You know what that reminds me of? Bike&Build.

Wow. Bike & build is actually over. The tragedy of finishing this blog in hindsight might be tough. Anyone who has been around me the past few days could probably tell you that it is really annoying. Anything, without warning, can cause a sudden relapse of b&b story telling. Like, “Oh, Claire, could you pass me that spoon?” “Huh what? (awakening from a day dream about bike and build) You know we didn’t have enough spoons when we were on bike and build. We had to use forks” “Oh really? (poor person feigning interest, as really they just want the spoon in my hand)”
Or even
“ Wow, the sky is blue today”
“Yea, when we were on bike and build, the sky was blue too.” Sigh, then look off into the distance.
It is that bad.


Cortez, CO: The ride into Cortez was really relaxing, 48 miles. No worries. Lunch was severely extended beyond our usual 15-30 minutes. Poor Scott Wilkins. He is always so ready to go. I swear, every lunchtime we would ask me “Are you ready? Are you ready to go? I think we are going.” “yea, yea I’m ready”
That would be lie. I would always still have a handful of carrots, chips, and/or pretzels as I would walk around to find everyone else essentially already clipped in on the road. I would still need to fill up my water bottles and also find my helmet. Really, ask anyone, it is true without fail, most every time we stopped for lunch. Apologies, Scott, once again. I think we stayed at lunch for and hour and half. I saw him for awhile at the picnic table with his helmet on probably anxiously rapping his fingers or wringing his hands, but I think he gave up since I was laying in a sunbeam with helmet likely no where in sight.
Also during lunch a couple people suggested biking up to Mesa Verde. What is mesa verde? Green.. something. Mesa.. what? Nah. I don’t want to go. Sounds lame. An extra 40 miles too? Guh. Gross no way. I am in a sunbeam, I am not biking an extra 40 miles. Get away from me.
Tragic.
Later down the road we went to a tourist shop type place, and actually saw what Mesa Verde was on a postcard. Ah! Regrets. http://www.nps.gov/meve/ It looks awesome. I would have gone if I had actually known what it was. It is ancient Indian ruins, not “some green thing” My only consolation for the rest of the day is that I am sure I will bike Colorado again, so I will just see it then. Again tragic.
But my spirits were buoyed with the arrival the Cole-alition t-shirts. Again, Special thanks to Daven Quinn in charge of design and Dave Getchel who headed up execution (order and payment). These shirts are amazing. The idea was given to us by Scott Wilkins’ Dad back in Winston-Salem to manifest our love for Cole Emdee in wearable form. The “reveal” was the best part. We all hid them under an additional layer until the perfect moment. Cole’s reaction was priceless. If everyone had been wearing your face, you would have reacted about the same way. It was awesome.

Emily and Travis. Emily showing off the Cole Shirt.

ARIZONA

Red Mesa: 4 corners. 4 states meet. Yep.

Following this was deluge of state signs. Bike and builders get really excited about states signs. We bike a whole state: we want a picture with that sign. Anyone on who frequents facebook enough could tell you it is one of the only things that we really truly love, documenting ourselves crossing statelines. We then also judge each state accordingly by its sign’s size, or animation quality and color, then compare and contrast in hindsight. “Do you remember Colorado’s sign?” “ Yea!! Awesome. But remember Kansas? Kind of small right?” Keep in mind, not state comparison, only their signs.



Here the excitement is obviously contrived. If you had heard the conversation before the picture it was only sadness about the lack of various colors, the “Welcome” phrase indicative of particular state, the size… all disappointing.

50 yards later. Yea! “ Welcome to the Grand Canyon State” That is what we want. Additional comments could be made like: could be a little bigger, also a little lower. Why doesn’t the department of transportation have cross country bikers in mind when they set these things up.

While I am on topic, let’s just bring up Arkansas one more time. So far from the road, so small and very few colors used and not to mention poor Dan Thomas is going to get his arm chopped by a passing semi. Unacceptable, Arkansas Dept. of Trans, unacceptable.



That night we stayed at Red Mesa High School. It was really in a vast expanse of nothing. It was more like a compound and could probably survive as its own entity. The only other building was a hospital down the street. The school was surrounded by barb wire and had a sort of neighborhood fenced in with it. That night we had Chicken rice. I don’t really know how dinner crew that night made it. I actually heard that the preparation process was mildly unappetizing, but it was so delicious. It was just chicken and rice brought together in a sort of unidentifiable paste.. but man oh man it was good. Arguably the best B&B prepared meal of the trip. The rest of daylight hours were spent sort of walking around the abandoned school. The place was kind of eerie at the dusk hours. Many a zombie movie plot line was developed during this time—most of them usually involving 30 bikers in the desert. Hmm yea, very original, guys.

Kayenta: This is the day that Barrel teams were announced. Barrel was the secret code name given to the scavenger hunt to occur a few days later. The team named themselves: Silver Snakes, Daus Manschaft, and SparkYl, and then each team all decided to ride together to “practice.” Fun! I was on team SparkYl. Something happened to Team SparkYl that day. I am not going into the details, but we sort of garnered the reputation of being somewhat dysfunctional. That is really all that will be said.

Later that afternoon we went on a Monument Valley Tour. The rocks were cool, but I would have to say that the highlight of the trip was 60mph windowless bus ride to the park. Lots of tears and squinting.
Michelle loves squinting and pointing!












Is Daniel pointing out the rocks or the duct tape? Not quite sure.












Emily stylish yet functional or perhaps neither. Probably neither.
















I have a similar picture where Emily’s terror eyes are not in the shot. But where is the fun in that?











Tuba City: We went really fast. Dan O., David, Scott S., Scott W., Michelle and I went really fast. During lunch we smashed some pennies on the railroad tracks. Then Scott bought Michelle and me some ice cream at the end. Yea! Scott! Also the Assembly Church of God was really hospitable. Peggy just let us in her house to take showers (we are kind of gross and smell, if we touch your furniture it will also likely smell. It meant a lot). We also sat around the glowing box of entertainment…yes… tv. So magical. We would switch off watching World’s Strongest Man Contest on ESPN while waiting for the shower. I have never been so in engrossed in a program.

Grand Canyon: Swaroop and I were sweep. All documented in journal. Check.

Prescott: Barrel Day.


If it is not obvious, SparkYl was able to pull it together and really came through in the competition. We had the best costumes by far. Thank you Emily.



In the middle of the day, Daniel had become quite ill. So Michelle, Scott and I rode the rest of the day without our fourth. It was quite sad. We got back downed a few chocolate milks at the Safeway and then made Daniel a get well package. It included a delicious Big 100 bar. He loves those. It healed him instantly.

Prescott build day: We moved rocks, it is called Landscaping. Lots and lots of rocks, large heavy rocks. I got a lot of “ Hey Claire, youre a geologist. Why aren’t you having an awesome time? Ahahaha” “ ah ha, good one, guys…yep. Love movin rocks.. ya got me.”
In the afternoons, Michelle, Scott and Hannah and I would take breaks inside the drainage tube. It was amazing and about 20 degrees cooler. I must say though some people spent more time in the tube then others (coughannah). Also at one point Hannah and I were in the tube and I heard her coax a baby spider on a small stone. A brief excerpt of Hannah’s interaction with the spider:
“Oh! A spider” (surprised)
“Aw, come here little guy” (cutsy voice gently scooping it onto a small stone)

My thoughts: Wow, Hannah just loves nature. She is just there, ya know? She really gets what is it all about. I really admire her. If only we all could just…

Thoughts are then interrupted by Hannah chucking the rock as hard and as far as she can down the tube.
Let us all reflect in moment of silence for the life lost.
. . .

Again, I don’t explain the behavior of our riders, I just report the facts. It was pretty hot that day, but that is all I can give her as an excuse. Oh and that we were also at a pretty high altitude.
Altitude sickness, Hannah? Hmm?

Wickenburg: I am really dependent on my journal for whatever I wrote that day in order to write this. I must have been really tired because it is in list form. It says: We went uphill, then downhill. Followed by a list of drinks we bought at the gas station: Mountain Dew, Chocolate milk, Frappuccino, and Gatorade. Then: I went swimming with David, Ben, and Devon. We ate vegetarian lasagna like water polo at the Mullin’s house. Sleep.
That is all. Pretty sad actually. But I am pretty sure the lasagna was awesome.

Wenden: The ride went by really fast. Michelle, Scott, Daniel T., and I sensing that the end was near decided to pass the time by exchanging life stories. They were all quite interesting and engaging, but usually all ended with “ So, yes, here I am today riding my bike to Wenden, AZ” or some variation thereof. Another highlight would be passing through Gladden, AZ. It was one building --an RV park/apartment complex (which did have vacancies if anyone is interested) with lot of rusted abandoned cars next to it. We passed the “EnteringGladden” sign. And about 70yds off was another sign facing the other direction. “I bet that is the “Leaving Gladden” sign,” astutely noted Scott. Yep. He was right. It was amazing.
We got to Wenden really early, so we arrange Girl Talk: the Sequel to occur at the diner across the railroad tracks/road (one of only 6 building in the town). Lots of giggling, things of that sort, but no details can be given due to the highly secret nature of the event. I heard that some of the guys tried to retaliate and have Man Talk. I think they discussed cars and breakfast cereals. Not really sure on that because as it turns out nobody cared. Then the rest of the day I wrote the last blog post. Hours… so nothing else could be done.

CALIFORNIA

Blythe: Rain. Oh why cruel world? Why is it raining in the desert? Stepping outside the door of the gym in the darkness of the morning, it was a torrential downpour. Sheets of water coming down. Take two steps further out from under the awning—not raining. So all the rain collecting on the roof seemed to drain onto one spot on the awning over the gym giving the appearance of rain, lots of rain, when in fact not really raining at all. I don’t how many people actually knew this and were pretending not to know or who really thought it was raining a lot, but everyone just laid on the floor for a good while before anyone actually had the gumption to get up and ride their bike. I wasn’t too pumped about the beginning of the end (aka California) either, so I don’t pass judgement on anyone.
We took the interstate essentially the whole way, which is always good for the tires. We stopped to change Daniel’s flat, and he had 4 staples in back and about three in the front. Then we wondered… Where do these staples come from? They had been plaguing everyone the entire trip. Why are there so many staples on the road anyway? We imagined possibly some kind of cartoon car race that went through that area in which the staples were dispersed either by hand or the push of a button from a sinister darkly clad gentlemen likely sporting a curled, waxed tipped mustache. Conniving laughter ensues.
Later it was explained, “No, you idiots, (insult not explicitly stated but understood) it is from the steel wiring in the truck tires.” Hmm. That seems like a plausible explanation, but still have my doubts.
Then 25 pictures were taken at the California state sign. We love state signs.

“Yea Mixed Emotions!!” thank you Scott.

We arrived too early to our host site and were instructed to make ourselves scarce for at least another hour and a half. Doing what we do best, let’s go eat something. Feeling adventurous, I decided to order something NEW!! On the Taco Bell Dollar menu. The Big Taste Taco? Who could resist? I am not quite sure what gives it such a big taste, but it sure took a long time. The rest of my companions were dining on there delicous taco selection, while I stood and every once in a while a taco bell employee would inform me that my delicious big taste taco would soon be ready. So for $1.07 in addition to my delicious big taste taco (thousand island dressing…I am pretty sure now that that is what created “the big taste”) I also received a delightful Mango Strawberry Fruitista beverage and Carmel Apple Empanada (?) (Taco Bell’s answer to the McDonald’s apple pie). Thanks Taco Bell!
The final highlights of the night were torturing Brandon. And listening to Scott’s Bike and Build Rap Love Ballad Part Deuce. Delightful yet so saddening. I loved it.


Brawley: Stepping outside at 4:45am to pack the trailer… so hot. It was dark, but so hot. That should give some indication of the temperatures for the rest of the day. Apparently Arizona wasn’t hot, California is. Wow. But the thing about the heat is that as long as you keep biking, there is slight breeze and you are still able to function. Good things we don’t ever stop… Michelle, flat at mile 0.7… Scott W. mile 10… water break at gas station… Dan. C. flat shortly after… my flat about ¼ mile from first lunch. Awesome fun.
Also since we passed the stateline there were an absurb amount of butterflies, usually dead or dying. At first you are enchanted since it is kind of beautiful but also a little saddened by the loss of their delicate lives. But after a while you get really desensitized to it and just stop caring altogether and also stop trying to dodge them on the road. One flew into Dan C. eye, after which he proceeded to try to hit and kill them. For shame, Dan Carmody.
Besides the intense amount of heat rotting out your brain the next best highlight was Glamis, CA at the base of the Imperial Dunes. Population: 7, and one exceptionally kind store clerk. He really enjoyed our presence in his store. Hmm. Yea.
The van, and Dan Carmody with a little insanity outlet dune running



Julian: Brawley to Julian is a desert. It was hot. A couple of times as lunchtime should have been approaching I some white square objects (the van, of course) in the distance, would lose concentration and then only at about 50 yards away would realize that is was just white signs. It usually just said something unimportant like “Live Mines, Keep Out” or “Bomb testing, Stay Clear.”
We fixed Scott’s flat in the only shade for the rest of the ride. I was concerning myself with other things behind a bush further down the road when I heard a gunshot. I assumed though that is was probably not a gunshot since there was not likely any hunting going on. Nothing living, nothing to shoot, logical. It was actually Daniel and Scott listening to the sound of Scott’s exploding tire. I rush back up. The conversation was something like “ Guys ! guys! Are you ok?” no response. “Can you hear me?”
“ whhaaaat? Huh No.”
I don’t know how long they lived in there silent, ringing world, but they later told me about 3 minutes.
We had a water stop and shortly after I had a rear tire explosion. Perhaps should have been changed earlier. Oops.

Then Scott got a flat front tire. At this point we have run out of tubes and must resort to patching or flagging down other riders on the road. Always a sad state to be in. We did make it though until “THE WALL” A ridiculous cruel joke created by the State of California’s road construction. The actual grade of this road is unknown but it was ¼ mile let’ just say, slightly less than 90 degrees. Scott took his hollow boned self quickly up the top and left Daniel and I in the dust. We tried our best to catch him, but tragedy befalls us once again with Daniel’s flat. No tubes, only choice is to patch. We are both pretty anti-patch on a day to day basis and are therefore pretty inexperienced at putting them on.
In the course of one hour:
First patch, tire back on, pump it up, no deal
Second patch, much more carefully, meticulous even, pump up before tire. No deal.
Deep breaths, no anger, put on “slow leaking tube” from previous flat days earlier.
Sweep (Michelle and Cole) catch us. Laugh/pity us.

Ride about one mile up the mountain. Flat.
Angela generously supplies a flawlessly patched tube from Dave Getchel that survives the rest of the ride.

Dinner was so generously prepared by Becky, Renee and Maura trying to finish up anything that we had left in the food bins. So what do you eat for dinner when your mom is not around. Pancakes and Ice Cream!! Hooray! There was also eggs and bacon, but I really just stuck to pancakes and ice cream since I would have to start practicing self control in the next 2 days. Self control being not eating brownies for breakfast.

El Cajon: I readied my self for some serious trip ending depression, but the ride was so fantastic that I didn’t really have time to be sad. Thanks Ben! He mapped us out a fantastic climb, which was really easy considering all the air that was around. It had been so long since we had climbed at close to sea level. So great.
We met Michelle’s parents at the end of the ride. They proceeded check tan lines and thigh firmness on Michelle. It was fantastic, and then they took us to lunch. Turkey Avocado Sandwich mmmm. Real food. A lot food too. Full? Nope. We then engaged them in conversation about really interesting things like: Food (namely Clif bars, powerbars, odwalla bars—pros, cons, flavors, favorites), brands of tires, the amount food we like to eat, tubes patching vs. non patching, and then finally general topics concerning food. They were fascinated.
Speaking of food, Hannah, an El Cajon native treated us all to ridiculous amount of frozen yogurt at the yogurt mill. We rode our bikes over after dinner. I decided to take a break from my clipless shoes and just wear my tennis shoes on the bike. Don’t do this. It won’t be fun. At . all. Just don’t. That is my advice.

La Jolla:
Only the highlights--
Reaching the ocean and being with friends and family.
Scott, Michelle, Daniel group hug
Panang Curry and Mangoes and sticky rice


The End.


Thanks to all my sponsors. Thanks to Bryan, Za, Steve, Mandiecoffin,John, Angel, Lindsay, Sylvia, Cat, Laura N., Katie, Katherine, Bridget, Laura, Gia and Jeff. You guys are awesome. Hands down.

Webb: phone needed.