Little Things

Wow. I know I have been totally MIA. My only excuse to give you is exhaustion. Lack of reliable internet and exhaustion. Unexpected crises, lack of reliable internet, and exhaustion. The first three weeks of Bike & Build (has it really been that long?) have been really hectic for me. Between driving the van every four days, riding my bike all the other days, and trying to keep me eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time, I frequently find myself without much time to do normal things, like update my blog.

Things like naps (we call it narding or napping hard), and the eternal search for calories to shove into my mouth have taken over my life. Leading Bike & Build is super rewarding, but also stressful, so I ask for you patience if I am not as communicative as I possibly could be.

I'm trying!

Yesterday we rode from Bloomington, IN, a cute university town, to Terre Haute, as slightly less cute university town. It was my day to drive the van, which is a mixed bag. Some days run smoothly and I can take a nap while the riders eat lunch. Some days, like yesterday, I get a call from one of my riders saying that he may have broken a rib and needs a pickup. I spent 200 miles in the van yesterday shuttling between Bloomington and Terre Haute multiples times. The rider was fine, by the way, he only bruised his cartilage jumping into a quarry.

We had a fantastic host dinner, where I ate more food that I would normally consume in 3 days in the real world. Most people are pretty understanding to the fact that we burn 5000+ calories a day and therefore can eat AS MUCH AS WE WANT and still be hungry. It's a little harder explaining that when you spent all day driving a van. My excuse is that I have to eat for the next day on the bike, which is mostly true.

After dinner we hosted our first bike clinic for the kids attending vacation bible school. It worked out well for the most part. We taught the kids all the commands we use, like "stopping", "left turn", "pothole", with all the appropriate hand signals. Everyone had fun, which is the most important thing.

Afterwards, I was itching to get on my bike, since I didn't get a chance to ride all day, so I explored the ISU campus with Adam and we found this giant fountain. Long story short I ended up riding through it and he took this picture of me. It was a really quick way to shower both myself and my bike.

Drop It Like It's Hot

Most of my training for Bike & Build I have spent on the road trying to get as many miles in as possible. This is my first road bike ever, so it was tricky getting used to some of the differences between road bikes and pretty much any other kind of bike. The bike I had before this one was a Electra Deluxe, or in other words, a show boat. Those tires could ride over shards of glass and arrive unscathed. I never had to worry about real problems like flat tires or skipped gears. The one downside was a total inability go fast. That bike had only one speed: casual.

Now I have a road bike that has more than one speed, and, baby, this thing has a need for speed. Part of what makes a road bike faster is the position that you ride the bike in. On my cruiser the swooping handle bars keep you sitting up straight, which is nice for looking stylish, but not so great for aerodynamics. My road bike is not only light and streamlined, but it has drops.

Drop handlebars are those funny looking horns on the end of what otherwise look like normal handlebars. Drops were confusing thing to me for three reasons. I could not understand A) why anyone would want to lean over that far B) how to keep my crotch from going numb while in the drop position C) how to not run into things. I fixed B by changing the height and angle of my saddle. C took some practice on my part. But A – man, I learned about A the first time I road into the loop on Jackson Blvd.

Putting yourself into the drop position takes some practice before it becomes comfortable, but I found it was easier once I realized that I could still reach my brakes and shift gears without switching my hand position. Getting yourself down even those few inches lower does cut down on wind resistance, but is also brings your body closer to your legs in a position somewhat similar to a frog. In this position you can transfer much more power from your legs to pedals, which makes you go really fast! It's not to kind of thing you want to do while you're dodging other cars in traffic, but this day on Jackson Blvd I had to whole bike lane to myself and skyline of Chicago stretched out before me. I wanted to see how fast I could go. As it turns out, pretty damn fast.

I have always admired cyclists for their ability to use their own power to take them from place to place, but for some reason I always thought it was a sacrifice on their part. Like look at those poor cyclists, relinquishing the automobile so that the rest of us can breathe clean air. Now I know better. Cyclists aren't being noble. Secretly, they're have waaaaay more fun than the rest of us. And I sort of feel like I'm part of the secret-fun-of-cycling club.

The Spiel

If you've never heard of Bike & Build before, then prepare for something amazing. What if I told you that there was an affordable housing non-profit that fosters leadership and lifelong philanthropic service? Well, I'm here to tell you that it does exist, and it's even more exciting than you're imagining right now.

Bike & Build is a non-profit that seeks to connect young people with the affordable housing cause through cycling cross-country. Each rider has to fundraise $4000 dollars and then we ride in groups of ~33 riders from the Atlantic to the Pacific. We stop in towns along the way bringing media attention to dearth of affordable housing options in many parts of the country. If you're interesting in reading more about four actual families treading the edge of uncertainty, please check out this excellent case study,  The Other Side Of The Valley.

In addition to raising awareness, we also give away donations to local affordable housing charities, such as Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together. Over eight seasons, Bike & Build has contributed $2,780,000 to housing groups to fund projects planned and executed by young adults; this includes more than $490,000 donated from the summer of 2010. We're hoping to donate even more this summer!

And our efforts aren't just confined to pedaling for affordable housing. Approximately once a week we will trade our helmets for hammers and lend a hand at a local building project. For example, in Kansas City the riders from the Central US route will be building with Heartland Habitat for Humanity. Additionally, we have builds planned in Charlottesville, VA, Cincinnati, OH, St. Louis, MO, Denver, CO, Steamboat Springs, CO, Jackson, WY, Idaho Falls, ID, and Portland, OR. To help prepare for working on a build site each rider has to complete 10 hours of sweat equity with an affordable housing organization in their local area. 

Sounds pretty great, right? You're probably sitting there thinking, "Oh lordy, now I absolutely want to donate to this amazing cause!". Don't worry, you're not alone. Many people have sat in your place and wished that they too could be a part of this greatness. It's a really complicated process, so pay close attention. One, take out your credit card (unless you're extra fancy and already know the number by heart). Two, click here and donate directly through Google checkout. Remember that Bike & Build is a 501(c)(3) charity and your donation is tax-deductible.

But that's not all! Donors who give $65 or more will get a postcard from the road with a hilarious* story from the day that you helped make possible. And if you're really feeling generous, I will be giving the top ten donors a photo book of my journey from the east coast to the west coast as a bonus.

Thank you in advance for your generous support!


*hilarity only 60% guarenteed

FUNdraising: What Not To Do

The number one thing not to do is to not ask for money.

As a general rule, you don't get 100% of donations that you don't ask for. I have been struggling with this one since I started this process. I feel very uncomfortable asking people for money. I am always second guessing myself. Is this an appropriate time to ask for a donation? Will this person be upset or uncomfortable? After all, what right do I have to ask for their sweat, blood, and tears (well, hopefully not tears)?

I need to get over this fear, especially as I have a little less than half my total fundraising left to do (at last count I was at $2282 out of $4000), and slightly more than a month left before the trip starts. Looking at that number actually amazes me. I am so lucky to have people who believe not only in the cause, but in me!

I have fallen off the fundraising horse in the last few weeks. I got too bogged down in the details of planning a cross-country journey (click on the link to the left to see our route), three part-time jobs, and, you know, little things like graduate school visits. No biggie. But I'm back now, and better than ever!

In the spirit of fun, as all fundraising should be, I will be throwing a party to help spread the donation love. If you're in the Chicago area and want to see my pretty face, eat FREE food, or have interesting conversations with other prominent Chicagoans, then this event will be for you!

The party will be held at my parents' apartment (5436 S Hyde Park Blvd, Chicago, IL 60615) on Saturday April 30th from 4-7PM. If you're in the area, please stop by. And bring a friend!

If you're reading this and thinking, "What the heck is all this Bike & Build nonsense? What do you actually DO?", then you're in luck! My next post will be all about Bike & Build and how we help spread awareness and charitable donations for the affordable housing cause.

See you soon!

Flat Tire: Round Two

I got my second flat tire today whilst riding to work. This seems to be a trend for me. Only get flats when I'm on my way to a paying gig. Wonderful. I walked back home, since it was marginally closer to walk back than to continue on towards the Loop. I already made that trek and am not interested in repeating it. Of course, I was lazy and did not patch my other tube before venturing out onto that treacherous bike path, so when I got off my bike to roll up my pants (cause I'm awesome like that) the tell-tale hissing noise coming from my rear tire made my stomach plummet. I mean, twice in one week! What are the odds? (Actually they are quite good, since my laziness means that I don't pump up my tires before rolling out. Major fail.)

As promised, I said I would detail my adventures in tube patching, so here goes!

Tubes as it turns out are made of pretty thick rubber. I suppose this makes sense when you think about filling them with air to 120 PSI, but I guess I always thought of them as being rather fragile. Well, delicate prairie flowers, these are not, and consequently, it's not always easy to tell where the hole is in a tube. According to my handy patch kit, the best way is to blow the tube up and put it underwater and see where the bubbles come out. This works fantastically well, so I highly recommend it.

Next you have to sand the area around the tube to create an even scored surface that the vulcanizing agent (aka glue) can bind to. Patch kits usually come with a tiny square of sand paper just for this task. Then you have to apply the glue and let it set for about ten minutes. Then put the patch on like a sticker and you're done! Well, you're done if you make sure that there is enough glue on the tube to bind to the entire patch. If you're awesome, like me, you'll only add a dollop of glue to the place where the hole is, smear it around for good measure, and then have to reapply more when you realize that the entire patch has to bind to the tube, or else no dice. Moral of the story, don't be like me. Be sure to make the glue spot big enough the first time around. It's not like you're going to use that vulcanizing agent for anything else, right?

I'm letting my patches get some rest overnight and then tomorrow we're off to the races. By races, I mean commute to work. Same thing. This time I will DEFINITELY bring a spare tube and tire levers along with me. Speaking of which I seem to have lost my second tire lever. Good thing they're horrendously expensive (actual price $1).

Lesson learned: No really, don't leave the house without supplies to change a flat! And also take the extra 30 seconds to top off the tires.

Next up, FUNdraising: the trials & tribulations, what NOT to do, and of course, audience participation!

Flat Tire

Today was an adventure, as most bike rides are. My bike and I are still getting to know each other, so I still get paranoid every time I hear something rattle or click. This auditory obsession sometimes causes problems, because the streets of Chicago are covered in bits of rubble and broken glass. Every time I bounce I have to check to make sure that I don't have a flat tire. Today my paranoia has proven itself true. While riding down a small incline that banks sharply off to the left I felt my tire skid out and realized, horror of horrors, that I had my first flat.

No, it did not look like that. That bike has waaaay bigger problems than just a flat tire. Nevertheless, I was somewhat dismayed to have a flat tire and not have the means to fix it. I resigned myself to walking the remaining three miles to the Loop, and really, I could not have asked for a nicer day to walk into the city of Chicago (60 & sunny).

While walking past the Field Museum I was stopped by a stylish looking lady on a pink bike. She introduced herself as Martha from Bike Fancy, a totally fabulous blog for any woman commuting in Chicago by bike. She asked if she could take my picture, and I said of course! The sun was getting to the point in the sky where it becomes a nuisance, so I'm sure I looked squinty in all the pictures. I will definitely share the results of that encounter with you here!

I finally made it to the Loop and hopped on the red line in the direction of Uptown Bikes. What a fantastic bike shop! They outfitted me with a spare tube, tire levers, a patch kit, and a shiny new Road Morph pump. Changing a tire is not a terribly intuitive process, but I have done it once before, so I knew approximately what was supposed to happen. After wrestling with my rear tire for what seemed like longer than should be necessary, I finally got my tube switched out, pumped up, and ready to ride.

Lesson learned: never leave the house without a spare tube, tire levers, and a bike pump.

Next adventure: learning how to patch tubes!