It's all down hill from here

I have heard this a lot recently, and it turns out it's not true. At all. When people say 'it's all downhill,' expect hills. And big ones too. You could probably work this into some life metaphor or something, but I'm too tired right now to do that.

It has been a little bit since I lasted posted, but I think I'm still good on my commitment to post once a week. We just completed our 4th riding day and have now done 2 build days: one in Portland, ME, and the other if Fitchburg, MA. The last few days have been intense. After kicking off our trip with a ceremonial back tire wheel dip in the Atlantic, we have covered a lot of ground. Three states in four days. Maine and New Hampshire are behind us, and Massachusetts is home for now. We had one 46 mile day, and the rest have been 60+. And lots of hills in that stretch. Especially the last couple of ride days. Today we had a re-route that took us up Mountain Road, which ended up living up to its name. Those hills kicked my butt. And this was coming off of yesterday's build day where our group dug a massive trench and shoveled and wheel burrowed 60 tons of gravel. While the physical energy exertion is taxing, it is also rewarding in that we get to see the pile of rock disappear, or the big hill conquered and behind us. Tomorrow is supposed to be a pretty tough jaunt through the Berkshire Hills, and then we get ready to cross into New York in the next couple of days.

So far, the highlight for me has been all the people we have met along the way. We have now stayed in an Episcopal church, a Unitarian Universalist church, and a Methodist church (where I am writing this), and everyone has been so welcoming and excited for what we are doing. It's been really encouraging to meet people who are eager to take in complete strangers and feed them, all because they believe in the cause we are working for and want to take part in it with us. It's been really neat to see the wider community of people involved with affordable housing, and to realize that, really, Bike & Build is much more than just the riders and personnel directly associated with the organization. The awesome people at the Habitat sites we've been at, the amazing people at our host sites and the churches we've been staying at, the other people we have met along the way who have supported us in one way or another--all of them are as much a part of this trip as we are.

Tonight we will go to Pittsfield and stay in a place that another congregation has generously allowed us to stay in, before working with an affordable housing group in that area for a build day on Wednesday. In the meantime, I'm going to go climb some hills. Probably big ones too. And if anyone says it's all downhill, well, maybe if I keep repeating it to myself the hills will seem a little less steep. We'll see...

Matt

Bikes, blogs, Blackhawks, and Bruins

I told quite a few people they could follow my blog to keep up with where I will be and what I will be doing this summer. This past week I figured I should probably get that going since I start this Bike & Build craziness, well, today. So here it is. bugsinmybeard.blogspot.com. That's right, I did just reference my blog in my own blog. But this is my first blog post of any sort ever. So I don't know what's proper when it comes to posting (posting? blogging?). Either way, I'm going to try to keep up with this as much as possible throughout the summer, but I am committing--right now, you can be a witness--to at least having something thrown up here (I'm pretty sure that's not the lingo) once a week. So there. Now I'm locked in.

Yeah, so I made it to Portland, Maine. Well, just outside. I am currently staying with a fellow Bike & Builder and we're planning on biking 25 miles into the city and to orientation together (my autocorrect just wanted to turn 'orientation' into 'tootsie rotation' which seems odd to me--I don't know if it's blog-worthy odd, but I did it anyway). To that end, the journey out here alone has been quite the experience, and everyone I have stayed with has been amazing. It's been great to see old friends, make new ones, and experience different parts of the country. Especially in the midst of a hockey championship. I got to spend time in Chicago on my way out east, and everyone was rooting for the Blackhawks. And then in the New England area, everyone is all about the Bruins. I don't really pay much attention to hockey, but it's been fun to experience.

Anywho, long story short, I'm in Maine, I went to the church yesterday to put together my bike (finally!) and got to meet my trip leaders, and now I'm excited to meet the rest of my team a little later today and start this crazy adventure! And while I've committed myself to blogging once a week, I doubt it will be this long. Sheesh.

To biking, building, and blogging,

Matt

Oh, and p.s: Happy father's day dad!