Burn baby burn!
I have hardly any internet time...its actually been 6 days since I could check my email, and the past 3 nights we've had no cell phone reception.
The journey so far has been AWESOME! 350 miles in, 3 states, 100 dance parties, 1 bottle of baby creme, 100 massage trains, 8 AMAZING hosts, 2 heartfelt build days, and enough pasta to fill a swimming pool...
My fingernails are eternally black from up-keep on my bike, my mouth is always chock full of food, and my quads have gone from 'sore' to 'painful' after our 76 mile day today.
The hills in the Adirondacks were tough. Not only did we summit 2109 ft on our 4th day of riding, but we also spent the next 3 days climbing significant 'small' mountains - often in the rain.
My 'granny' gear has really been a life saver! Though my legs spin in a whirl on my bike when I've got 'er kicked into granny gear, my whole body has thanked me for getting a "triple" rather than a "double" derailler ... It may take 45 minutes...but heck, i'm getting up that mountain!
Thanks for all the support, both in snail mail & facebook posts. You guys are great... My team has raised over $149,000 and Friday we have another build day set up. Can't wait!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Let's Rock n' Roll
Ohhhhh man!
What a crazy awesome experience this has already become! My sister, her friend Rachel, Nolan, Sam, and I all arrived early Sunday morning into Portsmouth, NH. Tooooo early to be exact - as in, I called my leader and said "WE'RE HERE!!(yay!)" to which she replied "No you're NOT!!!" ... which meant we had to find things to do in Portsmouth for 5 hours before our 'check-in' time. Ooops! As I later found out, we could have spent several awesome hours in the small city of Portsmouth, but we didn't know any better and instead shopped for cameras in WalMart and Best Buy all day... but dang it, we purchased the absolute best priced camera in all of Portsmouth!
The people here are great. High energy, dedicated, motivated, and have huge hearts. I guess when you group something as (insane?) as riding 4000 miles across the country, with the compassion needed to raise $4000 for the Affordable Housing cause - you need those qualities to rise to the challenges ahead.
So, it's not COMPLETELy hit me yet that I'll be riding across the country. Tomorrow is the very first day of our ride... 65 miles to be exact. I've already spent 2 night sleeping on the floor of the church in my sleeping bag, with a lovely Soergel Orchards sweatshirt as a pillow. I'd actually bought a camping pillow, but on the day of arrival, realized I needed that 3"x8" space that the pillow took up... and so, now I'll be at least 69 days pillow-less.
Food is great - everything is through donations. Panera Bread, friends of B&B, Chipotle, etc. have already provided meals for us. If you see that you will be along our route, and would like to donate any food (cookies, juice, lunch, etc.) please let me know - the more we get donated, the more that will go to Affordable Housing... SWEET!
Which, as of TODAY, my trip alone (32 people) has raised $147,557 ... WOW! We still have yet to go through the logistics of how we're going to distribute that exactly...but we'll basically put it into a big pot, and different Affordable Housing non-profits will apply to our grant, and then we decide who to distribute the funds to. I can't wait :)
Well, I need to get going - off to the YMCA for showers... it's a 10 minute ride there, we have one 15-passenger van, and 32 people ... it's a production!
What a crazy awesome experience this has already become! My sister, her friend Rachel, Nolan, Sam, and I all arrived early Sunday morning into Portsmouth, NH. Tooooo early to be exact - as in, I called my leader and said "WE'RE HERE!!(yay!)" to which she replied "No you're NOT!!!" ... which meant we had to find things to do in Portsmouth for 5 hours before our 'check-in' time. Ooops! As I later found out, we could have spent several awesome hours in the small city of Portsmouth, but we didn't know any better and instead shopped for cameras in WalMart and Best Buy all day... but dang it, we purchased the absolute best priced camera in all of Portsmouth!
The people here are great. High energy, dedicated, motivated, and have huge hearts. I guess when you group something as (insane?) as riding 4000 miles across the country, with the compassion needed to raise $4000 for the Affordable Housing cause - you need those qualities to rise to the challenges ahead.
So, it's not COMPLETELy hit me yet that I'll be riding across the country. Tomorrow is the very first day of our ride... 65 miles to be exact. I've already spent 2 night sleeping on the floor of the church in my sleeping bag, with a lovely Soergel Orchards sweatshirt as a pillow. I'd actually bought a camping pillow, but on the day of arrival, realized I needed that 3"x8" space that the pillow took up... and so, now I'll be at least 69 days pillow-less.
Food is great - everything is through donations. Panera Bread, friends of B&B, Chipotle, etc. have already provided meals for us. If you see that you will be along our route, and would like to donate any food (cookies, juice, lunch, etc.) please let me know - the more we get donated, the more that will go to Affordable Housing... SWEET!
Which, as of TODAY, my trip alone (32 people) has raised $147,557 ... WOW! We still have yet to go through the logistics of how we're going to distribute that exactly...but we'll basically put it into a big pot, and different Affordable Housing non-profits will apply to our grant, and then we decide who to distribute the funds to. I can't wait :)
Well, I need to get going - off to the YMCA for showers... it's a 10 minute ride there, we have one 15-passenger van, and 32 people ... it's a production!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tomorrow
I can't believe it's finally here! Ah! I still have to get a front light, booties, a working headlamp, this, that, the other thing, and a stinkin' Duffel Bag!
Ya, packing has been slow...obviously. I am alotted 4500 cu. in. of space for my entire summer, which sounds like a lot until you have to shove a sleeping bag and pillow in there. Every bag I find is either 3600 cu. in. or 5400 cu. in. So today, my hunt is on.
Am I ready for this trip? Ahhhhh...no. Is there any way to really prepare myself for a 69-day cross-country cycling trip? ...I think not. I signed a waiver way-back-when that said "I will bicycle 500 miles before the trip" and "I will cycle at least one 65 mile day before the trip" ... and I've done both things and I'm praying that that will suffice. EEk!
Tuesday the 22nd will be our first build day up in Portsmouth, NH - and Wednesday the 23rd we'll dip our tires into the Atlantic and head off for our first day of cycling! 4,844 miles later we'll reach VANCOUVER, B.C. and will have distributed over $120,000 to affordable housing non-profits and helped build 10 homes! Holy smokes!
Well, I'll keep this message short n' sweet because I've got a lot to do, and procrastinating by blogging sounds like a really wond..Terrible idea!
I will try to keep up with the blog, and you can track my route on the B&B website at: http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/route.php?route=NUS&year=2010
Thanks so much for your support everyone!!! I truly could not have done this without you.
Cheers,
Leisl
Ya, packing has been slow...obviously. I am alotted 4500 cu. in. of space for my entire summer, which sounds like a lot until you have to shove a sleeping bag and pillow in there. Every bag I find is either 3600 cu. in. or 5400 cu. in. So today, my hunt is on.
Am I ready for this trip? Ahhhhh...no. Is there any way to really prepare myself for a 69-day cross-country cycling trip? ...I think not. I signed a waiver way-back-when that said "I will bicycle 500 miles before the trip" and "I will cycle at least one 65 mile day before the trip" ... and I've done both things and I'm praying that that will suffice. EEk!
Tuesday the 22nd will be our first build day up in Portsmouth, NH - and Wednesday the 23rd we'll dip our tires into the Atlantic and head off for our first day of cycling! 4,844 miles later we'll reach VANCOUVER, B.C. and will have distributed over $120,000 to affordable housing non-profits and helped build 10 homes! Holy smokes!
Well, I'll keep this message short n' sweet because I've got a lot to do, and procrastinating by blogging sounds like a really wond..Terrible idea!
I will try to keep up with the blog, and you can track my route on the B&B website at: http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/route.php?route=NUS&year=2010
Thanks so much for your support everyone!!! I truly could not have done this without you.
Cheers,
Leisl
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Rain, miles, and hunger OH MY!
The three came hand-in-hand yesterday. I went on a 66 mile ride with Mike Masilunas and rode nearly the entire Montour trail. We started the ride off in a soaking rain, which lead to what we found 6 hours later to be extremely wrinkly feet, and the last 50 miles or so brought spats of sprinkles. It didn't slow us down though, nor did it slow down the hardworking Montour Trail volunteers who had set up a 'free hot dog & lemonade' booth about 30 miles into our ride. Nothing satisfies the stomach quite like a hot dog...and nothing keeps reminding you ate it for the next 20 miles, quite like a hot dog, either. But it was satisfying to both the mind and heart to have such a friendly chat with great people in the middle of such an intense ride.
The first 35 miles or so, despite rain, were truly a breeze. The trail is flat, crushed limestone, and follows through woods, meadows, farms, train tunnels, awesome bridges, and sprinkled with blooming wildflowers.
The next 20 miles became a bit more taxing. Though the trail is 'flat', it does seem to follow more of an upgrade on the return, and by that time the rain had officially soaked through the crushed limestone and had turned the underneath into a thick, slow-churning mud... making each turn of the pedal that much harder. Not to mention, we'd already been out for nearly 3 hours, the hot dog was quickly spent (though we did have a few granola bar reserves), and a bit of monotony and boredom set in.
Around mile 55 the excitement of knowing we were nearly finished grew, and the anticipation of knowing that we still got to ride through 3 long train tunnels, and 2bridges in those last 10 miles, thrilled us to keep pedaling. Finishing back at Mike's house at 65.71 miles was unacceptable in his eyes, so we pedaled up the neighborhood so we could finish the ride at exactly 66.00
Awesome! Not only were my legs strengthened with the training, but I'm also 100% sure I'll make it through at least the first day (65 miles) of Bike & Build! Haha, not only that, but I'm feeling much more confident now that cycling across the U.S.A is not only possible, but that I can also do it in the rain, and that I'll be able to do it with an enthusiastic spirit :)
The first 35 miles or so, despite rain, were truly a breeze. The trail is flat, crushed limestone, and follows through woods, meadows, farms, train tunnels, awesome bridges, and sprinkled with blooming wildflowers.
The next 20 miles became a bit more taxing. Though the trail is 'flat', it does seem to follow more of an upgrade on the return, and by that time the rain had officially soaked through the crushed limestone and had turned the underneath into a thick, slow-churning mud... making each turn of the pedal that much harder. Not to mention, we'd already been out for nearly 3 hours, the hot dog was quickly spent (though we did have a few granola bar reserves), and a bit of monotony and boredom set in.
Around mile 55 the excitement of knowing we were nearly finished grew, and the anticipation of knowing that we still got to ride through 3 long train tunnels, and 2bridges in those last 10 miles, thrilled us to keep pedaling. Finishing back at Mike's house at 65.71 miles was unacceptable in his eyes, so we pedaled up the neighborhood so we could finish the ride at exactly 66.00
Awesome! Not only were my legs strengthened with the training, but I'm also 100% sure I'll make it through at least the first day (65 miles) of Bike & Build! Haha, not only that, but I'm feeling much more confident now that cycling across the U.S.A is not only possible, but that I can also do it in the rain, and that I'll be able to do it with an enthusiastic spirit :)
Friday, June 4, 2010
The BFG.
I named my bike just the other day. It's the BFG. Remember the Roald Dahl book? The BFG (Big Friendly Giant)? My bike is a beautiful bright orange, and it was made by the Giant Corporation, so I find it appropriate, and the name makes me reminisce a little and smile. It also stands for the title of this blog (Biking For Good)... The BFG? Yes...sweet, I like it!
I'm not going to lie. The first 100 or so miles on my new bike were pretty miserable. The whole clip-in pedal thing was a huge nuisance, a slight incline felt like I was pedaling Everest, I was scared to ride with traffic so all my rides were in state parks, and I bent my tire valve because I didn't even know how to pump up my tires.
But let me tellllllllll you what! I feel like a PRO-fesh-on-al now! ... ok... maybe not. But, I only fell with my feet stuck to the pedals ONCE this week (wahoo!), I finally have figured out that pedaling Everest requires more than one gear and plopping my bum on the seat, I sport a blinky red light to ward off all scary traffic, and I have effectively pumped up my tires about 10 times now! SUCCESS!
My friend Jesse (from AmeriCorps) officially started his Bike & Build route (Southern US) about 2 weeks ago...and I'm living my next 2 weeks through him... soaking up every picture he posts, and every comment he makes... this experience is going to be a BLAST! The anticipation (and antsy-ness) is growing!
My goal is to post my experiences on this blog site... I know there will be many times/days when I won't have internet access - but I hope to update as much as possible.
Thank you everyone for all your support for Bike & Build and my ride across the U.S.A.!
I'm not going to lie. The first 100 or so miles on my new bike were pretty miserable. The whole clip-in pedal thing was a huge nuisance, a slight incline felt like I was pedaling Everest, I was scared to ride with traffic so all my rides were in state parks, and I bent my tire valve because I didn't even know how to pump up my tires.
But let me tellllllllll you what! I feel like a PRO-fesh-on-al now! ... ok... maybe not. But, I only fell with my feet stuck to the pedals ONCE this week (wahoo!), I finally have figured out that pedaling Everest requires more than one gear and plopping my bum on the seat, I sport a blinky red light to ward off all scary traffic, and I have effectively pumped up my tires about 10 times now! SUCCESS!
My friend Jesse (from AmeriCorps) officially started his Bike & Build route (Southern US) about 2 weeks ago...and I'm living my next 2 weeks through him... soaking up every picture he posts, and every comment he makes... this experience is going to be a BLAST! The anticipation (and antsy-ness) is growing!
My goal is to post my experiences on this blog site... I know there will be many times/days when I won't have internet access - but I hope to update as much as possible.
Thank you everyone for all your support for Bike & Build and my ride across the U.S.A.!
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