Rocky Mountain High..... Colorado!

So I just got out of Colorado. This was by far the most amazing states I have been to so far. IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!! We basically finished rolling through the Rocky Mountains. I put a lot of mic on my homepage video. I last left off in Ft. Collins.

After Ft. Collins we went to Estes Park, Co. It was a ride of a good warm up. We climbed about 800 feet total that day. We went through Big Thompson Canyon where we basically climbed into Estes. It was an amazing canyon where we hugged the river the whole time. Once we got into Estes we followed a road to Eagle Rock School. We stayed in the "High School" in the middle of nowhere that boarded students that were destined for failure and it helps them get on track and helps them graduate. We stayed in the gym where I slept on the bleachers.

We then rode into Granby where we climbed over Trail Ridge in the Rocky Mountain National Park. This was an amazing climb. I saw Elk for the firs time ever. The views of the Rockies were breath taking. This was a time where I started to pull away from the group I was with and just sat amazed at God’s creation. Over all on this climb I rode to an elevation of 12,036 feet. The climb took me about 4 hours and it was amazing. When I got to the top I passed the Continental Divide. We had a great downhill afterward that lasted about 12 miles. One cool thing that happened was there was construction on the road. There was a flagman that had us stopped on the downhill and before he let any cars go he allowed me to get a head start before any cars. It was cool because I was actually faster than any of the cars on that part of the road. We stayed in one of the leader’s friend’s house. It was a really cool winter home neighboring a ski resort. That night a big group of us watched Taken. Great day.

The next morning we rode into Frisco. It was an overall nice ride. We didn’t go through any major passes but there were a lot of rolling hills. On the way there was a great chocolate store. I bought some chocolate covered marshmallows. They were good but not so good for me. I mainly hung out with Sonya and Max. We stopped at a river and hung out for a while. We then booked it into the town where we found a Pearl Izumi outlet store. We then tried to beat a giant thundercloud before we got to the host. It didn’t help that we got 10 miles off track. I definitely learned that not everyone that says they can read a map can actually read a map. But a lot of us in the group had a great time being lost. We got to our host, which was our first camping experience. It was a really fun experience. We camped on a lake and got to watch a thunderstorm roll by the lake. I got to capture a great shot of lightning and listen to the rain fall on the tent as I fell asleep. A great camping experience.

We then rode to Salida where we went over Hoosier Pass. We crossed the Continental Divide for the second time. This is a part in the route where we shot south for a while and the mountains curved just enough to make us go over the pass again. The elevation on the pass was 11,539 feet. It was not an easy ride but it was still amazing. We then rode down into Salida where we stayed in the bottom story of a church. It was the first church that basically said that the key was under the mat, make sure it’s clean in the morning. It was definitely a weird experience. We did have an amazing pasta dinner donated by a local restaurant and I saw my first Safeway in this town sense I left California. I know, information worth sharing.

Our next day of riding took us into Gunnison where we went over yet another pass. We climbed to an elevation of 11,312 feet on Monarch Pass. We crossed the Continental Divide for our third and final time. It was a great climb that took me only 3 hours to climb. The cool thing about this ride was the fact it was on Hwy. 50. I was waiting for Missouri Flat Rd. to show up but I heard that it was till a few miles down the road. We had a very short decent and kinda stayed on flat land for 30 miles. We stayed in a Baptist church that had some amazing art in it. Some of it was a little weird but most of it was really cool. The executive pastor was only 25 and was bringing in more of a structure of church that was drawing in the 20 something’s crowd. I cool looking place.

The next day I was on Sweep with Emily. It was a great morning. There were these small lakes that had some of the most beautiful reflections on them. We had to stop when most of the group went cliff diving. There would be pics but some people jumped in the nude. Not really something I want to put on the blog. It was a long hard day. We didn’t get into lunch until 3PM. We were definitely hungry by then. After lunch we had a nice downhill, another uphill, then a great downhill right into Montrose where the Local Christian church hosted us and Habitat 4 Humanity cooked us dinner.

We then rode into Naturita. It really wasn’t an exciting day. We rode through a canyon for most of the day. Sean, Dennis, Ryan, and I rode through the canyon and into town with an average speed of 20 MPH. We got into town and stayed in the elementary school. We also increased the town population by 8%. Small town with nothing was kinda peaceful.

Then we rode to Moab, Utah where I am today. This day was nice with beautiful landscapes. It was by far the hottest day we had. We now realize we are in the dessert. It was a good ride with its share of hills. Dan Coop and I rode for most of the day. The day ended on a bad note thou.

My good friend Miranda had a bad fall this day (she has her pic in my last post, we hung the ceiling light). She was trying to get her camera out of her bag and lost her balance. She fell, hit her head and broke her collarbone in 4 places. Today I visited her in the hospital and waited for her parents to come. Miranda had to go home to New York because of her injuries. Please pray for her. She is going through a lot of pain because of the accident and because she was not able to finish the ride. Please pray that she has a fast recovery and that she is at peace with the events that have happened. We are hoping to see her in San Francisco when we get there. My biggest hope is that she will be able to ride across the golden gate with us.

So we are now a group of 31 riders. Today was hard for everyone. It is nice that we don’t have to ride the next day. We will be building with a local organization that builds affordable adobe houses. We will get to learn more about natural earth housing which is pretty cool. Thanks for reading and I will chat at you later.

~Ryan

Nebraska, Colorado, and are those the Rockies?

Nebraska was great. It was a lot flatter than Kansas and way more scenic. They had more than just corn growing.

We first rolled into a small town known as Red Cloud. It was right after crossing into Colorado and everyone was very nice. We stayed in a local community center and was able to get into the community pool for free. The pool was great. It was the first public pool I have been in where it was actually cool. A few sweet old ladies cooked us casserole galore. There were about 5 different casseroles that we got to choose from. I only had 2 but they were great. Ryan Farr's grandparents also came and joined us for dinner.

The next morning we had a short 50 mile day into Alma. We got to stop at a lake for the day because it was so short. This day was great. We met a park ranger that works for the Army Corp of Engineers who got us some press. He left and then came back about an hour later offering a free tour of the dam. It was really cool. We got to go into the dam and see the valves and controls that controlled the gates on the bottom of the dam. It was a solid 55 degrees in there and it was dark. We then went up to the top on a cat walk that sat right above the main flood gates. It was an amazing view of the valley the river flowed through. I could also see some giant fish hanging around the dam. I wish I had a fishing pole.

We then went to McCook where we got to meet a Habitat family in the town. The local Habitat chapter fed us dinner that night and was very nice in helping us plan our next day's route. The family was great and we had the best Q&A after the presentation. We all shared some great stories.

Next we rolled into Holyoke. We stayed at the First Christian Church where they went and cooked something for everyone. We have someone on our trip that can't eat any Gluten and a few vegetarians/vegans. Everyone had a little something special for them. Ryan, Jenny and I got in first and went to eat at a small Chinese restaurant. The first Chinese restaurant sense I left California.

We then Rolled into COLORADO!!!! We stayed in a small town known as New Raymer. I blinked while riding and almost missed the town. The population is under 100 people but they still had an old community building that we stayed in. I never met the person that orginized everything for us but she provided dinner and breakfast for us. I love when people work under the radar like that.

Then we rolled into Ft. Collins, CO where I still am. While riding in we got to watch the Rocky Mountains get bigger and bigger. We are staying at an amazing church that has helped us so much. We had a build day here with the local habitat. I worked on hanging about 80% of the house's lighting with Miranda. Everyone else worked on cleaning out the crawl space under the house, painting a couple sides of the house, finishing the roofing, and starting on the sheet rock of another Habitat house next door.

Tonight we also had a concert that was hosted by the local church we stayed at and by us. The concert was held to raise more money for Bike & Build and the Ft. Collins Habitat for Humanity. There were a lot of folk bands that played and we had an amazing turnout. My chore group gave the presentation and we knocked it out of the park. It was a great night of having fun and dancing. Some people went to a bar across the street that is also a bike shop. Yea, a bike shop/bar. Weird combo if you think about it. Overall we have had a great stay in Nebraska and so far in Colorado.

Now on a more serious note. I am asking everyone to pray for the NC2SD route. They were riding pretty early to beat the heat in the death valley area. 3 riders were hit by a car and they were all air-lifted to a hospital in the Palm Springs area. This comes at a bad time because their trip ends on Saturday in San Diego. Please pray for a fast recovery for those that were hurt and pray for peace for all the riders on that trip as well as our routes participants. It really brought home the reality of how dangerous this ride is. Thank you all for your prayers already. We have been very fortunate to only have some minor accidents on our route. Thanks again and I will chat at ya later.

~Ryan

Kansas

Kansas is definitely not flat. It isn't as bad as what my friend Dave has told me but it definitely isn't flat. We rode into Lawrence, Kansas after a brisk 92 miles. This ride was amazing. Sean, Miranda and I rode the last 20 miles at an awesome speed of 23 miles per hour the whole way. Even on the inclines! Everyone did great on the last 20 miles. Sean, Miranda and I treated our selves to a nice treat at the local Sonic. We learned that through the local Habitat site, which we built with, worked a deal with the Marriott where we got to stay for 3 nights. A queen size bed for 3 nights = AMAZING!!!!! We also had a great dinner at Johnie's. It was a tavern with delicious flat bread pizza. You should go if you are ever in Lawrence. Just look for "Johnie's Tavern Across the River". You can even mail him stuff with that as his address. There was this amazing picture of the Tour de France where some bicyclists are actually smoking. Kinda funny.
We worked with the local Habitat site for 2 days. We were able to put on the entire roof over these 2 days. We had an amazing time working with the site manager but more exciting was the fact we got to work alongside with the family. The father of the family works for the sanitation department for the town and part of his route went right by the house. It was cool when this big old truck pulled up to the house and he got to show off the progress done to his friends he was working with.

After the build days we rode to Manhattan, KS. The little apple as we like to call it. It was nice little community. We got to stay in a nice gym and was served an amazing dinner by some of the church wives and breakfast by the church husbands. Part of me wonders if there was a little competition between the two. Dinner was great but breakfast was amazing. What can I say, guys like to add butter. Lots of butter.

We then rode to Beloit, KS where we rode by an amazing sunrise. By far the best I have ever seen in my life. We woke up at 4:30 that morning. I was saying we should wake up at that time from now on but no one agreed with me. We stayed in the catholic church's high school. It was a mail drop and I got a DVD from a news station in West Virginia from a build day we had there. I will find a way to post it but it will be a bit of a trick. I will try my best tho.
We then started riding to Nebraska. I rode with Kate for the trip. We got to see two amazing things. First was the worlds largest ball of Sisal Twine. We even got to add on to it. The second was the exact center point of the United States.

This is where I will leave you. We cross into Colorado on Monday. I will try to update again tomorrow. Thank you so much Ann for the emails. I love hearing about what is going on back home. My prayers go out to the McNitt family. I love you all and will chat at ya later.

~Ryan

P.S. Check out the slideshow on my homepage. http://sites.google.com/site/crosscountryryan

Flatter Lands

So we first went to Hannibal, MO. It was a nice, flat ride for the first half. On the second half three big mountains came out of nowhere. But there was an amazing view of the Mississippi River on the top of one of the mountains. We then passed by the cafes of Mark Twain. We were able to go in and check out about a mile of the caves and hear some great stories of Mark Twain. The church we stayed with cooked us an amazing BBQ dinner and a perfect breakfast.


We then rode to Moberly, MO where I was on Sweep. I am not a big fan of Sweep but it does get me to slow down. Ryan F, Steven and I rode together the whole way. We had lunch at Mark Twain Lake and then rode through a little rain. We caught up with a few people at a fireworks shop that just got $150 of fireworks donated for our fourth of July party. We stayed in a church cafe place for high schoolers.

On the fourth of July, my mom sent me some decorations that I shared with some people.

It was a great ride with Sonya & Nate. We rode 92 miles at a great pace. The town's main water line burst the night before. We rode in uncertain if we were going to get a shower or not. Luckily they fixed the pipe 2 hours before our arrival. We still had to get water outside of town because the water wasn't safe to drink. The fireworks show was pretty cool. The group of people that got the fireworks donated put on a nice little show for the group. It was a fun time with everyone. It was kinda funny when I saw Sonya with the group med kit. It's like she was expecting something to happen... Strange...

The yesterday we rode into Lawrence where we have 2 build days. One nice little perk is that we are staying in a hotel. WE HAVE BEDS. And not just any hotel. The local Marriott donated 6 rooms to us for the 3 nights we are staying here. THANK YOU MARRIOTT!!! Today was the first of two build days. We were able to put up all the trusses for the roof, wrapped the house and put up most of the siding. A very accomplishing day that we will get to continue tomorrow.

Did Somebody Say Wind?

Greetings everyone from the Central Daylight Time Zone!!!

It's been a great few days. We have been in Indiana and Illinois where we had a build day. When we got to Indiana I immediately had one song stuck in my head from last year's musical. Any guesses?

We have had some amazing hosts. We first stayed in a high school gym. It was big and loud. I found the drama room unlocked and found a futon to sleep on. Way more comfortable than a thermarest. We then continued on to Linton, IN where we only had to bike 45 miles. It was a nice relaxing and slow day. We only had to ride 45 miles and we also crossed the time zone line. So we gained an hour! We then rode to Effingham. There were a lot of jokes that day of "Where the effingham are we?" It was kinda funny but it got dull really fast. We then rode to Springfield where we stayed at a local Presbyterian church.

We had a build day in Springfield where we got to sheetrock the entire livingroom and some closets. I helped fill in dirt around the foundation and some people dug the trench to lay the sidewalk. It was a good day but it got a little hot. One thing that was cool is that some of us got to ride our bikes to the build site.

Today we rode to Pittsfield where we had a HUGE dinner with a lot of the community members. There was a great presentation and lots of questions were asked. We are all now at different houses. I am staying with George, Max, and Dan C. in this amazing house. The owner works with wood and was showing us a Walnut Bench that he was making. His wife calles it the Afternoon job that is now taking him a month.

Tomorrow we are riding to Hannibal, MO. We get to cross the Mississippi River. I CAN'T WAIT!!! The slideshows have been a little difficult to post on the blog so I will be putting them on my website. It’s http://sites.google.com/site/CrossCountryRyan . I love ya all and will chat at you soon.

~Ryan