regrets:

• didn’t blog more
• didn’t train enough (although that doesn’t matter now, but it would have made the first half of the trip less of a body breaker)
• invested more in a seat

because… i had terrrrible nether region issues earlier, til i took the seat of another woman on the trip.  but the other day her seat broke in a freak accident and she had to take her old one back.  sooo i was stuck with a male seat, which is too narrow for female sit bones and alllll wrong.  THEN when we got to OREGON today, I found a bike shop in Ontario with the hugest sale ever and got a Dulce women specific seat for $22

SUCCESSSSS

and I’m in Oregon! And in the mail drop today I got the Lizzy Ross album from my dad!!!!!!

AND I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT LIFE I WANT TO SHOUT TO THE MOUNTAIN TOPS (they know my voice) LIKE “HELLO, AMERICA.  IT’S ME, RALEIGH.  I HAVE ALMOST BIKED ACROSS YOU.”

I’m excited for Cannon Beach, for family, for grandparents who love me, for Portland, Eugene, and the Oregon Coast, for home.  Oh, goodness, I am so excited for home.

it’s been a hard time.  lots of tears shed. but we’re being strong together, and realizing just how strong a family B&B is, connected by the love for life and passion to change the world.

10 more days.. really excited to be in Oregon.  these ride days have been gorgeous.  love..

We crossed over from Colorado to Utah in total dino-land.  There is a Dinosaur National Monument park area that streches from Dinosaur, CO to Utah.  There are fossils and stuff there.  I didn’t wrap my mind around the concept until we were biking up the vast red rock valley of the Flaming Gorge and my friend said, “Imagine when dinosaurs actually lived here.”  And then it happened.  My mind painted a scene with a T Rex poking its head over the cliff I was climing and pteradactyls diving over our heads.  COOOOOOOOOL!

The Flaming Gorge was diffi

Here’s what climbing the Rockies was like:  hhuh hhuh hhuh  hhuh hhuuuuh.  That’s phonetic for my hard breathing.  So, the combination of asthma that’s triggered by exercise, stress, and allergies, and super high altitude (way over 2 miles above sea level) did not make it easy for little oxygen fairies to get all the way to my muscles.  I was on the struggle bus for sure.  But the scenes were absolutely breathtaking.  Oh.. unintended pun, but I’m leaving it.

Laura and I descended into Estes Park together.  We finished the climb after a rainy mess and rolled over the last peek into another world.  Seriously.  A beautiful town with snow-capped mountains surrounding it.  Rolling hills, trees, a beautiful lake.  I say the word “beautiful” a lot these days. 

I promise I’ll put pictures when I have the necessary technology.  Right now I am in the public library in Maybell, CO — town of 300 where no one is foreign-born!  The main attraction is a restaurant called Lou’s.  We are camping tonight.  Last time we camped my friend and I shared my single hammock with a tarp as rain-protection.  It worked out all right, but I think I’ll grab some space in a tent tonight, seeing as we only actually slept about 60% of the time.   Fortunately I was sweeping the next day (duty to be in the back and help with flats, etc.) into Steamboat Springs.  BUT before I talk about that magical place, let me talk about Boulder!

Not only did I get an awesome tour of Denver by Uncle John, but Aunt Pam changed her flight to walk me around the gorgeous city at night.  She even showed me where Joni Mitchell lives.  Yeah, they’re friends. 

The next day we had  a build day in Boulder.  WHAT a cool place!  It’s like an oasis for hippies, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and humming with drum circle energy at night.  I absolutely loved it, and you better believe I danced with a mountain amount of happy. 

I had the best day off ever in Steamboat Springs, CO.  Laura, Heather and I floated down the Yampa River in free tubes!  The folks at the rental place loved Bike and Build, and this dude named Michael was actually starting a canoe trip to benefit Haiti.  Awesome.  You can check it out at paddletohaiti.blogspot.com.  At one point down the river we closed our eyes and it was complete peace.  Until we almost crashed into bushes.  We laughed a lot, which was good good good.  Sorry this is rushed, but everyone else wants to use the computer.   We had spicy Vietnamese food and Sake.  Went to the Strawberry Hotsprings and I can’t even begin to describe the effect it had on my soul.  Especially the clothing optional hours after dark!  Always makes for good barrier-breaking.  LOVE!

We’ve been in Colorful Colorado for a brilliant four days now.  I’ve fallen in love with this place.  The sky is always changing into an equally intriguing work of art. The people in Denver and Boulder seem to have a common goal in mind, whereas some of the other large cities held a combative tension amongst social groups.  The Coalition for Affordable Housing put on an incredible event for us where we got to ride the Denver B-Cycle bikes (largest bike share in U.S.  - started with 400) around town and learned about Denver’s ten year plan to end homelessness.  awesome.

A coolio photographer named Efrain Cruz has a studio above our host church in Denver.  He came down to check us out and generously offered a photo shoot!  ahhh!   http://gallery.me.com/photogs#100392&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=324

So there are those!  That was so awesome of him to give us  6 hours of his time for that.  It only emboldens my love for Colorado.  That, of course, and all the bike lanes.

MOUNTAINS TOMORROW.  holy goodness.  good.  ness.  ah!  it’s suppose to be a 6 hour climb to Estes Park and a 45 minute descent.  sweet!

you keep readin, i’ll keep climbin

“It should not be denied that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations. Absolute freedom. And the road has always led west.”          - Christopher McCandless 

Hello friends.  While my body is tired, my soul is well rested.  The above quote is from the movie Into the Wild, which tells the true story of a young man who abandons society and embarks on a wild adventure that ends in Alaska.  A bunch of us watched it in Claycenter, KA the other night.  Being westward wanderers at the moment, we all felt the art of the film intensely.   In the end, the man discovers that fleeing from his human ties only led to loneliness, and before he died he wrote “happiness is only real when shared.”  It was so appropriate to us, since we are forced to share everything on this trip.  Highs, lows, secrets, and sometimes even tooth brushes.  It took some getting used to, but now that I’m adjusted to the constant contact, I feel strange if I’m not surrounded by at least five friends.  That being said, I also treasure privacy – now more than ever. 

My life works on a strict schedule.  Wake up, eat, bike, eat, bike, eat, nap/swim/play, eat, sleep.  I’m not used to living so robotically.  Although these rad folks have really rubbed off on me, I still feel like a type B hippie who was catapulted into a society of class A achievers.  I love them all, but I still haven’t quite adjusted to this regimented lifestyle.  The more efficient we are, the more we can contribute to affordable housing.  I know it’s important to buck up and keep my head out of the clouds, but that is where my mind is naturally inclined to drift.  Sometimes I drift back when we have extra ride time and play.  I sing a lot.  I’ve written a few songs about WV rivers and whatnot.  Today I pretended to be Nala on the hunt, since the prairies of Kansas make a good imaginative pallet for the Pride Lands in the Lion King.   

Anyways, I mean to say that I am going to start making my blog more like a journal outlet and less like an obligation, since chores and duties dominate my life outside of cyber world.   I will probably ramble more, and there will be spelling mistakes, Grandaddy.    All I can do is wish y’all luck keeping up with my mad musings and minimal attention span.   

in Beloit, Kansas because she had to use the bathroom.  We joked about doing an interview before going in.  “Why not?”  Turns out they were thrilled we landed in their laps, since they had been talking about the wheat harvest all week. KVSVCheck it out!  I’m on the radio! Heather and I decided to stop at

http://www.kvsvradio.com/?page=story&id=172 

I want to tell y’all so badly about the insane storms, but I think that will have to wait.  I don’t know how I’m still awake right now after a 90 mile day.  I will regret this tomorrow, especially since beautiful Kansas lulls me into a daze and, like a mother humming, makes eyelids grow heavy. 

Love. 

The night we stayed in Jeff City, Andy and Mark woke up at 3 AM to bike to the Race Across America checkpoint.  They biked beside the leader of the pack who was trucking up a hill on Jefferson Avenue at a measly 4 mph.  They cheered him on but he looked too delirious to acknowledge them.  However, from his crew they found out that his strategy is to bike for 48 hours straight and then sleep for one hour after night after that.  We found out later that it only took him 10 days.  WHAT?!  that’s insane.  IN.SANE.

On the ride into Sedalia, MO, I experienced the worst smell of my nose’s life: chicken trafficking.  As Heather and I were trucking up a huge hill, we got blasted in the face with the most disgusting smell ever.  Heather described it as “cheesy feet splattered with doo.”  Sometimes when we ride together we laugh too hard to actually ride.  This gets dangerous, especially on steep inclines.  When we passed the actual chicken factory, where we could see them stacked in square foot cages, I almost vommed from the offensive odor.  We both promised to go vegan, but that failed when the church cookers used BBQ sauce and smiles to disguise those tasty animals.  Seriously though, I feel so bad for anyone who ever has to work in the chicken slaughtering industry. Instead of minimum wage, they should get a politician’s salary.

I really want the Lizzy Ross CD.

That night, the church surprised us with two chiropractors and a massage therapist.  WHAT?!    When they announced it, I screamed.  I cried a little, too.  Sometimes I get so filled up with emotion that I have to do something extreme.  Like today, for instance, when a perfect brownie made me laugh hard for 10 minutes.

I am dissatisfied with this post, but I’m not going to edit!  woo!

No time to chat, but here is what the news people are saying about us!

• http://www.newsplex.com/video?clipID=4823836&autoStart=true&contentID=95026539
• http://www.wsaz.com/charleston/headlines/95291494.html
• http://www.smithfieldselma.com/In-The-News.215.0.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=281&tx_ttnews[backPid]=213&cHash=7f1c3ad53f
• http://www.smithfieldselma.com/In-The-News.215.0.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=281&tx_ttnews[backPid]=213&cHash=7f1c3ad53f

Enjoy!

P.S.  A few feet away from me, a bunch of my friends made a snuggle fort with sleeping bags, quick dry towels, and  church chairs.  It’s really cute.

Have y’all heard of pork steaks?! Apparently they are a St. Louis specialty. They have all the delicious part of ribs without any of the bone. GOODNESS – so delicious. Both Christina’s and Sarah Graham’s parents live there, so we got life-changing food for the entire duration of our stay. AND we got to see the Arch — the Gateway to the West! I usually don’t get too excited about monuments that I am supposed to be excited about, but this structure was really chilling. It’s an optical illusion – as wide as it is tall. By way of name dropping “Bike and Build” and giving the “we’re building houses in your city” spiel, I got six of us free rides to the top. We rode in these white robot pods that felt like what I imagine a submarine would. My ears popped. Firefly city lights for miles…

We worked with Rebuilding Together on Saturday. I spackled the rotting ceiling of a house owned by an old man named Willie. He had his radio set to soul blues that perfectly accompanied the slow, wet St. Louis heat.
Today we got to ride on a bike route for most of our ride! It was such a nice change of pace compared to the insanity of shoulderless roads and busy highways. No threat of cars or potholes. And there were so many bikers! I felt like we were grooving with a community rather than pedaling through a muck of motorists like fish in mud.
Today, for the first time, I went fast for no reason at all. I just felt like going fast. Keep moving, I thought — the world won’t wait. I feel like I’m finally becoming a better cyclist. Tomorrow is just shy of 100 miles, so I guess we’ll see!
Tonight we took a walk down to the Missouri river to watch the sunset. I saw some jet skiers and struck up a conversation about the water temperature. One thing led to another and I got to JET SKI. Ahh so fun! I fell off the first time, but on my second try I was cruising. So I finally got to fulfill my adrenaline quota by speeding through the Missouri — the water seemed on fire under the fading sun..

It’s late. I need to start blogging as soon as I get off my bike rather than flopping down on the first horizontal surface I find. In the next entry I will explain why affordable housing is important to me. For now, I’ll say good night to the waking life and go off into dream world. Although – it has become difficult to make a clear distinction…

a good friend on the trip pointed out:
“It’s romantic, going out west.”
-Will Paradis, love of my life

amor y paz,
Raleigh y Florasol (mi bicicleta)