15+ inches lighter!

First and foremost...happy mother's day to any mothers reading this, but especially to my momma. She's always been my biggest fan, from swimming to rowing to running to biking. Rain or shine, hot or cold. The woman is out there cheering me on & I really can't thank her enough for that.

It's really hitting me that bright and early on Wednesday my parents and I will fly to Jacksonville and so will begin my summer of Bike & Build. 2 more days left in KY. 2 more days left to make sure I have all the right gear, that my bin has everything I'll need for the summer & 2 more days to enjoy my mom's home cookin'.

This past Tuesday I chopped off 15+ inches of hair. Most of it will be donated to an organization that makes wigs for children dealing with hair loss, whether permanent or temporary. The rest of it was cut in order to style my hair into a faux hawk. Turns out biking with long hair didn't turn out to be as good of an idea as I originally thought. I kept it a secret, so when I finally made it home to KY my parents & brother were quite shocked, as were my friends. But, good news, I look just as rockin' with short hair as I do with long hair. No need to fear.

Now...on to explore some of the final cities we'll bike through before we hit the Pacific coast!

Yosemite National Park, CA

Yosemite will be the 4th and final National Park we'll visit on our cross country trek. Though the park covers almost 800,000 acres most visitors spend their time in the 7 sq. miles of Yosemite Valley. The park boasts some serious diversity. Out of the 7,000 plant species in CA 50% occur within the Sierra Nevada (the nearby mountain range) & over 20% occurs specifically within the park. We'll have a day off here, where hopefully we'll get a chance to explore & maybe even do some hiking. The park has over 800 miles of hiking trails.

Oakhurst, CA

• Originally called Fresno Flats the town is located at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
• A talking bear teaches visitors about the cities rich history , including their importance as a railroad town through which came though significant amounts of lumber.

Fresno, CA

• Fresno is the largest U.S. city not connected to an Interstate Highway. Instead, SR 99 serves as the major North/South throughway. Improvements necessary, however, to upgrade SR 99 to an Interstate qualification have already begun.
• Fresno was formed in 1856 after the California Gold Rush & named for the ash trees lining the San Joaquin River. Fresno is the word for ash trees in Spanish.
• We'll have our last build day here in Fresno. Fresno has a very unique housing situation in that more than 50% of the population lives in rental properties, as opposed to owner occupied housing.

Hollister, CA













The city is bisected from North to South by the Calaveras Fault, a branch of the more famous San Andreas Fault. As a result of the fault many of the streets running East to West have significant and visible offsets. The fault runs directly under several houses which have had to be reinforced to withstand the dislocation of their foundations. Because of this the houses are habitable though contorted in appearance.

My next post will feature Monterey, CA! The city which will signify the end of our journey to the West Coast. We'll end the trip with a wheel dip in the Pacific Ocean! Also...wondering how on earth you might contact me this summer!? Well, as it turns out most of the U.S. has cell phone service now a days, so calls/texts will work well. But you can also send me SNAIL MAIL!!! But more on that next post. I'll explain all about how it works so you can send me wonderful letters & packages.