Bike and Blog - WY Have Gun Laws When You Can Not Have Gun Laws?

As corny and simplistic as it is, I've been thinking a lot about the question why since we entered into WHYoming (as if you couldn't get the sorry excuse for a pun without the capital letters). Not so much why I wanted to do this trip, but why there are so many differences between the thousands of people that I've come across on this trip. Just kidding, I won't delve into a hopeless discussion like that, but I can give you guys an update about the trip if you promise not to hate me for my horrible sense of humor...or lack thereof.

So we crossed into Wyoming and everything is pretty normal. Most of our days here have been ridiculously easy. I believe we had an 81-mile day coming into WY, then it was a mid 50 and 60 mile day to follow. The terrain hasn't been horrible, just a lot of hills. I guess I got stronger and God has blessed my ride because once I get into a groove I'm averaging 17mph on some days, and 20-22mph on other days.

Weather has even been mild. Haven't had a ton of rain and there hasn't been any scorching heat yet. The rain here is weird, sprinkling a few times while the sun was out (showers are all of 30 seconds). We had a build day today, and it was pretty hot but I'm pretty sure it was because we were just standing (and working) in the sun all day. We primarily lay down the sub-floor I believe. Not my favorite build day but it wasn't the worst either.

I almost forgot to mention that we went to a Ranch a few days ago and some locals let us shoot their guns. Gun laws are especially lax out here, so we shot an AK-47, a shotgun, and a sniper rifle into a mound of dirt and no one called the cops. Can you believe that? It was my first time shooting a gun, though not my first time holding one. It's loud. I see why sensible people wear earmuffs. The sniper was my favorite, a Remington 7mm. Had a nice kick and a delightful pop instead of the grating bang that the AK had. Plus it had a scope so it's so much easier to aim. Mounds of dirt can be tricky things to hit in case you were wondering. The ranch also cooked us up some fresh grass fed beef, pairing it with some deviled egg salad and beans. Good day. Almost allowed me to overlook the confederate-ish flag they had blowing in the wind. Wasn't the official flag, but had something about the confederate way of life.

Welp, hope you enjoyed the pictures. That's all I have for now so thanks for listening with your eyes.

Bike and Blog - What's That Nebraska Song?

Our time here in Nebraska was a lot shorter than I expected. After our brief visit from Iowa, we headed straight to South Dakota before returning to the cornhusker state.  We only had a couple of ride days in the Sandhills, and the views were amazing, but I think most of my group would agree the days pedaling here have been the hardest on the trip so far.

We had to combat brutal headwinds, tricky crosswinds, steady hills and a daunting repetition of rolling, earthy lumps. Despite all the difficulties, we witnessed some of the most brilliant displays of mother nature here. We had to wake up at 4:30 for pretty much all of our days, but we got to see the sunrise. Even saw the sun set on one day.

We learned a great deal about the cultural and ethnic atmosphere from a superintendent at a school in Cody (which only had like seven kids graduate last year). Cody was a few miles from a Native American reservation, and his heart went out to many of the people suffering through the poverty and degradation of said locations. Many of the locals back in South Dakota didn't appreciate or enjoy the presence of the Natives, but it was a wonderful change of pace to hear someone who had a heart for the needs of the reservation's population.

Cody also didn't have a grocery store for over a decade, so the town thought it would be a good idea if the youth from the high school teamed up and built one. So they did, and now it's primarily run and maintained by the kids. The store was built using packed straw, and one of the pictures shows the inside of the wall as proof.

In Chadron we had less contact with our host, but the pastor of the church where we stayed was uber friendly. Our day off was in Chadron, so we had prom. Here are a few pictures from the escapades. Sorry I couldn't post the song Ian sang to me to ask me to go to prom with him (I mentioned before people drew names out of a hat and had to ask whoever they were given). If you want to hear it, just email me and I'll send it to you. PS, we were supposed to be an American flag...lol not so good but whatevs.

Next stop is Wyoming. I can't believe how far we've come so far. It still hasn't really hit me. We're using a bicycle to cross the country. Crazy.

Couldn't resist the urge to post some sweet lightening pics I caught from a random storm. Welp that's all I have for now so thanks for listening with your eyes! Cheers to the good life.

Bike and Blog - Half the Miles in the Bag

So far everything is still relatively smooth with the trip. Bike and Build prom is coming up, and it's been hilarious hearing all the different ways people get asked. Half the people were given a name and had to ask that person out, the other half were askees and had to wait around to be asked. I was an askee, and Ian was my asker. He recorded a song on Joey's computer, singing an ode to me to ask me to prom. It was pretty funny. Hopefully I'll be able to get it and post it on here. Mike also made a song for Zoe that was pretty good, David spelled out PROM in dandelions for Dandy, and Molly and Clair created a survivor game for Kosta. A bunch of them have been good but that's all I can remember.

We crossed into South Dakota a few days ago. So far it's been a lot prettier than I imagined it would be. On our first day, we went to an Ol time soda shop that had some delicious soda (even though I don't drink soda I got a chocolate soda and a mini banana split).

The scenery has been breathtaking (at least I'm pretty sure it's the scenery taking away my breath and not all the pedaling). I'm really hoping we can go to the Badlands but I hear it's not going to happen. We'll have to wait and see though.

I also have a cold now so I've felt a bit dehydrated, but hopefully it'll pass soon. Recently we've been getting up at 4:30 to help stay out of the heat, but today it seemed like a waste. Wasn't that hot and we only went 87 miles. Tomorrow is 95 though and another 4:30 wake up. Wish me luck.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. If you want to see any others just shoot me an email. Welp that's all for now, so thanks for listening with your eyes.

Bike and Blog - Keep on Cranking

I can't believe the trip is already more than half over. I wasn't able to blog for way too long, so here's a bit of recap since the fourth of July.

  

I got to celebrate America’s birthday in West Lafayette, IN. It was a lot more crowded than I imagined it would be. It took forever for the festivities to begin. Every so often we’d hear a few loud bangs and we’d get excited, but it was just the locals shooting off their own handheld explosives. I got 30 mosquito bites on my scalp, which was half as bad as the ones I had in between my fingers and on my eyelid. Sucks. But I’ll lose a little blood for America any day.

 

The past few hosts have been phenomenal. I’m still elated to see how wonderful Americans can be. I wish life was like Bike & Build, and the citizens of the world just went around helping one another. Everything would be so much easier.

I had cranberry French toast from one host, breakfast pizza at another, and macaroni and cheese that had been laced with chicken, Velveeta, onions, and something else that made my tongue do the tango. Until the past few days, ice cream had given me the most variety on this trip, but the hosts have been stepping it up. I’m worried because I know most hosts won’t be this awesome, but I’ll roll with that punch when it’s thrown.

My buddy JoBeth came out for our ride into Hartford City, IN (which was my first century!) woot. I thought she was going to hold me back, but she pleasantly surprised me. We went faster than I normally do, keeping up a steady 18-20 mph pace for most of the trip. Then she took me out to ice cream at Ivanhoe’s, which definitely takes the cake…err…cream for best ice cream on the trip. Their menu was a jumbled bunch of happy hullabaloo. I got tiger tails, which was frosted flakes, crushed whopper candy, peanut butter and hot fudge smothered generously over vanilla soft serve…………..it was………it was…….G....R…E….A…T.  My favorite day of the trip so far.

West Lafayette also featured us in their newspaper, the Journal and Courier. Even though they misquoted me, they did take my picture so that was cool.

We spent our first day off at a Lake house that was phenomenal. I tried water skiing, played a few games, and read a ton. The host was super nice and gave me some awesome advice about life that I can't wait to apply. 

We sped through Illinois in no time, and the terrain was flat. It made a bunch of memories from my time in AmeriCorps/Chicago flood back, but it was good stuff.

We made it to Iowa and had another day off, this time in Marshalltown, and my best buddy Erin came to visit. We went to the lamest fair ever! Then we hightailed it to Matchstick Marvels, got some smoothies, got lost, explored a sculpture garden, and ate at Perkins before wrapping things up with World War Z. Overall an awesome day that I wish could happen all the time.

Today was a build day that trumped all other build days. We finally got to put up some framing! I helped put the flooring up and we all lifted up the walls. Awesome moment. Got to meet the habitat family for the first time as well, so it was cool working side by side with the guy that will be living in the home. The lunch they had was spectubular and I can't wait until dinner. We even got to go to an aquatic center that had a super tall slide. I got a sweet video of the team performing some synchronized swimming, but video won't work on here. Sorry. Future Facebook.

Forgot to mention Christmas in Juliowa, but there was too much involved to elaborate...the pictures will have to speak for me.

Welp that's all I have for so thanks for listening with your eyes. Just shoot me an email if you want to see more pics of if you want some of the video.