Day 39 - Trinidad, CO to Walsenburg, CO

Let's just talk about how Trinidad is only 38 miles away from Walsenburg. And how our route was 83 miles... Um... What?! Talk about a detour! We did get to ride on the Highway of Legends though, which just sounds really hard core. Was it worth it? I guess so...

*I wish this mountain I'm about to go up wasn't so big.* My wish has got to come true right? Because that's literally the biggest dandelion in the world! 

This is one of many small lakes that we biked by on the route today. It got so hot that I decided to dunk my head in the water to cool off. You can't tell from this picture but the water is clear, bright blue. Also, FYI, the air is so dry here that almost all of the team had/has minor nose bleeds. BLOODY BOOGERS! 

I MADE IT TO THE TOP of our biggest climb yet, Cuchara Pass. Getting up the mountain was a serious struggle. But the descent was amazing! I went so fast for so long. In fact the final 30 miles was all downhill and I probably averaged 20-25 mph. While I was descending a huge smile came across my face and I felt proud and free. And then I remembered a dream that Teryl told me about 3 weeks ago. In the dream, I was flying down a mountain on my bike and was happy in the purest sense. It hit me that her dream had come true and I smiled even bigger. Maybe even laughed and shouted. I was Pocahontas. "You can own the earth and still, all you'll own is earth until you can ride with all the colors of the wind."

These, ladies and gentlemen, are the "Breasts of the Earth". Seriously. The East and West Spanish Peaks together make up what the Ute Native Americans called the "Huajatolla". Translation: Breasts of the Earth. Makes sense really... 

The Catty Corner: Erin walked approximately 12 miles of the route today.

Day 38 - Trinidad Day Off

Most of the day I was in my sleeping bag recovering from prom and from riding 6 days in a row. But I managed to muster up enough energy to walk around downtown Trinidad to get to know the city a little. All of the streets are made of bricks that are imprinted with "Trinidad". The city also has a sign resembling the famous Hollywood sign that is atop a mountain. They are really into themselves... Also, fun fact: Trinidad is the sex change capital of the world!  

There is a mural by Sister Agusta Zimmer of Cincinnati, Ohio in the Mt. San Rafael Hospital in Trinidad. It is a 2,000 pound ceramic mural depicting the history of the city.

Tonight I went to see Oklahoma! the Musical for the first time. The cast was extremely talented and I enjoyed the show but I was so tired that I kept almost falling asleep. Typical!

The Catty Corner:
Will Parker: "Now that I got that fifty dollars, you name the date."
Ado Annie Carnes: "August 15th."
WP: "Why August 15th?"
AAC: "Because that was the first day I'se kissed!"
WP: "Oh was it? I didn't remember that!
AAC: "You wasn't there."
-From Oklahoma! the Musical

Day 37 - Clayton, NM to Trinidad, CO

This ride takes the cake for the hardest ride of the trip. Hands down. No contest. In fact, NO ONE finished. At the beginning of Bike and Build I set a personal goal to never be vanned. And until today I hadn't been; I've done ALL of every single ride. But today the winds were so strong and the mileage so high that it would have taken about 11 hours, not including breaks to finish the full 110 miles. And once we got to Raton, NM at mile 84 we were supposed to make a turn onto an interstate that the leaders felt was unsafe. So, we were shuttled to the host from that point. Even though I got vanned, I was really proud of myself for finishing all that I as allowed to, because the ride was brutal and I had to push myself harder than ever before. I was considering vanning myself at first lunch about 37 miles in and I somehow rode almost 50 more miles. Oh, by the way, I hit 2,000 miles!   

The New Mexico skies and the stand alone mountains in the distance sure are an amazing site. This picture doesn't even come close to capturing just how colorful and how massive they are, respectively. 

We rode by Capulin Volcano, a long extinct volcano formed 60,000 years ago by four lava flows that rises nearly 1,000 feet above the rest of the landscape in a nearly perfect shaped cinder cone.

At some point during the last 10 mile stretch of the ride, I rounded a bend in the road and, what do you know, the Rockies stood before me, probably a hundred miles away.

Even though we were vanned, we were able to stop at the state line! WELCOME TO COLORADO!

Tonight we had prom, "famous couples" edition. Guests included Mario and Luigi, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie, Hugh Hefner and a Playboy bunny, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, and the Joker and Harley Quinn.

Marine and I went as Sonny and Cher! 

The Catty Corner: Did you hear about the vampire bicycle that went around biting people's arms off? It was a vicious cycle.

Day 36 - Dalhart, TX to Clayton, NM

I was SO thankful for a short day. It's weird though because while I was riding it didn't seem any shorter at all. The winds were ferocious and my pace was slow because of it. And I was still counting down the miles until the ride was finished. I only realized how short the day was when I was able to lounge in my sleeping bag at the host for about 4 hours before dinner.

HAY y'all! Each bale costs about $300. There are 78 bales. We were playing on $23,400 worth of hay. WHAT?! I know this because the owner of the farm drove up while we were trespassing. Fortunately he was extremely friendly and just told us we'd better not light a match or it would burn up in minutes.

We are the Lords of Haytown. 

I made it to the 8th out of 13 states! FIESTA TIME!

The Herzstein Memorial Museum provided dinner for us and afterwards we were able to explore the exhibits. I felt like I was in the Wild West. Clayton is famous for hanging and accidentally beheading Thomas "Black Jack" Ketchum, a notorious outlaw and train robber.

I was actually really creeped out while exploring the museum until I found this beautiful set of cosmetic tools. Each and every piece had the same finish, as well as the initials "LMI".

Tonight we are staying at the National Guard Armory in Clayton.

The Catty Corner:
Q: What did the bicycle call his Dad?
A: Popcycle

Day 35 - Spearman, TX to Dalhart, TX

Word on the street is that only 7 people finished this ride last year. Apparently it was super windy and a whopping 109 degrees. We were lucky enough to not have the heat. But the wind was brutal! My average pace for the entire ride was just over 10 mph. We rode, not including breaks, for 8 hours, which made this ride longer than any other, even the 110 mile ride.

North Texas is F-L-A-T.

NO WAY?!?! IS THAT WHAT'S BEEN BLOWING IN MY FACE ALL DAY?!?!

This DQ DM (Dairy Queen Donation Magic) was like a mirage in the desert, a much needed break. The free ice cream and smoothies didn't hurt.

The Catty Corner: Before Jim's affordable housing presentation, given almost entirely in haiku form, he gave an example haiku. It goes like this: Oh, bruised banana/Nobody wants to eat you/It's okay, I do.

Day 34 - Arnett, OK to Spearman, TX

Overall, I feel pretty good about today's ride. I woke up feeling nauseous but once I started riding I felt better. I didn't take many breaks at all, essentially just the stop to take pictures at the state line and the 2 lunch stops. For the last 30 miles the terrain went suddenly flat and we faced extreme headwinds. It was a difficult ending but I pushed through and was proud of maintaining a fairly positive attitude. 

WE MADE IT TO TEXAS! Yeehaw!

This picture is dedicated to Miracle Ezy. Go cocks! And hook 'em horns!

I spy an oil rig! Never done that before.

We biked through some pretty desert-like terrain today. At one point rocky crags stood all along the right side of the road. Instead of trees, small shrubs, colorful wildflowers and even some cacti made up the vegetation. 

A Hawaiian shaved ice shack is right next door to the host church. Upon arrival, we found out that we were able to get them for free! DONATION MAGIC! I may or may not have gone there 3 times already... 

The Catty Corner: Erin pulled off a 180 gravelspin to faceplant. Sign her up for the X-Games.

Day 33 - Watonga, OK to Arnett, OK

We woke up this morning to an intense thunderstorm. As I ate my breakfast, I was dreading the ride. But by the time the route meeting was over, the rain had cleared and the weather was perfect the rest of the day: partly cloudy with a high of 82 and winds at 5-7 mph. Today's ride was, overall, the prettiest we've had yet. And I rolled into the host super happy with how the day went.

Can I just say that I am so glad that this girl is on the trip?! Erin makes me laugh so hard every day! She's been on a roll with falling lately and it never fails to crack me up! Don't worry, she's usually laughing too.

The Great Plains are absolutely gorgeous! I expected much flatter terrain. But so far it has been extremely hilly. Not short, steep hills but long, slight, rolling hills that stretch for miles in all directions. The sky today was like nothing I've ever seen in my life. It was so big and there were hundreds of puffy clouds. (Unfortunately, I didn't really take a great picture of what I just described. I only took this one because of the wind turbines.)

The Catty Corner:
Erin: "My high was Skyping Maddie. My low is all the rumors that were being spread that Oklahoma was flat."

Day 32 - Oklahoma City, OK to Watonga, OK

TODAY WAS AWESOME! First of all, my butt felt great after having two consecutive days of rest. Secondly, after lunch, we hit a flat stretch AND caught a tailwind. At one point I hit 29 mph on a slight uphill. Lastly, the shoulder was huge and well paved and there wasn't much traffic so we were able to relax and talk some while riding. If all the days could be like today...

OH YEAH! Did some Route 66 riding! HISTORIC!

"If you ever plan to motor (or bike) west, travel my way, take the highway that is best. Get your kicks on Route 66." - Nat King Cole 

You are now entering the Great Plains. 

I'm so patriotic. And emo.

(Accident update: Maddie had surgery on her leg a couple days ago and is now back home with her parents recovering. She will not be able to continue riding with us but plans to meet us in Santa Cruz at the end of the summer. Abbie is still with us but she is on crutches and off the bike for a couple weeks recovering from a sprained ankle and pretty gnarly road rash.)

Tonight, we had a talent show! We Skyped Maddie and she was the first to perform. Her rendition of "Cosmic Love" by Florence + the Machine had me in tears. I ended up performing a cover of "Droplets" by Colbie Caillat and Jason Reeves, a song Harrison and I used to sing together often.

The Catty Corner:
Suzette and Molly's rap for the talent show (to the tune of "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore):

"I'm gonna pop some tubes
Only got patch kits in my Camelbak
Ah, Ah I'm strugglin', ruining this patch up
This is freaking awful

Walk into Charleston, got a bike and a U-Lock
Naw punk, you need some stuff from a bike shop
Cleats, clips, lights, jacket made of gortex
The boys be like, "Dang I like your butt in them spandex"

Rollin' in Gatorskin
Got new tape on the rims
Bought new pedals, clippin' in
Bike computer, it's a Schwinn
Wanna stop chafing, bought myself some chamois chream
While I'm applying it make eye contact with Starkey
*SQUISH*
But dang, I don't want butt sores

Crankin' it, cleanin' it
Want gears with some gleam in it
Don't carry Rueben's flag or you'll get in an accident
Don't worry, we got Safety Katie
It's a bike cleaning party
Savin' money, DM donuts
Happy we've got Dave's pitch

Got another slow leak
Got another slow leak
No, for real, its my tire
Got another slow leak

Bokoo order ain't coming 'til Sunday
Gotta hit the bike shop 'cause TODAY IS A BIKE DAY
They had some free stickers, I took some free stickers
Now my bin shows that I ain't just a city slicker
Hold up, hold up, did we pass a Sonic?
Those half-price milkshakes are so tasty and economic
I could use degreaser, a CLIF bar and some chain lube
Already forgetting I came here for just one tube

I'm gonna pop some tubes

Only got patch kits in my Camelbak

Ah, Ah I'm strugglin', ruining this patch up

This is freaking awful"

Day 31 - Oklahoma City Build Day 2

Today on the build site, we finished nailing the sheathing and installed roof trusses.

I got up on the "roof" that wasn't yet a roof today for about 10 minutes. I was super uncompfortable and ended up coming down to work on solid ground.

This concludes our OKC build. (Go to yesterday's blog to see just how much work we accomplished.)

I got my bike fixed today! Over the past couple rides a few of my gears were slipping and wouldn't catch. Therefore, when I was trying to climb I had to either stay in a hard gear and stand or go too low which caused me to spin out. It was terribly frustrating and caused some minor knee pain. I can't wait ride with all my gears again! Thanks Travis (Bike & Build Alum) for fixing it for free!

The tallest building in OKC is the Devon Tower, pictured right.

The Catty Corner:

Me: "My legs feel huge."

Erin: "I'm getting fat. Like I feel obese. Like...(*makes a ho-ho-ho Santa motion*). Like Charlotte Takes A Tumble fat."

Day 30 - Oklahoma City Build Day 1

Today was the first of two build days in Oklahoma City. We went to a neighborhood that was completely leveled by a tornado last year to rebuild one of the houses.

The Goon Squad gets down to business when we need to. Otherwise, we're just being goons.

I got so hammered at the job site... Oops!

Before Bike & Build invaded there was only a concrete foundation.

We assembled and installed all of the framing and also started the sheathing.

Dave, you should know better than to fall asleep in the van with a freshly shaven fu manchu.

Shout-out to Teryl (You're the best!) for paying for me to have a 90 minute massage after the build day! I surely kneaded that!

On the way to the massage, I walked by the Oklahoma City Memorial honoring those affected by the 1995 bombing. I didn't even know about the bombing until I arrived here and was told to go see it so I though I wouldn't really care all that much when I visited. As soon as I walked into the park, though, I was immediately shaken and moved to the point of tears. Each empty chair in the park represents a person that was killed in the bombing.

I explored Bricktown after dinner and enjoyed some gelato (that wasn't nearly as good as Luna Rosa in Greenville) and a live rock and roll cover band (that was totally using back tracks). 

Really, the highlight of Bricktown was The Great GummyBear Surgery performed by "Safety" Katie Pettibone.

The Catty Corner: I walked into a stop sign.