Are we still in the same state?

I'm so confused. I'm not used to staying in the same state for so long...we haven't crossed a border in two weeks!

Check out this article from the Green Bay Press Gazette...

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009907120663

Thanks Mom for being my personal media manager :)

Wednesday's LESSON OF THE DAY: Sometimes being MVP hurts.

Well, I am officially MVP for the day. Why you ask? Because I fell through the roof at the build site and continued to lay shingles afterward like a trooper. Mom, don't freak out. It really wasn't that bad. It was pretty funny actually. There was roofing work to be done on the site, and since my window group and I had successfully installed every window in the house before lunch (we're getting good) I needed a new job for the afternoon. I was not thrilled about the idea of traipsing around on the roof, but I figured everyone else was fine so I should be too. I was on the roof for approximately 30 seconds and was making my way to the peak when my friend Kristen started to tell me something right as I stepped on the flat part on the peak of the roof. The next thing I knew I was stuck with one leg splayed out on the roof and the other poking directly through to the workers inside the house. Whoops. Apparently there is no wood underneath the tar paper on the peak of the roof, which is what Kristen was in the process of telling me before I poked through like a peg in a LiteBrite. Oh well, Bandy (aka Big Andy) rushed to my side before I injured myself further and I managed to escape with just some mild bruising and scraping. And of course the awesome "Git-R-Done" hat for the day!!


Thursday's LESSON OF THE DAY: Rodeos are actually quite entertaining.

After building a few riders and I decided that we wanted to check out the 69th Annual Pikes Peak Or Bust Rodeo. We fit right in rolling up in our 15 passenger van with the bike helmet and horns on the front! We walked in a little late, but we were just in time to see the Mutton Bustin' segment which, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the event, is where kids (we saw ages ranging from 4 to 8) are thrown on the backs of sheep which they proceed to ride. Its very strange but they kids are all padded up with helmets, and the sheep aren't big so they don't fall very far. The rest of the events were your typical bull riding, calf wrangling, wild cow milking, barrel racing, you know...just a typical Thursday night. I am actually very surprised at how entertained I was! Here are some pics:

Real cowboys!

The venue

Cool sunset

Friday's LESSON OF THE DAY: Bike & Build can throw up a house in no time.

Since we are so quick and so efficient, we finished the house a day early! We had a great time finishing things up, and even got some drywall work done on the house next door. We had a little celebration with some speeches from the Habitat people and some cake, and then we all took sharpies and wrote notes to the family in their attic. It was really great to take a step back and see the fruits of our labor, but at the same time we had such a good time building and hanging out with the Habitat crew that we were really sad to leave. Here are the final pics of our lovely Bike & Build house:

Almost there...

Finishing touches

Done!

Leaving messages for the homeowners

Our whole construction crew

Saturday's LESSON OF THE DAY: Nora is still really cute.

On our bonus day off I got to spend some more time with Shannon, Jeff and Nora which was great! I took a quick 25 mile bike ride in the morning to make sure I still remembered how to ride my bike after our long break, and then when they got into town we proceeded to eat many times. We got fish tacos for lunch, went to a bike shop, checked into Shannon and Jeff's hotel (where I got to shower with no shoes and a real towel!!), then we went for brick oven pizza and finished off the night by making a visit to Sonic for a little ice cream fix. After that we headed back to the church I was staying at and Jeff cleaned my bike while I got in some last minute playing time with Nora. What a deal! Jeff was a little disgusted at the state of my bike, since according to Shannon he spit shines his, but that poor thing has been getting some use so my components were a bit dirty. Nora made a lot of friends with all the Bike & Builders, and at one point she had an audience of about 4 of the guys were amazed at how small (and cute) she is. One of them asked if babies were really supposed to be that small. It was great to have another day off, but we had to go to bed early since the next day's ride was a big one.

Jeff cleaned my bike...

And I played with my cutie

Sunday's LESSON OF THE DAY: Two mountain passes in one day is rough way to break yourself back into biking.

I had a guest rider with me today, my brother-in-law Jeff! I was a bit nervous to ride with him since he is a much stronger and more experienced rider than I am, but we had a great time and hopefully I didn't make him slow down too much for me. I wasn't really aware that I was taking him on such an adventurous ride, but it ended up being A LOT of climbing (two mountain passes to be exact) and then we got to end the ride with a lovely cold downpour. Jeff and I were both very tired at the end of the 75 mile day, but I was really happy that we finished together and that I got to spend some extra time with him before I had to say goodbye again.

That night we stayed in a very interesting church in Hartsel...it was an igloo. Well, not made of blocks of ice, but in the shape of an igloo and it was quite the puzzle to get 32 people to fit! In fact, one rider slept in the van to give a little more space to the rest of us. It was an interesting night, but really fun because it was kind of like an old school slumber party. Except without the staying up late, another big ride tomorrow!

In laws...together in spandex at last

Jeff and I at Garden of the Gods, 1st half of the ride

Garden of the Gods, a really awesome place to ride through

My first mountian pass!

Monday's LESSON OF THE DAY: Camping in the mountains is cold. Shiver, check my phone to see if its time to get up yet, shiver some more. Try to think warm thoughts, add layers of clothes on. This is how I spent my night camping in Twin Lakes. It was actually a very beautiful campsite, overlooking Twin Lakes and the mountains, and we had fun grilling and making s'mores, but once you stepped away from the fire...brrr! The day's ride went pretty well, I was driving so I got some experience winding through the mountains with the van and trailer!


Tuesday's LESSON OF THE DAY: My legs can get me up a mountain.

Today was the day that we have all been waiting for. INDEPENDANCE PASS! We climbed about 3,000 feet to get there and I, for one, have been really terrified of this ride since the trip began. We started out in the frigid weather but slowly peeled off layers as it warmed up, only to put them back on as we reached higher elevation. It was by far the most beautiful ride I have been on yet this trip, and all the riders and I were in such great moods despite doing nothing but climing for about 2 1/2 hours straight. We were all so proud of ourselves when we got to the top! We just had to have a dance party to celebrate...somewhere there is a video of it because some guy at the top thought we were funny and was taping us, but I fear the video footage might be lost forever. But everyone made it, and it was great to hang out at the summit throwing snowballs and giving ourselves a nice pat on the back for a climb well done :) I can't stress enough now breathtaking this ride was...the pictures just don't do it justice:

Climbing...

Climbing...

Still climbing...

Somehow I was extremely happy and giddy the whole climb...lack of oxygen perhaps?

Snowball fight in July

We made it!

Celebratory mountain top dance party

So now I'm in beautiful Aspen, and we are about to enjoy a lovely day off. Miss you all!