Wow.  Words cannot describe how radical today was, but I’m going to try anyway.  I love taking photos, so this post will probably be more photos than words, but hopefully you’ll like it as much as I think you will.    It started off as a slow day, venturing into the wind and telephone lines with my group members, Kayla, Lisa, and Sean (a.k.a. Sharmington).  We felt tired from the wind halfway through, so we stopped under the only tree we saw, and out-came this adorable dog from the house behind it.  See:

As we continued on with our ride, we then saw a few water buffalo basking in the sun:

At the end of our ride, we stopped at Braum’s, a Midwestern ice cream staple, and completed our “Sweep Challenge” (a challenge by the daily Sweeps for other riders to complete on their rides): Calves.  

When we arrived in Newton, we were greeted by one of the most curious, caring, and truly OUTSTANDING groups of people I’ve ever met at First Presbyterian Church in Newton, KS.  Steve and Mel welcomed us at the door and brought us to a room with all of our faces posted on a map of the U.S. (based on where we are from), as well as gifted us with goody bags and recited facts about OURSELVES from our Bike & Build biographies!!! INSANE!:

Steve!

Mel!

Then, as I was about to bike to the doctor’s office due to asthma symptoms, we were met in the lounge by church members Bob and Liz, who talked with us about our trip and then offered to not only drive me to the doctor’s office, but also to wait for me while I was there, drive me to get my prescription, and then drive me back to the church!! How insanely kind is that?! Here’s a photo of Liz and Bob!:

Bob and Liz!

As the evening neared, we were fed a hearty dinner and dessert that catered extremely well to those with gluten free, vegetarian, and dietary restrictions. One of our team members, Alexis, raved about the gluten free cake for days!!:

Also, during dinner, we witnessed a church member sew together specialized Bike and Build shorts for our teammate, Mog. These shorts were made from jeans bought at a thrift shop and pieced together with two jean “B”s on the pockets for “B&B” or “Bike & Build.” We had issues sewing the “B”s on, and it was only possible with the help of this church member!:

After dinner, we gave a presentation to the church members and bike clinic for the community. At this presentation, I met church member Galen, who will ride with us tomorrow morning and has ridden across Kansas six times!!

Galen and Me!!

All in all, Newton, Kansas is a truly inspirational, endearing place. Huge shoutout to the people of First Presbyterian Church, you have propelled us on our bikes and in our lives and touched us more than you know!

-Paige

Our day started off in Chanute, KS and was treated as a ride to end all rides. This was our farthest of the trip so far, over 95 smiles, and it would be conducted during the intense heat. We started the day off with a 4am wake up. The group of riders I joined were the last to leave before the sweeps (official final riders), and we almost immediately took a few wrong turns.

After getting back on queue, we continued for around 12 miles in the cool Kansas morning until a broken spoke slowed our progress. After some roadside repair, we continued on until a few members of our group felt a need. A need for speed. So, we broke off from our initial 5 into an elite squad of three. Featuring James Baggs, Gilbert Appleby and myself, we powered on at a strong pace, took a few solid breaks, and it wasn’t long until we had advanced to the outskirts of El Dorado. 

When nearing the official El Dorado sign (pronounced properly as el-door-aid-doh), we noticed a slow tan Chevy Tahoe slowing up the traffic behind us. As the vehicle began to pass, the familiar voice of my mother shouted at full bursting volume (WELCOME BACK TO KANSAS DORTHY) as it sped past us. We caught back up to vehicle several times as it was parked incrementally closer to our host for the night- St. John The Evangelist’s Church. At the last parking lot, I pulled off to alert my family members that while it might be a seemingly good idea to travel slowly and without passing behind cyclists, it can sometimes cause issues as other less patient drivers move to pass both the sluggish vehicle and the speeding cyclists ahead of it. At this moment of critique, it was finally revealed to my ride partners that the crazy people following us were my family members and not just crazy cyclist fanatics. 

After this clarification, everyone enjoyed a well deserved laugh, rest, and a wonderful dinner provided by the golden community members of El Dorado. It was an amazingly uplifting day of both new and old relationships. It also gave me the perspective for just how phenomenally impactful this experience has been so far, and how excited I am to complete the second half of it. 

-Devon

Today we rode 59 miles from Pittsburg to Chanute. It was bittersweet to leave Pittsburg where we had such a lovely host and a lovely time volunteering. Cristine and Lance did send us off with an INCREDIBLE breakfast of cinnamon rolls and orange juice. We had enough extra that we got to eat them again at lunch! 

I rode with Amanda and Sam for the day. We were on mostly low traffic country roads which gave us ample opportunity to chat. I enjoy rides where I get to know teammates better. Our team is made up of such distinctly impressive people, and I learn a lot from our conversations.

Amanda has a fierce interest in food access and health. She worked on a farm in Hawaii recently, and previously spent 18 months volunteering with Americore. Sam recently graduated with a math degree and is looking for actuary programs. She also played lacrosse at a collegiate level, which is wild to me. I can’t imagine dedicating so much time to a sport while attending classes. 

We had a pretty smooth ride. Kansas is indeed flat, which is a fun change after going over the Ozarks in Missouri 🙂 I did have a spoke break on my back wheel which was less than ideal. It’s always interesting dealing with the mechanical issues that come up on the road. 

Our group rolled into Chanute in the early afternoon. The team was staying at the local rec center, and the pool next door graciously let us swim for free! It was nice to have fun and relax with the team for an afternoon:) 

-Jude

We started off the day with a lovely french toast breakfast casserole from our host St. John Lutheran Church. Then the team set out for a coffee run before walking over to the build site. Fully caffeinated and ready for work, we split into two teams. One group worked to put up vinyl siding while another group built a shed for the back yard. My team worked to side the front of the house which turned out more difficult than expected as the pieces didn’t always line up the way they were supposed to. After some trial and error we found our groove and finished about 2/3 of the wall before lunch break.

During lunch the team was able to talk to Christine and Gerald about how the Pittsburg habitat helps families plan their homes to their needs. It was inspiring to see the time these volunteers put into the houses between land grants and blueprints to actual build hours all while maintaining full time jobs. It was amazing to see how much of an impact our team could have on the project these people are so passionate about.

Post lunch we worked to finish up the rest of the house adding the last few pieces to the front of the house just as the Kansas heat started to get to us.

We retreated from the heat and took a shower break before dinner. St. John provided us with another lovely meal while we were able to share how we raise money and awareness for affordable housing with the community. To wrap up the evening we celebrated the birthday of our leader Celete with cake and ice cream from the team!

-Neeva

I groggily sit up in my sleeping bag as alarms blare around me. I’ve always been a morning person, but somehow waking up consistently before 5am has made me rethink what morning means. At our route meeting in the church parking lot, the birds were chirping and a crescent moon shone down on us. After a delicious egg and biscuit dinner provided by our host, we began our 77-mile journey to Pittsburg, Kansas. Rolling hills at the beginning gave way to flat roads. After miles and miles of riding without seeing any commercial establishments, we arrived at a small town where we gorged ourselves on pie. I had a chicken sandwich loaded with bacon and cheese, two sides, and a slice of pie. Afterward I grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from our lunch van, adding lucky charms for some extra crunch. It takes a lot to fuel even those of us who don’t quite make it to 5’7”.

I was glad there was no rain today, but the sun began to beat down on us after lunch. The flat expanse began to feel like a stovetop from which there was no escape. Even the headwinds were sweltering. As my co-rider David Mog observed, even the wind “feels like when you open an oven.” We took a luxurious break underneath one of the few trees along the road, taking the time to stretch out our legs. We then got back on the long unwavering road. Cornfields bordered us on both sides. We kept a steady pace, moving consistently except for the occasional interruption of flow by an oncoming 18-wheeler that blasted us with the air it displaced.

The “Welcome to Kansas” sign crept up on us faster than expected, and soon we were taking silly photos under the state sign. After restraining our goofiness to just a couple of minutes, we finished the last few miles of the ride. What a great feeling it is to coast into the parking lot of our host. That feeling of accomplishment, of relief, of reward, is something that never gets old. The high fives and wide grins of teammates who shared the day’s ride is something special, something shared, that I will always cherish.

-Adam

Also a special shoutout to our courageous leader Celete – tomorrow is her birthday!

Today was a swift 66 miles of storm chasing into Walnut Grove. I rode with Eric and Mog (a.k.a David) and we started off at a pace set by Eric who was on a mission to make it there as soon as possible (SOS to Mog and I). We sped through the rolling hills to lunch where James and B picked out a spot under a nice pavilion along the road (with bathrooms- bonus!). We all took a quick nap after munching on some PB & J. A few groups rolled out of lunch, and as we waited to leave, huge storm clouds cruised in. As lightening struck, the groups that left earlier from lunch peeled off into any shelter they could find. Two groups huddled on someone’s front porch for at least an hour or two. A lot of earlier groups were picked up as they had waited hours for the lightening to stop with no luck.

As for my group, we shot the gap in the storm after chugging some coffee. Somehow, we missed all of the rain and sped through more rolling hills. We even had time to complete the sweep challenge for the day which was, “Upside down, inside out, and backwards.” With five miles left, we flipped all of our gear inside out and backwards, and stood over our upside down bikes. We completed our ride in these outfits (except we fixed our helmets and bikes) and made it into town without hitting rain (FYI we won the sweep challenge). At the end of our ride, we were greeted by the wonderful people of Walnut Grove First Baptist Church where they graciously shuttled us to warm showers.

Dinner was amazing as we were served delicious lasagna and salad (we love getting greens to fuel our muscles like popeye!!!). The meal was completed with some cookies. Adam and I always talk about how we over eat because of dessert and today was no exception. The evening was a little different as we hosted a bike clinic for the community. It was a nice change of pace and refreshing to hangout with a group of people much younger than ourselves. Jude and Sean are artistically inclined and drew out an amazing obstacle course for the kids to take their bikes through. My favorite part of the bike clinic was watching one of the younger kids, Joseph, repeatedly race up and down the parking lot while screaming out of pure joy. Also, if you gave him the thumbs up, he would reciprocate while zooming passed you. We also met some of his siblings who were also just as energized. After the chaos ensued, all of us laid outside of the church and watched a beautiful sunset in the parking lot.

Just when I thought Walnut Grove couldn’t get any better, we were surprised with a breakfast at a local diner. We biked down the street and each received a delicious meal. We even saw some familiar faces from the church who were serving my favorite: coffee. I am still not fully able to comprehend why people are so extremely generous, but it inspires me every day. I feel thankful enough for a shower, meal and place to sleep. But then, we receive ample amounts of healthy food and resources that I could not even fathom to expect from a stranger. If hosts are able to serve a group of 31 bikers, what can we do to spread that even further to other individuals?

-Kayla

Today we rode 68 miles from Eminence into Hartville, Missouri. The first 12 miles were far more climbing than expected, but harbored impeccable mid-morning views. 

Shortly after we came upon the Flatrock Lookout Tower. An inactive firetower which is climbable. The sixteen flights of stairs made it our highest elevation of the day. (Mom don’t read this-) We could feel the whole tower swaying! 

The ride leveled out as we finished our pass through the Ozark Mountains. Lunch was at a riverside park facing a cliff, where most swam or at least tried skipping rocks to the other side!

That night we were hosted by the First Baptist Church of Hartville. Hammocks were set up, B made pasta, and laundry was washed. 

-JS

Rode 87 miles from Farmington to Eminence today! Super flat road for most of the day, but the last 20 miles had some killer climbs and descents as we headed into the Ozarks. We had an awesome lunch spot complete with donated snow cones (prepared by Devon), and met a trans-amer named Kevin. My favorite part of the day was hanging by the river and getting ice cream after dinner at the host. We even found a turtle friend! 

-Frances

And just like that we’re onto the next state!

After a fun couple of days in Carbondale, today we woke up bright and early, ready to ride the 93 miles to our next host in Farmington, MO. Until yesterday, we had planned for a 130-mile day in order to detour the closures prohibiting crossing the Mississippi River, a result of severe flooding. However, the bridge opened up today, just in time! Personally, I was hoping for the 130 miles… oh well, maybe next time.

I set out with Greg and Andrea on what was a sunny, quiet Sunday morning. Inspired by our new-found favorite motivational speaker, Shia LaBeouf, we…JUST…DID ITTTT (in other words, we counted armadillos, took turns drafting, made hills cry, and otherwise refused to let dreams be dreams!). About midway through the morning we met the first thunderstorm/downpour of the day. Shelter came in the form of a church mess hall, which looked like it might be used for something like summer camp.

We took the 30 minutes’ down time to record our sweep challenge submission, and then when the storm passed we continued on.  This was one of several storms we faced throughout the day (sometimes the downpour was so dense it was difficult to see!), but luckily the storms were short-lived and quickly followed by sun.

After 2^nd lunch (yay we got two!), we rode through Chester, IL, the home of Popeye the Sailor Man, and across the Mississippi River, into Missouri! So long Illinois – thank you for introducing me to true headwinds… I think I’ll take the hills of Eastern KY back please.

A few open fields, more unpredictable weather, and many MO hills later, we arrived at our host, Memorial United Methodist Church in Farmington. They had a sweet setup for us downstairs in their youth space, stocked with snacks, books and board games, a lounge space, and a game room. They also made us dinner, which was delicious! Thank you for everything, UMC Farmington!

We felt it necessary to sign off our day with a tribute to Shia as well.

-Wolf

On June 21 we left the town of Harrisburg, Illinois and headed to Carbondale, Illinois which was approximately 60 miles (or smiles ;)). We got to ride on a nice little bike trail for about 20 miles of the journey was a nice change of pace, although it was a bit slower nice it was not a paved bike path. We got to have a nice little lunch stop at a Masonic Lodge where we were gifted ice by some neighbors and another local stopped by and gave us the downlow on Carbondale and gave food and bike shop recommendations.

Once in Carbondale we stayed at the Delta Zeta sorority house on Southern Illinois University’s campus. We took to our abode for the night quickly and got to know the town as we walked to Italian Village for a donated meal. It was quite a flavorful shop where we got to leave our mark as the restaurant allows customers to autograph the walls and ceilings. We finished off the night by spending quality time with our teammates playing games, having refreshments, and singing songs.

-Lisa