Coast to Coast

2009-10-18T13:09:00.005-04:00

To see more pictures from my cross-country trip, check out my photos page! It's setup through another website. I'd recommend looking at some of the 35mm pictures, and also photos from the western part of the country, since I wasn't able to blog extensively out there. Photos from Providence with few captions will keep coming. Much love,

rob

Honkfest Providence assembles in India Point Park
What Cheer? Brigade treats us to a preview of their set.

The Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria begin their march to the Hot Club.

As it started raining: "Doesn't look so crazy with the bunny suit on...does he?"

What Cheer? plays hard under the highway

A few of the onlookers at the fall Brown Orchestra concert.

Back Across. The Journey Home.

2009-09-08T17:57:00.004-04:00

The posting isn't done just yet. Rather than flying home, I took the support van back from San Francisco to Philadelphia, PA. It took us a mere 10 days to drive back across the USA. We stopped in national parks, and slept in rest stops. It was a whirlwind tour, which really can't be compared with a bike trip across the country... we know this. But I was fortunate enough to travel with some great riders, and took a few 35mm pictures along the way. Hope you enjoy.

A morning in the Grand Canyon.

Jenny, Sonya, Me and Sarah

Waiting for our turn through a tunnel in Zion National Park

The night sky from atop the City Museum in St. Louis, MO

A 62lb squash harvested from a garden along the way

If you'd like to see a nice collection of pictures I took from the trip feel free to check out a set of web albums I put online. These are by no means all the pictures... just some pretty nice ones from end to end of the trip.

Feels Good to be Home!

2009-09-08T16:22:00.004-04:00

So as you may have heard... we did it! The same 32 who left Providence, RI back in early June made it to the west coast, dipped our tires in the Pacific and then plunged into the icy waters on August 13th. It was a great feeling, and I hope you all had fun following along.

Since my last update was in Nevada (an I apologize for this) I'll continue with a couple of blog posts to wrap up Bike and Build. Making it to California was a great feeling. We reached the California border just before getting to our host in South Lake Tahoe. This was a beautiful day. We descended to the lake and then rode for about 7 miles along its shore. The lake was as blue as everyone says it is, and surrounded by huge mountains... it's pretty surreal. After a lovely day off in South Lake Tahoe we pressed on for our finals days of riding.

It's all a bit of a blur... the days leading up to crossing the Golden Gate. We met up with another Bike and Build group in Davis, CA mere days before we both finished our respective trips. We had our last chores, our last morning playlists, and our last days in spandex for 12 hours at a time. We rode into San Rafael and spotted the bay for the first time. We were a mere 20 miles from our destination, and we were excited.

That night we feasted on huge amounts of guacamole, and were treated to a concert by the churchgoers. The next morning we were buzzing. Chores to do: clean the trailer, clean the van, pack your bin one more time, inventory everything. We hopped on our bikes by 11am and took off as a group. This was the first time we've ridden as a group (all 32) since Providence. It felt great. We had a quick wrong turn, but no one cared. We eventually made it to THE BRIDGE. We stopped briefly to pick up Miranda, a rider who broke her collar bone just weeks before. She went back for quick surgery then was hooked up to Sean's bike just moments before crossing the bridge and was towed end to end and down to Baker Beach.

What a scene it was on the beach. We swerved down the coastal roads following the bridge and caught sight of the sign for Baker Beach. From then on it was non-stop yelling and cheering. We saw lots of family members lining our path to the Pacific. We ducked under a huge bike and build banner and full on sprinted to the sand. We all dove right into the huge swells that were crashing on the beach. We all cheered our loudest, and hugged and danced. It felt great to be in the ocean.

I hope you all enjoyed following along. We all had an amazing time, and I feel lucky to have had such an experience and work for affordable housing all summer. Moreover, I'm privileged to have ridden alongside some of the finest people I've ever met. This wouldn't have been possible without all of you or all of them. Many thanks and much love.

rob

The Lonliest Highway

2009-08-08T19:06:00.005-04:00

Onto Nevada where we rode "America's Loneliest Highway" through the entire state. "How lonely can it be?" you might ask. Well most days we would leave our host site and bike 80 to 110 miles without seeing a single house the entire day-it was so beautiful though.

Crossing from Utah into Nevada also marked the start of an event called the Nevada Regatta. This was a series of competitions crafted by Paige and Ryan Farr to help us pass time on "The Loneliest Highway." It was an overwhelming success, and not only passed the time on highway 50, but also provided some of the most memorable bike and build moments. Our group of 32 was divided into 4 teams: Santa Maria (mine), The Black Pearl, The Enterprise and Titanic. Events included the PBandJ eating competition. How fast can one rider eat 5 PBandJ sandwiches? The answer... Sonya in under 3 minutes.

Another event was the Road Morph Relay. We had to ride 40 miles and all riders on your team had to touch the Road Morph (our bike pump) for at least one mile. The winner of this event was Santa Maria by a slim margin. We averaged about 21.5mph for the duration of the 40 miles! The winner of the Regatta has yet to be announced, but I'll follow up with a posting of the leader board.

So it turns out the loneliest highway wasn't so lonely. We had our longest day of riding at 110 miles, but we all had a blast doing it, and I've never felt so proud of our group. We faced some serious headwinds, and climb after climb to get to the foothills of the Sierras. Yesterday we crossed into California! I can't explain the feeling that came with crossing this state border. We descended into the area surrounding Lake Tahoe and It's all felt pretty surreal since then. We've made it. We're in California, and I couldn't wish to be doing this with a better group of people. We've got just a handful of riding days before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. I'll give you an update when we've reached the other side.

much love,

rob

Arches and Mesas

2009-08-08T18:48:00.003-04:00

Utah was the state I was perhaps most looking forward to. After reading lots of Edward Abbey, I was so pumped to finally explore some of the red and rocky terrain of the west. One of our first stops was in Moab home to Arches National Park. Our night in Arches was one of my favorite times of the entire trip. We spent from 7pm until well after dark, just sitting under one of the arches. It's completely surreal out there, but that's kind of how I felt our whole ride through Utah went... in such a good way.

Our build day in Moab was unlike any other. We worked with Community Rebuilds, an organization just getting started. We worked with Donnie, the master of all things natural building to help restore an old adobe wall. We learned how to mix adobe. One group did the mixing, while the other slapped some of the fresh adobe on the existing wall.

In Green River, Utah we stayed at a great little community center. Once major highways started rerouting traffic to bypass this town, it lost its luster. The Americorps members in this town are revitalizing community. I had a great time hearing all of their plans and walking around the town a bit. My $500 rider grant will go to this community.

Our riding and building in Utah was some of the most enriching of the entire trip. I loved learning about natural building, and just the sights of the Utahan landscape were so amazing. It's hard to believe these scenes exist anywhere... and we were biking through the middle of it all.

Black Rock Canyon and Welcome to Utah!?

2009-07-25T18:07:00.005-04:00

After our cliff jumping morning in 'Rado we had the option of taking a detour to check out Black Rock Canyon before heading to our host. While the detour (just miles from our host) wasn't all that appealing, several of us made the 10 mile, 1,600ft detour to check out the park. The rest of the crew was able to check out the canyon after dinner, during the sunset, and I think most people consider it a highlight of the trip so far. Here's a video of the ride along the rim of the canyon!

We were certainly sad to leave Colorado, but I've been so excited for Utah! to enter Utah we descended down a long stretch of red rock canyon. It was intense and beautiful. At the bottom of the canyon we had lunch, and found ourselves eating lunch BETWEEN the entering Utah and entering Colorado signs... so what else could we do but have a game of limbo!

After lunch, we had a really steep 2 mile climb, at 9% grade out of the canyon, and the day started to heat up! But after the peak at the two mile mark, we began our descent into Moab, Utah. It was so beautiful. The canyons were lined with the reddest rocks I've ever seen, and I felt like I was truly in the desert. Now we're in Moab. Today is our first day off since Louisville, KY and tomorrow we'll build with a green affordable housing non-profit here in Moab. I'm very excited, as we'll be working on some adobe houses... so cool. Thanks for checking out the blog!

-rob

Life After the Rockies

2009-07-25T17:41:00.003-04:00

So after trail ridge, we weren't exactly off the mountain pass hook just yet. We still had two more 11,000 foot peaks to hit, Hoosier Pass and Monarch Pass. Both beautiful, and difficult, climbs coming within days of our summit of Trail Ridge.

We had our first camping experience in Frisco, CO. A storm was rolling in on us as we approached Frisco, but fortunately the front runners of the group made it to camp way early and set up our tents. Thanks Dennis, Karina, Coop, and Sean! We camped right by a lake and between some pretty dramatic mountains. We even got to have a campfire at night!

The next two passes were pretty wild. They were no joke, as both were over 11,000 feet. And after Trail Ridge, I felt like my body (mainly knees) was stressed to the max. But we pushed on and finished our three mountain passes in the course of four days!

Jenny, one of our trip leaders is a botanist who does research in the Rockies. As a bonus, she showed us an awesome detour where we did some cliff jumping! I jumped from 35 feet, but several more daring riders jumped from a rock that was more like 50 feet from the water. Several of those riders now have pretty red backs (George! Sonya!)

Colorado never stopped amazing me. Each day was seemingly more beautiful than the last. We started getting into a more desert-like environment, and I've been excited to make a post-SCA return to the desert. Here's a video below, a little bit out of order, but you'll see Doug, then Larry flying down Monarch Pass at about 40mph. Yeah!

Trail Ridge! This is it!

2009-07-25T17:28:00.004-04:00

From Fort Collins we rode up to Estes Park. We gained 2,000 feet of elevation, and stayed the night, getting ready for our biggest climb of the whole trip... Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.

This day would take us to the highest point we'll see all trip, right around 12,100 feet. During the day, we climbed for 25 miles, and gained over 5,000 feet of elevation. It was maybe the greatest day of riding in my life. The climbing was tough, be we knew what was ahead. We made frequent breaks to adjust for elevation, but in reality we all knew we had this climb in us. After over 2,000 miles on the road, we were so, so ready.

At 11,000 feet I definitely was feeling the elevation, and had eaten an unbelievable amount of cliff bars and Jody's granola bars! We started seeing snow around that point and were well above the tree line. The views were just amazing. We had a perfectly clear day, and once we reached the crest we could see for miles.

A group of 15 of us reached the summit at nearly the same time. There was much hoisting of bikes over our heads, and chants of "Coast to Coast!" It was a fantastic feeling...riding up over the Rockies fueled by pasta and granola bars. We stopped for lunch at a lodge near the summit, and then began our descent...15 miles of curvy downhill! I think the passing back into the tree line was almost as amazing as going above it. We could breathe easier back at 7,000 feet, and once we made it to our host site for the night, we ate lots of Indian food Noah's parents brought us!

Colorful Colorado and Family Visits!

2009-07-25T17:07:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since we've had steady internet access... so I hope you're ready for some picture-heavy blogging. We crossed from Nebraska into Colorado about two weeks ago. The flat and windy stretches turned into some climbs, and we began to sense the Rockies were ahead. Here's a picture of an eyes-closed "race to rob" in the wheatfields of CO.

We first spotted the Rockies about 50 miles outside of Fort Collins. It was an amazing feeling. Colin Hood and I were chugging along, when we realized that, no, those weren't clouds in the distance, they were the snow capped peaks of the Rockies!

We rode the next 50 miles pretty much in disbelief that we had actually biked this far, and we surely were keeping in mind that we would have to cross them.

We spent a couple of great nights in Fort Collins. I was super happy to meet up with my cousins Bob, Jody and Justin. It was a real treat. They even came to a Habitat for Humanity benefit concert where we listened to some serious bluegrass. Jody was kind enough to whip up some vegan granola bars, and delicious chocolate chip cookies. We would take these on our 5,500 foot climb the following day, and many of the riders swore that these bars fueled them over the Rockies. Thanks Jody!

The Center of the USA!

2009-07-11T17:21:00.004-04:00

We just crossed into Nebraska after 3 days of biking through Kansas. The Kansas countryside was really remarkable, and I think we all had some pretty unbelievable days of riding. Lots of foggy, hazy mornings, turing into humid afternoons. While we hear the wind coming from the west can be really strong, we fortuantely haven't seen it just yet.

On our longest day of the trip, we biked 95 miles from Manhattan, KS into Beloit, KS. Temps were over 95 degrees, and we were hustling to beat the heat. It didn't go so fast, but we had a blast just the same. I rode with Noah, and we took lots of breaks to stave off the heat exhaustion. I got two flats during the day, but after 2000 miles, I'm getting quicker at changing them on the road. It was a tough day, but it felt great to make it through our 95 miler as a team. Sonya, one of our trip leaders, and a rider on CUS '08 knew of a sweet little ice cream shop in town, and we all went and had some delicious malts right after our ride. The table below was completely filled with glasses after P2SF rolled through.

Riding from Beloit, KS to Red Cloud, Nebraska we had 2 important stops along the way. One was the geographical center of the US, and the other was the worlds largest ball of twine. Yes! We added some of our own twine to the giant ball, and took lots of pictures scaling the mass.

The geographical center of the US is way out in the hills of Kansas. It was such a nice ride along the rolling hills of the countryside. At the geographical center pictured below, we had a snack break and hung out with the rooster that seemed to be guarding the monument.

Tonight we're in Alma, Nebraska, and we have a couple more nights before entering Colorado! The weather out here has been just great! No hail, just some thunderstorms. But they've always been way off in the distance, and make for some of the most amazing views I've seen during the trip. Colorado here we come!

-rob

Kansas!

2009-07-07T16:21:00.002-04:00

We've had some beautiful days recently. We road through Missouri in three days, and have spent the past few nights in Lawrence, Kansas, where we just completed day two of working on a habitat for humanity house. Missouri was just beautiful. We crossed the Mississippi to enter the state, and enjoyed coasting on the flat terrain in the northern part of the state. We were educated on our Mark Twain history, and some of the riders went to explore the caves. We spent fourth of July in Richmond, MO where the kind folks at the church that hosted us, let us light off a few fireworks in celebration. It was so cool to be in a state where fireworks are legal! Every backyard had a professional fireworks show.

We left Richmond and entered Kansas. On our last of three 90 mile days in a row, we entered Lawrence. What a place. Reminds me of Asheville a bit, it's got a good crunch to it. Instead of our usual church basement accommodations, we're staying at a Marriott! So good! And since we're about halfway across the country (seriously!) we're feeling like it's a little spring break.

Best part about Lawrence... the build site we worked at. On our first night in town, we ate at a restaurant with the family that will live in the new house. We also worked side by side with them at the build site. They're unbelievably excited... and chatting with them really makes me feel like this is exactly what I should be doing right now.

Check out some of these before and afters! We showed up to four walls, and today we finished up the roof! It's about 1 month of work, in two days! Thanks for checking up on the blog, hope everyone is really well. I'm really loving Bike and Build. Tomorrow we've got a 95 mile day into Manhattan, KS.

-rob

INDIANA!

2009-07-01T18:29:00.008-04:00

After our awesome stay in Louisville, we crossed the Ohio one last time to get into Indiana. We were in a big group at this point, so we took the opportunity to try and spell out the name of our next state. Though for some reason, Larry, Carlie and I are taking a break from making our "N." Our next stop was Litman, Indiana. It was such a short day that we took time to enjoy the many corn fields we were passing, and stopping for iced cream. It's a good thing we savored this 45 mile trip, since our next day would be one of the most difficult days yet.

OK, so the next morning we woke at 5am to get started on our 90/90 day nice and early. It was a really warm morning, and totally beautiful. One of our leaders, Kate called me outside, and we watched as hundreds of birds began to emerge from their roosting spots right outside our church. And so began the day that George called "TARrific." Ryan Farr, upon arrival at our host site that night said only three words, "Tar. Gravel. Wind." These three factors combined to make this a super difficult day.

At around mile 60, we got onto some back roads. This would normally be ideal, but it was so hot out that the tar began to melt. We couldn't avoid the tar, and then we would hit these gravel filled roads, and our tires would become coated. So much so, that all of our brakes were locking up ever few miles. Also, with the wind and the sticky tar, our normal pace of 15-17mph, was brought down to something more like 8 or 9mph. It was really tough physically, and mentally but we all pushed on, and motivated each other to pull through maybe our most difficult day.

After our tough and tarry ride, we were happy to have a long and flat ride into Springfield, IL. The trip was 92 miles, so we got into paceline mode right away. Karina, Carlie and I cruised at about 16mph in a pretty decent headwind. In the afternoon, some of the lead riders found an amazing bike path that went on for 15 miles! It was fantastic, and a way to get away from some busy roads. For the last 30 miles of the day, the wind really picked up. They were steady at 20mph! Larry, Carlos and I did a nice job of pacelining, and made sure everyone had fresh legs to finish out this long ride. It felt great riding into Springfield. Two pretty tough days in a row, and though my legs were totally feeling tired, it was great to reflect on some pretty hard rides, and know we made it through together.

We stayed two nights in Springfield. The following day was a build day, and we worked on a house nearly complete in a neighborhood that already had 4 habitat houses. It was so nice to see how great the houses look, and the kids playing in the yard. A big group of us worked on digging out where they will lay down the new sidewalk, while others set up lots of drywall.

Today we had a beautiful ride into Pittsfield, IL. It was 80 miles, and just perfect cycling weather. Tomorrow we cross into Missouri and will stay in Hannibal for the night! And now after a nice dip in the town's swimming pool, it's time for dinner!

Lowville, KY

2009-06-25T10:36:00.004-04:00

Today is our first day off of the trip, and we're spending it in Louisville (but usually pronounced "Lowville"), KY! As you can see from the pictures in my last post, we had an awesome build day in Portsmouth, OH. Before leaving town we went by the flood walls that line the Ohio River. There was almost a mile of these beautiful murals depicting the history of Ohio painted on the walls.

We just had 2 days of riding before reaching Louisville, but they were some of our longest. We road 95 miles into Paris, KY and then 85 miles to get from Paris to Louisville. On these days that are close to 90 miles or that will reach 90 degrees (we call them 90/90 days) we wake up at 5am to get a jump on the day. The 95 mile day into Paris went really smooth. The weather was perfect, and we all finished the day around 4pm. Fast! We stayed at a YMCA that night and made use of their outdoor pool.

Yesterday was our 85 mile ride into Louisville. My friend Paige and I (above) road "sweep." That means we ride last in the pack and make sure everyone gets in safely. The day started with us biking past lots of pastures where they raise Kentucky Derby style horses. It was a beautiful landscape. Later in the day, the sun came out and we took to the rolling hills of Kentucky. It hit about 93 degrees by 3pm and Paige and I stopped to pick up a couple of squirt guns to cool down the other riders. It was a blast. Due to the heat and hills, we got into our host site a 630, but what an awesome day.

Here are a couple of videos I took while out on the road. This first video is of our descent into Mcconnellsburg, PA. After climbing for around 5 miles we coasted down 3 miles of downhill! Here's a video of Colin King screaming by at around 40mph.

This is a video of some riders standing at the bottom of another big descent. The turn we were supposed to take is pretty sharp, so we decided to point out the turn to riders behind us. This was also a really long downhill, so it helped to give the riders heads up to slow down.

Thanks for checking out the blog! Time to head out into Louisville for our day off. If you haven't checked out our bike and build website, click here to see our route tracker, journal written by a new rider each day, and photos posted by all the riders. Thanks!

-rob

O-H-I-O

2009-06-23T18:57:00.003-04:00

We made it through the gorgeous hills of West Virginia and crossed over the Ohio River. It was sad to leave such a picturesque state, but we've got lots more to go. And immediately upon crossing the river we had 20 miles of flat ground! We felt like we were flying! Just today we all kind of felt like we've fallen into a nice rhythm with our bodies and bikes. We cruise at anywhere from 15mph to 20mph. But on hills it's a whole different game. We sometimes crawl up the steep mountains, but fly down the other side.

We got an intro to pace lining in the flat lands of Ohio. I think we all had a blast. Pace lining is when 5 or 6 riders line up a tire length apart and bike fast! The first person works really hard to break all the headwind, while the other riders get to draft. When the person up front gets tired they call out that they're dropping back, and get to rest a bit. We averaged about 16mph with a headwind and some hills. I think we all felt pretty good about that one.

Build day! We had a build day with Habitat for Humanity in Portsmouth, OH. We did an amazing amount of work. Below you can see the before and after. All 32 of us worked all day to do mainly two tasks. First there was a huge ditch surrounding the foundation and along the inside. I worked with a crew that hauled dirt and filled in these huge trenches. The second crew was in charge of clearing out the inside of the foundation and then nailing in all the joists. As you can see below, the next step is to simply nail in the floorboards. It was a scorcher, and hit 90 degrees, but we worked hard and felt good about an awesome day on the build site.

Country Road

2009-06-22T17:47:00.002-04:00

West Virginia! This was ... so far ... my favorite state to ride in. Sure we climbed some 3,900ft mountains. Sure we got poured on a couple mornings in a row. But wow, what a beautiful state to ride through. On our ride to Parsons, WV we experienced hours of pretty chilly rain and lots of fog. But what's a cross country trip without some bad weather. At one point I got super chilly, and made the best purchase of the trip. A half pound block of fudge. That kept the fire going inside me, and the skies cleared to make for some sweet riding. We climbed up really close to some huge wind turbines, and after cresting the mountain we cruised down 3.5 miles of downhill. Yeah!

During our second day of rain in the morning we got shelter by a really generous woman and her 3 kids. 15 of us crammed into her garage and she brought us towels and snacks. So nice. With our spirits high, and clothes partially dry we cruised on through WV. At the end of the day it got really warm. We asked some lifeguards at local pool if we could take a dip. They said sure and even got us in the town newspaper.

So far the trip has passed all of my expectations. The build days are extremely rejuvenating. Not only for the legs, since we get to rest, but it's just amazing to see how much of us the 32 of us get done at a build site. We recently put together a string of three 80 mile days. Doing it alone would be near impossible. With the other riders to kind of pull you along, and keep you moving, this trip has been a blast, and such an amazing experience.

Welcome to MD

2009-06-22T17:37:00.005-04:00

We left PA and crossed into way western Maryland. We stayed in a cool little town called Cumberland, Maryland. It was dotted with really beautiful churches, but we didn't stay in a church as we so often do. Instead one of our trip leaders hooked us up with a great little space for two nights. It was a old department store that they converted into a huge open space/gallery. Here's a picture of it. Imagine getting all that packed up into our trailer every morning! Well we do it... pretty fast too!

We had a build day in Cumberland, MD too, and it was a blast. We split into two groups. My group worked on putting a set of stairs on the back of the local homeless shelter. It was a badly needed project. We took $500 bike and build dollars to buy the supplies and got to work! Check out these awesome before and afters! The stairs were desperately needed. No back stairs was just plain dangerous, but it also kept insurance bills unsustainably high. We were happy to help out Francis at Restoration of the Heart with this great project.

Hershey, PA!

2009-06-22T17:23:00.005-04:00

Our ride through Pennsylvania brought us the hardest climbs we've encountered, and also some pretty amazing views from atop these monsters! We put in some long days, climbed thousands of feet and took some time to gaze off into the distance. We even crossed the AT a couple of times. It's cool to think of our cross country trip intersecting with the north-south hiking trail. Here's a picture of Larry and George marveling at the hardest hill I've ever biked! The sign they're looking at says 10% grade, and long! The downhill that followed was of course pretty sweet!

And of course while in PA we had to make a stop at Hershey park. We had a short day, and therefore some free time to do some exploring/get free chocolate samples. Below George, Sonya and Ryan are enjoying a portion of 5 lbs of twizzlers. They tasted so good after riding to the park. Even better than our free chocolate bar was our little adventure in Hershey Park. We thought, hey why not try and get a free ride on a roller coaster. And we had great luck, and a sympathetic park employee help us out. It was quite a scene as the 5 of us, spandex clad, dashed though the park and into front row seats they reserved for us on their most intense roller coaster. What a day!

Welcome to PA!

2009-06-12T16:40:00.002-04:00

We made it to Pennsylvania! Orientation in Providence was a real blast. After a build day in Providence, we dipped our tires in the Bay and then made moves west. Below is the work we got done in one morning! We showed up with just a foundation, and managed to get a good portion of the floor finished.

So far our longest day was 75 miles. Connecticut has way more hills than anything I trained on, but riding with a group, this hills seem not so steep, and we keep an eye on each other. So far I think my favorite stretch of riding has been through the Delaware River Water Gap. It's a beautiful section of forest that surrounds the water gap, and we had some quiet roads to cruise on. No flats yet (knock on wood) and the bike is feeling great. For anyone wondering about what our riding is like, we generally cruise at about 15 or 16 mph, but a lot slower when going up hills. My current max speed was down a huge hill in NY and I went 44.7 mph. I didn't know bikes went that fast... really.

Our second build day was in Danbury, CT. They were awesome hosts. For my build day I worked on a house that will one day be a transition house for veterans moving from a shelter, then into their own place. It was a cool aspect of affordable housing that I just don't learn about too often. The picture above is of Jenny, Steven, my and Sonya taken just earlier today, and our trailer is in the back.

Thanks for checking in! Bike and Build is already proving such an amazing experience. The people we've been meeting have been so generous. Riding has been a blast too. Yesterday we got poured on, but we're all just so excited to be doing what we're doing that I felt like not one of us missed a beat. We cranked our way through NJ and into PA. This morning I feasted on a WaWa soft pretzel and chatted with a super excited crowed at the register. Looking out the window of my beloved wawa I saw lots of blue Bike and Build jerseys cruising on by, and it felt just perfect.

-Rob

One Week!

2009-05-28T13:34:00.005-04:00

Here we are. One week to go. I feel sufficiently loaded up with carbs and coffee milk. Fundraising, as you know, went really well. Thanks for all of your generous support! Cue up a drum roll because I have the final donation tally to unveil....

We raised $5,506! Yes!

Thanks for all of your contributions. The fundraiser was such a blast, and an amazing success. We couldn't have done it without the organizers, the raffle prize contributors, and of course the folks that come out to the event. So thank you! Below is a machine some of you may be more familiar with than others. It's a tattoo machine, and this is the one that my Uncle John hand-crafted and then auctioned off to benefit affordable housing. What a cool machine, huh?

While we're on the Moniz family handiwork, take a look at the picture below. I came up with a problem that no one could seem to find a solution for. I bought a lovely new bike seat, but the bag that I normally put underneath to hold extra tubes, tools and snacks just wouldn't fit! I went over to my Uncle John and Aunt Shellie's place. They fixed me right up. Check out this aluminum piece my uncle fit to the saddle. That bag will fall apart years before the aluminum even loses its shine. And not to be outdone, my Aunt Shellie made an amazing pair of linen pants for me. They look amazing. I really haven't taken them off yet, and probably will not until we reach San Francisco.

What is all this below? It's part of our route for riding through a section of Utah. Utah... I really cant even imagine being out there in a couple of months! Well, it's a big mountain pass where we climb 4,000 feet over 15 miles... followed by 28 miles of downhill!

So our group of 30 riders will meet up on June 3rd, and then we have a couple days of orientation. We'll also build for a day with the Providence Habitat for Humanity group. Then we leave from Providence on June 6th. Phew, there's an update for you, I'm getting really excited! Thanks for checking in!

Thank You!

2009-05-17T11:38:00.007-04:00

A big thanks to everyone who made our Bike and Build fundraiser such a huge success! Our friend Pat who spent the night taking pictures during the event sent a whole bunch my way, so I'm happy to share them. But first, whether you came from out-of-state to attend, contributed a raffle prize, or placed bids on our silent auction prizes... thank you!

How about some fundraising updates?! Well, from the night of the fundraiser alone, we raised an astounding $1,771! Also, some of you may know that my Uncle John handcrafted a tattoo machine, he then sold on ebay. 100% of those proceeds went to Bike and Build. That puts our contribution to affordable housing projects across the US at well beyond our goal of $4,000... and makes it $5,486. Wow. You are all amazing. Thank you!

The picture above is our huge raffle table. My Aunt Shellie, in no time, managed to beautify the table and arrange all the items for our bidding pleasure. Some of the notable wins were Scott Lombardo winning a sweet desk clock, and then promptly giving it away to my mom's coworker.... what a guy! Also, Andrew was very excited to win two folding chairs for tailgating the Jimmy Buffett show this summer.

So thank you all for attending, contributing, and wishing me well for the journey! I've been training hard these past weeks. A couple of days ago I biked 65 miles from Providence to Boston on these great back roads that wound through Cumberland, RI to Franklin, MA, and then eventually to Mark's apartment in Jamaica Plain. I also had a great 50 mile day riding around the super scenic bike paths in Lily's area of Northampton and Amherst.

If you haven't checked this out yet, Bike and Build has created a great way to follow riders during the cross country trip. This site has a map that will show my location during the summer. It'll also show pictures taken during the trip, and has a quick link to this blog. As always, thanks for checking out the blog, and I'll have more updates soon on our departure... just about two weeks to go!

You're Invited!

2009-04-28T10:20:00.012-04:00

We've got just under a week until our big fundraiser bash in Warwick. Hopefully most of you local folks received the invite made by Shellie. If you're a little further away, here's a copy of it:

Beautiful right? So hopefully I'll see some of you guys at the party. We've got lots of great food contributed by many fantastic cooks. Bring your dancing shoes since we're lucky to have DJ John Vanner with us for another evening of fun. Also, we've got a multitude of sweet raffle prizes donated by family, friends, and local businesses. To whet your appetite we've got a handmade quilt by Shellie, a wool scarf made in Seattle by birder extraordinaire Molly Woodring, and several gift certificates for fantastic restaurants around Providence.

The weather's looking great, huh? My new bike and I have been putting on the mileage. I'm learning the pains/joys of clipless pedals and the necessity of sunblock on an 80 degree day. I had my first 50 mile day recently, and then followed it up with a big group ride around providence the same evening, bringing the total to somewhere around 65 miles for the day. The group ride is called Critical Mass and it goes down in lots of cities all over the world on the last friday of the month. People generally meet at a set location at 6pm and then take to the streets. In Providence we went from the East Side to the West End and all points in between. Traversing the city on bike makes you see just how accessible all parts of Providence are, and you love it even more!

My Uncle John and his tattoo-artist friends have been a huge help in recent weeks. Check out their websites in the new "Thanks for Helping" section. Thanks for checking in on the blog, hope to see you all soon!

Asheville and Points North

2009-04-17T19:41:00.007-04:00

It's good to be home! I've been in RI since April 8th (Lauren's 21st!) and it's been so nice. Pat kindly fixed up my computer, and now it's time to blog! Our sparrow research in eastern Carolina finished up great. We said goodbye to our old haunts, and on our last day of netting were pleased to catch a Sharp-Shinned Hawk (that's the scared looking bird above). Needless to say, I think we all had a great few months.

Looking at my digital camera, the above is sadly the ONLY picture I took in digital format while in Asheville. It's Erin after Teddy had a very traumatic visit to Uncle Mike and Aunt Chris's house. I did take some 35mm pictures, but what good is that when blogging? After leaving the Swamp Sparrow house I took the 8 hour drive west to visit family and friends in Asheville. It was such a good time. There was plenty of pickin' on the banjo, a hike in the smokies where I took us dangerously far off the trail, and an unexpected cello concert at a restaurant called Picnics.

I had to sneak in one more bird picture. Here are a couple of Cardinals, male and female. They have the most vicious bird bite. Who would have thought?

After Asheville, I drove through the impossibly long stretch of highway in Virginia. Fortunately the Foelsters took me in that night! We caught up a bit and I had some delicious vegetarian soup. I even got to play a little fetch with their dog Penny! I dusted off the picture below to show that my Phillies pride dates to before their World Series win.

A new addition to the blog is the "Thanks for Helping" sidebar over to the right. It'll provide links to business, websites, and blogs that have shown Bike and Build some love over the past couple of months. Thanks so much to all of them, and all of YOU for the support!

Below is a little clip of us releasing that Sharp-Shinned Hawk. You aren't mistaken, it flies directly into our net after being released!

Oceanside

2009-03-20T16:29:00.005-04:00

While I can't say things are winding down in North Carolina, the field season is certainly coming to a close. We're busier than ever, seeing lots of great birds, and even have a trip or two in the works. I also got my hands on a few great pictures taken by Matt and Lauren who spend spring, summer, and fall working on a few islands off the coast of Maine for the Project Puffin. Very cool.

The weather is warming up, and this means our Swamp Sparrows are beginning to migrate north toward their breeding ground. And so the bird banders will also part ways. After my first season of bird banding, I'm am sure there will be more. So before we close up the nets one last time, how 'bout more NC pics?

Here's one of a few Willets on a beach at the Outer Banks. We went a couple of weeks back and had a great, great day. The beaches were deserted, and the birds were out.

I'm planning a bike trip early next week from the southern Outer Banks up to Nags Head. I'll leave the refuge here, and take a ferry over the the southern point of the OBX. Then I'll cruise 30 miles the first day, and 45 the second. I'm excited to make one more trip out there. I'm just hoping that there isn't a strong wind coming from the north. It has potential to be a long 75 miles!

The picture above was taken just a few days ago. It's me and a tiny bird called a Yellowthroat. The picture below is a nice closeup taken by Matt. It was the first Yellowthroat we caught this season- they're great looking warblers.

I've been able to get out on the old bike when the weather's been warm. I always do a nice 20 mile ride on a highway that goes across Lake Mattamuskeet to a town nearby. Normally I hop off the bike once in a while to see what birds are around. Recently, in one ride, I saw: white pelicans, osprey, tree swallows, a bald eagle... and this turtle crossing the road! I put it there on the bike seat for a quick picture, and then placed the turtle near the woods.

So I have about 2 weeks left to soak up coastal NC. The Outer Banks bike tour is happening early next week. Then in April I'll make my way inland to Asheville, where I'll be visiting family and friends in what sounds like a pretty great town. Hope spring is on its way for everyone!

Bird Banders Head to the OBX

2009-03-01T13:34:00.008-05:00

This week, the old Nissan (seen in the background) proved to be a very seaworthy vessel as the other bird banders and I spent some time in the Outer Banks. Our trip started with a ferry ride to a southern point on the Outer Banks called Ocracoke. It's a quaint town that reminds me of neighborhoods in Martha's Vineyard. We visited a maritime forest that had Live Oaks, which are the same great looking trees I saw on Cumberland Island in Georgia (see pic of Live Oak below).

Then we traveled north to Nags Head and roamed around a deserted beach looking for birds out at sea. We saw Gannets and Red-breasted Mergansers not very far off shore, and enjoyed a surprisingly wind-less afternoon for the OBX. The next day we were kept indoors by lots of rain, but that didn't stop us from enjoying our mini-vacation. Matt's friend Catherine works at the North Carolina Aquarium in Manteo. We were in for a treat because she gave us a full tour of the place and the inside scoop on the fish, sharks and turtles there.

Back in Hyde County, NC, work has been going great. We're banding lots of Swamp Sparrows and I'm thoroughly enjoying each and every day of working with these folks and keeping track of the birds. I have a couple more Hyde County wildlife pics here. Above is a Carolina Wren. They're great looking birds, with that very white eyeline. Their call can be heard every morning... it's a "teakettle tea-kettle teakettle" or so they say. This guy below is the Carolina Anole. The only anole native to the US, and we just found him in our backyard!

We've almost reached a pretty great fundraising goal for Bike and Build, and I'll be sure to post when that happens. Until then, hope everyone is doing well up north and elsewhere!

Pancakes and Birds!

2009-02-16T17:58:00.009-05:00

The field season is in full swing. In addition to banding the birds we've recently been attaching tiny radio transmitters to their backs. Then we use an antenna to locate them, and we're able to get pretty close to the sparrows by just following "beeps" the transmitter sends out. We do some of the tracking before the sun comes up. Combine that with the fact that we've constructed a few sketchy bridges over canals... and I'm just glad I haven't taken a dip in the salty waters of the Pamlico Sound yet!

And per request of Mark Foelster:

In other Hyde County news, a couple of us attended a Valentine's Night Pancake and Sausage Supper to benefit the volunteer fire department. Think this would be popular as a bike and build fundraiser!? I had maybe 4 pancakes loaded with toppings and washed it down with delicious sweet tea. Then after dinner, and watching one of my coworkers eat a sausage wrapped in a pancake, we got a tour of the firehouse, and a crash course in firefighting. We at least learned the basic steps of how to get water running through a hose. Good enough for now!

I've got some bird pictures to post! First, the beautiful Swamp Sparrow. Who thought a sparrow could be so nice looking? Well, this is the one we're after with the radio tracking, the bird we band, and the bird we're all becoming quite familiar with. They like to hang out really low on shrubs, and with their dark color, these can be tough to spot.

Here's me and a Downy Woodpecker. Surprisingly, it's a lot smaller than something like a cardinal. I always thought of woodpeckers as being pretty large birds. But these are small. We must have caught it when it was swooping down to head to another tree. It was pecking pretty hard at my hand for a while, but then it calmed down and we got some great pictures!

Weather's getting warmer down here in NC, hope the same is true up north. We've got a trip planned in a week or so that involves a ferry over to the Outer Banks, then driving up from the southern most point to meet with a birding group from Virginia Tech! Pictures will surely follow.

The Banding Life

2009-01-31T14:17:00.011-05:00

Bird banding down in North Carolina is in full swing! We're nearing 1 month of fieldwork, and while there's lots to learn, I'm feeling comfortable with the birds and really enjoying the work. Here's a peek at our banding table. We haul it out into the marshes before sunrise set up the equipment, and this is where, one the birds get caught in the nets, we bring them back so we can band them, weigh them and get other types of info.

Aside from getting familiar with the banding table, we're getting to know the area on our time off. On my second trip to the outer banks with the other interns (Matt and Lauren) we went birdwatching along the coast, and saw close relatives of the Galapagos's Blue Footed Boobies, called the Gannet (not 'gansett). They're large seabirds, and were flying just offshore. It was strange to see a bird very similar to ones we knew so well in Ecuador, flying over the ice-cold water of North Carolina.

After some Outer Banks birding and a large spinach calzone, we made it back to the Wildlife Refuge to begin another week of birding. Just this morning we caught a young Red-winged Blackbird. I'm used to taking birds 1/3 their size out of the nets, so it was a new experience for me! Below is a picture of me and the blackbird.

The bird picture below is of a group of nearly 300 tree swallows flying above one of our work sites. They all like to eat at the same time, for protection, so they get in dense groups like this, and pile onto trees to eat the seeds. They cram so tight on the tree that the branches droop!

Thanks for checking out the NC pics, and also for contributing to my fundraising efforts for this summer's cross-country bike trip! If you haven't received a letter in the mail, you just might be receiving an email copy in the next few days. Yay for paperless fundraising! Stay well family and friends!

Mr. November

2009-01-20T17:30:00.009-05:00

I hope everyone had the chance to see a little bit of Barack Obama's inauguration this morning! Here in the Swamp Sparrow house, as we affectionately refer to it, we saw his speech on our old, grainy-picture TV. It truly was inspiring; and for the first time in a long time I feel like the country is in pretty good hands. To celebrate, some of us went for a walk in the freshly fallen SNOW!

I have to admit, maybe some change isn't so good. We went from nice 50 degree days to snow! While the landscapes are beautiful, the weather has thrown a wrench into our work schedule. We can't do any banding when temperatures drop this low - the birds get too cold too fast. But the past two weeks of work have been a real blast. It's fun getting out into the marshes before sunrise and working by headlamp to take the little sparrows out of the nets. I'll try to get some pictures of the birds up soon!

I'm also getting settled in our section of Hyde County. We've been out to eat at a couple of local institutions. Both places (The Feedhouse and a restaurant run by Hot Dog and Edna) don't exactly cater to the vegetarian diet, but they make tasty grilled cheeses.

During our last break I drove over to the Outer Banks. What a great spot! I went to the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge and met some birders who have been with the refuge for over 40 years. And, go figure, I met a Rhode Islander who was volunteering there. She even referenced the old Outback Steakhouse in Warwick in an attempt to give me directions! Aside from birding, I stopped by the Bodie Island lighthouse which looked great on such a crisp, clear day.

I had to include a picture of Lauren's (one of the banders here) pet quail. They get to run around the house, but are pretty much scared of everything. This is the usually camera shy Theophelus making an appearance in the living room!

Bike and... Bird?

2009-01-10T19:45:00.008-05:00

As some of you may know I have begun my 3 month stay in North Carolina (home to some members of the Moniz clan). I'm on week number one of my job as a bird bander. Me and 4 other birders are dedicating the next three months to tracking Swamp Sparrows that call the Mattamuskeet Wildlife Refuge their home for the winter. In order to band the birds we're up and out the door before the birds wake up. That means leaving our house (pictured below) at 5:50 and driving out into the marshes to set up nets. As the sun rises and the birds fly into our waiting nets, we hustle to remove the birds and put colorful bands on them so we can track them later in the season. Good thing i brought several pounds of coffee with me from RI!

I went on my first big bike ride of the winter to the nearby town of Engelhard. It was 30 miles round trip and the flat land of coastal NC made for easy riding. However, the dogs that ran out of several houses to chase me made the ride even more intense than riding in Boston traffic! Fortunately, I had plenty of homemade cookies to come back and snack on. Thanks Ava.

Here's our house. Pretty cool right? What's even cooler is that there's a Great-horned Owl living in our backyard! Last night a few of us went out into the backyard and tried "hooting" to the owl. To my surprise it flew around excitedly, and even hooted back.

A demonstration of my new hooting ability is on the agenda for our pre-trip party at the end of April.

Blizzard of '08?

2008-12-21T18:42:00.014-05:00

I'm sticking to it: it's good to be back in RI. But 14 inches of snow? C'mon. I hope everyone is taking the snow in stride, and catching up on some reading. I am hooked on East of Eden by John Steinbeck. While working on trails in the desert we lived very close to Salinas, where Steinbeck grew up. I could not imagine farming this land! We learned that people needed to farm thousands of acres just to scrape by. A beautiful spot, and lots of neat birds, but the lands is bone dry.

This week me and mom took a ride to the Wintertime Farmer's Market in Pawtucket, RI. What a great time. The market is held in an old mill building and has vendors from RI and MA.

We picked up some fresh spinach, cheese from 'Gansett, and a pound of coffee (shade grown for the birds) that was roasted in the same warehouse. While at the market, aside from chatting with lots of interesting people, I learned of a new food co-op going up in the west end of Providence. I am excited to get involved! Here's a flyer for the farmers market.

Recently, I've taken a couple of trips to Boston to visit some old BU friends. A couple of weekends ago a few of us braved the cold to run in the 2nd annual Jingle Bell Run 5k. I won't lie, I've hiked around lots of California, but taking it from hiking pace to running wasn't as smooth a transition as it was in highschool. My old roomie Mark Foelster made it look too easy! The important thing: regardless of our finishing time, we all got sweet medals.

I hope everyone is staying warm and well during the snow. And if you are in warmer climates send some of it up this way.

First post/six months to go

2008-12-16T21:22:00.005-05:00

Back in RI after 6 months in northern California working on hiking trails! I worked with 5 other recent college grads through a group called the Student Conservation Assocation (www.thesca.org). They were, needless to say, an amazing bunch, coming from all over and with varied interests. We created many memories while out on the trail: long hikes, bread baking tips and pumpkin carving among them. And we covered lots of ground, working trails from up in the hills of Humboldt County to the deserts (and dumps) of the Carrizo Plain National Monument.

It is good to be back on the east coast and near friends and family. Though we ate well while out on the trails, and sleeping on the ground became the norm, it has been easy to settle in at home and visit local italian institutions (ie. Mike's Kitchen of Cranston). I must admit, good food and strong coffee were simple adjustments, but daily showers will take some time to get used to.