State College to Johnstown Pa 77 miles

So today I was sweep. That basically means that I'm the last person and I make sure that everyone makes it in ok. So I left about 2 hours after everyone, that way I don't pass anyone.

So I ran some errands this morning to pass the time, since I still had to wake up at 6.

It was suppppppper hilly! The first part wasn't that bad, but after lunch was so hard. We had a 8 mile climb that finnished up with a 14% grade climb.

After that we thought it would start to go down.... False it just kept going up and up. Finally at the end we had a 2 mile downhill which was awesome! I got over the speed limit again which was so cool. Then we just cruised into the town.

Pittsburg tomorrow.... Then a day off!

Berwick to State College (Penn State) 100 miles

Today was long! Woke up at 5 am and then we were on the road by 7. The first 20 miles were tough, but then I had a snack and it was much better. Our first lunch stop was at mile 35. Had a quick pb&j then headed out. There were rolling hills for the next 10 miles. Then we got to the climb. We went through Bald Eagle State forest which was all up hill for about 12 miles. About half way up there was this really pretty lake and beach. We all wanted to stop am swim but we still had over 50 miles to ride.

Once the climb was over I got my first flat of the trip! I set a record and made it over 500 miles without getting a flat.

Omish farm country..... Miles and miles of farm country. We probably passed 15 horse drawn buggies. And all of the guys were rocking gnarly beards.

Our second lunch stop was at at like mile 75. But first, we stopped at this little mom and pop shop and baught candy and post cards.

The last 25 miles were tough at first, but then we just sat back and took our time. We chatted and played games, which passed the time really quicky.

Tonight we are staying at the Penn State cycling teams house.

Mt Pocono to Berwick Pa 55 miles

The first 15 or so miles flew by today. We stopped at a post office and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why it wasn't open.... Then I realized it's Sunday. We have all just lost track of days. I usually have to ask a couple riders before I can figure out what day it is. It's kinda nice though to not really have any obligations.

Then we stopped for lunch in this empty parking lot. Well we though it was empty. It ended up being a church parking lot, and 20 minutes later it was packed! Once again we forgot what day it was...

We also stopped at this little dinner and got rootbeer floats. Then we peddaled off for the last half of the day. About 10 in we passed a little league game and decided to atop and watch for a couple of innings.

The rest was pretty much down hill from there, with one big climb. When we got into town one if the riders parents surprised her and treated us all to dinner.

The school we are staying at has a pool and when we all rode in we jumped right into the pool and swam for like 2 hours.

Port Jervis Ny to Mt Pocono Pa 54 miles

So today we rode in 3 different states! We started off in New York, then in about 3 miles we made it to New Jersey. We rode in NJ for about 10 miles on this back road through a park. Because of the crazy storm yesterday there were tons of sticks and stuff in the road.

We made it to PA shortly after. We stopped at this little Native American museum slash store that had some interesting stuff.

We stopped for lunch right across the street from a flea market. After we ate we went and walked around a little and ended up getting free sunglasses!

After we left we hit the mountains. We went through a couple little ones and the climbed mount pocono. Right at the top is this little church that we are staying at.

PA for a couple more days...

Poughkeepsie to Port Jervis NY 68 miles

So the day started off so sunny. We rode for about 10 miles and got to this huge bridge that went over the Hudson. We stopped halfway and took some really cool pictures.

We rode along side the Hudson for a little and then went through this little town.

After lunch it started down pouring and hailing so we pulled over and hung out on someones front pourch. When the storm passed we rode the last 20 miles into town, through the mountains.

Build Day Poughkeepsie NY

So today was a little bit of a different build day. We biked to the first site which was an old hotel turned into temporary housing for homeless and those struggling to afford housing. We helped rip up carpet, paint a mural, strip some benches and weed the gardens.

Then we rode to another house were we talked with the founder of the Hudson Valley Housing.

He gave us a tour of the area and showed us all the the houses which they had redone and sold as affordable housing. One of the streets was amazing. They said that it was the worst street in the entire city and now they have fixed up all but one house. For dinner they threw us a BBQ party.

After we rode back to the school we painted the trailer. We were supposed to do it at orientation, but it has rained pretty much every day since. Which is kinda an issue when painting!

Off to Port Jarvis tomorrow.

Ps I promise I will post some pictures as soon as I can!

Pittsfield to Poughkeepsie 87 miles

About 10 miles into the ride we left Mass, and made it to New York!!!!

There were a bunch of long climbs. But we ended up doing most of them as a group, and everyone was cheering each other on at the top. We also got our first taste of rt 66 today.

We stopped for lunch at this cool BBQ place about 40 miles into the ride. After pb&j an some goldfish we pedaled off again. It was so hot when we left! We cruised through the town a little than headed off through basically farm country. The veiws from up above were awesome. About 25 miles in I met up with another group of riders and then the rain set it. It started off as a drizzle then quickly turned into a downpour. But honestly I loved it. It was so refreshing after the heat of the day.

We rode for a while through the rain and got splashed by a couple cars along the way. But we were all singing the entire time.

It was so awesome when we finally got to the host location. We are staying at a Quaker boarding school near Vassar. Which means we all get beds! When we got on there was this little baby pool, and since we were already soaking wet we just jumped in!

Meg and Kristina came to visit me!!!!!! They came with lots of baked goods which were all SO good!

Build day tomorrow

North Hampton (not East) to Pittsfield 47 miles

Lots of hills! We went through the Berkshires which was crazy, so tough. But I made it!

A couple miles in we saw this little farm with pigs, llamas, mini horses and goats. We stopped for like 20 minutes and took lots of pictures.

Then we kept climbing. The houses were all so spread out in the mountains. About half way through this woman who saw us going by set out water and granola bars for us which was amazing!

The views all through the Berkshires were amazing. We stopped for lunch at this really pretty lake in one of the valleys.

The last 10 or so miles after lunch were great. It was almost all downhill into Pittsfield, winding through a couple of small towns first.

We are staying at a church that a group in the town baught and are renovating. The downstairs is like a big art studio and then the upstairs is slowly being gutted.

Off to New York tomorrow!

Fitchburg to East Hampton 63.25 miles

Lots and lots of hills! For about 25 miles there were just rolling hills. Then we got to a couple of amazing straight aways.

And then came the real hills.... Once we turned onto rt 202 the hills really began. Luckly the van stopped for lunch about 2 miles up.

From there we had an amazing view of everything in the valley. After lunch the climb continued for anonther 6 or so miles.

When we got to the top the feeling was amazing! I had just ridden up hill for about 8 straight! Then it was all down hill from there into town. We just flew down the mountain.

Tonight we are staying at one of the leaders friends houses. She has a 5 year old son that is so cute!

All and all the day was amazing! Despite the crazy hills I was able to push myself more then ever before. Besides our stop for lunch I only stopped once on the hills and still haven't had to walk my bike up any hills.

Berkshires tomorrow...

Andover to Fitchburg 50.26 miles

We had breakfast at the Webbers again which was amazing. Then we peddaled off to Fitchburg. The rain set in as soon as we got on our bikes.

It was pretty much rolling hills the entire way. We stopped at a cool coffee shop along the way that had really good muffins.

Good thing we stopped though because we ended up riding past the lunch stop after that. But we found a little gas station that we got lunch at instead.

Tonight we are staying at this cool little church in the center of town. A couple of us got a behind the scenes tour of the church by one of the members.

Build Day 1

Today we had a build day in Lawrence Ma. It was a Habitat site that was a cluster of about 3 or 4 homes. Apparently last year they all caught on fire and so they had to be redone. In the morning I helped measure and cut siding for one of the houses. Then after lunch I was promoted, and got to go up on the scaffolding and put the siding up. It was pretty cool. And good thing heights don't really bother me because we were doing from the second floor up. Note to self measure twice and cut once. Not measure once and cut 4 times....

Then for dinner we went over to the Webber's house who live in Andover. Their son Chris, helped make Bike and Build what it is today. He unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago though. Our route is so special because we pass through Andover (his home town), we stay at the Pike School (his elementary School), and then ride down to Vassar where he attended college. 

His parents were so nice and BBQed for us last night, made breakfast this morning, thanksgiving dinner tonight, and then apparently breakfast AGAIN tomorrow! And get this, Mrs. Webber lived in Snyder NY, and they all belong to the Buffalo Canoe club, and go up to Lake Erie every summer... small world!

Alright bed time, long ride tomorrow, apparently we upped it to 60 miles.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!! I hope you got my message of everyone singing to you!

FIRST DAY

Revere to Andover 24.7 miles (we took a wrong turn and 2 detours....) 

 

So since I am such a morning person, as we all know, the 6 am wake up was uh delightful?  After very slowly bushing my teeth and getting my sweet spandex on, we packed all our stuff, packed the trailer (which was my groups chore for the week), and cleaned our host site up. Then time for breakfast. I slipped out quickly to repack my stuff in a slightly larger bag that my mom brought for me. Thanks mom, now I don’t have to sit on my bag to shut it every time! After lots of pictures and going over the cue sheets (our directions for the day), we finally pedaled off the Revere Beach.

 

TIRE DIPPING CEREMONY!!!

The tradition is that we dip our tires in the on the east coast (Atlantic) when we leave and then again on the west coast (Pacific) when we arrive. So we dipped our tires in the Atlantic on Revere beach and unfortunately also got a little water and sand in our shoes. But since it was already raining that didn’t faze us much. (I will try and post those pictures as soon as I can).

 

Then we finally pedaled off! We rode for about 10 miles and then took a detour at REI to pick up some stuff. We all walked in soaking wet from the rain and turned a few heads. About 30 minutes later we were off again. We rode through Reading and into Andover. Then we took another detour to the Harold Parker State Forest. It was really pretty!

 

So after we left, this is where we took a couple wrong turns and ending up going through a VERY HILLY part of Andover… Thanks to my snazzy new iphone we were able to look at a map and figure out how to get to our host location, the Pike School. We all showered, ate, and cleaned off our bikes (no flossing this time).

 

All and all good day. This is probably be one of the few times I will be able to write so much so sorry in advance. Build day tomorrow!

 

PS thanks Brandon for the camera

Orientation

So I didn't get a chance to post yesterday or the day before so I will back track a little. 

Packing: 

We had to fit everything (clothes, sleeping bag, therma-rest, etc) into 4500 cubic inches aka a medium size duffle bag. Being a chronic over packer this was a little bit of an issue. I However I followed the packing list and in the end, I think that I did a pretty good job. For 2 months I brought 3 t-shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, a sweatshirt, 1 pair of sweat pants, 4 pairs of cycling shorts, 2 cycling jerseys, 1 pair of jeans and a raincoat. So when I am wearing the same outfit in all of my pictures this summer now you know why!

 

Orientation:  

I arrived a little bit late.... story of my life. It was awesome, I met the 31 other people who I will be traveling across the country with and they are all great! We played the name game and of course I was stuck near the end and had to repeat pretty much everyone’s name and a word that each person came up with about themselves. Surprisingly I just missed one person. We learned basic bike maintenance, safety, a day in the life of a B&Ber, and well to put it bluntly "ass 101". Then I cleaned and flossed my bike.... YES my bike.

 

The food so far has been really good, but apparently we are being spoiled right now. Our future hold lots of PB& J, power bars and GU.

 

SEND ME STUFF!!!!! letters... pictures.... powers bars... gu... anything!

To send mail to me, address your letter/package as follows:

Bike & Build
Attn: Christina Genco
General Delivery
City, State Zip

Use the following list of dates and locations (City, State Zip) to get your letter/package to the location of your choosing by the date listed above the address:

June 25 55 Mansion St. Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

July 02 700 Grant Street Suite A Pittsburgh, PA 15219

July 09 General Delivery Bloomington, IN 47408

July 16 500 W. Chestnut Expy Springfield, MO 65801

July 23 900 Garth Brooks Blvd. Yukon, Ok 73099

July 30 415 N. Pennsylvania Ave Roswell, NM 88201

August 06 223 N. Williamson Ave Winslow, AZ 86047

August 13 1500 S. California Ave Parker, AZ 85344

August 20 836 N. Anacapa St. Santa Barbara, CA 93102

Lastly, in addition to addressing the package correctly and getting it to the post office in time to be picked up, it is also IMPORTANT that the following is written somewhere on the package: "Hold for pickup on DATE." ("DATE" refers to the dates listed above.) This is important because we will have the post office forward any mail received after we have left town; without this note, your package may be held instead of forwarded.