Miles & Miles

"And every one of us gets tired, but every one remains inspired, and every one of us required to keep picking through our soul.  I play the road, and the highway is our song..."



St. Louis seems thousands of miles ago.  In Bike & Build world (very different from real world), we do and see so much in one day that each day feels like a week.  It makes blogging very difficult.  For example, today we ate breakfast, cleaned up the host site, rode 45 miles, and ate lunch all before 10am.



Hiding in corn



After St. Louis, we rode along the Katy Trail.  The Katy Trail was an old railroad line converted into a trail that stretches for hundreds of miles through rural Missouri.  Although the trail was gravel, it was wicked nice to get off the roads and not worry about cars for 2 days.  As usual, the landscape was remarkable and we had a blast exclaiming at bluffs and playing in cornfields.

Pintos along the roadside

Once we were done with the Katy Trail and passed through Jefferson City, we faced some brutal headwinds through which we had to pedal downhill and still only hit 9mph (to put that into perspective, I usually ride at about 25mph downhill without pedaling).  To break up the ride, we made friends with some beautiful horses and attempted to woo some cows.

Monkeys in Missouri?

We completed our first century (100 mile ride) on our way into Kansas City! With 2 lunch breaks, a B2 Bomber overhead, and a detour at which we saw an island full of monkeys (yes, in Missouri.  And I'm 98% sure this actually happened and that I wasn't just hallucinating.), the hundred miles felt like a breeze.  Also, Kansas City happens to be Johhny Foster's hometown, so seeing him jumping around excitedly like a 6-year-old on Christmas that morning made the day particularly enjoyable.  After we rolled into our host site, his hometown church, I got to witness Johnny's reunion with his mother, which was one of the most touching moments of the trip thus far.  So happy!



Gates BBQ in Kansas City



In Kansas City, we had a build day with Habitat as well as our first day off!  It was wonderful to have no responsibilities for the day and to sleep in (til 8:30am woooooh!). We got a full Missourian experience, complete with a Kansas City Royals game and classic BBQ. 



Costume ride!



For our ride out of Kansas City, we had a "costume ride".  We all dressed up in costumes that we had bought at a thrift store.  It was hilarious, to say the least.  Although it did get a little toasty in my wool flight attendant dress after 60 miles of pedaling...



Kansas University yesterday, Kansas State today.  Our Central Route is actually Tour de College Towns.  I couldn't be happier- I love touring the schools and exploring the little local shops and eateries (the BEST ice cream stops) that college towns offer.  So far we've seen UVA, Marshall University, Xavier, Indiana University, Indiana State University, St. Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Missouri in St. Louis, Kansas University, Kansas State University, and several smaller schools.  And many more to come!

The ice cream hunt is going well.  I can't disclose any information just yet, but since I'm nearly half way done with the trip, I'll post a midway ice cream blog soon!

Thanks for following.  If you have any feedback of what you'd like to hear more/less of, please send me an email at poeske@email.unc.edu

Love & miss you all,

Abby

Group picture at the build site in Kansas City