That's me with the orange backpack

Bluffs of Wisconsin

PICTURES! I tried to include ones of us actually riding this time so you'd get somewhat of a feeling for what we do the majority of our days. We hit some incredible bike paths in Minnesota that make a day so fun without the worry of cars. They have also been along some of the most beautiful forests and meadows...I can't get enough! Today we started our week-long relationship with Route 2 West which we rode for 80 miles today and will be on for many more miles. It's no bike path but it still is simple and pretty serene.

Entering St. Paul, Minnesota

Early morning bike trail

Bike trail!

Cliffs we found in MN to jump off of

Riding through the trails

Hey all,
I must first give you the stats from Wednesday's ride from Wisconsin's capital to Soldiers Grove, mainly because since the east B&B Northern has lost a little bit of its killer street credit, but this ride definitely put us back on the map.
We rode;
103 miles
in 105 degree heat
through a 15 mph headwind
over major hills
...and I got 4 flat tires.

Ha actually I unfortunately didn't get to finish my first century ride because after 98 miles my tire had blown for the 4th time and I couldn't find what was causing it. Turns out there was a hole in my tire siding that required me to replace the entire tire yesterday. But even though the ride was brutally long and hot, it was awesome to see our team push through such a challenge. Haha at one point around mile 65 Emily and I saw a sign for a McDonalds 5 miles down the road, and after we decided that's where we'll stop, I've never searched for the golden arch harder in my life. We passed many places with AC and water but we HAD to get to our goal before we gave into the heat for the time being. I will never look forward to a McDonalds like that again.

I am writing you from a cute Italian style coffee shop 15 miles from our destination for the night. Its been a fun, easy ride today as our last day in WI. Happy Friday all!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Winnetka, IL

I also was fortunate to bike through Winnetka, IL, the town where my mom grew up! I couldn't believe that I had just biked from the east coast to her hometown. My uncle and grandma still live there so it was an absolute joy to spend the afternoon and evening with family. Here I am above with my cousins Pete, Pat, and Katie. Such a great day!!



Beauitful Michigan sunrise (there's Emily)



It's been a great couple days through Michigan, Indiana and Illinois and now, Wisconsin! After our one night in Michigan in the small town of Camden, we biked into Indiana through a beautiful morning sky. We hit our first true country roads today too, meaning we could ride in a more relaxed manner on straight roads with few cars. My riding group of the morning played word games until we made it to lunch...pretty solid. For some reason, though, we hit quite a spell of road closures and detours in the midwest, forcing us to re-route while already on the road. Coming from Camden, MI we were had to get a little creative by climbing over some road construction as you can see below. But what's the fun when everything goes to plan?

6/11: If you can't go over it, you can't go under it, you gotta go through it!


Coming into South Bend, Indiana we hit our first thunderstorm of the trip! We were riding straight into the darkened skies, with no rain at first, but all of a sudden the wind picked up (almost to the point where I was blown off my bike) and the rain dropped on us. Brad, Emily, Julia and I immediately clicked out of our peddles and took shelter on a nice person's porch until the storm wore over. Surprisingly, it was our first rain since the east, and refreshing because I love thunderstorms! We had to stop twice more on our route that day because we spotted lightening again, but by the time we arrived in South Bend and were riding through the campus of Notre Dame, the weather was beautiful again.

Our build in South Bend was one of our best so far. While one grouped roofed, another worked on installing windows, and another finished the framing inside to prepare for drywall. All in all it was a productive day. 



South Bend build site

We found a kitten on the build site, who Kyle
decided fit nicely in his tool belt

The best view of the skyline in the city!

We've also crossed our first time zone!! On Wednesday morning we woke up early enough so that we were on the road to Chicago as soon as the sun rose. That meant I was putting sun screen on in the pitch dark morning, which I found hilarious. Julia and I decided our legs felt pretty good after a build day's rest and were eager to get to Chicago, so we tested our speed and were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves riding incredibly faster than we did on flats back in NH. Some teammates claim we must have quite literally "had the wind at our backs" today because we were all flying to Chicago. Once we passed through the south city we spotted views of the skyline along the bike path we were traveling on, except it was hilarious because the first time we saw the view we stopped to take pictures, but as you can imagine, we kept getting better views as we traveled closer to the city! So I have a series of Chicago skylines on my camera by size haha.
    

Chicago is an absolutely amazing city right on the coast of Lake Michigan. We saw it on a perfect day where everything from the sky to the water to the skyscrapers were a beautiful blue. Our group had people tour the Sears tower, the Art Institute, the zoo, and Navy Pier so it was a great stay! Unfortunately though 2 teammates of mine got their bikes stolen in the city even though they were locked. It's a bummer to leave to the city on that note and a terrible loss for them. They're handling it as well as anyone could in that situation though and are going to buy new bikes once we reach Madison.



Bishnu, Paul, Julia, Emily, me, and Kyle



Mirror bean in Millenium Park

Now we're in Wisconsin and headed to Madison tomorrow. We've heard a heat wave is coming so luckily our milage is shorter and we'll be able to watch the women's world cup final in the city. GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Moving right along

Hey all!
Since my last post we've celebrated the 4th of July over Niagara Falls, had breakfast in New York, lunch in Pennslyvania, and dinner in Ohio over the span of one day, completed our longest ride yet, and have plunged into Lake Erie. It's been a great week and we're about to say goodbye to Ohio as we head into Michigan on Sunday!

Thanks for coming Grandpa!

During the weekend in Niagara Falls I got to spend a day with my Grandpa who stopped through! We explored downtown Niagara a little bit which unfortunately has lost a lot of industry over the past couple decades, now seeming to rely solely on tourism and casino business, but regardless, the Falls are spectacular! We walked around them for awhile and got surprisingly close to the American Falls. Enjoy the pictures, and Grandpa--seeing you was such a treat, I really appreciate seeing a familiar face!

                

                        Paul, Elizabeth, and me riding into Niagara...the Falls are on the left 

Sooo much water...there's Canada on the right!

Jon messing around on our sweep day

Everyone in the group is doing great--on Thursday I was on "sweep" meaning my partner Jon and I had to be the last riders for the day, and we are so proud of our group who all completed the 93 miles in good time. Sweep is there to make sure everyone makes in it at the end of the day, acting as an insurance out there on the road...it's nice to know that no matter what you'll always have 2 teammates behind you. So Jon and I rode 93 miles at a slower pace (we spent about 7 hours just on the saddle) but the day ended up being amazingly fun! When normally we like to push ourselves at a faster pace, on Thursday we had no pressure and got to explore a lot more. The route even took us through the heart of Cleveland that day which was beautiful! I never thought that riding 90 miles a day would feel normal, but it is quickly becoming less intimidating!

Our hosts here in Avon Lake, OH have been absolutely wonderful the past two days. Instead of our normal routine of laying out our thermarests and sleeping bags in the a church hall or sanctuary, these kind community members have hosted us in their homes! Thank you so much to the Forbes family for hosting Emily and me!! Our build day today took place in Loraine, OH where we worked on finishing 3 homes so they could be put on the market. I spent my day cleaning windows and power washing the outside of the houses (so fun!) while others worked on planting a community garden across the street. All in all a great day that makes us weary of saying goodbye to Avon Lake!
Here are a couple more pictures that sum up Bike and Build pretty well. It's been an incredible 3 weeks already on this trip of a lifetime! We're headed to Michigan in a day and are hoping the roads will be a little smoother than here in Ohio, but until then, have a great weekend all!

Emily, Brittany, and Erik relaxing at the Bernet's who hosted us
at their beautiful lakeside home for lunch one day

Emily, me, and Bishnu entering Pennsylvania!

And, naptime.

Rochester #2

Just got into our second Rochester of the trip, this time in NY. We're coming to the end of a long and demanding week of riding and very much looking forward to spending July 4th in Niagara Falls! Have a great weekend everyone!