National Parks & the Mojave Desert, oh my!

Today's post is short, sweet & to the point...so let's get to it.


Fredonia, AZ

• The northernmost city in AZ.
• The Anasazi were the first inhabitants of this area. The ruins of their ancient cave dwellings can still be seen today.
• Fredonia is known as Arizona's Desert Rose

Zion National Park, UT

• Our 2nd of 3 National Parks this summer, the 3rd to be Yosemite.
• In July temperatures during the day often reach 100 degrees.
• Human settlements began 8,000+ years ago with the Anasazi, also the first inhabitants in Fredonia.
• The scenery varies widely from canyons wide & narrow to steep sandstone cliffs.

St. George, UT

• Biking into St. George will officially bring us into Mojave Desert territory. Eek!
• The town was originally founded in 1861 under the direction of Brigham Young as a cotton mission (the plan didn't work out quite as planned, but the city remained.)
• An atomic bomb (originally called "Harry" and eventually nicknamed "Dirty Harry") detonated by the U.S. gov. in 1953 generated tremendous off-site fall-out. Marked increases in certain cancers were reported between 1950-1980 as a result of the fall-out from multiple nuclear tests near the city.

Playing Spent & the Grand Canyon

I've unofficially deemed the summer of 2012 as "The Bucket List Summer". Biking across the country was on my bucket list, as is visit all 50 states (this summer's trip will bring me 5 states closer), & visit the Grand Canyon. I'm sure a few more bucket list items will be crossed off as well. Along with another one I KNOW will be crossed off...but I'll wait to share that one for a few more weeks. :)

Now, to the Grand Canyon! My source tells me we'll be camping here. Which, through my research, seems likely. How cool is that!?

The Grand Canyon is 1 of the 7 wonders of the world and was formed by the Colorado River (millions of years ago!!!). It measures 277 miles long, and at some points has a depth of over 1 mile deep.

 

We will be visiting the North Rim. It is lesser visited than the South Rim, mostly due to its remote location and lack of access roads. Highway 67, the only road leading to the North Rim, begins in Jacob's Lake, but due to heavy snowfalls is often only open between the months of May & October.

 Temperatures at the North Rim vary greatly. High's for the day well above 80 degrees, with evening low's sometimes below freezing, even during summer months. I have to remind myself of this when I question why the packing guide says to bring long sleeved biking gear & clothing.

So...I found a pretty cool website when I was doing AH research. So many Americans are unable to put themselves in the shoes of those living on minimum wage, or a wage only slightly above. This website briefly runs the "player" through a simulation about just a few of the choices you might make as a person living on close to minimum wage. The simulation only takes about 5 minutes, but it was a real eye opener. To visit & "play" just click here.

 

21 days 'til SUS '12 & cruisin'

 The weather was great yesterday. I cranked out 2 finals, finished a take home exam, and officially finished all the school work I'll have as an undergrad. I must admit, it's a very weird feeling. Graduation isn't until May 5th, so in the meantime I'm just hanging, biking, running & packing.

Rode a quick 26 miles yesterday, I got my bike computer hooked up yesterday. It's really nice to be able to see how fast I'm riding and how far I've ridden so far. I was able to play around with the gears and figure out where I was the most efficient speed wise. I was really surprised. I didn't ride much slower than 15 mph the whole ride! &, when I was really cruising down Forbes Avenue at the end of my ride I got up to 22.3 mph for a hot second!!! Please, at this rate I'll have biked to California in no time. Hahaha.

26 miles yesterday + 257 miles completed = 283 miles / 500, 217 left to ride.

Also made a run to Target last night to get my bin. To pack in for the summer as I may have mentioned we get 4,500 cubic centimeters.  That's essentially a bin sized between 18 & 20 gallons. Don't tell anyone...but I got a 20 gallon. It came in a way cooler color.

So...meet my bin. I imagine it won't be long before it is covered in stickers & other such nonsense. I'm going to start packing it today...at least with the stuff I have already to get a better idea of how much space I'm really working with. 20 gallons seemed like a lot more in my head.

Page, AZ

• The city of Page has only been around since 1957. It was created to house workers and their families during construction of the Glen Canyon Dam.
• The land for the city was acquired through a land exchange with the Navajo Nation.
• After completion of the damn the population continued to grow due to tourism. Page is considered the gateway to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
• Several movies have been filmed here, including Into the Wild and the most recent Planet of the Apes, as well as the one filmed in 1968.

Jacob Lake, AZ

• Known as the Gateway to the Grand Canyon, because it is the starting point for the only paved road that leads to the North Rim.
• The small community (which is actually unincorporated) is a part of the Kaibab National Forest.
• The area is known to be home to mule deer, coyotes, porcupines, bobcats, horned lizards, and mountain lions.
• Due to it's elevation June, July & August are the only months in which the area does not get any snow.

&...the next post will feature the NORTH RIM of the GRAND CANYON!!! Where we'll be camping & get a day off to explore!

Like a Boss

WHOOOOOOOO!!! I have officially hit my $4,500 fundraising goal! This is a huge weight off my shoulders, especially with finals officially starting Wednesday, but unofficially I have 2 tomorrow as well. Now I can focus on graduating, riding my bike, running my half marathon, moving out of my house, packing my life for the summer into 4,500 cubic cm (4,500 seems to be the magic number, doesn't it?) & buying all the rest of my gear.

Side note...if anyone wants to help with gear donations it would be much appreciated. Who knew you could possibly need so much gear to bike across the country? The thought certainly didn't run through my head.

Seriously, words do little to convey how exciting a moment this is. I really couldn't have done any of it though without my parents, my other slightly more extended family, and friends, acquaintances and people I've never even met. I'm truly excited about the thought of biking for affordable housing, but I'm even more excited that people are excited that I get to do it. Though most toss in a comment about how crazy I am.

So, since finals are starting...look for more blog posts & pictures as I come up with new and inventive ways to procrastinate studying...I already seem to be doing a pretty good job. & since you're already here & reading, how about another city?

Kaibito, AZ

• 99.19% of the population is Native American, with a population of approximately 1,600.
• Again, a very young population with 49.3% under the age of 18 & only 3.3% over age 65.
• & since a picture is worth 1,000 words, we'll keep this short.

Four Corners!!!

Farmington, NM and Teec Nos Pos, AZ  will sandwich our adventure to Four Corners, the part of the U.S. where the square states (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah) all come together. The monument there allows visitors to be in four states at one time!!! So, while we don't spend any time biking through Colorado, I guess we technically will visit it!

Famington, NM

• The largest metropolitan area in the four corners region.
• Like Pittsburgh, the city is at the confluence of 3 rivers, the San Juan River,  Animas River, and the La Plata River.
• Farmington is the largest city in San Juan county, the largest country, by area, in the U.S.
• Farmington and surrounding areas are home to several Indian Reservations, including the Navajo, Ute, and Southern Ute, as well as located near the Aztec Ruins National Monument.

Teec Nos Pos, AZ

• The name is Navajo, translated roughly to mean "Cottonwoods in a circle"
• 96.50% of the population is Native American.
• Of the approximately 800 residents, 43.8% live below the poverty line, including 46.6% of those under 18 & 78.9% of those over age 65.

Kayenta, AZ

• Kayenta is part of the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation observes Daylight Savings time while the state of Arizona as a whole does not.
• It is illegal to serve alcohol in Kayenta, as it is in most of the Navajo Nation.
• The population is very young, with 38.9% of the 5,189 residents under the age of 18.

Fifteen & a Flat

 Earlier in the week weather.com had informed me that the weather on Friday would be delightful, & Saturday would suck. Turns out they had it right for once, but I planned ahead to get a bike ride in Friday & save running for Sat. when I could head to the gym. It was bright & sunny, so I picked up the Great Allegheny Passage in Homestead.

For those of you who don't know, the GAP trail allows bikers to go from Homestead, PA, (about 10 minutes from downtown PGH) and bike all the way to Washington, DC! That might be my next adventure after the summer is up.

Things were going nicely, and I would have loved to kept going, except I knew sunset was coming. I turned around just past a town called Boston. (Look at me, I biked to BOSTON! Haha) Just a 10 or so minutes after I turned around, I was crossing the Youghiogheny River (not a single clue how to pronounce that one) and I heard a strange sound. I got off my bike to discover it was air coming out of my tire. I quickly hopped back on my bike and rode as fast as I could until my tire was clearly flat. At this point it's way closer to dark than I would like, and I am in an area of Pittsburgh (McKeesport) where it was clear from the stares I was receiving, that I shouldn't be. I began calling people to see who could possibly take me the 11 miles back to my car, as walking would have taken me quite some time.

I came to a corner, and saw a man, who I was hoping would be able to give me a more accurate description of where exactly I was, or an address/zip code to give to Aly who was brave/kind enough to come get me. Instead, to my surprise, hearing my dilemma, he offered me a ride back to my car. Now, I will attest that my mother taught me not to take rides from strangers (though in the worst way possible...), but, I was pretty desperate. The guy seemed nice enough, so I accepted his offer. (Mom, Dad, sorry I didn't mention this on the phone last night, but y'all probably would've flipped.) Put my bike in his car, committed his license plate number to memory should anything go wrong & told Aly I had found a ride.

Not that I'm advocating accepting rides from strangers...'cause I feel like in general it's probably a bad idea...but I'm grateful that there are still good people in this world willing to help someone else out for nothing in return. So, thank you Ray, should you ever stumble across this blog.

I got my tire fixed this morning, so, should I manage to wake up early enough before work tomorrow I plan to put in some of the miles I missed out on on Friday.

15 miles yesterday + 242 miles completed = 257 miles / 500, 243 left to ride.

The "Final" Countdown

It's official, $4,250 raised to date!!! Just $250 left to go, which in the scheme of $4,500 feels like nothing. With all the stress of final exams, projects, papers, and should all that go well...graduating...it feels great to be nearing my goal. So, if you haven't already now is a great time to donate! & another huge thank you to those of you that have already & continue to read! :)

Time to squeeze in the exploration of a few more cities  & then hopefully heading to get my physical done for B&B.

Santa Fe, NM

• The full name of the city when founded was La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís. I must confess how glad I am they shortened it to Santa Fe.
• An ordinance passed in 1957 made all new and extensively renovated buildings exhibit a Spanish Territorial or Pueblo style of architecture (Think adobe) As a result many houses are constructed with non-traditional building materials, or covered with what is known locally as faux-dobe, an exterior that meets ordinance standards.
• We spend a day building in Santa Fe & word is it will be a unique & interesting experience because of the non-traditional building materials the organizations there use.
• New Mexico is celebrating 100 years of statehood this year!
• Santa Fe, the state's capital, has the highest elevation of any state capital.

Abiquiu Lake, NM

Instead of information on Abiquiu, which is very hard to come by, I offer pictures. & the tid bit that this is where Georgia O'Keefe spent her last 40 or so years of life and painted many landscapes.

Cuba, NM

• We will be biking in to Cuba on July 4th, which seems ironic or something.
• There are 2 stories about how the area got it's name. The first is that the area was once surrounded by water and that the name was from the Spanish word for water tank. The second is that soldiers who had visited the island country of Cuba felt the village resembled the island.
• 54.1% of those under age 18 live below the poverty line.
• Leaving Cuba & biking the next morning to Farmington, NM will be our first official century ride (Ride of 100 miles or more) though I have a feeling that a few wrong turns on our 2 97 mile rides could push us over 100.

32 days 'til SUS '12!

So much to do, so little time. Only 32 days 'til SUS '12 & I'm finally starting to panic. Not just because of B&B stuff, which I still don't know how I'll get everything done before I leave, but all the other things I have to do in the time before B&B starts. Pack up my life & take it back to KY for the summer, until I move it all back to PA in August, graduate, finish riding my 500 miles, research and do a project on affordable housing, complete more sweat equity hours with an affordable housing organization, get a physical done (sure hope I get cleared for B&B) and last but never least finish fundraising $4,500. I'm tired just thinking about it all.

I did at least get closer towards one of the things I need to do this weekend, I managed to get some more miles in. Saturday morning I spent cleaning up the Hill District with part of a group from Duquesne and a project called Spring Clean-Up. It was really great to talk with some community members. There have recently been a few Habitat houses built there and they're trying to work with Habitat and other organizations to continue this trend.

I got home from Spring Clean-Up & found a great surprise. I ordered a 2011 Bike & Build jersey so I can get some miles in with it, since I'll be wearing a B&B jersey every ride day of the summer. I also ordered a B&B t-shirt which came as well. :)

Unfortunately, all the bright sunny warm hours for the day occurred while I was busy cleaning up the Hill. Which left me to ride in the rain. I was committed to riding either way, and it is even recommended by B&B that we ride at least once in the rain before we start the summer because chances that we'll have bright sunny weather all the way to California is slim (Hey, a girl can dream, right?) While at first the rain was refreshing and kept me from getting too hot, I changed my tune about 3 miles in when the rain picked up and it actually started to hurt. Combine that with everything from the trail/road sticking to my legs, shammys, arms, etc. Things went downhill quickly and turned downright miserable. So, a quick 15 and I called it a day, as temperatures were dropping and the sky getting darker. No pictures as it was raining pretty hard, but I did managed to convince my roommate to take these two before I left the house. This is what I'll wear pretty much every day this summer. And I'm rockin' it! :)

Meant to get up early before work this morning and go for a longer ride. But, when I woke up I saw nothing but grey skies and decided sleep was a better idea. Luckily, when I got off it was still light & the sky was bright and sunny. So I headed out, avoiding some of the sections of trail I knew would be muddy and gross after yesterdays rains. Got 20 miles in, to round out the weekend at 35 miles.

20 miles today + 15 miles yesterday + 207 miles completed = 242 miles / 500, 258 left to ride.

Spaghetti Dinner Success

A serious shout out to start this blog post, to my wonderful parents, Walthena & Andrew, & to everyone at St. Andrews in the Fort, as well as anyone else who attended the spaghetti dinner fundraiser last night. My parents were gracious enough to donate all the groceries/supplies so everything was straight profit. The dinner raised, according to my momma's math, $660! That's so awesome. So, while the math is making my head hurt...I estimate that that means about $3,800 has been raised for Bike & Build so far. I'll have a better estimate of my fundraising total in a few days when all the checks make it to B&B. But seriously, I continue to be overwhelmed by all the love & support my friends, family, & total strangers have shown me. While it's true that this money is going to a great cause, and I am solely facilitating this, it still gives me a serious warm-fuzzy feeling to see all the support I'm receiving.

Now, I believe the official count is 35 days 'til I arrive in Jacksonville. I've reached a point where B&B is the only calming thing in my life. Weird to think that the thought of biking across the country would be a calming one. The way I figure, the thought of graduation is petrifying. I mean real life? No thank you. I'll take my spring breaks, lunch time naps and random Holy days off. So B&B is all that stands between graduation & real life. So, thank goodness I've got 78 days that more than likely I'll be way too tired from biking to even think about what's waiting for me at the end. I'll take it. Haha.

The way I've worked out my "training" schedule I'll be running on weekdays, because I usually have to do so as it's nearing dark, and I'll bike on the weekends. For those of you who don't know I'm running the Pittsburgh Half Marathon just 10 days before B&B. Go big or go home, right? So, this weekend look for a post or two about crankin' out some miles. Pictures, of course, to be included.

Now, to start our exploration of New Mexico!

Clayton, NM

• Whoo! Mountain Time! Clayton will be the first city we enter in yet another state I've never been to, and our first city in MST. As I said earlier, while it's exciting to have biked to yet another time zone, I expect we will be more excited as we will pseudo gain an hour of sleep. Our early wake up calls will feel like sleeping in!
• The Hispanic population seems to be steadily increasing in each city we visit. The Hispanic population in Clayton is 51.1% of the total population.
• Clayton is the 1st town on the Santa Fe Trail in the Land of Enchantment (NM) & is located at the base of the Rabbit Ear Mountains.

Mosquero, NM

• The 2000 Census indicates that Mosquero has a population of 120. 77.5% of the population is Hispanic.
• Mosquero is considered a village rather than a city or a town.
• Though this may seem like a small village, a blog post I found while trying to find more info on Mosquero contained lots of pictures & indicated there might be some serious small village charm to be had.

AND...last, but not least, LAS VEGAS!!! (New Mexico)
I originally got SUPER excited when I saw that our route for the summer included a day in Las Vegas. My spirits were quickly crushed when my father pointed out it was Las Vegas, NM. That just seems cruel. Haha. But onward we go.

Las Vegas, NM

• There are two distinct sections of Las Vegas, "Old Town" or the West side, and "New Town", or the East side. The original city was on the west side of the Gallinas River, however, when the railroad was built it was built on the other (East) side of the river, and a "new" town formed there as a result.
• Las Vegas is home to the only remaining Carnegie Library in NM. Pittsburghers, this name should sound familiar, this library was started and built with a donation from Andrew Carnegie, the same Carnegie for whom the museums, CMU, & the libraries are named.
• The Hispanic trend continues. Las Vegas boasts a Hispanic population of 82.94% of their total 14,408.
• Several movies, including Paul, Due Date, No Country for Old Men & Wild Hogs were filed in and around Las Vegas. 

A few more miles & wrapping up Texas

Just did a short ride today, 7 miles, rode up to the park to meet my Mom, Dad, Aunt & Uncle who were walking the dogs and trying to work off some of lunch. Surprisingly my rear end wasn't sore at all, even though it certainly was at the end of my ride yesterday. I take that as a good sign. Great weather, but after all I ate in celebration of Easter 7 miles was really about all I was in the mood for. I mostly wanted to head home for a second nap.

3 donations today bring my fundraising total to $3145. The spaghetti dinner fundraiser, as I mentioned previously, is coming up on Wednesday which I hope will help raise a nice chunk of my remaining $1400. & don't forget I have t-shirts available for sale & they're only $15.

So, now it's time to explore a few more cities & wrap up Texas.

Memphis, TX

• The population of Memphis as of 2010 was only about 300 greater than the cities population 100 years prior in 1910.
• Memphis is home to the Annual Traditional Bowhunters 3D target competition.
• The median income for a household is $23,102, and the per capita income just $13,856.

Amarillo, TX

Cadillac Ranch

• The city of Amarillo is located in two counties, and the Amarillo metropolitan area population extends into 4 different counties.
• Amarillo is the self proclaimed helium capital of the world, and has one of the country's most productive helium fields. (Anyone know what on earth a helium field is?)
• Amarillo is home to a place known as the Big Texan Steak Ranch. Their challenge has been featured on many Food Network and Travel Network shows. Known as the Texas King, The steak is free to anyone who, in one hour or less, can eat the entire meal, consisting of the steak itself, plus bread roll with butter, baked potato, ranch beans, shrimp cocktail, and salad; otherwise, the meal costs $72.00.
• Amarillo is also home to another attraction known as Cadillac Ranch. Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation consisting of old partially buried Cadillac cars. They are covered in graffiti and decorating them is encouraged. I know last years SUS group made a visit to leave their mark on the cars & I can't wait to do the same.

Dalhart, TX

Empty Saddle Monument

• Dalhart is known as the gateway to the Rockies.
• Dalhart is also closer to 6 other state capitals than Austin, the state capital of TX. It's closer to the capitals of NM, OK, CO, WY, KS, NE.
• Dalhart is known as the XIT city. The XIT ranch was traded in exchange for the construction of the Texas State Capital

7 miles today + 200 miles completed = 207 miles / 500, 293 left to ride.

Are we there yet!?

Headed out bright and early this morning for a longish ride on the Loveland Bike Trail with my brother. Thankfully I had packed up some clothes I don't wear much to bring home over break so moving out after graduation will be a bit easier. It was way colder than anticipated, barely above freezing, but even in all my layers it was still a cold morning. The trail is heavily shaded so it was still sort of dark when we got riding. Unfortunately Will was riding an old mountain bike, which did not make for optimal riding conditions, so it was slow going.

I was much more efficient than him with each pedal stroke which made for a slightly frustrating ride for both of us. We rode what we thought was 15 miles or so & took a snack break, then another 5 to make 20 because we were short on time. We headed back towards the car, which we thought was 20 miles away. However, as we got closer we realized that we missed a few mile markers at the beginning of our journey. We had actually ridden 23 miles before turning around. So the last few miles were a bit defeating, as we kept realizing we weren't quite there yet.

Since we were riding a bit slower I rode with camera in hand and stopped for a few photo opportunities. I have way more pictures from riding then I could ever include on here, so I suppose it's time for a FB album with all of them. :) Since I'm sure everyone is interested in seeing them all. Haha.

 

46 miles today + 154 miles completed = 200 miles / 500, 300 left to ride.

 One final brother-sister picture to finish out the ride. I would say its a fair guess that Will will definitely regret his decision to join me for a ride when he wakes up in the morning. Haha.

"You're the reason we can't have nice things."

You know that friend, or maybe you are that friend, the one that has never left a restaurant without part of the meal on their shirt, or can't go more than a few minutes without spilling something, dropping crumbs down their shirt or knocking over their drink? While in real life I am definitely not that friend. I'm absolutely that friend of the bike world. I have not been able to go even near my bike without getting grease all over myself.

Chain grease doesn't come off all that easily. I walked around for 3 days after having scrubbed my calf raw in an attempt to get the grease off, still with grease on my leg. Luckily I remembered what I used back in my rowing days to get the track grease off the back of my legs. The most wonderful, and hard to come by, invention ever. Lava Soap. So far I've only found it in old general stores and down south. I'm on my last bar now, but hopefully during the summer it'll be readily available. The brand was bought by the manufacturers of WD-40 in 1999 & their goal has been to make the brand more widely available in stores.

I planned to explore a few more bike friendly areas of NKY/Cincinnati today, but time got the best of me, so I headed back over to Lunken and did the same 5 mile loop as yesterday. I had to be home for dinner, so I only got 15 miles in, but every 15 miles gets me a bit closer to my 500 mile goal. Again there was a nasty headwind, but I kept my cadence up and managed to crush the 15 miles in under an hour. :)

Long ride in the morning with my brother. I'm hoping for 65 miles if we can both make it. My butt was definitely a bit sore today. I've really never ridden two days in a row. Guess I better start getting used to that.

I officially hit the $3,000 mark today. Only $1,500 left to raise and I'm really excited to be closing in on the total. Don't forget to buy a t-shirt if you haven't already. They're only $15! Also, if you live in NKY there will be a spaghetti dinner at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on Wednesday April 11th to benefit my trek this summer with Bike & Build, so stop by that if you're in the area!

15 miles today + 139 miles completed = 154 miles / 500, 346 left to ride.

A day full of B&B goodness

Today was a day chock full of B&B things. Started out my day bright and early with some sweat equity hours at the Cincinnati Habitat Re-Store. For those of you who don't know what the Re-Store is...it is essentially a secondhand store that carries everything from appliances, furniture, windows, doors, carpeting, flooring. Think of it as a secondhand Lowe's of sorts + furniture. Everything is donated and all of the profits go to fund Habitat houses. It was neat to see how everything worked and had a chance to help clean up and sort some donations. I was pretty busy though & running short on time after I finished up my shift so there are no Re-Store pictures. : /

After lunch it was time for a ride. I headed over to what's known as Lunken Airfield Park (or something like that). Lunken Airport is a small local airport (in Cincinnati) where many of the planes are owned and piloted by individuals. I got to see a few planes taking off, and managed to not snag any pictures which included planes. It was SUPER windy. A constant cross/headwind kept me from doing the 30 miles I originally planned. Instead I banked 20 & called it a day. Better than nothing & I used it as an opportunity to play around with shifting gears and keeping a higher cadence than I am used to. Not sure if I like it or not, but we'll give it another shot.

RV parked across from the trailhead.

Came home to a surprise homemade chocolate cream pie & had a delicious dinner.

My brother makes it home from school tomorrow night & our plan is to hit the Loveland Bike Trail bright & early on Saturday, for what I hope might be a 50+ mile ride! :)

While the original plan was to spend two mornings volunteering at the Habitat Re-Store, unfortunately they are closed tomorrow for Good Friday. So, my sweat equity hours have been cut short, but I hope when I get back to Pittsburgh I'll be able to get on a build site or two.
  
20 miles today + 119 miles completed = 139 miles / 500, 361 left to ride.

T-shirts, Texas & almost to Three Thousand

Okay, so first and foremost I want to thank EVERYONE that has donated to Bike and Build and the affordable housing cause. Whether you've donated because you truly believe in the affordable housing cause, because you love me, or both, (& let's hope it's the last one) I really appreciate it. We have 17 build days this summer & our route will get to make a huge impact. In just a few short days I went from feeling hopeless and far behind regarding my fundraising efforts to energized and ready to take on the fundraising world. I'm only $75 away from reaching the $3,000 mark. Which would leave me with just $1,500 left to raise and almost a month to do it in. I've received several donations in the past few days from fellow college students which really warms my heart. I know what it's like to be in college & be short on cash despite having a job. & to see friends of mine who are willing to part with some of that $, no matter how many dollars it may be, really means a lot to me.

So, I am in KY for a hella long Easter Break. No classes for 8 days. Brought my bike & accessories & can't wait to get some miles in because the weather should be G-R-E-A-T! So fingers crossed everyone. My goal is 100 miles. I got this.

Alright, now on to explore some more cities. Got our research assignment from B&B today. Each rider has to prepare a presentation on an affordable housing subject that we are assigned and also research a few of the cities we'll pass through. I've got a leg up on everyone else as I've been doing some slight city research already, but I'll go back & do some more thorough research.

Wichita Falls, TX

• Wichita Falls is home to the "World's Littlest Skyscraper".
• Wichita Falls is home to the Hotter'N Hell annual bike ride. This century ride (100 miles), now the largest sanctioned century ride in the country, was started in 1982 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the city. Making the ride a 100 miles, in 100 degree weather to celebrate the 100th anniversary. Sadly, we'll miss the ride, though I'm also hopeful we'll miss the 100 degree weather too.
• In case anyone was confused about where Wichita Falls is located their website describes it perfectly..."The City of Wichita Falls is comfortably nestled in the lower North East corner of the Panhandle/Plains area of North Texas." Hahaha

Lawton, OK

• Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge (pictured left) is located just northwest of the city...and who said the great plains were flat!?
• Lawton, OK is located in an area of the country known as Tornado Alley.
• The town was founded in August of 1901 when the last of the Indian lands in the Oklahoma Territory, the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation, was opened by the federal government for settlement.

Altus, OK

• Home to Altus Air Force Base, a USAF training base.
• Also located in Tornado Alley.
• The "original" town of Altus was founded in 1886 and was named Frazer, however, it was wiped out by a flood in 1891. At this point the town was relocated, and named Altus, which is Latin for "high place" (Though, there seems to be no disputing this I am still unsure as to how one just relocates a town, isn't it then a different town?)
• Altus tags itself with the phrase a "City with a future to share".

 After our short stint in Oklahoma ( a state to which this will be my first time visiting ) we will head back to Texas for a few more days of riding before we hit New Mexico. So heads up on those posts to come as well as some riding posts, as I'm about to start putting in some serious miles. :)

Last, but not least, t- shirts have arrived. They look great! I've got extras, so don't panic if you didn't pre-order, you can still get one. They are available in S, M, & L & are only $15 & a great way to support my B&B trip & let everybody know it!!!

Dallas, Decatur & 46 days 'til SUS '12

Got an e-mail today from one of our team leaders with lots of orientation details for when we arrive in Jacksonville, which also included the tidbit that there are only 46 days until we all meet up in Jacksonville. It's hard to believe it's so close. The countdown to B&B means a little bit more to me than just B&B. It's also first and formost a fundraising deadline as well, as we must have raised $4,500 to be able to complete the trip, but also just 10 days or so before I will have run another half marathon and graduated college. So some pretty big shit coming up in the coming weeks.

A picture with me & all my racing buddies!

This weekend I ran yet another half marathon. Ran every step. Won't say I killed it, it may have just nearly killed me, but it's just a reminder of how much better I can do if I really put my mind towards the proper training. All the miles for B&B have been demanding a decent chunk of my time, so my exercise time has been split between running & biking. But no excuses & I can't wait to kill it in May.

Just about $1900 left to raise. & there may be some videos posted soon as my most recent mini fundraiser has been that for a $10 donation I will make a whole video of nothing but compliments about the person donating! I was asked by one friend if instead of a video of compliments I would do a minute of insults. I told him that for $10 his insulting wish is my command.

Now, I've been hardcore slacking on this city exploration. So, time to crank out Dallas & Decatur. I met a new friend this weekend racing from Dallas who said if I give her enough notice she may be able to make it out to support us, which would be AWESOME.

Dallas, TX

Known as the High 5 interchange

• According to some pretty well founded rumors this is where we'll be putting a roof on a house...someone is clearly giving us the shaft here...roofing in Texas in the middle of the summer...Yeah.
• 9th largest city in the U.S.
• Host of the Texas state fair which has been held annually since 1886 & brings an estimated $350 million to the city's economy each year.
• Approximately 30% of the population is Hispanic (maybe I'll get to bust out some of my Spanish skillz!)
• & surprisingly enough, the median female income is slightly higher than the median male income.
• Notable people from/residing in the city include: Lance Armstrong, George W. Bush, Vanilla Ice (the rapper) & the Wilson brothers ( Luke & Owen)



Dallas skyline

• In other news, it has been reported that our Dallas hosts is one of the best on the trip & we've been staying there year after year. So, expectations are high as blog posts and personal accounts say nothing but great things about this lady, who is also the Habitat director.

Decatur, TX

Wise County Courthouse

•  As I write this post sources tell me it is 86 degrees. I cannot begin to fathom what June will bring.
• In 1994 Main St. Decatur was designated an official Texas Main Street City.
• The Wise County Courthouse, located in Decatur, is constructed primarily of pink granite from quarries in Burnet,TX.
• Though Decatur is only about 45 miles from Dallas our route will take us 88 miles from Dallas to Decatur. So, for all those wondering if it is really 4,000 miles from coast to coast...let's just say we're definitely taking the scenic route.

So, to sum it up. 46 days 'til orientation in Jacksonville begins, $1900 still to raise, 380 or so training miles still to ride, & almost $57,000 raised so far by all of the SUS teammates put together. :)