Day 76 - Mineral, CA to Chico, CA

I was so looking forward to this day for a long time because I knew that we were going from 5,000 feet in elevation to a lowly 245 feet. But I awoke to the sound of rain and all I wanted to do was stay in bed. In true Bike & Build fashion we ventured on anyway and even though the ride wasn't that bad I was kind of upset because it could have easily been one of my favorites if it hadn't been for the rain. I was cold and wet for almost 7 hours and I even crashed when I rode through an oil slick that took my bike out from under me. 

Rainy days result in raincoats of many colors. Raincoats of many colors call for a rainbow lineup. ROY-G-BIV! (Purple is my signature color.) 

Comrades, down into the valley we go! 

Southern, Erika, Erin and I took a long trip to Flat City today. It all started when Southern got a flat and we pulled over to help her. Erin checked the tire while Southern checked the rim. Erin found a small piece of gold glass in the tire and it took her about 5 minutes to pull it out with some tweezers that she conveniently had in her Camelbak. Meanwhile, I was trying to patch punctured tubes with Southern's patch kit because I was the only one who had a good spare tube. The first patched tube that Southern put into her tire went flat immediately; Erin proceeded to find more glass in the tire. As Southern finally got her tire pumped up I walked past Erika's bike, that was just sitting on the side of the road, and heard the signature hiss of a tire going flat. None of the other patches were sticking to the tubes because everything was soaking wet so we had to use my only tube to fix Erika's flat which was also caused by tiny bits of glass. Erin started checking all of our tires and found shards in her own as well. A man pulled up in the middle of our chaos and just happened to have a spare tube in his car. So we set off an hour later: 20 miles from the host, Erin with a slow leak in her front tire, Southern and Erika just having fixed flats from glass and only one spare tube between the 4 of us. Naturally Southern got another flat and then another when we were 7 and 4 miles from the host. She ended up vanning the rest of the day and Erin, Erika and I rolled into the host frustrated by the hold up. Oh, and yes, Erika tweezed her eyebrows as Erin and Southern were working on their bikes. This picture is proof.     

After dinner, one of the host church's members, Jack Hulley, invited us over to his house. He had an in-home movie theater named "Hulleywood", an obvious play on Hollywood. It was extravagant to say the least. There was freshly made popcorn, every soda you could imagine, car racing games, pinball machines, "Hulleywood" engraved glasses, a theater curtain, 2 armrests per person, etc. We watched a great movie called Wild Target featuring Emily Blunt and Rupert Grint aka "Ron Weasley". 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINE! I'm sorry that this man's birthday tradition involved a spanking...

The Catty Corner: Ashley Southern has been on Bike & Build for 76 days and couldn't change a flat to save her life.

Day 75 - Susanville, CA to Mineral, CA

Today's original route was 72 miles from Cassel to Mineral but thanks to the reroute yesterday we only had to go 67 miles today. I know it's only 5 shorter... But it means that we netted 25 additional miles by going to Susanville. Everyone was actually really happy to have had the detour in the end because the Southern US route stole our "longest and strongest" title a couple of days ago. With the reroute though, we've taken it back! Regardless, the ride today was a great one, through the mountainous forests of Northern California.

When I descended into Susanville yesterday I realized that we were entering a valley completely surrounded by mountains and that there was no way out but up so I wasn't surprised by the climbing that took place today. The first big climb was about 10 miles out from the host. I was riding lone wolf style this morning so I just snapped a photo of the elevation sign while I was riding by. 

At mile 20 we took a short detour off of highway 36 to go to Westwood, the hometown of Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack of American folklore. Babe the Blue Ox was even there! 

TREES! I LOVE TREES! 

No, seriously... Trees are one of my favorite things, especially when paired with beautiful bodies of water. Lucky for me, Northern California is covered with pines. I can't wait until we get to the redwoods near the coast.

The second big climb of the day ended 5 miles from the host and there was a sweet decent into Mineral. Morgan Summit, at 5,650 feet, may or may not be the last big summit of the summer. I guess I'll be finding out tomorrow... 

A hottub awaited us at the host; it was so amazing! My muscles were seriously sore from climbing so much over the past 2 days and it was nice to relax in the jet streams. I chilled for almost 2 hours and even got a 30 minute massage! 

Shout-out to Suzette for always cooking us an amazing meal when we don't have a host dinner. We would be lost without you, Suzette! Our bellies thank you!

The Catty Corner:
Q: What's Babe's favorite college?
A: Oxford!

Day 74 - Alturas, CA to Susanville, CA

Originally, we were supposed to bike about 87 miles from Alturas to Cassel. But wildfires in the area have caused a great deal of damage and the roads leaving Cassel were closed so we had to reroute to Susanville instead, adding over 30 miles to the ride. And as it turned out this ride was the most up and down we've had all summer. We started with a flat section for the first 20 miles but then hit 5 peaks, the last just 9 miles from the host. I felt like I was climbing all day long and I am really proud of myself for conquering such a difficult day; I'm still in high spirits knowing how close I am to the coast now. Because the reroute was very last minute, we didn't know what we were going to do regarding food and a place to stay. I want to give the people of Susanville many thanks for providing for us in a big way on such short notice. They showed us extreme interest and generosity and we were all very happy to have a hot meal and an air-conditioned building to sleep in.   

Things I thought at the top of Adin Pass (elevation 5,173 feet):
1. I really hope this is the last pass I have to bike on this trip.
2. I'm riding toward the sun. Why am I riding toward the sun? EAST IS THE WRONG WAY!

Well, Adin Pass wasn't exactly the last pass of the trip. In fact, we peaked 4 more times on today's ride alone! 

The junkyard gang joined us for part of today's ride! This roadside art was seriously amazing and totally pumped me up. There were bicycles and an American flag. One of the crew only needs to have a hammer and then the Bike & Build theme would be complete.

Certain parts of Modoc National Forest had been devastated by previous wildfires. The grasses and smaller shrubs had grown back but the trees were completely lifeless, some of them even toppled over and mangled looking. The contrast between the forest that hadn't been burned and the forest that had was astounding.  

I celebrated the last climb of the day, Antelope Summit, by prancing around like an antelope. Naturally... 

The original re-route plan was to camp out at Hobo Camp, near the Susan River. Instead we were offered last minute to stay at the local Methodist church. Still we went to the campsite for a cookout dinner provided by the Rotary Club and some people took "showers" in the river.

I opted, instead, for an equally cold hose shower. If I have to use freezing cold water, it's at least going to be clean cold water. Can you see the pounds I've put on? My quads are much larger than when I began this endeavor. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH!

The Catty Corner:
Q: A Mexican fireman had two sons. What did he name them?
A: Hosea and Hoseb.

Day 73 - Lakeview, OR to Alturas, CA

This morning I woke up excited to finally reach California! We all raced the first 14 miles to the state line where we celebrated and took way too many pictures. Lunch was about 16 miles after that; Molly did an incredible job shopping and we indulged ourselves in Snack Pack pudding and cheap lunch meat. Nothing much stands out to me about the remainder of the ride. I just keep counting down the rides and the miles until the coast...

"California, CALIFORNIA, here we comeeeeee..." -Phantom Planet

I rocked out extra hard seeing as this is the last state line we will cross on our journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

About a quarter mile before the sign, we stopped to wait for the riders behind us so that we could all ride in California together. It just so happened that the van caught up to us at this exact moment; it was magical. There was a lot of whooping and hollering involved, an explosion of excitement. 

It's not Tattoo Tuesday but it is TATTERDAY! Molly just wants every day to be a day full of temporary tattoos. I don't mind going along with it. After all, I'm a wild thing. 

The Catty Corner:
Michele: "Eric, odds you kiss Jake on the lips?"
Eric: "I mean... 1 in 5."

Day 72 - Wagontire, OR to Lakeview, OR

I really enjoyed the first 30 miles of this ride. It was the first time that I listened to music while riding, which technically isn't allowed on Bike & Build but... It really lifted my spirits. (I'm going to a Paramore concert on August 16th in Irvine and I just bought their new album so I needed to get familiar with the songs!) Also, I liked being so far from real life people and civilization. For some reason, this ride seemed prettier to me than the past few. We saw desert sand dunes for the first time instead of the typical rocky soil. After first lunch though I was ready for my cell phone to have signal again so I rode as fast as I could to second lunch. From there we hit some headwinds but trees abruptly appeared as we entered Lakeview and everyone was really happy for the change in landscape. Oh, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Good morning, Wagontire. Goodbye, Wagontire. Forever.

I love riding with Erin and Erika; they make this trip worthwhile. 

Here we have Lake Abert. Yeah... Not so much. It's maybe a salt marsh at best. I looked it up on Wikipedia to figure out how long it's been dried up but the articles refer to it as if it's still a legitimate body of water. Maybe it's a seasonal thing? I have my doubts. 

Tonight we had a family meeting and our biggest task was to go through all the grants that we were assigned in order to decide what affordable housing organizations would receive funding from Bike & Build. The SC2SC route in particular raised a total of $169,976 this summer! After operation costs and the sizable donation to the Blitz Build with Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity, we had $25,000 to allot to various grant applicants. Some of the organizations that we decided to fund are: Marion County Habitat for Humanity in SC, Bethlehem Farm in WV, Community Housing Coalition Madison County in NC, and Chico Habitat for Humanity in CA.

This is what actually happens at family meetings: massages and braids.

The Catty Corner:
Dave (as Marty in "Wagontire: The Single"): "I SAID TWO PEOPLE!"

Day 71 - Burns, OR to Wagontire, OR

So basically, I'm really tired of being in the desert and I can't wait to see trees and feel a cool breeze again. We have seriously been riding through the most desolate of regions. Need proof? Our host tonight is a man named Marty who lives alone in a town called Wagontire. His trailer and rundown RV park/motel are the only things for miles and miles and we rely on him year after year for water and other basic necessities as we traverse the desert. Needless to say, there's not much to see on a ride like this. Nevertheless, biking today was pretty fun. In the early morning we rode through a short-lived rainstorm and I was thankful for the cooling drops because I'm pretty sure the alternative in this area is heat, heat, heat. We hung out at the lunch stop for a while because we knew there wouldn't be much to do in Wagontire. We didn't stay there long enough though. By that I mean we should have just camped there instead. The ride after lunch was equally as fun but we finished by about 1:30 and literally just sat around in Wagontire in the blazing sun until a storm hit and night fell, all the while trying our best to not get shot by Marty for looking at him the wrong way or sitting in the wrong section of the campground.   

Devin's route meetings are my favorite of all route meetings! He always makes up hilarious nicknames for people, like "I Do Declare Dunphy", "The 2x Grammy Nominee, Erika", and "Stone Cold Steve Southern". For dinner tonight we will "kill livestock" and instead of showers will we have "cat lick baths".

During the ride I talked to Erin for a long time about Harrison and the day of the accident and the week following his death. She talked to me too, about her dad. I ended up on the side of the road, crying in her lap. I can't say enough how thankful I am for her and what she's been through and how we relate on so many levels. I told Erin that I'm really excited to finish this trip; it's probably my biggest life accomplishment thus far. But I'm really sad that Harrison won't be there waiting for me at the Pacific. I fully expect to fall facedown in the sand, wailing like a baby, when I arrive in Santa Cruz. And I'm okay with that. 

Wagontire. Population: 3. 

Well, here you have the entire "town": Marty's trailer, camper, and shed, a closed cafe and motel, an "international airport", and a handful of campground slots? 

If you look closely you can see Marty walking to his trailer. He's wearing a white shirt and jeans and is in far left of the frame. We were warned by previous routes and by the leaders about Marty's temperament. But when we met him we all thought that he was a pretty normal guy, that is, until he flipped out on us for having too many people in the hotel room. A select fews riders had the privilege of being screamed at and cussed out by him. We were expecting to get kicked out of Wagontire; I don't think anyone would have complained. But much to our surprise, he let us stay the night and even kept the water on for us.  

I really felt like an orphan during dinner tonight, mostly because we were camping and our dinner consisted of orphan food: a mixture of instant mashed potatoes, canned corn and shredded cheese. Erin and I even had to share a bowl. We had our own forks though...  

I came up with a game while I sat in the van for 2 hours waiting for the time to pass. It was called Create a Constellation. Everyone who wanted to play got to draw on my leg with a Sharpie, connecting freckles to make their own constellation. Then, they got to name it and look for it at night once the real stars came out. Erin went first. Naturally, her constellation was a chocolate milkshake. 

Eric made a dancing goat!

In honor of LSU's crew team, Reuben drew a boat and an oar dubbed "The Flying Dutchman". 

Safety Katie's constellation was a ghost pig named "The Ethereal Swine".  

Ummm... I'm pretty sure tents aren't supposed to be flat. Right? But that's what happens when a desert storm rolls in. One of the tents ended up snapping and those folks had to sleep in the van. The rest of us attempted to sleep in the violent wind. I slept great, as usual, but Erin, Erika, and Southern woke up in the middle of the night to the tent collapsing on top of them. They described the experience as similar to a nightmarish horror film in which they imagined Marty creeping in the shadows, out to get all Bike & Builders. How I didn't wake up, I'm not certain.

The Catty Corner:
Erika: "Where's my phone?"

Day 70 - Burns Day Off

Do you want to know what you do if you're on Bike & Build and have a day off in a town of only 2,800 people 12 days from the end of the trip? You go to the local library and try to get your post Bike & Build life in order. We've got this, you guys!

I wasted close to 30 minutes playing around on Google Maps, mapping out the rest of our route. Only 11 rides left!

Glory Days Pizza invited us to have a free dinner since we didn't have a host dinner planned. They were extremely generous and even offered to let us stay there. Hopefully next year's route will be in contact with them prior to their arrival because we had a blast hanging out there. They had a huge projection screen; we watched the Big Bang Theory while we ate dinner and afterwards we watched Up. Glory Days even let us have free bottomless slushes so I was drinking Dr. Pepper Icees all night long. 

The Catty Corner:
Dug from "Up": "I was hiding under your porch because I love you."