My Epic Cycle Tour...

Before and After.

2010-08-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

As requested by several people here are some pictures of "before and after" the transam.

Photo by Donald

Photo by Josh

2010-07-31T13:19:00.001-07:00

4580 miles in astoria trans-am done. victory!

2010-07-26T19:59:00.001-07:00

At delta campground, 40ish miles out of eugene. Will be in Astoria on saturday!

Lowell --> Grangeville (7/18/10)

2010-07-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

We again got an early start, ate a little breakfast and headed off to Kooskia for a real breakfast. We 20+ miles at a much slower pace than the day before, which was nice for me as I was still a little tired from the previous ride. Rolling into Kooskia we located a cafe that was actually open and got some food. After eating we headed to the grocery store to pick up food and supplies, not knowing exactly where we were going to camp tonight.

Getting on the road after all the errands and eating we were hoping to attack the big hill before the heat really kicked in. This hill was pretty big, and long, and it was hot. After climbing the hill for several hours I got to Grangeville, it was lunch time and cold drink time! I met most of the other cyclists at the gas station getting cold drinks, so I grabbed an iced tea and relaxed for a few minutes while we figured out what the plan was.

Everyone was tired, and hot so we decided to use the city park and camp. We headed to the only open restaurant, Hung Fa Chinese, the food was decent but not great. After eating we headed to the grocery to buy food dinner food and breakfast so that we could get a good start in the morning and not have to worry about finding a cafe.

Setting up at the park we all cooked and ate as a group, then everyone kind of did there own thing, I read from a book that I just bought at the store and then went to bed. Everyone else played card games, or attempted to play card games. Getting to bed kind of early was nice too, since we seem to have a regular wake up time of 0500.

Lochsa Lodge --> Lowell (7/17/10)

2010-07-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

The usual routine in the morning, get up early, eat pack and hit the road. We headed up to the cafe to see if any of the other cyclists were going to have breakfast but everyone was either gone or still sleeping. So we headed out for the 60+ mile day, down hill :-)

It was really a short day, we ran in a paloton (Robin, Zack and I) and kept an 18.5 mph pace. We stopped at two hot springs, but only walked to one of them. The other was a long walk and we would've had to leave the bikes on the other side of a river, and none of us felt comfortable doing that. So we headed to the other hot springs to see if that was any better. It was, I still didn't want to leave the bikes so I stayed with them and the other guys headed in for a dip.

After their dip we headed on to Lowell, of course keeping out hell bent pace. We got into Lowell about 12 and got lunch, we were starving. After cooling down and enjoying some good food and root beer we headed down to the campground to get our stuff set up. Our site was right on the river and we had great shade and cool temps for the rest of the day.

In the evening Zack and I rode into "town" and got some dessert and wifi to end the evening.

Missoula --> Lochsa Lodge, Id (7/16/10)

2010-07-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

We started the morning out with a great breakfast cooked up by Robin (scrambled eggs and cheese). Then we headed out, a little lighter than when I rolled in (about 7 pounds of gear got sent home). Getting back down to Lolo was not too bad, the route takes you 13 miles out to Missoula just to visit the ACA headquarters. Stopping at a fuel station for some drinks we headed back out. I was starting to feel sluggish, which I think was from the rest day.

With the sluggishness I told the other guys to ride on because I would not be able to keep pace with them anyways. As I plodded along I came to the small "resort town" of Lolo Springs, where I met up with Dennis and Zack. We ate some fruit and power bars and had some cold drinks, which was a nice break from the warm water in my bottles. Heading on we started the big climb for the day, Lolo Pass. The pass was pretty tough, a slow and steady plod the whole way. Getting to the summit (also the boarder between Montana and Idaho, and the start of Pacific Time) we stopped and took photos, then headed to the visitors center for some free coffee and wifi.

After a nice break at the center we headed on down the other side to Lochsa Lodge where several other cyclists were going to be staying. The downhill was awesome, except for the wind, damn you wind you have been a menace the whole trip! After peddling down the hill we came into Lochsa Lodge camping area, where unfortunately all the lodges were full, so it was camping instead of luxury.

After getting our $8 camping site we set up camp, cooked some dinner and then went to bed. Wanting to get an early start in the morning to beat the wind, and enjoy the all downhill ride again.

Missoula Rest Day (7/15/10)

2010-07-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

Rest days are pretty boring to write about and I am WAY behind on the blog so this will be short.

I had to get several things done on my day off, get a new stuff sack for my sleeping bag, do laundry and mail some stuff at the post office.

I also went back to the ACA to hang out for a bit and Dennis and I got invited to the "all staff BBQ". So we grubbed on some yummy ribs and beans!

That is about all for the rest day.

Darby --> Missoula (7/14/10)

2010-07-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

At 00:30 the sprinklers sprinkled us awake, well at least Robin and I. Robin was sleeping on his tarp without his tent because it was a nice night out, I was in my tent with the rain-fly on but a sprinkler head right next to my tent. I got up to make sure that all my gear was covered and not getting soaked. Robin was up because well he was getting soaked :) Robin found the water shut off and turned off the water to the sprinklers so we could go back to sleep, me dry, him not so much.

Getting up at 06:00 was not as much fun as it had been previously, not like it is ever really fun but after an adrenaline rush in the middle of the night the wake up is harder. We were also freezing, it was cold here, colder than expected again. Plus everything was still wet so we went to the cafe to get breakfast in hopes of letting things dry out a little more before we had to pack up and leave.

Breakfast was good, coffee was hot and plentiful and the locals were really friendly. We ate and warmed up then headed back and packed up. On today's map there was another alternate, eff that! We all made a unwritten pact not to do anymore "alternates". Hitting the road we rode on to Stevensville to get lunch and hookup with the sweet 16 mile bike path to Lolo.

The lunch stop provided us with free internet and great food, a awesome combo! Spending more time than we should have we finally headed out to get to Missoula. Riding the bike path was a fantastic change from the shoulder-less tight highways from the morning, as an added bonus they were chip sealing the highway so without the path we would have had a very dangerous and dirty ride. Riding the path all the way to Lolo we stopped at the gas station to get some cold drinks and plan out the next 13 miles into Missoula.

After a quick snack and cold drinks we headed off to get to Missoula before the ACA headquarters closed so we could get our free ice cream and picture taken! About 5 miles out of town we passed a young woman who had gotten a flat tire, so being the nice guys that we are we stopped and helped her out. She didn't have a pump, patch kit or tools. Good thing I packed that damn patch kit and tire pump 3300 miles across the country! After getting her all fixed up we headed into town and found the ACA. We went in and got our free ice cream and picture taken.

After the ACA stop we headed over to the hostel and got our beds and hung out and ran some errands (nice to be in a big city!).

Jackson --> Darby (7/13/10)

2010-07-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

Getting an earlier than usual start to hopefully beat out the evil wind that has been the bane of our afternoon riding. We headed out into the bitter cold of a Montana morning ~34 degrees. We rode as quickly as our frozen legs would move us to Wisdom to get a hot breakfast and coffee. After getting warmed up helped lift the spirits and the riding attitude, so we headed on into a bit warmer temperatures and talked over taking a "short cut" called the Gibbons Alternate. We thought this off route alternate should be quite, peaceful and prettier than we had been seeing (all highway riding).

Getting to the turn off the road was packed dirt and gravel, we thought this would be a snap, maybe not as fast as the road but not too bad. Oh how wrong we were! Riding along we came to the first fork, Zack read the eastbound directions and sent us the wrong way, about 4 miles out of the way on a terrible road that climbed to 7200 ft. (the original route only went to 7k and the alternate was only to 6700). So next we doubled back, down the poopie road and got back on track, heading up to the summit that we should have hit the first time. With a sign that states: road not suitable for cars or campers, use at own risk. Huh, that would have been nice to know 9 miles back.

So we started down the "road" at least the view was great. The road was so bad I had to pretty much use the breaks the whole time, which lead to hand cramps. This was not a bad thing because it required me to stop, which let the rear rim and the front disc cool down. I was trying not to get into any more trouble that I was already dealing with.

As I was riding down I found Robin checking the view out before he ran into his mechanical troubles (two flats).

After I passed Robin I headed to the bottom, which was a tough ride and really should not have been listed as an option. When I got back to the highway I saw Zack at the ranger station so we had a picnic of our usual foods, Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches with some Starbucks Via. After about an hour Robin made it down and we had a right bitch session about the alternate, then we headed on to Darby.

Upon getting to Darby we found the grocery and the free city park camping. After a rough day it was nice to cook a decent meal in the park, where we had the luxury of bathrooms! Wanting to get an early start we turned in early; however, our night was not over yet. At about 1230 we were awoken to the distinct sound of sprinklers...

Dillon --> Jackson (7/12/10)

2010-07-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

Getting the usual early start we headed out to tackle the two big climbs that we would have trying to get to Wisdom (which by the title you should see that we didn't make). The ride out of Dillon was nice, we missed our turn however and had to back track about a mile or so, which is really not that bad when I think back to my other missed turns. After getting back on route we headed towards the climbs, the first of which we could see. Robin and Zack headed on past Dennis and I because they are better hill climbers than I am, and Dennis was just hanging around to chat and enjoy the ride, which we did. The first climb was not that bad, it was steep but not too steep and the wind had only gusted a couple of times. Getting to the top we took a break for shirt changes, photo opt and snacks.

The downhill is where we started to get the headwind, it was a nasty one too. 5-6% grade and I had to pedal all the way down, boo! Getting to the bottom the wind didnt stop, it was blowing right in our faces at about 10 mph, not bad but not a help either. Struggling along we made it to the next climb, this one however was steeper and longer, and the wind had kicked up in to the upper teens to lower twenties. Starting the climb was slow, finishing the climb was even slower. At one point the wind was blowing me and I was standing up pedalling at a whopping 3.4mph! After what seemed like the longest climb ever I made it to the top, where Dennis was waiting for me. We decided that we would more than likely stay in Jackson, about 11 miles before Wisdom because we were too beat. If the others made it to Wisdom we would catch up with them the next day.

Again pedalling down the hill again, we cruised at a blazing 8mph into Jackson, totally blown out and in need of some food and cold drinks. We found Zack and Robin at the lodge in town (town had 37 people) and quickly got a tent spot so we could drop our gear and head to the bar/cafe for food. After eating at the bar and talking to the owner we headed back to the lodge to get our swim on, they have a natural hot springs in town and the lodge pipes the hot water in to a huge pool and lets the guest swim in it, luxury! After a swim we got our stuff set up and got ready to eat dinner (we tend to eat a lot of food, all the time). After dinner we discussed the plan for the morning and headed to bed.

Twin Bridges --> Dillon (7/11/10)

2010-07-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

We headed out sort of late for us, we were going for a short day to watch the World Cup Final in Dillon, which was about a 26 mile ride. The ride to Dillon was fairly uneventful, there was minimal wind and the traffic was light. Getting into Dillon we found a bar to watch the soccer game at, and Dennis and I went to the Mexican joint to get food because the bar did not serve food. We watched the game with the Dutch family that we met up with in Ennis. They were a little disappointed that the Dutch lost to Spain, which has a little historical significance as well.

After the loss we headed to the city park where we had OK'd camping with the sheriff. After setting up camp I headed back into town to check the bike shop (Alternative Bike and Board) out and see what his hours were. He listed an after hours phone number so I called, and he answered. We chatted for a bit, I explained the issue and asked when he may be able to get me in. He said "hang on 5 minutes I'll be down there and get you all fixed up." So I waited and he was there in about 15, with his 4 year old son. We took the bike in and he spent 2 hours fixing the rear hub/freewheel. When he was all said and done it required: new bearings, new cups and cones, new free hub, a wheel true and a wheel dish (which I am not exactly sure what it does but it was needed). His total charge was 40 dollars, which is super cheap! I actually paid him all the money that I had in my wallet, which was 42. I plan on sending him a check when I get home because he hooked me up!

After getting all fixed I headed to the grocery and got food for dinner and breakfast, then I headed back to camp and cooked and went to bed.

Ennis --> Twin Bridges (7/10/10)

2010-07-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

Leaving bright and early we got some coffee at the shop across the street from the hotel and started on. We were expecting to have a tough day because the hill out of Ennis was a major climb. Getting to the base of the hill I knew I was in for a long morning, I started out climbing a nice 5% grade that quickly turned into a 7% grade for the remainder. I plodded up the hill listening to music, enjoying the morning coolness and nice scenery. Getting to what I thought was the top I changed shirts to keep from freezing on the downhill, but it was a false summit, there was still more climbing to do.
Finally getting to the summit I met with all the other guys and we headed down the hill. With my wheel not stable I took it slow, trying not to go over 30mph. Which was a challenge :-) After getting down the hill we stopped in Virginia City for breakfast. The cafe was very nice, they had only 3 items on the menu and coffee, I like simple choices. While we were eating we had a little run-in with the law, apparently there was a complaint that several cyclists were riding side-by-side holding up traffic. The police officer was a complete ass, and essentially gave us a warning. We decided that we didn't like the county we were in and wanted to head on as quickly as possible. Cruising on we finally got to Twin Bridges where we got to stay in one of the nicest biker camps yet, OK so this county wasn't all bad.
Getting set up and cleaned up we then headed to dinner, then back to camp and on to bed. World Cup final is on tomorrow so it will be a short day to Dillon :-)

Madison --> Ennis MT (7/9/10)

2010-07-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

We decided not to wake as early this morning, we wanted to chat with the folks from the night before and eat some breakfast, the camp attendants also brewed us some coffee so we took full advantage of the coffee. After chatting and getting plenty of coffee we headed on to West Yellowstone, Montana. The trip out of the park was about 14 miles, which was mostly flat and fairly light traffic. About 4 miles into the ride my chain started to do a weird binding when I stopped pedaling, so I pulled of over and checked to see what was going on. The first problem I could see was that there was no longer any freewheel, which is an extremely important component. Freewheel lets you stop pedaling with out stopping the rear wheel or chain, when this fails (which is very rare) it will not stop the rear wheel but it will drop the chain off the crank. So realizing that I had one option, don't stop pedaling, I headed on. This becomes a challenge when in traffic or in a pace line. Fortunately I lead the pace line (no choice) and there were no stoplights or heavy traffic. After rolling into West Yellowstone we took pictures and then headed over to the bike shop to see if they could fix my issue.

At the shop, which was a great set up, coffee shop, cool clothing store and bike shop all in one. The mechanic checked it out and said that in 14 years as a mechanic she had never seen a freewheel break all of the sudden. The question I had was can she fix it, yes and no. She can get me on the road again, but the fix is not with new parts nor will it be a lasting fix. Getting to the next big town is the best option on these parts and she was almost certain that I would make it. Sold. So after a used part and about an hour I was "fixed" but since the used freewheel was not a match to my old one it left me with a lot of wheel play in the rear. We headed out and started towards Ennis, much much later than we had anticipated, but we were moving.

Riding on we went by a huge lake resort area, which was a great place to take a short break for water and snacks. Moving on from Hebgen Lake we rode into a headwind, which was not expected since we thought that we left the headwind in Wyoming. Alas we rode into the wind, forming a peloton (the proper word for a pace line). With the peloton we were about to keep our speed at about 17 mph, and finally cover some miles, since we had 80+ to do for the day. As we got closer to the town of Ennis, about 19 miles out, I got my second flat tire. Today was not my day with bicycles, but I replaced the tube and got rolling in about 20 minutes (Marathon Plus tires are a pain to get on and off). As we rode the last 19 miles in we were missed by a thunderstorm, which was a change from Wyoming.

Getting into Ennis, Nick and I decided to rent a hotel room because the mossies were too thick, Robin and Zack stayed at the campground for the night. The hotel room had to advantages, 1: a shower and 2: space to repack my bags to get the weight off the rear to help keep the wheel from moving around too much. After some dinner and repacking it was bed time, we had planned an early morning for huge hill that was about 4 miles out of town.

Jackson Lake --> Madison, Yellowstone (7/8/10)

2010-07-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

Rise and shine! 0440 is early, cold and dark. Getting out of the sleeping bag was the second hardest thing this morning, the first was having to put on my riding shorts after they sat out in the cold air all night. After getting dressed and bundled up in 2 wool shirts, a wool hoodie, rain jacket, shorts, pants, leg warmers and rain pants I put on water to boil for a cup of coffee (Via by Starbucks is AWESOME).

Packing up camp was also a challenge as my hands were frozen, but I accomplished a decent job of packing and we all got ready to head out. Upon leaving we found the temperature to be about 37 degrees. The first mile was tough, so tough that we had to stop to put socks on our hands to help keep them kind of warm.

Arriving at the park at 0645 we found the gate open and no one there to take our money, Yes! into the park for free! Riding the first 15 miles was not pleasant because 1. I was so bundled up it was hard to ride and 2. there was 1500 feet of elevation gain over 8 miles of really cold air. Stopping part way up to de-robe (getting sweaty and riding in cold weather is not a fun combo) I then headed on to meet up with the others at the gas station halfway to Old Faithful. At the gas station we ran into 2 other east bound cyclist, who were getting ready to head out. Having another cup of coffee I relaxed in the morning sun that was now cresting the trees.

Moving on from the gas station we started to hit the traffic, which is some of the worst traffic yet. Thankfully there was about a 1 foot shoulder and the sun was not in the eyes of the drivers. Riding on to Old Faithful we found the lunch cafe and figured out where to camp. After lunch we walked over to watch Old Faithful which was 10 minutes late! Old Faithful was really nothing special, I was extremely unimpressed.

After the non-event we waited around for traffic to die back down and then headed off to our final stopping point for the day, Madison. Riding over to the next stop was not as tough as I expected the roads had better shoulders and the drivers was actually giving us space. After finally getting into the camp spot we set up and met with all the other cyclists who were there also. There were 5 girls riding from Astoria back to school in Maine, 3 guys who had no real idea where they were riding to, 2 guys on a trip from Washington DC to San Diego via Seattle and then the Pacific Coast and a older guy that was doing the TransAm East to West since he did the ride West to East 2 years ago and wanted to see if there was a difference.

We all stayed up later than usual and chatted which was really nice, hearing everyone tell their experiences and goals. But the early morning was not helping with the tiredness and knowing that we had to get up at 0500 again was going to suck, so I stuck the ear plugs in and went to bed.

Jenny Lake --> Jackson Lake (7/7/10)

2010-07-15T16:18:00.000-07:00

After an uneventful evening with the crazy lady sleeping in the area, we headed off to Flagg Ranch RV park. We chose to stay there because it was about 2 miles from the entrance to Yellowstone. Heading out of the Tetons we ran into most of the ACA group and several other cyclists who were also heading west, most were planning to stay an extra day in the Tetons to enjoy the park.

Heading down the highway we ran into several small sections of road construction, which is apparently a constant thing in the area, which makes cycling difficult. In one area we came to an all gravel patch about 2 miles long, where people thought that it was a fine idea to pass us on gravel with not shoulder or space (the center line was orange cones). People on vacation are really not that smart, what we figured out is that they are more stressed than if they were at home. After several close calls we stopped at the grocery to get lunch and food for dinner.

After a nice lunch break we headed on to Flagg Ranch. We rode along the Jackson Lake, which is very very large. We arrived at Flagg Ranch and were treated to a full park with only a few tent spots available. Taking one spot we started to set up camp, getting tents pitched and food ready to be locked in the bear boxes. After getting everything set up it was shower and food time. At dinner we discussed the plan for the morning, not wanting a repeat of the traffic issues we had today we decided to get up at 0440 and be on the road by 0600. So it was an early night which was fine because the mossies were very hungry and thick.

Moran Junction --> Jenny Lake (7/6/10)

2010-07-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

Waking and getting on the road fairly early we were excited to hit the road, the Tetons are calling! The morning was kind of cold so we bundled up and headed towards some of the most beautiful scenery we have seen yet.

Riding towards the park we were treated to some fantastic views of the mountains, which were far more impressive than these pictures can show. We headed off route to go to a small town called Moose, so we could loop back to the route then next day through the National Park. Riding to Moose Nick got another puncture, which he repaired while Robin and I took the opportunity to shoot "fun" photos.

After the short delay with the puncture, we headed down to Moose where we stopped in and got lunch. The food was priced as one would expect in a resort town, but it was actually really good. Plus we had a fantastic view from the bar where we were sitting.

After leaving Moose we headed into the park, which had recently installed a bike path and were not charging bicyclist to enter the park, score! So we rode in and headed to Jenny Lake, where there is a specific Hiker/Biker camp area. We got all set up at the site and headed out to tour around the lake a little bit.

After a couple mile walk around the lake we headed back and got dinner going. While we were preparing our food the park ranger came to the site...we were all thinking we were in some deep poop! Turns out that the ranger was a guy I graduated high school with, and had not seen since graduation. That was a big shocker, I travelled 3000 miles on a bike into Wyoming and met one of the other 72 students that I graduated with, I really wonder what the probability of that is...
he stopped by because they found a older woman camped out next to a bear trap and they had no place to put her because the park was full and they needed to put her in the hiker/biker area and he wanted to give us a heads up. Crazy...

We ate and met with several other cyclists and a hiker had a nice camp fire and then headed to bed.

Dubois --> Moran Junction (7/5/10)

2010-07-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

Attempting to get an early start in the morning, Nick, Robin, Zack and I headed over for a cup of coffee, which was delightful. After finishing the coffee, Nick got a flat, so our early start was slowed a bit. Finally getting on the road we headed towards the big climb of the day, Togwotee pass. The road heading up was tight with a poor shoulder and even worse tarmac. Finally getting to the top, which was also the Continental Divide, we took a photo and played a bit with a snowball.

Heading down the hill was worse than heading up, they were in the middle of repaving the road and had 3.4 miles of the road torn up with a gravel surface to ride on. This made for slow and dusty riding. After finally getting down to the real pavement we could actually get some speed. After getting to the bottom, we could now see the Teton Mountain range. We were also ready to be off the bikes and enjoying the views.

We finally pulled into a small resort and got a hostel room. Taking a soak in the hot tub was just what the doctor ordered!

Lander --> DuBois

2010-07-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

In the middle of the night a giant storm moved in, lightening, thunder, rain and wind. The sirens went off in the middle of the night too, which was a bit of a concern as we were not sure if it was for a tornado or what. Luckily it was an alarm for the volunteer fire fighters.

Getting all my gear packed and then eating a quick breakfast in the lobby I headed out. The temp was still pretty cold and I was well bundled up for the first couple of hours. I got into a small town called Fort Washakie, named after a famous Native America chief of the Wind River tribe (I think). Being on a Indian Reservation is a different world, I stopped at the fuel station for a coffee and got to chatting with the guy working behind the counter, who ironically was a Crow Indian (the Crow and Wind were enemies through most of history) and he gave me his perspective on the government and how Indians are treated. It was one of the best conversations about history and perspective I have had all trip.

Leaving the station I headed on to the town of Crowheart, travelling through some really pretty territory.

Arriving at Crowheart I again got some coffee (which was REALLY old) and then headed out on the road. I was quickly approaching the "Red Desert" which was hoping would be as cool as everyone had said it would be. It was.

After turning the corner in the above photo the wind started, and didn't stop until I got into DuBois. The rest of the ride to DuBois was pretty slow and tiring, finally getting into town I rolled into the KOA and found Robin at the site. I set up my tent and got settled in for the firework show in the evening. Happy Fourth!

Jeffery City --> Lander (07/03/10)

2010-07-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

Leaving Jeffery City was a blessing, like I said previously it was a horrible place to have to stay! Eating breakfast and getting moving could not happen fast enough. As we set out the mossies were thick, I mean chasing me down in clouds of hundreds thick. There was no relief from these guys, they were everywhere. I sped on to Sweetwater Station, a very nice rest stop area, so far Wyoming has hands down the nicest rest stops. Dismounting to change to go into the facilities I was mauled by even more mossies than before! I couldn't get the bug spray on fast enough, they would bite through multiple layers of clothing and bug spray was a joke.

From Sweetwater Station I was on the last 40 miles to Lander, the ending place for the day. I took off down the road leaving most of the group (the ACA and Stuart caught up with me as I was getting ready to leave) and the mossies behind. The day was warm but not too hot and the wind was quite for Wyoming standards. Cruising the 40 miles was fairly fast, it was over all a great riding day. Getting into Lander I waited at the camp area where the ACA group was staying for the night to wait for Stuart. When he showed we headed in to town to get some food and then hunt out some camping. After eating we headed to the city park and ran into Keith, the guy we had been riding with through Kansas and some of Colorado. Keith was unfortunately dropping out of the tour, he was tired and not have a good time anymore, both excellent reasons to drop out. This tour is about fun and enjoyment, if it isn't working than its not worth doing.

We shook hands and parted way with Keith and headed to the park where we met Nick, Robin, Zack and several other cyclists. Seeing that the park was really full with cyclists Stuart and I opted to camp at the motel up the street for $8. Where we met two other cyclists, Gary and Kelly. Setting up camp Stuart and I headed off to McDonald's for our "last supper", since we were after 2 months of traveling together finally splitting up.

In the evening there was a large firework display in town and then it was off to bed so that I could get an early start in the morning.

2010-07-11T21:14:00.001-07:00

In dillon mt got my bike all fixed, took 2+ hours, a new freewheel, wheel dishing & tru'ing, cost = 40, the guy came in after hours to work on it, i actually had to ask him to charge me more.. Watched the world cup, had short day but didn't get the blog caught up on. It's a different world here...

Bike trouble

2010-07-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

My freewheel ceased this morning 10 miles from a bike shop. Had to ride bike as a fixie, they didn't have a new part, but had a close match from a parts bucket. It's a band-aid fix wheel is not tight anymore in frame, hope to make it to Missoula where another shop can fix it better, but that is still 300ish miles out. If not I may have to take a shortened route home, the fix will probably not be cheap either. Wish me luck!

PS I will attempt to update the blog when I get wifi and some time to write them.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iTouch

2010-07-08T08:18:00.001-07:00

In yellowstone its cold and traffic is bad

Rawlins --> Jeffery City (07/02/10)

2010-07-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

After one of the worst storms on the trip, I woke at sunrise and was greeted with the best sunrise I have seen so far on the trip!

After rounding up all the miscellaneous items that I left out overnight and got blown around, I packed and headed into town for some breakfast. After a long wait and OK food we all headed out towards the first stop, Grandma's cafe, in a tiny town about 20 miles away. As I was cruising along I started to feel a tailwind pick up, so I geared down and started to push. As I was literally flying down to the cafe the wind started to pick up even more. I got the 20 miles done in record time, keeping an average speed for the entire distance of 16.7 mph. As I pulled into the cafe several of the ACA group were standing outside, so I inquired as to how the cafe was, the reply "closed" damn. However Grandma forgot to lock the door when she went for her hair appointment and her son was manning the fort while we ate some snacks inside.

Heading out from the cafe the wind was still stonking so I again rode with it, but faster this time. The next stop was about 16 miles away, but with the tailwind it will take no time. When I hit a massive downhill I really went for it, getting my speed up to a manageable 46 mph, then hitting the flat after the hill I was able to keep it above 30 mph for several miles. For the non-cyclists this is not easy to do without a massive tailwind. After covering the 16 miles in just over 40 minutes I stopped at the fuel station and got a drink. While I was getting ready to head on a nice looking buck deer started to eat right near where I was.

When leaving the garage we all knew the fun tailwind would be stopping, the wind we were loving was about to be in our face. Crap! With 22 miles to Jeffery City I headed out and hit the first hill, which was a bit bigger than I though it would be. After cresting the hill there was an amazing rock formation in the distance, it is called Split Rock. It was used as an outpost for the Pony Express as well settlers heading west.

After a short stop here we headed on, there was a storm heading our way and we were hoping to beat it out, not likely but worth a shot. As we headed "into the storm" I stopped to pack up my mobile clothes line and grab my rain jacket. After dawning my jacket the rain started and boy did it come down! The wind also picked up considerably, then the rain came down so hard I could barely see in front of me. If you think that was bad...then all hell broke loose! The wind kicked up to well over 50 mph the rain turned to hail and at one point I actually dismounted and crouched behind my bike and panniers for a reprieve! Looking to the west, where the storm was coming from I could see there was not a chance of it letting up, so I got back on and started to ride. The wind and rain were so strong I was in a standing ride in my lowest gear going less than 5 mph, if I sat down I could not pedal hard enough to actually move forward!

Finally getting through hell, I met up with some of the other guys and we started to ride a pace line to try and get through the wind easier. It worked for a little bit...then the wind started again. As we were hit with the most massive side wind I have ever ridden in, the guy to bikes in front of me was actually blown off his bike and crashed. Luckily everyone was able to stop and not hit him as he ended up in the middle of the hard shoulder. At that point I started to ride unclipped from my pedals I had to stop 7 times because I was blown off balance. Finally getting into to "town" we got a room and settled in.

The town was probably the biggest poop hole I have ever been in, the "motel" was worse than a dive and the cafe was far from friendly. Apparently all 9 people who live there are still bitter about the fact that the uranium mine shut down and the town went from 5000 to 9 over the last 10 years. So if you are ever in the middle of nowhere Wyoming don't stop in Jeffery City!

Riverside --> Rawlins (7/01/10)

2010-07-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

We woke early to attempt to get an early start, but that didn't happen. We headed over to the diner for breakfast and coffee, which actually was served quite quickly. As we were heading out we saw another cyclist, Aaron, across the street at the hardware/grocery store. Aaron was heading to Yellowstone from Boulder, CO on a recumbent bike he recently purchased, we chatted with him for a bit and then all set off towards Rawlins. Our first stop was Saratoga, which had a free hot spring, and not a whole lot else. Stuart stopped to take a soak, I rolled on because there was a decent tailwind and we still had a bit of distance to cover.

Riding out of Saratoga was nice, the side/tail wind was one of the better winds to date. I was flying along at a comfortable 22mph, not doing much but holding on. I caught up with Aaron and got to chat for several miles with him, which again is always nice to have someone to talk to. We stopped for a cold drink at the fuel station in Walcott, and chatted more about his job, touring and other random things. Some of the talk was a effort to stall the inevitable 12 mile ride on the only interstate freeway of the whole trip. Interstate 80, which turned out to be an alright ride, mostly because we had an 8 - 10 foot shoulder to ride on. The 12 miles happened fast without incident and we were safely back on the quite two lane roads we have become so accustom to.

The road took us to a small city called Sinclair, an oil refining town. Again like most small towns we made it through in about 3 minutes, missed our turn and then had to back track. When we found the missed turn Aaron and I cruised towards Rawlins in search of a much needed lunch break. Riding into Rawlins was nice, the traffic is fairly light here, well most of Wyoming has had light traffic. Aaron spotted a Subway and we headed in for a sandwich.

While eating we had about 6 different people ask us about our rides and why/how we were doing it, this is the most people in one stop that have asked questions. With all the chatting and explaining we ended up taking a longer lunch than expected, which could put Aaron in a tough bind because he was heading on another 45 miles. Aaron headed out and I headed into the town proper, where I ran into Stuart at a coffee shop with one of the ACA guys. We chatted about the ride in and enjoyed a nice fruit smoothie while comparing notes on the I-80 ride. Sorting out where the group was staying we headed to the same RV park to get a tent site and prepare some dinner.

The RV site was nice, it was inexpensive and had showers/laundry. We got setup as a pretty big thunderstorm moved in, which turned out to be a very windy storm too. After staking the tent down and getting everything that needed to be covered up covered I headed to the shower to let the storm pass. Which it did. I cooked some dinner and had a nice chat with several of the ACA people, then headed over to the laundry room to get a charge in most of my devices that I needed to recharge. Around 10pm I headed to bed hoping that we would not have any rain over night...not going to happen. In the middle of the night we were hit with a HUGE storm, with winds blowing close to 60 mph, fortunately I pitched my tent right near a wind block and was not really affected, but most of the other people in the tent area were.

In the morning we heard from the other people how bad it was for them, one actually wearing her crash helmet because the tent poles kept smacking her head and another who didn't know what to think and pulled all his identification into his sleeping bag so that if he was blown away they may be able to identify him. It was one of the worst storms yet...

Waldon --> Riverside (6/30/10)

2010-07-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Since we have had several large mile days we decided to do a short ride (50ish miles) to a small town called Riverside where Stuart had gotten several recommendations to stay at the RV park. In the morning we attempted to sleep in since we had the luxury of a hotel room, that didn't happen. 0530 and I was awake, I guess the body gets on a schedule and wants to keep it. With all this extra time I repacked my panniers and took a shower (1 shower a day is luxury and that is usually in the evening, getting one in the morning is "casi ceilo") We loaded our bikes and headed over to breakfast, which was going to be at the same place we had dinner, which is very normal in these towns because they only have one dinner. Arriving at the diner the ACA group was just finishing up breakfast and loading up to leave. We chatted with several of the guys and headed into get breakfast.

After a large breakfast, we headed to the grocery store to get some supplies for the road. After stopping and loading up we headed on to get out of Colorado and into Wyoming. Cycling to the boarder I met up with several of the ACA guys and had a chat as well as got my photo taken at the welcome sign. One of the group, Joe, opted to ride with Stuart and I to Riverside to chat with us and compare trip notes. We had quite a great conversation, learning how their trip was and what it was like to ride in a large group. We also had a semi-tailwind which helped the miles melt away. Wyoming has this thing about wind, which I will get into more about in later blogs, but let me just say that when I thought Kansas had bad wind I was so so wrong. Cruising into Riverside we met a large group of the ACA group at the diner where we all had lunch together, which was really fun. After eating we walked across the street to the RV park and booked our tent spot. The site was really nice, I didn't expect such a nice facility in a town of 59. After setting up camp I showered and did laundry, and got to catch up on phone calls. Stuart and I headed back to the diner for food and then wondered back over to the tent site and crashed for the evening.

Kremmling --> Waldon (6/29/10)

2010-07-03T18:34:00.001-07:00

The early wake up and early breakfast was great, but I still didn't leave until 0900 because I called to have a chat with Kaas and Maartin before they flew home (they stayed at my parents in Vancouver) and I stopped to mail home some more stuff. Finally getting on the road I headed towards the town of Hot Sulphur Springs, which I was planning on getting some lunch and supplies at the grocery store. The ride into the town was beautiful, the route took me through a small gorge where the traffic was light and the scenery was very cool.

Getting into Hot Sulphur Springs I noticed that everything seemed to be closed, which was possibly going to be an issue since I was hoping to get food and supplies. I stopped at the library and asked about the grocery and food options, none. The diners are closed on Tuesdays and the grocer closed shop a few months back because of the economy. But the dairy hut should be open and the candy store sells, well candy. After a bit of a chat with the librarian I headed over to the dairy hut where I got some food, and then over to the candy shop where, yes I got some candy. Time to get a move on!

I headed down the highway to my turn and was greeted with an immediate uphill, which was not bad, just really long. I passed a few cyclists on the road heading east, but since they were enjoying the downhill I didn't stop them to get any information. The highway that I was now on took me through several national parks which gave me amazing scenery to gaze upon.

As I rode toward the second crossing of the Continental Divide, Willow Creek Pass, there was great rock formations and mountains to look at which helped with the climbing aspect of getting over the pass. After getting over the pass it was mostly downhill, which was what I needed!

As I was rolling down towards the town of Rand, I saw a bull moose on the side of the road eating. So I took the opportunity to get a photo of him before he bolted. Riding through Rand was about as exciting as every other small town has been, nothing to see and everything closed. After leaving Rand I was treated to some crappy road surfaces, I am sure there is not much CODOT can do about it but the cracks in the tarmac every 20 feet was annoying!

As I was nearing my destination, Waldon, I got to ride through a wildlife refuge, which of course there was not any in sight. Rolling into Waldon I caught up with Stuart and we decided to check the price on a hotel because there was a large group (16 cyclists with the Adventure Cycling Association group tour) at the park already camping. The hotel was reasonable so we booked it and then headed to dinner, where I ate more dinner than a normal 4 person family eats. But I was full and since my lunch consisted of 3 100 calorie granola bars and a handful of gummi cola's I felt it was well deserved :-)

Alma --> Kremmling (6/28/10)

2010-06-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

Hoosier Pass is the challenge of the day, which is about 6 miles outside of Alma. We got a ride back to town and were set to go around 0730, I was still hungry so I let the other guys head on and stopped back at the coffee shop for a bagel and coffee. I am thankful that I did! After a nice chat with the locals and a tasty bagel I set out on the road.

I was pretty heavily dressed, leg warmers, 2 shirts, pants and jacket. There was still a little frost in the shaded areas as I was heading up the pass. The ride up was quite nice, it was a easy 5% grade which I just spun along at about 6 MPH on. The air was a lot thinner up there so the breathing was a little more difficult, but with lots of water and a even pace I was doing just fine. As I came to the top I saw Stuart, Dan and another cyclist doing the usual photo shoot and enjoying the views. When I pulled in I got in on the photo shoot action and then we took a group photo.

Now for the fun part, the massive downhill to Breckenridge.which was a winding hairpin curved road, which also meant that I could ride in the whole lane cause I was faster than all the cars :). Getting to Breckenridge was fast, which was nice because we all needed to get a second breakfast after the climb. Stopping at one of the local cafes we got some breakfast and paid through the nose for it, damn these ski resort towns. After our overpriced food and drink we headed out to ride the bike path all the way to Silverthorn, about 17 miles. The path however was not easy to navigate and all of us got lost at least once. While I was riding the path I ended up riding with a random guy for about 30 minutes, he was on holiday and just out enjoying the nice weather, he couldn't go fast because there was too much bike/pedestrian traffic. After a bit the path cleared and he took off, then at almost the same moment John and JC pulled up and we chatted until the end of the path, which also turned out to be almost at their front door. They were heading out on a tour to Tuscany in a couple of weeks and were interested in how my travels were going. It is always a pleasure to chat with fellow cyclist while on tour, it helps the miles fly by!

Getting back on route I met up with Dan again, which was nice because I thought for sure that I wouldn't meet up with anyone until town in the evening. We rode together, with the plan to stop for some much needed lunch in Heeney, a small town that showed on our map there was food and groceries. Not so much. We got to town and the restaurant was closed for remodel and the grocery was closed because the owner "needed a day off". Well crap, now we need to figure out what to eat, since neither of us has much to munch on. I ended up eating some "thin buns" with Nutella and warm water, it was a feast...From there we headed down across a dam which puts us back on the highway. On the dam we stopped to take some photos, when a stealthy security guard rushes us to let us know that stopping on the dam was not allowed. Dan joked to me that we were told to leave because my hair and beard makes me look like a terrorist, I think they make me look more like a serial killer though.

Getting back on the highway we rode the last 20ish miles into Kremmling. The road was not as busy as before, which was a nice break, and the heat was coming down too. I got to town first and headed straight to the service station to get a large Slurpee, which I enjoyed a little too fast, ouch. Dan and I found the hostel to stay at and got set up, Stuart rolled about an hour after us and got checked in to the hostel as well. Dinner was Subway, and sleep was early because we were going to have another 80 mile day and needed to get a early(ish) start.

Guffey --> Alma (6/27/10)

2010-06-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

We left Guffey after a nice breakfast at the new bar/restaurant. Getting back on route only took a few minutes, because we had a great downhill. Our goal for the day was to make it to Fairplay which was about 47 miles, which would make two short days in a row.
On highway 9 towards Hartsel I came across a 76 bike route sign, like the ones that were all over Virginia. Oh joy! If they are set up like in Virginia I wont need my maps for awhile.

After the photo shoot with the sign I headed toward Current Creek Pass, the big climb for the day. Riding toward the pass I could tell that it was going to be fairly easy compared to the Ozarks and Appalachians. Still gaining 1600 feet was not going to be a walk in the park, especially at 9000+ feet. Cresting the top of the pass was quite nice, the view was spectacular!

The downhill was quite fun, although I had to put on my jacket to keep from getting too cold. From here the ride into Hartsel was pretty nice, lots to look at and very low traffic too. Pulling into Hartsel, I stopped at the only cafe for a lunch snack. The place was overflowing with cyclists, a group of "carbon boys" was getting some lunch here too. Dan was also here, we met up with him in Guffey, where he headed out before Stuart and I did.
After a nice lunch we headed back out to Fairplay, where my cousin Keri was going to meet up with me. Riding to Fairplay was a little more nerve racking because the should was tight, the drivers sucked and a thunderstorm was brewing. As the storm approached, I was able to pick up the pace and get out from under it, which was a bonus. I stopped at the first diner in town to get a cup of coffee to warm up a little and check the map to see if pushing to Alma was a feasible idea.
Dan and Stuart joined me for my afternoon cup of joe, where Stuart headed out to sort of lodging for the evening. Dan and I played on the internet a little longer, where Dan found a Warmshowers person to stay with in Alma. We headed out to find Stuart and let him know about the option of free lodging, which as it turns out was the best option as the cheapest place in town was about $100. So we got on our bikes and headed out. But first we took a slight detour to hit the main street and see what "South Park" is like in real life.

I was not aware that Fairplay was actually where the TV show South Park is based. But rounding the corner and seeing the big South Park sign with the mountains in the background I was sure this was the place.

The ride to Alma was one of the better that we have had, there is a nice 12 mile bike path between the two cities. The path could use a little TLC but it is better than riding on the highway. Our ride to Alma also consisted of a thunderstorm, which dumped a large quantity of rain on us. We rolled into town and found called Maria and Pete to let them know we were in town. Then we headed to the coffee shop to wait for Keri.

Keri showed up and hung out with us "biker dudes" for a while,. which was nice to actually have family around to talk to. I heard about her sweet rock climbing/mountaineering trip last month, a little about school and about how her nanny job is going. After awhile Pete and Maria showed up and we loaded all the bikes into the cars and headed up to their home, which was at 12,500ish feet on a nasty dirt track. Arriving at the house i unloaded and chatted some more with Keri. We had dinner and then pretty much called it a night.

Thanks for coming up and visiting Keri! I'm sure that I was not the most coherent person to talk to but I really enjoyed hanging out! Have a great time in Denver this summer!

2010-06-28T08:52:00.001-07:00

Hoosier pass 11542 feet! Highest place on the tour. Booya!

Royal Gorge --> Guffey (6/26/10)

2010-06-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Started the day off with a nice breakfast at the cafe where we stayed. After getting our fill we headed out on highway 50, which was super busy and not much fun. As we were heading to our turn off we saw the signs to the Royal Gorge bridge and park. It was only 4 miles so why not. It was actually 5 in and 5 out, and the cost to enter the park was $25, more than our cabin we stayed in the night before. Screw that! So we stopped and took pictures and headed back out. The 10 mile detour would not have been that bad if there wasn't about 1000 feet of elevation gain there and back...especially if we had know what the rest of the day held in store for us.

When we got back on the highway we headed down to the junction to get off the busy highway and on to the two lane highway. Coming around the corner we were treated a great 4% downhill, which was awesome for the first couple of hundred yards...then the headwind hit. I was peddling down the hill and going 11 mph. That is just not right! Getting to the flats the wind did not let up until we got to the massive uphill. Then the winds calmed down a bit, not much but at least I was able to ride at a comfortable 5mph. Getting to the top of the hill was a struggle, but I made it. The up and down was starting to take it toll on my legs.
After the summit it flattened out quite a bit, but the wind picked back up too. Riding in Colorado has been an interesting experience, there is ALWAYS something happening. Riding through some "rolling hills" I came around the corner and saw white fluff falling from the sky, I knew I was at 8200 feet and it was getting ready to storm but seriously is snow even possible in June?

The fluff turned out to be cottonwood stuff, whew. The next issue was the building thunderstorm just to the west of where I was, I could hear the thunder claps and the lightening was starting to fire off as well. As I climbed to the top of the hill the rain started. I put on my rain gear, because I learned the other day it gets cold when it storms here. I rode down the hill, with the rain stinging my face, only to get to the bottom and have everything stop. 10 minutes to gear up 4 minutes of storm, 10 more miles to our stopping point. I left the gear on, which was good and bad, it kept me warm, but made me sweat like crazy.
Getting to the turn off for Guffey, I had one last hill. Damn, I was really tired of all these hills today, but I knew it was only about a mile. I trudged up the hill and came into town, which has about 37 people. There was a brand new bar at the head of the town, that was smoking some pork that smelled amazing. So I stopped and took all my rain gear off, then headed in and got some lunch.

After eating we headed to find Bill the owner of the "Rustic Cabin Rentals". Cruising through town we came across Bill working at his garage, Bill is the ultimate old hippie! He showed us the bunk house and we got settled in, Bill owns most of the town, he bought all the historic building in the 1970's. We got all settled in and had a great time, living in the past :-).

Pueblo --> Royal Gorge (6/25/10)

2010-06-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

After a rest day the morning "get ready" was much easier, bikes were packed the night before and only had a few items to put on in the morning. Breakfast was at the same diner as the day before, which was still tasty. On the road by 0700 was nice, traffic was light and the heat and wind had not picked up. The route took us through much of Pueblo, including the large city park/zoo (although there was no sign of anything zoo related). Getting onto the highway was fairly simple, the should was a decent size and still traffic was light. Coming up to our first hill I could tell that my body was still trying to get used the elevation, I was slower and more winded than I had been for the whole first half of the trip. The view was pretty nice when we did get to the top of the first hill.

From here we had a decent flat until we hit the foothills of the Rockies. The foothills were short and steep, which took us from 5400 feet to 6150 feet. The route continued down into the small town of Wetmore, where there was pretty much nothing. We were hoping for a restaurant to fill our bottles at because the water from the hotel tasted like ass. No such luck, the restaurant was only open Thurs - Sun 5pm - 9pm, WTF? So we rode on with our disappointment weighing heavily on our taste buds. The ride out of Wetmore was like a magic carpet ride, rolling downhills with a smidgen of curves, what excellent fun!

As we coasted down we passed the first Eastbound Trans-Am cyclists. We stopped and had a chat with them to see what the future held for us...cold, with a chance of freezing. Fun. They had recently had temps at night around 28 degrees, which froze the condensation on the inside of their tents...oh joy! At least I may finally get to use my sleeping bag, which has only been used once so far. Parting ways with the other guys we headed into Florence, a nice little town with a huge prison just on the outskirts, Colorado either has a ton of criminals or they are the dumping grounds for the rest of the country.
We ate a nice lunch in town and were told of an alternate route to avoid the highway, which is always a bonus. The alternate route was on the Arkansas River Walk trail, which was beautiful, it wound right along the Arkansas River or as Stuart calls it the "Are Kansas" river. The trail dumped us right on the highway we needed to be on through Canon City (pronounced Canyon City).

Canon City was a nice little town as well, bigger by far than Florence but still had the small town feel to it. We avoided the highway and rode down Main street so we could see what the town really had to offer, which to our surprise was another prison at the end of Main street...This makes four prisons we have passed since riding into Colorado, the amount of prisons we passed up to this point 1. Leaving town we hit another climb, this one was quite a bit longer, but less steep.

At the 5950 foot mark I started feeling the affects of the elevation change, while most people usually get affected above 8000 feet, I was lucky enough to get the fun stuff a little early. As I rode up the mountain I could hear thunder fairly close by, which was not a good thing. When I was about a half mile from the top all hell broke loose from the gathering clouds above. The rain started to come down in sheets, with massive side winds blowing the rain straight onto my left side, then the hail started followed by lightening. Needless to say I got utterly soaked, well the left side of me did. I came to the top of the mountain, soaked and cold and saw a cafe/campground and headed straight to the shop for some warm coffee. The coffee was perfect, and the opportunity to get out of the cold wet clothing was even better. Hanging out at the cafe was perfect, they also had small cottages to rent or tent sites, we opted for the cottage (which is just a mini storage shed converted to a living space) because it was $5 more than a tent site for each of us.

Tomorrow we will start the big climbs, we should get to about 9600 feet, which will be a good test to how I do with the elevation. The following day we will cross the Continental Divide at Hoosier's Pass which is 11,542 the highest point on the entire route. Now it's bed time!

The First Half

2010-06-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

This is a list of good and bad things that I have learned on the first half of the trip. They are in no particular order.
1. If you only talk about doing something it may never happen, take the leap and live your adventure.
2. I have a renewed faith in humanity (for the most part).
3. I am stronger than I though, both physically and mentally.
4. Kentucky, I'm sorry but I just don't like you.
5. Southern States: The Civil War has been over for a century and a half, you lost, get over it.
6. Dogs need other things to chase besides cyclists.
7. That homeless guy washing himself in the public sink? Yeah that was me. Think before you judge.
8. Lighting bugs are still cool.
9. Silence can help more than you think.
10. Old people have lots to tell, you just have to listen.
11. I would have never made it as a pioneer.
12. A hot cup of coffee can be fix to a rough day.
13. Reading from tiny maps can lead to huge mistakes, pay attention!
14. Learn to use a compass before you need it.
15. If you wake up in the morning, make the most of the day.
16. Random travellers can become fantastic friends.
17. Indoor plumbing is still not a standard in every part of this country.
18. Beards are not as comfortable as they look.
19. Clean clothes are joyous.
20. It is always bear season.
21. Kansas, I like you a little more than Kentucky, but not much.

Ordway --> Pueblo (6/23/10)

2010-06-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

After a nice night sleeping on the couch I got up at 04:55 and started to get packed. Stuart and Keith were moving about and almost ready by 05:30 and like usual I was behind. I was all packed and off by 0600 heading into town to meet them at a diner or something for breakfast. As I cruised in on Main street, I saw the bikes parked in front of the only place open in town, the bakery. As I pulled up Keith was outside getting something from his bike, he informed me that this was a bakery that was stuck in the 1950's, the doughnuts are awesome and cheap. I was figuring that he was exaggerating a little. Nope, not one bit. I ordered a maple bar, apple fritter (to go), and a raspberry turnover. total price $1.71 oh and the coffee was free. Thank god there is not anything like this near me at home only bad things would come of it. After a healthy breakfast we headed out. We weren't in a huge hurry as Pueblo was only about 60 miles and we should be in before lunch.

As we rode west the Rockies came into view much better, although the haze from the fires was making the peaks a little hard to see. There was only a slight wind this morning too, which was also fantastic, because we were all getting tired of the headwinds. As the miles counted on we came to the only town, Boone, that actually had anything in it, a grocery store. The store was nice, pretty overpriced for it location but the Gatorade was still cold and yummy. After a little bit of a rest we got ready to head the last 20 miles into Pueblo.

The ride into Pueblo was not as nice as the previous 30 miles, we were put on highway 50 which is busy, but has a nice 8 foot shoulder. The noise and road dirt made for a challenging ride into the city. As we approached our exit we saw, for the first time since Kentucky, the original route 76 bike sign. As Keith and I came off the highway and started into town, we stopped at the first gas station to get a Slurpee and take a break while waiting for Stuart to catch up. Ahh Slurpee, while I don't know how they make you, you taste really good after a hot ride. Slurping on my Slurpee we were chatting about where each of us was staying and if and when we would meet up again. The Stuart sped by, crap. Keith tried to yell at him but that didn't work so I tossed the rest of my Slurpee and got on my bike to chase him down. I knew that I should be able to catch him fairly quickly if I put the hammer down and go, so I did. Fully loaded and on the flat I raced after him, pushing speeds of 20+ mph (which may not sound tough, but it is). Finally catching him we rode at a reasonable pace into downtown. Which was where we ran into Robyn and Brian, conveniently at the bike shop we were looking for.

Chatting really quickly with them I headed into the shop to get some work done on my bike. The guys in the shop were awesome!, they knew we were Trans-Am'ers so they pulled the jobs they were working on off the bike stands and started in immediately on ours. It is kind like being a celebrity. The work was not too expensive and they were very thorough. Heading down the street we found a cheap motel to stay in, with a diner across the parking lot. We checked in, and met all the other guys (Keith, Robyn and Brian) at the diner for lunch. After lunch we bade farewell to everyone because we were taking a rest day and they were all heading on. With the afternoon to relax we just hung out and chilled.

Eads, CO --> Ordway, CO

2010-06-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Another early morning, 0430 because of the cool air and too much water in the evening :) Was packed and ready to head out before everyone, which is a first for the whole trip! Yay me! Grabbed some coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the gas station and headed out on the road. Stuart and I rode the first 23 miles together on the road because there was no traffic. The first "town" we came to was called Galatea, which is a "ghost town" not really, because there are like 3 house and an out build there. But it was still pretty cool.

After a quick stop here we plodded on, enjoying no wind at all. Rolling on the temp was starting to rise, but it was still cool enough that I was wearing two shirts. We finally pulled in to Haswell about 0830 made some phone calls and got some cookies and Gatorade a lovely combo. After some chit chat with the locals we moved on, enjoying the fact that there was still no wind.
Riding over to the next "town" was going to be about 15 miles, which was pretty nice because there was a great change in scenery.

After a quick stop in Arlington to check out the "comfort stop" I headed into what was now a developing headwind. Riding for a few miles the heat kicked up and the wind was blowing, and it was really hot. The grasshoppers were also jumping like crazy and hitting me all over. Coming up to the lunch stop, Sugar City , I had retired box cars lining the road for miles and miles.

After eating lunch in Sugar City I had about 5 miles till the end of the day. As we headed out, the temp was in the upper 90's and the wind was blowing bad. As I headed over the bridge I saw my first rattlesnake, and it was still alive! So like most boys would do, I turned around rode back stopped about 1.5 feet away and took pictures :) Mom, this is where you will want to stop reading, there will be a picture of it after this. The snake was just sunning itself and blending in rather well with the street, Stuart rode past it and didn't even see it. After a couple of photos I rode on. We ended in Ordway at a biker hostel, which is also a work-study farm. There are 2 other cyclists here tonight too, Robyn and Brian. We should be in Pueblo tomorrow which is the official half way point, taking a break then heading to Canon City. Although there are some fires that are threatening to close the highway but hopefully it will be under control by then. Its about bedtime now. Nite all.

Tribune, KS --> Eads, CO (6/21/10)

2010-06-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

With the early wake up call we got packed and over to breakfast fairly early...yum more gas station crap, at least the coffee is good. We ate and got on the road by 0645 and had a sweet tailwind. Straight out of town we were riding at 18mph, which is a decent speed. From there the winds just increased, at one point on the flats I was geared out and going 30.5mph. Love it! With only 16 miles to get out of Kansas I zoomed as best I could, knowing full well that the winds here can change at any moment. Getting to the boarder I stopped and took a water break and waited for Stuart. He unfortunately can't ride as fast as I can because of the way his bike is geared.

From the boarder it was about 15 miles to the next town, one that supposedly had groceries. So I headed on with the wind, cruising along at about a 20mph pace. Getting to the town was a nice stopping point, I needed to drink some water and get some more coffee. The store had a slightly better selection for breakfast options than in Tribune, but I stuck with the stand by cinnamon roll :).

After about an hour break I headed out again, the wind had died down a bit but was still blowing. I managed to keep about a 16mph pace, with pretty light traffic. Knowing that I only had about 28 miles to our end point I was thinking I would finally get to update the blog and photos, mostly because there isn't very much to look at here...

After a few stops for water and snacks I was nearing the town of Eads, which is where we are staying tonight. I rolled into town about 11:15 with total saddle time of 3 hours 09 minutes for 59 miles. Lunch time, with a bonus of WiFi! Ate the usual grilled chicken sandwich and fries. Updated the blog and made some phone calls. Now I am sitting in the AC at the library using WiFi and enjoying some rest time! Tonight we get to camp at the city park or in front of the police station which ever we want...

For the quilt ladies

2010-06-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is the first quilt that I have seen so far so I thought that I would upload it for you :)

Scott City --> Tribune (6/20/10)

2010-06-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

After a 90 mile day the sleep was so good I slept well past the normal wakey time. Ahh...sleeping in...needless to say we got a late start today. We cruised up to the breakfast joint, and got a very large breakfast...2 eggs, 2 sausage, toast, oatmeal, cinnamon roll and coffee. I actually felt full for the first time in a while. Which is interesting, because when I weighed in at the athletic club I was only down to 182. But maybe that is because I am drinking 16 - 24 lbs of water a day (2 - 3 gallons).
Fueled and ready to go!

We headed out into the heat and wind again, the temp was supposed to be even hotter...Kansas, Hell called and wants there heat back. The temp was supposed to climb over 100 again, and with us getting a later start than we wanted to this could prove very very bad. Good thing we have full water bottles and water bladders, although carrying then extra 12 lbs does suck in the heat.

We rode in mostly non-windy conditions to Leoti, a small town that was very nice and friendly. We ran into a couple that was riding their bikes around town and chatted with them for a bit. We ate some lunch from the grocery store, yogurt, apple, V8 juice and pineapple rings, we are really missing our fresh fruit and veggies. Full and ready we headed on, the temp was already 98 degrees, and the humidity was kicking up too.

Heading out on the new blacktop, we were enjoying light winds from the south. Realizing that we will dehydrate easily the water was getting consumed quite constantly, almost wish we had a giant straw straight to the bottles. As we headed on the clouds started to literally explode in the air, it looked like a mushroom cloud. As I kept riding the clouds kept getting darker and mixing closer and closer together. At this point I knew a thunderstorm was brewing, it was just a matter of when and where it would break. I was about 10 miles out of Tribune and hoping to get in before the storm let loose. I was taking a little longer to ride the last 10 miles because I was also waiting for Stuart to catch up. After about 30 minutes of waiting I decided to head on, knowing that Stuart was not far behind and the thunder and lighting was starting. As I rolled into town, I spotted Keith at the gas station and headed over to see what the camp site looked like and if he heard what the weather was going to do.

As we were chatting with some locals we saw Stuart riding in, the storm was just starting to let loose. We took refuge in the station to sort out what we were going to do for the night. We decided to rough it at the park, which was maybe not the best idea but we made due. When we got there the weather had calmed down so we started to set up camp, with our tents set up and ready another storm flanked us and kicked up some major winds, 40 mph+. Trying to hold on to the tents and get to the restroom for shelter was quite entertaining. Keith lost his tent to the wind, fortunately it got caught up on the tennis court fence about 7 feet in the air, quite a funny site really. I made it with all my belongings, and we waited out the deluge in the mens room.

After the storm stopped we headed back to the gas station for dinner...getting pretty sick of gas station food now...Eating and chatting we still figured it would be a okay to camp at the park. Little did we know that there was yet another storm coming in. About 9:30pm another huge storm came in, high winds (I lashed my tent down) and lighting in every direction. The storm lasted about 1 hour and dropped a ton of rain! Trying to sleep was a challenge too, needless to say I didn't get much sleep last night. Plus we had a local wake up call at 0400 by some local hoodlums...Thanks...

Rush Center --> Scott City (6/19/10)

2010-06-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

After an okay night of sleep we packed and headed towards breakfast, which was supposedly in Bazine, KS about 16 miles away. As we started out we noticed that we had a tailwind, something that we haven't had on the route in a while, so we pressed it. About 11 miles out we saw a couple of eastbound cyclists who stopped us and chatted for about 10 minutes. They had informed us that Keith had been hit by a car, he was fine but really pissed off. Not sure if that is a coincidence from the conversation we had last night or not but we took extra caution. Rolling into Bazine there was nothing open, and not because it was Sunday, but because the town was about dead, the auto mechanic was the only thing open in town.

Sweet no breakfast till Ness City, which puts us at 30 miles for the day. With a fantastic tail wind we carried on, at great speeds. We found a spot to eat and moved on pretty quickly trying to catch as much tailwind as possible. We literally rode like the wind, getting to what was going to be our stopping point at 11:45, and deciding to push on to Scott City to get as many miles under us as possible we shoved off.

About 15 miles out of Scott City the tailwind stopped and the heat kicked up to the highest its been so far, 100+ (heat index was pushing 112). When the tailwind stops in Kansas the headwind apparently needs to kick in. So the last 15 were really tough. As we rolled into Scott City we saw Keith doing his laundry at the laundromat, and he told us about his car incident, which sounded worse than it was. He got hit by the mirror of a car, and ended up keeping the mirror, no bruises and he stayed on the bike. He was glad to be alive :)

We went to the athletic club/hostel and got all our stuff ready for laundry and shopping. We walked to the laundromat and started our clothes, walked across the street and got dinner, perfect planning :) After all the usual things were done for the day, laundry, food, re-hydration and relaxation we updated the blogs and pictures. Sleep inside with AC is a luxury!

Sylvia, KS --> Rush Center, KS (6/18/10)

2010-06-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

Woke early like usual and got packed up fairly quickly because the Mosquitoes were swarming. Bev cooked a huge scramble egg mash thing that was awesome! We hit the road back to the route with a nice tailwind, I made the 4.81 miles in under 15 minutes...compared to to the night before that was fantastic. But it also meant that we would have another south-southwest wind (headwind).

We got on the route and were indeed slammed by the wind, which makes the whole day tough. We rolled on through the normal Kansas blah scenery, and again cursing the wind every chance we could. The temp was also starting to kick up into the upper 90's.

After all of our miles, these headwind miles have been the worst. We rolled into Rush Center where there was a park to camp and water, not restroom. We stopped at the only place to eat, a bar, and had first and second dinner. We were also warned that wheat harvest was starting and to watch out on the road because they are behind and looking to get things done without having to deal with cyclists...hmmm I didn't like Kansas much already because of the wind, now I have several reasons.

Newton, KS --> Sylvia, KS The worst WIND so far! (6/17/10)

2010-06-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

After a cool evening we were woken by the train horns from the train yard at 0430. Good time to get a start...ugh. Packed and headed for an early breakfast at McDonald's, since they are the only thing open at 0600. We wanted to get an early start, but this was a little much...We headed out and the heat an humidity was already climbing. This is not good. We got out of town and caught a nice tailwind up to Hesston, where we promptly lost Stuart. Keith and I stopped at a gas station for a bathroom break and Stuart wanted to head on, and well he headed on in the wrong direction...After we got about 5 miles and realized that we hadn't caught him and couldn't see him we stopped and decided to head to the next town, Buhler, and wait for him. It worked, and I got second breakfast :). From Buhler we headed on to Nickerson, which is when we got hit with the nasty headwind.

As we slowly beat our way west we passed several flooded out corn fields, which according to some eastbound riders had actually covered the roadway earlier in the week. The lakes that were now where the cornfields used to be had white cap waves because the wind was blowing so much! After much longer than it should take we arrived in Nickerson, where we got to use the Internet at the library and do some grocery shopping. We also met Rob, a college student from NC.
We headed out on the last leg of this hellish day, towards literally nowhere hoping that the people that live at the house are home (they hadn't returned email or phone calls). The slog from Nickerson to "Sylvia" was only 20 miles, which under normal conditions would take about 2 hours to ride, this took well over 3, with the last 4.81 miles taking 50 minutes alone. We arrived in the middle of a wild life refuge, with a driveway and a mailbox, where the address matched what the map had told us. The driveway was well sheltered with trees and shrubs, hiding the house and all that was behind it, using my well honed tracking skills I was able to tell that not only had several cars been in and out of the driveway but there were bike tracks too! Yes. So we rode in and found the tiny house, where we were greeted by 3 outdoor kitties, some ticks and mosquitoes.

Chuck and Bev were both home and just getting ready to cook some dinner, which they promptly changed when we arrived. They were extremely excited to have us! They are a middle aged to older couple (in there late 50's) and LOVE to bike, surprisingly enough they have more bikes than my brother and I do, which is a lot. They cooked dinner and we chatted, all of us being extremely tired we called it and went to get some sleep hoping to get a better wind in the morning.

Eureka, KS --> Newton, KS (6/16/10)

2010-06-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Started the day out early like usual, Stuart and I headed up to the diner for some breakfast. This was a different diner than the one I ate at the night before, verity is always nice to have. After breakfast we headed out to our next major stop, Cassoday, which was about 35 miles westish. Our long stretch was on a pretty major highway, K-54, where we saw several RAAM riders and their entourage. These guys are nuts, I know i talked a little about them before, but i learned a tad more, the fast riders cross the US in 9 days!
As we came off the highway onto the small 2 lane road that would take us to Cassoday Stuart was having some issues with his stomach due to the antibiotic pills he has, thanks to his tick. So we were taking it a little slow, we weren't worried, lunch would still be there when we got there...and Keith would wait at the campsite if he beat us. After a couple of miles Stuart got his wind back and we took off at a decent clip, riding through the vast nothingness that Kansas has to offer. As we came to the top of a hill we spotted what looked like a cyclist up ahead on the side of the road. We figured it couldn't be Keith or the other too Dave and Carol cause they all left too early in the morning. So we headed on up to see who the eastbound cyclist was. It turns out it was not an eastbound cyclist at all, but an inspirational older gentleman named Don.

Don is 75 years old, has Parkinson's Disease, is very fit (besides the Parkinson's hunch) and an avid cyclist. He asked to join us on our ride back to town, which he had to yell because he had his portable music player blasting Bocelli & Brightmen. He said he had done enough and need to head back to Cassoday, he was at 18 miles already. For me meeting someone like this is what this trip is all about, so without any hesitation we both said yes. Don turned out to be one of the nicest people that we have met all trip. He started cycling when he was 59, he and his wife have put over 25K miles on their tandem (until his Parkinson's) and he has ridden most of the Trans-Am west of Kansas. He was the captain of the fire department in Wichita and has many many great stories to tell. As we rode he kept pace just fine with us, 13-15 mph, and on the hills was able to overtake us without any trouble. His biggest complaint about getting old was that things don't respond like they used to, and the more tired he got the worse the tremors get. As we got into town we came to the restaurant where lunch was, which was an all-you-can-eat buffet of all homemade food. Today's menu was chicken, thank God! I can actually eat it! There was salad, fried chicken, hot wings, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, cake, rhubarb pie and home-made ice cream! We literally ate our hearts out it was fabulous! Don passed up the opportunity to sit with all his local friends and came over and hung out with us. We talked about his trips, the riots in the 1960's, cycling, and how to read the weather. After spending well over an hour at lunch we decided to head on, we rode with Don back to his car and bade him goodbye. He will probably be the most memorable part of my entire trip! If you don't think you can do something, just think of Don, his inspiration got me through several days of crap wind here in Kansas!

Riding on we were both still amazed at how Don did what he did and still kept such a positive outlook on everything. As we continued the heat rose considerably, into the 90's. I rode ahead for awhile and waited every so many miles because Stuart took his pills and I wanted to make sure he would make it. He did, after a nap on the side of the road! Seriously, he actually took a nap on the side of the road. After a couple of hours of leapfrogging him I headed on into Newton, which was one of the larger towns, since leaving Missouri. We arrived at the City Park for camping, where they had a pool as well for us to use :) We met Keith, headed in and got some supplies in the city then back to set up camp. Sebastian arrived at camp while we were gone and was getting settled in. Sebastian is the German kid that we met back outside of Charlottsville, VA. I ate my food and got cleaned up in the shower house at the pool, came back and got ready for sleep. We were getting up extra early because the heat and wind were both supposed to kick up the following day. Alarm set 4:45am!

Newton, KS --> Nowhere, KS

2010-06-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

Long day, 80 miles in horrible wind, 8 hours in the saddle. Staying with a couple that hosts cyclists, cooked us dinner, let us shower, they are wonderful people! Picked up another cyclist, Rob from NC. I am too tired to write much more. I will post a proper blog soon :)

Chanute, KS. --> Eureka, KS. (6/15/10)

2010-06-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

I woke at the usual time without any alarm, this is getting too regular...Finished packing and headed in for the continental breakfast that came with the room, which was a decent spread of the usual hotel breaky (waffles, cereal, coffee, bagels). Got our fill and started to load the bikes, Keith was already loaded and he took off to get a early start figuring we would catch up or meet at the camp spot. We headed out of town and rode on some great side roads where we could actually ride side by side and BS along the way. We got to the first services stop, about 11 miles from our start point, and had a coffee and chatted with the owner. He has owned the place for 46 years and has seen cyclist coming through since the route was started in 1976, which is pretty cool. He had all kinds of stories and advice, he was a really nice guy! We headed out from there and got about a mile and ran into 2 eastbound cyclist, both from the UK, and had a fun chat with them for about 20 minutes. They took the western express and were a little over 4 weeks in on the trip. After leaving there we headed on to the next stop, Toronto, which has 1 grocery/sandwich shop. When we got there we ran into two other westbound cyclists, Carol and Dave, who were just finishing up lunch. We chatted with them for a little while and they took off, we ate and chatted with the owner, who had just moved out to Kansas in November and opened up the shop in February. He had no idea that he was on the Trans-Am route, which supplies him with a pretty captive audience.

Moving on we headed to Eureka, which would take us on a pretty major highway. As we headed towards the city we started seeing RAAM cyclists coming east, which was pretty neat. RAAM is Race Across America, and these folks are pretty hardcore! We passed about 8 cyclists with their support vans and RV's in tow. We passed Carol and Dave on the highway and rolled into town pretty early. We found the park and were treated to free showers and a pool at the park :). I didn't pack any shorts so I stayed out of the pool but Stuart and Keith took full advantage of it. While in the pool Stuart made a friend with a little girl that informed him that he had an extremely large tick on his back...Yes indeed he sure does! About 6 mm. With Stuarts new friend (the tick), he decided to head to the local hospital to get it removed. The Dr. at the hospital took it out and put it in a jar for him to keep, it was the biggest one he had removed...ever. He figured it was attached at least 6 days...So now we have nightly tick checks :)

Walnut, KS --> Chanute, KS (6/14/10)

2010-06-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

I woke a little earlier than usual, mostly because the rain was coming down so hard it was echoing inside the "fire department". I started to pack up and Keith and Stuart got up and started to pack. We got most of the way packed when the gas station/grocery store opened, coffee time! They also had an assortment of breakfast sandwiches and home-made cinnamon rolls, which were quite delicious! There were some "old timers" in the shop drinking coffee and shooting the poop, the big news was the rain that was coming down, they seemed to think that over an inch of rain in under an hour was "not that much"...umm yeah that is a lot. The news was showing some areas of flooding and it appeared that we were in for a day of massive rain. Oklahoma City got the worst of the storm, they got something like 9 inches of rain in under 6 hours which flooded most of the downtown.

We put on our gear and headed out of the accommodations with great relief...into the rain...strange logic but you had to be there. We were getting a pretty good dousing of rain and wind when we came to one of the major highways we had to cross, it seems that our route was gone, literally. they were tearing up the road and re-doing it, and it was a mud bog. So with some quick planning we started on our alternate route, which gave us about 8 miles of tailwind oh happy days! The detour was actually fairly nice, it took us to the other side of the town, which most cyclist don't go. We got to tour the "historic" downtown and scope out all the possible hotels.

We ended up calling it an early day because of the rain, while it had been "dry" for about an hour there was a 90% chance of rain for the rest of the day, and there was a flood warning in effect for the county we were in. We ended up staying at The Safari Inn, which had nothing to do with a safari, but had the coolest showers ever! With our rooms all sorted we started to unpack and get ready to head to the grocery store to get food for lunch and dinner.

After a productive shopping trip we got back to the hotel and made lunch, then dived in on the WiFi trying to get things caught up and uploaded. Also checked the weather report for the next few days, which really doesn't do much good because the weather channel only shows local to the area and not the areas that we are heading. I also ran into another cyclist as I was getting ice from the machine, he was just pulling in from Eureka, and the first thing I noticed was the huge road rash on his leg. I asked him about it and he had wrecked about 20 miles out of town and was pretty sore, I offered him the use of my Emergency Department size first aid kit. He said he would stop by if he needed anything, which he didn't. I would have been pretty surprised to see him on the road tomorrow cause he was limping pretty bad. It is always a reminder that wrecks can happen fast, and if you are lucky you can walk away from it. Safe Travels!

2010-06-16T18:33:00.001-07:00

In Newton, KS. At the city park again. Free showers and use me the pool :-). Long day, about 25 miles of headwind, met a 75 year old guy cycling and rode w/ him for about 10 miles, more on him later. 80 total for the day, will update more when i get wifi. Supposed to get in the 100's over next few days, trying to get on the road between 530 & 6 to beat the heat, and to get the miles in, we have 80 milers for the next 5 or so days.

2010-06-15T15:17:00.001-07:00

In Eureka, KS. At the city park, its hot here. Had a great day of cycling low heat and flat :) will update more when i get a chance.

Golden City, MO --> Walnut, KS (6/13/10)

2010-06-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

Finally a night of good sleep! It was still hot and humid but the Tylenol PM and a cool wash cloth made the difference. We got up again at the usual time, packed our gear and headed back to Cooky's for breakfast. Getting to a diner as it is opening seems to be the best way to get fresh coffee and fast food. I ordered the 2 eggs, sausage and toast breakfast with a side order of oatmeal. It was pretty good, although the eggs were overcooked. We left and got on the road, which being a Sunday meant very little traffic.

We got a decent start, Stuart and I had not ridden a line like these guys were riding so we got a little coaching and were off like a gaggle of geese. Riding into the wind we were keeping a 13.9 mph average speed, I like this line already! We were able to cover a ton of ground very quickly, plus there was hardly any traffic because the road we were one was closed to cars ahead. With all those factors we ripped through the first 15 miles in no time at all, then Kees started to feel ill. We pulled off to take a short break and make sure Kees was doing ok. While we were resting Stuart was tightening his seat post bolt and broke it...crap. That's not good. So we decided to walk the bikes over to a awning and sort through spare parts for a bolt and to give Kees a longer break. Low and behold Keith actually had a spare seat post bolt in his parts bag, so we got Stuart fixed up and adjusted, Kees was another story. He was really light headed and ill feeling, so after much talking Maartin and Kees decided to hang back and "limp" into the next town (15 miles away). Keith, Stuart and I headed on to Kansas.

At the boarder of Kansas and Missouri we stopped at the gas station for cold drinks and some shade. As we were parking two eastbound cyclists pulled in. They had left from SF and headed the Western Express over to Pueblo and out on the Trans-Am. They were recent college grads and having a great time. We chatted with them for about 30 minutes swapping stories and advice, then feeling the heat we decided to ride on. Getting into Kansas was not a major change, it felt pretty much like Missouri, hot, humid and still kind of hilly. Cruising into the city of Pittsburg we found a diner to have lunch at and get out of the heat a little bit. Still feeling the need to not eat fried food I had a chicken salad which was pretty good, and yes, sweet tea. After eating we headed down to the Ace hardware store to see about getting a replacement bolt for Keith's repair kit.

After getting everything we needed at the hardware store we headed on, with the intention to stay at either a cyclist only spot or Walnut, KS. We made our way over to the route and meandered to Girard, KS which was a nice stop that had cherry flavored slushies :). We also hit the grocery store and bought dinner fixings just in case the diner was closed in Walnut, or to make if we stayed at the cyclist only spot. After Girard we stayed on the same road for the remaining 35 miles, in a pretty straight line, with not much to look at.

We got to the cyclist only spot, which was a church in the middle of nowhere, and we just didn't feel like camping there for some reason. So we pushed on the the fine town of Walnut, where there was camping in the city park. As we arrived in town we thought that it was actually a ghost town, there was abandoned buildings all up and down the main street. Keith spotted an older guy cleaning up a debris pile at what appeared to be the fire station. Stuart and I rode around to the park and found probably the worst camping place to-date. The park was over grown, the bathrooms were broken and there was no water. This is bad, we are thinking we may have to ride to Erie another 10 miles down to get a spot to stay. As we were contemplating our options the old guy pulled up and told us to go over a stay in the fire station, there is a weather warning for the evening and it makes no sense to put us out in this park. Sold!

We rode back over and walked into the fire station...it was an old service stations that they tore down and put a new building on. Same greasy auto shop floor, one toilet, sans toilet paper, and a sink. Home sweet home...The best part was the fact that we were now the newest attraction in town, so everyone from town and out of town started driving by, pretending not to check us out. This went on until dark, it was quite funny. We pitched our tents inside because the bugs were just as bad inside as outside. And pretty much called it a night.

Walnut Grove --> Golden City (6/12/10)

2010-06-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

After another bad night of sleep we woke around the usual time of 0540 and started to pack up camp. The guys that were setting up were planning to get there about 0730 and we wanted to be mostly packed and ready to go when they arrived...that didn't happen :) The guys started rolling in around 0700 and started getting their stuff going. Meanwhile Stuart and I were still re-packing out gear and trying to figure out how far we planed on going. Soon most of the guys had arrived and we were all talking about our trip, cattle ranching and Kansas. All the guys there were super nice and really interested in what we were doing, I also got a bit of an education in cattle ranching and farming, they were such nice folks. At about 0830 they started handing out plates for breakfast, which we were included in. This was Stuarts first experience with biscuits and gravy, which I think he liked. We stuffed ourselves with eggs, bacon and biscuits and gravy, knowing that we had a long and hot ride ahead of us. After a little more BS'ing we rode on.

Coming in the night before we knew there was a headwind to get to what could have been our other stop for the night, and in the morning the wind had not changed. We rode the first couple of miles out of town with a pleasant SSW wind, which would ultimately be our headwind dejour. In Ash Grove I stopped at a gas station to get a cold drink, and a coffee. There was no coffee with breakfast, and we have discovered that a good riding day always starts with a cup of coffee, often followed by several other cups of coffee. But today was also hot, already 85+ and it was only 1045, so it was only one cup and a large Powerade.

Leaving Ash Grove we ran into some of the "last" hills for awhile, that is what all the locals told us, except we are the only ones that ride bikes, so hills are a little different :). We managed to power through the hills and get onto the "flats" which were a little flat but not really flat flat. The other noticeable change was that we were going in a straight line, for a very very long time.

The next town we came to was a small 300+ population town called Everton, I would normally have not mentioned such a small town except that as I came into town I crossed Main street to wait for Stuart and there was the annual parade and carnival going on. It just so happened that I got stuck in between Main and Broadway the two streets which the parade was going on. Everyone in town was either in the parade or next to me watching it and scavenge the hoards of candy that was being tossed. As the 15 minute parade ended I expected to see Stuart on the other side of the street waiting to get across...nope. So I turned my bike around and headed back to see if I could find him. As I got to the top of the hill heading down to the highway he was just getting to the top, he missed the turn :). I told him about the parade and the he wanted to check it out, so we headed after the parade...and decided to "Ferris Buller" it for the last little while. So I am sure that you can all picture this, two fully loaded cyclists riding in the rear of the parade pretending to be "in" the parade. It was classic! We had some of the locals coming out to hand us beers and candy, as the parade rounded the corner into the school we turned and rode back to the route. What a fantastic break in a normal day of riding :)

With the heat pushing over the 90 degree mark when we rolled into Golden City we were ecstatic to finally get to a diner, a pretty famous diner in these parts, to have a late lunch and chill in the glorious AC. We parked our bikes and headed straight in to the diner, Cooky's, and had large waters and sweet teas to start. We discovered sweet tea back in Kentucky and have been drinking it ever since, I am sure that my teeth will fall out with all the sugar that is in it but it is really good! Feeling the need for something that was not fried nor greasy I opted for the grilled chicken sandwich, and side salad. That was one of the best grilled chickens I have had all trip! After the main course was complete we were offered pie. Pie is what Cooky's is know for, we had been hearing for days about this pie, people all the way back at Hartville were talking about it. So our expectations were pretty high...and very well met! There were about 20 different home-made pies, I chose the Caribbean Pumpkin Pie, which was like a normal pumpkin pie only better, it had two layers of goodness to it...That is a pie that should show up at Thanksgiving! Stuart chose the Blueberry crumble pie, which was also very good, and very sweet!

While we were eating our food and dessert Keith's friend Steve came in and said that Maartin, Kees, Keith and Ellen were about 35 minutes away he just dropped the car off and was going to ride back and meet them to ride into town. As we finished and paid our tabs we stepped back out into the stifling heat and saw the guys riding in. They had gotten their bikes all tuned and fixed, Steve and Ellen (Steve's girlfriend) had been SAG'ingKees, Maartin and Keith headed back into Cooky's with Steve and Ellen for dinner. Stuart and I eventually walked over to the service station and got some dinner, which was becoming the usual, pizza.

Hartville Mo. --> Walnut Grove Mo. (6/11/10)

2010-06-14T10:09:00.001-07:00

After a poor night of sleep I was up at the crack o' dawn again, 0540. I started to pack and get ready, everyone else is way faster than I am, you would think that after a month I would be able to get ready in under 1 hour. Keith wanted to get a early start so he left about 0630, Kees and Maartin waited with Stuart and I for the Subway to open at 0700 to get breakfast. I finally got to breakfast at 0730. Kees and Maartin left shortly after I showed up and headed on, Stuart and I had some devices to charge so we hung out. As we were charging our netbooks and whatnot a huge rainstorm hit. We hung out until it ended which was at about 0900. Getting on the road in a light rain we were treated to an immediate climb out of Hartville.

As we rode on the rain let up, which was a bonus because it was still very warm out and my rain jacket does not breathe very well. After a while with no rain I took my jacket off in hopes of drying my shirt out, no such luck. As we meandered towards Marshfield the rain picked up again so it was back to the jacket. Arriving in Marshfield soaked inside and out we came to Freda's Up Town Cafe, which had fantastic food and great hot coffee (the coffee could have been terrible but at that point we needed something to sooth our inner chill). The owner came over to chat with us and we suggested that she put a sign out on the road so that Trans-Am'ers would find her easier, and to get a sign-in book for them. She loved the idea, and had us draw out a sign so she could have the printshop guy make one for her (he was sitting 2 tables away). Then she bought us dessert :) Yea!

After a filling lunch and nice piece of pie we headed off. The next stretch was quite hilly, but not like what we had done before, it was like a roller-coaster, lots of ups and downs. I even got that weird stomach sensation as I was going over some. We rolled into Fair Grove, one of the spots that we were going to either meet up with or get a text from the other guys. We got a text, they were staying there for the day so that Keiths friend could pick them up and take Maartins bike to a town with a shop because his bottom-bracket was just about shot. We replied and said that we were aiming for either Walnut or Ash Grove. After a cold drink stop it was back on the road, and into what was becoming a hot afternoon.

Riding more roller-coastery terrain we finally came to a short stop at Bolton's Grocery, where we picked up some energy drinks to power us through either the last 15 or 7 miles of the day, depending on how we felt when we got to Walnut Grove. We left the shop energized and ready to go, then we hit a couple of "end of the day killer hills" and soon lost most of the energy, I think most of mine came out in the form of sweat. Since my gearing is quite different than Stuarts I took the lead and headed into Walnut Grove, where I would wait for him. And wait I did, which was alright because I got to change bandannas and cool off a little after a very warm late afternoon sprint. Wait and wait, ah there he is! Stuart comes rolling in to let me know that he got a puncture just at the top of a hill, which was actually really lucky. He knew it was a small puncture so he pumped it up and plodded on, only having to fill it the one time.

Walnut Grove it is for the end point today. As we slowed to a stop at the only stop sign in town, I spotted the Sheriff in an abandoned parking lot pulling radar, so I rolled over to say hello and see if there was a place to camp around. He was a really nice guy, he said that most of the time the cyclist use the city park to camp, however, the largest Bluegrass festival was happening tomorrow and they were setting up the park for it. Hum...Then the mayor pulled up and told us to head on over and just tell the boys working at the park that he said we could camp there. So we headed the one block from where we were to the park and were greeted by about 8 retirees building pop tents and setting up picnic tables for the "Pickin' In The Park" event. As we rolled in they stopped everything and came over just to talk and hear about our trip, they wanted to know everything, they were genuinely interested to listen to our tales. They then told us that they would be cooking breakfast in the park around 0730 or 0800 and would love for us to come and join them! Amazing. The Mayor showed up and gave us the run down on the city, and invite us to stay for the event as they had some top Bluegrass groups coming in and were expecting about 800 people to come (the population here is about 600). We thanked him for the invite and the generosity that he was extending but said we would probably be on the road before the concert started. He bade us goodbye and we started in on our nightly chores, hand washing the daily clothes, cooking dinner, setting up the tents etc. etc. etc. Stuart also had to fix his puncture.

After I ate my Top Ramen (the only diner in town closes at 3, really?) I headed over to the gas station to get some V8 juice and some beer for Stuart. I learned a new quirky law here, that a store within something like 200 yards of a church can't sell alcohol, I just don't get these southern states! So Stuart was getting a root beer instead. Back at camp while typing my blog we heard a pack of coyotes howling, something that I have not heard on this trip. The howling set the town dogs off though, wow! It was like bark central station around here!

Summersville --> Hartville (6/10/10)

2010-06-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

Rise and shine! Breakfast at the same diner as the night before, which was decent but not fantastic, they did have free WiFi though. Breakfast was better than dinner, breakfast burrito, a bowl of oatmeal, large OJ and lots of coffee! That filled me up for about 2 hours :)

Heading out of town this morning traffic was a little busier than we have had in the past couple of days, when I say busy I mean 8 or 10 cars passed us in an hour vs. 4-6. The temperature was much cooler this morning which was a nice advantage over yesterday. We also had very little wind, to start with, and could keep an average speed of about 12.2 mph for the first 1.5 hours.
The first stop we had was in the town that we were shooting for yesterday, Centerville, but had to call it quits. Grabbed some coffee at the petrol station and ate snacks from our food stores, which are far too heavy and need to be eaten. filled water bottles and headed into the hardest headwind to-date. The headwind was a strange beast though, because it did not slow us down as much as most headwinds normal do. This may have been because the wind was coming from 3 directions at once, I was not sure that such a anomaly could even happen but yes, it can.

As we were cruising along I spotted a fawn in the bushes, near a fence, that looked like he/she was in trouble or stuck. Stuart was behind me and I was shouting to him that I thought a baby deer was possibly in mortal peril (Stuart has become quite the woodland/wetland rescue hero). He flipped a U-turn and raced back, dropped the bike as I was pulling up and sure enough there was a fawn, in the bushes trying to jump through a wire fence. It was crying out for its mom, who was calling back from the woods. We knew action had to be taken, so with me guarding the road Stuart herded it to the fence opening, where it hauled ass through the trees to forget us forever. Hero duty complete.

With that warm fuzzy feeling filling us up we headed back out into the "headwind". The road was much better than yesterday, there was little bits of hill action here and there, but it was nothing compared to yesterday. We came to the planned lunch stop in Bendavis, and met up with the other guys (they left about 30 minutes before we did). They had just finished eating at the feed store, which also sold human food.

We ordered a "Hunt Brothers Pizza" which is actually really decent pizza that they cook at the shop while you wait. As we ate 3 eastbound cyclist came in, it was a father and his son and daughter. They were doing the ride in portions every year, father only gets 3 weeks off a year so they do 3 weeks then head back home and wait till next year and start at the point that they left off, pretty cool idea.

We headed out into the afternoon sun, which was hot now. We had a few more hills but the headwinds had died down quite a bit. We cruised at a decent pace and were doing great on time.

I was about 3 miles out of our camping spot when I made the one mistake that I knew that I would but was hoping that I could avoid. I cross chained and bound the crank and rear gear hub. I still had freewheel but no forward pedal. This happens when you are in big front sprocket and big rear sprocket, and your rear derailleur is not long enough for the chain to still function. The fix: an Effing pain in the ass. I had to pull all my gear off, turn the bike over, remove the rear wheel skewer and shift the rear wheel down. This will give enough space to pull the derailleur up and then unbind the chain to a smaller gear. This was of course all learned on the fly, and made a complete mess of my hands :( but I got it all fixed. I rode the final couple of miles in and found the rest of the group camped at the courthouse in the front lawn. Just finished Subway for dinner and getting ready to figure out our day tomorrow.

Ellington --> Summersville (6/09/10) The Hills from Hell

2010-06-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

We packed and left the park early, and headed to the only open diner in town "Hall's". Which was recommended by "Redneck Jr." as having the best biscuits in town...not sure how a 11 year old can make that call but he was right, the biscuits were good. After eating our fill we hit the road, headed west :)

The first part of the morning was a bit hilly, but not bad we got some great scenery to go with it too. As I was playing catchup to the other guys cause I left late from the diner, I was treated to a nice tail wind, which would not last and has pretty much disappeared since. After several 9% climbs I was starting to feel it in my knees. But these were really just a warm up...

I met up with Stuart and Keith, they had met a father and son heading east from Pueblo, CO. After chatting with them we headed off into what the father son team said was going to be hell...Ha! what do they know they haven't done any of the Appalachians...Crap they were right.

I let Stuart and Keith head out first and caught my breath for a little while, then clipped in and moved on. Coming into the Ozarks was beautiful, and for the most part it hasn't changed. It reminds me of parts of Oregon, albeit the better graded hills. I caught up with Stuart and rode his rear wheel for a bit of a break, just watching and enjoying what was around me. Then the hills started...Keith was ahead of us and struggling, I knew he was geared way lower than I was and it was not going to be fun...

This is where the hell began, it may not look steep to people that are non riders but trust me it was steep. The temp was also starting to pick up at this point too, and so was my water consumption. After this colossal hill we were into the downhill which was a nice cool down, and the fastest descent I have this tour, 43.3 mph. Riding on some more ups and downs we met up with the Duchmen for at our lunch stop, they had already eaten and were heading out of town.

We ended up eating at the "Dairy Shak" which was pretty decent for what I got, grilled chicken sammy and fries. While we were eating a woman came over and said that she has help many cyclists over the years get through the next bit of hills by driving them through till after Alley Springs, MO. Ha! I laugh in your general direction lady! Those mere morals are sissies...

Well she was right, I can see why people would want a little help getting over the next 15 miles or so...We were hitting climbs that were 13-16% and 3/4 - 1 mile long. I was forced to standing climb almost all of them, and now that I have done it I can tell you that it is one of the hardest things that I have had to do on this trip so far! Not to mention that the heat had climbed up into the upper 80's and the humidity was not far behind.

Keith plodded on ahead of Stuart and I when were were taking a break, and we didn't end up seeing him until we got in that night. Right before the biggest climb, the 16% 1 miler, was Alley Springs. Which had a fantastic river where loads of locals were either playing or bathing, hard to tell. Stuart and I looked at each other and both made the decision to get cooled down by taking a little swim. The water was kind of warm, and oh so nice! We cooled down pretty well!

After the cool down and dry off, don't need to chafe any more than I already do, we headed to the Hill from Hell. This was THE toughest hill I think that I have had yet, the heat, grade and traffic were killer. Once at the top though there was some great views.

That little brown patch is where we were just swimming at.

Onward! As the day was now slipping quickly away and we still had 30+ miles if we were going to make it to the place that we all decided on in the morning we had to hustle. Stuart and I were both not sure that we would make it but we had to try...

So we got on our steeds and rode, like two sore, broken and wet metal cowboys...we made it as far as Summersville, and ended up meeting up with the rest of the crew at a inexpensive motel, so we decided to crash there...well worth it!

It's dinner time now, so I will catch up with todays blog a little later....

Farmington, MO --> Ellington MO (6/8/10)

2010-06-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

Farmington --> Ellington
After a nice rest day for me, and a $420.00 dentist bill for Stuart we were ready to hit the road. Over the previous day we had 5 new people show up at the hostel. 2 were heading east, and 3 were heading west. The two eastbound guys were doing their own thing as far as routes and planning, one had started in San Francisco back in April and was at about 3000 miles the other was from CO and had left around May 21. They met on the road and were riding together now. The other westbound guys, 2 from Holland (father Kees - pronounced Case and son Martin) and the other is from CO. Everyone was well seasoned at waking at the crack o' dawn and heading out...except us. 0515 came extremely, but in the long run it has been really nice to get started and off the road before it gets too hot.

Heading out of town we spotted the only open place and unfortunately it was the golden arches, but hey the WiFi worked. Martin and Kees showed up just behind us and enjoyed their first McDonald's breakfast with us. While we were eating the barber that cut Stuarts hair showed up to wish us a safe trip, he had seen us riding and followed us to see us off. Nice guy, not something that you see everyday. After stuffing our faces with the "big breakfast w/ pancakes" we headed on.

We took a route that was suggested by Greg, the city manager, because the route was narrow and the shoulder was damaged where cyclist have to ride in the road anyway. Good choice! We rode a fantastic road, the Dutchmen were ahead of us, however, we ended up passing when Kees got a flat tire, which was at an inconvenient spot because there were 3 vicious dogs waiting to kill about 100 yards away. After the dog incident we moved on to a beautiful state park called Johnson Shut-Ins and had some lunch with the Dutchmen.

In the Ozarks the hills are much shorter and much steeper, which is killer on me because of my gearing. I have had harder and longer standing climbs which has been killing my knees. The Ozarks are beautiful, and would be much more enjoyable if in a car or on a motorcycle :)

We rolled into Ellington about 3, and began searching for the city park to camp in. Searching the town was futile because they don't sign their streets well there. Although they do have great speed signs...
We met an old guy on the street and asked him where the park was, he gave us directions and we headed over. About 2 minutes later he pulled up next to us in his Jeep and told us to follow him to the park. Turns out he is the town historian, runs the museum and genealogist. He talked about the Civil War fort that he found and what the town has been and become. About 2 hours later he drove back to check up on us, and chat some more :)

While we were at the park fixing dinner a young boy rode his bike over and was chatting with us, Jim was his name, he is 11 and lives about 1 mile from the park. He was extremely interested in what we were doing and just hanging out, having a tween around reminded me of hanging out with Micah and McKenzie. As we talked with him and joked around Stuart asked if he was a "redneck", the answer "yep, so is my dad", Stuart "so you're redneck jr." In a very southpark cartman voice Jim replied "That's what my dad calls me" And that folks is where we were staying, with a bunch of rednecks and redneck Jr's. Tomorrow the plan is to make it to Houston, Mo.

2010-06-09T04:30:00.001-07:00

Made it to Ellington, Mo. Getting ready to head out to houston, mo. Riding w/ 2 Dutchmen and a fellow american. 5 total, pretty fun. Hope to have wifi tonight.

Farmington Rest Day (6/07/10)

2010-06-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Got up around the usual time, even though we didn't have to ride today. Made some coffee and oatmeal and started on writing blogs :) Stuart walked over to the dentist and wooed the ladies with his accent and got a appointment at 11 am. I wondered around the town a bit, found a super hippy store that carried Dr. Bronner! Holy hell finally! I never thought that I would be so happy about finding soap...
After buying soap and some calcium supplements I headed back to the hostel where I continued working on blogs. After a while I ate my normal lunch, bagels, peanut butter and other assorted carbohydrates. At about 13:30 three new cyclist showed up, Keith from Colorado, Martin and Kase from Holland, and started to get settled in. With the new crew around we took off to allow them to get showers and settled in, we needed to go to the post office to mail back our most recent maps that we were finished with. Then headed to a coffee shop and hung out for a bit. After the relaxing early afternoon we headed back to see if the blog site was back on line (blogger.com was down for about 20 hours). I got logged in and it was back online so I uploaded all my catch-up blogs. Stuart and I went to the local pizza joint, Bob-a-Rino's which should have been a clue to the quality of pizza...Now we are vegging out watching some baseball and BS'ing.

Chester, IL --> Farmington MO (6/6/10)

2010-06-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

I woke about 0630, when I heard the Korean kid moving about getting ready to head out. I got up and packed and Stuart was getting ready, we grabbed our bikes and Stuart had another flat on his bike. Same tire as the day before, different tube. He checked it and seemed to hold air pretty well so we chanced it. Heading out of town we stopped at Subway for breakfast, which was pretty decent. We rode around town and took pictures of all the Popeye character statues then headed down to Mississippi to cross over into Missouri. Crossing over to Missouri was pretty painless, the bridge was a little tight but on a Sunday morning the traffic was light. Once in Missouri we were greeted with a head wind, which didn't stop till we pretty much finished the day.
We rode through lots of corn fields and occasional towns, but not many. The heat was not bad with the wind, but it made all the miles harder. We were also passing through "wine country", where there was beautiful scenery. We stopped at a small construction site for some lunch, where Stuart bit a granola bar and broke one of his molars. Not good. It wasn't hurting him but it was not a good thing either way. I had cell service so I texted to google text to see if there were dentists in town, the response from google, 3 dentists. Nice! Back on the bike towards a possible unplanned rest day in Farmington. At the tail end of wine country we came across one of the only micro brews in the state, so we stopped. They had fantastic local brewed root beer on tap, and about 8 normal beers. After a nice rest and lots of talking to locals about our trip we headed back out, into the heat. The ride into Farmington was pretty hilly, nothing major just plentiful. Pulling up to the last junction before town, some very nice person had stenciled in the rest of the route on the asphalt for riders. We followed the signs into what was touted as one of the best biker hostels on the route, and yes the claim was correct! The place is amazing! The city manager Greg stopped by to welcome us to Farmington and give us a little history. He also suggested a dentist for Stuart. With the first good connection to the internet we had a late night, figuring on a rest day anyways.

Carbondale --> Chester (6/5/10)

2010-06-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

Had another great breakfast in the morning, and finally met Bruce's wife, Kristen, what a sweetheart! We chatted in the hall as Stuart and I were getting ready to head on, Bruce and Kristen were spending the weekend in Carbondale. We got in the parking lot to head out and Stuart got a flat...timing?

After getting his tire fixed we headed back to the bike shop, where the owner was on duty in the morning. Explained what was going on and he wanted to see what was going on so we unloaded it and he took it for a test ride. Yep something isn't right. Turns out the bottom bracket was 5mm too wide so it was causing a cross chain in most of the gears, not good, a quick way to kill a chain. He rummaged around in his store area, found a bracket that was the right size and replaced it, re-tuned everything and only charged me $36 bucks! Parts and labor, Bike Surgeon you rock!! Now totally sorted out we head back on route to Chester, IL.

We decided to take the "Mississippi Levee Alternate" for several reasons, the first, no major elevation gain, the second get to see the Mississippi up close and third no major elevation gain :). The alternative route did however consist of considerable head wind for the first 12 miles or so, however, once we got into the valley area there was no wind or a tail wind. The scenery was beautiful, picturesque farmland, flowers, many new birds, and one large river. We road on the levee for several miles and got some great views of the Mississippi, with a chance to ride down to the rivers edge and take some photos. The heat and humidity was not that bad on this route either, which made for a deceivingly cool ride. After meandering around the river we got on to a straight bit of road and headed the last 11 miles into Chester. Also realizing that we will be out of Illinois I pulled over and picked up my rock for the state (not sure if I blogged about that, but I have been picking up small rocks that sort of depict the geology of the state). Since coal mining is big in Illinois I grabbed another piece of coal, and I also grabbed a piece of gray slate because that is everywhere too. Riding the last few hills was not too bad, I stopped and got a photo of the welcome sign with Popeye on it, and then zoomed into town to try and figure out where the lodging was. Tonight's lodging was going to be at the Fraternal Order of the Eagle, where they have built a small shack with 9 bunk beds, a shower and bathrooms exclusively for Trans-Am cyclists. Only knowing the address (Hacker st. which I sarcastically asked if it was near SCSI Dr, sorry all you non-geek computer folks but it was a pretty good joke at the time), we got immediate directions from the locals. As it turns out it was the last night of "Eagle Fest", the yearly fair for the locals. So we were treated to many locals hanging out on the scene, waiting for the live music to start. We inquired at the bar about the facilities and hung out while waiting for things to chill out a little.

Finally getting into the shack we met another cyclist who had arrived that day too. Can't remember or spell his name, he was a university student from South Korea. He had better english than the Hispanic Padre but not by much...We washed our stuff and got to bed after checking the night scene at Eagle Fest.

Carbondale -- Rest Day! (6/4/10)

2010-06-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Sleeping in a bed and having AC were two very nice luxurious! Getting up early I headed up front for the free breakfast, which was actually really good! Then went and packed up all the laundry that I needed to do and got on the bike to head to the bike shop and then the laundromat.
Stopping at the recommended bike shop (the bike surgeon) the guy working was happy to sort out my bike for me. I needed a new chain (no surprise there) and a derailleur adjustment, (knew that too). he had the chain and figured it would take about 1 hour to do everything. Off to the laundromat then lunch. picking my bike up was easy too, he replaced the chain and tuned it, including the breaks, for a total of $36 with tax! I wish it was that cheap in Portland! Riding back to the hotel things were pretty smooth, an occasional binding on the freewheel, will get that sorted in the morning before we head back out. Drop off laundry and head to the grocery store, buy massive amounts of food and other needed items, stop at the post office and mail yet another package home, then to the fabric store for more thread for the sewing kit.
Bruce got to the hotel in the afternoon, and got unpacked and cleaned up in time for dinner, which his niece, Kate, came into town for. She graciously drove us to the Thai restaurant and we all ate our fill of non-gas station food. With some spicy Thai in me (too spicy) I made the request to walk the 3 blocks to the Dairy Queen for some ice cream. This DQ was nothing like what we have back home, it only has a walk-up window and only serves ice cream treats, apparently DQ's out here are seasonal and this is the norm. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard consumed it was back to the hotel. Where later in the evening Bruce's wife would be arriving. After a couple of phone calls to people it was late. so off to bed.

Eddyville --> Carbondale (6/3/10)

2010-06-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

In the middle of the night, about 3 am both Stuart and I were woken by a huge thunderstorm! We grabbed all our hanging clothes and got everything tied down and tried to go back to sleep. Even through ear plugs the thunder was deafening! Finally the storm moved on and sleep came once again. In the morning we rounded everything up and packed. Headed back to the gas station for breakfast and then were off to Carbondale...and our much anticipated rest day!

Heading over to Carbondale was a very pleasant ride, there was not much traffic and the day was not a scorcher, yet. We got to ride down some pretty remote roads and enjoyed a little tail wind. For lunch we stopped in Goretown, a quaint little town of about 1000, where Stuart spotted a "cyclist welcome" sign on a diner. So we parked and headed in for some much needed lunch. The girl waiting our table was the owners daughter and had obviously seen many cyclists come through, because before we had all our gear off (sunglasses, gloves and bandanna's) she had a pitcher of ice cold water on the table and menus in front of us. She also informed us that as cyclists, we get a free dessert! Woot! We ordered, which was pretty much the same as every other diner we had been to (sandwiches and fries). For dessert I got the coconut cream pie (home-made and unbelievable!) and Stuart went with his new favorite, a root beer float. She then brought over the guest book to sign and when we were sorted out on our bikes took our photo to put under the glass of one of the tables. Really cool!

Off we peddle, with about 30 miles to go! The route ended up taking us through a natural wildlife refuge, which was well shaded and very pretty. There were several lakes that we rode by and very little traffic! After the refuge we headed the last 10 or so miles into Carbondale. When we got into town, we spotted a coffee shop, that had free WiFi...since we had no idea where anything was we stopped, imbibed on some iced coffee and sorted out our lodging. Carbondale was pretty dead, as the university (Southern Illinois University) was done for the year. We found a Super 8 motel and headed over to get checked in.

Cave in rock --> eddyville (6/2/10) (The Day the Thunderstorms Caught Up)

2010-06-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

What a terrible night of sleep! It was super hot and the bugs were crazy. We packed up camp in record time, the mozies were still out for blood! Rode over to the actual "cave in rock" and took some photos and checked it out. The history behind the cave is that pirates in the late 1800's and early 1900's would make large fires in the cave to draw boats over and then rob them or take the boats.

From there we went and got breakfast at the same place we ate the night before. Then headed on to our next unknown destination, we had chosen several possible stops depending on how we felt and how the weather held up. The temp was already rising, as was the humidity. We peddled on to Elizabeth Town, or E'Town as the locals call it, for some cold drinks. The temp was getting into the upper 80's now and the humidity was pushing well into the 90% range. After a long stop, a derailleur adjustment and some photos we headed out, into some very threatening looking clouds. About 2 miles out of E'Town we pulled over and discussed what the plan was for the day as the thunder was right over head and the sheet lightening was getting pretty impressive. Ride on! We rode into the building storm, and were treated to a free natural shower, even my rain jacket could not keep out all the water. When the marble sized hail started to fall I make a B-line to the nearest tree. While waiting for the storm to pass we enjoyed the comforts of the large oak tree. Storm stopped, so we headed on...into the next storm that was less than a mile ahead of us. Again rain in biblical proportions and cloud to ground lightening this time...head to the tree line again with the hopes that if a strike happens it will be on a tree near us not while we are on giant metal lightening rods called bicycles. Ah storm 2 done, at this point we figured we were finished the sky looked ok but, alas, about 2 miles down the road a third storm dumped on us. This storm, not to be out done by the previous two decided to have, cloud to ground lightening AND marble sized hail. So yet again, we find a tree and wait.

Now that we have finished the three storms we head on, soaking wet but not cold because the temp was still in the 80's. We had travelled about 20 miles so far, in about 3 hours, which is REALLY slow. Winding our way through the back country we come to the "hills" before what is our eventual stop Eddyville. I say hills lightly, more like cruel and unusual punishment for cyclists. The hills, 3 of them in succession were killers, the first starting at about an 18% grade, the second 20% and the third 22% pretty much wiped us out. Fortunately the last one sped us down into Eddyville, a very small town of about 150 people. We stopped at the gas station to regroup and decide on what our plan was. While in the store the woman working said that there was a better than 50% chance of more rain and if we wanted to we could pitch our tents under the covered area on the side of the station. Sold. So we grabbed some coffee and BBQ sandwiches and headed out to the covered area so sort out the area. While we were eating and drinking an old guy came up and said that we were welcome to also use the covered pavilion up at the community center if we wanted to, there was a water tap and power there. Man these people are nice! Then to top it off more, the girl working came out and gave us 8 bratwurst hot dogs w/ buns because she made too many, no charge. Eddyville is a mighty fine town! So we walked our bikes across the highway and set up in the pavilion, no mosquitoes and a great covered area too! Ate our hot dogs and had an overall good night!

Sebree --> Cave in Rock (6/1/10) (Out of the Kentucky Fryer in to the Illinois Humdifier)

2010-06-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

We got got up and gathered our gear, made some coffee and were just getting ready to head out when we got a text from Bruce that he just pulled into town. I gave him directions and we hung out till he made it over, we wanted to hear about his evening with the thunderstorm and what not. He rolled in about 10 minutes later and we showed him around. Turns out that he stayed at someone's house, in their spare RV just before Beech Grove...aka the dog owner who's dog bit my bag, interesting karma...He said that he saw the storm coming in fast and stopped to ask the woman mowing the lawn if he could stay in her garage for the night "No, there are fleas in there, but you can stay in the RV in back". What a nice lady, maybe she felt bad about the dog chase. After getting the skinny on what his night was like, uneventful, we headed out. Stuart wanted to see the downtown in daylight so we rode back there and checked it out. After about 10 minutes we were truly heading to Illinois.
We got to ride through some fantastic country side (sans dogs), came to our planned lunch stop a small town called Dixon. Here we ate at the only diner type establishment, which was pretty busy and had some decent food. Met a couple of locals who were very interested in our trip and gave us all the info on the route we are heading. Moving on from lunch we plodded on in what was not a very hot afternoon, as we rode on and got to one of our many intersections to turn at we came across an Amish couple in their horse and buggy! While this is not a big deal to the locals, I don't recall ever seeing any Amish people. They rode by and gave us the placating wave knowing that we were staring at them.
Continuing on we arrived in Marion, where we spotted the university boys napping in the shade at the feed store. We ended up riding the last few miles out of Kentucky with them. As we approached the state line (Ohio River) the ferry was just pulling in and letting cars off, so we timed it just right! We cruised on to the slick metal top deck of the ferry and breathed a sigh of relief to be out of Kentucky!

Getting across the river took about 8 minutes and directly off the boat was the camping signs, thank god. We peddled into town and ate at the "recommended" diner, which also turned out to be the only place open. Had a great dinner, with free samples of fried okra and zucchini. Left the diner and headed over to the campsite...which was infested with mosquitoes! They started in on us while we were riding in to the site, there were literally thousands around each of us. 100% DEET didn't scare these thirsty SOB's either, it was going to be a long night...

Hodgenville --> Falls of Rough (62.3 Miles)

2010-06-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

After a decent night of sleep indoors at the community center we packed and headed to the only WiFi spot around...McDonald's. Unfortunaly I was the only one that was able to get connected, so it was a bust for Bruce and Stuart. We did get headed out a little earlier than normal, but that was just because it was going to be a warm day, in the upper 80's. We re-traced our steps out of town and back onto the official route, heading west, which is always a good feeling :). We passed through several small little towns, getting our water topped off, or lovely cold drinks. As we were coming around a corner in pretty much the middle of nowhere a young girl, maybe 12, yells out to us that "if you stop at the store you get a free popsicle" SOLD! It was over 85 degrees and we needed a short break anyway. So we park our bikes on the side of the building and head into the shop, which was more than just a grocery store, it had everything to keep the farm running, including salt licks...We chatted with the owner, who let us know that the girl that told about the free popsicles was his daughter. He said that he had been doing this for several years for cyclists, he had a shower, camping and pretty much everything we needed if we wanted to stay. We passed on the offer but signed the guest book and were just heading out when he asked us if "did you see the cow bells for sale?" and started to walk to the back of the store. Confused we started to follow, he stopped and turned and asked "you know why cows have bells right? Because their horns don't work" An extremely cheesy joke but done with a fantastic Kentucky accent it was priceless!

As we were getting set on our bikes he came out to remind us that we were coming up on a time change, which is not signed anywhere on the road, it's just local knowledge. We knew we were coming up to a change, and this helped to remind us. Ah Central Standard Time, only 2 hours behind home, plus another positive sign that we are making progress west. Getting to the new time zone was not an easy feat though, we had to climb a 22% grade hill just before the county change. So wish that we could be done with these dang steep hills!

We made the climb, and progressed on the rest of the way to Falls of Rough (FOR). When we got to FOR it was PACKED, holiday weekend had the lake entirely full of boats and boat police. It was a pretty amazing sight, but with all those boats came all the drivers of the boat towing vehicles too. We had a tough time getting to the park we were planning to camp at, Rough River Dam State Resort Park. Alas the holiday weekend had the campsite full, resort full and us scratching our heads about where to camp. Lucky the girl at the front desk called the other campsite that was about 3.5 miles off route and they had a couple of spots left. So off we go! We head over to the new site, which are all run by the US Army Corps of Engineers (Tried playing the "my dad works for the Army Corp in Portland, can we get a discount...nope.) The site was pretty primitive...well compared to other places we stayed it it was downright 3rd world. Brick poop houses, no showers, one water tap, not the Ritz but it was a place to sleep.

After paying the $10 site fee we cooked some dinner, 4 bags of Top Ramen, some nuts and chips. We're eating my-tee-fine! Tomorrow we head to Sebree, which has a bike hostel at the baptist church...

2010-06-05T16:17:00.001-07:00

Made it to Chester, Il home of Popeye. We'll be in MO tomorrow am. Just have cross the mississippi. Slow start, stuart got a flat in the parking lot me the hotel. Then i had some more work done on my bike. Waiting for the volleyball tourney to finish at the park we get to camp in :) lookin for some wifi too.

Bardstown --> Hodgenville (49.3 Miles)

2010-06-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

In the morning, we headed to McDonald's, which coincidental was Stuarts first experience. We chose it for two reasons, "free WiFi" and proximity, although the WiFi didn't pan out for Bruce or Stuart, only me on my iTouch. After eating our "Big Breakfast" we headed out, at our usual time after 10am.

We rode down the highway that lead us out of traffic hell, passing places that 11.5 years ago I would have stopped, and probably never left, the whisky distilleries. There were several off the highway, Makers Mark the most notable. After passing through the valley of temptation we were headed into more hills and dog chases.

With the previous missed turn still fresh in our heads we were stopping and checking every twist, turn and street name we came by. With the new diligence we did not have any missed turns or extra circular adventuring. Around lunch time we rolled into the town of Howardsville, where they were preparing for a wedding, and it appeared the whole town was doing something for the upcoming event. We pulled into the only gas station / deli in the town and ordered our sandwiches. The cost of things out here still blows me away, a turkey sandwich with everything on it was $2.80, add the chips and Gatorade and its lunch for around $6.

Now we were headed on the last leg of our daily trip to Hodgenville, with the heat finally picking up (mid 80's) we were getting tired and ready for to be done for the day. Arriving in Hodgenville, which was a cute little town, we were greeted by an old guy who helped direct us to the police station to check in at. He gave us a tourist version of how the town came to be and why it was still popular, "if Lincoln wasn't born here this place would be nothing". We checked in at the police station with the police chief, who told us to camp at the community center where we could pitch our tents anywhere or if we wanted we could camp under the Lions pavilion. When we finally got to the center the park attendant was there and he said that we could just sleep in the building and he would leave the showers and bathrooms open for us.

With everything set we headed to the local save-a-lot to pick up bits for dinner. Deciding to use the BBQ pits they had we got charcoal and some sausages, which turned out fantastic! Next stop Falls of Rough.

Still Playing Catch Up...

2010-06-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

Mackville --> Bardstown

After eating the huge breakfast Keith prepared for us, we got ready and headed out towards Bardstown. Having had the fortune to miss all the thunderstorms the day before we were treated to a light rain for the first hour of cycling. It was still warm and the rain was not heavy enough to put rain gear on. We got to travel through some amazing farm country, including the Lincoln Homestead State Park.
Getting into Bardstown was a nightmare, we were rolling in right as school was letting out, which also turned out to be the last day of school here. Traffic was extremely thick and again the rumble strips prevented me from riding on the shoulder. When we finally made it in to town we headed straight for the camp-site, My Old Kentucky Home State Park, which is apparently where Stephen Foster used to live. Not really sure who he was but all the Kentuckites seemed to know him. Any ways we got our site set up and a fire going, some caveman TV was a great break from the usual dark evening pierced by headlamps. Thunderstorms threatened all night but nothing ever happened, which was nice!

2010-06-02T14:35:00.001-07:00

In eddyville IL. Rode through 3 thunderstorms, trying to dry out at a gas station. More when i get better cell service or wifi.

So many days behind.

2010-05-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

We (Stuart and I) made it to Sebree, KY. Staying at the Baptist church, where the facilities are amazing! Our own room, showers, clothes washing, kitchen and WiFi. Plus the preacher and his wife cooked us dinner, smoked ham, smoked turkey, home-made mac and cheese, baked beans and sautéed cabbage, with home-made lemon ice box pie. I am so full right now!

Where to start.

Berea --> Mackville
What was going to be a short day turned out to be a long, long day. We started out late, 11ish again, after some coffee and breakfast at a local coffee shop. The heat was already up in the 80's when we left. We headed out of the city and quickly got into the countryside. There were several of the barn quilt painting things that were pretty nice looking

We stopped at a small grocery Kirkville and ate the usual bagels, bananas with a "new" soda, only avalible in Kentucky called "Ale 8 1" pronounced by the natives as "A late one", it was a ginger ale with caffeine, not bad.

After the lunch stop we shoved off on to literally a three hour tour. We missed our turn, because out here they think that it is a good idea to stick a post in the ground and router the street name in it and call it a "sign". We got about 6.5 miles down the wrong way when we realized we were astray. Stopped a driver, who also was looking for the same street we were and used is iPhone to get the correct heading and direction. About 3 miles back we saw a street that would cut us over to the actual highway we needed so we took that...in hopes of avoiding some nasty hills. Wrong. This road had 3 hills in succession of 26% grade, yes folks they actually make hills so steep that cars can't pass a cyclist walking their bike up the hill. After a nice hike up the hills we were back on route, 12ish miles more than we had hoped for and about 3 hours behind where we should have been.
With the sunset much more of a factor we put our heads down and rode on, hard. We made it to a small town called Burgin, where we were going to make the decision about pushing on to our warmshowers host or not. Since we had now missed two of the thunderstorms that had hit (thanks to our "tour") and were literally running from the 3rd that was right behind us we got some Monster energy juice drinks and started. I will say that those drinks have lots of energy, I was riding fast, faster that I have all trip (did a 5 mile stint in 19:20, fully loaded, with some head wind and up-hills). I think that drink had some to do with that and the fact that we could see and hear the impeding thunderstorm. Over all I rolled into our stop (18 miles) in just over 1 hour. We stayed in Mackville, KY with a awesome family, Keith, Alicia and their two boys. The let us do laundry, cook and relax. Keith even cooked a monster sized breakfast in the morning!

I still have several days to catch up on, but it is midnight here and I need some sleep. Nite all!

2010-05-29T16:42:00.001-07:00

Hit send to quick :) no wifi, haven't had a good connection in days. At 936 miles so far. Holiday weekend has not been as bad as we thought. Heat has been in the upper 80's - lower 90's w/ humidity from 90-50%. Time for shower and then repacking stuff. Have a safe and happy memorial weekend

2010-05-29T16:36:00.001-07:00

Made it to hodgenville, staying in the community center, w/ got showers and a bbq for dinner. Feeling better today, legs still a little sore, trying a different peddleing tech that has made a big difference. (thanks Dirk).

2010-05-28T13:50:00.001-07:00

Made it to bardstown, Ky. Short day after a really long one yesterday. Been on and off T-storms but have missed most of the rain. Mosquitoes have been thick. 887 miles so far. Holiday weekend has increased the traffic so we may take it easy over the next few days.

What a day...

2010-05-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

We started the day out kind of late (11:30), filled up our water at the Dollar General and heading out onto the road. With in the first five miles I got a rear flat, which I figure was karma because the entire time in the first 5 miles I was formulating a letter to the Kentucky DOT and the Governor about how crap ass poopie their roads are and their overuse of the rumble strips. I stopped formulating the letter after that :)

The other poopie part is that it was 80+ and the humidity was still up in the 70% range. But I got that tire fixed, with the help of Stuart, and headed off again. We spend most of the day on the highway which sucked, but we finally got to see some really nice scenery. Again we had hills, and then more hills. I never knew that Kentucky was so hilly! The other noticeable difference was that coal did not line the road ways or sides of the hills, I hope this means that we are getting out of coal country.

Stopped for lunch in a town called Vincent, which used to have a restaurant but closed because of the economy. So we sat outside the post office and only other business, a craft shop, and ate our all too familiar lunch, bagels, peanut butter and bananas. While eating I found my first tick, it was just crawling on my shoe toward my sock and I gave it the ol' squash, and carried on. I think I picked it up from the tall grass that I parked my bike in. We talked to a couple of locals who were extremely nice and very interested in our trip. Then we headed on our way. Rolling hill after rolling hill we went, traffic was pretty light until we got near towns. Saw lots of barns and root cellars, it is also hay cutting time here so we saw, and felt (what ever they are cutting it gives us all a wicked hacking cough) all the cutting.

We made the final 10 miles in pretty quickly, even with the heat, humidity and traffic. Had some other bike troubles later in the day (dropped my chain twice) that I hope I fixed in the hotel room...

Berea is a beautiful town, the hotel is amazing. Apparently it was built in 1909, as a guest house for the college students (it is on the Berea college campus). I will get some photos tomorrow of the outside and inside.

I need to wash my riding shorts and get some sleep!

Lastly I had another 4 dog chases today, no rock throwing this time though. While I hate the dogs that chase us it is sad to see that many of them do get hit by cars because the owners fail to leash them up and the state has no real leash laws. I counted 2 dead ones today, which are the first that I have seen all trip. Why are people so careless with their animals!

Hindman --> Booneville

2010-05-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

We had a good ride into Booneville, Ky yesterday. There were lots of hills (3600 ft elevation gain). Stopped at the post office, just outside of a small town called Emmalena, to mail back yet another load of clothes. We were planning on stopping at the petrol station to fill up on water but the Postmistress said that they had shut down. She wanted to know what we needed...water, what most cyclists need :). She came back with two bottles of her own water and gave it to us, at no charge because "we need it more than she does". While I have yet to find a redeeming quality about Kentucky in general, I will say that the people here are extremely generous.
Speaking of Kentucky and the "wonderful qualities" that it offers us...Dogs and all their unbridled terrorism, rumble strips on all road shoulders, humidity, impatient drivers, smoking EVERYWHERE (this includes the cooks preparing our food), snakes, bears and bugs. Who wouldn't want to visit eastern Kentucky? (sorry for anyone that is reading this and either lives here or likes it here)

Anyways...back to the ride. We went through a small town called Buckhorn, where the local grocery has a sign-in book for cyclists and the owner also gave us the keys to the church, the largest log built church in Ky.

After Buckhorn we made it into booneville and after getting lost trying to find the church we made it. The church has set up a pavilion with a shower (cold water only), port-a-potty, and a fenced field to camp in. They do this just because, no other reason. Again the hospitality is amazing.

Dog chase count: 4, with one rock throw.

2010-05-25T18:22:00.001-07:00

In booneville, ky. 65 miles. Feel pretty good, camping at a church, that has a pretty nice setup for cyclists. Even a nice cold shower :-). That was a religious experience all on its own. Eating top ramen, and watching the fire flies.

Another blog to check, Bruce joined us a couple days ago.

2010-05-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

crazyguyonabike.com: Bicycle Touring: Westbound on the TransAm, by Bruce Moore

Kentucky..."The unbridled state...or No Leash law state"

2010-05-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

Made it into Kentucky yesterday from the Breaks Interstate Park, which was beautiful! Lots of wildlife to see, and not see, apparently they have black bears there. The raccoons tore through our hanging food bag and got off with a couple of hamburger buns, bastards! The morning was really foggy too, which meant that it was also damp, and a little chilly. The ride into Kentucky was short, about 3 miles from the park. We had heard many many stories about the dogs in Kentucky, and yes they are all true. Within 100 meters of the state line there is a dog waiting in the driveway for you, at least the owner had closed the gate when I got there :). The day continued much the same, dogs in yards but locked in, this may have been because I was the 2nd in line for cycling through. Stuart had counted about 15 chases by the time we got to Hindman, I had 4. Over all the scenery was not much different than western Virginia, not a huge surprise. However, the level of living conditions was much different. If Micah or McKenzie ever complain about their living situation I am buying them a one way ticket to any small town in eastern Kentucky ;-).

The ride was a tough one too, we had 4 hills that were pretty large. Each progressivly shorter than the previous but just as steep. The percent grade ranged from 12-15% which is steep, and even harder when fully loaded. I was in a standing climb for most of each hill to give an idea of the difficulty. The total mileage was 72.99 miles with the steepest driveway at the end to get up. I had to take 2 shots at making it up, and I had to stand the entire time.

We are staying at the Knott County Historical Society, which is a pseudo B&B. David the proprietor has 40 acres with a giant tent and bed rolls setup. He had the most glorious glass of sweet tea in hand when we got to the front door. The cost is $25/night and that comes with water, 1 beer (dry county), baked potato (loaded), as much tea as you want, laundry service (he actually does the laundry for us), breakfast (strawberry shortcake, 2 apples, 1 orange, grapes, 4 sausage and biscuits, all you can drink coffee and lemon cake), banana split and internet! this is the bestest place ever! David is a great host and a wealth of Knott County knowledge.

We took a rest day today at the same place and get all the same benefits as the day before :)
I have done my bike maintenance and got my clothes in order, now I need to pack my panniers. I will update more later :)

2010-05-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

We did the longest day to date yesterday. Below is the Garmin GPS of the ride. Testing out the feature to see how it works. I will probably edit all the other posts and input the GPS info :)

2010-05-22T16:15:00.001-07:00

Made it to breaks interstate park, 3ish miles from KY. First time in awhile that i have cell service. Wifi is about 2 miles away, will update more then.

Damascus

2010-05-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

Made it to Damascus, Va. stayed at a Hostel that is for hikers and bikers only. we camped in the yard cause everyone smelled inside and there were a few sketchy folks as well. Slept great, getting a slow start this morning but I am ok with that. We have a massive climb ahead of us, and it will more than likely be in the rain...

Yesterday we had the best day yet of cycling, we rode next to streams or rivers for about 75% of the trip. it was in the upper 60's with low humidity and blue skies. the hills were not that bad either, mostly a 6-7% grade (compared to the 10-13% in previous days) Also had about 10 miles of downhill which was fantastic, nice to have an average pace through there at 24 mph.

We should make it to council va today which is about 50 miles down the road.
Well it is time pack it in and head out. Here is a link to a map that Stuart is doing as we travel. See Our Progress Here. I'll post more later.

Wytheville Va

2010-05-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day to ride, got a good nights sleep and a decent start in the morning. Had some direction issues in Christensburg but I managed :) The roads were a little busier than I like but there were some great scenery. Made it into Wytheville later than I hoped, close to 8pm. but we made it and picked up another cyclist along the way too :) Bruce from Dallas Texas, he is a bit slower than Stuart and myself but he is a nice guy, not sure how long he will ride with us. We are camping in a city park under a pavilion, well more like a performance stage. Got loads of unlocked WiFi around us too :) tomorrow we should make it to Damascus but there are a lot of hills between us and them. Apparently the Blue Ridge range was only part of the Apps that we ride through...good thing I feel stronger and better everyday! Well its about bed time, I'll try and update again tomorrow. check the photos on Picasa too there should be new ones up.

Photo Links

2010-05-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Stuarts photo's

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jalicat/sets/72157623720628744/

My Picasa Album

http://picasaweb.google.com/anwittin/MyEpicCycleTour?feat=directlink

Last couple of days

2010-05-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

Haven't had much reliable WiFi in the last few days so my posts have been either missing or by text from my cell (when I have service).

Sunday was a good day, it was pretty nice heat wise. We started off out of Love, Va early, with limited water because there were no taps where we stealth camped. We wanted out early before anyone noticed us and wanted us to pay :). We finished the climb in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which was really pretty but some major climbing. Got down into a small town called Visuvus Va and stopped at the local store/restaurant (Gurty's), which was were we were going to fill out now empty water bottles. but it was closed. we hung there for a bit to see if anyone would come and open it up and to our suprise Gurty showed up and hooked us up. She wouldn't normally open till 12 it was 10:25. She turned on the grill, made coffee and let us fill out water!
After breakfast we headed down the road to our next stop Natural Bridge. We arrived via the sketchy gravel backroad that could have been in a number of horror movies. but we made, alive and intact, to the outskirts of town and took a room in a motel that had crap WiFi but a warm shower...and was the same price as camping. They also had a 50's diner in the same parking lot that was decent for both dinner and breakfast.

Monday was WET! We awoke to massive downpours and knew we were in for a long day. Ate a big breakfast and got back on the route. It rained and rained and rained. then we stopped for lunch and it stopped raining then started as we were leaving. By the time we got to camp which was a shed in small town of Catawba the only dry part on me was my feet...my home-made duct-tape shoe covers worked! Yes! The shed is a small room built onto a garage in the back of the fuel station/restaurant/general store and cost a whopping $3 a night. The best $3 i spent all day! got food in the deli at the store and attempted to dry all the gear out. Slept great on the plywood floor (thanks to Tylenol PM).

Tuesday was going to be our "0" day, where technically you rest all day. But since I am a little behind on the miles that I thought that I would have done Stuart and I decided to contact a friend of his in Blacksberg since it was only about 20 miles away. We got a hold of him and he met us in town right next to Virginia Tech University, bought us lunch at the local bar and showed us the laundry mat. Now he is putting us up in his place even though he has a 6am flight out of Charlotte NC and will have to leave us to lock up the house. Amazing how trusting and helpful people are! Ate at an Asian all you can eat buffet for dinner, yum! and yes the whole Chris Farley skit went through my head as I headed up for my third plate :)

Picked up some needed items at the local Kroger (which is the exact same as Fred Meyer). Now going to upload some more photos and then sleep.

Overall things are fantastic, I am having more fun than I thought and feel myself getting stronger on the bike every day. Today final mileage puts me at about 375 total miles.

here is a link to the guy that I am riding with photo album on flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jalicat/sets/72157623720628744/

(Shoulders are still bothering me a little, have raised the bars, moved the seat a bit and changed the angle on the bar where my hands meet the hoods, I think it is a fine tuning issue but any more info on the pain/fix would be awesome!)

2010-05-17T10:44:00.001-07:00

Wet wet wet! Stopped for lunch just outside troutville va. Hope to dry out a little :)

Long day!

2010-05-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Made it to Love, VA which is in the App mts had Tons of hill climbs today and only a few descents. Rode around 50 miles and they were hard miles. My butt didn't hurt at all today so I think I am pretty good there now. Need to figure out why my shoulder hurts so much though (Dirk or Eric can you look up possible causes in the book? Text me with a solution) need to get some sleep good night all

2010-05-16T16:06:00.001-07:00

Made it to Natural Bridge, VA. Nice riding staying in a dive hotel cause it's about the same price to camp. Trying to get the wifi to work at the hotel. Will vecte more if it gets working

Charlottesville

2010-05-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

Hot Hot Hot. Did I mention it was hot today? The temp here was 86, but I am pretty sure on our way getting here it was pushing 90. I got sunburnt in all the areas that I missed with the lotion...Doh! I am pretty sure that I also drank about 8 liters of water/gatorade and I am still parched!

The ride overall was beautiful, but not the photo op type pretty. Only took a few pictures, but I will make sure to get more as we get into the Appalachian mountains. Had my second day of a dog chasing me, oh how I love dogs...We also met another cyclist on the road today, a younger guy from Berlin Germany. He started about 150 miles into the trip and I will be shocked if his bike and what not makes it as far as he wants to go...

My knees felt good today, there was no pain so I think that all the cleat and float problems are fixed :) now it is just my butt. Still working on that but dont expect to have an unsore ass for quite some time, like a few more weeks. My legs were good today too, there were some good hills that we had to go up I may send even more stuff home before the Appalachian's.

Staying with a guy from warmshowers roommates. he is out of town and when i called he hooked us up! we were pretty stuck cause the person that we were hoping to stay with hadn't contacted us when we got here. with a pending T-Storm I made the command decision to call other people and get a place :) Hope to get some good sleep tonight, as I have not slept well since I got here.

Well i hope to charge a couple of things and got to bed soon... nite all!

Mineral

2010-05-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

Made it to Mineral VA, had a cooler ride today which was nice. We will be heading into Charlottesville which should be about 50 miles again. Getting a slower start than I figured, but I need to get my butt and knees ready for everything! After charlottesville we hit the Applications and will need all the stamina I can come up with. We had our first dog chaser today I do like being the faster rider cause I stirred the dog up and he chased after Stuart :-) Had great coffee and doughnuts for second breakfast in Ashland. I have eaten more bananas in the last few days than I think I have in my life!

The weather is supposed to get into the 90's tomorrow so we are going to try and get on the road early...we'll see...I am a master at getting a late start...

Mom these pants rock, I have already had someone ask if they could buy a pair off me :-) Thanks!

Bed time.

Mechanicsville to Mineral

2010-05-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

Another 50 mile day or so, still getting my body used to the riding. should be a cooler day today, about 70. Riding with the English bloke Stuart again, he has a contact to stay at in Mineral :) I'll keep ya posted!

Mechanicsville and Thunderstorms

2010-05-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Today was a low mileage day, just under 50. Made it to Mechanicsville after several small towns. Met a guy from England and rode the day with him, I'll probably ride with him tomorrow and see how far he can make it. I hope to make it to Bumpass tomorrow. We are Staying with a couple and their 2 boys from warmshowers.org, which was a blessing! Called them about an hour before we showed and they were totally cool with putting us up. Otherwise we would be looking to sleep behind a church...and with how often I go to church a bolt of lighting may have smote me. :-p. Heading to the store to resupply and get a knee brace. Talk to you later!

PS It's effing hot here, got a little sunburnt through my longsleeve shirt!

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2010-05-12T06:18:00.001-07:00

Getting ready to hit the road. Looks like it will get a little warm today, 84 w/ a chance of T-storms around 5p. I'll keep ya all posted :-)

2010-05-11T17:13:00.001-07:00

Had a longer day than i expected. 54 miles. Feeling a little sore in the butt, knees and shoulders need to get used to cycling again. I made it to a small town called charles city. I was trying to stay with a person from warmshowers but never connected. So i knocked on the door of a bed and breakfast to stay...she doesn't do it anymore but gave me couch to sleep on and a kitchen to cook in. Unbelievable the generosity of random strangers!

2010-05-11T10:42:00.001-07:00

Starting my trip, in true oregon fashion it's raining :-)

Bike is ready!

2010-05-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Picked up my bike tonight from the shop and it is all set to go! I have my panniers packed and set up on the bike. I will get some small food and other items at the store tomorrow before I head out.

Bought a weather radio so I can keep track of storms and what not throughout the trip, also picked some "halt" dog spray. Again I heard from another cyclist how bad Kentucky is for the dogs, great...just great.

Plan to leave tomorrow late morning early afternoon and take a easy ride of about 25-40 miles. I was not expecting to actually get out until Wednesday so I will get started early (ish).

Off to bed for me!

Arrived

2010-05-09T19:36:00.001-07:00

Made it to Virginia staying with a wonderful couple. Had sushi for dinner it's about bedtime!

2010-05-09T11:30:00.001-07:00

Waiting in atlanta.

Flight Day

2010-05-09T05:53:00.000-07:00

In line to board my flight so far so good. All my gear arrived yesterday, except my bike which will show up tomorrow. Talk to you all soon!

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Shipped!

2010-05-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

Everything that I wanted shipped is in transit! Took two boxes to FedEx and had the bike picked up this morning. Hopefully everything makes it to VA before I do but I have time on both ends of the trip if there is a delay...

Shipping...

2010-05-03T12:24:00.001-07:00

Hopefully today everything will ship to Newport News, VA. FedEx should have picked up my bike this morning and I will pack and ship the rest via USPS or FedEx/UPS. Sixish days till I fly out woot!

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Route change...

2010-04-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

So as the date has gotten closer and I have meet several people that have done the Trans-Am ride, or lived in or near the areas that I will be traveling I decided to change my route from the branch off at Pueblo, CO to Utah and stick with the full Trans-Am route. This however means that I won't get to visit my buddy in CA, which I am bummed about...but the trip should take 10% less time because it is about 400 miles shorter so I may be able to cruise down and visit then :)

Overall I think that the route change is for the better, it will be safer and more traveled...as well as more scenic and fun.

On another note I took my bike in to get shipped yesterday, which it should be packaged and shipped either today or tomorrow. Now I am finalizing the last of my gear and getting that boxed and ready to ship. I am amazed at how quickly this trip has become a reality!

More later!

Ridgefield Ride

2010-04-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

Did one of my favorite rides yesterday, the loop around Clark County Washington. The route usually consists of 30 miles of great scenery and low traffic roads, except in small parts when in the small cities. For the second time riding this I took a wrong turn and ended up about 5 miles from where I should have been thus making this a 35 mile ride :) It was still nice, the weather was great and the sun was out the whole time. Got a little sore on one of the uphills (29% grade), but made it fully loaded which was tough!

No ride today but I hope to do the loop again tomorrow if i get a chance before work.

Start Here

2010-04-12T18:58:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Welcome to my official Epic Cycle Tour Blog! With less than a month till I fly out to Newport News, Virginia (closest airport to Yorktown) I think it is about time that I make this blog a little more "live". So for the people that don't know about my trip I will give you a summary in the next few paragraphs (interview style cause its fun), and for those that know about it, well you can skip this post ;-). As the description says this is a blog about everything that I think is painful, funny, interesting, stupid or just plain "Tony". I am not sure how often I will update, but my intention is to update after every ride or other significant change. This is going to be quite an adventure so hang tight and be thankful that your ass is not the one in the saddle :-).

ANW (me): First question when are you leaving?

TNW (me): I have a flight to Newport News, VA on May 9th (Mothers day), my bike will hopefully be waiting there for me at a shop or the house I am staying at for the first night or so. My plan is to leave on either Monday May 10th or Tuesday May 11th, there are many factors that will determine this for me though: setting the bike back up, re-fitting my bike, jet lag and packing my gear in proper weight ratios for the front and rear panniers. everything hinges on my bike and gear arriving either before I do or on the Monday after I get there, my intention is to get everything there before I arrive.

ANW: Why bike ride?

TNW: For several reasons, first I like to ride, second I completed a short tour on the Pacific Coast last summer and loved the freedom touring offered and want to experience that again, third I want to do something memorable before I start Acupuncture school in the fall and lastly I noticed that my jeans make my butt look big so the ride will hopefully make the jeans fit better

ANW: Why This Crazy Route?

TNW: If I am going to do something memorable before Acupuncture school why not do an epic ride that is full of American culture, history and adventure? Most people that know me well will just shake their head and grin, because this is just the stupid, crazy, boneheaded poop that I tend to do…at least I am training a little bit more this time :-). Plus I will get to visit my buddy in Arcata and also gives me the opportunity to ride "home" with friends and family for the last few miles :-) assuming I can talk people into meeting and riding.

ANW: What areas of the country will you travel through?

TNW: Large picture: East Coast, South, Midwest, Rockies and West Coast. Small picture: Virginia (554 mi), Kentucky (507 mi), Illinois (148 mi), Missouri (351 mi), Kansas (475 mi), Colorado (539 mi), Utah (538 mi), Nevada (418 mi), California (669 mi) and Oregon (477 mi). The exciting part of this tour is that I will get to see everything from (and between) the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean. How cool is that!

ANW: How long will this take and what route are you going?

TNW: Ha! I wish I knew, I have slotted 88ish days to ride, recover and site see. Depending on the weather, road/terrain, fitness level, traffic, health issues (none hopefully) and any mechanical trouble I run into I hope to finish in around 75-80 days, which is about 60 miles a day. I am using the Adventure Cycling Association maps (Trans-Am, Western Express and Pacific Coast). The total mileage is something between 4600-4700 miles, in the end with all the site seeing and getting lost I think it will be more than 4700.

ANW: What about sleeping, eating, drinking and blogging?

TNW: My intention is to camp where I am able to, I have found several people on the websites warmshowers.org and couchsurfing.org that offer rooms, food, showers and conversations, if I need to I will stay in hotels or motels but I am trying to conserve money. Eating and water will be a challenge, I will more than likely stop and buy groceries at a store before the end of each day and fill water bottles as often as I can. I will have two 1 litre bottles on my bike and a 3 litre bladder in my gear, I will try and pack some dehydrated meals and potentially eat at restaurants along the way. I also plan to pack energy bars and other suppliments like Gu and gummy bears :). For the first 2500 or so miles I am not too worried about the availability of food or water, it is the later half of CO and all of UT and NV that will be an issues! There are several (more than 5) stretches where there are no services for more than I plan to ride in a day...I will worry about that when it happens though, plus I have lots of energy stored in "The Bank of Tony" and can make some withdrawals as needed :-). As for blogging...I will use text messages to update if there is no internet available, libraries as I come across them and I will be packing my Acer Aspire One netbook for when I stay near wireless internet etc. Thank god that the Acer is only about 3 lbs with the power brick and battery.

ANW: Are you going alone or with someone? And how the hell are you packing all your gear with you?

TNW: My plan is to do this alone, kind of an opportunity to clear my mind and center myself before I start my Masters of Acupuncture program in the fall at OCOM. Also going alone lets me set my own pace and also gives the oppertunity of meet other riders on the road, which is what I did on my last tour where I met many awesome people!

Gear...well this is the challenging part, I will be using my REI Novara Randonee touring bike that I bought in 1997, strong frame, quality components and a recent overhaul. As well I have made several upgrades over the last few months: Front disc brakes, new tires, new wheel set, new head set, new front fork and new pannier racks. I also have purchased larger waterproof rear panniers which allow me to store a ton of stuff. Otherwise my plan is 2 chamois (bike shorts), 2 knicker style pants, rain gear, cycling shoes, camp cloths and riding shirts, I will be shooting for a minimum on clothes (hopefully I won't smell too bad). I am planning on one drop shipment to meet me in CO so that I can swap things out or get new stuff (like a water purifier) about halfway through.

Surprisingly Dry Ride...

2010-04-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

This morning I was treated to a dry ride, I was surprised because the whole time I was getting ready it was pouring rain. Walked outside in all my rain gear and it stopped and stayed dry the whole 1:15 I was out! I did the same ride that I have been doing the last few days, the Counsel Crest/ Fairmont loop. Again I was pressed for time so I only did the loop and not the ride to the top of CC. It was a great ride, actually kind of warm too. Even without the rain I wore most of my rain gear to see how it works...I was impressed with the pants (Columbia Men's Thunderstorm II Pant) they breathe well and didn't let any water through that was coming up off the road. The homemade duct tape shoe covers also worked well, the newly installed snaps were a great addition, and the velcro stayed together too! Yay me for the cheap shoe covers :). Didn't have to use the jacket, which I know works but is old and not breathable, so I get soaked from the inside not the outside :(

Anyways, I am hoping to go out on a second ride this evening after taking care of the kids for Josh and Jen...we'll see how I feel though ;-)

Later!