Enjoying the Spring Weather

Today I went out intending to do a short 10 mile ride, but it felt so good I ended up going 18.6 instead in about 1.5 hours. It was a really nice sunny day today and not at all cold in the sun until the end of my ride when the sun started getting low. There was a pretty good wind that picked up toward the end to the point where there were gusts where I could feel myself getting pushed to the side. The half of the ride where I had a head wind was pretty slow going, but the half where I had a tail wind I felt like I was flying. I'm no longer really afraid of clipping in and out which is good because now I can go find some hills and practicing my shifting.

Here's an update on my fund-raising, I've passed the $2000 mark which is good because this Monday is the deadline for reaching $2000. Those of you who have already donated thank you again, and to those of you who haven't donated yet please do here.

Sweat Equity

Today I finished my sweat equity requirements for Bike & Build. Each rider is required to complete at least eight hours of sweat equity with an affordable housing organization, so I did two six hour trips with BU's Habitat Chapter. Todays trip wasn't really a build trip because we spent the day making last minute touch ups on several units in a larger habitat project in Boston that are going to be shown to people tomorrow. I spent most of the day scrapping dried paint off of linoleum floors and painting over scuff marks on the walls. It wasn't so bad and really I only wish I could have been outside instead of cooped up inside all day (take note that it was 70 degrees, something I'm not likely to see again for several months), but the units look great and ready for tomorrow. It's kinda funny that now that I'm supposed to be gaining actual building experience for this summer the build trips I go on end up not really involving building (the last one I spent nearly the whole day caulking and sanding). I guess it's good I've been on so many other build trips.
The other big news for today is that I made a special trip home this weekend to collect my bike and the packages that have arrived containing exciting goodies like pedals, a bike computer (that was amazingly easy to install and worked on the first try), and Chamois Butt'r. My next great adventure is going to be learning to clip in and out of my new pedals. I'm hoping I only fall over once or twice.

Bike and Build: Be The Change

There is this great documentary that a couple riders from last summers Southern route made about their trip entitled "Bike and Build: Be The Change". It does a really good job talking about what Bike & Build is really about, so you should all check it out here: http://vimeo.com/10183174

Thanks to everyone who has donated so far and for those who haven't keep the donations coming.

First Ride

My new bike arrived last Friday, just in time for spring break, and after some frustration I was able to get it all together finally on Saturday or Sunday and the other day I went out for my first ride. The biggest difference with this new bike is with shifting gears. For the past year I had been using my Mom's old Motobecane, which is a very nice bike and one that they drool over at the bike shop whenever we bring it in, but has old fashioned shifters down on the frame of the bike that aren't always so user friendly. So out I went with my new bike for the first time on a beautiful day here in Newton and found myself wishing for the first half of the ride that I had the old shifters back. I'm very quickly coming around to the new ones though and after a few more rides I'm sure I'll like them infinitely better than the old ones.

My Bike

Today I have officially hit the $1000 milestone (1/4 of the way there)! This means that I will shortly be able to order my bike. If you want to see what it will look like check out this website: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/model/defy.2.triple/3882/37100/

Building

So as part of my preparation for the trip I have to put in sweat equity hours building at affordable housing organizations. This past Saturday I got six hours done at a Habitat For Humanity build site in Dorchester in Boston. The house we were working on was nearing completion so we were mostly patching holes, caulking, sanding, and doing some painting. I was glad to be inside though seeing as it's still February. A true novelty at this build site though was that we were able to use the toilet in the house, so we had a real flushing toilet. We were also lucky enough to get to work with two different families that will be getting Habitat houses. I always love when I get to work with the families that will actually be living in the houses I'm helping to build. I still have two more hours to complete before the trip and I can't wait to get them done, but I think I'll wait until it's a little warmer.

Bike and Build

Next summer I'm going to be participating in a cross country cycling trip to benefit affordable housing organizations called Bike and Build. The trip starts in Providence, Rhode Island and ends in Seattle, Washington. Along the way we travel through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Washington. Along the way we'll be stopping to help build houses and we'll be spreading awareness about affordable housing. As part of this trip each member has to fund-raise $4000, which a portion of goes to funding the trip and the rest goes to affordable housing. To learn more about Bike and Build and to make a donation to support me visit their website at www.bikeandbuild.org. You can check back here for updates on my training and fund-raising progress. I'm really excited to embark on this adventure and would like to thank all of you for your support.