Charlottesville 5/26-27/10

Yeah build day!!! I was soo soo excited to build! It had been almost
two weeks since I last volunteered for Habitat and I was really
missing it. We all split up into different groups, and I ended up
first digging a hole and then weed wacking a jungle. No joke, the
weeds in this back yard came up to my armpits and it was a very very
steep yard with a trench with water in it. I weed wacked all day,
taking breaks to move big branches, drink water and change out the
string. It was a really great feeling, though, to look back at the
yard and see the difference I had made. Relaxed the rest of the day,
Derricks mom came and made us smoothies which were fantastic! We love
food. If you are considering sending anything through maildrops, send
food :)

Build day two in Charlottesvill was also awesome. I worked with
Aileen, Jesse, Andy and Sarah landscaping a rehabed habitat house a
town away. More weed wacking but I didn't do that today, just mulch,
trimming, moving lots of gravel, and other things around the yard. It
was very very hot today, in the 90s at least, but everyone did so
great. All our team members are so hard working, and I- being the
Habitat geek I am-was so very happy to be able to share this passion
of ours together. At night we had a cookout at an alumni and leader of
Bike & Build's house. It was delicious. I need more words to describe
the greatness of the food we are eating. The first mail drop came
today, so that was exciting, nothing for me but lots of candy was
shared among everyone. I've loved Charlottesville, it is a great town
and I cannot wait to come back here some day, I highly recommend that
you visit this town sometime in your life.
peace and love-kristen

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Charlottesville

Charlottesville 5/25/10 46 miles
The ride into Charlottesville was amazing! Lots and lots of hills and
beautiful scenery. The farmlands we biked through were breathtaking!
Although the uphills were just a little rough, the downhills were
exhilarating and well worth the small stuggle up. After we arrived in
Charlottesville, and had settled into our host site (sigma sigma sigma
sorority house) for the next couple days, we explored the town. It is
a very very pleasant, nice and beautiful town, home of UVA. We
actually have quite a few alumni of UVA on our team, and they were all
very excited about being back in their town. The next couple days here
will be spent building, relaxing and just hanging out together. Loving
every minute of this!!! Also I'm doing some things I never would even
have imagined doing, which is very good for me I think :) Love and
miss you all! Please comment, ask questions

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Dillwyn

Dillwyn
Another great ride into a great little town. It took about 65 miles,
but we were on some very busy roads. We could only ride single file
most of the time so not a whole lot of conversations on the road. When
we got to the church we found out that our hose shower was just down
the road, that sleeping space was very limited, and that we were
preparing our own food for the night. But all these potentially
negative things turned into awesome positives! Getting lost on our way
to the hose let us explore the town, dinner crew made delicious
burritos, and we pitched two tents and I slept in one with six other
people. It was sweet! Across the street lived a family of 14! I played
with some of the kids and their cat named Lion. Very rural, poor part
of Virginia.

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Blackstone, Va 5/23/10

Started out the day biking in the rain, but it was warm and the rain
wasn't too bad, my socks and shoes just got soaked! And my butt got
wet. After about and hour the rain let up and it was sunny again!! I
biked with more fantastic people, and then for lunch had a peanut
butter, goldfish cracker, and cheddar cheese sandwich. It was ok, but
the cookie with raspberry jelly was better. The rest of the day we
rode pretty slow again. There were a few more hills, and Heather and I
stopped for pictures and stretching. We talked to some horses, smelled
some wild roses and daisies, took a picture by a rustic looking barns
and talked to the owner and her son, and stopped for Heathers flat
tire. At about 2:30 we arrived at the military base we are staying
for the night in Blackstone, Va. We biked about 65 miles total today.
At the base we each have our own room which, more importantly,
includes our own beds!!! Also hot showers and laundry for the first
time this trip. My chore group is trailer/laundry this week, so we
load all the stuff in the trailer in the morning and evey three days
do eveyones laundry. It's probably the worst chore group, but we have
a great team so it's alright. Currently we have four more loads to go,
and we've been working on it since 3 or 4. (it's now 8 pm)

Tonight we had our first group highs and lows. It was a great time of
laughing and sharing. Seriously, the people on this trip are
absolutely amazing! Everyone is awesome, and I've loved talking to
people along the road who ask, "what are you guys doing?" and watching
their faces when we tell them, "we're biking across America to raise $
and awareness for decent affordable housing" People first think we are
nuts and then are inspired and in awe of what we are doing and why.
It's pretty cool. I just love people!!!

Currently just hanging out and listening to guitar and singing,
conversations, and thinking about cleaning and lubing my bike.

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Waverly, Va 5/22/10

Waverly, Va 5/22/10

Yet another fantastic day! We biked 45 miles from Suffolk to Waverly,
Va. Today I biked with Andy and Emily most of the ride, and also with
Will and a couple other people. We shared life stories, coolest things
we've done and other random facts about ourselves. About 15 miles we
stopped and did some yoga at a little park. Lunch was a delicious
potato salad and lettuce sandwich, mmmmmm. I also had a brownie muffin
and a banana with peanut butter. There will be lots of interesting
food combinations on this trip i think. It was beautiful outside and
we took our own sweet time, stopping at some swamp and taking some
pictures. I was in the first group to arrive at the Wavery United
Methodist church, around 12:30 ish.

Shortly after unloading the trailer and claiming some floor space for
sleeping later, we walked into town. Welcome to small town America!
We toured the first peanut museum in USA history, the Folk Art museum
and the wood museum, all located in one central piece of land. A very
old woman and a very old man showed us around and we learned a lot
about a man named Miles Carpenter. It was a fun time!

OH! It was our trip leader, Derrick's birthday today! I passed the
disco stick onto him, and his bike got decorated Lady Gaga theme also.
We bought him a McFlurry.

The Methodist women made us all some wonderful food, and afterwards we
were going to celebrate Derricks birthday at a Mexican restaurant, but
our plan was thwarted by the fact that the town closed down at 8pm,
and that two police cars pulled us over (we were walking...). Because
we were walking around at such a late hour (9pm), we were making
people nervous. They also warned us about going into the "bad" part of
town, "You don't want to go on the wrong side of the tracks, if ya
know what I mean" This town was very segregated and the cops were
obviously racist, but it was a good town to experience, it was eye
opening to see that places with this kind of racism still exist. So
we just came back and played cards and hung out. I slept very very
well that night.

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First day on the road!

Woke up at 6am to pack, clean, eat breakfast, load the trailers and
wheel dip!! At 8:30am, together with our friends and family, we dipped
our back wheels into the Atlantic ocean. There was lots of cheering,
dolphins in the background, and TONS of excitement!!! After a pep talk
huddle and cheer, and the bestowing of the "Disco stick" to the rider
of the week, we were off! Biking across America!!! I was given the
disco stick because I was the rider who raised the most money! So this
is really a big honor to all of YOU who have donated to this cause,
congrats everyone!!! I now have the pleasure of picking the next rider
of the day to give the disco stick to. (our trip has somewhat of a
lady gaga theme...) :)

It was a beautiful ride today, sunny and in the 70s or 80s, very flat
terrain and about 55 miles. Lunch was delicious, leftover food from
the previous day and some banana and peanut butter. Another fantastic
food thing was a strawberry patch we found: u pick! For $3 Will,
Laura, Dave and I picked a quart of strawberries and ate them in the
shade before continuing on. We arrived in Sufolk around 2:30ish. When
I say "we" I mean my little group of riders. Throughout the day we
divided up into smaller groups, so the times we all arrived at the
church varried.

The church made us dinner (mmmm spaghetti!!!) then bike cleaning and
trailer painting. Soon we will watch a movie :) I'm loving this sooo
much, the biking part has been awesome and I cannot wait for the build
part!

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B&B orientation day 1

B&B orientation day 1

Well today it started! After much anticipation, training and
fundraising the trip is here :) My truly fantastic roommates and
friends drove me down to Virginia Beach yesterday and are seeing me
off. They even decorated the car, 3 times (it was a little rainy on
the drive) in all bike & build! It was beautiful! I don't know what I
would do without you guys: Summer, Maeghan, and Kelly.

So. Orientation. Walked in with the nervous, first day of school, new
kid feeling in my stomach. What if eveyone is more athletic than me?
Am I the only one who isn't strong enough to pump my tire up to the
full amount (120 psi)? These were the questions running through my
head. But now my mind is at ease, all my teammates are amazing, and
our leaders are just fantastic! I changed my first tire by myself and
feel like I've started the begining of many great friendships.
Basically what we did in orientation so far was go over rules and get
to know each other.

One cool thing that happed was the alumni presentation. The two alumni
who gave it were two of the girls I taked to from the Southern US Bike
& Build trip 09 last summer when my home church was doing a service
project in Mississippi. They are how I found out about b&b and one of
the reasons I am here today, how cool to see them today and tell
themhow they affected my life!!

Well it's time for bed, lights out and listening to jets flying
overhead. I'm loving this so much and we haven't even started biking
yet!

Day 2
More awesomeness, health, safety, bike maintenance, shakedown ride,
bike clinic with kids, food. It's been pretty amazing.

Tomorrow morning we have our wheel dipping ceremony in the Atlantic
ocean and then we begin biking across America! Our 40 mile ride
tomorrow will actually be 60 miles in order to avoid a "death highway"
I am glad we are avoiding a death highway. Sounds like a good thing
to miss.

I'm working on figuring out how to get pictures on here...this blog
will be a work in progress, bear with me :)

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The time is near!

In about 30 minutes my roommates will arrive to begin our drive down to Virginia Beach, VA. Wow, I'm really biking across the country this summer! WOW. I'm nervous, excited, anxious, antsy, and READY TO GO!!! I'm excited to meet my teammates, excited to meet cool people from little towns all over the country, excited for this incredible adventure and opportunity to really make a difference in this issue of affordable, adequate housing. I'm nervous about mountains, both going up and down them. People keep asking if I'm ready, and I'd like to say, with confidence:

I AM READY TO PEDAL ACROSS AMERICA FOR AFFORDABLE, ADEQUATE HOUSING!

Orientation Wednesday and Thursday, wheel dipping ceremony Friday morning, and then off we go!

Adventures in training!

Training for Bike & Build in the central Michigan area has been fantastic. I've met lots of new friends, learned much about biking, and have found many cute little towns! Blanchard, Shepherd, Elwell, Winn, Alma, Lake Isabella, Weidman, Coldwater, and of course, Mt. Pleasant, have been a pleasure to bike through. The little antique shop in Winn, used book store (that was closed :() in Blanchard, the bike path I found on my last bike ride in Central MI, I'm going to miss them all-but know they will be waiting for me when I return in the fall.

With the help of new friends who know MUCH more about biking than me, and my local bike shop, Motorless Motion, and my fantastic roommates, friends and family support, I was able to adequately prepare (I hope!) for this Bike & Build trip. With their help I was able to conquer my fear of clipless pedals (a shout-out to Kelly who held my bike in our living room while I practiced clipping in and out), taught me how to use my gears, helped me change my two flats, and pushed me to train when I just didn't feel like it. (As I said before, I'm not really a sporty person...). Project “training Kristen to bike across America to benefit decent affordable housing” has only been effective because of the tremendous amount of support and encouragement I've received. I could not have made it this far without any of you! YOU are helping me pedal across the country this summer, YOU are helping me swing the hammer on the houses we will be building. THANK YOU!

Hmmmm...so talking about training adventures turned into thank yous-I'm ok with that so I will just continue. I know I will be leaving someone out, but first my parents need to be thanked. When I first told them I wanted to do this they were skeptical, we had talks that sounded like, “Shouldn't you try to make some money during the summer?” and “Do you really think you can do this” but it didn't take long before they were fully behind me in this effort. My mom has been HUGELY supportive in my fund-raising efforts and researching the best gear to get, my dad loves my bike as much as I do, and even bought be a Bicycling magazine for me and slid it under my bedroom door while I was asleep earlier this week. Other family members who need to be thanked include my brothers, (who I love and will miss dearly), and my Aunt Dianne who sends encouraging emails and was a huge part of my fund-raising events. My roommates are awesome and have supported and encouraged me since I signed up for Bike & Build in October, and helped me to train during the yucky winter months. Kelly Siegersma has been especially fantastic-I really think she is just as excited as I am! It's nice because if I have a question about Bike & Build, I can ask her and she will probably know it (we both enjoyed reading the Bike & Build manual...yes we are kind of nerds). THANKS KELLY!!! There are so many other family members and friends that I'd like to name, but I've already rambled on a little extensively. But know, you are thanked and appreciated.

Oh, ok just four more organizations, well, they are more like families actually, that NEED to be thanked. My Habitat for Humanity of Isabella county family, Tri-cities area Habitat for Humanity family, His House Christian Fellowship family, and First Allendale CRC family all have a large part in who I am today and why I am doing what I am doing this summer. Within these groups I have grown close with many people who I now consider my family-the support and inspiration I receive from them is one of the main reasons I am doing Bike & Build.

Back to training ;), I love my bike, I love to bike, I love biking with people, I love building, I love building with and for people, I love summer, I love America...I think Bike & Build is a good fit.

Things I've learned from training: there is a LOT of road kill on every road!, dogs chasing you is scary, especially after you are finished climbing a big hill and are out of energy!, countrysides are beautiful, baby horses are very very cute, changing a flat sucks, and wind and hills are both good and bad. I am excited to learn and grow more!!

Newspaper articles

Cycling across America: Grand Haven senior plans to bike 3,860 miles for housing cause

How to begin....

So I've been thinking about this blog for a while, how to start it, what I want to say in it, how to best share this summer with friends and family back home, lots of things. I've decided that I will just ramble and see how it goes :)

Hardcore, athletic, crazy...these are three new attributes that friends, family, strangers and acquaintances call me when they find out that I'm biking across America this summer. These are three words that are pretty much opposite of how people have seen me for the previous 20 years. I've never participated in sports, rarely exercised, and I like to make safe choices and decisions. Sweet, nice, innocent little Kristen is what I've been called more often, but those who know me well also know that there is little I wont do in the name of helping and serving people in need.

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.



I love being sweet, nice and innocent-but I'm just as excited to be hardcore, athletic and crazy.