Remember that time we biked 118 miles in one day? And got attacked by a bird. Yep.

Hello!

So much has happened since I last blogged and I'm not even going to TRY to go back and explain all of the amazingness but trust me - it was great! Minnesota was a treat and it was especially fun getting to ride into St. Paul with Ali Kolste because she is the reason I'm even doing B&B! I had a really great time staying at my college house with my friends and hanging out but I must admit, it was weird being back in the "real world". Per usual, it's nice to sleep in a bed and watch TV but I always miss my B&Bers when we don't sleep in the same room together :) After St. Paul we headed to Sandstone, Duluth, Grand Rapids, Bemidji and Crookston. The highlights included a day off in Duluth (and seeing Inception with a bunch of the team), a lot of bike path riding, some great DM, Paul Bunyon and Babe the blue ox, cliff jumping, staying at an AWESOME Synagogue, being a speed demon one day and arriving at the host FIRST (never to be repeated again), and so so much more I can't even remember. It was fantastic.

The ride from Crookston to Devils Lake was the most epic day of my entire life. We all were super jacked to ride the longest day of the entire trip (which was documented at 116 miles but turned out to be 118). We started out the day with a pre-biking dance party (standard move for us) and then we were off! I started the day with Travis, Beth and Liz and I did NOT feel good at all. We had a 90 mile day into Crookston and I pushed pretty hard so I think my body was revolting. I was considering spending the rest of the day in the van when we hit the North Dakota border but I soon realized that I would regret that decision for the rest of the trip. When else in my life will I bike 116-118 miles in ONE DAY?!??! Never again, that's when! So I decided to tough it out and finish the ride! It turned out to be OUTSTANDING! I felt great once I convinced myself that I was finishing no matter what. We had first lunch at mile 40, second lunch at mile 80, and Liz and I threw a dance party at mile 100 for Jamey and Gramelly (they loved it). Between mile 100 and 118 is where things started getting interesting. By that time it was just Liz and I - and we were tired, hot and hungry. This combination soon turned into a lot of giggling and maybe a little hallucinating. Liz was attacked by a bird (seriously) and was so startled she drove me right off the road and I rode my bike through the brush on the side of the road (not the first or last time I have done this). It was great and I would not have had it any other way! The best part of the day is that once we made it to the church (mile 118) we decided we were so hungry that we were going to get back on our bikes and ride the 2 miles back into town to the local DQ. For the record, this is the ONLY ride thus far that I have willingly gotten back on my bike after a ride day...where's the logic in that? All in all, AMAZZZZING day and I can't believe we all did it :) :) GO US!

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to fellow cross country biker ABBY CARNEY (Aug 1st)...she and her family just finished their trip! CONGRATS! :) :)