And I thought Gambier was in the middle of cornfields!

I have never seen this much corn. It is crazy! Yesterday, the 4th of July, was spent in not your typical 4th of July fashion. There were no parades, no red white and blue, no fireworks, no beer (well, until after 9pm). At the beginning of the day, I naively expressed my excitement at being sweep*, eager to ride in at least 5 small towns' 4th of July parades. I was even going to decorate Brutus.

BUT. There were no 4th of July parades. The 100 mile day began with a 5am wake up call at our campsite in Paris, IL (you can always count on the midwest to be unoriginal -- we've passed thru Paris, Milan, Albany, Boston, well you get the picture). As the group rolled out around 7, Jerrod and I followed, but didn't get very far as everyone was getting coffee and snickers bars at the gas station just outside the campground. By 8 everyone had left the gas station and Jerrod and I decided to roll out as well, by 830 we were caught in a downpour just outside Paris in the middle of cornfield #1.

Cornfield #1 turned into cornfields #2-10000000 as well. Paris was the last town we went through (I know, depressing, right?) and before I knew it all I could see was corn. It was just ridiculous. We would ride for 20 straight miles literally through a hallway of corn. It was super creepy. And then we'd turn left and go for a mile or two, and then turn and head west again. And the wind, oh the wind. Pedaling in the pelting rain with a strong headwind makes for a fun ride, let me tell you. If we were riding west to east, the flat terrain would cause us to go about 25 mph. Not so traveling east to west...we were averaging 9mph.

Jerrod and I caught up with Becca, Roshan, Doug, and Erin around mile 15, and we pedaled with them into lunch #1 at mile 40. We took our time at lunch, luckily the sun had come out, and bounced once the Becca-Rosh-Doug-Erin group (the last group in front of us) had been gone for about 20 minutes. An hour and a half later, once we had gone 15 miles (just in case you can't do math, that's pretty pathetic) we caught up with everyone just chillin by the corn, running out of water and too exhausted to keep pedaling. This stopping went on for the next 15 miles, so basically there were now 6 of us sweeping. Still nothing but corn. I mean, I don't get where the people who plant and take care of the corn actually live. They must own thousands of acres.

We finally did run into a house. Well, there was a sign on the side of the road advertising an orchard. We were pretty sure we were hallucinating, this was almost too good to be true! We walked up the driveway, taking note of the break in the monotonous landscape. What did we stumble on but a Mennonite family's 4th of July party! OMG (to anyone who knows who the AGDs are...yes, I think they were their close friends). BUTTTT they were super nice and gave us water, homemade ice cream, and apple cider slushie. YUM! What an oasis. One second I swear I am in hell, boringly pedaling past stalk after stalk of corn, and suddenly my mood goes from horrible to wonderful in just a few feet. They even took a picture with us. Oh so Bike and Build...good times.

Lunch #2 was at mile 70, but by the time we arrived everyone else was gone, including the van. Sarah (one of our leaders) was standing with the trailer, watching the swollen cloud of a midwestern thunderstorm move across the giant sky. Mariah (another leader) had taken the van to find water (where she thought she would find it, I have no idea). We were actually pretty full from the little holiday party we crashed, so after eating 2 snickers bars each, we were ready to hit the road.

Finally the storm hit us, and by now it was just Becca and me riding sweep with everyone else ahead of us. But we came across Roshan, Doug, Erin, and Jerrod, and as the sweep rules go, we had to wait for them. It was actually raining pretty hard, as well as thundering and lightening, so stopping probably was a good idea (let's just try to imagine this though...where does one go where all there is is corn?! We thought a ditch seemed like the best option).

Fifteen minutes later, and after filming a video of Roshan and Erin running in circles to stay warm, we decided the storm was letting up and moving south and that we should hit the road again. And then who do we run into literally a quarter of a mile down the road but Carrie, Carys, and Justine. And so we stopped again.

The group we were originally with had decided to keep going, but as sweep we had to stay back with Carrie, Carys, and Justine, who were afraid that the storm wasn't quite past us yet. Finally they felt it was safe, and as we were pulling out, Carrie announces she has a flat. Excellent! Jerrod, who had stayed back with Becca and me again, decided he wanted to roll out with Justine, so now it is Becca and me sweeping, waiting for Carrie and Carys to fix Carrie's flat.

FINALLY we can leave for real. And we only had 25 miles left! Now Bike and Build has a policy that all riders get in by 4 (and keep in mind we've been up since 5 and riding since 8ish). At this time it is about 5. We have already been through two rainstorms. And we have 25 miles to go....AWESOME.

To make an extremely long story short, Becca and I got to the Taylorville YMCA at 8pm. We rode for a total of 9 hours and had slept for 6 the night before. SWEET.

Luckily the Y had warm showers. And they were individual, too (hey, it's the little things that really make a difference). By 9 we were all piled into the van and headed to the Taylorville Family Restaurant (or some similar name). We all ordered basic ick sandwiches (but they did give us some nourishment I suppose) and a few rounds of beers. Later on we went back to the Y and had a field party high-school style with a few more beers and sparklers. I won't forget this 4th of July, but I'm not going to lie, next year I hope to head back to Red White and Boom, and if not there then to LBI with my high school friends!

Today was our first off day so we got to sleep in (I slept till 8, but believe it or not that really is sleeping in). I got to go for a run, take a shower, and write in the Bike and Build journal (check it out) all in my own time. And my good friends Kirstie and Sara came down from their current (and disgusting) home of Champaign, IL to play. Later on Becca, Roshan, Kristi, Erin, and I went to see Ratatoille. Now it's time for a game of sardines, complete with glowsticks, all around the Y. Tomorrow we have another 100 miles through cornfields, so we will be going to bed shortly afterwards.

Thanks so much for all the mail and love, everyone. I'm glad that you all get as much of a kick out of reading this blog as I do writing it. I'd just like to say hi to my fave fans Katie and Ashley of Head2Head Consultants, as well as my high school friends who are spending this coming weekend at Suzie's shore house, which is a tradition with them that I have sadly never been able to take part in (call me like you always do girls). I can't believe it's already that time of the year!

If you live in Pennington/Hopewell, check out the Hopewell Valley News. Apparently there's an article in this week's edition. If you can't get your hands on a hard copy, check out the below link:
http://www.packetonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18552861&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=456062&rfi=6

As always I'm not sure when the next time I'll have internet is. I have no idea where I'll be tomorrow night but know I'll be in Missouri sometime in the next few days.

PEACE.

*Every day there are 2 of us who ride behind everyone, making sure no one gets left behind. One of the perks of sweep is that you can take as long as you want; hence, Jerrod and I were planning on taking forever playing around in these (nonexistant) parades.