Jacob Richardson

So after all the craziness of the wheel dip, hard goodbyes, and memories it was time to head back east. Only this time I was going to be driving the van back. It was a hectic morning, dropping people off at the air port then dropping off bike boxes at FedEx. Eventually I got on the open road heading north-east towards Idaho. As we finished our trip the Central route was riding into Idaho. I was able to meet up with them on one of my favorite rides last summer. I had two friends on that trip and I surprised them with a visit. It was awesome to hangout with another Bike & Build trip, they stayed at the same host we did last summer. The host even had pictures up of our 2011 trip.. talk about a trip down memory lane. It really hit me there that I was done with my summer and that I would not be able to do it again, a very strange feeling to say the least. From Idaho I drove all the way to Denver to stay with my uncle. It just so happened that my father was also there visiting him so it was great to see them both and hangout. We went to this delicious Brazilian restaurant, so good. From Denver it was a long trek all the way across Kansas to Kansas City. The wind was incredible, literally fighting the van and trailer all day to stay straight. I believe it was a 30 mph cross wind. Once I made it to KC I was really excited because I was staying there for 2 nights. The first night was with a rider from the trip, Rachel. Her family was really fun and welcomed me warmly into their house. The next night I stayed with a friend from my first B&B trip, Johnny. We had a blast hanging out, catching up, and being all nostalgic. The day I stayed with Johnny he took me for a bike ride through the city and I was able to see some beautiful parts of KC. Next stop, Louisville! By now driving the van was no longer very enjoyable.. 8 hours every day just about was harder than I imagined. It became a struggle to stay focused, even drinking 4 gas station cups of coffee would have no effect on me. There were a few times where I had to pull off and take a nap to stay focused. Anyway, in Louisville I stayed with another rider, Bridgette. We had a blast hanging out and seeing the city a little. From there it was thankfully only a short drive to Columbus Ohio. My very good friend Paul lives there and we pretty much just hung out for 2 days. It was great having a break from driving and seeing an old friend. From there it was off to Philadelphia, where I dropped the trailer off at B&B headquarters. Then I headed south to Chapel Hill where I was dropping off the van. I have multiple friends in that area from my first trip and it was great to see them again this summer. We all just talked about B&B and what was going on in the next few months. Finally being back home was a little bitter-sweet. Seeing my family was great but knowing the summer was over was hard to face…

It had all gone by so fast. Could it really be September?! I didn’t want to believe it.. I had more time than I could ask for in the van to think about the summer and reflect on what all I had learned, experienced, and saw. It was almost night and day being a leader vs. a rider. You don’t really know what leaders go through until you are one and when everything hits the fan you have to fix it. It was a great learning experience working with co-leaders and the importance of good communication. As much as I was bummed about the summer being over I am really excited to see what happens next. School is done and the world is out there waiting to be explored. If Bike & Build has taught me anything it’s that you literally can do anything if you put your mind to it. It opens up so many possibilities for you. I plan n staying active any way I can with Bike & Build, what that will be who knows but this organization is way to incredible to not b involved.

Lastly I want to thank all of you who have supported me this summer and many of you last summer as well. Words cannot describe how much Bike & Build has made an impression on me. All for the better. I owe it all to you. You all have made me an incredibly lucky person to of experienced such an incredible feat. I have been able to help families all across the country and made friends all the way. Not only that but I have changed as a person, Bike & Build has definitely help shaped me into who I am today.. It is such an incredible organization and I would suggest it to anyone.

Thank you so so much,

Jacob

The last state line was finally upon us.. A bittersweet feeling that is for sure. As you could imagine the further south we got the hotter things became. At this point we were waking up at 3:45 every morning to be riding at first light. Well worth it as it would get up to 110 degrees in the afternoon. We got into this cycle of 4ish hours of sleep, wake up, ride to the new host, and then pass out for another few hours in the late morning/early afternoon. Southern Cal was interesting, my first time ever in California. We were pretty much in straight desert between the towns. We crossed the imperial sand dunes which were these 4-5 mile wide sand dunes. When we were in the middle you could only see sand everywhere you looked, pretty sweet. I was sweep that day with Teresa and man was it a hot one.. By the time we got into the host it was already 105 out. We stayed in Blythe that night which was 150ft below sea level. Not a big deal until we realized that the next host was at 4000 ft up in a mountain. In one day we climbed all the way up to Julian. Even climbing 4000 ft is not that bad, but throwing in a headwind on top of it all really made for a long day. As we rode closer to the coast the landscape started to change quite a bit, palm trees started coming up everywhere. The last day into San Diego was pretty incredible. A little hectic through the city but we all met up at the highest point in San Diego. A decent climb up to it but well worth it as the views were incredible. We could see downtown, the mountains, and finally the Pacific! Once we all got there we had a short 2 mile ride left to the beach. We rode together to the beach and there family with friends were waiting for us cheering us on. Once we all got off our bike we rushed down to the beach where we promptly jumped into the ocean and celebrated. Everyone was thrilled to be there and it was hard to believe the trip was now over. Another B&B summer come and gone… It was a huge relief to know that everyone had gotten to Sand Diego safely. I didn’t realize how much I carried that on my shoulders until i didn’t have to worry about it anymore.. It was sad to start seeing people leave. After spending 10 weeks together they become your family.. I was however pretty excited to get on the road as I had a whole week in the van to drive back across the country.

More to come,

Jacob

Before we knew it we were on our way to the grand canyon. The ride itself was pretty hard as we had to climb up to the rim. It was pretty hot and uphill all day with nothing around so pretty typical. Once we crossed into the park though it completely changed. It was as if we had just walked into the U.N. because there were people from all over the world there. It was really interesting to see all the people from all over there just to see the grand canyon. Next we actually saw the canyon and wow it was incredible! It was my first time and words cannot really describe how awesome it is. What was even better was the fact that we still had to ride 20 miles to our camp site. Riding along the rim was one of my favorite rides and it took forever as we were all stopping along the way for pictures. We camped that night and the next there which was fun. The following day was a day off and a group of us hiked down the canyon a little to get a better view. There was a huge storm on the other side that we could see so we cut the bike a little short so we wouldn’t get caught in it. That Evening we watched the sunset over the rim and it was fantastic. Beautiful colors filled the sky for hours. The next few days were pretty un eventful until we rode into Prescott. One of my friends from last summer Neil came out and rode with us and even built with us the next day. The ride leaving Prescott was one of my favorites. Our of nowhere came these beautiful mountains which had some of the best switch backs going down. The switch backs were even banked so we could take them at faster speeds. Such a fun ride.

So after the Rockies it did not take long for the terrain to change and the weather along with it. We went from thick forest to wide open desert. The quickness in change never fails to amaze me on these trips. Even on a bike it seems to change so fast, you literally will descend down a mountain or turn a corner and the earth will be completely different! That makes everyday exciting. As we left the Rockies it was bitter sweet as they were beautiful but we were all excited to see what the rest of the country had to offer. It did not disappoint, shortly after getting out of the Rockies there were these huge plateaus all around us. Along with that there was again the vast nothingness of the west. All this together overwhelmed the senses and I’m sure I had a funny look on my face the whole ride.

We spent the fourth of July in bluff Utah. If you blink you will miss the town, it has a gas station haha. we stayed in a little retreat outside of town which was amazing. A little hot but once the sun went down it cooked off quite nicely. The best part were the bluffs/clifs on the back side of the property. As the sun was going down we gathered everyone and made the trek up to the top. It made for a perfect B&B evening sitting on some cliffs with amazing people all around you. The sun set was gorgeous and we could even see fireworks in the far distance. In order to celebrate the fourth a few folks had sent out packages in mail drops. A good friend of mine who I rode with last summer bebhin Rae sent me a package with streamers, face paint, and hair spray. I was pretty decked out for the ride haha.

After that we continued out journey into Arizona. We started on a native American reservation which we stayed in for multiple days until the grand canyon. The best day was into Kayenta which I was driving unfortunately. I had never seen rock formations like this before, huge chunks that seem to be erupting from the earth out of nowhere. You could see different shades of red And orange. Not only that but they were massive! Absolutely incredible to be riding by them.. It was a huge surprise to me that the states had these tucked away in Arizona.. Speaking of Arizona, I had this idea of nothing but desert here but it has pleasantly proven me wrong. It definitely has its share of desert so far but also has forest and a range of terrain. So excited to seethe rest of Arizona!

Till then!

Live. Love. Ride.

Jacob

Hey everyone! So it’s been a while but man what an incredible week or so it has been. Lots of long tough rides through the Rockies and the desert. The Rockies were everything I had hoped for. Beautiful beyond belief. My favorite day by far was the ride into Durango. We climbed over three passes all of which were over ten thousand feet high. Not only that but we were on the “million dollar highway” which is a highway with crazy steep edges with no guard rail. It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time, you could look over the edge of the road to a hundred foot drop or even higher sometimes. I rode the that day with Ben jammin and what a time we had. We rode it pretty hard pushing ourselves up the mountain. I also reached my top speed for the trip of 52.1 mph! The mountains were absolutely gorgeous the whole day. An alumni came out to ride with us, her name was Sarah. She was a CUS10 alumni so it was fun to talk about our different experiences on the same route. I also know a few people from that trip so it was fun to share stories. Once we made to Durango it was so awesome knowing we had a day off the next day. We explored the town that afternoon and evening. The next day is was glorious to sleep in, the little things that excite you on bike&build haha. After getting some much needed sleep some of us decided to float down the river in town. We were shuttled up the river a good little ways and then hoped on some inner tubes and floated our way down. It was so cold! Haha we knew this going into it but man oh man it was cold! Not only that but it stated to rain.. Once we managed to get back we booked it to the church for a warm shower. We were a cold mess. All in all a great day off to see the town more and relax a little. Then it was off into the desert. It was crazy how quickly the terrain changed, but before we knew it the red sand of Utah and Arizona were before us.

Live. Love. Ride.

Hey everyone! My apologies for the delay in posts, it’s been a busy week. To start, we crossed another state line into Colorado! Woo what a great state! I am beyond excited to be here, beautiful rides, awesome relatives shout out to uncle Andrew! The beginning of Colorado is pretty much a continuation of Kansas. Very flat with farms and cows. It was really exciting to cross into the state though, everyone was super pumped. Colorado is the west so finally gettin here was like starting a new chapter in our epic story. We stayed in rocky ford CO which turned out to be one of the best host yet. They had everything set up for us, a local pool we could hang out at, dinner, and to top it all off a night at the local movie theater! This theater is from the 20’s and has been restored over the years by the community. After that evening we rode out to pueblo where we camped. It was an extremely hot day and then to ride out to the middle of nowhere to camp was hard. We literally were in the middle of nowhere in a huge field. We were technically on a ranch but there was nothing around. It turned out to be a better evening than everyone thought it would be. The stars were incredible out there, you could see the milky way and all. The next day was into Colorado springs! We had a double build day which was nice to cap off a 9 day ride stretch. We build a foundation up from the ground! It was the most productive we’ve been this summer. There was enough work for all of us and after an hour or two we were a well oiled machine throwing up that foundation! Too much fun let me tell ya. On a side note while we were in Colorado springs there were some serious fires. By the time we had left the fire had jumped the ridge and was actually burning homes on the west side of town. It was surreal to see that kind of destruction… Smoke was all over the place. At one point you couldn’t see more than a quarter mile in front of you.. Scary stuff. At least everyone had been evacuated from the area but still crazy. Now we are in the Rockies!! So excited to be here! This is probably what I’ve been lookin forward to the most out of the riding part of the trip.. Here we go!

Live. Love. Ride.

Oh one of my favorite states from last summer! We have 3 nights in this wonderful state. The first evening was in cold water Kansas which turned out to be one of the best nights of the trip so far. The day started out with a strong wind out of the south which helped us for the first half of the day. Crossed into Kansas and headed to lunch. After lunch we were heading west which made a cross wind for us. It was not as bad as we thought, and the scenery turned out to be gorgeous! It was over 100 degrees so I was not too excited about camping. Maria and I were the first into Coldwater and were able to get dinner donated by Dave’s pizza. After that we headed to the lake where we were camping. The lake was a perfect way to cool off. As everyone got in the temp mature dropped a little and we eventually all gather round to watch the sun set. All the while we were goofing off and enjoying each others company. Then we did pump ups and jumped into the lake, as that happened a shooting star shot through the sky. All in all just a great evening..

Live. Love. Ride.

What a day.. Started the morning out early to try and beat the heat and wind. We got on the road just as light was peaking over the horizon. The first 20 miles were absolutely beautiful, rolling hills as the sun rose was incredible. I was riding with Katie this morning and we were both lost for words as we wound our way through the countryside. As we pedaled along we started to notice something on the horizon. The closer we got we realized it was a huge cold front heading right for us. It was such a bizarre scenario as one side of the sky was sun and the other was doom and gloom. It literally was night and day. As the front passed over us the clouds in it were a sight to see. Whipping around in different colors was quite the sight. We decided to push on and eventually the rain came, we ended up all meeting at a McDonald’s to wait out the storm. After it passed we continued on! That is what we do best. On a side note we came across a huge spider the size of my hand! Crazy let me tell ya! A nice surprise waiting for us was a couple of alumni waiting for us on the road. Brian and Amy joined us. I was talking with Brian a good bit, he did the same as myself In a sense that he rode his first summer then lead his second. Not only that, he rode on the central route in 2009. We have been sharing stories and all that fun stuff. Then came the icing on the cake for the day. A water park that was only 7 miles outside from the host. It was the perfect way to end the ride and what a blast we had! All in all a great B&B day. Here is to great people and fun times.

Live. Love. Ride.

So we made it to Oklahoma! Not only that but the day we crossed into it we also rode through Missouri. There was a historical marker on the road the was the point where Arkansas, oklahoma, and Missouri all meet. That was pretty cool to come across. We are finishing up a double build day here in Bartlesville OK which is always nice. Having a two day break from the bike can really do wonders for the group and your body. The building here was on a little house in the later stages of the build. We put up siding and painted the inside yesterday. Today we finished the siding and painting the inside along with painting the outside siding. My shirt definitely took a few paint swipes today from the wall and fellow riders… They will pay haha. It has been a great stay, our host and the habitat have really gone out of their way to help us. Every meal has been provided along with transportation. Last night at dinner we joined a group called building bridges, which is pretty much a program to help folks learn skills and ideas that will lift them out of poverty. It was a fantastic group of people and they were in the middle of recording a new song and asked for our back up vocals. It was so much fun to just get the whole group together and sing into the mic for this song. No one really knew what to think about it all so we just ran with it. We are heading back to the same church for dinner tonight, should be tasty!

Oh.. The Mohawk is back. Oh yeahhhh

Live. Love. Ride.

Wow that went by fast. The first two states were really long compared to AR. After we crossed the Mississippi the land really flattened out for us. We also had a century going in and leaving little rock. Lucky for us we had tail winds both days, talk about amazing. Little rock itself was great, we worked on an urban farm there. A little different than the typical build day but fun none the less. We were able to see a little of downtown the night we rolled into town, pretty place. Yesterday was a really challenging, a full day in the ozarks. They are miniature mountains if you will. None the less they were hard to get up and over. The heat and humidity were in full force so hydration was a serious concern. I downed a full camel back and both water bottles which still wasn’t enough. I started cramping towards the end of the day because Ben and I were trying to beat the storm into town. Not only that but the road before the host was literally a wall that we had to climb. It came out of nowhere. Today we crossed over into Oklahoma! While doing that we had a little time in Missouri so three states in one day! Tomorrow is Bartlesville and we have two build days. I know everyone, including myself, is looking forward to a break from the bike. It really starts to take its toll on you. Hard to believe we are already in Oklahoma… Here is to a greatest summer ever!!

Live. Love. Ride.