Welcome to MD

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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!