Today we had a pleasant 40 mile ride from Maryville, TN to Sweetwater, TN - it was a LOT less hilly than the past several days of riding. We went up mountains in Ashville (the first major mountain climb), then up TWO mountains on the way to Gatlinburg, TN to cross the state line of NC and TN. Those 2 mountains really were tough and probably one of the hardest rides of the summer, but it was such an awesome feeling to get to the second peak. Tons of wild emotion from everyone.
But let's backtrack:
In Ashville, our 31 person group split up into 3 groups for our build day. My group went to build with a local affordable housing chapter that worked with residents in Ashville. We helped build a ramp for a trailer home, all in one day. We did it completely from nothing to a ramp in one day. I have some pictures I'll post of the completed project, but it was quite an accomplishment for roughly 10 people. From nothing to something, BAM! Makes me feel like I'm making a difference or something or whatever this summer...
From Ashville it was the crazy 2 mountain 90 mile day. (A day that will live in infamy). I probably picked a bad day to eat Bojangles, but I made it and it was awesome. AWESOME. Going up a 9% grade mountain at about 5-6MPH for roughly 9 miles and then finally making it to the top makes you feel like you are literally and figuratively, in a manner of speaking, totally freaking awesome.
After eating like Barbarians in Gatlinburg at roughly 5PM (The time people started arriving at our host site in Gatlinburg. Remember, we left at about 8AM in the morning), we all decidedly passed out in our camping tents, on the lawn of a church in Gatlinburg. I can tell you that everyone slept like babies that night.
After waking up in Gatlinburg (which, by the way, was a surprisingly touristy town. Who would have thought a population of about ~5000 would have a downtown area that looks like part of Busch Gardens), we made our way to Maryville. It had some cool descents as we zooped along the river down a mountain hill.
In Maryville, we also did another build day. It was a really impressive day. (Photos from that later also). We put in floors for a house that didn't have much in it and was just getting started. It went from no floors, to FLOORS! It was also really hot... I think I drank about 6 bottles of water and ate 3 popsicles. No joke people, Bike and Build - hardcore. And who said this was a vacation..? pssh...
We left Maryville, after getting some great eats at TomatoHead, and having a nice paid dinner from Habitat at Audreys (I think that was the name). I ate aaaa loooot of bread, salad, chili, and mashed potatoes. Oh and dessert. Man I love to eat. And I love it even more when I know I'm bking 3500 miles this summer.
And now I'm in this armory. We just went to see an underwater cave lake at this placed called "The Lost Sea Adventure!" (exclamation point not actually there; added for emphasis). It was neat. We experienced total natural darkness when the tour guide turned off the lights in one part of the cave. I'm pretty sure it was just about the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced.
:)
Now we're making burritos for dinner tonight. I've been with these people 24/7 for a little over 2 weeks now - weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeirrrrdd....But cool.
Oh and pictures I stole from other people's blogs:
Our group after doing some rehibilitation dry wall in Ashville with a local Davidson organization called Hammers. And of course, I'm not looking
And some work on the inside of the house we were doing
In Ashville, this is the area we started working on with the ramp:
And this is us lined up on the finished product, roughly 8 hours later.
Nice.
An image from our build day in Maryville (doing flooring). And what a surprise, I'm not looking.
Here's a VIDEO OF IT TOO!! OMGOMGOMG!!! Props to Bennett...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z6uDj78wB4
Now, my current location. This is Sharif, over and out:
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