Carroll, IA all the way to Chadron, NE

Its been almost a week since I've been able to update. The hard drive on my computer crashed, and now I'm limited to short spurts of time on the local Library computer. Dell has been really helpful with everything, and hopefully my new hard drive will be in this afternoon.

I guess I have a lot of catching up to do. The last week has been the longest week of the trip in terms of mileage. That plus the wind has made it very draining, and everyone is really taking advantage of our day off in Chadron.

First, our build day in Carroll was great. The local Habitat chapter had plenty of work lined up for us, the weather held off, and we got a lot accomplished. We got to frame an entire house, definitely the glamorous part of building. In a few short hours we turned a concrete slab into the skeleton of a house. It was fun to see the change so quickly, and meeting thefamily who will be living there was very rewarding. Definitely a good day for all of us.

We left Carroll and headed to South Sioux City, NE on the longest day of the trip so far. The Cue Sheet said it was 103 miles, but I managed to turn it into a 111 mile day! I was up front for most of the day, and when we had to reroute due to gravel roads I missed one of the turns. Luckily everyone else made it, and the van tracked me down before too long. I had two choices on what to do. I could either turn around adding 20 miles to my day, or I could miss second lunch and try to reroute myself down some country roads. Armed with an Iowa bike map given to us by a bike shop in Ames I charted a new route. I hit some pretty big hills, but managed to only add 8 miles to the day. I made it back to the main road just as Hanna and Lisa were topping a hill, so we road the last few miles in together. Everyone was pumped after our first group 100 mile ride, and we stayed at an amazing YMCA that night.

From there we headed to Plainview, an 87 mile day into the winds. This is where I found out my computer had crashed, and I spent most of the afternoon on the phone with Dell. The next morning we got up and went to D-H lanes, a bar/bowling alley where we had breakfast. Bowling in spandex is quite amusing. Probably one of the most fun mornings of the trip. No one wanted to leave breakfast, but we all reluctantly headed on to Stuart.

Our ride to Stuart was just over 90, and not too bad.

Then came July 11th. My birthday! I woke up to many "Happy Birthdays!" and cards from both Bike and Builders and friends and family back home. Thanks so much for everything. I decided to wear my super sweet tuxedo bike jersey to celebrate my 21st, and perhaps the hardest day of the trip began. With head winds up to 35 miles an hour we trudged along all day, sometimes at 6 mph going downhill! Because the ride was 83 miles, we only had one lunch scheduled, but a diner in the middle of nowhere (literally, there were signs that said so) was a great spot to stop for ice cream and french fries. We reached the church very late, and the people who rode in the van tat day already had dinner prepared for us. After dinner the lights dimmed, a cake was brought out, and we had a short but fun birthday party. Thanks to mom, Ashley and everyone else who helped make that happen.

Valentine to Gordon was another long 90+ day with the winds in our faces. Chad, Peter, and I spent most of the day riding together through the open plains. We reached Gordon tired, and everyone passed out pretty much right after dinner.

Gordon to Chadron was one of my favorite rides of the trip. Only 47 miles, and with the wind at our backs we were able to fly. After such a long week I was very surprised at how well I felt yesterday. I managed to hold an average of 10 mph! There was a 4 or 5 mile stretch where I didn't go lower than 28 mph, even going over hills! I was in the first group to make it in, and that was about 10:20 in the morning. Defintely a nice change from the previous days. Michael, Frannie, and I went out to lunch at the Country Kitchen where I got a chicken fired steak. yum! Then I napped all afternoon before going out with the group on our night off! We had a lot of fun, slept late this morning and now we're just enjoying the day. For lunch I think we're going to go destroy the Pizza Hut buffet. Its amazing how much food our small army can eat.

Tomorrow we head to Lusk, WY, which means there are only 4 states left in our adventure! Its crazy to think we've made it this far, and we have less than a month left.