Colours of the Wind!

A fellow rider, Sam, from Casper Wyoming was a guest blogger yesterday! Thanks Sam! Today started off great with a 4am wakeup and 100miles ahead of us. I ate well and felt mentally prepared. I hit 41mph going down a hill (my fastest!) and then proceeded to go up "Big Dam Bridge" across the Arkansas River at mile 4 but when I shifted my derailer snapped. Long story short, after a short burst of frustration, 5 other riders helped take turns carrying my bike across the bridge to the van. They were such a great support team and nice to be surrounded by such a great team when I was feeling pretty down about not having a working bike for the entire day. Life in the van for the day wasnt the most exciting. I helped set up lunch and was a cheerleader out the window for riders driving by. Sometimes I dozed off and on too. Thanks Nick for helping me look up bike shops to get my bike fixed up. I will be going into Fayetteville Arkansas tmrw to get it fixed. On a side note, as my title states, I had Colours of the Wind stuck in my head after biking in head winds, mountains, flat ground, building, and talking with such generous folks. "Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain? Can you paint with all the colors of the wind...The heron and the otter are my friends"! We sing alot on bikes to pass the time and for entertainment. I've gained a bigger appreciation for small things in life. Watching donkeys and baby donkeys run across a field was so pleasant and crossing the Big Dam Bridge was a beautiful site. Generous folks handing us gatorades, cookies, or cooking us dinner. Folks pulling over on the side asking us if we need assistance when we are fixing a flat or on a water break. Just simple things I notice more brings faith back to humanity. Perhaps being away from negative news that is always on television has also added to the peace on this adventure. I couldnt have asked for a better experience so far. The only things I'm not a fan of is the rushed feeling. We bike through towns but dont have the time to adventure to as many places as I would like simply because we have to keep moving. I also dont enjoy the killer dogs that chase us down the streets. Otherwise, Bike&Build has been such an incredible journey cross country so far! I'm excited to be venturing into new states and headed west for the first time. The team is doing well and we have some great leaders! Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me!