Build days in Colorado Springs

The past two days we have been building with the local habitat in Colorado Springs on a house for Karen and Scott. It has been such a great experience working with the homeowners and habitat volunteers. They were very focused on safety and provided us with hardhats, gloves, and safety glasses. We had a safety talk every morning as well. There were a few different homeowners working with us. As part of the process, they must put forth a certain amount of hours each week with the habitat on their house and others. We were able to donate our volunteer hours to them to help Karen and Scott. They were such a sweet grateful couple and we really just enjoyed working with them and talking to them. They were so excited to have 27 positive volunteers help them build! We did the first wall raising of their house and they were overwhelmed with emotions. I did lots of nailing and some gardening for a elderly lady in the neighborhood. Most of the nighborhood was built by habitat which was pretty neat. There are lots of dogs in the neighborhood too including Pixie! She was such a sweet little girl that loved her belly rubbed. I've noticed that there are alot of rabbits running around like squirrels in Florida. The dogs were chasing them! It reminded me of how Kasper used to chase lizards and play with them. Last night I was able to go out with a few riders to the downtown area and explore some local bars. There are some interesting characters in Colorado Springs! But it was a fun night! Tmrw we have a long ride into the rockies! Thanks for reading!

ROCKY MOUNTAINS!

I'm in Colorado Springs now! The past two days were hot and tough! Yesterday We biked 80 miles into nowhere land. Literally. It was about 105 degrees out, no clouds, no trees, and a drought! There was about 10miles worth of gravel and sand that I ended up walking some because the back tire would fish out. We ended up running out of water and the van was getting low on gas. It was a rather scary situation considering we were in the middle of eastern colorado desert plains. Everything ended up working out and a nice couple offered us water and we got through. We stayed at Chico Basin Ranch. The ride into the ranch was on rumble strip sand and pretty rough. Everything jiggled everywhere! We got to the ranch late only to find horse/cow crap everywhere and this abandoned house. I showered under a freezing cold spigot for the evening and went to bed in a tent. I didnt sleep too well since it was really hot and then got cold suddenly. And to make matters a bit more interesting, it started to rain about 1am! Meegan, Sean, and I left the tent for the abandoned! All riders were headed to the creepy house and we ended up sleeping hip to hip. The sunset and sunrise were so pretty! The ride into Colorado Springs was nice but tough again. We are high in elevation! Colorado Springs is so pretty. The population is around 400,000. We are right up against the mountains and boy is it a sight! It got pretty hilly coming into the host. I went to Jimmy Johns with Sam, Sarah, Amelia, and Emily and it was yummy! The showers here...oh the showers were AMAZING! The workout center is so incredible. There were individual glass door showers with wooden floors and a rain type shower pouring from the ceiling. They also had really nice orange mandarin type shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. And fresh towels! There was also mouth wash, spray deoderant, and qtips! I guess I can say I have a new appreciation for showers these days. We are now doing a professional photo shoot! So maybe I'll get some nice pictures if they get my good side! I'll be posting pictures soon! thanks for reading :)

"He rode a blazing saddle He wore a shining star"

As we entered Rocky Ford I felt like I was in the movie "Blazing Saddles". The terrain resembled that of the movie and well, the movie did take place in Rock Ledge! We had to pay a dime to pass through the town and I thought I saw mongo passing through! (not really) Today we had a nice 66mile ride into Rocky Ford Colorado! We left from Lamar and had breakfest at a local community center at 7am. It was "bike to work day" and for everyone that biked to the community center they got a nice breakfest consisting of eggs, sausage, pancakes, and fruit! I road with Olivia and Emerson today and we had such a great ride going between 14mph-20mph for most of the day! The terrain was mostly flat with dessert plains mostly. We stopped in a little town called Las Animas at a little mom/pop lunch place and had a great lunch! I has some fresh gazpocha (spelling?) with home made herb/parmesean bread turkey sammich. It was delicious! When we got into town we all went swimming at a local pool which was fun. We played marco polo and jumped off the diving board! It brought me back to the days when I used to be on the swim team when I was younger. Except, I'm sure back then I was a bit graceful versus my flop off the board today! haha Three churches got together in the small town and provided a wonderful dinner for us. We had chicken alfredo, a few different pasta salads with garbonzo beans, different salami meats, veggies, a few different fruit salads, green beans, and brownies! I ate dinner with a lady named Diane (aka Mrs. Piggy). A few of the girls and I were sitting with her and we had asked what brought her here to Rocky Ford. Diane answered simply, "A man." haha Diane was a sweet older lady who told us about her love story. Basically, she met her husband dressed in a mrs. piggy outfit for halloween at a lunch spot where they were both just eating lunch alone (didnt know eachother) and he asked her out for a drink after they spotted eachother at lunch and have been together since. She told us girls that you never know where you will meet your man! What a character she was and we really enjoyed chatting with her and appreciated the work they put into feeding us for dinner.

We have a few builds coming up! I shall explain where most of the money that was raised goes. Each rider has raised $4500 and in total our route has raised about $150,000. We have a grant program that affordable housing organizations can apply for. As a group, we will soon go over these applications to give out some bigger grants. Each night we have a different church host us. These hosts have $100 to give to an affordable housing organizatin of their choice. Each rider also will give out a $500 grant to an org of their choice. While on the road we have some expenses that some of the money goes towards but the less money we use on the trip the more we can give to affordable housing. This is why when we grocery shop we try to get day old breads, veggies, fruits, or anything grocery stores donate. We also buy off brands that cost less to save and keep track of the food we have so we dont waste. Usually churches or YMCAs host us so we have a place to stay for the night and we are able to shower either at the church or local highschools allow us to use their facilities. Many times some of these hosts have laundry machines we can use every three days or we have to go to a local laundrymat. We also have a few other expenses such as gas for the support van. If you have more questions feel free to ask! I'm becoming more knowledgable about the affordable housing cause while on the trip!

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

We are finally in Colorado! Dodge City was neat but I  don't have too much to say about Kansas. We rode by cow feed farms and it wasnt to pleasant. Garden City had such a horrible smell in the air but we stayed at a YMCA and it was nice having a pool, spa, and smoothies! I didnt find the yellow brick road in Kansas or the wicked witch! We crossed into Colorado today and are staying in Lamar. We also changed time zones so we are 2 hours earlier now. We have a few more tough rides in the heat and wind but will have some build days soon and day off! I'm looking forward to rockies and colorado springs! It's been a long day but we were welcomed with a potato bar that was rather tasty at the church! I'll be taking lots of pictures when we get to the pretty areas of Colorado soon! Thanks for reading!

"Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high"

In Ponca City the hosts were great! They provided chocolate milk and strawberries! I love chocolate milk! The ride started off with a few of us taking a wrong turn that turned into a 6 mile detour. Oklahoma is pretty! The pretty open grassy plains pleasantly surprise me. There are so many cows too and horses! The ride today was about 81 miles and pretty rough. There was a cross wind, rough road, and many semi trucks for harvest season. For lunch, our amazing leaders set up a half way party! We each got slap bracelets, popsicles, and took a shot of half and half! We all made it safely to the host and were welcomed with some snacks and water. For dinner, we had some yummy brisket, corn, cheesy potatoes, salad, fruit salad, deviled eggs (my favorite!), and some delicious desserts!

From Cherokee we headed to Coldwater Kansas! It was a 92 mile ride through heat, crosswinds, hills, and nothing much to look at. I road sweep with Max and had a great time! Although it was a rough ride, we made it to town around 6:30pm and had root beer floats at a local ice cream place and Dollar Tree before meeting the team at a campground on Coldwater Lake! I jumped in the lake and it was rather refreshing! The showers on site were hand pump style but warm. I enjoyed camping out for a night to change it up. Some slept in hammocks, some in tents, and others just found a spot outside. Of course I slept in a tent! I got a new razor too so now I have smooth leggies and I painted my nails! As a group we had a arm wrestling tournament! Girls had a bracket as did the guys and we circled around a picnic table and battled it out! We each had our own wrestler names! I am “Lo Brohemian Rapsady”! The riders call me Lo Bro! I made it to round 2 but in the end Emerson took the trophy! After a long day I passed out and woke up to another 82 mile ride into Dodge City Kansas! It was another hot, long, cross wind type of day. Plus everyone seemed to be pretty sore and worn out since the past few days have been hard. But, we did it! I rode mostly with Meeg Dog (Meegan) and Emerson. We stopped at mile 30 for lunch at a little sammich shop and had yummy wraps! The last 30miles had a nice tailwind as we headed north for a bit. I was starting to think that nobody lived in Kansas. There was literally nothing for miles upon miles. After rider for so long I found that you start to see things and have weird thoughts. I started to imagine the Wicked Witch of the West (from OZ) coming out of nowhere and blocking the road with her broom. I also started to think that the miles of golden wheat was the yellow brick road. I didn’t find Toto today but perhaps tmrw (last day in Kansas) I’ll find him! At the host we had sammiches and chips and then I ventured to a local western shop. It’s a neat western town here and nice to see that people do live in Kansas. I must say though, I’m pretty excited to enter Colorado soon! Everything is going well with the team. My legs are super sore and my hands hurt from having a tight grip with all the winds. One more night in Kansas and then CO!!! Thanks for reading!

Whoa we're halfway there!

I'm finding it hard to believe that we are already half way cross country! Time flys when youre having fun! Today was a 70mile ride to Ponca City. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see real pretty sites in Oklahoma. We had mostly rolling hills today but you could see just green plains for miles. Also many oil rigs, cows, and horses. I also saw some kind of mountain lion or coyote on the side of the road (dead). It had to have been about 30lbs and had big teeth! I also saw a rattlesnake on the side of the road! I really wanted to stop and take a picture but couldnt tell if it was still alive. It appeared pretty healthy looking or freshly killed but was pretty big! It didnt feel like 70 miles today at all. It was so pleasant and I road with many different people. I started with Meegan then joined with Daniele, Diet, Ryan, and Sam. A bunch of us stopped at Sonic where they were they gave us all free meals! I road with Ryan for a bit, then Daniele, and then Sean for awhile. There was a big hill getting into the host. There always seems to be a hill right before each host. I didnt stop much today so I was the first female in! While resting as the host Scott took a trip to the grocery store and came back surprising me with chocolate milk since he knew I was hunting for some! Thanks Scott! For dinner we had pasta/sauce with salad and cookies! It was a great dinner but not too sure how much more pasta/sauce I can handle.

We have town hall every Thursday evening where we go around in a circle and talk about our highs and lows for the week. Everyone seems positive so that was great! We also switch chore groups for the week. There is dinner crew, breakfest crew, trailor/laundry crew, cleanup crew, and cooler crew.

Tmrw we set out for Cherokee OK which is about 80miles I think. Each rider was assigned towns to research and give information to the group every morning. This is my town! The population is 1,500 and theres 40 federally recognized tribes including Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creek, and Seminoles. In a few nights we have our first camping night so that will be interesting. Thanks for reading!

Bartlesville Building!

I have really enjoyed building in Bartlesville! I learned about trusses yesterday and today I working on siding and chaulking. I had some really great chats with Harry. He is celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary with his wife in August! And he's been in all 50 states now with his recent being N Dakota. Alot of work got done in Bartlesville and Harry and the other Habitat guys working with us seemed happy. This was one of my favorite builds so far! Lunch was incredible! Provided by Daniels family! We had some yummy wraps, hummus, fresh berrys, homemade chips, many different salads, and cookies! Bartlesville habitat gave us cool habitat hats too! For dinner the church provided a nice picnic with many of the community members. There was a big cookout with burgers, weenies, and beans! We head out tmrw riding again and for the next week or so we have some longer rides. It's really hard to watch what I eat when theres so much great foods to try. My endurance is picking up and my metabolism is getting faster which is good. I'm building muscle in my legs but the rest of my body needs work. I think eating less and more healthy would help so hopefully when I come back I'll continue with endurance training (more cycling, spin classes, elliptical) and eat better/less. I'm looking into completing a full triathlon in August when my endurance is at its top. Perhaps joining the tri-knights might be good for me too as I enter my senior year at UCF!

This is a good time to explain the game "My Cow". I don't play too much but some of the guys get pretty competative. While biking cross country, we see MANY cows. While riding, if you see a cow/cows you must yell "my cow" and you now own that number of cows. If there is a cemetery and you call "my cemetery" you can subract another riders cows. Basically you just call my cow when you see cows. Theres more rules but I'm not as involved in the game. Playing my cow and singing various songs seem pretty popular as we bike long miles!

It's still hard for me to believe that we are about half way cross country. 5 weeks! The days go by way too fast and the rides/builds start to blend together. I'm trying to enjoy each day and look forward to the next. About bed time for me, thanks for reading!