A Gentlemanly Century Ride

On Saturday, I pried myself out of bed to ride a century with Tony's group.

Tony has assembled an intriguing group of cyclists who live in the Hyde Park area. They are all somewhere over 40 years old, have very intimidating professions, ride shiny expensive bicycles, and keep a very steady 18 - 22 mph. Needless to say, I felt somewhat out of place as the lone Asian, 20 something year old female on a low end Specialized Roubaix. However, they were all very welcoming, and did not make me feel like they didn't want me there or anything.

On the way out to Indiana Dunes, I rode alongside Ralph, an Austrian professor of Art History. We ended talking briefly about his specialization (Romanticism ... which I sadly know very little about), and quickly moved on to European architecture. Here was someone who not only appreciated Zumthor, but had visited the Thermal Baths at Vals, Switzerland, went to an exhibit on le Corbusier in Berlin, and wondered my opinion of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's famous prismatic structures in Chicago. It's not often that I get to discuss 3 of my most favorite architects on a bike ride, so I was pretty stoked.

We stopped for lunch, where most of us got some form of breakfast food for sustenance. On the one hand, my bike looked slightly absurd next to a carbon Storck Scenario 1.1 and titanium Serotta, but on the other hand, I was glad that my bike was definitely not the most desirous item when it came to stealing. Belgian waffles + 2 scrambled eggs + coffee = amazing combo.

On the way back, I enterred "survival mode" as I call it at some point. This means I focus on whosever wheel is in front, and all of my mental capacity is devoted to hang on for dear life. I wasn't to the point where I felt absolutely destroyed, and I knew I was getting back, so no worries. And then there were horses on the Point when we got back. Apparently they have a Black Rodeo once a year. It felt pretty surreal to see so many horses in the middle of a city.


And here comes the unfortunate part about the whole thing: when I got home, my mom handed me a salad to eat. I didn't want to not eat it, because I hate letting food go to waste, but with every successive bite, it was getting harder and harder to chew ans swallow. It was as if my body were actively rejecting the vegetables. And then, I just started to feel absolutely awful. Exhausted, depressed, everything. By dinner, I was livid. I had been planning to go to a concert that night, but I ended up cancelling on all my friends, and going to bed early.

Moral of the story: salad after rides is a bad idea.

Decision Letters!

I sent off the decision letters today. I'm going to UVa!

UVa

"Never a dull moment with Red."

Red and I met on the first day of ARCH 199, and I thought he was pretty cooky. We ended up building a cardboard Le Corbusier chair for the Halloween costume competition and studying in Versailles together with 35 other ARCH classmates for 9 months. Now we've gained acceptance to the same grad program. (He's a first year there now.)

Which is why, after flying into Richmond (rather than Charlottesville) to conserve money, Ben Hartigan (another UIUC classmate who got into UVa!) and I found ourselves in Red's green Volvo in an ever darkening, winding road wondering if we were in the beginning sequence of a horror movie. It turns out we had somehow missed our exit and made our way halfway toward a little town called Waynesboro. Eventually, we did wend our way toward the Virginian for delicious burgers, but not before we were absolutely famished.

For all of Sunday, Red played gracious host. He gave us the star tour of campus, drove us through downtown Charlottesville, and up to see Monticello. He also worked Ben and me over like his life depended on it. I should mention Red can be one of the most convincing people in the world if he puts his mind to it, and he knows it. If architecture doesn't work out for him (very unlikely hypothetical situation), he should consider selling luxury European cars. Driving us up by the Blue Ridge Mountains was a smart move on his part. We drove on this road that went uphill for a good 10-20 mins, and I imagined the beautiful climbs we had on Bike and Build ...

"Southern Hospitality"

The faculty student ratio at UVa is pretty amazing. They keep the number of students small to maintain a high level of quality in instruction, and generally the faculty live in Charlottesville and have plenty of time to breathe down students backs at all hours of the day.

During open studio hours, I wanted to peek over the shoulders of one particular professor giving a desk crit to a student and listen to their interaction. When he saw me stop, Professor Peter Waldman completely stopped what he was saying, turned to me with a smile, and said, "Hello, welcome to UVa, my name is Peter Waldman. Do you have any questions?" I mumbled something about what their project program was, mortified that my seemingly sneaky peek turned into such a huge intrusion.

Later on, Renee, one of the students in Red's studio was briefly describing the monastery they were working on, when we heard a commanding voice behind us, "Show them your site model too. They don't know what you're talking about." We turned around to face W. G. Clark, the gentleman terrifying Red at the moment, and who also designed one of the two new wings of the Architecture School at UVa. We introduced ourselves as Red's friends, to which he responded, "David's friends? Oh, I am very sorry to hear that you call him your friend." For all of Red complaining about how much W.G. seemed displeased with his lack of progress, and how intimidated Red felt in his presence, Ben and I decided that it was all lies. W.G. obviously really likes Red, and he was only trying to push his design really hard. Anyways, W.G. proceeded to lead us around to Tom's desk, summoned Tom to present his project too ("Red, you don't have the requisite models enough to explain yourself properly."), finally headed over to Red's desk so we could see his project. Ben and I thought we were free, but then he lead us over to the Venice studio to have the students there talk to us too. Yikes!

"UVa really likes model building."

Oh really? Red's known for his formidable sketching abilities, but not so much for his model building. Ironically, UVa students are known for their amazing model building skills, so he's been working incredibly hard to bring himself up to speed. He's gotten really creative! He even stole one of the books lying around to make a topo model (to which W.G. expressed great displeasure). A local cabinet maker donates all their scrap wood to UVa students (W.G. "prefers" Spanish cedar over walnut). I'm not much of a solid wood type person, but I did learn to make origami before I strung together proper sentences, and model building is definitely my forte design skill so I imagine I could pick it up quickly enough. I guess they must have liked the 1/4" scale section model I made of Seattle Central Library in my portfolio.

They are also known for melding digital and hand techniques. Professor Christina Hill said they were not so much about pursuing the latest most technologically advanced method of digital representation so much as figuring out what type of representation was best for what situation. Sometimes, those technologies are necessary to show special details, but other times, concept can be most palpable from some pen drawn lines on napkins.

"Bryan Bell sighting at UVa!"

The Eco-Mod projects have undergone 3 iterations at this point, and they are working on finalizing the design documents (or was it construction?) of Eco-Mod 4 to build over the summer. In brief, it is affordable, sustainable, modulor housing designed and built by students, this year for Habitat for Humanity (<3). And who do I see but Bryan Bell, there as the reviewer for this project, right with John Quale, the professor who began the project in the first place. Surreal ...

Epilogue

By the end of yesterday, I could barely string two words together to form a coherent sentence because of the action packed open house. I was glad to be able to go back to a surprisingly comfy Ikea "sofa bed" to sleep in with a yellow skirt-clad chihuahua to welcome me and my host, Fatima, at the door. All the sudden exposure to architecture and design shocked my atrophying architecture muscles out of hibernation quickly enough though, and by the time I was on the little aircraft bearing me back to Chicago, my brain simply wouldn't shut up about all the potential studios I could take next fall, and thesis topics I could pursue.

Expanding Architecture + Creepy guy on Bike Path

Expanding Architecture:

On Thursday, Metropolis magazine presented Bryan Bell and Katie Wakeford's Expanding Architecture/Design as Activism at the Merchandise Mart, and I got to go. (Free food, how could I resist?) I happened upon it fortuitously. I was trying to look up the BPA-free Kor Water Bottle as an example of something absurdly expensive on the Metropolis website, when I happened to see the event. (Liz, I admit your water bottle is actually quite nice, and that I kind of want one now.)

Bryan Bell presented the book briefly, most of which was not new information to me because I read it cover to cover. This book made me realize that UVA is actually quite a hot spot for socially responsible and affordable architecture, and made me more excited about my acceptance there. (Oh yea, forgot to mention I got into their grad school, yay.) It was also interesting to see that a couple of the panelists worked not only on affordability in Chicago, but also discussed Hyde Park as an interesting example of how difficult it is to expand affordability. I may just write a few more blog entries on just this panel event, we'll see. Anyways, Bryan Bell was very personable, and I hope I get a chance to either work with him or learn from him in the future. I also got signatures on my book from 3 other people whose essays are in the book (Thomas Fisher, Roberta Feldman), including Katie Swenson, who not only graduated from UVA with a masters, but also got the Rose Fellowship to pursue affordability, community design and design activism. Intriguing ... As with all other architecture-related events it seems, I ran into a large contingent of 4240 people again, this time including Tom Brauer. It was good to be able to briefly catch up with him. And congratulations to Maurizio, who got into the post-professional program at Columbia! :D

Creepy Guy on Bike Path:

I rode alone because I had a dentist appointment in the morning, but I figured I could at least greet my fellow Tati riders on the way up north. I was happily minding my own business, noting the tail wind, when I heard someone approaching from behind me because their chain was audibly rubbing something, probably the front derailleur. If someone wanted to draft, I was fine with it, but the chain was annoying, for sure. I dropped him on the first hill, and I thought, phew. His pace must have been oscillating quite a bit though, because I kept hearing that chain whir ebb and flow behind me, which was even more annoying. To make things worse, then I could hear the guy moving side to side, probably trying to pass me, but apparently wasn't quite able to move faster than 21-23 mph (my pace at the time). Or, maybe he was checking out my calves like the other really creepy guy from last year. Finally, he moves up side by side. He was largish, riding some red beater-ish looking road bike with yellow handlebar tape.

Guy on Red Bike: "Nice day for a ride, eh?"
Me: "Yea."
Guy on Red Bike: "Been training all winter? You look like you're in pretty good shape."
Me: "Yea."
Guy on Red Bike: "Alright, well good day."

And he finally left me in peace to continue my ride. Maybe he was just trying to be nice, but I'm pretty wary of random guys with loud chains approaching me on rides to compliment me on my fitness level.

Stone Soup

I've been reading Expanding Architecture/Design as Activism edited by Bryan Bell and Katie Wakeford. It's pretty amazing so far. Very much along the lines of Design like you Give a Damn. A fresh new way of looking at architecture, quite a different track from the current trend of theory, aesthetics, etc.

So far, I particularly liked the essay on "Designing with an Asset-Based Approach," which basically suggests looking to a community's strengths rather than deficiencies. The following paragraph is a nice summary: "Asset-based design is like the classic tale of stone soup. One person starts with just a few stones, another person lends a pot, someone else gives some water, someone donates a carrot, and so on until a delicious soup is made that can serve all. In asset-based design the designer can act as the instigator with the stones, conceiving of a community project that can benefit everyone involved and would not happen otherwise."(125)

If I learned anything from Bike and Build, it's that people can achieve amazing things, you just need the right people. It's just finding those people that's the tricky part.

Harder Better Faster Stronger

I woke up this morning with "Harder Better Faster Stronger" playing in my head. I can only imagine how restful my sleep actually was.

The imagery in my head is all In-Design CS3 commands: snap, grids, place, resize, fit content to frame, crop, kern, group, stroke ... etc. Cheers.

Cambridge - MIT - Harvard GSD

Carpenter Center !!!

Studios at Harvard GSD

MIT SOA -

Much fewer people here than at Columbia. The staff checking us in were wearing t-shirts, I noticed, and I was glad I was wearing pants rather than the skirt I brought.

Yung Ho Chang, the head of the architecture design department, introduced himself and the faculty using an animation of faculty faces superimposed on cartoon bodies: really playful! In general, the atmosphere seemed intense, but not as if people took themselves too seriously. The program is pretty small, only 25 - 30 people. What was really helpful was when they showed us the portfolios of people who got in. Do I have a chance? I have no clue, at this point.

The faculty presentations were 10 min each, and we had to choose to go to 3 of 6 available. I saw Mee Jin Yoon's (head of the M. Arch I program), Alan Berger's, and Sheila Kennedy's of Kennedy Violich Architects. M. J. Yoon showed us a project involving the conflict between "on-grid/off-grid" energy, using the Katrina victims as the means to study this phenomenon: figuring out how to provide off-grid energy to people where the grid was too damaged to use. Alan Berger studied how to rehabilitate a brownfield in Italy, and after presenting his research to the local government there, convinced of the need to follow through with his interventions. It was awesome how the designers could dictate what should happen, rather than developers whose general goals are economically motivated. Sheila Kennedy described photovoltaic powered organic LED's that could be woven into textiles and provide light and electricity. It was at the interface of technology, crafts, and architecture.

That evening, I ate dinner at Beer Works with Marty from Bike and Build! Shira couldn't make it because she had prior plans, but we caught up on events since reentering the real world, and about other Bike and Builders we had hung out with to that point. Beer Works brews their own beer, and it was excellent. I had an Irish something or other and the blueberry beer. Marty tried out the peanut butter beer??? It had only a hint of peanut butter, and mostly just tasted like beer, but creative certainly.

Harvard -

Walking toward Harvard's architecture building, I saw a building using glass bricks for windows, and smiled thinking, wow, a throwback to mid-century design. I kept walking, and stopped cold ... because I realized I was in the presence of greatness: The Carpenter Building is the only Corbusier-designed building in America. I stopped by ath Gund Hall for registration, realized I was an hour early, ran back and sketched like mad, only to remember how obnoxious it is to sketch Corbu buildings because they are so exacting. It was like seeing an old friend though. A Corbu building in America is the last thing I would have ever expected to see; I associate him so much with France and Versailles and William Curtis. It made my day.

More people here than at Columbia! The faculty presentations were a bit drier, but the students were spectacular. One PhD student was studying the intimate details of Type II diabetes in order to figure out a design for how best to deploy medical supplies to remote locations, which relates to architecture in the most abstract sense. A masters student with one of the most eclectic backgrounds I have ever encountered (also a former OMA employee) presented an urban study of a small Irish town, and how he used existing relics of pathways to reconnect the entire area in a mixture of historic analysis and modern design.

Later that day, I watched part of a studio review in process with Scott Cohen, head of the architecture department, and 5 other faculty members as critics. They spoke fast and animatedly about very abstract projects involving hotel design and facade vs. interior space, and they would even argue with each other about how they felt about each project. When they didn't like something, they said so quite bluntly, which was a welcome respite from how "nice" the reviewers were at UIUC.

It was an intense trip, and well-worth it.

COLUMBIA OPEN HOUSE !!!

I dropped off my bags at Lauren's house pretty early and had a chance to just sit on campus and absorb the atmosphere for the wee morning hours before the open house. It was nice.

On the stairs ... I ran into Maurizio ?!?!? a co-worker from 4240 Architecture!!! And Jason was there too! Turns out they're considering applying to grad schools for next year. And then at the student Q&A I looked across the room and saw Ben Brichta from Lab School !!! Small world, but to make it even smaller, he had taken the New York/Paris program at Columbia, and he had had Tricia for a professor, who I had had while I was at Versailles. CRAZY.

The faculty presentations about architecture were amazingly inspirational. One particularly memorable statement by one professor was: "the building was beautiful to begin with, all we had to do was not f*** it up." They all ran through slides very rapidly and spoke quickly and energetically about everything.

I met a guy named George who was at UC Berkeley for architecture when he complimented a sketch I did of the chapel during the campus tour. We might exchange info, since he's considering UIUC.

Aries, Lauren and I meandered as best as we could through the first year grad studios, but it was packed with open house people and existing students. It was funny, I was bashing mac computers at one point, and this guy turns around from using his mac and goes: I like macs. But rather than continue to look at more studios, Lauren and I opted to take a small break in a secluded courtyard around the corner and chatted about architecture, school, and people we knew. It was really nice to get away from the craziness of the open house just for a little bit.

As closing remarks, the Dean spoke a little about his take on the school, and he said the faculty and himself were speaking last when we were all exhausted because the school was about the students, and students should represent the school. We bring the verve and challenge the faculty to come up with interesting projects that we will design.

Afterwards was little hairy. I had to get to Penn station and find the Megabus, eventually finding out that I had accidentally bought a ticket for tomorrow in stead of today, causing me to frantically call up the megabus operators to fix the error. Then again, I wasn't that frantic. If there weren't seats, I was thinking I'd take an amtrak or find some other mode of transport. It was going to work out. I did get on the bus though, so it was fine.

On the bus, I met Natalie who's from New York and wants to get out and is thus visitng MIT's open house. All these architecture students are on a grad school pilgrimage right now, it's pretty crazy. Where is the holy grail of architecture?

And my cab driver talked about the 19 year long civil war in Somalia. It was really interesting to hear about, but I was just so exhausted by that point that I had a hard time paying attention. I did tell him to be careful when he visited Somalia in the near future.

I appreciated tonight's shower about as much as I did during Bike and Build.

New York - New Haven

Bernard was chauffeur extraordinaire for me today. I am incredibly grateful that I didn't need to navigate the train system and that we could decide our own schedule.

We started out really early, in case there was traffic. We actually got there really early, so we had a chance to grab coffee, wander around and explore the area. The campus area is incredibly reminiscent of the Oxford campus (I learned later that this was completely intended by the original founder). It was definitely a college town, but it had a permanence and stateliness about it. The shops were boutique-like and upscale compared to Champaign-Urbana. There were more people wearing skinny jeans and fantastic overcoats and jackets with glorious lapels.

At one point I remembered that this was where the Bienecke Library (the rare books library) was built, so I dragged Bernard over to see it. It wasn't technically open with construction on the inside, but we stepped in just briefly, and I was able to see the light seeping in through the marble panels ... This building definitely is not very photogenic from the outside. I liked it a lot more on site.

Nicholas' class apparently went overtime. The crazy thing is that as I was waiting for him outside the building, I ran into Professor Moon! I'd sort of forgotten that he had moved there from UIUC. We could only talk briefly, but he helped me find Nicholas, and we chatted a bit while Nicholas came to find me. I'm really happy for Professor Moon. U Illinois students didn't appreciate how good of a professor he is at all, and he deserves better. He was the type of professor who would try to get us to understand the theory and basis for what he was teaching rather than just give us equations to plug numbers into. I will probably remember how to construct a shear envelope for the rest of my life.

Nicholas looks to be thriving here. We caught up on how his job went back in Europe, and he gave me a concise and loaded tour from top down in the historic Yale School of Architecture building designed by Paul Rudolph. The resources available here for model making are amazing; there's a first year grad program involving designing an affordable home that is design/build; some studios coordinate crits with foreign universities such as Tongji in Shanghai and Hong Kong University; etc. etc.

Afterwards, I got together with Matt Lawlor from Lab !!!!! We shared some biking across America stories since he went with Habitat Challenge, caught up, and tossed around how other friends from our Lab School group were doing. He's considering math in stead of physics as a major, and he is considering staying in academia, which I find unsurprising. He had a way of making ridiculous intuitive leaps in class, but he was also able to explain things so it was really easy to understand. He looks like he's doing pretty good too :D

We began the drive back around 4pm just to make sure the traffic didn't hold us too much. Bernard dropped me off by the Grand Central Station, where I met up with Jeong and Lauren for dinner at a Mexican place !!! Delicious. Talked architecture, Versailles, school, working, Lauren's and Rob's marriage plans (!), all over shrimp burritos and refried beans. Oh it was good times all around.

AND BARACK OBAMA IS PRESIDENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW YORK

I am sitting in New York right now: it's pretty unreal!

Briefly meeting up with Diana at her new work place on Bleecker st, and I was thrilled because that's the street that the movie "No Reservations" films the restaurant scenes. Oh, sentimental me. It's a nice area, I fit in a brief sketch while waiting for her to show up.

In the evening, I met up with JAKE CURTIS !!! for dinner. He found us a great Thai place, and we got to catch up on life and reminisce about Bike and Build. It sounds like work for him is going really well, and he's been hanging out with quite a few ex-Bike and Builders in the area. We may have had an incident with Gilbert ... hahahahaha, anyways, while walking around we ran into the New York Times Building and I nearly fainted. Renzo Piano in all of his quiet poetic splendor.

Busy People Accomplish MORE

The last 24 hours have been non stop movement!

It started last night when I saw the email from OSKA. It wasn't a definitive interview offer, but a request for more material: renderings, models, and sketches.

Now, anyone who knows me knows the latter two are not a problem. I am a laser cutter that runs on biofuels, and I crank out sketches like no one's business. Renderings however, were going to be a problem. I had put my best one in my portfolio, and looking back at the ones I used for my final project, they really just weren't going to cut it. I got back from the meeting around 9pm, and after bouncing around the walls for an hour or so (OSKA was interested in my portfolio ??? MY portfolio??? my PORTFOLIO ???) I got down to business of either cleaning up the existing renderings or creating new ones.

Around 5am, I set Kerkythea to render a fairly good quality image, and it was taking forever, so I decided to go out on the Tati bike ride. Yes, on zero hours of sleep. It was a fairly simple drills day, but there was an awful headwind on the way back. I tried one sprint, and then my legs reminded me about Sunday.

Back home, Kerkythea was STILL RENDERING! More correctly, anti-aliasing, but it was taking forever. I'm so glad I have two computers with CS3 installed. Anyways, I somehow managed to pull together 2 new renderings for one of my projects in Sketchup and Kerkythea, 2 diagrams from Rhino and V-Ray (!!! At last !!!), sketches of all kinds, the Mediatheque model photos, altogether in a very raw format which I sent off by ONE PM. Hopefully they'll be looking more for content, not layout ...

I caught the 1:45pm train to the Loop to go to Wired NextFest with Knute. It was really good to get out of Hyde Park and away from my computer screen. The projects were also a lot of fun!

The gateway exhibited the "Suitcase Pavilion" designed by Virginia Tech students: it can be carried in a suitcase!


Flowers bloomed where we stepped. It felt like Fern Gully but you know, technological.

CRAYONS for big kids! These "solid ink" cartridges don't require ink cartridges and thus creates much less waste. The ink prints by melting on to the page. We could write with them like crayons, so I wrote "yellow" with yellow all over the pamphlets (I'm 5 years old at heart).
They're video games, but rather than hurl bullets, you fly flower petals over green fields. It's supposed to be a retreat for those weary of urban stress.

Brainball is pretty hilarious. Two people duel by wearing straps measuring their brain activity. You win by pushing the ball at the center over to your foe with your "calmer" brain activity. Knute and I tried twice: I won both times. Clearly I had a huge advantage because I was zombie-esque from zero sleep. What was really funny was this random guy in the audience asked if he could try going against me, and I'm like, sure. I won. And then people were talking about tactics, and I'm like, dude, just don't sleep. It creates the perfect Zen-calm apathy.

And then I came home and my legs REALLY complained about Sunday. It feels good to have gotten that good of a workout. And it's also great to know that there are firms out there interested in my portfolio :D

Oh, and at Intelligentsia Coffee Shop, I took this sign to be a good omen (OSKA being in Seattle and my having biked there and all):

Team Tati - Lunches - Coffee

Biggest update is I may be joining Team Tati ! I know I'd been telling a lot of people on B&B that I wasn't all that interested in races and that really I was more about just riding with people, so it may seem a bit strange that all of a sudden I'm joining a race squad. However, the vibe I get from this team is very different from others. First off, J, the founder, is really actively trying to seriously coach a women's team, which is in fact very unusual. xXx has a women's squad that trains together, but that's about it in Chicago. I used to race for Turin, but I was pretty much alone, meaning I've been on the receiving end of team tactics (NOT FUN). The team also trains together rather than alone. One of the most unique features of the team is that they're trying to be environmentaly friendly. If you think about it, bike races have huge carbon footprints from driving to the races. J is trying to think wholistically though, so he's got organic wool team jerseys, cotton bar tape, corn oil based chain lube, and natural food based riding food. They're even in partnership to try to produce an esspresso machine that runs off of bike trainers. How awesome would that be?

Anyways, I've said that I'm not that competitive when it comes to racing, but honestly, I've never been coached before, and I've also never really had teammates to train with. Even on Illini Cycling, most of us just trained alone. Also, I really like riding with people, and it's a great way to start of the morning. So I'm pretty excited about it.

I rode with Team Tati for the first time today. All of the members were very welcoming and not arrogant since they were mostly beginners and learning about the sport. We went north at a decent pace, stopped by at Metropolis Coffee Shop, and headed back. I'd forgotten my wallet, but J was kind and covered the cost. Thanks, J! I got to talk to quite a few of the people along the way, and they all seem like a really cool bunch of people. I haven't formally joined, but I'm pretty sure I will soon enough. My sprinting is non-existent, my racing is a bit rusty, but my baseline's fine, so I'm sure with some hard work I'll be ok.

Also today, I joined up with ARCH 475 on their site visit to catch up with Amy Kuo, my former roomate, and Professor Hammann. They are designing a children's museum in the South Loop. I'm so jealous: their site, parking lot on State and Harrison, is sooo much better than the site I had to work with (south quad at Chambana). Yes, I should have just sucked it up and dealt with what I had, but I can't help it, I just love cities more than college campuses. I live and breathe cities. Amy said there's a bigger emphasis on sustainability on this project, that they're actually going to design it to be LEED Silver, I think, and they'll submit a sustainability matrix too. Thank you Professor Hammann, for lunch, once again!

And then I caught Logan at Caribou, where we discussed his complex theory about the economic recession, Iraqi war, oil, sustainability, and the world at large over French-press, fair trade coffee. He is very influenced by Guns Germs and Steel, which I'm going to try to read at some point after I finish Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck) and Herodotus' The Histories. Why Herodotus? I remember reading some excerpts back in college freshman year and thinking it was really well written. Thanks Logan, for coffee.

I've gotten to eat lunch with quite a few other people this week. Notably, Alex, Eduardo, and Logan from 4240 Architecture, my former piano teacher Mrs. Siegel and Sarah Constantin, a friend from high school. Conversations for all involved were pretty lively and covered a broad spectrum, from the Olympics in China, Chicago's bid for the Olympics, Obama and Hyde Park, and why I hate the suburbs. It was good to see Sarah doing so well. I was in math team with her, and remember being pretty terrified of her abilites. Thanks Mrs. Siegel for lunch!

Man, reading over this, I'm just a free-loader this week. This is awful! I really need to get a job soon.

Dreaming of Bike and Build

In my dream this morning, we drove Danny (our van) around a colorful mountaintop village, and then walked around its hilly streets to find a good place to eat for dinner. There were lots of colors: yellow, blue, red, green, pink, azure. The girls were wearing dresses, the way we did when we were sick of spandex and athletic clothing.

And then I woke up to find myself in my own bed in Chicago, which was almost as dreamlike as my dream. What is reality now, Bike and Build, or that I'm graduated and searching for a job?

I miss always being with 31 people already: how we take over restaurants, bike shops, roads. We all sleep together in a confusing pile of thermarests and random objects taken out of the bags we lived out of for the entire summer. I miss it, even though I'd wake up at nights with my entire legs stiff from lack of potassium.

However, life goes on. I got to sleep for 10 solid hours without being disturbed, and soon my bike will be here, and I will be able to ride once again on the Lakefront Path. I wonder if it'll feel paltry compared to the mountain passes I have done, but I have a feeling it won't. It's the path I began to ride on, and it's my home. And there's always the skyline.

It was really quite amazing to see the patchwork corn and soy fields along the MidWest from the airplane after having crossed through them on bike. And then to see the concentrations of towns grow larger until there was finally the recognizable Sears Tower amidst the gleaming towers of Chicago. I think it's true what Red said of Chicago, that it lacks a certain sense of intimate scale, especially as compared to Seattle for instance, or Paris. I guess I like the fact that Chicago isn't so perfectly designed though. There's something organic and unintentional in the way it has grown.

Seattle Central Library

I read in a Koolhaas. Nuff said.

I should mention that part of the reason why I chose this route was so I could see this Library at the end of it. After creating an intensive 1/4 inch scale section detail model of the facade system for my final studio, I wanted to see it in person. The feeling I get from sitting in here right now (RIGHT NOW!!!) is similar to when I saw the Utrecht University Library designed by Wiel Arets. I should design a library at some point.

Thanks to everyone who kept up with this blog about Biking and Building. Feel free to stay in touch with my life, but my Bike and Build adventure is officially over at this point. Cheers~

Early Winters - Rockport - Everett - SEATTLE

Early Winters -

The LOUP LOUP PASS happened today. (We realized around this point that whoever thought we had a general downhill trend after the Continental Divide was entirely wrong.) Myself, Brooke, Hana, and Hannah Wagley whiled away the elevation change with a new game, which was recalling every single ride and town we stayed in from Providence, RI. We got to about Jackon, WY when Jess blew past us. A bunch of us sped up to catch up, and then it was over, 2 miles early! Whoot. Elevation: 4020 ft, most of which we climbed that day.

We also passed through Winthrop, which was a bustling tourist town. Many of us stopped for snacks such as a pear smoothie (delicious) and tried out some seats made of horse saddles.

The campsite had many pine trees lining the edge of an icy mountain stream: generally much more camp-like than Wilbur. There was not a shower on site, so Stazzle had bought a bottle of Dr. Brauner's so we could shower in the stream. One of the many joys of Bike and Build: seeing people's reactions to cold water.

Rockport -

At about 4:30 am I woke up to flashing lights. I realized after a while that it was flashlights through the tent, and that there was a huge bustle of people awake, tense voices, and more importantly: thunder. Droplets of rain threatened to pour on us, so the entire campsite was up trying to cover tents with rain covers, and set up another one for people who were just sleeping out in the open. It didn't actually pour though, Lady Luck was on our side for that.

Everyone was pretty groggy that morning though. Lack of coffee and many precious minutes of sleep. Good thing I was sweep that day. I took my sweet time getting started that day.

Emily and I began our LAST AND FINAL PASS (Washington Pass) as soon as we left the campsite. It was supposed to be about 16 miles of uphill. It wasn't too steep, but at one point, I saw the road turning off to the left and a really steep cut of road sloping up to the right. Seeing this from miles back, and riding about 5 mph let me stare at my impending doom of steep inclined road, but after a wicked 180 degree hairpin turn, it turned out it wasn't too bad either.

Just kidding, we did another Pass: Rainy Pass, but it was a joke pass because it was right after the first one, and only after a small decline. Its significance became apparent a little while later: the roadside was green afterwards. The soil was no longer dry, and there was gratuitous green ferns and weeds lining the forest floor like nothing we'd seen in weeks. We'd crossed the Rain Shadow Effect border! No more dry empty deadlands!

Lunch was about 35 miles into the ride, halfway through a wicked awesome downhill. More downhill on crazy curving roads, and we came upon a beautiful turquois colored lake trapped in the basin of the mountain valley. The ride continued to roll up and down hills, but at one point we went through a tunnel that wasn't lit! I thought I was going to die. I couldn't see the road, and cars couldn't see me, and as soon as I got out, all I could do was slow down and hope that Emily made it behind me. We were both fine of course, but it was still pretty hair raising. We ate second lunch at Skagit, WA which produces the electricity used in Seattle, and Josh Schorr greeted us with beautiful strawberries.

The road was now lined with beautiful green trees, much taller than anything we'd been seeing. We swept some people stopped at a winery, and then we got caught up in blueberry and raspberry picking at the Cascade Farms. I at handfuls and handfuls of fresh picked blueberries while we waited for people. We thus had a whole entourage to ride into the campsite with by the end of the day.

Except that the day just got better: Josh Schorr brought us one of the best dinners we've had so far on this trip. What comes to mind is the mixed greens salad with goat cheese, cranberries, and walnuts. This was followed with a small Shabbat ceremony that was simple and to the point. I've been to two Bat Mitzvahs, but never a Friday night Shabbat, so it was fun to be a part of something new.

S'mores by a campfire, and then sleeping in tents another night.

Everett -

So this ride was supposed to be easy, and it wasn't. Although it was cloudy when we woke up, it simply didn't occur to me to take out my rain jacket. I was thus incredibly classy with a plastic bag with holes for arms and head that morning. Good thing Shira, Jake C., and Brooke wanted to step for coffee at mile 15. We got Wagles free coffee too, since it was her birthday! Finally 21!

Lunch: a wonderful last trailer lunch. Jake Schorr allowed me to have some pesto, so I in fact had a bagel, cream cheese, pesto, and tomato sandwich for my last lunch. It was phenomenal.

Riding in the cold rain didn't help much though, and I didn't feel that great in the afternoon. The group I was riding with was booking it though, so I decided to wait for another group. They were ALSO booking it, so I sucked it up and kept up with Barbara who went friggin 18 mph up one hill, I swear. And then Chad led up a hill for a while, I was done for, but we were close to the church, so yay.

At the church, the tandem bike had arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The hairbrained scheme was that since Julie really couldn't put any pressure on her broken arm let alone brake on the downhills, she'd ride on a tandem with a willing volunteer, who was Jeff. They needed spare tubes though, and Jeff asked for a volunteer trial partner, so I bit the bullet and went. I made Wagley laugh harder than I ever have this trip with our start off because we were entirely off sync and almost toppled over. Folks, I began my first tandem experience doing a left hand turn on to a downhill street. YIKES. About the scariest thing ever, and the weighting of the bike was super awkward at first, but as soon as we figured out a starting and breaking system ("kick off one, two, three, GO!" - "Coasting, and leaning to the left in three, two, one, alright!") we were actually pretty smooth by the time we got back to the church.

Because it was Hannah Wagley's 21st birthday, we all went out to a bar that night. It felt a bit seedy, but it had karaoke, and we all had a blast listening to Wagles sing Roxanne (with her own lyrics) and Baby Got Back.

SEATTLE - A short, but intense day nonetheless. It was great to see Julie in spandex once again that morning. Barbara's parents also brought a boatload of bagels, and we had a feast.

I decided to stick with the tandem because it had been so long since I'd been able to ride with Julie. Also, I figured they had enough on their plate as it was, so I kept an extra eye on traffic and kept them on the cue sheet as well. We were going from one fairly busy metropolis to another, but a lot of the way was on bikepaths which were lined with beautiful houses. Yea, houses that I liked! There was also a much higher concentration of expensive bicycles and cyclists along there. Plus, I got a kick out of every time Jeff and Julie stopped or began. It had to be so coordinated.

By the end of the path, we were in Seattle and we could see the Space Needle ~ ! (Swoon) And that's when the road began to be really hairy too. Several times, we got off the bike to walk down stairs. One time, we went down the steepest, most cobblestone covered street I've ever biked on in my life, and what made it worse was biking behind the tandem! THEY BIKED DOWN THAT STREET ! On my brakes the entire time trying not to freak out too much. At around a mile or two before the end of the ride, we all waited by the waterfront so everyone could ride into the beach together - Michael got a flat about a half mile away and rode on his rims - we saw Josh and Heather Schorr - a whole line of friends and family cheered us on - we were throwing our bikes down and kicking off shoes and socks - running into the ocean SCREAMING - hugging each other and screaming at the top of our lungs from cold? Because we'd biked 3800 miles?

~ the end. (Did it seem like I had the sense of mind to take out a cellphone from a back pocket? I think not.)

Not quite. Because then we had another delicious banquet (SALMON! WINE!), and we had in fact, another build day. This time, it was with Rebuilding Together once again. Jeff, Brooke, Michael, and I dug a really nice trench and a water retention well so the homeowner's basement wouldn't flood. There was painting, and emptying out the basement of flood damaged objects as well. They also fed us the best lunch of burritos ever, even better than many dinners we've eaten.

Afterwards, many of us worked on breaking down our bikes. It felt strange not to have nearly 3 dozen bicycles leaning all over the walls. Some people even left that night.

Today - People have been trickling away. The number of hugs shared have been fewer and fewer, but each time has been pretty sad. A bunch of us had a last adventure with Danny (our van) while delivering our bikes to the Fed Ex, because we had to drive down into a parking garage to drop them off, and it was not only steep but also narrow. All I can say is, Marita is an amazing driver, although at one point, the trailer may or may not have gone over the curb.

Josh, Heather, and Sarah (did I remember the name right?) Schorr were kind and drove myself, Jess, Marty and Hannah Wagley to the Water Taxi, and we all got to enjoy a scenic ride into the city for the afternoon. We wandered around Pike Street Market for the most part. At one point, we were on Union only blocks away from Seattle Central Library ... but the group decided to go elsewhere. (SOON!) I did get to sketch a mixed-use hotel/condo designed by NBBJ on 1st Ave though. One of those buildings that are deceptively simple design, but elude being captured because they are all about proportions and exact details.

Dinner at an Asian Place, and a caramel apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (?). The last time I ate there was in Salt Lake City with Priya!

One last van ride back to the church. Tomorrow I leave Bike and Build and enter Seattle on my own.

Superior, MT

The day off was pretty chill. I started off the morning looking things up at the library, and then sitting on a fantastic sofa in a coffee shop called Liquid Planet. I developed a love of sofas while in France (we had a great Ikea loveseat on which many naps were taken), and I certainly still appreciate them now.

I ended up biking around a lot, just exploring what town looked like. University of Montana has a nice quad and campus area not too different from U of Illinois, except for the giant mountains right in the background. For lunch, Michael and I met up with a whole group of people chilling in a plaza right by the Higgins Ave. bridge over the water where they had an outdoor concert and food stands. The public space reminded me a lot of the Campidoglio in Rome, designed by Michaelangelo. America needs more nice public spaces like those.

Right afterwards, I sketched a firestair. It wasn't spectacular architecture, but it was a very layered image that gave a sense of depth. I like being able to sketch things that have a very strong sense of perspective and depth to them rather than singular objects. Perhaps that's why I'm not all that interested in farmhouses.

Some people went tubing, which sounded like way too much physical exertion to me. It sounds like they had a lot of fun, but that the water was absolutely freezing, and they got out of the water pretty early to avoid hypothermia.

Julie's back! Pretty exciting. To celebrate, and bunch of us went out to get icecream at an icecream place, but the line was so long that we ended up walking to a store and buying a tub in stead.

Today was a short day. The road rolled a lot right next to a river, and although we had to be on I-90 for parts of it, it ended up not being all that bad because the shoulder was pretty wide for the most part. Wagley, Chad, and Jeff compared fishing stories. The road also curved through piney mountains that smell evergreen. These mountains actually remind me a lot of South Korea. If the density of people were about 100% greater and there were giant apartment complexes, it'd be exactly like Korea.

People have also started to talk about the approaching end of the trip. On Saturday, we will be a week away from Seattle, which seems insane. The days don't exactly feel short, but it's crazy to think that Seattle is so close all of a sudden.

Lincoln, MT

Some interesting facts about Lincoln, MT is that it is near this town that Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, hid out in his shack. HMMM. Anyways.

We had another really great breakfast this morning. A whole host of volunteers came by really early to cook pancakes (plain AND blueberry), sausages, and hashbrowns for us. I was careful today not to eat too much.

Shira informed us early on during the route meeting that we were crossing the Continental Divide AGAIN ?!??!?!? Apparently, we had crossed it going into Montana, which meant we had yet another mountain pass to climb over! (So no general downhill trend today, Dr. K.)

For the past few days, I've been riding in the front group to make my rides shorter. Riding behind Peter up this one hill, he mentions he likes climbs early in the morning because they're kind of like a butt massage. Mmm hmm. We also conversed a little about what buildings I liked and disliked. He seemed surprised that the Centre Pompidou is one of my favorite buildings. It's a building that has all of its mechanical apparatus on the outside. I remember Red telling me that his engineer father absolutely loved it, and it's pretty apparent why. Its functions are really clearly depicted. Also, I explained that it's a really successful building which is obvious because it is always full of people using it. People in a building are always a good sign.

Anyways. I rode in the morning with Jake Schorr, Stazzle, Eric, and Joe. For about the first 25 miles or so, there was a very gentle uphill. It even prompted Jake Stazzle to say that this was going to be the easiest mountain pass he has ever climbed. AND THEN, we hit the actual climb. It wasn't quite as steep as the Tetons, but it was definitely longer (~10 miles) and perhaps slightly steeper as the first time we crossed the Divide. There was this one 180 degree switchback that did a U-turn on the mountain faces, on which I could see the road curving upwards steeply and indefinitely, and I just thought, oh gawd, but it really wasn't that bad. I did have to tell Joe to pass me early on though. Even on his Fuji loaded down with a back rack and aerobars, he's a beast going up the hills.

I saw encouraging chalk on the road near the crest, shifted up 3 gears and sprinted the rest of the way. It was a good climb. And of course, the downhill was amazing. The view is absolutely amazing, but it's also pretty difficult to enjoy it because I'm accelerating on a narrow curvy road.

The rest of the ride was pretty windy, but it was only about 20 miles. I passed a promising looking milkshake place on the way in, but then I ended up passing out for 2 hours in my sleeping bag in stead. A lot of people took naps today. We're all feeling pretty tired at this point, and we're really looking forward to the day off (not tomorrow ...).

We're staying the hallways of the school here, which had a graduating class of 25 people last year. So different from UIUC! I flexed my atrophied sketching muscles a bit so I'm not entirely awful by the time I get to Seattle, but it's hard to do so without inspiring architecture near by. If anyone has any suggestions about buildings to see there, definiely let me know. I'm going to start looking places up as soon as possible.

One final note: Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffle buffalo. It's an actual sentence, I promise.

T E T O N P A S S ! ! ! (Ashton, ID - W. Yellowstone - Bozeman, MT)

TETON PASS: (5-6 miles of 10% grade all uphill, 2300ft elevation change)

That morning I was super nervous about the ride. Shira had done it the day before because she was going to be driving the van, and she said parts of it were steeper than Hunter Road back in New York (to Roscoe) 80% of which I walked up. Also, she's a really strong climber, and she had suggested a few days before that buy myself a triple front gear if i had the chance. That would have a been a $200+ investment though, and I have a 10 speed cassette, so I decided to risk it.

We had a nice 7 mile or so warmup to begin the ride. AND THEN WE HIT THE FIRST CLIMB. This really wirey looking lady passed us all on the way up - I didn't really see her face, but her calves were all muscle and veins. (We heard afterwards that she does the Pass every morning before work as her morning workout. WHAT.) I stopped at one point to eat a GU energy gel, and another time because the view was just ridiculously amazing. You could see mountains off in the distance and how much we'd climbed in such a short period of time. At many points along the way, I wondered if I could do it on a double rather than the double compact. About halfway through though, I stopped being afraid because I realized that I was making it up really fast (er, 5-6 mph), and that I was going to make it. It was really steep, but it switched back a lot, and there were many points at which it leveled out where we could catch our breaths. And when we arrived, the faster people all cheered us on, and Shira had a dance party going! This song was playing, and it will forever make me think of Teton Pass: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3jzSh_MLNcY

We all waited at the top for the rest of the riders to get in. At one point, we all lined up, not to high five, but to slap butts as encouragement. I was entirely hoarse from screaming after we were done. The DESCENT was about the scariest thing after that. It had these crazy turns you couldn't see cars around, and I rode on my brakes the entire time. My max speed was thus only about 45.7 mph.

The rest of that day was slightly anti-climatic. We ate lunch at "Teton Thai" which was delicious. I had a flat right after lunch (#3), but it wasn't too big of a deal. Idaho is like a mix between Iowa and Wyoming in that there are rolling (slightly steeper) hills of green grass, but there are also giant mountains in the distance.

WEST YELLOWSTONE:

My legs were remembering the Pass this day on the morning climbs. In these cases, I go into a type of survivor mode, where I latch on to someone's back wheel and try not to lose sight of it the entire day. It happened to be Shira ... who's really fast. She got me up the hills faster, that's for sure. She had a pretty crazy morning. She got a flat pretty early, so I gave her a tube and lent her my pump, but then she had another flat a little ways away. As she pumped it up the second time, we heard the tell tale PSSSSSSS sound of air leaking; the funny thing was, it was coming from about 3 different places along the wheel. I offered her my spare Gatorskin, which originally she didn't think she needed, but finally she decided the front wheel (still on stocks!) was done for.

It was a short day, and Joe was kind enough to do shuttles to Yellowstone National Park!!! We swam in Firehole River for a while, and then we made it over to the Boardwalk by the Paint Pots and the Spasm Geyser that was going off for the second time this entire summer. It looked like an alien landscape of bacteria, water, and parched white pine tree logs.

BOZEMAN:

Shira presented the pinwheel to me for the tubes and tire I lent her yesterday (a little tradition we have, we hand it off to someone who we think has been especially helpful to the group). Ironically, I had a flat from ripping out the valve in my front wheel, and I needed to bum tubes off friends in order to start riding (I'd given all mine away).

And then, I had ANOTHER flat in my back tire. While slapping at swarms of mosquitos, I started changing it, when Jess and Marty came by. Jess offered to wait, and I said no it's fine there's way too many mosquitos, but they waited anyway. We danced the mosquito slap dance while I got it done.

The rest of the ride was amazing! 30 miles flew by as most of it was downhill (after one climb) to first lunch, and then we had about 30 miles of downhill after lunch! Jess would say, it's sooo beautiful, and I'd respond, it's sooo downhill! We agreed it was about one of the best rides ever. After first lunch, we stopped by at Bigsky (a town along the way) at a gas station for some great iced coffee, and then we started off again with a long train of people: Kourtney up front, Kate, Shira, Jess, me, Mark, and Joe. The shoulder was non-existent, but the downhill continued, and the road went alongside a river on which we yelled at white river rafters, who generally yelled back.

After second lunch, I had a SECOND FLAT in my back wheel. I wasn't too surprised, because I hadn't checked the back wheel all that thoroughly the first time (because of the mosquitos). This time, I found a shard of glass, patched the tire, and went along my merry way. Jess stayed with me again. I was super greatful for her company.

Anyway, Bozeman is a really nice college town. Apparently, University of Montana is here. Aside from the mountains, it reminds me a lot of Chambana. Also, the Christian fellowship(?) church/dorm we're staying at has a beautiful curved laminated wood vaulted room that I'm planning to sketch pretty soon.

Overall:

This week has been ridiculously amazing. Continental Divide, Grand Teton National Park Visitor Center, Jackson Hole, Teton Pass, and 30 + miles of downhill whitewater riverside road ride today.

Build Day - Jackson, WY

Many of us were wondering where the build site would be because we're staying in the center of Jackson, which is mostly shops and expensive lodges. It was closer to the mountains, and in a more residential looking part of town.

Chad, Lisa and I started off the morning by table sawing 28"x2.5" pieces of plywood that people were going to use to tie up the concrete formwork already on the ground. These were going to prevent the formwork from expanding when the concrete cured. By the time we were done, we up to our lungs in sawdust.

Afterwards, I tied rebar pieces to the long pieces already laid out, again to prevent those from moving.

Tracy was a great leader. He really knew how to keep the volunteer workforce emploid and occupied. He also told us a fair amount about the Jackson chapter of Habitat. They're working on getting their houses very energy efficient, but lacked the funds to LEED rate them. Apparently, the SIP's (structural insulated panels) have an R-value of 27 though, and with the rest of the wall assembly, they get rates of up to 30. Pretty impressive. (Of course, the real factor is how well it's connected and thermal bridges, etc. etc. I'll stop.) They also use bamboo flooring. Finally, there's also some kind of building code that requires them to side buildings using natural wood, so there's a degree of unity in the community of houses.

I also met another architecture student named Veronica who graduated from University of Montana. Actually, my first contact with her was when she hit me over the head with some siding she was carrying. Apparently, she's worked in Peru and Seoul, South Korea. The firm in South Korea intrigues me. I wouldn't rule out working in South Korea for the time being. She's also sponsored to work here for the moment, and she's going to be working on Habitat houses in Kyrgystan! Amazing.

It was after lunch that it got really interesting though. We spent a long time really carefully levelling the concrete formwork, and then we poured concrete! It would come out of a tube from the truck, which people would spread out using shovels. Afterwards, people would take 2x4's to smooth out the tops. Then they laid out string over the tops to lay out bent rebar perpendicular to the foundation. These would support additional foundation concrete blocks that they would add after a visit from the inspector. It was really intense, but also really rewarding. It constantly amazes me how many different types of concrete foundations there can be. Not a single one of the ones I've worked on have been the same.

Teton Pass is supposed to be really really steep. I took off my aerobars today and anything not absolutely essential out of my backpack. They don't actually add all that much weight, but it's more of a mental thing for me.

I'm really excited about the mail drop tomorrow, because my Verge Illini cycling shorts are just about out of commision, and I'm hopefully receiving more because Performance was having a sale? Yay.

Continental Divide - TETONS - Jackon, WY

I ran off of adrenaline all morning because I wanted to get to the Grand Tetons National Park Visitor Center asap. These days, people had been somewhat reluctant to take the lead (several people have gotten very lost on occasion), but I didn't care today. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson was calling.

And then as I hit the first climb, my muscles reminded me that I had already climbed about 2000 ft to Dubois yesterday. It's alright, I told myself. I'll just do it in my granny gear (on my double compact ...), go steady, and it'll go downhill eventually. The funny thing is, it would dip every so often, but in fact, it went uphill for about 30 miles. I'd missed the fact that we were crossing the Continental Divide today because I was messing around trying to get my backpack lighter. In the morning, we climbed from 6900 to 9700 ft !!!!!!!!!!

At lunch, we were eaten alive by mosquitoes. That was the one low point of the day. There was also snow! That's how high we were ...

I sped out of lunch as soon as I could, and after getting past the first construction site, I spotted Shira looking sad and lonely on the side of the road. She had gotten ahead of Chad and Eric who found a good lunch spot around mile 30. So we rode together for the 6% downhill for 17 miles !!! The most welcome road sign any cyclist will ever see. I hit 35 mph at my fastest, but I was afraid to go too fast because of all the road construction. Shira and I weren't shuttled in the truck, but apparently many of the riders after us were.

The road wrapped around the mountains rather than go straight down, and as we came around the bend, we finally saw the Tetons looming up ahead of us. Snow covered, and above the clouds: clearly something much higher than anything we'd seen previously. Pine trees all around. I stopped at one point to take a picture, and a really nice German couple offered to take my picture for me. So we traded, and I took one for them too.

We found a decent spot for second lunch, but I felt antsy and kept going. Hana and Jake Schorr joined me until we found the Visitor's Center. The road we took after lunch went through a valley of sorts between the Tetons and some other mountain ranges. We were surrounded by mountains.

And then I saw the visitor's center and screamed. You can't see it from the road. The approach winds around to a U-shaped courtyard, which creates an intimate, introspective and quiet entryway. The construction style is very Asian influenced timber style with a modern aesthetic. The roofline is angular and somewhat jagged: architectural language that clearly draws influences from the Tetons themselves. The joints and edges of the wood are all detailed with beautifully machined metal fittings or reinforcements. As soon as you step in, you see the Tetons framed in the angular floor to ceiling glass panes. I sketched like crazy, but I'm really rusty. I figured as much. I haven't really sketched in over a year, because I was so sick of sketching after 9 months in Versailles. I'm finally getting back into it.

Anyway, unfortunately, the sweeps missed the turn off, so I sprinted as best as I could to catch up. It didn't take too long, fortunately. I think I was running off of endorphins from seeing the Visitor's Center at that point. We caught up to Michael who had a flat, and Joe who was helping him. Afterwards, Joe was FLYING, and I got a great draft into town.

We're staying at this one place, and it feels slightly strange because we're surrounded by tourists. It almost feels like I'm back in Europe or something. I even heard quite a few French speakers.

Katharine, Michael, Jeff and I ate Mexican for dinner, and then we rushed off to the movie theater to see "The Dark Knight" at last. It was excellent, but not particularly uplifting. I'm not sure if I want to get it for myself when it comes out on DVD.

Bed time.