Champs Elysees!

After a grueling stretch of cycling through the endless mountains, headwinds, and deserts of Northern Nevada, our rides up to Lake Tahoe and wicked descents down through the Sierra Nevada (cruising for 3 miles at 50+ MPH -- yeah!!) have felt like a victory lap of sorts. We had our last build day in Yuba City, where we put a fresh coat of paint on the exterior of a home built by the Yuba-Sutter H4H nearly 15 years ago, to make good on their commitment to housing that is not just affordable but of the quality that all working Americans want for themselves and their families.

Now our group is enjoying a day off in Napa, California, after what was probably our last hard day of riding. We put in 92 miles of riding from Yuba City, with some wicked climbing up steep grades from mile 68-85. Professional riders climb these hills for the Tour of California, and while it was tough going up we were rewarded with some good descents and sharp curves on banked road.

We will sight the Pacific tomorrow when we ride to Point Reyes, and then on to San Francisco on the 9th. It is difficult to imagine an end to this experience and its unique lifestyle, and with the growing sense of achievement I think we're all feeling a bit woozy. Looking back over our first rides in Florida and all the very challenging moments of our long ride it feels like much more than one summer has gone by. We will have a chance to recap in San Francisco at a celebration planned for us by the San Francisco Planning and Urban Renewal board (SPUR), and we are working now to put together a presentation that will give them a chance to learn about Bike and Build, the tremendous work we've done, and what the experience has been like. Still, I find it challenging enough to sum up in my own head the totality of this experience, and to convey it all to others seems almost hopeless. I know I've been able to capture and convey some of the significance by keeping this blog, but I should say that I'll be thinking this all through for the rest of my days and will likely never have my head around it fully!

Thanks to all of you who have supported this trip through donating, sending prayers and good wishes, and following our route!

I also want to give a special thanks to my former VC rugby teammate Matt "intense" Wise!