Round 2? Round 2

Okay, so not actually good-bye. I don't know who I'm trying to kid, but I keep coming back and checking my OWN blog - weeks after this trip ended - expecting something new to be here. This trip is over, though. It was cathartic, life changing, eye opening - whatever you want to call it; experiences like this are nearly too difficult to put to words if you haven't had the experience yourself. Verbalizing it almost cheapens the emotion.

Taking risks, finding the adventure, and living with a greater purpose, however, are things I'm not ready to be over with and I am going to apply to lead a trip next summer. This organization is fantastic and there is no a single reason not to be involved with B&B. Okay maybe there are a couple: the real world, and a job, and money, and all that "grown-up" stuff. And that's important, but that isn't where I've settled in my chapter of life yet. This is the real deal people, I'm obsessed.

Make voyages. Attempt them. There's nothing else.

The end of our adventure

I am sitting on Mission Beach in San Diego. Catching some rays of sun
that aren't too hot at all because I've been used to 100+ degree
weather for the past week. I'm drying because I swam out in the ocean
with some friends. First it was freezing and then we were floating
around the waves laughing and trying to find the best wave to bodysurf
on. It got exhausting after 20 minutes, and that's okay because I have
a lot of time left here - We got here pretty early because we all
automatically woke up early, despite the fact that we went to sleep at
3AM. It wasn't a far bike ride and the breeze made the journey
perfect. Oh yeah, and yesterday I reached the Pacific Ocean after 2
months of biking across America from the east coast.

I love the beach lifestyle and mentality here. People are here
enjoying the ocean and weather. Slowing down to take a moment and
enjoy some simple luxurious things like sand. I could live here.

We stopped half a mile before reaching the beach yesterday on our
bikes. We all regrouped and waited for the 30 of us to be in the same
spot. We hugged, we sang, we took pictures and then we bravely got on
our bikes to acknowledge the ending. Meaning, we were hooting,
screaming and Timur was blowing a whistle all the way to the boardwalk
behind the sand. La Jolla beach was packed, mostly with people that
didn't know we were coming, as well a friends, family, and relatives.
People turned heads, were surprised, and Amanda fell for the first
time (twice) about 300 yards from the final destination we've been
biking to for the past 65 days. She was okay, and didn't really feel
anything because adreneline and endorphins were at very high levels.
Hopped off our bikes, alligned them on the boardwalk, then stripped
off any nonwater friendly items and bolted for the ocean. I have never
celebrated anything in my life for as long as I did with our group in
the ocean yesterday. "Shock" works, but it wouldn't quite describe how
I felt. It was almost an emotion I was confused on how to deal with
(more so now), but I was definetly elated. There was hugging,
screaming, a dance called the Cupid Shuffle, some improptu kareoke of
songs we listened to a lot this summer, lots of clapping, and
surprisingly no one crying. But maybe I just didn't see anyone because
I was blinded by all the people surrounding us in the sun, watching us
and smiling - maybe out of wonder or maybe out of respect. It was good
to scream.

Now most people are here for the next two days, but my friends have
started to peel off slowly now (after the party we had at an alumni's
house last night). Thank you, Todd. A few have flown off, some are
with family and some are with significant others they haven't seen for
days - still in San Diego. I accept that people need to go, but it's
weird and sad that these people who haved formed my experiences for
the past two months are leaving. I know I'll see some of these people
again, but the GROUP is ending and that's what is hard to say good-bye
to. Ode to the group...

We are strong, we are tenacious, and most of all we rock. My memories
are contained in the heads of all 31 of these people. That's because
their memories are mine.

I liked this summer. If you couldn't tell, I got a lot out of helping
people and biking across the country. These people I rode, napped,
ate, sweat, cried, laughed, danced, drank, hung out, waitied in line
for the bathroom, unpacked the trailer, made dinner, and snored with
were an important part of the equation. All good things must come to
an end.

I have inspired myself and hopefully others as well. There is a faith
in my peers - more than capable of being leaders and with an infinite
capacity to do great things.

Here is a great quote from Richard Bach in Illusions: Adventure of a
Reluctant Messiah -

"Argue for your own limitations, and sure enough, they're yours"

I always knew we'd get here, but now I know my limits can be streched.
What an awesome summer. Thank you for following, if you did. I hope I
did a good job and that you liked the pictures. Not sure what comes
next, but I almost guarantee you it will cower in the shadow of this
summer May 17th - July 18th 2009. Goodbye.

We made it

Photo proof.. Thoughts to follow

Less than 12 miles to the beach

Slowest 24 mile bike ride ever.

One more thing

This day really brings new meaning to the word bittersweet

Morning Tess

Front

Other side

Back

Trailer

The final painting of the trailer, now with everyone's nicknames
painted on it. Probably will not make much sense to you.

Dios Mio!!!!

Our 3 lost leaders and Jackie came back last night. I never realized
how different our group was until they left and then came back. It
really threw things outta balance, but now everything is restored to
it's natural order. They all give off a certain energy that really
feeds into our group and makes it the way it is. It was really great
to see and "remember" their personalties once they arrived and
everyone crowded around them. I think its hard to explain, easy to
comprehend.

This picture is what I see now. Wake up is 8AM today, but everyone
woke up automatically at around 630AM because we're all so used to
getting up early. No one really knows what to do, so we're watching
Anchorman on the projector because we didn't finish it last night. Im
excited to ride to the beach and complete this journey, but I don't
want to start this day because that means it will end. Everyone is
yelling at each other jokingly to stop getting ready. Kristian from
the Bike and Build office flew here and will drive the van today (with
Tess) with us so we can all bike into the beach. This will probably be
the slowest morning of all trip (besides the day after prom....)

We will ride 30 miles into the legendary beaches of San Diego and then
celebrate like we just biked cross country because WE DID. All bets
are off...doubters stop doubting...naysayers withhold your tongues: I
biked across the country this summer; what did YOU do?

Confirmed Ocean

No matter how many times you tell me we are in California, it never
gets old. You might think that it would be boring to think about, but
I really do enjoy thinking about how we biked here.

We were biking up more mountains today (what a surprise), and we saw
what we thought was the Pacific Ocean in the distance. We weren't
sure, but then some locals walking by told us it was. The chalk in
this picture confirms that that is the ocean in the background. All
our excitment was soon followed by some dancing and hanging out for
about an hour.

It was a nice climb/descent into El Cajon today. It really feels like
we are in Cali. I was biking today to 7-11 today after the ride to get
a Slurpee and it was hot and we passed people speaking Spanish (and
English) and saw some skater kids and saw palm trees and saw signs for
California. And now we're in El Cajon High School, in their gym, and
it's the last day of summer school. Maybe it's just me, but I think I
like it here

Amy Saunders

1 day

This is Amy Saunders (and Greg). She is one of our beloved leaders and
we adore her. Even more so, though, because lately she has been the
only leader of 4 with us for the past two days. She drives the van,
makes our cue sheets, takes us to the doctor, drives to laundry, and
leads us to San Diego till the return of the other 3 leaders.

As you may have heard, we unfortunetly had an accident with 2 of our
leaders and a rider yesterday. They are all okay now and recovering,
but they had to be in the hospital for a bit and Gabe, the other
noninjured leader, went to the hospital to join them and make sure
they are okay. Long and short of it, bikes are beat up, people are
recovering, and some will hopefully come back soon to meet with us
into San Diego. Let me just say, for those parents reading about this
and just heard it - don't freak out and DON'T call the bike and build
office they already have enough on their hands. We are all okay and
being safe. The best thing you can do is continue sharing the
excitment we have in reaching San Diego.

All this meant though was that Amy had a lot of responsibilities for
the past 3 days and she has been and trooper and is doing a good job.
Props to her. And props to this group that has held strong, despite
all the obstacles and setbacks. We're freaking awesome. Everyone has
really banded together and given themselves up to the group in the
past couple of days. Maybe it's because of this accident, maybe it's
the trip ending, but whatever it is everyone has let the little things
go and let the weight of this summer sink in. It is awesome.

Yesterday was really hard. It was 106 degrees and we biked in that for
60 miles (a desert with nothing) and then CLIMBED 4000 feet over 15 or
so miles. Man it was difficult. Running out of water in the middle if
nowhere can be really frightening. I feel so hardcore. But we made it
to Julian and now it's (mostly) downhill from here.

One day till San Diego. Unreal. I think we get real showers tonite too
and not hose showers. Woooooooo!!!!!

How I felt today

Brawley

Boy today was a tough day. We biked 88 miles from Blythe and there was
literally nothing in between. This is a picture of the SAND DUNES we
biked through in the heat and wind. It was a very difficult day and
almost everyone was getting dizzy from dehydration by the end. I drank
at least 8 liters of water. Thank goodness we had some church members
from our host come out and help us along the way with water and
finding us a store to buy cold drinks in. We even stopped at a cotton
gin to get some water.

The dunes were pretty neat though. This was real desert...

Our host in Brawley, First Presbyterian, has been awesome. This is the
first time Bike and Build has stayed here and we really appreciate it.
Dinner rocked!

Tommorow we do a 4000 foot climb into Julian tommorow. Hot day... Here
we come San Diego.

Cali

Somehow we've managed to bike to California. Blythe, CA. BOOM!!!

We had an exciting ride on the interstate today and beat the heat.

I don't have much to say, but I am very happy to be here. San Diego is
4 days away.

For those about to rock..We salute you

Going to California

Todays wake up - 4:00AM. Currently it is 4:58AM in Wendon, AZ and we
are eating breakfast.

Yesterday was hot as usual - and it involved us getting to our host by
8:20AM. Yeah. That's early. Our requirement is usually that we be in
at oue host by 4PM. Had another breakfast at the diner when we got in.
So if you can imagine - woke up at 4AM in Wickenburg, ate breakfast,
biked 35 miles, ate lunch, biked 25 more, then ate another breakfast.
And then had this awesome water fight in the town with a population of
500. Then basically had an entire day to hang out, watch a movie, nap,
write postcards, do laundry, and make burrito dinners.

But NOW. TODAY. TODAY and NOW we will enter California. We're going to
CALI BABY!!!!! Here we come.

Wickenburg, AZ

Amy is really red is this picture. That is because today it was 110
degrees. That's not a typo.

We had a beauiful ride today from Prescott, AZ to Wickenburg. Lots of
hilly mountain stuff and climbing. Which of course means there is
descending and I love that part. Everytime I go down a hill, I am so
satisfied with biking and everything is alright. You could see the
town we were biking into from the top of our descent. Completely
surrounded by desert...and cactuses (cacti?)

We came down a hill, losing 4000 feet overall and I experienced
something I've never felt before. Usually when you're speeding down a
hill you get a cool breeze in your face. But not here. I had hot air
blowing in my face and biking the last 10 miles today literally felt
like the feeling you get when you first open an oven. Except that the
feeling didn't last for 5 seconds. It lasted all day. It's SO HOT
HERE. Not humid, just a dry heat. Can't even feel yourself sweating.

But we got into a pool for free today and had fun with that. I've
never been so happy to be in a pool in my life.

My chore group gave a presentation to the church today. The best part
is sharing all our stories from the summer. It's nice to "remember"
with the group.

We started going over grant applications today. I feel like I have so
much power. We get to allocate a lot of money. Tough decisions will be
made.

Prescott, AZ

Pronounced Pres-cuit (rhymes with biscuit). We are staying in a middle school gym. Its very hot. Some chose to sleep in the courtyard last night. It was nice.

Right now we are driving back from a build site in Prescott, AZ. These past two days have been different because we had two build days back to back. We did painting and landscaping and got a lot done. Another group of us went to a separate build site and did drywall. It was way hot yesterday and we were admittedly sluggish (not to mention the fact that we had a night of hardcore karokee in downtown Prescott the day before), but today was a lot smoother. Accomplished a lot, hung out with the owner, she made us lunch.




Admire the different shades of color in this picture. It's the result of two months of biking and building in the sun. I guess my tan is more pronounced than Ginger's, though. Tan lines are fun. It's my badge of courage.

Anyway, I had a moment of clarity the other day (a rare occurrence, I know). It's been repeatedly beaten in my head that we're doing something good and helping people - by churches, reporters, adults, everyone - but it had never really sunk in until yesterday. We're raising money and awareness for affordable houses and building houses, sure, but that always just seemed to me like something "good" to do. Not that big of a deal and I've done Habitat building in the past.

But our Habitat contacts in Prescott showed us a short video yesterday and I really think it hit everyone like a ton of bricks. Its never too late to be or do whatever you want; to live a life you are proud of. You just need the courage to start all over again. But you may need a means - And thats what all 31 of us have done this summer. We are enablers. All the stories I've heard from the people that apply for these affordable housing homes lead me to the same conclusion. Single parents, struggling families - whatever it is, these people went through a rough patch in their life and now they want to take hold of their lives. To live responsibly and strive for a better life with their OWN home.

But getting your own home isn't easy and you probably can't do it by yourself. That's where Habitat comes into play and thats where our raising money and labor helps. I realize I have helped make a small contribution to a significant change in someone's life. It feels pretty good.

The family we just helped paint a house and landscape for was living in a single room. A mom, dad, and two children in one room. ONE room. And pretty soon next month they will finally have their own home and the mom will only have to drive 10 minutes to work. The children will finally have a playground in the backyard that was donated. Does this make sense? This story isn't uncommon because I've heard it many times during this trip.

"Your life is defined by its opportunities, even the ones you miss."

I'm glad I didn't miss this summer.

In any case, soon we are going over our grant money. Each one of us gets to donate $500 to whatever affordable housing place we want (Habitat chapters, smaller organizations, etc) and our group is also deciding on where to allocate, I think, around $30,000. I may be butchering these numbers, and I will correct them later if I am, but I think thats about right. Like I said, its cool that we are using this money we raised to DIRECTLY impact affordable housing organizations. What a trip.

Heavy stuff... lets get more lighthearted.
Prescott is a cool college town, a nice downtown area and has a row of bars called "Whiskey Row." We had our 2nd build day today and that ended at 1 (its too hot after that), and the rest of the day for whatever. Things like going to the local bike shop and getting some Thai food are in order. And nap time. Don't EVER forget nap time.


This is from the last church we stayed in. Whenever we are able to find instruments or a PA system, everyone always seems to take advantage of it and make as much noise as possible. This night was no exception. If you think music emanates from this picture, you are wrong. It sounds more like 3 people chanting, a drummer, and Alex on the hippie bongos. Good fun...



The middle school we are staying out. Sweet mural, right?



A picture of the ride into Prescuit... a lot descending a bunch of rocks.




Another photo, posed, located on the left of the previous photo.



Doing some "painting" on the house we were working on today. Don't worry we didn't leave the house like that.



And finally, a picture from karaoke night. This was during "I Believe I Can Fly." If you look closely, you'll notice that Anna, is in fact, flying.



That was a fun night.

And happy birthday Ben (yesterday)! And Gabe (today)! They probably won't see this, but I know their parents will.





Finally, shout out to Jackie. We all love and miss you and will see you in San Diego. Unfortunately, Jackie had to leave us with short notice, but with Bike and Build its always good-bye and never farewell. See you soon.

San Diego - T-minus 1 week... oh god..

In Williams, AZ

Today I passed a sign on the road that had an arrow pointing to Los Angeles. That was a completely surreal moment. We're not going there, but this is the closest I've ever been to LA in my life and I got here via bike. Seeing this sign gave me a real thrill. I can't wait till San Diego.





Since I last blogged we've been to Tuba City, camped in the Grand Canyon (this picture), and we biked out of the Grand Canyon to arrive in Williams, AZ today. The riding between these cities has been pretty desolate and a lot of desert. We're literally in the middle of nowhere sometimes. But we still manage to have some interesting things happen. Here are some of the happenings:

Dog

The vote was unanimous - 31 people voted and we had 36 "yes"s (hmmm...?) to keep the dog. Beth is the caretaker of the dog and she will keep it once the trip ends. Her name is Tess, named after part of a town where we found her. She is very quiet, calm, and a good dog. We like having this dog. Our own personal mascot.



Pinata

Beth received a pinata as part of her birthday gift about a week ago, and we finally got around to whacking it open. Here, Ben holds it above our trailer as Beth whacks it in Kayenta. Immediately followed by a game of whiffle ball.




Bubble Gum Off

Somehow, an intense competition between Amanda and Gabe came about involving a bunch of Double Bubble BubbleGum. We had a bunch of candy lying around - I don't remember how we got it. I think it was left over from prom - and they started stuffing the gum in their mouth's in Tuba City. I think Gabe ended up winning, only because the gum ran out, but they both had at least 20 pieces of bubble gum in there mouth by the end. Look at the intense concentration (Gabe is in red, Amanda has a hand over her mouth). It was intense. And well documented... there will be a video floating around in YouTube land someday




Grand Canyon BABY!

There wasn't much in Tuba City, except some restaurants (which we somehow got food donations from - Nhan and Drew were able to get free food for McDonalds, Taco Bell, and some other places by giving them the Bike and Build spiel - awesome) and friendly locals. We had an unexpectedly long day going from Tuba City to the Grand Canyon - it was 80 miles, but a lot of climbing and A LOT of intense wind. I think it took close to 10 hours for us to get in to our camp site at the Grand Canyon, but man, once we got there it was surreal. I have never been to the Canyon before and if you haven't - pictures don't even begin to do it justice. It is ENORMOUS. And it looks like your looking at a painting. Definitely a highlight. We camped out and ate hobo dinners (chopped up veggies and meats, throw it in aluminum foil, and stick it in the fire. Like a hobo, no?). Anyway, the Grand Canyon is awesome and I can't believe I biked to it (I keep saying this over and over again because the fact that I have biked this far is a constant recurring thought).



A (blurry) picture of our campground area



Williams, AZ

Today we didn't have too bad of a ride, it was only 60 or so miles, but quite windy. I have come to enjoy rolling hills though (or as cyclists call it (or maybe its just Bike and Builders), "rollers"). Sad to leave the Grand Canyon, but thrilled to see the biggest tourist thing you could imagine - Bedrock City. We're talking Fred Flintstone. Came across Bedrock City coming down 64 out of the Canyon about 30 miles out and decided to stop at Fred's Diner. It had 5 cent coffee! It was good. And we got a picture with Fred




Tomorrow we bike to Prescott. And then we will have 2 build days there. It should be good. Here are some more pictures from the Rockies:




Big Sharif



Beef Jerky eating Sharif

Fwd: [Nc2sd09] Durango CO - Newspaper article on you guys

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Kristian Sekse" <kristian.sekse@bikeandbuild.org>
Date: July 6, 2009 9:59:35 AM MDT
To: <nc2sd09@bikeandbuild.org>
Subject: [Nc2sd09] Durango CO - Newspaper article on you guys

Hey everyone,

 

The pastor from the church you stayed at in Durango, CO called the office and wanted to let you know about the FRONT PAGE article in the Durango Herald.  He was really excited about it, I'm just trying to pass along the enthusiasm. 

 

http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/Features/Columnists/John_Peel/2009/07/06/If_you_build_it_they_will_come_on_bikes/

 

See you guys next week!

 - Kristian

 

Kristian Sekse

Program Director

Bike & Build, Inc.

 

6109 Ridge Ave, Building #2

Philadelphia, PA 19128

(267) 331-8488 (office)

(661) 752-9806 (fax)

www.bikeandbuild.org

 

_______________________________________________
Nc2sd09 mailing list
Nc2sd09@lists.bikeandbuild.org
http://lists.bikeandbuild.org/listinfo.cgi/nc2sd09-bikeandbuild.org

Kayenta

Prom was great. This is a picture of our setup. Note the bicycle
barrier. Very classy.

Biked to Kayenta today. It was about 50 miles on the same road. Scary
shoulders, drivers in Arizona do not like bikers...However, Beth and
Neel saved a dog from dehydration along the way and now it's hanging
out with us. Will it stay? Only time will tell, but I do like Tess.

Not much out here, but a point of contention seems to be about what
time it actually is. No one seems to really know. In Arizona, in some
parts (Navajo places) they don't observe daylight savings time, but in
some places they do and it's all very confusing to me. Hmm... Not that
time matters very much to me any more, but it is all quite confusing.

Dry heat, one road, fast drivers, desert...

Welcome to Arizona

Grand Canyon is soon

Teec Nos Pos

Picture of the day: The Four Corners in Colorado/Arizona/Utah/New
Mexico. We passed thru this landmark on the way to Teec Nos Pos today
- now in Arizona!! Staying at a high school literally in the middle if
nowhere. This high school and hospital are literally the only thing
around us within 60 miles either direction.

Which means our thrift store prom is going to be very exciting
tonight. We all paid tribute to America today by wearing USA tattoos
on our bike ride and listening to "freedom" music, but our prom will
ultimately cap off our short 60 mile day.

We all have been preparing for this event for some time now. Everyone
has accrued the perfect outfit from thrift stores across the nation
and now is the night to display our best dressed Bike and Builders.
And how fitting it is that our prom will take place in a high school
gym. We've got the jams, we've got the clothes, and now we bring the
party.

Tonight is gonna be awesome. Happy fourth of July everyone.

More biking up the mountains

Pictures of the road and things along the way up and thru the mountains

Riding to Ouray

All pics are on the beautiful mountain town of Ouray on our 100 mile day.

The last photo is a picture of the town from above as we left Ouray on the 12 mile climb up the mountain