BELOIT TO PHILLIPSBURG
It's the Fourth of July! We donned our America temporary tattoos and red white & blue face paint before setting out on this 77 miler to the smallest town we've encountered. We sang songs of America (featuring: America the Beautiful, This Land is Your Land, Wagon Wheel, etc). We rode to the World's largest ball of twine and climbed on top of it:
The wind was crazy this day but we hit a tailwind for like 10 miles where we were cruising at 30mph on flat land. We stayed in a fitness center with an awesome pool which was exactly what we needed after 77 miles in 98 degree weather.
We acquired beverages to celebrate America's birthday and played games and sat outside talking about how much we love each other. Ben set off the fireworks show (and yelled "fire in the whole!" every time) and we laid in a cuddle puddle watching them until the sheriff showed up and shut it down.
PHILLIPSBURG TO OBERLIN
Waking up before the sun after a night of celebration was definitely tough. Once we got on the road and biked off our hangovers, it turned out to be another wonderful day. We got to lunch at 9:30 am- which was crazy to think about most people eating breakfast while we ate our second meal of the day.
I got to ride with Conor and we had awesome bike conversations- one of my favorite parts of Bike & Build. We talked about how much we love our team and this summer and the time just flew by- we got to the host before noon!
Mail drop was today and I got awesome gifts from my wonderful friends and family including cookies, homemade fiber/energy bars, and lots of cute letters.
OBERLIN TO ST FRANCIS
Today we hit 1,897 miles, which is exactly halfway across the country! We chalked it on the road and were taking pictures when a man wearing jorts (this is jean shorts for those of you unfamiliar with abbreviated language), a neon shirt, and a neon vest rolls up on his vintage Bianchi. He didn't introduce himself immediately, so we were a little confused as to why this strangely dressed man was hanging around us. When he finally did introduce himself, it turns out he was the pastor of the church we're staying at, and he rode with us for the rest of the day!
Pastor Warren Cico (pronounced psycho) is an awesome dude, and Cam and I got to talk to him for over 30 miles. He mentioned that a church member owned a few planes, and offered us a ride in them once we got to St Francis. We were amazed! Only four of us got to go, but it was absolutely incredible.
He took us to Rick's hangar, which was filled with every little boy's dream: a vintage truck, an SUV, 3 planes, and a 6 seater golf cart. He pulled out the 3 seater plane and took us for a ride- I can't even describe how awesome it was. I realized how I would never get to experience things like random free plane rides without Bike & Build, and how lucky I am to be a part of this team.
We saw Nebraska and Colorado from the plane- which was awesome and a bit of a geography lesson. I just can't believe I flew in a tiny plane today!
Tally:
Fires caused by fireworks: 2
Police encounters: 1
America songs sang: all of them.
Kansas water parks: 3! Go Kansas!
Rides with pastors: 1
Awesome plane rides: 1
States seen from the sky: 3
Half gallons of ice cream eaten by Liz: 1 (this was a bet, and Liz won so now Sam has to wear a helmet the next time we go out to a bar).
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