First thing's first - big shout out to Grandma and Kaitlyn for sending me a box of delicious cookies. They also promised to send stuff EVERY WEEK for the rest of the summer. I have an awesome family. Can you top them? Check out the mail drops for my route - we get mail every Thursday, so make sure it's where it needs to be by thursday! I accept cash donations, letters, and, most importantly, delicious treats.
http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,347/
I last wrote here in Panama City, which turned out to be an awesome party town. New Orleans puts it to shame.
Before I get onto the the raucous crowds of Bourbon Street, I'll take you through Western Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. We crossed many states in not so many days.
From Panama City we biked north to DeFuniak Springs (we put the fun back in DeFuniak). Along the way, most of us got caught in multiple rain storms that seemed to be following us across the Florida pan-handle. On a bike, that means you need to do some serious maintenance work before the next ride. Most of us wiped our bikes down with rags, re-lubed the chains, cleaned out the cassettes and brakes, and generally performed daily maintenance tasks after arriving in DeFuniak's community center. We were only there for one night, and there wasn't much else to do, so it worked out pretty well. In the morning, we got back in the saddle and headed to Pensacola, but before we left Defuniak Springs we had to ride (rather unnecessarily) around one of two perfectly circular lakes in the world. The other is in Switzerland, apparently.
Anyway, that day's ride was interesting. I rode with Colin, Luke, Z, and Justin, and we really dropped the hammer. It was my first day of serious pedal-mashing, and we were doing pretty well until we hit about mile 50 of 80-something. Route 98 is not friendly to cyclists, and the asphalt soaked up the heat of a 95-degree-day and turned it into at least a 110-degree oven. After a quick water stop in the parking lot of Wal-Mart that Hans had set up for us, we re-routed along Santa Rosa island, a barrier island that felt more like the gates of hell. Sand surrounded us on both sides, and the heat didn't abate, though the traffic was much better. We trucked along through a headwind though, and finally arrived at a delicious feast prepared by our hosts for the evening. Colin mixed chocolate syrup into a gallon of milk, and I think it was gone in less than 60 seconds, split between the 10 of us that arrived around the same time. It was glorious. And there were couches to sleep on.
We only stayed in the Pensacola Paradise Hotel (read: United Methodist Church) for one night before heading to Mobile, Alabama. One of our leaders (there are four, Hans, Colin, Agata, and Cassie) is responsible for the route each day, and for this stretch of the trip it is Agata. She told us we had 91 miles, definitely our longest ride day so far. The morning went quickly. I was riding with Colin again and we were hammering out the first 40 miles like it was cake. We missed the Alabama sign, but got into lunch feeling good... except for my tailbone. I think I injured my coccyx playing intramural hockey this year, and sitting in the library studying on hard chairs didn't help it heal. Now I'm spending close to (or over) 5 hours a day on a skinny, hard bicycle seat everyday. Not a good combo.
At lunch I decided, after talking to both Colin and Hans, that I would spend the rest of the day in the van. I really wanted to finish the ride, but I figured some rest now would help me to ride more later on - I didn't want to injure it further and have to sit in the van for multiple days down the road. We had 2 build days in Mobile, so that was some additional rest.
The van sucks. It's got air-conditioning, but that's about the only perk. We had to set up a second lunch stop, pick up riders that missed a ferry, and drive down beautiful winding roads that I should have been riding my bike on. Sucks. AND there was a "surprise" 5 miles at the end that I missed. I know, you're thinking I'm crazy to have wanted to ride an extra 5 miles up and down hills at the end, but there's something about grueling through a difficult and long ride with your friends that builds a lot of cameraderie. I am sad to have missed it.
But it's all good, and my butt healed a bit during our two build days. I spent my build time with Justin (his last name is Butler, so we call him Butts) working in one of the houses. Frankly, the Mobile Habitat for Humanity needs a construction supervisor. We saw multiple issues, like the crack in the floor that we were tasked to fix, throughout the entire house. Anyway, after two days, we had fixed the one big crack in the floor, but in order to do so we had to take out three doors completely and the entire floor. So we left a bit behind where we started. We also may or may not have ruined some of the doors (which were caulked, sealed, and painted) because there was no other way to reinstall the interlocking laminate flooring. But I think the two of us learned a lot, and now, in New Orleans, we are applying that knowledge and being much more careful with our work.
After our stay in Mobile, we biked to Long Beach, Mississippi, which is just south of Gulfport. I think it's appropriate now to bring up the oil spill. I have seen oil. It's here. When riding on Satan's Island (Santa Rosa before Pensacola), we stopped on the beach to talk to contracted clean up crews (and dip our tires in the Gulf. Only trip with 3 coasts!) Some of the clean up guys had big tar balls, but the beach and ocean were very clean.
Riding (and driving) into Mobile, we saw a LOT of the floating booms they're using in the clean up process. I learned that the oil, for the most part, rests on the top of the water. The booms sag about a foot and half into the water, so they use them to funnel the oil into specific locations, where boats are rigged to skim the oil off the top of the water. This oil can actually be reprocessed and used.
The booms are everywhere. They've got really long ones, and every body of water since Pensacola has had them somewhere. Riding over a bridge towards Mobile, I saw an island/sand bar in the middle of a bay that was absolutely drenched in oil. The sand was brown. You can see the oil in the water - it looks brown and... well, oily. It's murky and streaks through the water. There are clean up crews just about everywhere - poor souls wearing orange vests and long pants in the dire heat. Every beach has been practically deserted other than sporadic tents for the clean up guys. Other than that, however, the beaches seem clean. When you hear the governors of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi saying it's clean, it is. But the oil is there, and I'm sure it's wreaking havoc on the ecosystem. I have a shirt that says "Save Louisiana Seafood." I'm not sure if it's possible.
At Long Beach we stayed in Colin's parents' friend's beach house. In the evening we walked around the corner to Darwell's pub/grill for some famous Shrimp Creole and live music outside. It was amazingly delicious and a really good time.
The rest of the block we were staying on was either nice new houses, or empty lots, with stairs leading to nowhere: remnants of Katrina. Some houses were abandoned and had FEMA numbers spray painted on the walls. While many of the communities we had visited before this along the coast were affected by Katrina, this was the first real encounter with the horrifying destruction of news headlines. It got worse in New Orleans.
We had a 69 mile ride into New Orleans and I decided - along with the bros I've been riding with - to totally crush it. I got my first flat, we endured 4 flats as a group, as well as blistering heat, but we crushed it. For a stretch of newly paved highway, we even rode at 30mph for a few miles, which is really like, Lance speed. It hurt. But we dropped the hammer and got into NOLA around noon, which was perfect because our goal was to arrive in time to watch the World Cup game at 1:30. We ended up meeting with some other riders in our group and looking for a place to eat and watch the game. With 5 others, I helped get some hot wings and sodas donated and we sat in a nice restaurant on Bourbon Street to watch the game. We then rode to our host location in the Lower 9th Ward - a former Walgreens that was gutted and unfinished except for one room which was being used as a worship hall for a church. Not good. The L9W was hit the worst by Katrina - it was under 13.5 feet of water, and it shows. Now, people are poorer than they were (we saw signs for businesses that were clearly written by illiterate people. Seriously, the letters were written incorrectly, much like a 4-year-old would write an "e" backwards). It's dangerous because people are driven to steal, and a group got their belongings stolen out of that church. So we resolved to move across town, which is where I am now. I've been out on the town a few nights - Bourbon Street is a giant party, Frenchmen Street has great music, and there's delicious seafood all around. We've built for two days now - I'm working with Justin and Hans on building and installing a kitchen cabinet set for a hard-to-work-with woman in Treme whose brother wrote and performed the title track for the HBO series of the same name. We're going to watch him on Saturday.
Anyway, I've written a ton so far, so I am going to bed. I'll try to update again before I leave New Orleans, but we have to move again tomorrow so I have no idea of the internet situation. It's been very spotty, but I am taking mental notes and promise to update as often as possible. Thanks for reading, don't forget to send me cookies!
Alex
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Day 7
Hello from Panama City, Florida, home of Spring Breakers gone wild! Or Bike and Builders resting weary legs (and butts!)
A quick recap of the past week:
Jacksonville to Callahan - stayed in a campsite. Rode fast
Callahan to Perry - stayed in another campsite. Rode fast
Perry to Sopchoppy (it's a real place) - stayed in a campsite. This was actually one of my favorite rides so far because I rode at a slower pace, but got to talk a lot more to a lot more people. I rode mostly with Cory, who in the morning got a flat. Changing a flat in the intense heat is not fun, but we got it done quickly and then got to lunch where Hans (leader driving the van that day) had bought us sweet corn. Everyone has been talking - and it's true - about how the "little things" make such a difference on this trip. Having corn in addition to the normal PB&J&Banana&Honey sandwich made such a difference in our moods and we left lunch feeling great. However, not more than a mile and a half out of lunch, Cory and I stopped to assist Agata (a leader riding that day) who had a flat and heat exhaustion. We took care of her the best we could and got Hans to come get her as quickly as he could. It was a little scary, but she turned out to be OK in the end, and all we got was a little extra sunburn.
About 15 miles later, we decided to jump into the Wakulla River to cool off. There was a canoe rental cabin next to the boat ramp we used, and as we were swimming in the deliciously cold water and slimy kelp, the people at the canoe rental yelled to us that manatees were swimming towards us. I thought they were joking. They weren't. Two manatees, a momma and a baby, swam right up to us. About this time, other riders saw our chalk on the road (indicating we went for a quick swim) and joined us in the water. The manatees were very playful and let us pet them, ride them, and in Jen's case, kiss them. One also blew water in Josh's face. It was an incredible experience, and totally made up for the flats and heat that Cory and I had to ride through in the morning. Definitely one of the high points of the trip so far. We called it: Habitat for Hu-Manatee.
Sopchoppy to Apalachicola - rode slower again, but at a good clip. I've settled in around 15-16mph average, which I'm happy about. It rained A LOT that day, and we had to shelter in multiple locations from lightning. After lunch the thunderstorms gave way to simple rain, which was refreshing to ride in as long as we didn't stop for so long. To get to Apalach (which is what the locals call it), we had to ride across a 3-mile-long flat bridge and a tall bridge after that. I was riding with Rebekah that day, and luckily we had a tail wind because we were cruising across the 3 mile stretch at around 23mph - fast on a bike when you're on flat ground. On the way down the bridge, I hit my trip high of 35mph which was a lot of fun, and I was surprised to see a bustling village on the other side of the bridge.
One of the things we try to do everywhere is get stuff donated. Whether it be cycling gear, food, coffee, ice cream, or swag, we always talk to locals about Bike and Build, what we're doing, and if they'd like to give donations. In downtown Apalach, we were received with open arms. Rebekah and I were joined by Scott and Brandon, and between the four of us we managed to get coffee, a giant lunch of turkey, salad, crab cakes, and chocolate mousse cake for the four of us, enough paella for dinner for the entire group, and oysters later that evening for just about anyone who wanted them. We were surprised, overwhelmed, and humbled by the amazing generosity of the people in Apalachicola.
Apalach is an oyster/seafood town, but it's hurting badly from recession, housing prices, and general neglect. We stayed in an abandoned high school because nobody else had the resources to host us. We all went into town in the evening for oysters, and the people there were terrified of the Gulf oil spill. In their opinions, which are probably very close to the truth, the oil will turn Apalachicola into a ghost town. Talking about it made people visibly upset. Most became silent. It was heartbreaking. I was surprised and inspired by their resiliency though - nobody spoke of leaving. Everyone there is a fighter. Apalach was my favorite stop so far because the people there were the nicest, but also the strongest... even though the town has so little.
Apalachicola to Panama City - Yesterday I rode with Justin, who is a student at Harvard and joined me for a ride in Boston before we were both done with school. He's a hilarious kid, but yesterday we were both exhausted and turned somewhat into zombies, just spinning away on our bicycles trying to get to PC as fast as we could without collapsing in the heat. We passed Tyndall Air Force Base - which is huge - and saw two fighter jets screaming above us, but it wasn't enough to combat the monotony of a 15-mile stretch of perfectly straight, perfectly boring road that lulled us almost to sleep.
We were all surprised to hear that today was not a build day. In fact, as I write this post, I'm realizing that I probably wouldn't have had the time to give such detailed explanations if our build day got canceled. For some reason, the family whose house we were going to build could not complete the final step of the application process, so they did not break ground last week. Panama City's Habitat for Humanity is a very small chapter, so this is a huge setback for them, and a disappointment for us. I truly love build sites - I loved it in Huntington, WV during my spring break trips, and I loved it in Atlantic Beach in Jacksonville. I was really looking forward to building again with the 32 other people whom I am coming to know much better, but it was not meant to be. I'm scared for the family because I don't know the reasons for their failure to break ground, but for some reason I'm haunted by the possibility that they were unable to pay, or even worse, lost a job. Owning a house (and paying Habitat's no-interest mortgage) is such a stabilizing financial factor for a family that I am worried a deserving family will end up worse than they are now. But I don't know the details so I must remind you this is all speculation.
In any case, it is nice to have a day to lounge and rest the legs. I've ridden over 400 miles already. The route tracker says it's been less, but we had a few detours and re-routes each day that add miles. I'm confident I'll have ridden over 4,000 by the time I reach the Golden Gate Bridge. Anyway, 400 miles in 6 days of riding is a lot. My bum hurts, a lot. My legs are sore, constantly. I was beginning to have knee pain, but learned that I was spinning incorrectly, so that is beginning to subside. I've been eating a ton - probably in the range of 7000-9000 calories a day - but I think I'm actually losing weight. I have ridiculous tan lines. I'm sick of peanut butter, already. I hope I never have to drink yellow Gatorade ever again. I've been in two states (we crossed into Georgia for 11 miles on Day 2 of riding). Yesterday we crossed our first time zone.
But the people on this trip are amazing. I'm learning more and more about them each day, and everyone is so dedicated and has such inspiring (or hilarious) stories that it makes an 80-mile ride seem like nothing. Tomorrow we head to Funiak Springs, before riding the following day to Pensacola. The oil just hit Pensacola so it will be an interesting experience. Then we ride out of Florida to Mobile, AL, which was hit hard by Katrina. Hopefully I'll be able to get internet and post again before then, but if not I am keeping notes and will fill you in afterwards.
Thanks for reading!
Alex
A quick recap of the past week:
Jacksonville to Callahan - stayed in a campsite. Rode fast
Callahan to Perry - stayed in another campsite. Rode fast
Perry to Sopchoppy (it's a real place) - stayed in a campsite. This was actually one of my favorite rides so far because I rode at a slower pace, but got to talk a lot more to a lot more people. I rode mostly with Cory, who in the morning got a flat. Changing a flat in the intense heat is not fun, but we got it done quickly and then got to lunch where Hans (leader driving the van that day) had bought us sweet corn. Everyone has been talking - and it's true - about how the "little things" make such a difference on this trip. Having corn in addition to the normal PB&J&Banana&Honey sandwich made such a difference in our moods and we left lunch feeling great. However, not more than a mile and a half out of lunch, Cory and I stopped to assist Agata (a leader riding that day) who had a flat and heat exhaustion. We took care of her the best we could and got Hans to come get her as quickly as he could. It was a little scary, but she turned out to be OK in the end, and all we got was a little extra sunburn.
About 15 miles later, we decided to jump into the Wakulla River to cool off. There was a canoe rental cabin next to the boat ramp we used, and as we were swimming in the deliciously cold water and slimy kelp, the people at the canoe rental yelled to us that manatees were swimming towards us. I thought they were joking. They weren't. Two manatees, a momma and a baby, swam right up to us. About this time, other riders saw our chalk on the road (indicating we went for a quick swim) and joined us in the water. The manatees were very playful and let us pet them, ride them, and in Jen's case, kiss them. One also blew water in Josh's face. It was an incredible experience, and totally made up for the flats and heat that Cory and I had to ride through in the morning. Definitely one of the high points of the trip so far. We called it: Habitat for Hu-Manatee.
Sopchoppy to Apalachicola - rode slower again, but at a good clip. I've settled in around 15-16mph average, which I'm happy about. It rained A LOT that day, and we had to shelter in multiple locations from lightning. After lunch the thunderstorms gave way to simple rain, which was refreshing to ride in as long as we didn't stop for so long. To get to Apalach (which is what the locals call it), we had to ride across a 3-mile-long flat bridge and a tall bridge after that. I was riding with Rebekah that day, and luckily we had a tail wind because we were cruising across the 3 mile stretch at around 23mph - fast on a bike when you're on flat ground. On the way down the bridge, I hit my trip high of 35mph which was a lot of fun, and I was surprised to see a bustling village on the other side of the bridge.
One of the things we try to do everywhere is get stuff donated. Whether it be cycling gear, food, coffee, ice cream, or swag, we always talk to locals about Bike and Build, what we're doing, and if they'd like to give donations. In downtown Apalach, we were received with open arms. Rebekah and I were joined by Scott and Brandon, and between the four of us we managed to get coffee, a giant lunch of turkey, salad, crab cakes, and chocolate mousse cake for the four of us, enough paella for dinner for the entire group, and oysters later that evening for just about anyone who wanted them. We were surprised, overwhelmed, and humbled by the amazing generosity of the people in Apalachicola.
Apalach is an oyster/seafood town, but it's hurting badly from recession, housing prices, and general neglect. We stayed in an abandoned high school because nobody else had the resources to host us. We all went into town in the evening for oysters, and the people there were terrified of the Gulf oil spill. In their opinions, which are probably very close to the truth, the oil will turn Apalachicola into a ghost town. Talking about it made people visibly upset. Most became silent. It was heartbreaking. I was surprised and inspired by their resiliency though - nobody spoke of leaving. Everyone there is a fighter. Apalach was my favorite stop so far because the people there were the nicest, but also the strongest... even though the town has so little.
Apalachicola to Panama City - Yesterday I rode with Justin, who is a student at Harvard and joined me for a ride in Boston before we were both done with school. He's a hilarious kid, but yesterday we were both exhausted and turned somewhat into zombies, just spinning away on our bicycles trying to get to PC as fast as we could without collapsing in the heat. We passed Tyndall Air Force Base - which is huge - and saw two fighter jets screaming above us, but it wasn't enough to combat the monotony of a 15-mile stretch of perfectly straight, perfectly boring road that lulled us almost to sleep.
We were all surprised to hear that today was not a build day. In fact, as I write this post, I'm realizing that I probably wouldn't have had the time to give such detailed explanations if our build day got canceled. For some reason, the family whose house we were going to build could not complete the final step of the application process, so they did not break ground last week. Panama City's Habitat for Humanity is a very small chapter, so this is a huge setback for them, and a disappointment for us. I truly love build sites - I loved it in Huntington, WV during my spring break trips, and I loved it in Atlantic Beach in Jacksonville. I was really looking forward to building again with the 32 other people whom I am coming to know much better, but it was not meant to be. I'm scared for the family because I don't know the reasons for their failure to break ground, but for some reason I'm haunted by the possibility that they were unable to pay, or even worse, lost a job. Owning a house (and paying Habitat's no-interest mortgage) is such a stabilizing financial factor for a family that I am worried a deserving family will end up worse than they are now. But I don't know the details so I must remind you this is all speculation.
In any case, it is nice to have a day to lounge and rest the legs. I've ridden over 400 miles already. The route tracker says it's been less, but we had a few detours and re-routes each day that add miles. I'm confident I'll have ridden over 4,000 by the time I reach the Golden Gate Bridge. Anyway, 400 miles in 6 days of riding is a lot. My bum hurts, a lot. My legs are sore, constantly. I was beginning to have knee pain, but learned that I was spinning incorrectly, so that is beginning to subside. I've been eating a ton - probably in the range of 7000-9000 calories a day - but I think I'm actually losing weight. I have ridiculous tan lines. I'm sick of peanut butter, already. I hope I never have to drink yellow Gatorade ever again. I've been in two states (we crossed into Georgia for 11 miles on Day 2 of riding). Yesterday we crossed our first time zone.
But the people on this trip are amazing. I'm learning more and more about them each day, and everyone is so dedicated and has such inspiring (or hilarious) stories that it makes an 80-mile ride seem like nothing. Tomorrow we head to Funiak Springs, before riding the following day to Pensacola. The oil just hit Pensacola so it will be an interesting experience. Then we ride out of Florida to Mobile, AL, which was hit hard by Katrina. Hopefully I'll be able to get internet and post again before then, but if not I am keeping notes and will fill you in afterwards.
Thanks for reading!
Alex
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