ST FRANCIS TO NOWHERE
Our first century ride was 102 miles to the middle of nowhere, Colorado. The school we stayed at was called the school without a town, and the only thing for miles was fields of grass and corn.
We met up at mile 15 of the ride to take pictures at the state line! It was awesome crossing into Colorado- what we've all been waiting for- although we'll definitely miss Kansas. We got to watch the sunrise since we had a 4 am wake up, and travelled back in time another hour.
NOWHERE TO DENVER
The first half of this ride was hills and headwinds which were tough but I made it through with my awesome riding buddy Abram. As we were riding, what I assume was an antelope appeared and ran next to us for about a mile- it was the coolest thing to watch it jump along and almost race us.
I got to ride with Celise after lunch which was awesome because we talked about architecture and planning and she kicked ass on the hills. We got our first glimpses of the Rocky Mountains which was surreal- they're enormous and so long and beautiful. Denver is awesome and riding in was so exciting- we went to get Thai food almost immediately and got to shop around at thrift shops and book stores.
Since the next day was a build day, we went out to two different rooftop bars, one of which was hosting a fundraiser for the children's hospital.
BUILD DAY IN DENVER
Our site supervisor at the habitat build in Denver is a Bike & Build alum- he did 3 different trips! Talking with him was cool and he showed us how to level some beams that floorboards would eventually go on. We worked on a huge site that was building two triplexes, a duplex and a fiveplex. I mostly worked on joists and got to look at more floor plans which is my favorite.
We've planned Bike & Build prom for a night in Idaho, and everyone chose whether or not they wanted to ask someone or be asked, and then the askers were randomly assigned askees and are now charged with asking their date in a cute way. I got 4 notes from my prom date on the build site, mostly written on duck tape and tied to my camelback (one was written on toilet paper...).
A really cool opportunity we had in Denver was this photographer took pictures of us in our kits with our bikes and doing fun stuff like at a photoshoot- hopefully we'll get those soon and I'll post them because they're bound to be hilarious.
That night, a bunch of alums threw a potluck dinner party at their house for us which was awesome because they invited all the Bike & Build alums that live in Denver which is so many! The party was amazing and everyone was so nice- I think at least half of our team has decided to move to Denver once the trip is over.
DENVER TO BOULDER
A surprise awaited us on this 34 mile ride into Boulder- a VIP tour of MillerCoors brewing company in Golden, Colorado. They made a whole salad bar for us and gave us a tour of their giant facilities- it was awesome! No tasting since it was 9 am and we still had 20 miles left, but we did get to check out the gift shop.
We arrived in Louisville (about 10 miles east of Boulder where we're staying) and were greeted by some lovely children and excited church members who made us signs and snacks- so cute! A few of us took a bus into Boulder and got to explore Pearl street where there's a pedestrian mall and some cool shopping.
I met up with my friend Amelia and we made plans to go out that night. Dinner was made for us by the adorable children at the church- they made kabobs! We got to hear an 80s band on Pearl ave and then went to a few bars and danced and the night was full of our usual tomfoolery.
BUILD DAY IN BOULDER
The Boulder chapter of Habitat is really cool- our site supervisor Phil gave us a presentation on their affiliate at lunch and it was awesome to learn about their green initiatives and the housing crisis in Boulder. I mostly painted this build day but others were doing landscaping and other finishing touches on a few houses.
Earth Balance paid for us to eat out at a restaurant on Pearl ave called The Lazy Dog, which ruled and we all ate delicious food and got to talk to Joseph's mom and the CEO's son Henry who's a Bike & Build alum. On the way back we watched thunderstorms and some awesome lightning.
Tally:
Centuries: 1
Prom notes: 4
Friends met in cool cities: 3
Number of times we sang our Bike & Build 'drinking chant': at least 12. In one night.
RSS Feed