Necessary amount of hydration while driving.

Today's ride in short: Purple flowers line the road for miles, magic butterfly friend, strong CCL evidence





aforementioned flowers






Look closely: 4 in a single frame. Also, an entire liter. Consumed by one individual? possibly.

















No new funds, but scheming.

$3333.50/ There is nothing magical about a selfish goat.

Dan Carmody, a fellow bike-and-builder and friend at Carnegie Mellon, has shamelessly plugged my website on his, so to pay him back, I am doing the same:
http://www.carmodyfamily.com/bnb/index.htm
His is actually much better than mine because it focuses on issues of low income housing instead of mello yellow. It also consists of more than one page, which I am not skilled enough to create.

Today, I fulfilled one of the suggestion/requirements put before us by our bike and build leaders which is to bike in the rain. It initially can only be described as “wildly unpleasant.” This seems pretty logical since plenty of people would see it pouring outside and not think “gee, what a great day for a ride.” Case in point: Steve Vito, big time wuss-out. I hope he reads this.
So really though it wasn’t that bad, and for what amount of misery it is you really make up for it in getting really dirty and just basically looking hardcore. Essentially break even. I saw two other riders and we gave each other the silent nods of “You’re hardcore and awesome” “No, you’re hardcore and awesome.”

A brief summary of the climax of the ride: I somehow got off a paved road and was wandering around in the backwoods of Christiansburg. It wasn’t really a gravel road persay, more like “not incredibly paved.” So climbed up a huge hill on this “not incredibly paved” road where it forks at the top (see left) . Of course I veered off the initial route to follow this one.
And yes, a pen fun of ponies--arguably one of the more cuter things that could have possibly come out of biking down Unicorn Ln. I am convinced that the white one is a baby unicorn (considering the road name and difficulty in arriving in such a place). I am therefore determined to befriend it, so it will grant me a wish. One of the goats is a serious glutton, but by several methods I am able to get the pony/baby unicorn some of the grass. I pedal away from the baby unicorn, satisfied that I will probably have a wish granted within the week and am generally in love with the world.
“Hello, flowers. Hello, trees. Hello, un-fenced dog…”
Ok, in hindsight, not that big of a dog. And I retold this to my roommate ,and they noted that I could have probably just kicked the dog in the face. But really-still, it was scary.
It chased me uphill so I couldn’t get going that fast enough, and it was biting at my feet. I have never pedaled so hard. It finally gave up, and once I reached far enough away I nearly doubled over and threw up. It was really fun adventure… cough.
Anyway, that summary was far from brief, but obviously necessary.

Thanks to:

Bryan Wuest--for creating and then infiltrating to put up the delightful banner. The picture taken on the Minneapolis Greenway on our way to drink excess amounts of chai.

Memaw and Grandpa!! Sponsors of the year, by far. Thanks!!!!

Kelly Waters, fellow wpolo teammate and s’more eater.

$2783.50 / Radford, land of citrus beverage (sorry Katherine)

Fig. 1

Two hour bike rides give you plenty of time to think about and over-analyze stupid observations; hence I have decided to publish my research here.
Thesis: There is a strong correlation with caffeinated citrus flavored beverages and large angry trucks.

So far my data is somewhat patchy, and giving evidence to causality is probably still far in the future, and possibly several grants later for such an important scientific endeavor as this.

Fig.1 indicates the large spike in caffeinated-citrus-litter (CCL). Here we do not discern among popular brands, but it is worth noting there is a distinct change in brands from commuters from Blacksburg to Radford versus Radford and Christiansburg, interesting.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a highly precise graph of observations (notice scale on y-axis) of the strong occurrence of angry trucks and CCL along the side of road.

Fig. 1 also shows the abandoned (abandoned meaning 2 employees) Subway in Christiansburg that I filled my water bottle up at. The key is to just not make eye-contact with anyone. Walk-in, walk-out. It was brilliant.

Special thanks to:

Laura Cunningham for looking up on google maps where I was

additionally:
Dr. Bodnar!! Thanks. Always making senior seminar really fun.
Dan Carmody, thanks, but yes I still win.
Victoria Martin, gas bill+ Ravi Kumar-like interest on top. Well done!

$2593.50/ Floss and then discard on the side of the road.

The MULLINS ARE AWESOME

Kara has noted that thanking people is really boring, and makes my writing altogether uninteresting. noted, Kara. I will try harder in the future. But I have to play catch up.

First:
The MULLIN Family in all their greatness.

Also to thank:
Miss and and Mr. Vito
Stephen Indyk, water bill + extra because he is great.
Justin Olschlager, awesome all the time.
John Wyatt for the intense amount of change
Connie Lowe, Geology Dept. Mom.
Bruce! My basement dwelling roommate.
Bryan Wuest thanks a lot, plus the further encouragement for better health in order to make use of the rest of your birthday present, and uniform grass detail.


Kara, also said it was boring when I wrote about my bike rides. Sorry, that is what is is all about.
So Tuesday, amazing and beautiful outside. Trash seen on ride: about 6 or 7 single-use teeth flossers. I see alot of trash while climbing-- alot of front wheel staring, which is probably bad technique.
This morning: ice, sleet. no ride. garbage.

I have also decided to go to Caltech for the fall. Good deal. Pretty happy about the decision.

$2033. First round success!! and small coffee failure.

Yes! YES!

So much relief. Beat the deadline $2033 before the March 21^st/ $2000 mark. Much thanks again to everyone who has given. Wow.

Final totals on the change counting from neighborhood panic attack: $149. Wow again. I live in a pretty great neighborhood. Thanks!

Mr. and Mrs. Moses. Thanks for generosity always: home cooked dinners, astronauts, abundant entertainment, aussie bites, hair straigheners, and grad schools advice ( “Don’t be a doink”). Thanks so much for your donation. You guys are fantastic.

Za, well aware that she is actually the best. And you are. Well done.

Za’s Mom and Dad (Pattie and Willie G) Thanks so so much. I love you and the farm and will be back to sit in your kitchen. Za told me you are helping me out even more, I can’t thank you enough.

Mom and Dad. Thanks for donating, even when you don’t know you are. Ha. Just kidding… sort of.

Rizwan. Good Job. Timely + extra. Youre awesome.

Cathy and John. Thanks neighbors!! Act like neighbors even when you aren’t neighbors. Thanks so much!

Uncle P and Aunt Martha. Thanks so much. Even after reading my obnoxiously sarcastic letter. I really appreciate it. Thanks again. Family = love.

More thanks to Alan. Awesome bike advice and potential gear borrowing! Thanks thanks!

Ok confession. It is my birthday, so I bought a coffee—a fancy one. I thought after abstaining I would perhaps find it gross or not care for it as much. nope. It was delicious.

Many dogs and lots of quarters.

Thanks Susan!! I am pretty sure we have met on two occasions. Really that makes you that much more awesome. Thanks so much.

Cat. I love you. I have already mentioned this before, but you are great.

Darren. Thanks again. Sorry for confusing you with flattery. Also thank you for not letting me burn down the house. It is much appreciated.

Barbara/ entire Williams clan. Thanks so much. I miss you and Rolling Green and Willy.

The deadline is approaching near, so I may have started getting a little anxious about the whole matter. So tonight I put on my bike gear, covered an oatmeal container with a bike and build brochure and went out knocking on possibly ever door in the neighborhood. So amazing !! Some people were so incredibly generous. I got two checks, a number of bills and lots and lots of change, 2 nails, 3 screws, and a tack. I haven’t counted it out yet, but the whole event was pretty awesome.

So I personally get to thank those who straight up wrote me checks even when I was asking for change:
Thuon, you and all roommates plus 6 (possibly 7?) dogs are really amazing and funny. Thanks!
Adriana and housemates—thanks for inviting me in, for the water, for great conversation and for your amazing generosity. You guys are great.

Also this one lady gave me her quarter collection. Wow, state quarter collection. Not even kidding. And some people didn’t even really wait for me to explain what I was doing. I got through “Hi, I am raising money for Bike and Build…” and they would bolt upstairs and bring down their change jar
and dump it in. I mean I was really really impressed.

Here is yet un-fixed hover disk. Also a goal.

$1300 Well Done; and Additional Indecision

my only shot of Tucson. And now that it is in picture form, admittantly not that exciting. But pleasant nonetheless.

Thanks to the Devlin family. I have been trying to usurp Bridget’s place for a long time now. I love you all.

Uncle Mike and Aunt Jane, many many thanks. I promise to make more family correspondence that doesn’t have to do with money or Amy’s boyfriends. Promise.

Alan and Trish!! Thank thanks so very much! You guys are great! Alan, I am writing soon to ask for biking tips.

Olivia, thanks so much. It means a lot, especially when you don’t even know a person. Really appreciate it.


I have reached $1300. I need $2000 by March 21st. It will be close, but I have got to make it work.

I haven’t been updating because I haven’t been biking. It seemed wrong. I am on a little graduate school tour. I am currently in a hotel in Pasadena visiting Caltech. Just before this, Tucson for U of Arizona, and weekend or two before that U of Washington.
My final visit is U of Minnesota and then that is that, and I will have to decide. Umm. Not sure as of now. Pretty serious indecision at the moment.