76 days 'til SUS '12!

Okay, with only 76 days until the start of Bike & Build I figured I should maybe do some quick research about the cities we'll be biking to, not just the ones we'll be building in. So, I figured, every day or so until the start of the trip I would research the next few cities on the route list & pass some interesting facts on to you, my loyal readers, as well.

Jacksonville, FL

 The Jacksonville Skyline

• Jacksonville is the largest city by land area in the U.S.
• The average high in May is 85.6 degrees.

• The average wait list time for housing from the Jacksonville Housing Authority for a studio apt is 2-6 months, while the wait for a 1-2 bedroom is 8-24 months. 

Callahan, FL

• +13% population growth in the last 10 years.
• There are only 78.5 males for every 100 females.
• In 2009 the median house value was almost $40,000 less than the FL state median.

Palatka, FL

 One of Palatka's many murals

•  There are more than 31 murals painted on historical buildings around the city. The Conlee-Snyder Mural Committee is dedicated to accurately portraying the history of Palatka as well as Putnam County. A picture guide of the murals can be found here.
• Palatka hosts a Blue Crab Festival every year on Memorial Day weekend. Though we will just miss the festival it hosts lots of blue crab but also helicopter rides & even camel rides!

The forecast for tomorrow calls for steady 20+ mph winds, so sadly my plan of riding to the bike shop to buy more gear just got nixed.

If you know of any must-see's in ANY of the cities were passing through, great places to eat, crazy, wacky things to see, whatever it may be, let me know!

Check out the pictures!

So, as promised two of my past entries have been edited to include pictures & you can find them here and here.

I'm also still working on a name for my bike. Right now I've been toying around with a few names. I feel like the guy needs a first middle & last for sure. It's gotta have that ring to it, ya dig? Pester me with suggestions if you have them. & Check out the picture of the guy in the 2 posts listed above if you need a better idea of what he looks like. :)

Friday Fact...wait it's Thursday...Thursday Fact?

Below are a few startling affordable housing facts, as they pertain to PA & KY. Remember, affordable housing is defined as costing no more than 30% of your gross income on your gross housing costs, this would include rent & utilities.

In Pennsylvania, a minimum wage worker earns an hourly wage of $7.25. In order to afford the FMR (Fair Market Rent) for a two-bedroom apartment ($837), a minimum wage earner must work 89 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Or, a household must include 2.2 minimum wage earner(s) working 40 hours per week year-round in order to make the two bedroom FMR affordable.

What does this mean? A family with two full time working people/parents making minimum wage still, after working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, could not afford a 2-bedroom apartment at FMR.


In Kentucky, a minimum wage worker earns an hourly wage of $7.25. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment ($634), a minimum wage earner must work 67 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Or, a household must include 1.7 minimum wage earner(s) working 40 hours per week year-round in order to make the two bedroom FMR affordable.

The story is a little brighter here, with two full time working household members a family in KY could afford a 2-bedroom apartment at FMR.

Thanks to NLIHC for all the great information!

Holstee Manifesto

So I definitely found this and stole it from another rider Emily, but I think it's pretty awesome & I wanted to share it with you. It is something called the Holstee Manifesto, which you can read the full thing in the picture below...for the purpose of this video it was turned into a cycling related one.

One of my favorites is "Open your mind, arms and heart to new things & people" & I think that's what this summer will be full of. I am setting off on a journey across the country. I know none of the people I'll be biking with except what I've seen on Facebook & one or two I'll hopefully meet before orientation. But this summer I'll have a chance to not only meet all sorts of like-minded people who are participating in B & B, but also all those we come in contact with while biking, those we build with, those kind enough to give us shelter & those we stop & buy food from along the way. (It's estimated we'll burn 7000-8000 calories on an average day! Yikes!)

One last note: sadly, no bike ride today. It  was storming this morning when I woke up. It finally cleared, but I walked outside and nearly fell over the wind was so strong. I figured I better call it a day. : /

Ride #2: Rackin' up the miles

Today was filled with B&B goodness, errands and other such things. My parents have been such a huge help so far throughout this whole process & I know they will continue to be, & for that I am so grateful. I had mentioned the idea of a business card, or something of similar size, that could quickly convey the essentials about my trip & also include essential information, such as my blog address, email, & B&B website. So, while I was still tossing the idea around in my head my Dad got the ball rolling. I met with Karen from Minutemen Press in Southgate today and went over some mock ups with her. They are making a few changes & will have them to me before I leave NKY on Thursday. So I'm pretty pumped, this will be a great way to spread the word to potential donors & people in general.

Despite my generally sore behind I headed out for another ride today, 10.42 miles in 43 minutes, so around 14.5 mph. I rode around the same route as yesterday, but ventured back into a few more subdivision like areas & made a few adjustments to the height of my seat. I think I finally found the right height, though one of my next purchases, besides chamois (cycling shorts, pronounced shammeys) will be a different saddle/seat. I have big problems if this is as comfortable as they get. Haha.

Also, I hand-delivered a few fundraising letters which is something that I hadn't done. I have a few donors I am going to thank personally before I leave home, people I haven't seen around but want to make sure they know how much I appreciate their donation. & tonight, after this post, I plan to finish up a fundraising letter that will be sent out to various people in an attempt to generate more funds. The $2000 fundraising deadline is March 16th, which is SUPER close. I've raised $1623 so far, which is awesome, but still almost $3000 from my end goal of $4500. So I have a ways to go, but I'm confident I can make it.

So, 11.90 miles yesterday + 10.42 miles today + 10 various miles ridden up & down Locust St. by my house in PGH = 32.32 miles / 500, only 467.68 more miles to ride & with 79 days until B&B starts that leaves me with an average of 5.92 miles per day. I can do it! :)

Again, once I get back to PGH there will be more pictures, my Mom snapped quite a few today before I headed out. I was rockin' some wacky gear, including some flowered spandex from my HS rowing days. Awww yeah!

First Official Ride

A picture as proof will later be edited into this post just as soon as I make it back to my camera cord in Pittsburgh.

It's spring break this week & fortunately the weather is actually pretty spring like. It's around 60 degrees today here in NKY so I headed out for a bike ride. According to Google maps I rode 11.90 miles at around 14 mph. So, not terrible? I really have no reference for if this is any good or not. I was out for around an hour including a few water breaks. I was on real roads the whole time & for the most part all drivers were very considerate, though all very much in a hurry to get around me. One car passed me with only a few inches to spare in what I considered to be a very frightening 5 seconds. All in all a nice day & a nice ride. Now...to wait & see if I'll be sore tomorrow...

Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

1600 lbs of peanut butter @ the Bike & Build office. Word on the street is it's half creamy, half crunchy, and some additional percentage almond butter. The important fact here is that there will be access to crunchy peanut butter. A familiar and much desired luxury that I prefer not to live without. Haha.