Orientation

Well, we're all oriented, and tomorrow we officially head off to Santa Cruz! We won't arrive there tomorrow though. We have to go to Moncks Corner, South Carolina first, and then a few more stops in between before we get to California. I'm excited!

Over the past two days we've done a lot of policy type stuff, i.e., what will get you kicked out of the program (buying alcohol for minors, for example), what day to day life on the road will be like, bike safety and maintenance, etc. We also have met several Habitat for Humanity people to learn more about the organization and how it works (we don't exclusively build with Habitat, but we do a lot of builds with them). We've met several home owners which has been really fun. We had our first build day today, and we got to work with the owner of the house, Jenny. I worked on siding, mostly with Kelsey, Ann Margaret, and Amelia and it was so cool to see what the house looked like at the beginning of the day and what it looked like at the end. I managed to bang my thumb with a hammer only once, sweat away approximately half my body weight (don't worry, I've already made up for it in cookie consumption), and learn some more about the building side of Habitat for Humanity.

Yesterday we also had a shakedown ride. We did a 24 mile out-and-back to a fort on the bay to make sure that no one had severe bike issues and to get used to riding together. It was hard to ride as a big group, but since the route was in the city there wasn't really room for us to spread out that much. Plus since the ride was so short we all pretty much stayed together in a long line. I was happy to discover that I'm not way slower than everyone else, I floated around in the middle with no problems. I've heard lots of horror stories about our tires (lots of people have bought different, better tires) and some people have already gotten flat tires, but my trusty little tires are doing just fine. Everyone swears that the tires will fall apart long before we reach the Pacific, but I have faith. I'd love it if my tires make it the whole way not just because then I wouldn't have to buy new ones but also to prove everyone wrong!

We've also been eating a lot. Subway has donated a bunch of meals to us so I've eaten a zillion foot-long turkey sandwiches, and last night a bicycle lawyer in town bought us all dinner at a bbq place. For breakfast we've been eating Panera; one of the leaders goes there every evening to get the food they're about to throw away and it's left us with boxes and boxes and boxes of bagels, bread, pastries, cookies, and cakes. Way more than we could ever eat, and we eat a lot! Perhaps I should say now that actually a lot of people gain weight on these trips. What happens is in the beginning everyone eats a ton, and they have to, because they burn it all off with the cycling. But as you go your body becomes more efficient, and doesn't need as many calories to do the same thing. But most people continue eating a lot, and so they end up gaining weight. I'm going to try my darndest to make sure that doesn't happen, but no gurantees!

That's all for now...my chore group (shout out to Mary, Molly, J Gibbs, Adam, and Dane) is making spaghetti for the whole group for dinner tonight. Better get cooking!