Here we are in the flat, windy, WINDY Midwest, in Springfield, IL. It's been quite a while since I've had free time to blog - my apologies - it's just that we usually only have a counted number of free minutes in our day. (We're on our bikes oftentimes for 12 hours a day, then need to EAT!, stretch, shower, clean our bikes, and do our daily chores to keep the group moving). However, one person of our group of 32 riders writes a journal entry every day and they are all posted on the Bike & Build website along with lots of photos. So if you're interested in following us more closely, check it out here.
Here are some brief highlights. So far, my favorite states have been West Virginia and Kentucky. We took all back roads (and often times quite gravely) and really saw into the heart of WV. The hills were wonderfully forgiving especially after the hills of CT (which I never knew existed) and the steep mountains of NY and PA. By contrast, WV just kept you continuously shifting gears and enjoying the ups and downs of the terrain.
We crossed over the Ohio River into Kentucky at 6:30 am on a misty, cool morning. It was an eerie sort of feeling along the winding roads that opened up to vast farms and open landscape. The ride from Paris to Louisville KY was covered in brown wooden fences surrounding hundreds of thoroughbreds and hay field after hay field.
Now we're in Illinois and the Gulf Stream is blowing with all it's might against us (we're heading East to West). I am calculating that the winds are around 25 mph - so strong that when I'm going downhill, I need to be in my lowest gear possible just to keep going - (and to give you a reference, I pedal in my lowest gear while biking up a 12% grade up a mountain in PA, and here I'm biking downhill but still need it!) And as you can imagine, we're passing corn field after corn field, with interspersed soybean fields.
The next couple of days will bring an important landmark - the Might Mississippi River - into the Great Plains we come!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
And we're off!
June 6. Departure day. Cool morning, light mist. 32 riders outfitted in matching blue and red jerseys cycled excitedly from our host church to the (slippery) Providence dock. Dipping Ceremony. On the count of 3 we all dipped our back tires in the lapping waves of the Atlantic. Now, theres just one direction - West! - Riding towards Pacific.
The streets of Providence were full of potholes and interesting obstacles. As our group of 32 riders snaked along the city's main streets (in snazzy blue spandex), you could hear phrases passed along to from one rider to the rider behind him/her such as "Pothole! " "Slowing!" and frequent jubilant cries of "P2SF!!" [i.e. Providence to San Francisco].
After 10 miles of city streets, we climbed a sloping hill and emerged surrounded by farm fields and old style New England houses. 23 miles later, we caught up with the van + trailer (painted with our mural of bikes and houses and a big map of our route across the U.S.A.) and stopped for lunch. St. Martin's church (our host during our 3 days of Orientation) had cooked us a fabulous departure breakfast of quiche, omelets, and muffins and we were delighted to see that our lunch was comprised of the delicious leftovers supplemented by the standard PPJ.
At the CT welcome sign of course we stopped to shoot about a hundred pictures with all of us riders elated next to the sign. Then, we had a couple of fantastic downhills (where one rider reached 45 mph) which opened up to a valley of quaint houses and stone walls with a landscape dotted with a few cows.
On the day, we cycled 37 miles and spent the afternoon resting at a church in Plainfield, CT - another quaint, New England town. We finished up painting the trailer this afternoon - and man, do we have some artists or what in our group! It looks really sweet. (I'll have to take some pictures to show you). And from what I hear, we have a pretty spectacular dinner awaiting us prepared by the congregation of St. Paul's.
The streets of Providence were full of potholes and interesting obstacles. As our group of 32 riders snaked along the city's main streets (in snazzy blue spandex), you could hear phrases passed along to from one rider to the rider behind him/her such as "Pothole! " "Slowing!" and frequent jubilant cries of "P2SF!!" [i.e. Providence to San Francisco].
After 10 miles of city streets, we climbed a sloping hill and emerged surrounded by farm fields and old style New England houses. 23 miles later, we caught up with the van + trailer (painted with our mural of bikes and houses and a big map of our route across the U.S.A.) and stopped for lunch. St. Martin's church (our host during our 3 days of Orientation) had cooked us a fabulous departure breakfast of quiche, omelets, and muffins and we were delighted to see that our lunch was comprised of the delicious leftovers supplemented by the standard PPJ.
At the CT welcome sign of course we stopped to shoot about a hundred pictures with all of us riders elated next to the sign. Then, we had a couple of fantastic downhills (where one rider reached 45 mph) which opened up to a valley of quaint houses and stone walls with a landscape dotted with a few cows.
On the day, we cycled 37 miles and spent the afternoon resting at a church in Plainfield, CT - another quaint, New England town. We finished up painting the trailer this afternoon - and man, do we have some artists or what in our group! It looks really sweet. (I'll have to take some pictures to show you). And from what I hear, we have a pretty spectacular dinner awaiting us prepared by the congregation of St. Paul's.
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