250 miles left...

4 ride days left, totaling probably about 250 miles.  It's incredible to think that we are almost finished.  It's in the back of everybody's mind, and we are all handling it differently.  Right before we pushed off from our campground in Wilbur this morning, I said "5 ride days left, let's make it a good one," and Eileen shot me a death stare.  Yeah, she's not really in the mood to talk about how little time we have left.  I can understand the sentiment; I'm not exactly dying to get to the coast.  It's interesting how we are all approaching this.  While we are all excited to state that we have cycled across the United States, I think the general consensus is that we'd rather not be done.  After this our old lives await: either going back to school, finding employment, or returning to our old jobs.  We know what's on the other side, and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, a lot of us would rather stay in the Bike & Build bubble for a little while longer.  We have become so comfortable with each other and our routine, and while our butts, hands, backs, and legs will enjoy newfound freedom from pain and discomfort, most of our hearts and heads would prefer to keep going.  

I guess it's like graduation from any other program/lifestyle that builds a lot of camaraderie with your peers.  For me, the end of Bike & Build will be comparable to my graduation from high school, Colorado, AmeriCorps, and Cornell.  I will leave having gotten to know some great people and enjoyed some incredible experiences.  So ultimately, I'm thinking I may not relish the fact that I biked across the country so much as the relationships I have with these other 31 riders and the stuff we've done along the way.

I did get to see my old WSU roommates in Spokane; Shawn, Matt, Ebone, and I went out for burgers and a few beers.  It was really cool to see them and catch up/reminisce.  The best part of the day, however, was crossing the Idaho-Washington state line.  We carry a lot of sidewalk chalk with us for directions, but when we got to the line (by bike path, the Centennial Trail) there was a ton of chalk commemorating our final state line and all the stuff we have completed.  I took a video of it, so I'll have to figure out how to post it on YouTube.  The ride into Spokane was great; few cars to worry about on the bike path.

The next morning we woke up to our meanest hill of the trip (in terms of grade) at probably around 15-16%, but it was short.  I always enjoy climbing so I thought it was fun.  We later passed by the Spokane Airport, which was a blast from the past for me since that's where I used to fly into when I went to school at WSU.  We continued along into some heavy headwinds for the rest of the day, but as we cruised into our campsite in Wilbur, we were all pretty satisfied with the ride.  Some of the folks behind our lead group got caught in a wicked rain shower that dumped on them, but they all came in laughing and in great spirits.  Maggie, Suzanne, and Eileen came in completely soaked but really happy; part of me was actually a little jealous that I didn't get to bike through the conditions (only part of me, of course).  

The ride into Omak today was a difficult one: 75 miles with a solid 15-mile post-lunch uphill that required a fair amount of determination.  I enjoyed the climb with Beth, Kyle, Natalie, and Erika, but I ate way too much for lunch so I was dragging a little.  However, we crested the pass (about 3,100 feet) and found a 23-mile descent into Omak.  That was a lot of fun.  A fantastic spaghetti dinner and a huge ice cream eating binge finished off the night.

We are camping the next two nights, and our final night will probably be filled with some sort of event, so I may not hit this blog until Seattle (or post, depending on how busy we are).  If I don't fill you all in until after the 17th-2oth, thanks so much for reading and following our progress.  Mom and Dad, your faithful comments have been a joy to check in on.  I love you guys, and I'm so proud of how you've helped the team.  Thanks to the rest of the folks who have commented as well.  I'll do a summarization so this won't be my final post, but we are coming up on the end!  Talk to you soon!