Adios Arkansas, Hola Oklahoma!

Greetings from Oklahoma City! I'm snuggled up on a couch in the May Avenue Methodist Church where we're staying, exhausted from two long build days with the Central Oklahoma Habitat chapter, which is awesome. They're the largest Habitat affiliate in the US and after working with them I can see why. We spent both of our days working on about five houses in a huge development of Habitat houses they're building on donated land. I'm conflicted about the idea of a development. On the one hand, it's great that they're able to offer so many homes and I imagine there will be a sense of community since all the homeowners will have undergone similar experiences. On the other hand, it strikes me as odd that these people will all be isolated - something like a public housing project for lower-middle class people. I still haven't really figured out how I feel about it. But, it did make for two extremely efficient build days. We entirely framed and wrapped a house, laid sod for another house, wrapped two pre-framed houses, and painted the trim on two houses. After our previous builds where frustrations grew due to idle hands the never ending amount of work was a welcome reprieve.

Biking is still going great. Highlights include a long day when I stopped with a group of ten other riders to play paintball. It was my first time playing and I shocked myself with how much I loved shooting at all my friends. The welts are still fading, but it was worth it.

On the day we entered Oklahoma (three days ago, feels like an eternity) we had our first serious accident. Scott got hit by a car and broke the fork off his bike, but miraculously survived unscathed. He just bought a new bike and filed an insurance claim today. I've now biked two centuries (100+ mile day) and am in high spirits. It has been nice to get off my bike saddle for the past two days, but I'm ready to get back on. Jon Kole (my friend who did this trip last year...hi Jon!) sent me a letter warning me that these next few days are going to be hard, hot and windy. Wish me luck!

In closing, I thought I would offer two haikus that my friend Craig and I composed together while riding. First, a happy one by Craig:

Green fields fluttering
under blue blankets of sky.
Bikers roll past.

And a not so happy one by me:

Ouch, bumpy road! Why?
Gravel and potholes: not nice
to tender tushes.

Mississippi: happiness and sweat abounding

Four states in and it feels like we left yesterday! I just got back from a build day in Tulepo, Alabama. We put the floor joists and boards onto a foundation and sweated buckets. Biking into Tulepo yesterday was a blast, a little bit of rain, a lot bit of Elvis trinkets (he was born here), and some lovely rolling hills.

You're probably wondering what a typical build day is like for us. They're all different, in their own wonderful way. Yesterday was only 50 miles and we spent most of it on highways, so I didn't stop at all until we got into town. Other days involve lovely country roads where I stop a lot to take in the scenery. My favorite stops so far have been the Elowah Indian Mounds where my friend Craig and I attempted to hop a fence because the park was closed, only to be immediately chased down by a park ranger, and a waterfall we all stopped at a few days ago in Alabama. We went for an amazing swim to cool down after climbing our first serious mountain (nearly two miles of steep grade incline, KILLED my thighs).

Life is still wonderful. I still do not have enough time or energy to thoroughly express what an amazing time I'm having, but when I see all of you next I'm sure you will be able to feel that is Bike & Build oozing from my tanlines.

Wow Katie, you've already biked all the way across one state! You must be so sore...

Actually, not as much as one would expect. With a few exceptions - to be explicit, my butt - my body is feeling great. My hands and lower back are also a little tender, but overall I'm pretty wonderful.

Two days ago we biked into Hartwell, GA, which was awesome because we got to take a lovely swim in Lake Hartwell and have a photoshoot at the sign marking our first state crossing. I just got back from a build day in Athens, which involved demolishing the dry walling and ceilings of several apartments that the local Habitat affiliate is renovating.

I don't have much time to write, but I'm still happy as can be. Our group is getting along remarkably well and I'm making some wonderful friends. If you're just dying to know more about my trip you can check out some of their blogs (as my Mom has already done - she recommends Melissa's) or the general blog for my trip (http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/route.php?route=SC2SC&year=2010). Every day someone is assigned to journal for the blog and we upload the journals about once a week.

Love you all and hope you're well!

And it begins!

Family, friends, let me tell you: life is great. I've thoroughly enjoyed my first three days of riding. We're currently in Columbia, South Carolina, having biked slightly more than 180 miles. We also had our first build day in Charleston before we set off, during which we completely re-shingled an elderly couple's house.

So, I imagine you all have a lot of questions about how this whole Bike and Build shin-dig works. There's a whole lot that goes into the process, so I figure I'll try to explain one or two things in each post.

One question that you're probably wondering - I certainly was before our first ride - is how in the world we figure out where we're going. One hundred eighty miles is a long way, and as you all know (if you know me well), my sense of direction isn't my strongest attribute.

Well, the way it works is quite simple, but far from flawless. Every morning the leaders give us a "cue sheet" with our directions for the day, along with a joke and the contact info for our host. All the riders have an odometer that tells them how fast they're going (I'm averaging about 14 mph, with a high of 36 so far) and distances, which helps us to follow the directions.

Unfortunately, the directions are all taken off of Google Maps, which is not infallible. Twice so far (remember, we've only been riding three days) we've been led astray onto roads that don't exist or don't take us where we need to go. Yesterday was supposed to be a 66 mile day, but we ended up doing 88 miles because we got lost so many times. And, for the record, none of this getting lost was my fault.

I have to head off now because a group of local affordable housing enthusiasts is on their way to bring us dinner. I'll try to post again next week. Love you all.