Get me off of New York Hwy 28

Hello all! The past few days I've been in upstate New York without any means of communication whatsoever with the outside world. We haven't had internet for a few days and yesterday we were in Indian Lake which had ZERO cell service for all cell phone providers (instead of Verizon always kicking AT&T butt). I also did not have any cell service because I no longer have a working cell phone due to an outrageous rain storm I encountered while trying to climb a mountain in Vermont...typical.

Here is what's been going on the past couple of days:
1. We have officially started climbing our third mountain range (HOW CRAZY IS THAT? Green, White and Blue ranges of the Adriondacks!)
2. I climbed up Bethel Mountain which is the hardest climb of the East coast...GREAT day!!
3. In Silver Bay, NY we were surprised with a special treat in the form of staying in a YMCA with BEDS for ALL OF US!!! It was an amazing day...we all jumped in the lake and some of us even square danced (including me of course)
4. Today we had our longest ride (and my longest ride individually) with 76 miles into Boonsville, NY - it was VERY hard and my knees are killing me but it was totally worth it and felt SO COOL to complete!!
5. Everyone that thought I would come back from B&B super skinny will be sadly disappointed...I think I'm averaging somewhere around 4000 calories a day which includes daily ice cream/brownies, TOO much pasta, salad and anything else on the side of the highway that claims to be the "worlds best" of something
6. There is a root beer float challenge on my trip...a few of the boys are already up to 6 rootbeer floats in 3 days - I'm impressed
7. I had a few bike problems and one of the guys on my trip (Sam) fixed it for me until I get to a town with a bike shop...THANK YOU SAM I LOVE YOU!!
8. Last night we had a group meeting where we just talked about how the trip has been going...it was amazing and I almost cried like 34043094 times
9. I LOVE MY TRIP!!! We are all falling in love more and more each day :)
10. This blog name comes from the cue sheet we got this morning...it went a little something like this
-turn Left out of church (go .4 miles)
-go South on Hwy 28 (go 65.5 miles) --------- I was VERY sick of that road after a while :)
11. We had our first serious accident of the trip in Silver Bay...two girls on the trip (Jess and Beth) collided and were unable the ride the next day. It was super scary but they're both doing really well now and both rode today! We were all so worried but glad to have them back :) LOVE YOU GIRLS!
12. A B&B prom AND B&B talent show are in the works for the west coast...I'm VERY excited :)

That's all I have for now...I'm hoping to have more internet in the next few days to update with more details!

<3 Kate

Getting dirty

Last night was so much fun! All of us headed to the bar after a fantastic dinner and had a couple drinks together to celebrate our late curfew (the night before build days we can stay out until 1:00am). I've noticed its always a production when B&B goes to the bar. I think we cover over 20 states all together and the poor waitresses always have to look up what each states drivers licenses looks like to make sure we're not underage...it's pretty funny :) It also doesn't help that Sarah and I (both being from WI) have different IDs and they generally assume I'm the one trying to pull a fast one. There was live music and we all got out on the dance floor together...it was chaos!! We did "the northern" a couple of times and danced until we couldn't dance anymore! The more I get to know each individual in my group, the more I love all of them. It's awesome!

Today was a build day in Lebonon and I was put into a group that was sent to a house that Habitat is building. Turns out it was actually a duplex that is almost completely finished and a family has already moved into one side. We were there to do landscaping. We moved ten tons (yes that was ten TONS) of dirt to the back yard of the duplex, spread it all evenly, flattened it, and laid grass seed. It was a lot of hard work, but it was really fun to have the family there while we were working! They even cooked us cheeseburgers and hot dogs for lunch. Now, I'm all showered up and I'm planning on going to the bar in town to watch the USA world cup game!! I'm really nervous for tomorrows ride because it's completely uphill and is supposed to be one of the hardest of the trip...so I'll be drinking a LOT of water today and trying to get a good night sleep. I'll let everyone know how it goes! WISH US LUCKK!!

<3 Kate

This is what B&B is all about :)

Hello all! Greetings from Lebonon, New Hampshire! :) I am happy to report that we just finished our third "ride day" in a row and I feel GREAT (my quads are a different story)! Here's whats been going on the past few days:

Wednesday 6/23 60 miles
TIRE DIP WAS AWESOME!!! It was so much fun to get all geared up in our bike and build clothing and ride down to the beach as one big unit. It was a really cool experience dipping all of our back tires together in the Atlantic Ocean (Pacific Ocean - here we come!). The first half of the ride was pretty good! We stopped a few times to take some pictures and I spent most of the day riding with Tony (from Chicago) and Sarah and we were a great team! Side note: Sarah and I now refer to ourselves as "Tony's Angels" The first couple hills hit me pretty hard. For some reason I thought I was pretty well prepared...which was obviously false. I was hurting pretty bad and had a few moments of "oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into!!!!" while trying to hold back a few tears of frustration and exhaustion. When I got to lunch halfway through the day I was happy to get off my bike and EAT. The second half of the day went pretty well...there weren't as many hills and when there were Tony and Sarah were really encouraging! We made it to Concord in one piece and I was so proud of myself for getting there! :) We did have one girl on our trip "bonk" which basically means your body doesn't have enough sugar to function and you can't do much of anything let along bike. It was pretty scary but she's okay now and we all are making sure to eat and drink enough to avoid the bonk as much as possible! Donation magic for the day was organic apple juice...yum! At night we all decided to go to the local tavern downtown and have a beer together! It was so much fun!!

Thursday 6/24 35ish miles
Concord to New London, NH
2nd day riding and my legs were already "feeling the burn" from the day before! I rode with Michael, Tony and Sarah and we had a great ride! However, the first 3ish miles of the ride were COMPLETELY uphill!!! It was sssooo hard but we all did it without walking so it felt AMAZING once we got to the top! It also helped that we got a really nice downhill after where I reached max speeds of 43 mph!!! How cool is that!?!?! All of this is going on while riding through the dense forests of NH - its breathtaking out here! After lunch we had a lot of hills too - we were all happy to get to the church and be done riding for the day. I spent the evening showering and going to a pizza place with some people to watch the world cup games (and eat LOTS of pizza as well!). It was really fun! At night we all really enjoyed spending time together...which included but is not limited to playing euchre, dance parties, shaving TWO girl's heads (yes!!), giving one of our leaders a mo hawk, eating more (obviously), telling stories and reading books! It was a really amazing bonding night for NUS'10!


Today! (Friday 6/25) 35ish miles
We rode from New London to Lebonon, NH and it was a much easier ride than the two days before. We started out (after listening to the theme song from "fresh prince"...Kolste girls approve I'm sure) with 6 straight miles of downhill! It was AWESOME! I got around 40mph and marveled at the beautiful scenery! It was so great to finally enjoy the downhill after two days of climbing :) The best part of today is that about 25 miles into the ride we found ourselves at a gorgeous lake! We all hopped off our bikes (about 20 of us!) and jumped in!!! It was SOOO refreshing! We then decided to take some pictures, crawl up on some strangers dock and begin singing Disney songs. Now, anyone that knows me even a LITTLE bit knows that I was ALL OVER that. I think my trip-mates were pretty impressed with my skills. Once everyone from the trip got to the lake (all 30 of us!) we took some pictures and enjoyed ourselves. Swimming in this beautiful lake with the White mountains in the background with all of these great people (all decked out in our B&B gear) was just ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS! I realized that THIS is what Bike and Build is all about...and I couldn't have been happier! I was literally on cloud 9 the rest of the ride ONLY to find that once we got into town there was a free BBQ going on in the cutest downtown you ever did see! Can this day get ANY better? I had a FANTASTIC "spicy sausage" and chatted with the locals. Liz and I then went over to the local market and asked if they wanted to donate anything to our trip and they gave us a free case of water! Everyone is so eager to help us out...it's so inspiring! I'm so proud to be a part of this!!!

In regards to my last blog, Doing "the Northern" is a pretty fantastic dance move that our entire group does together that can only be described in person or video so I hope I'll get to share it all with you soon! The real kicker is...once ONE person from the trip starts doing it, the rest of us have to follow (including any and all public places). Our outstanding leaders (Kyle, Angela, Kelly and Denis) made it up and I give full credit to them for the Northern's awesomeness. Donation Magic is a B&B word used when random strangers donate any and everything they can to help us and the cause! Its ridiculous how much people are willing to give to help out! Every day, someone has a great "donation magic" story. Because of donation magic, we haven't had to provide or pay for a single meal on the trip so far. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but that means three (or more) meals a day for 32 HUNGRY adults who have been riding their bike all day...it's pretty incredible.

Tonight we're walking downtown together to a local church that is donating dinner for us - it's so great! I hope to be able to blog again soon - tomorrow we have a build day then we have the hardest day of the east coast on Sunday...wish us luck!

Doin' the Northern...and it feels so good

I cannot BELIEVE how much has happened in the past two days!!! I LOVE every single person in my group so much, they are all amazing people and I'm so excited to spend the ENTIRE summer biking, sleeping, eating and building with them 24/7 :) Here's a quick overview of my last few days!

Patrick, Ali, Tori and I drove to New Hampshire (without stopping for sleep) and it was amazing! We all have way too much fun together, and I love them SO MUCH! THANK YOUU THANK YOU! Francie and Scott Osgood generously opened their home to us for the weekend and even let us participate in their son's birthday party on Saturday (SOOOO much fun!!) We met up with Sarah Hamilton, my dear friend and fellow NUSer, and all spent the day in Boston together on Friday. On Saturday night, I had to say goodbye to Ali, Patrick and Tori (waterworks soon to follow) so that I could be in Boston early Sunday morning to see Max and the rest of the B2SBers dip their tires in the Atlantic! It was the most amazing wonderful miraculous experience EVER and made me SO SO SO excited to do it myself! Sarah and I met up with our group on Sunday afternoon and we have been with them ever since! I don't know how many times throughout this blog I will say - THESE ARE THE MOST AMAZING PEOPLE EVER! We all clicked immediately and two days later I find myself already thinking of these people as friendships that will last a lifetime.

Today we had our first build day (Portsmouth, NH) and it was fantastic! I can't explain how great it feels to know you're helping provide a home to a family in need. And to make it all the more better - for the first time in B&B history the NUS'10 route got to MEET one of the families that Habitat is giving a home to. Not only that...we got to be there when Habitat ANNOUNCED that they were getting the house!!! Needless to say we were all crying instantaneously, family and riders alike :)

Tomorrow we dip our tires into the Atlantic and start our first ride as a group :) :) :) 60 some miles and we are all SO READY TO DO IT! I cannot wait!! As I sit here in the Holy Trinity Church in NH, I'm surrounded by all my new groupmates playing soccer (inside a church? yes), chatting, dancing (obviously), singing, trying to sleep (good joke) and laughing. Anyone that knows me well can imagine how hard it is for me to sit here on a computer and miss out even for a brief 10 minutes (I'm typing very very very fast!) I LOVE IT HERE SO MUCH and Bike and Build is absolutely without a doubt the most fantastic organization I have ever heard of/been a part of. I promise my next blog I will be much less spastic and will describe our first ride in FULL detail :)

RIght now, Michael Kraft would really like to use the computer so I am FINISHING this blog...I'll write sooonnnn!!! Miss you all!!

PS: Next time I will explain what "doing the northern" really is AND a little thing we like to call Donation Magic :) :)

<3 KaTE

Tomorrow, tomorrow...I love ya tomorrow you're only a DAYYYYYYY AAAWWAYYYYY!!!!!

So, evidently I'm not very good at blogging on a regular basis (here's to hoping that will change over the next few months) so I'm going to update you all via bullet points because so much is happening/has happened I can't even think straight!!!! Shocker, I know! :)

• tomorrow marks the first day of the epic life changing Terry/Kolste sibling road-trip to the east coast (Minneapolis, MN to Portsmouth, NH nonstop...that's right) I'm SOOOO excited for snacks, sweets and treats, many many games, singing, and reading books aloud with three of my most favorite people in the entire world. I can't think of a better way to start my Bike and Build experience! Pic-lines included!!!!!
• I've hit all of the B&B prerequisites for starting a trip...fund-raise $4,000 - check! train over 500 miles - check! and go on at least one 65+ mile ride - CHECK!! which leads me to my next bullet point...
• a few weekends ago my mother and I successfully rode our bikes from Janesville to Milwaukee!!!!! Just under 70 miles :) This was just one of those experiences I'll remember forever. It felt so amazing to accomplish such a difficult task, the ride was absolutely GORGEOUS and quite hilly which made it all the more exciting. I also got to do it with my best friend and we could not have had more fun :) it was awesome - Mom, I LOVE YOU!!! and you are a ROCKSTAR!
• Previous to this ride I had a not so amazing ride with my really good friend Max (B2SB) which involves 90+ degree weather, a noon start, 80 miles (only 30 of which were completed), 2 broken Cateyes, an unexpected (or maybe totally expected?) pick up from Patrick in the middle of rural WI and too much drinking in the days prior. I prefer to not think of this ride and am trying to erase it from my memory but lesson learned: biking on country roads is tough stuff and you probably shouldn't try in the conditions listed earlier.
• I finished packing TONIGHT and let me tell you, I think my bin is extra-amazing. Many thanks to Ali and Deb Kolste for all of their tips and tricks (and visits to Ace Hardware!).
• I went on a 30 mile ride with my Grandpa this past week! It was so much fun and I hope I'm half as strong as him when I'm his age! 75 years old and he can still kick my butt when going into the wind :)
• Terry/Hamilton family Janesville BBQ on JULY 17th at my Dads house (Columbus Circle)....yayyyy!!!!
• My bike has an "I love America" theme and is covered in red, white and blue....I just bought an American flag bandana today - I'm thinking her name will have to be something like "lady liberty"/"freedom" or something equally patriotic....
• My partner Jillian is a complete rockstar and we have the most amazing presentation and I've already called her while having a panic attack in REI - all in all, if the rest of my group is half as cool as her, I'm good to go!
• I think that's it....? Next time I write it will be from the east coast :) :) :) baaaahhhhhhh I can't believe it's finally here! yay yay yay!!!

<3>