One More Day: Ready & Set

Only one more day.  After months of preparation and anticipation, it’s finally here.  And these past few days, it’s all I could think about: I’ve watched several B&B youtube videos (see the end of this post!), biked all around the North Shore (thank you, David Carrozza), started my hunt for the best ice cream in America (kicking off with Cherry Farm and Richardson’s), packed my things into an 18-gallon tub (such a struggle), and watched a documentary on Terry Fox (look him up now for immediate inspiration).   People keep asking me if I’m eager, if I’m nervous, and if I’m ready.  Yes, no, and I very sincerely hope so.  Am I SO SO SO excited? I’m not, but only because I cannot fully fathom how incredible it’s going to be.  I know it’s going to be better than Christmas, and I know it’s going to be better than beating Duke.  But I cannot possibly imagine something that good.



Everything for the summer packed in this bin



For those of you whose ears haven’t been burdened by my Bike & Build chatter, here are answers to my most frequently asked questions:

            -74 days total- 60 bike days, 10 build days, 4 days off.

            -Average 70 miles/day, maximum 106 miles/day, minimum 40 miles/day.

            -A van follows us, carrying our stuff, driven by 1 of the 4 leaders.

-Everything (clothes, sleeping bag, pillow, towel, toiletries, bike parts, etc.) must fit into an 18- gallon storage bin.

-We’ll be staying at churches, campsites, YMCAs, and wherever will put us up.

-Sometimes we get a shower. Sometimes we get a hose. Sometimes we won’t get clean.

-Laundry every 3 days.

-I’m not going to get sick, and I’m not going to get hurt. So that’s a silly question.

In these few weeks that I’ve been home, I’ve become more motivated and passionate about the cause for which I’m cycling.  I volunteered with the North Shore Community Development Coalition (formerly the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition) and also attended their groundbreaking ceremony for the new affordable housing that they’re building at Gloucester Crossing in Beverly.  Furthermore, I interviewed the homeowner of Beverly’s only Habitat for Humanity house.  This homeowner’s openness, warmth, positivity, and absolute success truly inspired me and enforced the fact that good, hardworking people such as her are deserving of decent and affordable homes.

While I’m gone, I’ll try to give you updates as often as I can, but I don’t anticipate that being more than weekly.  There will be only one computer on the trip, so I’ll be relying on public libraries to post my blogs.  There is a sign-up option to receive emails of my posts so you don't need to keep checking the blog- look for it in the right-hand column of this page.  Also, feel free to email me at poeske@email.unc.edu (but again, not sure how often I’ll have internet access) or text me at (978) 857-1113 while I’m gone; I’d love to hear from you! There will also be weekly mail drops (found under “Central US” here if you're feeling extra benevolent/want to drop me a letter or package: http://www.bikeandbuild.org/cms/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,347/


Thanks again for making this possible, everyone.  I’ll think of you all with every region, every state, every county, every mile, and every pedal.  And if you’re thinking of me, I’ll be grateful for a quick prayer.  Especially as I’m hittin up them Rockies…


So I guess that’s it.  I’m off! See ya in August, my friends.

Love love love,

Abby

P.S.           

The Journey Before the Journey: Preparation & Anticipation

Hello family, friends, and random online stalkers.  Welcome to my Bike & Build blog!  I’ve never had a blog before, so I hope I’ll be able to maintain your interest all the way across America.   As you can imagine, I’m absolutely ecstatic about the opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives, see our country from coast to coast, physically challenge myself, and meet lots of incredible people. And I’m just about 2 weeks away from beginning this adventure!

It’s hard to believe how fast the time has gone since I applied to Bike & Build back in October.  Although I don’t officially start pedaling until May 29, it has already been quite a journey.  I feel as though I’ve already accomplished quite a bit- here is a list of what I’ve done in preparation:

1.      Reached my Fundraising Goal- Counting both affordable housing and personal gear donations, I’ve raised $4,590 thus far!  Of course, I can take little credit for this- I rely completely on your support.  Even though this is my second year of big-time fundraising, I still am continuously amazed by the incredible generosity of people.  It still gives me chills when I witness how willing humans are to give to a cause.  

Of my total fundraised, I received $2,435 through my “Bake, Bike & Build” project.  The breakdown: In exchange for donations, I taught 15 people how to decorate, I made 17 cakes and about 160 cupcakes.  Here are some of my favorites:    

Receiving instruction from Bob

     2.  Completed Sweat Equity: Before we depart, we all pledged to fulfill at least 10 hours of “sweat equity”, or volunteering with a local affordable housing organization.  To do this, I went on a service trip for my Spring Break.  I got to build with Habitat for Humanity in the beautiful Florida sunshine alongside all of the retirees of Vero Beach.  When I asked 85-year old Bob why he volunteered in the hot sun every single day of the week, he told me, “Well, God was good to me, so I gotta give back!”  Amen, Bob.  I hope that I’m as awesome as you are when I’m old.

3.  Finished Training:  Over 500 miles. It wasn’t so bad (and shouldn’t have been, considering I’m about to do over 3,800)!  The actual physical component went really well, despite the ridiculous hills surrounding Chapel Hill.  I was so lucky to have been able to train in such a glorious (and warm!) area, through rolling farmlands and beautiful forests.  The most difficult part of training was figuring out the bike.  First of all, when I was training for the Boston Marathon and started hurting, I could tell myself to suck it up, get out there, and run.  I can’t tell a bike to suck it up when it’s breaking down.  Accepting this fact has been an issue.  Secondly, I felt like a 15-year old girl whose daddy bought her an expensive car before she even knew how to drive.  I didn’t deserve such a beautiful bike- I had no idea how to take care of it.  I’m getting the hang of it, though, one flat tire at a time! 

4.     Perfected the Spiel:  By this point, I can anticipate how the conversation will go when people ask me what I’m doing this summer.  My typical minimalist response is “Biking across America with about 35 other young adults to raise money and awareness for affordable housing, stopping along the way to build homes.”  A predictable succession of questions usually follows, to which I have similarly-rehearsed responses.  I’m still working on remembering the states (in order) through which we’ll be riding (always forget Idaho…).  No matter how many times I repeat the spiel, I’m never less excited about telling people all about it!

Me and Beth at Maple View in March

5.    Designed the Experiment: One of my and Beth Moroney’s (one of my best friends who’ll be riding with me this summer) goals for this summer is to find the best ice cream in America.  Throughout training, we would sometimes (ok, frequently…) alter our route so we would have to stop and get Maple View Farm’s ice cream.  Now, this ice cream is pretty darn good, but we’re convinced that somewhere out there is a homemade ice cream that is absolutely irresistible and undeniably the greatest ice cream in the country.  Our method for finding this is simple:  Find a local ice cream shop everyday and everywhere we go.  Get one scoop of a standard flavor (our experimental control), and one scoop of a specialized flavor (just for fun, to unearth the most bizarrely delicious local flavor).  Indulge, compare, contrast, savor, and rank.  We’ll let you know.

 

6.    Abstained from Peanut Butter: I haven’t eaten peanut butter for a month. And won’t until May 29.  This has truly been the most difficult component of my journey thus far.  Why would I ever, ever, EVER do this to myself, you ask?  Well, I’ve heard that we eat PB&J for lunch every day. Sometimes twice a day. I don’t want to get sick of it.  So I am depriving myself until that joyous first lunch of Bike & Build.

I know this is a very long post, so thank you for all who have read through it all.  I anticipate that my posts on the road will be much briefer.  And more exciting!  I anticipate that this will undoubtedly be the best summer that I’ve ever had. So, as I wait 2 more weeks for the most amazing adventure of my lifetime, I’ll be working hard to stay in shape, stay safe, and stay away from peanut butter.

 A special thanks to those who have made this opportunity and dream into a reality (I apologize for sounding like I’m on Family Feud, but excessive adverbs and adjectives are the only way that I can come close to expressing my gratitude):

All of my incredibly generous donors (for your financial and moral contributions- I wouldn’t be doing this without you!), my wonderfully supportive parents (for knowing I’m crazy but loving me anyway), my amazingly tolerant and encouraging roommate Kaitlin Groundwater (for putting up with an extra bike, equipment, and cake stuff all over the room without a single complaint), my remarkably enthusiastic friends (for never ceasing to cheer me on in my endeavors), the Smith kids (for helping to design our ice-cream experiment and for training with me as I babysat), Neil Corcoran (for guiding me in bike-related matters), Back Alley Bikes (for giving me a discounted tune-up and for not laughing at me when I repeatedly returned with bike concerns), Nancy (my dental hygienist at Dr. Cormier's office, for making my day by giving me twelve(!) travel-sized toothpastes for my trip), and the North Shore Community Development Coalition (for teaching me more about affordable housing and for giving me the chance to witness this issue in my own town).