Thunderstorms = Ice Cream

I kinda cheated on this one because I had to do journal for the group's blog. So I just took the same one. Here it is...

Today was our longest ride thus far on the trip. The cue sheet read about 86 miles and most of us were nervous about the long trek from Palermo to Rochester, NY. The day started out looking gloomy with pending weather. As we began riding the weather turned around and we made some good progress until we got to about mile 60 and the skies turned black. A huge thunderstorm was about to pass through; luckily my group consisting of Rachel, Kelsey, Alicia, and myself were able to dodge the rain and stay dry at McDonald's. There Rachel worked her donation magic and got us 4 free ice cream cones. We enjoyed our snack as we waited for the storm to pass through and it was safe enough to ride again. When we got the go ahead, we set out to finish the ride. The rest of the ride was pretty easy and relatively flat. Others ahead of us were a little misguided by the cue sheet and ended up on the interstate for an exit (...oops). We arrived at Rochester Institute of Technology just before the next band of rain started again and around 6 pm. The people behind us were not so lucky. At RIT we were able to stay in dorm rooms and sleep in BEDS! During the night some of us set out to see Transformers 2, which turned out to be a big disappointment, but it was still fun. Tomorrow is our third build day and going to be a nice break from riding.

Catching Up on the Past Few Days while at the Laundromat

So as I sit here doing laundry for 30 people, I am trying to remember the last few days. I will start with the 29th with out ride from Boonville to Palermo, NY. The ride was about 60 miles and we didn't think the ride was going to be too difficult because the elevation didn't have too much change, we were wrong though because there was not much downhill and we were constantly pedaling. That's pretty much all I remember from that day as far as riding, but afterwards a few of us treated ourselves to some ice cream. My group was the second to go and we were warned that the portions were quite big, so we should get smalls. I of course got a large towering 3 scoop ice cream in a waffle cone dipped in chocolate and walnuts :) and all less than 4 dollars. I was told that I wouldn't finish it, well I did and then I got more ice cream with Sidny who had already showed up everyone there my finishing someone else's and getting a medium of her own. We were happy and satisfied after a long day of riding. That night dinner was great, we played Taboo, and then watched Finding Nemo.

A Perfect Day Leaving the Adirondacks

The day began of slow and cold but the weather and pace quickly turned around for us. Nick, Wade, and I started pacelining and averaging about 17+ mph through the rolling hills. Less than 2 hours in and 30 plus miles under our belts, we hit the lunch spot. It was at an awesome lake. No idea the name of it, but we sure enjoyed it. We ate lunch, swam, played frisbee and then a few of us got a ride on a boat around the lake. Heather and Nate even got to wakeboard. So in all our lunch break lasted almost 2 hours, but we had a blast. We couldn't care that we were behind schedule either becuase the weather was perfect and we were just cruising to complete the 80 mile day. When we arrived in Boonville, NY we were greeted by the nicest people who had snacks ready for us. After a group bike cleaning and an amazing dinner, I played some ping pong with Jeremy. We later set up the projector and watched Breaking Away as we fell asleep and rested for tomorrow.
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Trying To Make It Through The Adirondacks (6/27/09)

Today was a difficult ride for me as I felt as if I had just hit a wall. Everything was sore and I wasn't feeling well, but with the support from the other riders I was able to power through it and finish the ride to Indian Lake, NY. The trip was about 60 miles, which involved some pretty big climbs early in the day and a lot of rain. The worst of the rain was a thunderstorm as we crossed the Hudson River around lunch time. Luckily we found shelter under a roof, ate lunch and waited about an hour for the skies to clear up. They did and we continued our uphill journey. As we climbed to 2100 feet and our destination, the rain was back for a visit, but nothing like the downpour earlier. Because of the slow pace and rain delay, it was getting late in the day (4 pm, when we are supposed to be at the host site) and fear was in us to not be picked up by the van so we pedaled as hard as we could till we got to town. When we arrived we heard good news, we weren't camping anymore because of the weather and were graciously put up by a church in town. Being as tired as I was when I arrived, a grabbed a bite to eat, then set up my sleeping bag and passed out till dinner. I have a feeling this will end up being an early night for everyone as we have more hills and about 80 miles to go tomorrow.
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Entering New York via Ferry

The ride today was filled many brutal climbs as we left the Green Mountains and entered the Adirondacks. Apparently its just a little taste of what is to come through the rest of NY. All we know is that the rest of the ride is UP. Although the day was very difficult in terms of riding, we had some fun at stops. We stopped at a farmers market in Brandon, VT and I was given a beaded prayer key chain with a John Deere charm by a guy who we talked to for a while. At the stop for lunch we played some ultimate frisbee, and continued riding until we hit water, Lake Champlaine to be exact. We had to take a ferry to cross. 30 people on bikes on a ferry with other cars was quite a sight. On the other side of the river was NY. We had made it to 3 states! (4 if you count our pre-ride to Maine) The trip ended at the "YMCA" in Silver Bay, NY. Now, I placed YMCA in quotes because this was not your average Y, it was a resort on Lake George. They had everything you could image, even a bed, pillow, and room for all of us. We were getting spoiled tonight, and we loved it. After a dinner in the dining hall (yes it was basically a campus) we walked down to the lake, played some beach volleyball and shuffle boards till well after dark. And that was that, we had a great evening of being spoiled. The next night involves tents and sleeping outside...
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Taking the Good with the Bad

The ride to Rochester, VT was full of ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. The weather couldn't have been any nicer. We couldn't have asked for a better day to bike through the beautiful mountains of Vermont, unfortunately we could have asked for an easier ride. The trip was mostly rolling hills, capped with two 6 mile ascends. The first being roughly 700 vertical feet, and the second a steep 2100 feet. Everyone made up the first "hill" and gathered for lunch under the sunny skies soon thereafter. As midday was approaching and the weather was at its hotest, we had to face the unbareably steep climb. About half way up, I ran out of water and gatorade. I was becoming dehydrated, but we found a house with a hose and filled up our camelbaks and bottle. After hydrating and having a snack we attempted to make the trek up the hill. It was full of many stops and rests along the side of the road to catch our breaths. Others walked up with the bikes beside them. I was too stubborn to do that. From the top the veiw was breathtaking and you could see for miles. We took some photos and rolled down the long awaited downhill into town, where we stopped at a cafe and got another late lunch. Afterwards we went down to the river for a relaxing and cool swim. That was followed up by dinner cooked by the Bowman Family (where we are spending the night), a group meeting, and an early bed time as we were all exhausted.

First Days through New Hampshire

My cross country trip began on Fathers Day at New Castle Beach in Portsmouth, NH. At the beach the 30 of us dipped our tires in the Atlantic Ocean and we were on our way, unfortunately it was in the rain. For most of the 65 mile ride it rained. By lunch I was soaked, but I was having a blast. I was assigned to sweep (riding behind the group to make sure everyone makes it safely) with Rachel and we encountered numerous situations along the road. We had people with bike problems, flat tires, and encounter dirt road. I had fun riding through the mud, but I am not so sure that everyone else felt the same way I did. The day concluded with the raining going away and arriving at the church in Concord at 4:30. After some bike cleaning and maintenance we ate a pasta dinner provided by the church. Being exhausted after a long day, I headed to bed early only to get up at 6 in the morning to do it again.

Day two of riding began a little less rainy than the first day. After riding at a steady pace for most of the morning we decided to stop at the Foot Hills Cafe in Warner to grab a second breakfast. After a waffle, I was on my way to finish a couple huge climbs and arrive at the host church in New London. Showers were at Colby Sawyer College and a light dinner was provided by the church. Nothing too exciting happened that evening, but I got a good night rest to ready myself for the next days ride.

The following day started out with a lot of downhills and ended with some "fun" climbs in the mountains. Most of the day I was leading the group with Wade, Jeremy, and Nick. We decided to skip lunch and continue riding straight through and past the host sight. We convinced a few more to come along with us on a ride to Dartmouth College (Wade and Jeremy go there). In Hanover, we ate a local favorite restaurant called Molly's. The boneless buffalo wings and bread with honey butter really hit the spot after a hard day of riding. After lunch 6 of us continued to the river to hang out on the docks and go for a swim and canoe ride. We rode down the Connecticut River and crossed the NH border and entered Vermont for the first time. It was nice change of routine to travel using our arms instead of legs. When we were pretty tired from our adventures we finally made our way back to the host site in Lebanon, grabbed dinner, had an Affordable Housing metting (to discuss the reasons why we are here), watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail on the projector as everyone passed out and went to bed.

The next morning was nice because we got to sleep in until 7 and got a home cooked breakfast. We split into 4 groups to go and work with Habitat for Humanity in Lebanon. My group biked about 3 miles down the road and worked at house making finishing touches to a home belonging to a single mother and her daughter. While some people painted trim and siding on the house and shed, I put my landscaping skills to work, weed-wacked most of the front yard and make a mulch bed around a birch tree and planted tiger lillies. We finished around 4 loaded the trucks and rode back to the church. We then took the van back to the Connecticut River for the most exciting event yet. Most of climbed to the roof of a house owned by Dartmouth College students and jumped off taking the 40 foot plunge into the river. It was cold but refreshing and the ridiculous drop made it worth it. I went back up for seconds and thirds as did most of my peers. Having so much fun being crazy, we actually were a little late to dinner, which was provided by another nearby church where some interested church and communities members joined us. Afterward we cleaned our bikes and ourselves and the day was pretty much over as we prepared for what we can expect to be a tough uphill ride in the Green Mountains of Vermont.
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