day in Cour d’Alene in the panhandle off Idaho with a delicious breakfast of crepes from “Chef Richard” and great conversations with church volunteers, many whom have had extraordinary cycling experience in the past- cross-country trips and other routes.

Chef Richard is also a chiropractor and when one rider mentioned some hamstring tightness to a church volunteer (Helen), she “put a bug in his ear” and Richard whipped out an adjustment table from his car and set it up out front. So many riders got adjustments from him to help with their shoulder/leg/knee tightness and other problems. We all stood around as he did his work, popping backs, massaging muscles, wrenching necks. Riders would then stand up with an expression of relief and amazement by the difference in the way they felt. The whole production really reminded me of those “healing sessions” from overly-sensational charismatic Christian churches. I was skeptical. But, I ultimately decided to take him up on his free services and had my knees and back adjusted….seriously, he popped almost all my vertebrae and told me I was almost the stiffest rider of the bunch. I really felt relieved after I had it done- my body felt like it could more efficiently power my bike and stand comfortably. Probably never am going to pay for chiropractic work ever, but it felt good getting it done just this once.

We finally got started after waiting around an extra hour at the church, pedaling on a dedicated bike path most of the way to Spokane but with stops for the state border with the whole group (Washington is our last state!) and swimming on the Spokane River in a little calm swimming hole complete with giant (15ft high) basalt rocks.

Tomorrow is a build day here in Spokane, so I’ll try to recap a little from days past.

Woohoo, another late night post.

We’ve had another incredible series of days here on Bike & Build P2S- build day in Jackson, the ride over the Teton Pass in to IDAHO and now hanging out in West Yellowstone…MONTANA! So many states! A brief post I will write, given the long day ahead tomorrow.

Jackson, Wyoming is a wonderful, wonderful place…but oh so expensive to live in. Average house goes for well over a million because of the scarce amount of land in the valley (since much of the land is nationally protected) and because of the outrageously rich building homes in the area. This leaves the middle-class citizens hard pressed for an inexpensive place to live. The Habitat chapter we worked for works with the city to create Level-1 Housing (people earning $40k and less) and the homes we worked on were going for around $250,000 for <1200 sq. feet (approx.). If left to the market, they would run to nearly $700,000!! The build was an excellent time…I got to work on foundation prep work (aka dirt digging), and some wood siding installation high up near the roof. Some frustrating moments…but really an excellent opportunity to get some carpentry skills, thats for sure.

The following day, we headed over the Teton Pass on the old road that is nearby US- and was a very steep 6 mile climb full of switchbacks overlooking the Wyoming Teton Vally..the steepest yet of the trip. At the top of the mountain, the B&B group got together for a dance party, cheering on each successive rider until all had reached the top. We blasted Kanye, Deevo, Brittney Spears, Daft Punk, Girl Talk…all great pump-up music you might say. (I also did a short hike higher up in to the mountain while I waited for others to make it up top, with Brooke and Mark). The descent was way tougher in my mind with an over 10% grade drop. I was hitting 36mph with my brakes…yikes! Still, a great rush and an amazing ride- glad to have the support of all the riders throughout the whole route.

The rest of the day was spent in Idaho- a strange mix of the fertileness and rolling hills (much more pronounced) of Iowa and the windiness/openness of Nebraska. Basically had some pretty tough hills in spud country.

Today, we rode in to Montana in to West Yellowstone, and actually got to go through Yellowstone Park in the afternoon. We got to view a bunch of very active geysers and even swam in a river and saw elk!

Three centuries ahead of us in Montana! More exciting rides to come….but the end is coming near :-(. Less than 3 weeks left!

Approaching the Tetons

Today was the most amazing ride of my entire life. No joke.

From Dubois to Jackson, we rode 85 miles through Togwotee Pass, climbing 3,000 feet to nearly 10,000 feet and crossing the Continental Divide and down through Teton National Park then Jackson Hole. We left Dubois, winding around the Windy River as we have been for the past few days but began climbing significantly 15 miles out. Surprisingly, the climb up the mountain was fairly easy. The only challenge I had was the thinner air, but a few stops for photo ops helped me catch my breath.

We ate lunch just shy of the peak at 30 miles. After passing the Continental Divide, all of a sudden we could see the Tetons in the background, jutting out majestically 30 miles away. The first moment that I saw them, it didn’t really hit me. But at the second glance, I became overwhelmed and couldn’t stop thinking on how far we’ve biked to see these Rocky Mountains and was simply in awe of their beauty. For the next 18 miles, we sped downhill, first through a tunnel of densely packed pine trees, then weaving in and out along the mountainside enjoying further glances at the peaks at every winding turn. Simply incredible (and really indescribable). I was traveling very fast at 35 miles, but felt like I was crawling because of the grand scale of the scenery around me. What a rush.

At the base of Togwotee Pass, we entered in to Teton National Park, keeping the Tetons to our right as we biked along US-26. We passed through some of the most beautiful land I’ve ever seen- short scrub trees mixed with wildflowers and pine trees, small streams, and open grasslands. Totally undeveloped and untouched. I sped along with Shira, Chad, Brooke, and Mark most the way keeping a brisk 20mph pace. It felt awesome to pound out those last 20 miles on the flats of Jackson Basin and reflect to myself on the extraordinary natural beauty around me.

Today was a short 48 mile ride in to Lander, WY, but again like our other rides brought us through many different environments. We rode most of the way through the Mountain Water Indian Reservation which had lots of irrigated fields, and surprisingly marshlands despite being in semidesert conditions before Shoshoni. (later found out that it was because of irrigation projects from the early 1920s to encourage settlers to move to Wyoming). The whole day we rode thorough the rolling hills, seeing snow-capped mountains far off in the distance. But today, our ride stopped just short of them.

Since it was such a short day, most of us arrived in town before noon, so we had ample time to explore….a shut down city (being that it was Sunday). So most of the afternoon was spent with Brooke and Frannie trying to find garage sales, but failing, then eating a second lunch at the grease bucket Dairyland, and successfully getting a food donation at Mr. D’s grocey store. Typically, Bike & Builders will ask local

A church in Lander hosted us for dinner at campsite near a waterfalls in Sink River National Park. I especially enjoyed meeting a woman named Donna who rode 1400 miles on the Alaska Highway (twice) and other long rides through Colorado and New Mexico with an Evangelical cycling group called Bicycle International. After riding with them for 4 years, she took up a job as a bicycle tour guide in Wyoming, leading tours for weeks, sometimes. After marrying and having a few kids, she gave up cycling but misses it terribly. On thing she said really hit home- “Even the worst day on a bike was better than the best day in the office,” I had some of my best highs on the bike. I really made me realize what an epic kind of activity I’m doing and further appreciate the experience. Hopefully there’ll be many more adventures to come beyond Bike & Build.

As for sleeping, we had a unique arrangement where we were broken up in to homestays. I was placed with a 8 other guys with Jaimie and Leslie and their three kids. We really had a great time meeting eachother, and having a brief time in a home away from home. Personal showers, a/c, living rooms…its the little things in life that please us Bike & Builders.

Tomorrow, we start a gradual climb up to 7000 feet, then on to some mountain passes! Especially can’t wait for the Tetons!

Why Wyoming? Because its pretty amazing.

This is our second day in Wyoming, and wow its way better than Nebraska…that’s really only because we’ve been having amazing tail winds that have made our past 80 and 55 mile rides a breeze (pun intended). But seriously, I love noticing the changes of environment that literally can happen in the span of 10 miles. Today we rode along US-20 out of Lusk towards Douglas towards a smallish ridge of mountains (not the Rockies quite yet), and as soon as we were about 15 miles away from the mountains and headed north, the terrain switched from a lush grassland teaming with various wildflowers and grasses to nearly a desert- exposed rock and thin grass patched with sagebrush. You can literally see for 10 miles in any direction…big skies out here in Wyoming.

Along the way, I’ve been noticing new types of wildflowers/grasses- different varieties of sunflowers, sagebrush, goldenrod- and have stopped to take plenty of pictures. (Unfortunately, my stolen wireless internet is being pretty finicky, else I’d post a few small pics). The sagebrush is particularly noticeable since it adds a really sweet scent to the air.

On our ride today, I noticed there wasn’t any telephone poles along US-20…this place is so underpopulated! Only 500,000 people in the entire state!

Tonight we went to Loivade’s ranch, the host from last night (her husband is the preacher at a Church in Lusk) where we ate Elk-meat burritos, rode horses, learned about ranching….some of us even milked goats! Her family (some of her 4 kids and 16 grandchildren) all came out and hosted us at the ranch too. It was a fantastic time (swarms of mosquitos aside). We left just in time to see the sun setting on the grassy mountainside.

On to Casper tomorrow where we’ll be camping for two days and building in town.

Amazing ride today! The day off really did my body good, and I picked a great day to ride- 5mph tailwinds all day and an EASY 47 miles in to Chadron. For the last 12 miles, I road with Michael and Brooke, keeping a pace between  23 and 28 mph…it was ridiculous. All of us are looking forward to our day off and feel pretty exhilarated to be out of the oppressive headwinds; we really pushed ourselves today and arrived to the site before noon.

After showering, we broke up in to groups and grabbed dinner. Thinking that Chinese food would be just as good and authentic as it was in Ames, IA, I opted to grab Chinese food at China Hall (and was sorely disappointed). Nevertheless, this town looks pretty promising and I’m looking forward to hanging out in this nearby coffeeshop and exploring Main Street, just 1 block away.

Vanned!

After 2000 miles of biking with Bike & Build, today I woke up and decided to ride in the van…my butt simply hurts too much. Won’t go in to too much detail (hah, despite how freely we share our saddle sore issues amongst us riders), but the chafing just really got to me and I can start to feel bumps coming along. So, hopefully the day off today, my new anti-bacterial soap and lotion routine will help clear things up.

As Leader Jake predicted at town hall last night, there certainly is a saddle sore epidemic approaching…at least 9 riders rode in the van today! By the first lunch we had picked up an additional 3 riders but more called in needing to be picked up so the van made a second round back to pick them up. The terrain was much like yesterday- strong headwinds in isolated, bland Sand Hills, only with a bit lighter headwind. I could sense this on the bike yesterday, but the hills are actually quite beautiful. The huge, open tracts of land are spotted with cows, bison and horses grazing on a fluttering sea of grasses with the occasional marshy spot. Still though, the land is so desolate…you forget that you’re actually on earth. I’ve been in many remote places, but never in such a barren area.

Us vanned folk entertained ourselves by chatting, playing music, creating another early dance party for the riders, and reading Nebraska guide books. Did you know that the Nebraska sandhills are the largest sand dune formation in North America? So many interesting facts learned in the van, between waving and shouting at riders we passed.

Before today, I dismissed any possibility of riding in the van…I thought that if I even rode in it once, that I could never legitimately say I biked entirely across the US and saw it as some sort of personal weakness. I never felt that way about others who needed a day off; I guess I was really harsh on myself. But in thinking last night and this morning, I really saw that even if I was rode in the van, it doesn’t detract from my Bike & Build experience. I had a great time helping Marita and the riders, and it really gave me a new perspective on the mental and physical strength it takes to do this ride- seeing my team on the road today made me feel really proud!

All in all, it was a great experience to watch a day in the life of a Bike & Builder from the outside. But hopefully it won’t be two days in a row, because I’m super excited to be back on the bike tomorrow (even if it is a short one).

Valentine, Nebraska…not such a lovely ride as the name would suggest.

I’ve left so many days out of my blog! Its stressful, but really its impossible to really put in to words what my experience is like with Bike & Build. Not in just simply expressing how I feel, but also getting every story into writing. I haven’t had much internet access lately, but I’ve taken notes. Check back for updates where I’ve readjusted the timestamp.

This morning was incredible. We set off in a big pack but instead of separating out, we stuck together, 3 abreast on the wide shoulder of desolate US-20. The van approached the group with its normal rhythmic taps on the horn and hovered next to the pack, blasting music through the open windows. It was an on-the-bike dance party/sing along with songs including Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, MIA’s “Paper Planes,” and the Black Eyed Peas “My Hump.” Probably wasn’t too safe with so many riders bunched up together, but P2S has the group riding and pacelining thing down. It was awesome to cruise comfortably at an easy 12mph and start the morning with some music.

The wind picked up just before noon but really blew us out of the water in the afternoon with 25mph continuous winds and gusts up to 38mph! Even coasting downhill was a struggle. There was simply no break from the wind and was a pretty much torturous mental (and physical) experience if you really let it get to you. I kept it pretty positive and road with Sophia, Michael and Katherine most of the day, passing the time and ignoring the trying conditions with different road games and talking about anything and everything. We also made a lot of food and water stops….not too many attractions in the “Sand Hills” of Central Nebraska. It ultimately was a great day, but I’m really excited that its over.

Tomorrow looks like another longish ride, but calmer winds (yes!). More updates to come.