Welcome to Route 2

We have now hopped on route two and will be traveling along it for more days than I'd like to discuss. Today we pedaling 82 miles, 62 of which were on a single road. As dreadful as I thought it would be, I actually enjoyed it. The sides of the road were pine and aspen forests, a big change from what we came through in the lower midwest. The road was mostly flat and we averaged high speeds.

This morning, however, the first 5 miles were far from flat. In order to get out of Duluth you must climb up from Lake Superior. We climbed for a solid 2 miles before seeing any sort of flatter terrain.Once at the top we had a lovely break at Caribou Coffee, where I enjoyed a nice iced latte!

We've instituted a new activity called "Sweepstakes," which involves sweep (the two riders who ride in the back) coming up with a challenge for the day. At the end of the day all of the entries are judged and the winner gets something special (i.e. first in line for dinner, massage...etc).Well we have a common phrase that we use in Bike and Build, "Safety is Sexy," to encourage and promote safety on the road as much as possible. So, today the sweepstakes were to take pictures inspired by this phrase. You can only imagine the fun we had...I won't go into more details, but it made the miles pass very quickly as we brainstormed for the most creative picture. Tonight our sweeps, Caity and Hanna, will determine a winner. I cannot wait to see everyone's submissions.

Tonight we are in Grand Rapids, MN, birthplace of Judy Garland. The church we are staying at is right next to the Judy Garland Children's Museum!

 And to back track quickly, here are some pictures from the past couple of days. 

 

Finally, to answer some questions from the comments...we have planned many times to use the slackline that I brought, however, other things have sounded more interesting. It awaits much use in North Dakota and Montana as we enter the land of small and tiny towns. 

Foundation Work

Sometimes it's just the little thing that keep you going. Like yesterday I got a great package from my family with sports beans, energy gu, and new bars. It was quite exciting and I'm looking forward to trying them out as we head into North Dakota.

Today was our eighth build day and we spent most the day in the basement of a foundation. We began with people filling buckets with gravel from the inside and handing them to people on ladders, who handed them to someone on the top of the foundation wall to pour them into the outside pit. It was a messy job because the basement was full of puddled water. I enjoyed scaling the top of the wall to pour buckets over the edge.

Once this was complete we had to take a huge pile of soil (that was in the basement) and spread it evenly across the entire floor. This job took the rest of the day. We has tons of shovelers, wheel barrowers, and rakers working to move the soil and even it out. As we got closer to finishing Ambroise used the tamper machine to press the soil down.

We prepared the floor so that the cemetery can be poured, which completes the basement for now. Next week they are going to move the house on top of the foundation. This particular build took a house from another site and moved it here, so the majority of the work from here on out will be rebuilding and remodeling.

Tonight we have pizza and I'll find some time to decompress and relax for our upcoming 3 days of long mileage.

Van Day

Today I rode in the van because my pedal was not spinning at all. It was interesting getting a perspective on what happens for the driver each day. Sean, Tyce, and I sought out a great lunch spot in a park shelter. During the several hours we stayed there, Tyce and I went to Cozy's for omelettes and coffee. It was great to get good protein, a warm drink, and get to know Tyce more.

We spent the rest of lunch playing ukulele and reading. The route today was nuts because of the flooding from a month ago. People diverted from the cue sheet and took three different routes. Being in van we made lots of phone calls to keep people on track.

Once we got to the host I took my bike .5 miles away to the Ski Hut to get things worked out. I was treated wonderfully and they were so so so helpful. We talked a lot about my pedals and which ones I should get. I decided to stay with my speedplays because I'm used to them. I did, however, upgrade to a better pedal because that's what they had and because they're more durable. The bike mechanics pulled off my old cleats and found that they were put on poorly the first time. They definitely took care of me cause they knew I had so mch farther to bike. The new pedals clip in and out so easily. I also got a free Ski Hut water bottle and the guy that helped me is going to order some great chamois butter for me by tomorrow.

To top the evening off 11 of us went to see the new batman movie and it was amazing!

Aunties and Pedal Trouble

Thunder and lightening greeted us Tuesday morning and forced us to wait at the church for at least an hour before leaving. We finally departed in pouring down rain and started our 44 miles on the same road we had been on for several days. The morning was fairly miserable because of the rain and because of the massive hills that kept appearing. There were several that I thought were super long and took so much endurance to keep climbing. After riding most the morning alone, I caught up with Ashley on the hills and we powered through to lunch together, both starving and losing energy quickly. The scenic views were incredible, especially with rainy mist filling the valley, but it was tough to enjoy them in our physical and mental state.

After a freezing cold rest at lunch, I took off with Lexi and we knocked out 20 miles before anybody caught up with us. Once we neared the city, we hopped on a bike path, which took us right next to my aunts' new house!

Our last couple miles took us up the steepest hill on St. Paul. Thank goodness it wasn't too long. At the top I was greeted by Aunt Cynthia and the new dog, Annie! It was great. Upon our arrival at the church Cynthia picked me up and took me back to her and Aunt Kit's house.

The evening consisted of taking a great shower, visiting with Kit and Cynthia, snuggling with Annie, walking Annie, and eating pad thai at a fabulous Thai restaurant. It was just what I needed to load up for the next day. I was so happy to see family and really relax for a night.

Sleeping was definitely the second best part of the night, because I got to sleep in bed with a pillow. I have gotten used to the therma rest wedged in between the church pews, but a real bed makes a big difference. This morning Kit greeted me in the kitchen with grapefruit juice and the best breakfast of the trip so far. I enjoyed a big bowl of hot 10 grain cereal with Greek yogurt, frozen blueberries, and Vermont maple syrup. It was delectable!

Our ride today turned out to be only 94 mile; we were all expecting over 100. The majority of the route was on a bike path, which was great even though my legs and butt were screaming today. Our first lunch was in a little town on a lake, which I waded into for a bit, trying to delay our departure.

The route felt particularly long today; it helped when we started drafting on a long windier road. Kelsey held a great pace and Nate (behind her) blocked the wind well for Caity and me. About 20 miles from our host my pedal started acting really weird (as I described it to my fellow riders, it felt like Prof. Quarral was putting a curse on my broomstick). It turned out my pedal was really stiff and hardly turning indepedently from the axel. I called the van to pick me up and I'm going to spend some time tonight working on it. I'm almost definitely sure the ball barrings are shot and that I am going to have to buy new pedals tomorrow in Duluth...whether or not I can ride is another question. We'll see how the pedal loosens up overnight.

Showering today was certainly an adventure. We hooked up a tarp on the side of the church and showered with a hose. It was freezing cold, but very refreshing and lovely to be clean. There's really nothing like being clean after being extraordinarily dirty. It's much better than your average everyday shower.

 And pictures...

 

Overlooking a cow farm after a long climb uphill

 

Morning mist rising in the valley

 Snake at our willow tree rest stop

 

 Erin and Stella stopped at a train during our detour

 

Me as Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

 

Waiting to leave the church during the thunderstorm

Pepin, WI

Traveling by bike gives so much more depth to the journey. I can confidently say that I know, not just the interstates, but the hidden gems, backroads, smells, sounds, and locals of all the states we've been through. It's not touristy, but that's perfect. I love being able to take in the natural world around me at slow speeds, right up close.

Today we continued biking along the Mississippi River in heavy humidity. After lunch we stopped at an awesome local bike shop and talked for awhile with the owner. Rob, Erin, Stella, and I took a reroute, he suggested, down to the river to bike on a more secluded road, which was beautiful.

On out way through Alma, we stopped for blueberry cheesecake ice cream at a very cute shop. It had a garden behind it and several hotel suites upstairs. I would love to live in one of the suites!

Pepin is small and quaint and known as the birthplace of Laura Ingalla Wilder. A couple of us went to the tiny museum that had some neat things about the Wilders. It was so much fun to reminisce in my childhood.

There is another cycling group in town tonight: Cycle Across America. They're headed from Seattle to Boston and are fully supported with bike mechanics, a massage therapist, and more. We are a very different operation from them.

Tomorrow I get to see Aunt Kit and Aunt Cyntia; I can't wait!!

Some days you got it, some days you don't

Today, I had it; 60 miles on 4 hours and it felt great. Averaged 15.7 mph because we climbed some huge hills. But, I was cruising at 19-20 along yhe Great River for 20 miles.

This morning we awoke to a beautiful valley with mist rising from the night rain fall. It was humid and spelled wonderful. The first half of the ride involved climbing out of the valley. My legs were not happy but getting to the top was absolutely worth it. You could see farmlands for miles...Wisconsin is beautiful. The fields are not square like they are in Ohio, they're more round.

We rode all along the ridge, up and down hills, past cows and farms until we finally rounded the corner to a very long and speedy decent. Decents can be thrilling but they're also sometimes frightening. I definitely feather my brakes. Once at the bottom we found ourselves biking along a river. I was flying down the road, it felt amazing.

After a quick lunch we continued along the river towards La Crosse. The rest of our route was full of quick turns, which helped to pass the time. I arrived at the church at 11:45 and could hardly believe it!

We were shuttled to the YMCA for showers and then I took an 1.5 hour nap. It was much needed. Everybody took advantage of all of our free time to relax and chill out. Before dinner a bunch of us worked on a big puzzle of the world. It was great combo of geography knowledge and puzzle skill.

Dinner was excellent...I consumed lots of raw veggies and fruit. The best was dessert: cheesecake with jam on top. Yum yum yum! Our host is excellent and the a/c is cranked meaning I can snuggle in my sleeping bad tonight.

Wisconsin has hills...who knew?

11 hours of traveling can take it out of you, especially when you are on a bike. My total cycling time today was 7 hours and 20 minutes, but we took rest stops and two lunches making for a long 11 hour day. I'm so sleepy now and can't wait to sleep a full 9 hours hopefully.

The morning took up through the serene countryside of Wisconsin. There were gorgeous scenic overlooks as we biked through farmlands. What we weren't expecting were the hills. The hills started in the morning and only got worse as the day went on. We arrived at lunch around 9:00, so we had lots of time ahead of us. It often seems like the hardest part of the day during very long rides, is between first and second lunch; today was like that. I couldn't muster the energy to move my bike forward and the hills didn't help.

Less than a mile from second lunch we hit a huge hill and as I climbed I could feel my blood sugar dropping. I stopped and downed a gel packet and a bit of energy bar. I was getting shaky but I was so close to the top. At the summit, I came upon second lunch and gorged myself on pb+j, chocolate, an apple, dry cereal, cookies, leftover Thai food, and some rice pilaf. The amount of food we eat is ridiculous and it's hard to get used to.

During the last part of the ride we all struggled to find the will power to keep biking. It began to get hot as the rain clouds that threatened us this morning moved away. We stopped to take breaks, one of which was under a huge willow tree by a little creek. I got some awesome pictures of a snake that was curled up on a stick in the creek. While we were sitting there the woman in the house nearby came over to let her dog out, which was the cutest Beagle. I loved petting it...being away from my dogs is super hard; I just want to snuggle with them.

Just when we thought we were getting pretty close, we hit a 2-3 mile incline, which was not steep but relentless. Finally we reached the top and biked along the ride of the hills through apple orchards overlooking the Wisconsin landscapes. The one thing you know when you climb hills, is that you must come down eventually and we hit that decline toward the very end. It was a super steep grade that curved down the mini mountain. The speed limit was 15 mph for cars...I was gripping my breaks so hard I probably wore through them terribly.

The last part of the ride was difficult, but it reminded me a lot of southern Ohio. It smelled like Appalachians of Ohio and the rolling hills resembed the roads around our farms. I enjoyed thinking that I could be biking in Ohio.

Tonight we are staying at a K-12 school in a tiny town of 500 people. In their lobby there are tons of stuffed animals (birds and mammals). Tomorrow we have a 5:00 wake up and only a 63 mile ride...piece of cake after today (though I hear there are terrible climbs unfortunately).

P.S. Bike and Build has become so normal for me that I probably graze over simple things that we do that the real world may want to know about. So, if you have a question about our trip or how we do things, let me know! I'll answer them in my next post if I can.