Hello from Mt. Vernon, Iowa! How to summarize the last week...I'm going to do bullet points and no pictures this time, to make sure it gets done.
-To paraphrase Anthony, who has a penchant for getting lost, "Even when you're going the wrong way, you're exactly where you're supposed to be." Being able to experience the country from the seat of a bicycle is an experience unlike any other, and even the toughest miles are worth it because they're all part of the journey. It's amazing to see the landscape change as we go - from rolling hills and even mountains to flatter and flatter fields of corn and soy. We're now on roads that stretch on for miles and a car passes us maybe every ten minutes - perfect for biking side-by-side and having in-depth conversations with fellow riders.
-We got to stay in a dorm at Kenyon College and we had real beds with sheets!! It felt like staying in a hotel. Also, they have a great dining hall. Yum. On the ride that day we passed a horse and buggy and ate lunch at a firehouse where we took pictures with the fire truck because we get excited about the same things as ten-year-olds do.
-The ride to Dayton, Ohio was confusing - we went around in circles trying to get out of Columbus for a while and then had to cross a highway to get to a bike path. We had a fantastic lunch surprise from the parents of someone who had done the Southern US route, and got to enjoy BBQ pulled pork in a veritable oasis - a beautiful old farmhouse in the midst of cornfields and hay bales. Once we got there, Dayton was awesome. We stayed at Sinclair Community College, which is one of the top community colleges in the country and has a crucial impact on those in the area who have been faced with unemployment, as it has allowed them to go back to school and completely change careers. That weekend, there was a folk festival going on, so we went down to the riverfront and walked around for a while. The city was actually a lot of fun to explore, and we found some cool restaurants and shops, including a fantastic used book store called Bonnett's Books where Anthony and I spent about an hour and a half.
-We had a build day in Dayton, where we put up drywall in a Habitat house. I was too short to be of much use on the ceiling, but the walls were fair game. We finished probably about half of the house and got to work alongside the homeowner, Christie. That night, the local Habitat chapter got us awesome seats to the fireworks display, which was a really good show. We ended the night with a euphoric (if off-key) rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.
-Best 4th of July OF ALL TIME. Our first century (ended up being about 103 miles) and we passed the 1,000 mile mark of our trip, as well as the Indiana state line (marked by a lovingly hand-painted wooden sign). We started the day with a police escort out of the city at about 6:30 a.m. - someone remarked that we were the first 4th of July parade in the country. We even had a dog escort...in that a dog started running in front of the police for at least a mile. After we were dropped off at a bike path, we burst into another round of the national anthem as Gabe waved the flag. Team Hailey (the affectionate nickname of the group I rode with that day) had a great day of singing and telling stories. It got almost unbearably hot by the afternoon, though, and we had this wonderful moment somewhere in the home stretch where we were just sitting in the middle of a gas station island putting ice in our Camelbaks, in our clothes, anywhere that would help us cool off.
-We finished Indiana in two short days and headed over to Gilman, Illinois. The headwinds have been picking up and it's pretty discouraging to be pedaling as hard as you can and feel like you're not getting anywhere - especially when the roads are straight and flat enough to see the destination from miles away! On the other hand, at one point we caught a tailwind and cruised along at 20 miles per hour with little to no effort, providing a much-needed ego-boost.
-Day off in Pontiac, IL. Honestly, I mostly slept and wandered around the town - it was completely uneventful but exactly what my body needed to recover a bit. Pontiac has some swinging bridges, murals, a Route 66 museum, and a statue of Lincoln outside of the courthouse.
-Yesterday we crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa! Now it really feels like we've gotten far along in our journey. That day was supposed to be a 90-mile day, but I ended up with 99 miles, so I biked loops around a cul-de-sac until I reached 100. I also got an awesome surprise that day - my good friend Marc from the Saxtet, who did the same route in 2006, came down and biked the last bit of the day with us! We've had a few alums bike with us so far; I love the fact that people who have done Bike & Build are still so excited about it and about their friends participating in it. That evening we got completely massacred by a group of kids in dodgeball. No joke. We had about three times as many players, and were bigger than them, and they were absolutely terrifying. Still a lot of fun, even if I am hopeless at throwing and catching. I'm okay at dodging, which is important.
-Now I'm in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Had a funny moment this morning when the group I was riding with realized that a crop duster plane was flying low over the road directly toward us. It looked like it was headed straight for us, so we all freaked out a bit and slowed down. Of course then the plane started ascending again and we could see the pilot laughing at waving. We all laughed for a good five minutes about how we had all just panicked. We also got our second downpour of the entire trip today! It didn't last long but we got good and soaked, which cooled things off quite a bit (and cleaned some of the grime and Gatorade off of my bike).
We're in the midst of a tough week - lots of long mileage days between our last day off and our next build day in Sioux City. My bike and body are both holding up well so far (knock on wood) apart from minor soreness. Hopefully I'll post some more pictures soon! Until then you can check out everyone's pictures on the Bike & Build website under our P2S route tracker.
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