Rochester, VT

So we went up up up today, and then down down down. Rochester Gap was our route from Lebanon, NH to Rochester, VT with a large, steep uphill (apparently the most difficult day of the trip) followed by a long downhill. Since I am a climber (during cycling races) today was very fun for me. It was difficult, I'd estimate grades of about 15% maybe, I'm always bad a estimating gradations. In addition to that there was a bit of rain, and on the downhill there was a ton of rain. Not only did that mean I rolled into Rochester sopping wet and cold, but I wore down my break pads, luckily they are fairly easy to replace. In Rochester there is an awesome little bike shop, with some very knowledgeable and nice mechanics, they have all sorts of cool things including a drawbridge that you can pedal up and down, and some tall bikes too (two bikes welded on top of each other). It's called Green Mountain Bicycles, a definite must see if you're in Rochester. There are a ton of other cool shops, including the bakery with free wifi with some darn good chocolate cookies that go well with cool milk. It was a good day.

The last two days I have been working on the Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity build site in Norwich, VT. We put up a second layer of plywood on the roof with an air layer underneath to keep the shingles (which will go on next). That wouldn't be too bad except the roof was at like a 60 degree angle so we had to keep putting up supports for ourselves as we reached the top of the roof, which we finally did. Since I am a bit nervous about heights this was a good way for me to get over that, which I did since it would have been slow work otherwise. Unlike some Habitat sites where volunteers seem to just be doing menial tasks while other more experience carpenters do the actual work, I felt like I was an important part of the team, at the end of the day we actually made something more than just a clean floor or smoothed dirt, it was great. We got great support from the Lebanon community, showers at the local health club, wonderful meals every day from different churches and the Lebanon Rotary, and great hosts who were super enthusiastic about us being there.

That will probably be the only posting from Vermont since tomorrow we are heading into New York, where we get to go over the state line on a ferry.

This is not Disneyland, or Hollywood. I'll give you an example: I've read that I flew up the hills and mountains of France. But you don't fly up a hill. You struggle slowly and painfully up a hill, and maybe, if you work very hard, you get to the top ahead of everybody else.
-- Lance Armstrong

Dartmouth!

So we are now in Lebanon, NH - a short bicycle jaunt away from Dartmouth, which has internet and friends. The last few days have been quite the journey so I guess I'll start from now and work backwards...

Today we biked from New London to Lebanon. Isiah and I were sweeps, meaning we were the last ones out and last ones in. We started a good 20 minutes after everyone else so we could get a good workout in, which ended up being mostly downhill. We had a great time, until the rain came, but that was still fun. I got soaked, I had puddles in my shoes, but somehow I was having fun. It was great until the last few miles until the two riders in front of us, Arianna and Zach decided to take I-89 instead of Route 10. Small panic and heart attack then occurred, we called the van to pick them up on the side of the highway, but in the meantime they got off the highway and all was saved, crisis averted. We ended up in the sun and drying out and we all got back to the church in good time and we all had a great time. Dinner was wonderful, best dinner so far, absolutely wonderful. And now I'm at Dartmouth hanging out writing this blog.

The New London day was pretty uneventful, sorry about that. However our first biking day was different. Going into Concord was a very tough 65 mile, very hilly route. What makes it worse was there was a group of about 9 people who were in front and we saw the van going past us, with our lunches - not so bad yet, lunch is just ahead of us. But then we saw the van drive past us the other way with the guy saying "balkjafdweasdlf" or something like that. So we just pressed on and about 5/10 miles later we all pulled off and decided to call the van to see what was up, we thought lunch was supposed to be at mile 35, we were far past that at that time. Apparently what he yelled out was "turn around lunch is this way", but since we were only a cool 12 miles from Concord we pressed on, writing humerous complains about our lack of lunch. We eventually stopped at Arnies and got some homemade ice cream and other wonderful lunches. This was a tough ride, even for me, the racer, so I am very impressed with the people who had very little cycling experience, they did great, and fun was had by all, well maybe not, but everyone had high spirits and no one wanted to quit.

that is all
happy cycling!

Portsmouth

So Bike and Build has officially started. We have had three days in Portsmouth, our first orientation half-day, our second day of a short bike and some clinics, and we just finished our third day of orientation with our first build. We have a great group, everyone seems to be getting along and we are having a great time.

Our first day was just some basic introductions and rule along with some free play time. Then at night we went to the Chuckie Cheese's right next to the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church where we are staying.

The second day we woke up at the fresh hour of 7:30 (or something like that) it was very early nonetheless, but not as early as the rest of the summer. We all had a hearty breakfast of bagels and Cheerios and then it was off to learn about bikes. I actually ended up teaching the bike clinic since it seems that I'm one of the more experienced bike mechanics on the trip. I had a nice presentation on how to mount a tire and change a tube then we all got to practice that for a while, especially since many people had bought aftermarket tires for their bike. I then went over a basic clean/lube/inspection of the main parts of your bike so that every one can keep their bikes working well. After we all go that one figured out we got our bikes in working condition and a representative of the American League of Cyclists or something like that. We learned about hand signals, safety etc. And in the middle of the talk a UPS truck pulled up with Ian's bike so I did a quick bike build before our first ride (the shakedown ride). It was 10ish miles through Portsmouth. We kept it pretty slow and we all rode as a group. The route wasn't the best, at one point 30 cyclists had to cross four lanes of traffic to get to the left hand turn lane, along with going through several four way stops (that had traffic). We all arrived back at the church safe and sound. We then had a wonderful dinner at another church in Portsmouth. There was no Chuckie that night (much to our dismay) but we did build a fort out of sleeping bags and other random things and watched Akeelah and the Bee then went to bed.

Today was another early morning (6:30 I think). We drove out to Farmington, NH where we worked on a Habitat build site. It was pretty exciting, we got to meet the Director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for New England (turns out he was a cat 3 racer in Washington DC, pretty cool). There was also a reporter and photographer for the daily newspaper in the Farmington area, so I very well could have my first quote and picture in the paper. Throughout the day I helped to: install a doorknob, put down some plastic (glamorous ain't it), the put a rain diverter on the roof of two houses so you can now walk out the door and not get water dripping down your shirt, spread some dirt... a lot of dirt..., and finally pounded some nails for a shed. Overall a good day. We then went to the local middle school took showers and came back to the church. I must get off the computer and help paint the BnB trailer.

It's going to be a great summer, I am so excited and we have great group of riders.

When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair or the future of the human race.
-- H.G. Wells

Packing List

So I thought that people must be wondering: what in the world is he taking? So here is a packing list. Just for reference we have a small trailer in which we can keep most of said things while we're biking. We will also be sleeping in schools and churches as well as in tents.
So here is the official BnB packing list (the comments are my own)

CLOTHING
4 pairs underwear
2 T-shirts (man those guys are going to get trashed by the end of the year)
B&B T-shirt (they give this to us)
3 pairs socks
2 pairs shorts
1 pair of pants
1 pair sneakers
Sandals / flip-flops
Bathing suit
1 set long underwear
Hat or cap
Sweater/Sweatshirt
Pajamas or sleepwear

CYCLING CLOTHING
3 pairs cycling shorts
1 B&B cycling jersey (one jersey all summer... don't worry I'll wash it everyday)�
3 pairs cycling socks
Cycling shoes
Cycling gloves
Rain jacket
Leg warmers or cycling tights
Arm warmers
Warm layer

PERSONAL ITEMS
Toiletries
Sunscreen
Quick-dry towel
Camera
MP3 player / iPod
Book or journal
Chamois cream
Cell phone

EQUIPMENT
Sleeping bag
Air mattress (we also get this free, awesome a thermarest!)
Sunglasses
Flashlight or headlamp
Compression sack
Mesh bag for laundry

CYCLING EQUIPMENT
Bicycle (well duh...)
Helmet
Air pump
2 or 3 water bottles and cages (I'll go with 2, there's no way to get 3 on our bicycles without welding)
Patch kit
Bike lock
Hydration pack (ie Camelbak)
Clipless pedals
Cycling computer
Seat bag
3 spare inner tubes (I have like 8 that I found lying around... I think I'm set)
Multi-use bike tool
2 extra spokes
3 tire levers (okay yeah, I am bringing two, one extra in case I loose the other, you don't need 3 tire levers to change a tube, only one, or in some cases none)
Chain lube

A couple things I added to the list
Bike Grease - no mention on any of the Bike and Build materials about bike maintenance about greasing threads, something you should ALWAYS do.
Locktite - so said bolts won't rattle out, per se on bottle cages or cleats, substitute for grease.
4/5/6 mm Y allen wrench - the most useful bike tool made, can loosen or tighten almost everything on a bike (well a newer bike).
Extra Tires - well stock tires, I bought new Continental GatorSkins so I have the two ones that came on the bike.
Dartmouth Jersey - another clean jersey is never a space waster.
Road Rash first aid kit with antibiotic ointment and pain relievers (the most important things) - you can never have too much safety.
Laptop - (even though BnB discourages it) so some of the other bloggers and I can write these lovely messages.
Some Food - it was left over at the end of the year, may as well use it now.
Frisbee - always a necessity.

That is all, I think.

Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There's something wrong with a society that drives a car to workout in a gym."
-- Bill Nye the Science Guy

Back Stateside

So four more days before the start of my great adventure! So in the time between Dartmouth spit me out of my first year (what a great year it was) and Bike and Build starts at 1 pm in Portsmouth, my mother and I took a short trip to Iceland. So I know what you're saying - what place can you go on vacation that has less people and worse weather than Alaska... Iceland. It was a great trip to a wonderful country. We spent eight days driving around the Ring Road (Hwy 1) seeing the sites. Anyway, all around great trip. After that we drove to New Paltz, NY where we are staying with some family friends for the time before the 18th. Today we went in to New York City, saw more sites, visited the city. It was the first time I had been there. I must say there were a lot of people (who would've thought?), and stores selling everything - I mean a whole store devoted to yogurt, come on... I heard some people talking it was very good actually.

Tomorrow we will be heading down to the city again to see a Yankees game, last season in Yankee Stadium, so no time like the present to see one. So that will be more driving (I seem to be doing a lot of it now, but hopefully won't do much more for 2 and a half months). Other than that, yesterday I was biking around New Paltz in my Dartmouth jersey seeing how the bike was working, only a few things to fix, but biking to the local pool an older guy rolled down his window and yelled "Go Dartmouth" - undoubtedly an alum. Dartmouth is a wonderful big community, if you see someone wearing Dartmouth clothing you can always go up and ask "What year are you?" and talk about Hanover (which in fact happened to me on the Boston subway with a lady who was a '98 I think).

So next report will probably be from Portsmouth at the start of Bike and Build. And I would like to thank some more donors Linda Campbell, Tom Beck, William Campbell, and the Filibertis (who I'd also like to thank for letting me store stuff and house me and my mom for a night on our way to New Paltz from Iceland).

Happy biking and a quote to end it all

Cycling, of course, is the eternal pursuit of pain and discomfort.
-- BikeSnobNYC.blogspot.com

Iceland

So just so anyone reading this knows, I will be in Iceland from the 4th through the 13th. I won't have internet access there - thus no way to update this blog. Don't worry eventually I'll have a post about my trip when I get back. Just don't expect any updates anytime soon.

If you brake you don't win
--Mario Cipollini