Finish Line

Hurrah! I made it!

On July 24th, 2008, I rolled into the gorgeous La Jolla beach in San Diego California, officially completing my Bike and Build trip across the country!

All 30 of us made it in alive and well, overjoyed at making it all the way!

Thank you so much to all the donors who supported me in this cause over a year ago, I finally did it!

Thank you also to everyone who encouraged me along the way, it was a difficult and very rewarding journey.

Here are some pics from the end of our trip (older as you go down):

Arizona

We've made it through some more states and have arrived in Arizona! Four corners, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado was weird, strangely touristy. The transition from Colorado to Arizona was quick, changing from mountainous region to desert-like scenery.

Backing up a bit, Colorado was really cool, I got to spend some great time with Vanessa and Fritz in Colorado Springs, see pics below.

The Rockies were a big challenge, usually we got a storm every afternoon. The climbs were long, but not as steep as the Appalachians. We also had the pleasure of riding on the "Million Dollar Highway," that was one of the coldest mornings of the trip.

All is well here, and we are soon closing in on the end of our trip, I am very excited!

Below are some pics from further back in the trip, older as you go down. Enjoy.

Descent Videos

Howdy, here is a descent video from the smoky mountains, and some other ones too:
note, I let go of the camera a few times to use brakes, I don't fall or anything.





Big Dam Bridge in Little Rock AR (pedestrian bridge)

Enjoy!

Oklahoma, OK!

Well we've made our way out of Arkansas today. Our route today took us into Oklahoma, into Missouri, and back into Oklahoma (for real this time).

We recently rode our first 100+ mile day, it was really hard, but I made it! The following day was about 91 miles, and that was good too.

Today was only 73, so we arrived early-ish, around 3:20pm central time.




This last picture is from TN, I think.

We're all chilling until dinner, so I'm laying around eating some cookies and nuts. Showers were good today.

Here is a movie of Hannah, Dennis, and Samuel doing no-hands Missouri:



Later!

sweetwater TN

Howdy Folks, We've made it over the mountains! It was really hard to climb up those giant rocks, but the downhills were amazing.

We crossed over the NC TN border a few days ago, and now we are in sweetwater today at the National Guard base. It's really hot here.

Everything is going well here, still haven't had a chance to get pictures up, but I am working on it. Catch ya'll later.

~Lance

build day

Howdy All,

After a rockin' breakfast, the crew headed out for the build site. It was pretty cool, they gave us hard hats, glasses, hammers, and tool belts. Once we had our gear on, we were introduced to how the build site works and given some safety pointers. We worked for about an hour or so, I helped make T's, and then worked on the trench around the house for the stucko stuff on the foundation.

Then the rain came. We scrambled for some cover and ate lunch. We called the build day off and took a ride to some communities around where Habitat built houses, they looked great. We even went inside one of the finished houses, it looked really cozy.

Thanks to Hoyle for giving me some gloves to replace the riding gloves that are falling apart on me.

See ya'll later.

Chapel Hill, NC

Howdy all,

It's been a hard route so far! We had a bunch of hills today, and my right knee is hurting pretty good. Luckily it was only 40 miles today. Weather is nice here, and the campus is big and warm!

My gear is holding up well, but my gloves are getting big holes in them, so I'm looking for some new ones.

That's all for now, don't have a way to post pics yet, but I'll try when I can.

~Lance

arrived in Nags Head NC!

Hey everybody, thanks to Liz and family, I made it down safely to Nags Head, NC. The drive down day was awfully stormy, but the weather has been great since. All is well, and we are gearing up for tomorrows first ride to Swansquarter! Catch you later.

back in the game

Heyyyyyy, guess what! I'm back in the game!

Feels good to be rid of last summer's mono. I've joined the ranks of the 2008 Bike and Build ride and life is so good.

More exciting news on the way.