orientation and the "shakedown" ride

Everybody has arrived, and orientation is under way. It's been pretty relaxed as we've learned about the rules, bike maintenance, and our duties on the road. We've spent a lot of time just getting to know each other, and we have a really great group.

This morning we went on our "shakedown" ride of 20 miles through Providence and into Mass. (that's one more state I can mark off my list). A couple of guys from the local bike club led us on the route through mostly nice, windy country roads. It was really cool to have all 31 of us in our Bike & Build jerseys riding down the road. "This is so awesome!" had to have been the most common phrase used during the ride, and for good reason. I think the group ride made most of realize this is the beginning of an awesome summer.

Tomorrow Build.
Saturday We Ride.

Providence

I left El Paso yesterday just after lunch, flew to Chicago via New Mexico, and then arrived in Providence around midnight. After a taxi ride in to town, I made it to campus, met my roommate Jeff, and then hit the sack. I woke up to it drizzling outside (it should really cut that out before we start riding), and laid around for a while. Then I got up met the leaders and a few of the other riders and then put my bike together. Jeff and I just got back from the post office where we picked up some stamps, and we're waiting a little while before going and grabbing some lunch. Orientation starts around 1, and it looks like we'll be going from then until the end of the summer. I let you know how everything goes.

It All Begins Tomorrow!

It's 7:00 o'clock on Monday night, and I leave for Providence in the morning. The money is all raised, the bags are packed and the bike is bundled and ready for the plane ride. We'll be in Providence for orientation June 4th and 5th, we'll have a build day with the Providence Habitat for Humanity on the 6th, and we'll start our cross country adventure on the morning of the 7th (Saturday). I'll do my best to keep you updated as we go depending on how interntet access is.

Thanks to everyone who has helped make this happen! I know it's going to be an amazing summer!

Be sure to check back soon for pictures and tales from the road.

-Eric

Out in the west Texas town of El Paso....

Well, we made it to El Paso. Dad and I left Longview Tuesday morning at 6:00 headed for El Paso via Austin. It’s a little out of the way, but Dad had a proposal to drop off in Austin. We made it to Austin by 10:30, and then spent the afternoon running around there in Austin. We escaped Austin around 6ish that evening and headed on. Around 11:30 we reached Fort Stockton and called it a night. We got up the next morning (Wednesday) and drove 3 more hours to make it here. The afternoon was spent sightseeing and checking out a few of the projects Dad is working on here. Last night Dad and I went to the El Diablos baseball game, a minor league team here in El Paso.

This morning I got up early and went for a bike ride. I decided to climb the transmountain highway that runs through the Franklin Mountains. I left my aunt and uncle’s house around 7:30, rode 9 miles to the start of the highway and began the climb. From there it was almost 5 miles of climbing to the peak. The maximum elevation was 5280 ft. (which is conveniently 1 mile high).

I rode a little farther to a picnic area that over looked the west side of the mountain, and then I turned around, descended the mountain and then rode back to the house. All in all it was a hard 30 miles. After not riding in a week, it probably wasn’t the smartest move to make that my first ride back, but it was a pretty good one none the less.

Oh, and I got my photo album going today. I put a few El Paso pics up just to test it out and make sure it works. There's a link on my website homepage, or you can just check it out at picasaweb.com/eric.d.rowell

I'm famous! Well not really, but I was on the news!

This week sure has been busy. Not much time to ride, but plenty of other things have been going on.

First, I was on KLTV this week! KLTV did a special on me, and there's a link to the right if you'd like to check the video out.

We went to Dallas on Friday, picked up Dad at the airport, and did some last minute shopping for the trip. I'm pretty sure I'm ready to roll gear wise.

Some of the grandparents came into town Saturday and Sunday to hang out since it's the last time for a while they'll get to see Dad or me.

Dad and I leave early tomorrow to head to El Paso. We're taking my car, and I'll be there until I fly out on the 3rd.


Also, I'm making my last final push for donations. I've already raised over $3,300, but still need about $700 to reach my $4,000 goal. If you'd like to help out, you can click here to make a credit card donation. Just select my name from the list (Rowell, Eric). Any donations, no matter how big or small would be greatly appreciated.

Bike & Build is just a week away!

-Eric

2 Weeks Away

With the spring quarter in full swing and the weather being as nice as it has been, I've neglected writing here for quite sometime... my bad.

Well the quarter ended Friday (I had a 4.0 this quarter), I packed my stuff and said goodbye to Ruston for a while, and I made it back to Longview last night. Summer is here, and Bike & Build starts in two weeks! I'll be in Longview this week, El Paso the next, and then fly from El Paso to Providence on June 3rd for orientation the 4th.

The bike riding has been going pretty well this spring. I've made sure to get in at least one 50 mile ride a week, and a couple of those have been 70+ miles. In Ruston on Saturday I rode 52 total (about 35 with the Ruston Cyclists) and it was probably the hilliest ride I've done this year. We rode "the old race course" which was way hillier than any part of Ruston I'd ridden before. I was pretty happy with the way I rode. I stayed near the front the whole way, and it felt good overall.

Speaking of uphills, I'll hopefully get some good mountain climbing next week while I'm in El Paso. They say the transmountain highway has a bike lane the whole way, so it'll be nice to get some real uphill training in before the trip. More on that next week when I'm there.

I finished off the checklist for gear I need last night. Now I'm just waiting for the last few things to come in.

I've gotten some great donations recently, and I'd like to thank everybody who has given so far! I'm still trying to finish up my fundraising, so if you are interested in donating, please CLICK HERE and select my name (Rowell, Eric).

I'll do better at keeping this up to date over the next few weeks. I promise.

Interval Training

Spring is here. The weather the last few weeks has been great (except for the tornado-like weather last weekend), and I've gotten the chance to go on a couple really nice rides.

With the time change and the sun staying out later, we've started back up interval training on Tuesday nights. Its the interval training that causes me to both love and hate Tuesdays. Basically, its a ten mile stretch of road and our group (there were 14 tonight) ride out going 3 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy (or easier) to the stop sign. Then we turn around, form a paceline and try to catch a couple of guys who rabbit out ahead of the pack. All together, its a 20 mile ride that goes by really fast. I think because there were so many people tonight, things got crazy, and we were flying.

Joseph and I got dropped by the group during the 2nd hard interval going out. We were going 31 mph up a pretty nice climb, and the pack was pulling away from us. Crazy fast... We sat up and cruised the rest of the wa out between 19-20, and waited for them to turn around.

On the way back in I was feeling a little better, but the group splintered when there was some confusion up front, and we all got spread out. I ended up riding back in at a decent pace with a couple guys, but all together it was a rough ride. Not to mention the wind seemed to blowing us sideways at times.

Anyways, I ended up riding 35 miles total tonight since I rode out there and back home once we were done. It was a good solid ride, and if the weather stays nice, hopefully a few of us can get a really long ride or two in this weekend.