Why I love Lake Erie and riding with Paul Northrop

Hello everybody from South Bend, Indiana...I have so much to tell you all! We have had an amazing few days filled with MANY MANY miles AND state lines as well as a pretty awesome build site....RECAP!

Avon Lake (July 9th) turned out to be one of the greatest nights of the trip! We had an AWESOME dinner and got to stay with host families. After dinner we all headed to this amazing lake home (yes in Ohio) with a HUGE dock right on Lake Erie. Just for the record, NEVER in my life did I think I would spend so much time riding around and/or swimming in Lake Erie - kuddos. It was BEAUTIFUL, we got there right at sunset and it was just fantastic! The water was SUPER SUPER SUPER wavy (like waves over the dock wavy) and we all decided to risk our lives and biking legs for a little wavepool Lake Erie style maddness. It was incredible...like a Noah's Ark wavepool on steroids. I've never had so much fun while also thinking I was going to die at the exact same time. Thank you to all of the tall boys on my trip that let me grab them when my 5 foot self got scared :)

After Avon Lake we headed to Bowling Green (home of Bowling Green State University) and had an awesome host-stay. I went to mass with a few people in my group and that was really nice. It was a super small town and I was very tired after a GREAT 91 mile day so I can't say I did much other than sleep, bike and eat (story of my life) but I was still a happy camper. I had a really great ride with Beth and in the last few miles before reaching Bowling Green I finally rode without my hands on my handlebars for more than 5 seconds so that was a definite highlight.

Camden, MI was a fun day because we crossed a state line and we rode through an area with a high Amish population so it was really fun to see all of the horse and buggies! I actually had a pretty terrible ride into Camden and wasn't feeling all that great which sucked after having such a great day the day before...oh well! We had an awesome host who let us shower at their homes and watch the last bit of the World Cup game (GO SPAIN!!!!).

The ride into South Bend was AWESOME! It was our highest mileage yet with 92 miles and I was feeling AWESOME! We had two lunches which were provided by Beths family and they even gave us root beer floats :) They know how to please the Northern riders! Paul Northrop is an ox of a man on my trip with a heart of gold! He is (roughly) 6'3 and a VERY strong man...so if I need someone to ride behind to block the wind I know who to find! Anyway, we were riding together for a while and we came upon a hill. I was already having so much fun because we hadn't spent that much time talking yet so it was really fun hearing more about his life. We started up the hill and I surged ahead (as I very rarely do) and all of the sudden, right when I expect my quads to start hating me I started to SPEED UP...? Go figure, right?!?! I was going faster and faster and faster and getting pretty cocky about my mad biking skills until I realized Paul was right next to me. Not only was he next to me...he was literally PUSHING me up the hill while he was riding. Pushing me SO hard that I was going FASTER than I do on plenty of flat stretches. Long story short, thank you Paul - I LOVE YOUUU! :) I wish I could return the favor but, good joke!

We finished the day on the Notre Dame campus! It was soooo much fun! Fighting Irish football stadium and touchdown Jesus included! :) I had a great ride and an awesome build day today too! We worked at a Habitat site where we laid sod, sort of built a porch, and landscaped/mulched a whole bunch! It was great.

Chicago tomorrow...you know what that means! AUNT PEGGY :) :)!!! I'm so excited to see her! She's going to come see us ride in along Lake Michigan which will be AMAZINGGG!! Then its Janesville and Madison and family and BBQs and all sorts of fun!!! I can't wait! Any and everyone in Janesville that wants to see Bike and Build in the flesh we'll be riding in on Milwaukee Street probably sometime around 2pm...cheer us on! :) :)

I don't expect to blog much in the next few days due to all of the excitement so sorry in advance!

<3 Kate