Post #14 - It's started!!!

Oh man, Bike and Build has finally started.  After months and months of preparation, mile after mile of training, dollar after dollar raised, and now its here!!  I feel so blessed to have had such great support from everyone at home.  And now I am blessed to have a totally awesome group of people to ride across the country with me. 

So arriving Thursday was kind of like the first day of camp.  A lot of peoples parents dropping them off, people trying to figure out where there stuff goes, and all that fun stuff.  Of course we did the classic ice-breaker type games.  Trying to learn 29 names is pretty tough for me.  I'm slowly getting them though.  We really do have an awesome group from all over the place:  Alaska, California, New York, Michigan, and everywhere in between.  I have been dubbed as the bike guy, which I am cool with, I like working on bikes.  So I helped some people get their bikes put together and adjusted. 

I love the sight of so many bikes all in one room!
  

So today we got up from our awesome night of rest on the floor nice and early.  Did some more orientation stuff early on, and then we got to go on our "shakedown" ride!  Basically just a short practice ride to get everyone used to riding together.  It was super fun!  We got to ride over this awesome bridge!

On Saturday we did our first build day. It was super cool. In Charleston they have a lot of historical codes to help preserve the character of the city. So we worked on a ladies house doing a restoration. She grew up in the house as a little girl and we were fortunate enough to be able to help out so she and her dog can move back in as soon as possible. The house has been completely gutted down to the studs.

It was such a great experience getting to help out. I did my fair share of hammering, and oh man were my neck and shoulders letting me know today on the bike.

So today we actually did our first day of actual riding!! We got sent off by our amazing hosts, Trinity United Methodist in Charleston. They prayed over us and we proceeded down to dip our tires into the Atlantic Ocean!

So we headed out to Moncks Corner, South Carolina. The group I was riding with only missed one turn... Not too bad I thought. We ended up riding around 40 miles. We ended up at a nice little church with an awesome lake we all jumped in before our showers. Pretty much an awesome day. So now we chill til dinner! Whoop whoop!

Hammock Chillin'

Oops...

Post #13 - The Final Countdown

OH MAN!!!! It is almost here!!!

I am pretty stoked.  I'm actually sitting in Charleston writing this.  The fam and myself came up a few days early to just enjoy the town and rest up before I rolled out.  I did get to see Salter (aka Coolest Niece Ever!!) before  I left.  Check out the pics and be jealous!

And I even got to see sweet MJ!

And MJ's cute momma too!

So I'm here.  I have all of my stuff for the summer in a 20 gallon bin.  I've got a bike that I am really pretty fond of.  I've got about 1,000 miles under my butt for the past two and a half months.  I've (with the help of a TON of people) raised over $5,000.  I've got my volunteer hours done.  I do not have TB (which is nice) and the doctor (which happens to be muh Dad) has deemed me ready to go.   SO LET'S GO!!!  I really am ready to hit the road.  But I've still got to meet the whole group, which I happen to be super stoked about.  I've gotta get orientated.  Yep, Orientated.  Then we do a build day, which will be awesome because I love that stuff.  And finally on Sunday May 27, 2012 we put tires to pavement and ride out!!!  So, what I need at this point is simple.  Prayers.  Pray for safety for our group.  Pray for the people we are going to help.  And please pray for all of the rider's mothers!  Mothers seem to worry about their kids heading cross country on a bicycle.  I can't wait to post from the road!!! Feel free to email me whenever, barrett.hoover9@gmail.com or call me!!

Post #12 - Bo (& Barrett) Bike Bama

Holy Crap!  I got to ride my bike with Bo Jackson!  That's kind of a big deal.  Especially for me, being that I am a huge Auburn fan.  I've grown up hearing about the might Bo Jackson.  And now I've been on a bike ride with him!!  Here's a picture for proof!

Oh, no big deal, but I also got to ride with Ken Griffey Jr.

Ok, so why did I bike with Bo Jackson?  Bo was riding across Alabama to raise money for the continuing tornado relief effort across Alabama.  He was riding over 300 miles in 5 days following the path of destruction.  Last I heard he had raised nearly a half million dollars!  Not bad eh?  

It was my first time out in my newly ordered 2011 B&B jersey.  It's pretty dang sweet.  The ride itself was about 54 miles.  It went from my hometown of Cullman to Jasper. It was so cool riding along with Bo and having people all along the way cheering us on.  We were able to ride by a school in Curry and had several hundred elementary kids all out yelling and screaming for us!  Got a lot of good high fives riding past them.  I am so thankful to Bo and the other celebrities for helping to raise money and allowing me (and many many others) to ride along with him.  

The ride also afforded me the opportunity to meet many new people.  One of the people I met is a girl who is also getting ready to bike across the country!  She, however, is heading from west to east.  She is hoping to raise money for an Alabama charity that is providing tornado relief.  Check out her blog for a much more well written post about biking with Bo:  http://lifeislikeabicycle.com/blog/

So the ride with Bo gave me a good chance to test out saddle #2.  It was all fine until about 30 miles into the ride, then we didn't get along anymore.  SO, I've been on saddle #3 a couple of days, its ok, but I've moved on to a different option.  One I probably should have tried to start with really.  My trusty WTB Rocket V.  I've had a couple of these on mountain bikes and love em.  I did a 32 mile ride on it yesterday and am pretty happy with it.  I'll get a couple more rides on it and see how it goes.  

Ok, now the big news...

I have met my fundraising goal!!!

That's right.  The check to meet my goal is in the mail as we speak.  Now this does not mean that no more donations will be taken, not at all!  However if you have been holding out on me, then you could do another South Carolina to Santa Cruz rider a solid and donate to them if they haven't quite gotten theirs yet.  Or you could just donate to me and make me look like the awesome fundraiser that I am (not really, I hate asking people for money).  Thanks to everyone who has donated!!!

Now for a few bonus pics I took:

Bo's sweet Trek bike.  He had a different one for each day of the ride.  They were auctioned off at the end to raise money!  Way to go Trek for helping out!

These are from the Bo Bikes Bama Facebook page.  Photos by Glenn Kasin

 

Post #11 - Sweat Equity & Tornadoes

I did my first day of "sweat equity" yesterday at a Habitat for Humanity build site in north Birmingham.  The build was in a neighborhood that was destroyed by the April 27, 2011 tornadoes.  There are several houses that are still just piles of rubble.  I really should have taken some pictures.  It was incredible to me that there are so many houses that just haven't been rebuilt or even cleaned up after a whole year.  There are still piles of rubble in my town of Cullman too.  The storms really did change the landscape of many communities across the state.

But anyways, it was a really great day working.  Omar, the site leader, was awesome to work with.  For the first hour or so it was just me, Omar, and 3 people from Starbucks working.  I guess Starbucks encourages community service among its workers.  Then a Habitat group from New Hampshire showed up.  It was a pretty funny group.  There was one older guy, a few women, and then about 15 middle and high school girls.  The Starbucks crew bailed around lunchtime, which left me and the New Hampshire crew.  I was really impressed with them.  They sat up on the trusses and climbed up ladders with no fear (ok, well just a little fear), and really just worked hard.  They were down there on Spring Break.  Seeing a bunch of kids giving up their Spring Break to help out down here was pretty awesome.  It was a really fun day.

Speaking April 27 tornadoes, Bo Jackson has been in the press a lot for his Bo Bikes Bama ride.  He is riding the path of some of the worst tornadoes.  He is coming into my hometown of Cullman today!  A buddy and I are riding tomorrow with him from Cullman to Jasper, 58 miles.  I am really really stoked.  Ken Griffey Jr is riding.  Even Lance Armstrong is going to ride the final day with Bo.  Check it out www.bobikesbama.com.

On the fundraising front, I am up to $3,580 raised!  Only $920 left to go.  So if you're holding out on me go ahead and get em in!  Hope everyone has a great week, and take some time to think about the tornado victims from a year ago.  

Post #10 - Training and Saddle Searching

So I've finally been putting in a few more miles the past few weeks. According to Strava I've ridden 267 miles in the past three weeks.  Not bad, but nowhere close to what we will be doing this summer.  I've had really good luck with the weather.  The new bike and I are starting to really figure each other out.  Here's my Strava summary:



So one thing that I've realized is that I most certainly will not get along with the stock saddle.  I ordered three different ones to try out, I'll send the other two back.  Competitive Cyclist is really great about returns and they actually recommended me doing it that way.  So I've gotta log some miles on these three this week and see what I think.

Stock

Option #1

Option #2

Option #3

I'll definitely feel better once I get settled on a saddle.  I mean its kind of a big deal, I'm gonna log over 4,000 miles on one of these over the next few months.  Speaking of equipment I settled on a Garmin computer the other week.  I've used it for 6 or 7 rides now and love it.  So much data!  It's really going to be cool to see total distance, to feet climbed, and all kinds of other stuff from this summer.  Also ordered my sleeping bag last week.  I realized my 20 degree bag might be a little bit too warm for most nights so I have a Big Agnes summer bag on the way.  Super compressible and a sleeve for your sleeping pad, it'll be perfect.  Gear wise the only thing left to round up will be a mini pump.  I've always just used C02's for on the road flats, but it's much more economical to simply carry a good mini pump.  

Mmmm... Ride Data...

Fundraising.

So I am currently at $3,430 raised!  I still have $1,070 left to go.  Like I've said the whole time, any donation is greatly appreciated.  I've got just over a month to finish up.  It's a great way to do something that matters with your money AND get a nice tax deduction for next years taxes!  So donate today!

Post #9 - New Bike Youtubed & Stravafication

My first Youtube Video!

The new bike is here, and it is awesome!  I am impressed with it.  I really am a bit critical when it comes to bikes, but honestly I am quite happy with it after my first few rides.  It has a taller headtube that has me in a slightly more upright position then my old bike, which should really be quite nice for longer days in the saddle.  I could go into a detailed bike nerd review about the components and bottom bracket stiffness, but most people really could care less. So, I'll suffice by saying that its pretty sweet and I am fairly happy with everything so far.  (ok the brakes suck and the wheels are heavy and were way out of true, had to get that out there).

I know the blue bottle cage looks dumb, black ones are on the way

Mmmm Stiffness

Good ole 105 shifters

The new and the old... 

Alright so I have a new toy on the way.  I finally caved and ordered a Garmin Edge 500.  It is a GPS cycling computer, so I'll be able to plot all my training rides and my coast to coast ride on a map, which is pretty stinkin' sweet.  I have been in need of a cycling computer for a while. What finally convinced me?  Strava.  Strava is a website/phone app where you can track all of your rides and compare them to your buddies and even complete strangers.  People name sections of rides (big climbs, fun straight sprints, stuff like that) and anytime you ride them it ranks you versus everyone else who has ridden that section.  Pretty neat huh??  I thought so.  So this summer if our route takes us across any named sections I'll be able to see who all else has ridden it and how much they spanked my time by.  

So I'll be able to post detailed ride data from each day on the road this summer.  I'm pretty stoked.  Here is a little ride Brian and I did yesterday.  

Post #8 - Altitude Training & Artistic Representationsn

Well I'm back in Alabama.  Dad and I took off to Colorado for a few days of skiing last week.  It was pretty dang awesome.  Good snow every day, not too crowded, pretty much everything you can ask for out of a ski trip.

Dad found a great deal on the room.  And it did have a little bit of a catch that we didn't know about.  The second bedroom was at the top of a steep little set of stairs, and it was not designed for normal sized humans.  It was straight up hobbit sized, no lie.

Seriously, it was a tiny shower

Yes, I hit my head, more than once

So whenever you get back from skiing (at least around here) people always ask if you broke anything.  I guess that's due to the high percentage of people from the South that actually do hurt themselves skiing.  I didn't take any hard falls skiing this time, but I did manage to do a little damage to myself.  I took a hard fall at 5 am on the elf sized staircase.  The gas logs would start whistling after they kicked on for a while, so I went to turn em off.  I hit that first stair and slipped.  My butt bounced down the next few steps until I got tangled in the railing.  Painful?  Yep.  Embarrassing? Definitely.  

I consider this trip part of my training for the summer.  Steamboat sits at over 6,000 feet up there in the Rockies, which counts for some altitude training in my opinion.  Got my legs burning plenty on some of the longer bumpier runs.  Hiking to the highest peak (an easy 3 minute walk) counts as cardio right?  It was definitely worth it to get the less crowded, steeper runs.

Ok, so maybe saying it's training is a little bit of a stretch, but it definitely wore me out.  It was great getting to spend the time with Dad too.

So from the plane I scouted out what it's going to look like as we head into the Rocky Mountains.  

I rule at paint!

Basically its all nice and flat and then boom!  You're going up, and then up some more, and then you go a little higher.  I took a sweet picture from the plane, but it's on Dad's camera.  So I think my drawing gives a pretty good representation of what we will be doing.  Yay for compact gearing.  I've gotta get a little more climbing worked into my riding.  I see a few runs up Skyball (local big hill, its pretty brutal) in my future.    

Tour De Cullman route.  The green highlighted part is Skyball.  

So as my legs sit here quivering in anticipation of burning over the Rockies, I am racking my brain trying to decide what my next step should be in fundraising.  My current total is $1,930, which is still a good ways away from $4,500.  So if you are reading this and haven't yet donated, please consider making one.  Affordable housing is truly a great cause.  

Here's a quote from the B&B website:

"According to Habitat for Humanity, the world’s largest nonprofit affordable housing organization, over 5.1 million American families have "worst-case" housing needs in which they endure overcrowded conditions and/or live in physically deficient houses. Additionally, more than 13 million American households pay over 50% of their income for housing (www.habitat.org)."

In today's society many people are willing to pay extra for free range eggs and organic beef (which is legit), while there are still many Americans that are living in unsuitable (non free range??) housing.  Just think about it and please consider donating.  Thanks!