How Bike and Build Stacks up against de Tour...

For as long as I can remember, my grandpa recorded every stage of the Tour de France as it was televised at 5am. And then every night, we would bring the VHS home and watch it, with my dad commenting about all the cycling greats. I have always wanted to travel to France and watch the race during one of the mountain stages, since this is really the only point when they are going slow enough that you could actually see them. These stages also have the best spectators.

So why am I talking about the Tour? Well my co-worker pointed out that my daily and summer mileage would be like me riding my own Tour. That makes me really glad that Bike and Build is not a race. But just to see how the mileage matches up, here are the numbers for 2014.

Date	Tour	Bike&Build
5-Jul	119	0
6-Jul	123	29
7-Jul	98	100
8-Jul	101	66
9-Jul	97	36
10-Jul	120	110
11-Jul	145	43
12-Jul	100	0
13-Jul	103	79
14-Jul	100	42
15-Jul	0	40
16-Jul	115	0
17-Jul	114	96
18-Jul	124	72
19-Jul	110	81
20-Jul	138	85
21-Jul	0	59
22-Jul	147	99
23-Jul	78	0
24-Jul	90	73
25-Jul	129	62
26-Jul	33	64
27-Jul	84	76

 
Well, thankfully we are not riding as far or as fast as the peloton, but it will be cool to think of myself riding the same days as the tour. And just to throw out another fun fact, I am going on my training rides with a bike and boyfriend that have raced against Tejay van Garderen (winner of the White Jersey in the 2012 Tour de France).

Taking pictures while riding uphill, a skill that does not help you a faster rider.

Trying to keep my excitement managable...

Hello March Madness and what it’s already March 10th! This means I have 67 days until Jacksonville, roughly 58 days to ride over 335 miles, 35 more days of work, $1365 more dollars to raise, and excitement that just keeps building!!

So what happened in February?
*I raised an additional $2000!
*I miserably failed at getting on my bike and riding any serious amount of miles.
*I continued volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.
*I tried a 3rd saddle and still didn't like the fit.
*I have sewed lots and lots of cheerful spring birds for folks that have donated. I also got t shirts and have been making thanks you cards gallore!
*Getting to know the other riders on SUS and they are all amazing!!! I can't wait to meet them all in person.

Goals for March:
*Have a fundraising brunch with my soccer teams.
*Ride my bike over 100 miles. And get a bike fit session.
* Send out at least 20 more letters.
*Hang posters about the ride at some local shops.
*Reach $4000!
*Bike some more!

T-shirts for donors who contribute $100. They were donated by friends who own a screen printing shop. They are awesome!

The bird on the far right is what I am giving to folks that contribute $50. I was getting tired of making birds so a friend came over and we made dinosaurs and chickens also, then for more change I made a goat.

Close up of the shirt logo I created.

Thanks for reading!