13 Days.. Its been 13 days since I posted last

So instead of trying to keep up and using photos and all that.. I am going to try something different. All of my photos can still be found at http://www.gramfeed.com/kmarrinerjr and my ride data at http://connect.garmin.com/explore?owner=kmarrinerjr or http://app.strava.com/athletes/108997.

Heres what I am going to do.. a bit of a narrative that will be boring. We will see how long I last at this.


The alarm goes off, I wake up super groggy and check my phone. 0530. We got to sleep in today, there are 17 emails and a text waiting for me, but I can't look at them yet.
The church fills with the sound of air escaping from thermarests, this sound has become routine for me now, I find the energy to stumble to the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on my bibs.
Then its back to the room where I slept, my bin is packed in the next 3 minutes everything in its place and out to the trailer it goes.
Today they are cooking breakfast for us, so I am in no rush to get the essentials out and lined up on the table. I take this time to check my phone before heading out to the garage where the bikes are. I grab my equipment and air up the tires, then it's back inside for breakfast, a large spread of pancakes, bacon, fruit, cereal, and eggs. They have set out two gallons of chocolate milk which are demolished.

After breakfast we sit outside waiting for the cleaning crew to finish, then there is a route meeting. We learn about the town we are heading into, and get the cue sheets. As everyone finished preparing their bikes a few people take off. Then we leave; Gordy, Ambrose, and I. I stop to chalk the first turn and a lady asks if I am alright from her car as she is at the stop sign. I tell her yes, and explain our trip to her, she offers to donate $5 to the group. I head off to find the others.

We start the ride slow, slowly warming our legs for the day ahead, 65 miles.

The day slowly progresses as we pick up speed and cruise along at a decent pace. We turn onto a road that will take us most of the way in, 10 miles later we see the trailer. Lunch. I take Manny the lunch mascot to the road as a signal to the other riders. Then we feast, it's a short day so mostly I drink fluids with some doughnuts and fruit. Then it's back to the road after a quick chat and spray of sunscreen.

We decide to take a break after 10 more miles, it's getting hot. Ambrose takes a 10 mile pull and we reach the end of the long road and take a stop for bathroom use. Only 7.9 miles to go, I lead my energy sapped by the sun, we roll along slowly and make it in.

We are the first in and eat a snack in the church basement before unpacking the trailer as more arrive. Then we head off to the malt shop and a bar, along the way we learn of another group of cyclists in the town, cycle america, they are going east. I get back to the church and head to the post office to mail a box, then it's time for a shower. But the water isn't working so we wait a bit for it to come on.

I walk back to the church, and take the time to upload my ride data and spend some time reading the news before dinner.
The word is given dinner is served, we swarm the table containing a variety of lasagna with salad and bread in a way that can only be described as locusts. After dinner is devoured and dessert is decimated we listen to an affordable housing presentation on rent control and then assemble for a town hall.  where everyone shares their highs and lows of the week and adds a bit of information about what they feel we can do better as a group, then we break and some of us decided to head off to the bar while others paint the trailer and still others prepare for bed, it is going to be an 0430 wakeup after all.

Now we are getting somewhere

So its been a week since we posted. On the 4th we rode into Niagara Falls, a very short and easy 22 mile day. Since we had such a short day, we spent it in Canada hanging out for a bit before watching the fireworks on the US side.

The next day was a build in the area, which was a bit rocky midway through, but we all made it through the day! We also got mail, Dan sent me some great stickers and my vitamins were finally in!

Then it was off to Westfield, NY which was an interesting place, I can't recall exactly what happened being that the days seem to blend together, especially on hot days.
What I do know is that we had a second lunch at the house of a very awesome dentist who made us a ton of food and a bunch of people went swimming in this oasis.

The next day it was off to Ohio! Ashtabula to be exact, during this ride we hit the PA and OH borders. While in PA I did a radio interview with ESPN South Jersey and Tyler, which was awesome. Right after that I hit the border within another 30 minutes.

Then it was to Avon Lake, a very awesome place! We got beds! And on the way there, Kate's mom brought us enchiladas.

When we got there we met our hosts, and went to the water park, then we went to another hosts house to swim in Lake Erie.
I stayed with Barb and Hal, who were very great! And did I mention we got beds?!

The next day was a build day followed by more swimming at waterparks and lakes, with a lot of food added in!

Today we rode to Bowling Green, we are finally in the flats, which is awesome!

The ride included a very nice bike path and some awesome pacelineing. We also ventured into town toa coffee shop. This is one epic coffee shop ride!

Tomorrow is Michigan and I will be hitting 1000 miles 30.86 miles into the ride!!!!

Starting to flatten out..

This week has been filled with more riding, today ended our 7th day of riding in a row. Sunday was Palermo where I met up with Brian, we got some chicken and watched half of the Spain vs. Italy game. Then it was back to the church for some foosball and pool followed by dinner and bed.

Monday we rode to Rochester which was a very fast and fun ride where I got to ride with a bunch of people, it was the groups longest ride to date at 90 miles, we had two lunches and a generally enjoyable time. We stayed at RIT in the dorms, which was awesome considering I never experienced college life at all. Dinner was provided by the chapel at the university and everyone spent some awesome time hanging out together.

Today was another fast and fun ride to Lockport NY, I spent a lot of time teaching Francis how to paceline, so we would go hard for a few miles, then back off and spend a few miles going slow and talking discussing everything about cycling and life. We got in super early and headed over to the YMCA for showers, then it was off to the deli for a bit of food before coming back. Now we are awaiting dinner and about to go outside to throw the frisbee around.


Tomorrow is Niagara Falls and then a build day, our first in a long time!

Scratch that, still hate the hills..

So here I sit in a church in Boonville, NY. I just got in about an hour ago after a long 76 mile ride, I felt horrible the entire time because last night I slept in a tent and didn't get nearly enough sleep.

This past week has been interesting. Since last writing, we left Lebanon NH and went up Bethel Mountain in Vermont, a very easy ride considering it was a damn mountain! There is a picture of my sufferface somewhere that Sean took. Anyway after the awesome descent that followed we made our way to Rochester and found our host. After using the wifi at the cafe I discovered that Pete's Aunt and Uncle lived in this town, not only that.. but they were right across the street from the host! So I took advantage of that and went to meet them and they kindly gave me a shower, which I greatly needed!

We explored town quite extensively and found some neat places for food and drink, then called it a night after going for a walk to the river.

We woke the next day for another mountain pass, this time I was to ride sweep which entails being the last group of people to leave the host, and not passing anyone. Basically it boils down to taking your time and many many rests. Ellen and I left Rochester about an hour after everyone else, and we took it at a very slow pace taking in every detail, we stopped at a local winery for a bit to talk with one of the owners as well as sitting under many shade trees for quite some time. We then made it into The YMCA camp at Silver Bay on Lake George. We were not expecting such a huge place.. we all swam and took showers before heading to dinner where we ate until we could not eat any longer. Then it was off for some basketball/tennis/volleyball for everyone. And we got to sleep in real beds that night!

The following day was our hardest ride to date, it was to Indian Lake NY where we stayed in an RV park. The entire ride was many many steep hills and we had to take a lot of breaks, as soon as we left the camp we had a 4.5 mile climb that took what seemed to be forever, before a nice downhill and more uphills.
We made it in and started grilling food and just enjoying our time outdoors. That night we slept in tents.


Today we rode to Boonville which was not a very hard route, but was difficult because we are all tired and our bodies are sore, it was a struggle for me personally and I wasn't sure how well I'd make it. But in the end I made it with some time to spare.

Here are the rides. Photos can be seen in the right sidebar.

I am starting to get used to these hills

4th day of actually doing Bike & Build is done, and I think I am finally starting to get used to the terrain of New England. Sunday we went to New London and it again was a very hilly day with 1,375 feet of climbing. Then we got to have a very nice dinner and showers in a very huge church. We also spent some time painting the van.

Here is the data:

Monday it was off to Lebanon where we would be spending two days. The ride was not bad and was even fun for a bit. After reaching we went for a great shower with some Foosball and then it was dinner time at another church and off to a movie, Brave, with some other people, and then back to the church for some sleep..

Tuesday we were awoken for a build day, and it was back on the bike with 14 others to head off to Vermont where we spent time building a wheelchair ramp for an elderly lady. We started with nothing and finished the entire ramp with the exception of the handrail. Then it was back to the church for dinner of pulled pork and various pasta salads with applesauce and strawberries and cream for dessert. Then a few of us headed over to the rec center for some time in the hot tub and sauna before coming back to work on the bikes.

Now it is almost time to sleep, tomorrow we climb a mountain with an average grade of 5% ( Alp d'Huez is an average of 7% for those wondering), at the end of a 42 mile ride. It is going to be very hard but very rewarding aswell.

New Hampshire is an evil mistress

Today was the official start of the trip, first we went to the beach for the wheel dip where everyone put their wheel in the ocean during low tide.
After that we started our 60 mile ride to Concord, I rode with Aaron, Sean, and Colin. It was all climbing, insane climbing for a guy from New Jersey.

We were out in front the entire day and actually missed the lunch truck, but we met a nice lady at the top of a Cat 4 climb who gave us some granola bars and water. Then it was off to the descents followed by another long climb and a final long descent.

The ride was real intense and fun. I am glad its behind us, tomorrow is a shorter ride with a more intense set of hills I hear. Oh well, onward!

Here is some data for the ride for those interested.

What I have learned so far

So here it is, the end of the second day of orientation.. I type this as I sit on the cold concrete of a church basement surrounded by 33 bikes, these are the things I have learned:

1. You will spend 90% of the time dancing.

You may even learn how to Dougie.

2. This will be your best friend, and will always be around.

3. Shuttles to the Y for showers will give you more wildlife sightings than a ride through a wildlife preserve.

4. You will sweat all the time, even while not riding.

5. You will forget names once in a while... or quite often.

6. You will never have more fun at any orientation ever. The rest of the summer is looking to be great!


Here are some highlights from the past two days. Wednesday Bri and I rode from Catie's house in Kennebunkport to orientation in Portsmouth. I got sunburned. It was hot and there were more hills than I have ever seen in my life on a bike. But it was an awesome 35 mile ride through beautiful scenery.

We got to orientation and everyone made fast friends, we played some ice breakers as well as some ultimate.

The basement looks like this:

And the ride had some of this in it:

and this

Ferb made his first appearance

Thursday was spent doing some drills, then a shakedown ride, followed by showers.. Then we headed over the ReStore in town for a huge pizzaparty/disco dance off at an old converted roller rink complete with DJ booth. Laser tag games were donated from the awesome arcade next door. Also some hide and go seek as well as capture the flag was done.

Now we are all comfortably back in the church before sleeping, because tomorrow my friends, is a build day. The Saturday is our first ride day.


And before ending this post, here are the garmin analysis of the two rides I have done so far:

Until next time..