Love from the Cheese state

hello all,

I just spent about 45 minutes wriitng this and the stupid library computer erased it-so imagine you are reading the most amazing and poetic post of your life while you read what I have left in me to give.

I can't believe I'm in Wisconsin already. The time just keeps rolling by. I get to see my dad tomorrow on his birthday and some other family members-and I have a day off, which is something my soul and body crave.

We woke up at 4:30 am yesterday so we would have time to peruse Chicage when we got there. We had true Chicago pizza, which put my friends and I into a food coma that made the last half of the day miserable until we met an angel dressed as a Marathon gas station attendent. He refused to let us pay for our slurpees and bade us off with free lemonade.

In my previous post (that is lost forever), I was trying to describe how it felt on the bike.

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Some days are more poetic than others. Some rides are kind of Zen-like. I get real familiar with that white line on the road for miles, and I don't realize what's surrounding me until the fields have changed into rolling hills with houses in them. Other days I'm looking up and taking in everything-the gray cat playing in the corn fields, the orange butterfly playing in the grass, the gardeners up early to water the grass.

The smallest thing can change my mood. Today was open sky, golden fields and corn. There were these pavender-periwinkle wildflowers sprinkled along the side of the road. The overcast light made them dull but just bright enough to stick out over everything else and make me smile.

And these days, I have never been so happy to see a church.

I fell of fmy bike for the first time the other day, but I'm fine. A big semi came speeding from the opposite way and blew up a bunch of dust and gravel. It brought my friend to a stop and me slamming into her. Luckily she jumped off her bike and was fine, although her bike met a different fate-my handlebars were stuck in her spokes and her back wheel had to be retired. It all worked out though, because when we got to the bike store they gave her a $400 wheel for $35 since it was a wheel they used for demos. A possible tragedy turned good.

While in Ft. Wayne we saw a drag show-the worst one looked a lot like Howard Stern and the best shouldn't have been performing in a little bar in Indiana. The next night we enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean II at a drive-in. Sleeping bags, light bugs and M&Ms, mmm.

My body aches, but I'm learning to listen to it and strech it the right way.

Love from a woman wearing spandex in a library in Jainesville, WI,

Happy July 4th

So I just realized tomorrow is July 4th. People I meet keep telling me to enjoy the holiday and I had no idea what they were talking about. I told you, my days keep melting into one and I can't keep track of the day of the week or the date. But, now that I know, I'll be in Bowling Green, Ohio camping out under the stars, watching some spectacular fireworks show, I'm sure. Tonight I get to sleep in a bed, which is quite luxurious compared to a thermarest and sleeping bag on a church community floor. Tonight we're in Avon Lake, Ohio overlooking the magnificent Lake Erie in home stays. My friend Aviva and I by some luck got the sweetest family of them all. Harry the hugger (who resembles and occasionally dresses up like Santa Clause) and Johanna and their grandson Matt are our host family. They have a honey house, meaning a bunch of bees nested in their ceiling and when it gets real hot honey drips from the ceiling into a bucket on the floor.





Over the last couplle of days we flew through the last bit of New York (after stopping at Niagara Falls-entering from the Canadian side), sped through Pennsylvania in a couple of hours, and landed in Ohio. The unofficial count is a total of 850 miles.



Now let me give you my run down of these states. Our last two days in New York were filled with rain, which is nice as long as it doesn't hail on you (which it did) and as long as you're not biking on a highway (which is illegal) while constuction was going on (which we also did-a cop pulled us over to inform us that pedestrians, bicycles and horse-drawn carriages were not allowed on it). So basically that day sucked. And my friend got a flat and we sat there fixing it on the side of the road in the rain (luckily my raincoat was safely tucked away and dry in the van).



Despite everything in New York, I got to see my friend Beth who lives in Rochester. She cooked falafels for me and fed me wine. It was the most amazing meal of my life. We also worked on a habitat for humanity house there, and it was really great to see how much of the community was involved. I cleared land, cut out a window opening, put siding in and installed insulation. It felt so good to not be sitting on my bike.



As we left New York and headed to Pennsylvania, the headwind made us feel as if we weren't moving forward at all. In fact, sometimes I think we actually went backwards. We were along Lake Erie, which reminded me so much of the ocean (especially because the whitecaps from the wind) but we were fighting every minute. I kept praying that it wouldn't be windy in Ohio (even though I know state borders are a crock), and somehow, a couple of hours late, ithe wind really did die down in Ohio. What a glorious state.



Niagara Falls was beautiful by the way. It was strange how it was surrounded by casinos and big theme-rides that reminded me of disney world and distracted from the falls, but it was fun nonetheless. We got lost walking our 1 mile back to the church and took a 2 hour detour through the ghetto of Niagara on the US side, which was kind of sad. All the stores were closed up and the houses were rundown.



It's almost 10 and my head is nodding. good nite



jess

Love from Boonville, NY

We've spent the last few days in New York, taking a ferry from Vermont over Lake Champlaign and then biking up and past the Adirondacks, some of the most breath-taking moutain ranges this Miami girl has ever seen. A friend I was riding with told me he still felt like he was in Vermont-I guess the mountains don't pay any attention to those state borders.

So today is one of my worst sore days-sitting for hours in that little seat does wonders to my tush. We pushed 80 miles today, and it's going to be another long ride tomorrow, with a little rain to change things up a little bit. My days are no longer measured by the date or the day of the week, but more by how many miles the next day or what city we arrive to next.

I'm writing from the village of Boonville, which miraculously has internet and cell phone service for some (mine excluded). The women had wonderful bonding time in the local middle school showers, which is the only place town can afford to have 30 smelly bikers shower.

That's all for now. It's 8:30 and almost bed time for me (I know, I'm a crazy party animal).

Much love from the road.

PS If any of you were going to send me mail, we no longer have a mail pick-up in Grand Rapids Minnesota, though I would love to get mail anywhere else.

150 miles down, 3850 to go!

So we began on Saturday by dipping our bikes in the Atlantic, or at least the tip of our wheels (no need to rust the whole bike before we begin biking). We did that at Prescott Park in New Hampshire, where we could look over the bridge into Kittery, Maine. Rory and Tommy came to visit and see me off, which was great. They quickly got introduced into our little bubble of spandex. Our first ride was 50 miles, and a hilly 50 miles (although I'm sure I'll disagree in 2 months).

We are now in Lebanon, New hamshire, and tomorrow is our first build day. My legs are sore, my butt aches and I'm sunburnt, but it is incredible. I'm tired early and always have a little bit of chain grease somewhere on my body. My freckles are multiplying, my hair is getting longer and I have white feet (but incredibly tan legs) as part of my sexy biker's tan.

I am amazed everyday by the hospitality we are welcomed with. We've stayed in churches every night so far, and they've fed us wonderfully. I felt like it was thanksgiving last night-there were tables full of food for dinner, all cooked by people of the community. Yesterday we got the leftover pies and cookies from a bake sale. Mmmm.

The morning is my favorite. The sun is just rising, and the moutains are faint in the distance. Uphill is hard, but downhill is amazing. I hit 38 miles per hour this morning, downhill of course. I kind of feel isolated from the country, although I am traveling through it. I haven't had much access to newspapers or television, which is sort of comforting (although we managed to see cool runnings last night).

Pictures will come soon, hopefully. Thank you guys for all the emails-I'll try to write you all back soon, but internet access is pretty scarce. I figure this is a good way to reach a lot of you.

Oh yea, and dad, happy father's day.

Tomorrow it starts

I can't belive the time has finally come. Tomorrow I meet my fellow travelers-all 29 of them. I've been staying on the east coast with some amazing people-my friends in Boston and my aunt in Maine. Time and time again I can't get over how I'm one of the luckiest people in the world. I love having such wonderful people in my life.

So my big bike trip is about to begin. I may not be completely trained as I should be, but I'm full of spirit and spunk. A fireball, as Diane once put it.

I gotta go get some sleep. Love you guys, and keep in touch. Check out www.bikeandbuild.org and look at the Northern Route for all our info. We'll have pictures and journals on there.

Peace

Jess...the bicycle bum

This is how excited I am

Love from Miami-bike trip starts in T-minus 15 days

Hey guys. So I'm starting this blog so my friends and family can follow me on my bike trip. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to write entries but hopefully it will be often and entertaining. Let's see if this first one really works.