Intro

Welcome to a story, or stories I should say. A compilation of adventure tales. An ongoing itch to see, smell, and touch the world, or at least the deserted roads and rarely trampled mountains of America. Characters within the descriptive paragraphs of these stories carve out the coming and going companions in life; vital life people and pieces that parallel a universe for moments, days, years. And then spear off, leaving granules of magnificent memories of magical places. They leave a lasting trace, a gained sense of courage to stand tall on oxygen deprived mountains and shout absurdities like: I love you Ralph! Ralph is a teenage reindeer stuffed of the finest synthetic polyester fiber poof; he says made in Indonesia but really tells me he is from the North Pole. Delivered through a chimney one December night 20 years ago, we instantly became cuddle buddies upon that morning's sunrise. He is the instigator. The inspiration. And the imagination. He breathes creativity. Laughter. His is a dear companion. And yes, at 4lbs he tags along atop a pack or strapped to a rack. In delirium of 107 degree heat, the small possession of material belongings gain a persona. Innate objects become friends of the road and trails. And as for the humans who accompany, their presence reads priceless. Without O'Reilly, a 29 year old New Hampshirian with superior taste buds, the mathematical six foot four inch tall German, or handful of organic peanut butter and 99 cent jam eating munchkins, there would be a lot less excitement. The encounters we make with our specie, encapsulating the world with their awkward ways and over consumerist love, somehow we have managed to become overly adored creatures. Their generous hearts restore a faith that goodness prevails in the upheaval of a sometimes lost humanity. As for myself, I'm just the navigator, paddling up the stream of life munching on Clif Bars, with an iPhone documenting the frailties and goodies underneath all the simplified complexities in the world we reside. So again, I welcome you to get lost and dream a little through this typed text and your imagination. My name is Kristen Gentilucci. I live in Berkeley California and I love dogs.


Thursday, August 16, 2012

Day 59. Williams AZ

Miles: 59
Weather: 85 and hail in the afternoon
Me and Buggy: with Tom Petty coming through the speakers

Awoke with legs as though I had never ridden a bike before, with muscles aching deep within tendons I never knew existed, boy was I ever happier to be the Captain of Buggy today. We had to leave our lovely world of starry nights and deep canyon lands, off to somewhere on the map called Williams. Lined up by height, we broke up into riding groups, shortest to the tallest.

After 10 flat tires, routed on the historic 66 we arrived at this musical, BBQing, neon lite, touristy, stuck in the 1960s, quaint, and lively town built into the forest. Habitat for humanity of Williams, begged? Demanded? not sure which one, but we offered to build with them, and being who we are and what we do we couldn't say no, even after a near 60 miles. So our plans were set, lunch, then paint a shed. It was all set up, until nature got in the way, dumping hail the size of paint balls. And that was that, another year.

Most excitingly though our Thursday mail drop included a package from the fancy office of Bike & Build itself. An envelope stuffed full of grant request, 19 in total, $130,000 worth of wishes and desires for money to build houses and change lives, and here we were a bunch of 20 something year olds biking ridiculous amounts of miles given the opportunity to divvy out these funds. Over the course of the next 9 days we will read their proposals, some from Habitats we've build with, others from just in need of extra grants, all almost asking up to $10,000 and decide where to send all the money you readers have all donated. This entire adventure became full circle tonight. And thank you again for all your support.