whoop

KanAsas!

2008-06-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

Alright, So today we passed into Kansas. The pass couple of rides have been kind of rough because of the head wind. Today was nice because for the first 40 miles there was a tail wind. For once I didn't need someone to pull me all day. Claire has been saving my life lately. The past week was a good one, I was able to ride with people I don't normally ride with because they slowed down and rode with us slow folk. I have had a lot of fun with them. Claire is the strongest girl ever, she pulls maura and I all day every day, we're her babies. And Michelle instructs us on the uphills. It's like i'm in spin class, except that I always cheated in spin class and it's showing now.
The bachlorette party we had for Rachel was awesome. The guys put on a little show for her at the end. silly boys. I love this group of people.

We're camping tonight, I'm trying to take my time getting to the camp site because apparently there is no shade and it's really hot. There is one tree that is trying to grow so that's going to be useless to 30 of us. BUT there is a lake, So I might go now and jump in that since the library is closing.

byeeEeEeeeEeEe

biking more mountains...

2008-06-23T05:14:00.000-07:00

We did our first century ride from little rock to Clarksville. Little rock was awesome. We had two build days there. We got hooked up with some awesome meals the whole time and we all got to go to the Arkansas Travelers baseball game for free. Little rock by far exceeded my expectations. it was a little iffy riding in cause we went through North Little Rock which was a little sketch. We also found THE 'Little Rock' and held it, it was mighty heavy so it took 8 of us to hold up even though it was smaller than the palm of my hand.

The century ride was not as bad as I thought it would be. It was actually a lot easier than many other shorter days. It went by fast because Maura and I switched off doing 5 minute pacelines. When we got to Clarksville everyone was sooo nice and the first thing that the preacher said to me was the she was a picture of me on the website with a baby and knew how much i liked babies so she invited a woman with a baby to come to the dinner just for me!!! hahaha. and sure enough there was a baby there for me to hog and hug on! thanks so much!

The next ride was a little short.... 94 miles. It was some more mountains. The Ozarks. eww. Actually, I think my legs got a little stronger since the last mountains we climbed cause it was a bit easier to get up and I wasn't about to keel over at the end of it. And Scott and I stopped for Sonic toward the end which was wonderful.

Now, yesterday's ride from Fayettville to Grove OK was AWESOME!!! It was a busy day being that we were in THREE states. On a bike! what?! We left Arkansas, rode in Missouri for a few miles and then came into Oklahoma. The best part of the ride was that when we got to lunch, which Maura, Rachel, Emily and I were first to, which has never happened before, there was a storm off in the distance. We took off on our bikes into the storm, rode through the storm and came out the other side. It was so cool though cause we got to the bottom of a hill and behind us as thunder and dark storm clouds and as you looked up at the top of the hill in front of us there were blue skies. it was the neatest thing. After that little strom the rest of the day was beautiful.

ok gotta go to a meeting

a lot of love

Memphis madness, AR flatness

2008-06-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Memphis was crazy, we went out on Beale st and it was WiLd!!!!! such an awesome place. The next day on our first day off, Maura, Dennis, Dan T and I went and ate some breakfast/lunch, then Maura and I were biking to target when we stumbled upon a pool that we got into for free so we pooled it up all day. it was GREAT!

Today we crossed into AR. I don't care too much for the state so far, it's soooo flat and there is a strong head wind that makes you feel like you're climbing mountains without ever getting to go down. lame. But I was sweep today with Dave and it was quite eventful this morning...
I had to call 911 for a woman who was hit by a train and thrown from her car. It was really scary, when i found her she was face down and not moving but she came around and I talked to her until the fire department got there. I think she'll be fine she was just really out of it. not a pleasant start to the long day.
While i was waiting on Dave to get across the tracks a woman stopped and talked to me about what I was doing with bike&build and informed me that she saw a large group of guys from the group and thought they looked mighty fine in their tight biking outfits. it was so funny since the outfits really aren't that flattering on anyone... but I guess the guys do wear them well.

peace out cub scouts.

Where am I?

2008-06-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

Alright, so we're now in Bolivar TN. Today was a short ride, so it wasn't bad at all. Yesterday was the longest we have gone on the bike... 92 miles. wohoo!!!!! The day before that or maybe the day before that we climbed Daus Mountain. HOrRibLe!! Elevation: awful. 1 big climb in a 2-3 mile stretch. I was going so slow that I fell off my bike and rolled into a ditch and my bike came tumbling down on top of me. It was great. hahaha. Wasn't hurt, it was more funny than anything, lesson learned; get off and walk if you can only go 2.1 MPH on the bike. Also, I learned yesterday, don't do hand stands on the hay bails. I fell off one of those too. oops.

I'm on a record with flat tires. I have had 4 in the past three days. it's been amazing. Two of them happened with in 30 seconds of each other. Popsicles are a must for the long hot days.

The night before last we were in Pulaski, it was great. The Mayor had us over to his house for dinner with some of his friends. he had a pool and beer... it was awesome. And... there was a baby there, so I was a baby hog all night. sooo cute.

Anyway, I need to get better about updating this every day cause at this point all the days are running together. We reached 1000 Miles on our bikes two days ago. and we've been biking for 6 days, tomorrow will be 7 and then we finally get a day off. Maura and I have made up our very own Biking dance that we hope to teach to the team so that we can do that dance into Memphis. or actually, we're all going to go out somewhere in Memphis and then bust it out. oh it's going to be wonderful.

Alright, well I'm going, I came to the library to load pictures and the computers here won't let that happen. Hope everyone is well.

byeEeEEEeEeEeEeEEeE

All the way to Tennessee

2008-06-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to the next state. We had a build day in Asheville, we did stuck-O. I worked on making it look beautiful. Then the next day we were on our bikes again to Gatlinsburg. Which, the town was kind of weird. It was similar to a board walk but in the mountains. I felt like I was at an amusement park with no rides. The ride there was the worse yet. It was just an all around bad day but I made it and that's all that matters.

Now i'm in Maryville, we're staying at a college in dorm rooms which is nice to finally have some of my own space and be able to unpack my things for a couple of days. Last night we walked forever to find food and ended up at a taco bell and had to walk through the drive thru. hahaha. it was great. Today was a build day, very, very hot, and tomorrow we have another one.

ok but need to finish loading pictures. if you want to see them send me your email and I'll send you an invite to snapfish to view them, other wise there are some up on the bike and build web page.

peace out cub scouts.

I kill bugs with my face

2008-06-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hey hey!!!!

We are in Asheville NC. When will we ever leave this state??!?!?! I feel like i've been here forever.. .but tomorrow we will finally enter Tennessee. Wohoo!!!!!

The past couple of days have been quite something. The ride from Taylorsville to Newland was insane!!!!! We actually started to pedal up some mountains. WHY couldn't they have built some biking tunnels that went THROUGH the mountains?? It was hard, very very hard. I actually walked my little self and bike up a few parts of it cause I could walk faster than 3 miles an hour, which was what I was doing on my bike. hahaha. The climb was rough, but I was with some of the most amazing girls and they made it completely worth it. We had such a good time making the most out of our difficult day. I think we were partly dehydrated and delirious and couldn't stop laughing at the stupidest things, but it was fun. So thank you Maura, Becky and Angela. Also, the climb to the top was make totally worth it because the view was incredible and then we got to speed down a very windy steep road and it was AWESOME on a bike!!!!!!! However, my face has become a living windshield for the stupid gnats. And butterflies. Poor butterflies.

So we thought that day was bad, but it just got worse, going from Newland to Asheville was also another very hard day. This was 50 miles of up hill climbing on the Blue ridge Parkway, which was GORGEOUS!!!! the views from the insane altitudes were AMAZING!!!!! And then me and the other two people i was with ran out of water and food, and tried to bike to this restaurant but the restaurant ended up being 2.5 miles up a steep slope, so we had to get ride and the very super nice people that drove us to the top, which happened to be the highest peak on the east, or something crazy like that, paid for our lunch!!!!!!! that was soooo nice. And then I bought a T-shirt. And then we had 30 miles of down hill which made it all completely worth it. And then we had dinner at Maggie and Sam's house, their brother and sister that are doing this trip together and their parents live in Asheville. Dinner was SO good, So good, so good!!!!! oh by the way, Sweet Caroline is our team song, we sing it a lot.

Ok also, Jenn... guess what game we play once a week at our town hall meetings, which are our group meetings that we have just to touch base and talk about this and that?!!? well we play HI/LOW. We talk about our best parts of the week and our lowest parts of the week. I tried to start this little tradition while I was in England with Jenn. It didn't go over too well.

Also, Today was a build day in Asheville and guess what?? I once again was awarded with the 'screw up' award. hahahaha. It was the first ever to be handed out in Asheville. I dont' think I really screwed anything up, someone just told the supervisor to do it. But today's 'screw' award was larger than the last. I'm keeping them and putting them in my scrap book.

This blog is wack and all over the place. sorry. but you all will just have to deal.

love you a lot

ByeEEEeEEEEEeEEEEe

Best suprise EVER!!!!

2008-05-31T15:42:00.000-07:00

ok so Today was pretty awesome. The ride kind of sucked cause it was so hot but whatever, I made it. But this morning.... my dad showed up at Winston Salem before we took off and suprised me!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited!!!!! that was so sweet of him. he tricked me, cause I talked to him last night and he said he was going to the beach because my mom was out of town for the weekend. But then he really came to see me!!!!!!! And if that wasn't enough, he hooked me up with some biking gear that I needed and caught up with us on the road after our lunch stop. And the coolest most fun thing, was the he drove slow so that a hand full of us could draft behind him. It was AWESOME!!!!! and it helped get up some of those hills.

so that was a nice suprise. Thanks dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Taylorsville is pretty sweet, we got to go swimming once we got here which was a treat since it was so rediculously hot out today.

well, back to dinner and chatting with the locals.

byeEeEEeeeE

we're going to Winston

2008-05-30T04:25:00.000-07:00

Hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, this is going to be another short one, eventually I'll find the time to get into some details, but real quick,...

We've been in Chapel Hill for the past three days. It's been fun. We had two build days here but the first one kind of got rained out. So yesterday was the real first one. It was so incredible. We started with just the floor and by the end of the day the house had all it's walls. AND... They actually let ME use a power tool!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy!!!! and i got to put some glue stuff down, that was fun. But I also was given a screw and told that I won the 'screw up' award by one of the supervisors on the site. hahahaha. I wasn't very good at nailing stuff in, i spent more time nailing then trying to take the nails out. hahaha. oops. oh well.

Anyway, Chapel Hill has treated us well... we have had every meal provided for us and it's all been soooo good. So good! soo good!

today we're going to Winston Salem, NC. close to Greensboro!! whooohoo!!! but it's an 85 mile ride and that could be difficult. hopefully not as bad as the ride to Wake Forest. I'll try harder not to get lost this time. Anyway, I suppose I better go help pack the trailer.

ByeEEeEEeEEeeEe

-me-

let me catch you up

2008-05-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Hello!!!!!!!

Sorry it's taken me so long to post but things have been crazy busy! This trip is AMAZING!!!!! I'm having such a good time. The first couple of days weren't bad at all. Friday we had our wheel dipping ceremony at Nags Head and then we were off on a 68 mile ride. It wasn't as bad as I thought, only cause it was all flat. Once we arrived in swanquarter we enjoyed some awesome food thanks to some of the locals.

We have been anything but hungry on this trip. We are definitely experiencing some southern hospitality at it's best. Day two we biked an easy 36 miles to Belhaven where I met some of the nicest people ever. This was such a cute little town. The community came together and had a cook out for us at the community center that overlooked a lake. Beautiful. Strangers took us into their homes and let us shower and wash our laundry. it was awesome.

Day three we biked 58 miles to Greenville NC, the ride was still not bad since the land was flat. We stayed in somebody's huge house and again enjoyed a butt load of good food. An old manager from Tripp's that I use to work with transfered to a resturant in Greenville and hooked us up with some really good food... ribs and burgers and chicken sandwhiches. Amazing! thank you!!!

Now we are in Wake Forest. Today's ride was miserable and hard. It started to get hilly and we did 80 miles. that's the most I have ever done and my butt butter cream is begining to let me down. It really was a rough day, but toward the end, a group of us got a little lost and missed our turn and pulled up to a resturant to ask some people for directions and they took us in and bought us some drinks. so, again with the wonderful hospitality of the south, we enjoyed more free stuff.

I can't thank everyone enough for all they have done so far. everyone is sooooo nice and great. This trip is great!!!!! Thanks to everyone for making this happen for me. I love you all so much!

I'll try to do better at keeping this up dated more frequently but it's hard sometimes cause computers and internet access are limited.

alright well, gotta go!! talk to you soon!!!!!!!!

-me-

About to leave

2008-05-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Alright, Well orientation is tomorrow!!!! and on Friday I will be off to bike across America. I don't think America is ready for me. Actually I'm not sure that i'm really ready for it. I never did get past biking 40 miles in one day, but Friday I will be biking 62. I did learn that it's pretty dangerous to sneeze continuously while trying to ride a bike and unclip. Also I feel bad for the little caterpillars that I accidentally run over. Poor little guys.

I would again like to thank everyone for your donations and support! If you are reading this, a special thanks to Nelson Hernandez and Bob and Sabrina Hinson I didn't have an address to mail you a thank you note but your contribution means a lot to me!

Ok then, I guess the next time I post I'll have biked a little of America!!!!

Love
Renee

Finally some progress

2008-04-28T05:27:00.000-07:00

Well people, I have finally decided to start my blog. I have been putting it off forever cause I have never done one before, but for the sake of those supporting me and the cause as I journey across the country, I thought I would start it to help keep you all updated.

I am still $800 short of meeting my fundraising goal. That's not too bad, however time is running out, so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!!!! ALSO, if anyone still wants to donate... it's not too late!!!!!!!!!!!

A couple of things have happened in the past couple of weeks. First off, I did my eights hours of sweat equity and it was AWESOME!!!!!! I am not a professional in putting shingles on a home, so if you need that kind of work done, call me! : ) but really, it was a really amazing experience, it was great to see so many regular, everyday individuals from the community out there helping a family build their home. It's got me even more pumped for this summer!!!!!! wohooOOOoooOOoooO!!!

Second thing, thanks to Joe, I finally biked the longest I have ever biked this past weekend. I did 40 miles. I realize I should have probably already been doing that kind of distance and that many others are well past that, but for me it was a feat and I'm proud to say I have finally done it!!!!!! It took 2 hours and 51 minutes. America here I come!!!!!! I'm ready now. hahahaa. not really, I know we will do a lot more mileage than that on our trip, but it was start and not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.