Lisa's Big Ride Across America

Meet the amazing community that was the Big Ride 2007

2007-08-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

Tom VanCura

Steven McCloskey
Phil Williams
Lisa Gizzarelli
Alex Anderson

Michael Yee
Brian O'Sullivan
David Hoganson - Crew, our mechanic
Jean Anne Hattler
Brack Hattler

Jodi Matakovich
Liz Schulz
Helyn Anderson

David Lambert

Vern Katzung
Ben Thiesse
Sean Bennett
Mark (Pollie's Dad) - Crew (he joined us after Anne sadly left us)
Jerry - Crew

Jeff Rich
Jay Carlson
Greg Sterling
Greg Dimmitt
Pollie McCloskey - Crew, Ride Director

David Latner
Andy Lasseter
Adam Marengi
Bob Jones
Mary Moore

Dan Scott
Marty Minkoff
Jerome Mercer
Nick Fels
Ane Klomps

Scott Hadley
Cathy Harm - Crew
Bill Harm
Justine Dobies
Margo Harrison

Kelly McCall Rodney Sanders
Kari Giorgi
Alison Guerin
Em - Kelly McCall's crew and MOM

Floyd Bere Barry Verbel
Mike McFarlin
Trish Dimmitt
Bob Dumke
Anne - Crew

Day 48 (8/11) Clarksburg, MD to Washington DC

2007-08-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Washington DC (Potomoc?)

Arriving into the city, Washington Monument is ahead in the distance
at the Old Post Office where we are to eat our final meal together at a Greek restaurant
Sean, Brack, Jean Anne, David, Andy?
Ane and Helyn?

Helyn and Trish
Liz and Andy

Bob, the Greek rest. owner (a 1998 Big Rider), Jean Anne, Michael, another 1998 Big Rider
Trish and Alison
All of us who stayed with the same host family in Seattle before the ride started. The first people I met! We all made it! Margo, Mike, me, Dan, Bob, Jodi, Helyn, Justine
Greg, Michael, David, Margo

Our last time all together
outside the Old Post Office
Kelly
Kelly

Floyd and Mary celebrating while waiting at the staging area before riding to the finish line

the staging area

a seven person bike you can rent and tour the city !?!

Adam - checking out his cue sheet for the last time (and maybe for the first time today)

Jeff - still eating in staging area

Floyd and I - before we start riding to the finish line, we are crossing the finish line together

my parents and I at the finish line - I did it!

me, Jean Anne and Brack at the finish line

finish line ceremony with National American Lung Association speaker

56.39 miles (including ride to hotel)
14.0 mph average

Got up early today, first time I've done that on this entire trip. Was nervous, excited and extremely sad. This is it - our last ride. I wanted to savor it, but I also couldn't wait to get there. I was worried about getting there by 10:30 too. I rode the whole way into DC without stopping until I got off the bike path in DC and took a picture of the water (I'm guessing the Potomoc, but I'm not sure) to show that I made it. I rode right past the water stop/check point. It was a beautiful ride, if I wasn't in such a unsettled state, I would have taken pictures. We rode past horse farms, very large older mansions and lots of rolling hills. In the mansion area we rode through in Maryland right outside DC we passed LOTS of other cyclists out for their Saturday morning club rides. It was strange seeing so many "other" cyclists on the road, usually we are the only group. The traffic picked up as we approached the city. We got on a very busy bike path for the last 7 miles that took us into the city of DC. I think it was more dangerous than the roads, there were hundreds of people jogging and slow bike riders mixed in with fast cyclists weaving around all of them at very high speeds. It was pretty crazy, but nice to see so many active people. We rode over the C&O Canal and it's bike trail. After stopping in the city to take a picture of the water and have a snack, Bob, Jodi, and the Dimmitt's caught up with me (they were stopped at the water stop ). We rode into the mall area together and Andy and Steven soon joined us too. It was an amazing feeling to be on the mall, to see Washington monument and the Lincoln memorial. We were savoring our time together. Many were not ready to see their families yet and were hoping they didn't pass them as we rode through the finish line area on our way to the Old Post Office to eat. The Old Post Office was our last meal together and the last time we would all be together as part of the Big Ride. It was so sad. It was wonderful to congratulate everyone as they got there, since I was the first group to get there, but it was so sad to say goodbye. It was our special time before we dispersed at the finish line with our family and friends. It was really nice to get to be with everyone and relax for a while before having to go outside and line up in the staging to ride to the finish. Some former big riders showed up to congratulate us and took a final group photo for us. Eventually it was time, we had to leave and begin to line up. I was really dreading the end. But it came and I rode across the finish line with Floyd (my fellow photographer friend). My family had a great banner for me and it was nice to see everyone. We got together for Pollie to give out certificates and for the National ALA speaker to congratulate us and then we were off to unload our luggage from the truck for one last time at the hotel. I checked in to the hotel and had some time by myself to attempt to adjust and digest what just ended so abruptly it felt before I was meeting my family to go to my Uncle's house for dinner.

It was an amazing, life changing trip with wonderful people. I will cherish these memories forever and will think of each person I shared the last 7 weeks with often. They will each touch my everyday life when some silly little thing reminds me of one of them. I guess I have to try to adjust to everyday life again, which I am really not looking forward to. Nothing compares to the beautiful simplicity, activeness, adventure, doing what you absolutely love, beautiful scenery, and support and friendship from our community that was each day of the Big Ride!

Day 47 - The Wedding Ceremony and Brian and Phil's Big Ideas

2007-08-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

Brian sharing his big Ideas - like the fact that Michael Yee is most likely to be found eating with his helmet on, or that I have the longest braid when riding, and Trish has the nicest butt to be riding behind...these are really "big" life changing ideas!
Rabbi Rodney reading the vows
Phil and Brian - and thier big ideas

Margo and Adam, with Bill toasting in the background

Father of the bride (Nick), Margo, Adam, Mother of the groom (Helyn)
crushing the glass (in a paper bag so we don't get broken glass in the campground)

The choir

Father Bob (My job was to post the colors, I believe that's what it's called. I call it planting the flag, and Mike, the Colonel just laughs and says that's perfect.)
priest and rabbi togtether reading the vows

Margo and flower girl - Mary

Father Bob
Rabbi and priest

mother of the groom and Adam walking down the aisle

Day 47 (8/10) Gettysburg, PA to Clarksburg, MD

2007-08-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

Vern's bike buddies - Trix the rabbit
Vern's bike buddies - a two headed dragon that talks, and the mouse from Charlotte's Web Bill napping before dinner

52.26 miles
14.1 mph average

After a great breakfast at the hotel with Jodi, Cathy, and Bill, Cathy gave us a ride down to the middle school to get our bikes and get on the road. Today was all rolling hills that got a bit steepter for the last 10 miles. What a short ride! Got to Maryland at mile 7.8. It was a very nice ride. The city of Frederick, MD is a beautiful old city with gorgeous old buildings and row houses painted different colors. I rode with Adam, Margo, Greg and Mary for a bit and finished the ride with Jerome, Mike, Rodney, and Greg. I got into the campground at 1:something. It was nice to set up the tent and just sit around relaxing chatting with different people. Eventually, I started to get ready for tonight's festivities. Our last dinner together! We all have mixed emotions right now. My body is ready for a break but I'm not ready for this trip to end. The beautiful simplicity of life just can't be matched - it is wonderful! And these people who have become a tight community - I'm not ready to leave that.

We are being fed at Applebee's tonight and we are being shuttled there on a mini bus thing. We all put on our nicest, cleanest clothes for a night out. After dinner is the wedding ceremony. Jay and Nick have planned a spoof wedding for Margo and Adam (who have become great friends that spend almost all of their time together). Jay has put a lot of time into planning this and there will be a rabbi for Margo and a priest for Adam.

Dinner is wonderful, I was able to get a head shot taken of each rider. Brack and Jean Anne are even there with us! Brack had got up and spoke to us and it was very nice. Bob Jones also got up to speak and it was really great! We have amazing people in this community! Dinner went so long that the wedding is now going to be held back at the campground.

Bob Jones is our priest and Rodney (who lives in Isreal) is our rabbi. Margo and Adam are just going along with this in good humor. Nick gives Margo away (because Greg is out with his wife at a hotel for the night) and Helyn walks Adam down the aisle. The priest goes first and unites the couple with wonderfully unique vows - together in riding for the rest of the trip. They exchange wheels and have a "quick release" clause added in, just in case (these vows were written by lawyers (Jay and Nick) of course). The rabbi now does his ceremony and covers Margo's head in white cloth, which she keeps undoing and getting yelled at for. There is a tent fly canopy held over them and Adam breaks the wine glass and we all yell "Mazel Toff?" After the exchanging of the vows, Jodi and her back up vocals sing a great song and Kari finishes with another. It was hilarious! The wedding is followed by the big ideas of Brian and Phil that came to them on the ride, which were also hilarious! It was a great evening! I didn't want it to end, but eventually I decided it was time to go to bed, so I could be up and ready and out early to make it to the restaurant by 10:30 in DC. Tomorrow is going to be a slap in the face of reality - it really is over and I'd rather just go to sleep now and not think about it.

Day 46 - Rest Day - Gettysburg, PA

2007-08-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Livin' large in the Hilton Garden Inn while those not hoteling it are camped out at the Gettysburg Middle School that didn't have any hot water for showers yet when I left there yesterday!

Sleeping, Relaxing, doing laundry, drying out all my wet stuff from the rain this past week, blogging, blogging, blogging, eating, sleeping some more, reading, relaxing, eating, reading... It's a great day. It is also absolutely pouring out right now while I am doing all of these wonderful things right inside my hotel!

Day 45 (8/8) Bedford, PA to Gettysburg, PA

2007-08-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

I was too hot and anxious to get the day over with to take any pictures today. It's too bad, because it really was beautiful scenery today. Pennsylvania is a gorgeous state!

104.30 miles
12.5 mph average

I left camp last with Floyd (except for Bill and Jeff who went out for a real breakfast). I can't seem to get up anymore (not that I was ever good at it). I am one of the last of camp everyday lately. We followed to Pennsylvania Bike Route "S" the entire day today (except the last 10 miles). The roads it took us on were beautiful and they sure were hilly! The hills were not as dreadful as they were talked up to be, there were a lot of them, but none of them were that overly steep, it was just very slow going all day long. What made today especially difficult was having to ride 104 miles of continuous hills in 100 degree weather. The heat was the real challenge. It was HOT!! My bike was in a rain shower of sweat all day long! I was gulping down water like crazy. I had a nice break at a little campground store with Jodi. We sat and relaxed in Adirondack chairs while I downed two Arizona iced teas very quickly and had a snack. I had a bagel at the Starbucks at our first water stop too. By the time I got to our check point I was ravenous for some reason and ate most of the snacks in my bag. I'm usually not hungry when it's this hot, but I'm also not usually riding 100 miles of hills either. Eventually, I did it, I arrived in Gettysburg at the middle school where we were camping for our rest day. The day was over and I did it and really wasn't that bad, just long and slow. Bob Jones' CPA office came to surprise him. All of the women from his office were there and had lots of baked goods and cold drinks for us all. He was so surprised to see them - it was really nice. The middle school's boiler was broken when we got there and there was no hot water for showers. I was very happy to be spending my rest day in a hotel. Jodi and I went in on a room for both nights. While I was waiting for Jodi to get in(who was having difficulty with the extreme heat), I was able to set out my tent and sleeping bag and get them completely dry and I was able to clean my bike. I then packed up what I needed for the hotel and Cathy (our crew and married to Bill - a rider) graciously drove us to the hotel because they were staying there too. What a help that was!! Thanks so much Cathy - you're wonderful! Time to begin my day and evening of pure relaxation in luxury and start to tackle to fact that we only have 2 more short days of riding. This transition back to everyday life is going to be rough and the reality of it hasn't really hit yet. The end is bitter sweet. My body is tired, but I'm not really ready for this amazing experience in this wonderful community that we have become to end.

Day 44 (8/7) - Confluence, PA to Bedford, PA

2007-08-09T09:08:00.001-07:00

Our private tour of the Cannondale factory in Bedford, PA. It was after dinner, so the production line wasn't running, they invited us back in the morning to see everything in action, but it is our hardest day tomorrow, so we politely declined.

me
Andy

our tour guide. It was a lot of fun to see how the bikes are made. We even saw the testing room where they were running tests on all different bikes and components to see how strong they are and what their breaking point is. We got to watch frames bend and stretch on machines to try to replicate regular use, but with excess force added - it was amazing to see - we weren't allowed to take any pictures in there though. (Dan, Steve, and Brian off to the side)
future bicycles!

exactly how each welded joint should look
a colorful array of paint remnants on some pipes

along the bike trail
view from up on a bridge on the bike trail. we were high up over a highway. The bike trail is all old railways
off the trail and onto the road again. back to following our cue sheets again and dealing with those motorized vehicles that always seem to get in the way
the view from the hill going up to the town of Berlin
more from that same hill
the Pennsylvania flight 93 memorial that we rode right past.

82.54 miles

11.8 mph average

44.4 mph max speed today!

We rode on the Great Allegany Passage bike trail for the first 30 miles of the day today. It was a lot easier mentally to deal with than yesterday's 50 miles on it. It was quite beautiful with lots bridges, water views and farms. Some people opted for a road route today instead that was very hilly through the Alleganys. The trail is crushed limestone with some muddy spots, which can be unpleasant on skinny road tires (as Kari put it: "I don't want to ride on kitty litter") We also have a few people who really enjoy hills. I was content on the trail, knowing that I'd have plenty of hills this afternoon and tomorrow. We have now ridden a total of 85 miles on the Great Allegany Passage. We got off the trail in Meyersdale and the hills began. Some were pretty steep, but the scenery was gorgeous! Stopped in the town of Berlin, that was at the top of a long hill for lunch. A very nice couple asked me lots of questions about my ride and ended up buying my lunch for me! We rode up a hill to the site of the flight 93 Sept. 11th crash where there is now a large memorial set up. We also rode over Bald Cap mountain, one of the Allegany mountains at an elevation of 2906'. I was absolutely exhausted at the end of the day and worried about how tired I would be for our toughest day tomorrow. It started raining tonight after my tent was set up and I was showered. I just hid out in my tent for a while and luckily it stopped before dinner. We had pizza ordered in for dinner at a pavillion and then went on our Cannondale factory tour. Tomorrow is it - the day we have heard so much about - it is finally here - our last real ride and a difficult one. The two 50 mile rides after that barely even count, they are practically a rest day for us by now.

Day 43 (8/6) - Washington, PA to Confluence, PA

2007-08-09T08:49:00.001-07:00

Kelly and Margo on the bike trail (my flash couldn't expose it properly)
one of the many great bridges over the Yough. River on the bike trail
view down from the bridge
another beautiful bridge

Our destination today is Confluence - 27 miles away. We aren't taking the trail all the way to Maryland or to DC. But it sure is amazing to see a sign that says DC 279 miles, since it was 3300 miles away when we started!
view of the river from the bike trail

a beautiful farm along the road earlier in the day today
the park we rode through this morning along Mingo Creek - it was absolutely beautiful and reminded me a lot of the woods at home.
our bike route with some riders up ahead

beautiful covered bridge in the park

90.84 miles

12.8 mph avge

This comes close to tieing with Wisconsin for our most beautiful day on the bike. It also reminds me the most of home in the Catskills where I spend a lot of time. We rode along the Pennsylvania bike route "S" today through a park along the Mingo Creek. It was beautiful! Then, in West Newton, PA we got on the Great Allegany Passage - a bike trail that goes from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, where it meets up with the C&O Canal bike trail that goes to Wash DC (the C&O canal trail supposedly is more rough and requires a mountain bike). We rode along the Youghiogheny River for the rest of the day. It was beautiful on the trail. It was a little hard to ride 50+ miles on it today though because it was so straight and monotonous. We were provided lunch today in a town along the trail - Connellsville by a 2000 big rider and his wife. We rode through the town of Ohiopyle at the end of the day- a rafting town; the Yough. River is famous for rafting. Stopped and relaxed in town with Adam and Margo for a while. Rode extremely fast to get into camp by six and make it to dinner - only to find out that there was nothing I could eat (it was all creamy dairy). I wish I had known that ahead of time - I would have eaten in Ohiopyle. Instead I had some salad, chips and cookies for dinner. Oh, well. Tent is still soaked from last night but my things inside are almost totally dry. Good chance of rain again tonight. It looked like it was going to rain all day today too, but it only drizzled a little.

Day 42 (8/5) - New Waterford, OH to Washington, PA

2007-08-09T08:43:00.001-07:00

The hilly back road we took to get into Pennsylvania didn't have a sign at the border. The first town we got to was Midland, PA - so here is our welcome to Pennsylvania sign. left to right: Rodney, Jodi, Jerome, Mike, me
What?!? West Virginia? That wasn't one of our 12 states we were riding through. We threw in another state today just to say we were there - it was only a 4 mile roundtrip detour!

There was also a proper Pennsylvania welcome sign here at the West Virginia border!

62.22 miles
13.3 mph average

Our cue sheets were totally wrong for the first 35 miles of the day because we stayed in Washington, PA instead of a town that is usually used. The crew went out in front of us and marked the new route this morning. I was not sure if I was going the right way when I noticed I had a flat. I stopped at a gas station to repair it when I saw Jodi, Mike, Rodney, and Jerome - I knew I was going the right way now. They came over and helped me change my flat. These are fast riders who I usually don't see much of during the day- they are always the first into camp. They had just got done eating a real breakfast at Perkins when they saw me. I rode with them just about the rest of the day up and over many hills and we even scooted over to West Virginia for fun. It started to rain in the afternoon and ducked into a restaurant for lunch to escape. Eventually, there were 19 of us in there getting out of the rain and eating some food. Rode the rest of the way in the rain. Got a second flat today 4.5 miles from camp. It was still pouring when I got to camp and there was no pavillion for us the stay dry in. The campground set up two EZ-up tents for us. Had a great catered dinner -a real dark leafy lettuce salad with almonds and asian dressing and amazing marinated chicken and pie for dessert. I almost slept through this wonderful dinner, if it weren't for Justine who woke me up from my nap. Thank you Justine! It rained most of the night, which was kind of nice to listen to from inside a dry tent.

Day 41 (8/4) - Burton, OH to New Waterford, OH

2007-08-09T08:36:00.001-07:00

leaving Burton, we were still in Amish country for about 20 miles or so. We passed lots of horse and buggys on the road. We also passed a home of Mike Tyson's that many stopped to take pictures of. I missed it though.
Bob's big brother and Bob - his brother rode with us for the day! This was at our check point in Canfield, OH - a really nice small town. We rode through several really nice small towns today.
big brother doing big brother things to little brother :)

61.04 miles
14.9 mph average

We had breakfast provided by Cogan's (The Village (idiot) Eatery) and we could order whatever we wanted off the menu - now that was a treat! I wasn't hungry until the afternoon - what a difference protein makes! This was a short fast day. I was actually riding much faster than my average most of the day, but then the last 4 miles I slowed down to crawling (and walked my bike on the stones at the campground) to get to chat with a guest rider, Lorenzo. He is a graduate student from McGowen Institutes riding for Brack this weekend. He was really a great person to talk to - he is going his phD work in regenerative vessels - really neat stuff! Today was a beautiful ride through Amish country into many small towns.

Day 40 (8/3) - Burton, OH - REST DAY!

2007-08-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

An emerging 17 year cicada on Ane's bike! There were two of them on her bike emerging from their underground nymph stage (where they live for 17 years feasting on sap from tree roots) to their adult stage right before our eyes! They left their old exoskeletons behind on her bike and flew off to reproduce. How amazingly cool - I love insects!!

adult cicada
emerging cicada

Burton is a really cute town with a large square park in the middle. It is known for its maple syrup and has an active sugar shack on the square in town. There is a large Amish community here. Many of the women supplement their income by working in town. I spoke with an Amish woman working at the sugar shack. She said she would love to be able to ride a bike cross-country, but this Amish community is not allowed to ride bikes. She said the neighboring Indiana Amish communities are allowed to ride bikes (and we saw many of them doing just that), but this church doesn't allow it. She was very interesting to talk to. This town has lots of antique shops to walk around in. Many of us ate several meals at Cogan's - The Village (idiot) Eatery. It was full of great nostalgia and humor on the walls and the menu was hilarious. The owner wears one of those colorful caps with a propeller on top everyday.

Day 39 (8/2) Sandusky, OH to Burton, OH

2007-08-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

strummin' outside the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland
David and I
Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame (we weren't allowed to take pictures inside)
outside of Burke Lakefront Airport - Uncle Steve, this is for you, I can't tell you anything about it though...sorry
Floyd

a beautiful sunrise that looked a lot more beautiful in person. I couldn't get the exposure right, no matter how many different ones I tried.
Cleveland Cleveland

92.69 miles
13.6 mph average

I am always so excited to get to camp the day of a rest day. I didn't take a break from riding today until our check point at about mile 50. We rode along Lake Erie for the beginning of the day. The lake went on for as far as you could see. We then entered Cleveland and rode right through the city. Some people took a break to go see the Indians play. I took a long break at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with David. So much for getting to camp early to start my rest day. The NPR Story Corps trailer was parked outside of the museum and we talked with the NPR folks for a while too. The hall of fame was $20 to get in but one of the public radio guys was a member and gave us a two for one coupon! It was a lot of fun! They had so much cool stuff to look at. We only got to see about half of it because the reality that we still had 40 more miles to ride was hanging over our heads and we decided we really needed to get going. We were really late for only having ridden 40 miles. We got about 10 miles away and it started drizzling and we started hearing thunder. It wasn't supposed to rain today. David didn't have any raingear with him. Eventually, we pulled over and I put on my dorky rain helmet cover and just then the sky opened up into a terrific storm. 3 inches of rain fell in less than an hour. We stood on the side of the sidewalk in this extremely rich neighborhood of mansions and huddled under small trees completely soaked. I had my raincoat on though, but the rest of me was wet. It was freezing and wind was about horizontal at times with hail falling. It really was an impressive storm that never seemed to move away from us. The thunder and lightening were still directly over us for some time. Eventually, the rain let up a bit and we decided to get going. We stopped at a CVS so David could buy a rain poncho and called our crew to let them know where we were, since we knew most people were already at camp and the route was close to closing. We had twenty miles left to ride. Eventually, the rain stopped just as the hills began. We haven't seen hills in days, and boy were they back. These were steep rollers welcoming us and preparing us for the even steeper Alleganys that lie ahead - the hardest part of our trip. We got to camp just after 6pm with stories of the storm to tell! Burton is a beautiful little town that I am excited to explore tomorrow on my rest day. We are staying at the fairgrounds a short walk from the middle of town. Only 7 more riding days left - I can't believe it!

Day 38 (8/1) Napoleon, OH to Sandusky, OH

2007-08-03T09:53:00.001-07:00

Cedar Point amusement park (Andy's pic). I rode that one in the distance - it was great!
Cedar Point Amusement Park - I rode that one!

Margo and her younger sister Dana who goes to nearby Oberlin College

89.21 miles
15.6 mph average

This was our easiest day of riding!!! I've never ridden on such flat roads before for so long. It was FLAT! We actually didn't have a headwind either - that was rare! I got two flats today - I'm quickly making up for getting through most of the trip without any. Despite the flats, it was a great, fast day riding. I was riding over 20 mph for periods of time this afternoon - it was really fun to be able to go fast. Unfortunately, it takes me about 20 miles to wake up every morning, so my morning miles are always pretty snail-like. I am not a morning person. I had a nice dinner in Sandusky at a pizza place with Greg, Vern and Jerome. Then I caught the shuttle from our campground to Cedar Point amusement park. It was $25.00 for an evening pass. I met Andy and David there and I got to ride three great roller coasters - it was so much fun!!! Apparantly a party took place at our campground that night that I missed - some people had a great time. When I got back it was about 10:30 and way past my bedtime. I never heard the train that ran regularly right next to us or the small planes that were taking off and landing from the neighboring airport - I slept great - as usual (I am always so exhausted, I just pass out instantly).

Day 37 (7/31) Kendallville, IN to Napoleon, OH

2007-08-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

this looks more like art than patching up cracks - one of the roads we were on today

This is the best we got for our welcome to Ohio sign.
...so our crew improvised for us - Marty at the Welcome to Ohio sign
me
a bunch of our bikes at the fairgrounds in Napoleon, OH where we camped tonight

70.59 miles
14.0 mph average

State #10 - Wow, this trip is going really fast. It was a great day riding. I was the last to leave camp this morning, but eventually I caught up with Adam, Margo, and Greg and rode with them for a while. Rode with Bob Dumke at the end of the day. We rode on great country roads today with little traffic. There was an ice cream stand two miles before we got to camp in Napoleon that actually had sorbet - what a treat (since I can't eat ice cream)! We camped at the fairgrounds and had dinner provided by a local catering family. Tomorrow night we will be in Sandusky, OH - where the famous Cedar Point amusement park is. Our rest day after that is in Burton, OH where we would have our first rest day NOT in dorms. We are camping at the fairground for our rest day. This is a bit disappointing because when it's hot out during the day, it's nice to be able to nap inside in a bed. A group of people decided to avoid this rest day by continuing on to Sandusky tonight (riding another 75 -80 miles on top of the 70 miles we rode today) and have a rest day tomorrow in Sandusky and play on the roller coasters and then ride to Burton when everyone else was on their rest day. They took their rest day a day early. It sounded like a great plan, but the thought of riding another 75 miles when I had just put up my tent sounded impossible to me. So, I just relaxed in Napoleon and did some reading. A nice evening, despite the extreme heat and humidity.

Day 36 (7/30) Valparaiso, IN to Kendallville, IN

2007-08-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

Vern and a large farm vehicle that we shared the road with. Vern collects abandoned toys that are left on the side of the road and gives them a free ride across the country on his bike - among them are Trix the rabbit, the mouse? from Charlotte's Web, and a two headed talking dragon.

Ane
Brian and Phil
Andy and me
a train over the tunnel
Andy

Andy and Ane
This beautiful farm where we decided to plop down and take a break. The flowers were beautiful!

Andy
Ben

Larry, the 1999 big rider who served us fresh pastries and local canteloupe at our water stop today. He was great to talk to!
somehow Ane ended up in the soybeans today. We're not really sure how it happened, but all of a sudden we found her a ways off in the field. We saw her smile, so we immediately took out our cameras to get a picture - knowing she wasn't hurt.
What I would call a giraffe-poodle. Others call it an alpaca. It just kept running laps back and forth along its track that it created.

112.87 miles
14.8 mph average

This was our second longest day of the ride. I was exhausted this morning and got off to a very slow start. I was riding slower than ever. Our first water stop was given to us by a 1999 big rider named Larry. He was a great guy to talk to and had a amazing spread for us that included local Indiana cantelope and fresh baked cinnamon buns! There was so much food!! He also had little Big Ride Across America bike stickers made up for us and gave them out. He was really great to talk to and very encouraging. With only a handful of riding days left, he reminded us to take time and smell the roses and not rush our way through each ride. He discussed some hardships we would face once the ride ended and we had to get on with our daily lives again. It was really nice to get the perspective of a former rider. I rode with Andy most of the day today. It was nice to ride with someone new and chat about our lives. We rode through Amish country today and passed many horse and buggys. I got my first flat of the trip today! I jinxed myself because earlier that day I said I was hoping to make it to the end without any flats. Sure enough, later that day my rear wheel was flat. I guess going about 2500 miles without a flat is pretty impressive.

Day 34 (7/28) Coal City, IL to Valpariso, IN and Day 35 (REST DAY)

2007-07-29T17:15:00.001-07:00

Andy, Kelly, Kelly's mom (Andy's pic)
We've taken over the library computer lab at Valpo. University - our typical rest day blogging (Andy's pic)

Day 35 - Rest Day!!! Bob, Helyn, and Mary in one of the local shops - the only one open on Sunday

Welcome to Indiana - no official sign, except for county sign
The Lambert Family - they also provided a great water stop for us with great homemade cookies and cold sodas!!!
I've never been so excited to get to our campsite before - Valparaiso University = REST
Ane is now a cross country pizza delivery person!

Illinois (soybeans)

corn

Indiana sign - the best we could do

this couch was on the side of road and Greg decided to take a little nap. Greg takes naps any time he is not on the bike - standing, sitting, eating... Ok, so he was just posing for a nap supposedly here...(I swiped this pic from Andy)

rode on route 66 for a couple miles today
making Illinois exciting
Illinois - close to Indiana border
soybeans
and more soybeans

85.37 miles

13.6 mph average

TIRED, but still drug free (ibuprofin that is)!!!!!! EXHAUSTED!!!!!!! Can't wait for this day to end!!! The roads were terrible today. This route sure did make me dislike Illinois. It seemed to have a bad energy about it. We didn't get to see any town centers and the Illinois drivers hated cyclists. They were dangerous to ride with, especially because the roads had no shoulder and the drivers barely moved over and definitely didn't slow down, if anything, they sped up. It was pretty nerve wracking when it went on for 18 miles straight on a highway today. Pretty dangerous. Our route also seems to be to absolute longest way to get there these last couple days. Margo got a shortcut from a local yesterday that cut 8 miles off her day!!!! It wasn't like we were taking the scenic route either - there was nothing scenic about it. Illinois was my least positive experience on the ride. Once we hit Indiana, I could feel a more positive energy about the place almost immediately though. I sped up considerably for the end of the ride and successfully survived our 7 day stretch. I can do anything now!! But first.... I will REST!!!!!

Day 33 (7/27) Belvidere, IL to Coal City, IL

2007-07-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

No pictures today - just picture corn fields and soybean fields for 100 miles with some small unexciting towns that we went around (we didn't even ride through the heart of the towns) All I was thinking about today was getting to camp and the fact that we have a rest day after our ride tomorrow...pictures were not on the agenda

I stole these two pictures of Kelly's first century from Bill. (Thanks Bill!) I was in my tent half asleep clapping for her, but too exhausted to get up and take a picture.

105.91 miles
14.3 mph average

This was our second century+ of the week. What a long week!!!! I was so exhausted at the end of the ride tonight that I passed out writing in my journal after dinner and slept right through lunch prep. Luckily these amazing people noticed I was asleep and made lunch for me! Kelly - our hand cyclist - did her 1st century of her life today!!!! It was great to see her ride into camp on her bike!!! She is not always able to do the complete ride each day because of the hills, but she rode over 100 miles today - she is AMAZING!!! Unfortunately, when she rolled in I was still half asleep, I clapped for her in my tent, but I was too tired to get out and get a picture. I wish I wasn't so tired!!!

Today was my slowest start of the day yet. I was riding about 7 -8 mph for the first several miles. I was so tired and my stomach hurt. It was a rough start. (I managed to remain drug free all day again though.) It also started pouring just as my stomach was feeling better. And boy did it pour. Wet bike shorts are not a good thing for butt comfort at all!!!! Finally the rain let up though - about halfway through the day. At mile 61 I decided to adjust the tilt of my saddle because it came loose while going down a very bumpy hill yesterday and it wasn't at the right tilt. I stopped to adjust it back and the screw broke in half. This screw holds my saddle on, without it I don't have a seat. This was potentially bad news. I feared that I might have to be sagged into camp until it could be replaced - this was my worst fear - to not be able to ride every part of the route. Luckily, I got a hold of Dave, the mechanic, and he picked me up and we found a hardware store that actually had the metric hex screw that I needed. What a relief!!! He dropped me off exactly where I broke down and I was able to finish the ride. It only set me back about an hour or so. The roads were terrible today - they were extremely bumpy, which made for a very uncomfortable bum! We camped at the Coal City Area Club - a campground and recreation area for locals. There was a large group of RV campers that were partying hard and were extremely loud and rude. They were screaming after midnight and at one point some of them went running through our camp drunk, knocking on tents. Their music was blaring and they were LOUD!! The campground also seemed to be a main thoroughfare for the locals at all hours of the night. They would drive right through and see what was going on. Most of us had a terrible night's sleep here tonight. I, of course, slept just fine, waking up to hear them only when I had to pee. Tomorrow night begins our rest day - I might actually make it. Never again will I ride this many miles consecutively without giving my body recovery time. It has been some of the best and worst riding of the trip though.

Day 32 (7/26) Madison, WI to Belvidere, IL

2007-07-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

Staying Dry, but still sleeping in tents to keep the mosquitos away!!

84.13 miles
13.6 mph average

Nice rolling hills most of the day. Rode alone all day today. I was also drug free all day today - no ibuprofin for my aching knees or hamstrings!!! That's an improvement - I've been needing motrin to get me through most days. The knee was hurting more when I stopped riding than when I was riding - gotta love arthritis. The check point was at the Illinois border in Beloit, WI and South Beloit, IL at mile 50. It was a rainy day today. I got rained on before the check point for a bit, then it stopped while I was at the checkpoint for me to eat lunch. It rained again for the last 15-20 of the ride for me. I got into camp at about 2 and the truck with our gear wasn't there yet. I was chilly and wet, but luckily the campground had a main building with a couch where I could sit and relax and watch the Tour with everyone while we waited for the truck to get there. We were allowed to camp under the picnic pavillion so we didn't have to set up our tents in the rain. It was supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. What a treat it was to be able to put away a dry tent in the morning. I wasn't very impressed with the part of Illinois we rode through today. It seemed pretty drab with a lot of corn and soybeans. We did ride through Oregon and Brooklyn, IL though!

Day 31 (7/25) Viroqua, WI to Madison, WI

2007-07-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

Corn fields on a terrace

the morning fog

a farm stand/petting zoo where our check point/water stop was located today
Beautiful!!

Steven - sleeping soundly at campground
Chris Tall (Jamie's twin) and I after he dropped me back off at my campground
Madison University - open mic night. In the summer the university has lots of events for the locals when the students are gone. This was a beautiful place to sit and relax at night.
Madison's capital building - it was designed by the same person who built D.C.'s capital building - that explains the striking resemblance

110.48 miles

14.4 mph average

This was a LONG DAY!! I can't wait for these 7 days to be over, I'm exhausted! There were lots of hills in the beginning and end of the ride, they weren't that steep, but there were a lot of them! I stopped a lot today, my body is worn out and tired. We took a very roundabout way to get to our campground tonight. We bypassed the city of Madison, which was very unfortunate. I can't believe we rode here and didn't even get to go into the city. It is probably the most bike friendly city on our entire route, and a great city to check out and explore! Our campground was nice and Bob Dumke and Dan Scott's family provided a super dinner for us! There was tons of food and drink for everyone! The brats were amazing and they even had a Culver's ice cream cooler and served sundaes, along with lots of baked goods for dessert! It was a great meal. As exhausted as I was, I still was up for meeting up with a friend and getting to go check out Madison. Jamie Tall's (who I work with) twin brother lives in Madison now and he came and picked me up and showed me the city for a couple hours. What a nice city! It was so nice to see a familiar face from home too - thanks Chris, I had a great time!

Day 30 (7/24) Winona, MN to Viroqua, WI

2007-07-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Mighty Mississippi

They Meyer's family water stop - WOW it was amazing!!
Some of the Meyer's girls - they did most of the preparation for this event - which really was an event!

Some of their spectacular gardens - their old shoes have become fabulous planters

a heron in a little swampy part of the Mississippi

LaCrosse, WI

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge

Upper Mississippi

At the top of a large hill

The Amish collecting their piles of wheat to be threshed. There is a horse and wagon in the back.

my lovely tan lines from my watch and bike glove

66.57 miles
13.1 mph average

This was my favorite day of riding! It was absolutely beautiful. We started the ride along the Mississippi in Minnesota for the first 20 - 30 miles. We had the most amazing water stop ever at the home of the Meyer's family on the Mississippi in Dakota, MN. They are an amazing family. They have about 5 girls and a boy and all are homeschooled. They grow all their own vegetables and have an amazing flower garden. They started doing this water stop for us because their kids would always wave at the riders every year as they rode by. The riders would always stop and talk to them and they enjoyed learning about the ride and talking to the riders. They started doing the water stop in 2000, I believe. They had a tent set up with tables and chairs and fresh flowers on each table. They had a guest book sign in table with a picture of one of their grandparents who had died from lung cancer. This is their way of giving to the American Lung Association. They are not serious bike riders, but they did have a framed picture out of the entire family on the "Tour de Grandma" where they all rode to their Grandma's house across the river to Wisconsin. They had printed head shots of each of us out from our blogs, which they had been reading, and had us autograph them to put in their photo album. They had the pictures of each rider since 2000. They even had comfy chairs set up and one of the girls was giving interviews of the riders. The baked goods and fruit and fresh squeezed lemonade were amazing!!! What a wonderful family!

The Mississippi in this section reminds me a bit of the Hudson back home, in its narrower sections. I also started seeing familiar wildflowers again - queen Anne's lace (which is apparently invasive here), chickory - my favorite, vetch, and birdsfoot trefoil. At home, I love looking at all the wildflowers along my ride, and it sure is nice to have them back again. I feel a bit closer to home now. We crossed the Mississippi into LaCrosse, WI - the home of the LaCrosse brewing company and the world's largest six-pack. Once we left LaCrosse, the ride became absolutely spectacular! It was full of steeper rolling hills and terrace farming. There were gaps in the terrace farming to prevent erosion - it made for beautiful landscape! It was still corn and soybeans, the same as Minnesota, but it was so much more natural looking and lacked the crop signs in front of each crop that displayed the seed number and name for that particular genetic variety created in some laboratory of the agricultural giants. Many of these farms were organic and we also entered Amish country - their farms were definitely organic. It was amazing to see them with their horse and carriage harvesting their wheat. They would spear piles of it and loft it up into their wagon. They then took it to horse driven machine that would thresh it (remove the grain, the seed) and throw the hay into their barns for animal bedding. It was amazing to watch them. I was completely enjoying riding alone today and soaking up all the beauty of my surroundings while lost in my own thoughts. We rode past the Organic Valley creamery today too. Many people went in for tastings. They got to see how ghee is made (Indian butter where the fat is shaved off) and got to taste organic milk and even chocolate soy milk. I didn't go in because I wanted to keep on riding. We camped in Viroqua, a great small town that reminded me a bit of New Paltz, but smaller. It had a food co-op that was amazing - the best dinner I've had on the trip. It was so nice to give my body healthy food again. I had a huge spinach and mixed green organic salad, rice, sauteed veges, and a pint of stonyfield farms frozen yogurt for dessert - what a treat!!!! Health food stores have been hard to come by on this journey, so I stocked up on some healthy treats for the road too. This seven day stretch is starting to wear on me. I am exhausted! I hope I can make it through these 7 days. My body needs some recovery time - I'm tired, but lovin' it!

Day 29 (7/23) Owatonna, MN to Winona, MN

2007-07-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

A beautiful rainbow after the rain!

the famous Mayo Clinic - Rochester, MN

91.32 miles

14.7 mph average

It was still pouring when we woke up this morning. It was really hard to get out of our sleeping bags, I wanted to stay curled up in bed and listen to the rain as I dozed off back to sleep...but no we had 91 miles ahead of us and the only way to get there was pedaling. Luckily it stopped raining just in time for us to load our gear onto the truck, eat breakfast and get on the road. As soon as we were on the road it started again though. I rained pretty hard for a while, but then stopped and although the sky looked like it could dump on us at any minute, it held out for the rest of the day. I got some great pictures of a rainbow just after the rain stopped. It was great riding today, rolling hills that were varied and pretty easy. The wind wasn't bad either. I rode alone most of the day, but then joined Greg Sterling and later David. Greg and I chatted the whole way, he's great to talk to. After a while it bacame too dangerous to be riding 2 abreast though, there wasn't a good shoulder and the traffic was not very bike friendly. Today we rode through Ane and Liz's hometown of Rochester, MN (home to the Mayo Clinic). Their families put out an amazing water stop for us. Ane's Dad is a baker and make strawberry rhubarb crisp and rhubarb and apple pies. There were peanut butter rice crispy treats and tons of fresh fruit. It was a wonderful treat and great to chat with their families. I rode past the Mayo Clinic at St. Mary's Hospital. Pollie's parents and younger sister also came to see us today. Her Dad decided to stay on with us as support for the rest of the ride to replace Anne. We had a great 2 mile + downhill at the end of our ride as we descended into the Mississippi River valley. Unfortunately, the roads were really bad and cracked though, so the going was rough. We were given the rare opportunity to stay in dorms tonight, on a NON rest day, that was a huge treat! We stayed at Winona University. Winona is a great little college town on the Mississippi. Just across the river is Wisconsin.

Day 28 (7/22) New Ulm, MN to Owatonna, MN

2007-07-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

73.43 miles
13.2 mph average

I didn't take any pictures today for some reason.

There was a strong crosswind today, that sometimes became a headwind. Despite this, the ride went very quickly today! I never thought I would say 73 miles is a short ride, but it was pleasantly short. At breakfast today, it was announced that one of our support staff, Anne had to leave us. We were very sad to hear the news and will miss her greatly - she was wonderful to have as our support. Anne, if you're reading this, I hope you are doing well. We all miss you! It would be great if we could get to see you at the end of the ride.

We passed through many small towns today which broke up the ride nicely. We rode through Mancato, MN which seems like a nice city. We rode to Vern's hometown today and had a warm welcome from several members of his family and community. His wife brought us PIE and lots of it - it was so good! We camped at the fairgrounds in Owatonna and it poured at night!! Many of us were sleeping in the beer garden building and were nice and dry, but a handful of people were tenting and their things were soaked in the morning.

Some great pictures by David Lambert

2007-07-21T17:24:00.001-07:00

These are all in random order from our trip. They are great pictures taken by David that capture things that I didn't have my camera out for or wasn't there at that time...Enjoy!

The second day of construction - the not so bad one.
Sean at 1/2 way mark
lunch at some diner - Nick, Jay, Greg, Trish, Rodney

view of Missoula, MT from the "M" on the mountain - a few people hiked up to it and camped out up there
the Missouri River from the park in Pierre, SD
More of the second day of construction

having fun on the Sinclair dinosaur

King of the Hay Stack! Mike and David
One of the high schools we got to sleep in the hallway of
Lambert in Lamberton, MN
The girl with the lemonade stand in Newcastle, WY
How far we've gone!!!!!

giant combine. this ain't your grandpa's farm
a war zone of giant combines harvesting wheat. They sure did generate a lot of dust and wind
the first day of construction when I fell
the Dimmitts
Margo coming out of the construction

Adam and Margo
a high school gym we got to camp ouDavid at the 1/2 way mark
a mining truck tire at some mine
Texas Longhorn bulls

Day 26 - Tyler, MN to New Ulm, MN and Day 27 - Rest Day!!!

2007-07-21T15:52:00.001-07:00

Walnut Grove, MN temporary home to Laura Ingalls Wilder. Familiar grain elevator in the distance welcoming us to the town.
Hermann Monument in New Ulm. The 106th Congress of the US designated this monument here to be an official symbol of all citizens of German heritage. Hermann of Cherusci is honored as the liberator of Germany from Rome in 9 AD and the father of Germanic independence.

90.40 miles (includes ride to clinic and back up hill to college)

13.6 mph

Rode mostly alone today. The back of my right knee was killing me today from using my hamstrings more than normal to pull up on the pedals. I can't wait to get there and start this rest day. Boy, do I need it! I slowed way down by the second half of the day because my leg was so sore. I kept stopping to stretch it and I even iced at the last water stop. It was nice to actually not have a headwind for the whole day today. We had a crosswind for most of the day and a headwind only at the end of the day. We passed through a lot more small towns, which was really nice and breaks up the ride a bit more. We rode through Walnut Grove, MN which is also where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived for a little while during her pioneer childhood. This is where the TV show takes place. Minnesota is home to four of our riders and lots of people are getting visitors on this rest day. Brian's woman surprised him on the route today and rode right up to him on her bike. She flew out from Seattle to surprise him. Ane and Liz both got to see their parents today and Tom's girlfriend and Vern's wife came out to see them. Mary's man came up from Iowa to see her too.

I got in at a clinic in town to see a doctor for my extra painful muscle. I got an anti inflammitory prescribed to have it if I need it. Motrin wasn't really doing much for me today. I'm a bit concerned about our next 7 day stretch. My body is pretty tired. I hope it can make it. The doctor at the clinic was actually a cyclist and had a poster of the Tour up in the room.

We are staying at Martin Luther College in New Ulm. New Ulm is a German town, it is the sister town to a New Ulm in Germany. This weekend is their Bavarian Bash. A lot of people drank a lot of German beer tonight and polkaed down into the wee hours. They met a local guy who actually lent his car to Andy, who was not drinking, to drive the rest of our clan back to campus that night and drive the owner of the car home so he could drink more too. Andy still had the car the next morning and drove some of us into town for breakfast. There is a large hill between town and campus and it is several blocks. The wife of the guy with the car invited a bunch of the group that was out last night over for brats for lunch on Saturday. I on the other hand, stayed in on Friday night and watched some of the Tour in the lounge and then passed out on my bed. I was exhausted and my allergies were probably the worst they have ever been (except when in the presence of hissing cockroaches - but it was really close to that bad!). I didn't sleep well because of it and woke up and took another zyrtec just to try and get by, it didn't even help! My legs were really stiff on Saturday and tried to get a massage but every place was closed. I had to massage them myself the best I could. The town is a nice really town with every shop being German. Great German food! All the words are in German too. I bought a battery operated radio to strap onto my bike to get me through the hard times during the next seven days, because I know I will have them. It was a nice rest day, but never long enough. This blogging stuff takes up several hours of the day too, but I love reading your comments, so keep them coming!! Wish me luck on these next 7 straight days!!!

Day 25 - DeSmet, SD to Tyler, MN

2007-07-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

The first week of our trip Pollie, our ride director, hit a large bird and put a good dent in the rental truck. Mary has surprised her with a nice little reminder of her mishap. It squawks when you press it too!!
Minnesota - State #6!
Justine and Trish
Danebod Folk School museum
Danebod Lutheran church

every Danish church has a ship to remind them of family out at sea

Danebod folk school with my orange tent in front

79.79 miles

13.8 mph

Headwind all day, but the day went really fast for me. It was a good day. I've been pulling up on my pedals a lot more to get more power and speed and my hamstrings aren't used it - the back of my knees were hurting today from it. I've been riding hard the last couple days. There was a great bike shop in Brookings, SD that also owns the adjoining ice cream/coffee shop. They served us all free ice cream and had great sales in the bike shop. They also fixed my cadence meter which hasn't worked since day 2. The ice cream shop had a tv and chairs where a lot of us got to catch up on the Tour. Anywhere where we are and there is a television, you can usually find the Tour on.

We crossed the Minnesota border at about mile 62. State #6!!!! The towns are now closer together and there are a lot of lakes to ride past. A nice change from the dryer prairie. It's kind of nice to see the grain elevator in the distance every time we are approaching a new town. They all have one and they all seem to be on the western side of town, so we always see them first. It's comforting and definitely something to look forward to as it lingers in the distance. We are camping tonight in a small danish community called Danebod Folk School. The Lutheran pastor gave us a tour of the beautiful church and folk school. It is by far the most beautiful place we have stayed. I camped under my favorite tree - a sycamore. The buildings were beautiful and the people were so friendly. Food was catered by Tu phat women catering! Pretty good! We ate in a beautiful screen building with a stone fireplace. A very relaxing evening!

We are almost at the end of our 6 day stretch. I am exhausted. I have been getting lots of sleep and still my body is exhausted. I can't wait for the rest day!

Day 24 - Miller, SD to DeSmet, SD

2007-07-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Scott, Alison and Andy at 1/2 way mark
1/2 way mark!!!! 1600 miles!!! Incredible.

Waiting out the storm in someone's barn
me with my extra dorky raingear outfit

80.75 miles (including ride to hotel from camp)

14.4 mph

Headwind all day again. The day started with a storm lingering above us, it was real cloudy and overcast. We reached our halfway mark at about mile 44 today!! Halfway across the country! It's really hard to believe we've biked this far, when I look at it on a map it seems impossible. I still can't really believe it, what an incredible journey it's been! Half way to D.C.!! The storm finally hit us around mile 50. It was some serious thunder and lightening. I was riding with Alison, Kari, Scott and Andy. We rode in it for awhile but then decided to duck in for cover in someone's barn on the side of the road and wait it out. It was really pouring and the lightening was close. We tried calling other riders in to our shelter as they rode by, but no one heard us. We got back on the road once the storm passed.

We found out later that lightening had struck on either side of Dan Scott and fried his cycle computer - pretty scary!! We also found out later that Brack senior had taken a spill today and was in the hospital with a fractured pelvis! His wife, Jean Anne, was just leaving today to go back to work for a few weeks. They luckily caught her before her flight took off. It was really sad that he's not going to be able to finish the ride, yesterday was his 72nd birthday too!! He wanted so much to complete the ride. Instead, we are keeping them with us in our community by helping update their blog to keep them and their sponsors updated on how the ride is going and they are sending us some jersies from one of his main sponsors and we are going to take turns wearing them across the country and sign off who wore it on each day. They are still here with us in our everyday thoughts and actions, but we miss them both and hope Brack has a quick recovery. Hopefully we will see them at the finish line.

We arrived in DeSmet, SD pretty wet and clammy and all of us (my riding group today and I) decided to go in on a hotel room to dry out our things because it looked like rain again tonight. We got a room with 5 beds in it for a little over 20 bucks each - what a deal! We also got to soak our sore legs under the jets of their hot tub!

DeSmet, SD was home to Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family. Five of the Little House books take place in DeSmet. I went the Laura Ingalls Wilder visitor center and saw "the house that Pa built" which is now a museum. I didn't get to go inside though, becuase I didn't have time for the tour. Their house on the prairie was located on the outskirts of town and we will ride past the site tomorrow. A reproduction of their home is there. Original artificacts are in town in the general store and in the museum. Carrie Ingalls even worked for the local newspaper here in town. Dinner was provided by the Chamber of Commerce I think at the Catholic Church and people camped in the park. Dinner was excellent - Brats, fruit salad, baked goods....hhmmm.

Day 23 - Pierre, SD to Miller, SD

2007-07-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

A nice place to sit for a water break - Anne, Jodi and Greg
The nicer seats next to the cinder blocks.
Greg - checking out the route ahead on the cue sheet

74.63 miles

13.2 mph

Headwind ALL DAY, but the terrain was mostly flat and down and easy. You couldn't feel the down with the headwind though. I rode in a paceline with Kari, Alison, Andy, Jodi and David in the morning, but couldn't keep up with them on the few gradual hills. Rode with Greg, Margo and Adam later in the day and really enjoyed chatting with Greg. I rode alone for a while and then attempted a pace line, but wasn't in the right mentality for it yet and hit David's wheel in front of me and wiped out. I was fine, not even a scrape. That sure woke me up. Got into town at 1:30 and stopped at a pizza place before going to camp with Liz, Ane, Ben, Sean and David. Jay and Nick met us there and shared some fun lawyer humor with us! The pizza place had really good chocolate cookies. We camped at Miller high school - a nice school. Camped on the stage in the back corner - it was so nice - I slept great!!!

Day 22 - Kadoka, SD to Pierre, SD (Pierre is pronounced "pier")

2007-07-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

Midland, SD - Stroppel Inn The hot mineral bath was wonderful!!

Along the road... little, and even littler babies
Jodi relieving her sore feet in a bucket of ice....aaahhhhh
Ben -loungin'

98.18 miles (includes riding around town after to find some food)

13.5 mph

Today was full of really nice rolling hills - they were just the right grade and length. You could start coasting up them after each downhill. It was nice riding. A cyclist we met in Rapid City told Margo and I about this great hotel in Midland, SD that had a geothermic well where you could get a hot mineral bath for $3.50. Midland was at mile 34 though, so we were really hesitant about stopping and getting all relaxed and then having to ride for another 60 miles. We also weren't that excited about getting that far behind everyone with such a long detour. We decided we would go and check it out. It was an old hotel run by an old couple. They had two mineral baths, a hot one and a somewhat hot one. Today they were about the same temperature though - 105 degrees. It was a concrete vessel with water being continuously cycled through it. They drain it and clean it every night. It was really hot when we stuck our heads in the vessel and we didn't know if we should do it. We couldn't stay in long, because we couldn't afford to get dehydrated. Margo decided to flip a coin. Heads won, so we decided to do it. Adam wimped out and just waited for us in the lobby. For $3.50 we even got a nice bath size towel, which was a huge luxury compared to our wimpy camp towels we've been using. We went in for about 5 - 10 minutes and it felt wonderful! The woman gave us cold water and homemade cookies after and her husband showed us her salt and pepper shaker collection - which could be the world's largest. It was in glass display cases on every wall of their living room. What an adventure for $3.50!!!! We even were able to catch up with the end of the group at a post office/store/antique shop in Hayes, SD. There were strong headwinds for the last 25 miles of the day which made it really tough! Some people got sagged in early today. It was a hard day for everyone. Pierre is the capital of South Dakota and a pretty nice city. We camped at the city park on the Missouri River. It was very humid. No more arid nights. I was dripping with sweat just sitting in my tent. My allergies were also back in full force! The dry western weather was wonderful for my allergies, but now they are clearly back. I rode 200 miles in the last 2 days! I've never done that before! We also entered the Central Time Zone today! I'm only an hour behind now from home! It was very inconvenient for sleeping though. What would have been 8:45 was now 9:45 pm and it was still way too hot to go to sleep, even though we were totally exhausted! Had dinner at a mexican place with about 10 other big riders!

Day 21 - Rapid City, SD to Kadoka, SD

2007-07-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

Badlands National Park

Buffalo Gap National Grassland - borders Badlands

103.36 miles
13.5 mph

I was really tired today!! My rest day did not give me enough rest at all. This was a hard day for me! It was beautiful though!!! We rode through Badlands National Park which was amazing! I took lots of pictures. This morning we got our first rain, but it didn't last long at all. We heard thunder off in the distance but it never quite got to us. We had a very strong crosswind that later in the day became a headwind, making the day even more tiring. Kadoka, SD is a small town with a self appointed mayor who lent us his car to go to dinner. Very nice guy! We camped in the town park and could use the town pool. Dinner was at the Best Western restaurant.

Leaving Montana and crossing Wyoming and South Dakota

2007-07-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Days 16 to 19

Montana is a beautiful state full of high desert. It is very dry with beautiful big skys. As we left Montana, we rode through the Crow Indian Reservation and past Custer's Last Stand. The reservation towns are rather depressing, with their high voltage power lines and slaughter house right in town, things only found in low income areas. It's embarrasing to see the little bits of land we have crammed our native people on after we took their land and developed it. We stayed our last night in Montana in the town of Hardin which is on the reservation. We camped in the school lawn. We were allowed to use the showers at the town pool which was next door. The pool was indoors and was a beautiful olympic size pool with a hot tub that felt wonderful on sore muscles. The local 4H came to our campsite with ice cream sundaes for us! We also celebrated Dan's 60th birthday with lots of cake.

Wyoming was full of prairie and home to Devil's Tower (volcanic remains). Our first night in Wyoming was in Sheridan at a KOA campground just outside of town. It was a flat ride and I averaged over 15 mph that day! I rode with some new people who are faster riders and was able to keep up with them because there were no hills. I lose them on the hills, but can keep up on the flats and downhills. Rode our bikes into town for dinner. The town is really quaint with nice shops. Ate at Pony Bar and Grill. Some girls from a local girl's school met us at our campsite to talk with us about our ride. They are training for a two day - 100 mile benefit ride and had lots of questions for us. The next day we rode to Gillette, WY - the longest ride of our entire trip - 113.52 miles. I felt good today and averaged 14.2 mph even with it being an uphill day! We started the day riding 5 miles uphill through another construction zone of packed gravel. It wasn't too bad, not nearly as bad as the last one. The route up had beautiful views of the Big Horn Mountains in the distance. The ride down was great on the other side. One of our water stops was in Spotted Horse, WY with a population of 2. Saw lots of mule deer and antelopes today. The prairie had really great shaped hills popping out of it all day along the ride, quite beautiful. Lots of wild sunflower along the side of the road too. Today was the first day I made it into camp in time to help unload everyone's gear off the truck. While this is not really a fun job, it was an accomplishment for me to actually be there in time to do it. The people who get into camp first are the ones who unload the truck everyday. We camped in the town park in Gillette,which is a good size city. It was $10 night for dinner and I went to a great ribs place and had a wonderful salmon and mandarin orange mixed green salad! It was a nice treat! Ate with Cathy, Bill, Kari and Alison and shared a bottle of wine. That night some of the local kids harrassed us in our tents. They lit a fire up at the skate park, which was up the hill from where we were tenting and ran through our tents screaming "Fire" "Get Up" at about 2 or 3 in the morning. I, of course, was sound alseep and didn't hear a thing. The next day we rode 77.83 miles to Newcastle, WY. We had a tailwind the entire day and rode mostly downhill all day. This was my fastest average speed EVER - 17.2 mph!! Helped unload the truck again today. Saw Devil's Tower way off in the distance today. We stayed at a senior center that used to be a high school. We stayed in air conditioned rooms and had televisions to watch - what a luxury! It was a small town with coal trains going through regularly. The railroad has gone through most of the towns we have stayed in. Newcastle was an especially high traffic railroad town, which trains every half hour. Many people have been complaining of the train whistles all night long, but of course, I sleep just fine through them. The food that the lovely people at the Newcastle senior center made for us was worse than my middle school cafeteria food, but the people were very nice! A little girl across the street made some good money setting up a fresh squeezed lemonade stand. We sold her out in no time! The next day we entered South Dakota at mile 11. This was a beautiful riding day!! We rode 82.64 miles and I averaged 13.0 mph. We rode through the Black Hills National Park and Custer State Park. Many people rode off-route to Mt. Rushmore, but it was an extra 12 miles and had some serious hills. We have a rest day tomorrow and I plan on renting a car to go it then. Custer, SD is a great tourist town with lots of shops. We had a great, long downhill ride through Custer State Park where some people saw buffalo. I didn't see any from my bike, only from my car the next day. Stayed at the School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, SD. Rapid City is a surprisingly cool town with wonderful shops. It was a nice surprise for South Dakota. On the rest day I was a complete tourist and had an exhausting fun time!

Day 20 (7/14) - Rapid City, SD (REST DAY!!)

2007-07-14T19:17:00.001-07:00

Buffalo herd in Custer State Park, SD
Male Buffalo

Male Buffalo, alone on the side of the road

Defacating buffalo (for all of you middle schoolers or those of you with middle school mentalities)

Laying down right next to the road

Crazy Horse. This is a work in progress that will one day look like the model below. It will be the largest monument in the world. A little taller than Washington Monument. The four faces of Mount Rushmore would fit right behind the head region of this sculpture. It is being built entirely non-profit. They have refused federal funding. It is a monument for the Lakota tribe people of their honored Crazy Horse. They said it had to be carved in their sacred black hills. The original sculptor passed away, but his wife and 7 of his 10 children have dedicated their lives to continuing its progress.

The model with the actual sculpture in the background.

These next several pictures are along Needles Highway in Custer State Park. National Geographic rated it the 9th most scenic driving route in America. It is along route 87. This picture shows a woman rapelling down from this rock face.
The woman is at the top of the rock formation.

Oh, how nice it is to be in a forest again. A forest is definitely home to me. The other biomes are amazing to experience, but nothing feels more comfortable to me than the forest! Not quite deciduous, but still comforting and welcoming. There is just so much more energy and life felt here for me.

This is part of the road that we drove through. One car just fits through this tunnel.

Profile of Washington
Mount Rushmore National Memorial

In Mount Rushmore National Memorial, which I believe is part of Black Hills National Park. We rode our bikes through portions of Black Hills National Park and Custer State Park on the way into Rapid City yesterday. This was a great rest day. I would have really regretted it, if I was so close to these places and didn't take the time to go see them. Today was definitely devoted to sightseeing. I rented a car with two other people - Barry and Dan and we had a great time taking pictures and reading about history. I have mixed feelings about these two monuments. I enjoyed learning about the process of how they were sculpted and the history behind them, but I really prefer natural beauty. The process really is amazing! As art they are very impressive. Many, many tons of rock was removed to form these sculptures though, which is kind of sad, because the natural landscape is so beautiful. It almost seems like this altered landscape ruins some of the area's natural beauty. They are fascinating works of art, but I definitely appreciate the naturally worn rock formations more. It was a very long day and I am not exactly rested, but I don't regret it for a minute. Hopefully my bike can get through tomorrow and the next day without the extra love I usually give it on rest days. I think it can - the Gordon is a tough rig that hasn't let me down yet! I'll clean her chain and give her a bath in a couple days... Tomorrow - another great photo op - Badlands National Park!! After seeing my first live buffalo, I celebrated by feasting on a scrumptious, and healthy (very lean) buffalo burger in Custer, SD. A little backwards, I know. (The bone structure of these animals is overwhelmingly huge, but they are surprisingly lean.)

Day 19 (7/13) - NewCastle, WY to Rapid City, SD

2007-07-13T23:52:00.001-07:00

State #5 - South Dakota!!

State #5 - South Dakota!!
I'm on the end on the right

Vern - gettin' down to some honky tonk music at our water stop today!
Greg - at our check point in Custer, SD - a great tourist town - with music piped into the street!

Adam - Custer, SD
Custer State Park

Day 18 (7/12) - Gillette, WY to Newcastle, WY

2007-07-13T23:45:00.001-07:00

Faint view of Devil's Tower - way off in the distance
Eastern Wyoming - starting to see some trees

Day 17 (7/11) - Sheridan, WY to Gillette, WY

2007-07-13T23:19:00.001-07:00

Me at our water stop at the Spotted Horse bar and grill. I think are more things outside than inside.
Cathy on the outdoor toilet lawn ornament.

A lot of the roads in Wyoming are actually red. It looks really great next to the green prairies and blue sky

Some Spotted Dick in Spotted Horse, WY (population 2) anyone?

rest stop at Spotted Horse bar and grill (the two owners are the only inhabitants of the town)
view from Spotted Horse
wild sunflowers

Big Horn Mountains, WY in the distance
Scott and Tom
me with Big Horn mountains in the distance
Andy, at his usual fast pace going uphills
Liz

Day 16 (7/10) - Hardin, MT to Sheridan, WY

2007-07-13T23:04:00.001-07:00

Not exactly following the rules...but we had this road to ourselves for hours at a time today. It was our own private cycle path and very beautiful. I'm in the shoulder, where I belong...we had a blast today playing games, solving riddles, and singing songs
Liz and Ane

Welcome to Wyoming! State #4
Wyoming, lots of prairie. The wild west.
Not quite sure what that involves...

Native American Park on Crow Reservation near Custer Battlefield, MT
1,000 MILE marker!!!! me, Ane, and Andy
Steve and Kari
Tom, dramatically crossing the 1000 mile mark
water stop - relaxing

More Day 15 (7/9) - Billings, MT to Hardin, MT

2007-07-13T22:52:00.001-07:00

Ben - an advertisement for Gatorade

Water stop in the middle of nowhere in front of the only trees to be seen for miles and miles
Tom, Scott, and Alison
Water stop

Anne, one of our amazing crew members at a water stop

Day 15 (7/9) - Billing, MT to Hardin, MT

2007-07-13T22:35:00.001-07:00

Ane in her great biking skirt

Greg and Trish
David and I
Alex and Barry
Ben, Sean, and Liz

Dan on his 60th birthday

Day 14 - Rest Day, Billings, MT

2007-07-09T00:33:00.001-07:00

Dave, the mechanic giving us a bike 101 lesson
Ane's first purchase of alcohol! ...and a good choice, at that!
Billings, MT - a terrible picture, but the city is acually in a bowl surrounded by rock canyon walls. I wasn't that impressed with the city, but we had a great dinner tonight that 19 of us all went to together at the Montana Brewing Company! The burgers, sweet potato fries, and salads were amazing, as was the beer. Of course, we were all starving in about an hour again though. My luggage got about 8 pounds lighter today - I mailed home most of my cold weather clothes and some other random things. It's been over 100 degrees for the past few days. Luckily, the next few days are supposed to be in the 70s and 80s, what a pleasant relief. Well, off to bed, it's extremely late. I've added tons of pictures for days 2 and on so make sure you check them all out!

Day 13 (July 7) Harlowton, MT to Billings, MT

2007-07-09T00:21:00.001-07:00

Ryegate, MT - home of the Testicle Festival! Every June when the cows are castrated, they cook em' up and eat em' - Rocky Mountain Oysters! Some people tried to get some here, but the bar doesn't turn on the fryer until 10am and it was 8:30 am. Oh well.
Ane
MOOOOOOOOO
Comanche, MT train stop, a water stop for us. This grain elevator could be seen for miles and miles before we actually got to it.

91.56 miles
15.2 mph average

Today was absolutely the best for riding - a tailwind just about the entire way, and mostly all downhill!! We were blown to Billings!! I was on the road by 6 am and got to Billings just before 2 pm. What a great way to start a rest day! I am actually going to rest for this one too, I have no running around to do in town looking for saddles or better padded shorts. I passed out on my bed in our dorms at Montana State - Billings after doing my laundry and it was wonderful! Dinner was again amazing from Beyond Basil. A major electrical storm rolled in just as dinner was ending in the park and a bunch of people ran for it, but myself and about 6 others waited it out under the small picnic table pavillion. It was a great storm! Lightning everywhere!! It was really cold though for a while and we huddled together to keep warm. About an hour later, I think, it finally let up and we walked back to dorm to relax. Later that night, another thunder storm came through. The locals said they were some of the worst storms they ever seen in history! Fell asleep reading tonight...exhausted, but having the time of my life.

Even More Day 12 to Harlowton, MT

2007-07-09T00:07:00.001-07:00

101.16 miles

12.8 mph average

First full day with new saddle. It was totally tolerable, what a relief!!! If was really worried I wouldn't be able to find one I could tolerate. I went from two $100 or more saddles to a $30 one that works for me. Construction on the road today was really terrible to ride on. We had a 12 mile hill through Helena National Forest that was really long, but gradual. It was a beautiful ride and when you finally got to the top the view for the rest of the day was a complete surprise and absolutely amazing! I was spinning like crazy up the hill (about 85 - 90 rpms) to not hurt my knees and it was great, but very exhausting. I was very thankful for the top. The rest of the day was rolling hills with great scenery. I rode with David Lambert for the last leg of the ride and we had fun encouraging each other to the end. Iced my knee in camp and had an amazing catered meal by Beyond Basil out of Billings. Pork and Beef ribs, mango and crab salad, bean salads that were amazing and ginger snap cookies. The food was the best we've had and they offered to cater for us again tomorrow night in Billings!! Stayed at youth/Kiwanis hall in Harlowton. Showered at motel across the street.

More Day 12 Townsend to Harlowton, MT

2007-07-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

Margo, Adam and Greg

Day 12 (July 6) Townsend to Harlowton, MT

2007-07-08T23:43:00.001-07:00

Adam and Margo at water stop at the top of our 12 mile climb through Helena National Forest
Jodi, taking off
Greg and Trish with their tandem. We had to ride through about 2 miles of a construction zone today with the road completely torn up and large rocks laid down. It was terrible and many of us wiped out, including myself and Trish. Everyone was fine though and very glad to get to back to pavement and clear air.

Day 11 - Avon to Townsend

2007-07-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

61.96 miles
12.3 mph average

I was tired this morning and my left knee hurt. Once I started riding, things felt much better though. I rode half the day on my hard, painful butterfly saddle (without the ghetto padding) and then in Helena (the capital of Montana) I got my new saddle and even picked up another backup, just in case. I will not leave this ride because of my saddle. The new one is a cheap specialized dolce. I used it the second half of the day and it was really ok! Not as hard on my sit bones at all! Life just got so much better!! Today is Ane's 21st birthday and she got her bike outfitted with streamers and a birthday flag. The Townsend highschool we stayed at had wonderful homemade desserts for us to eat and 70 surprise cupcakes for Ane - a sugar celebration. And for a huge group of people who are ALWAYS hungry, we were in heaven. The climb up to the Continental Divide was only 4 miles long and the grade was really nice and gradual. MacDonald pass was nice, but nowhere near as breathtaking as the "going to the sun road" pass through Glacier National Park that I got to ride over last summer. The Rockies aren't as steep here. It was a hot evening and most people decided to sleep in the gym tonight because the field was practicall unbearable in the hot sun. Great scenery today!!

Even More Day 11 - July 5 to Townsend

2007-07-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

Ane and her birthday streamers and birthday flag - she turned 21 today!!
Ane's 21st birthday! Her mom had about 70 cupcakes made at a bakery in the town we were staying in and delivered to the high school we were staying at for a surprise dessert.

More Day 11 (July 5)

2007-07-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

Along Highway 12 after leaving Helena, Montana's capital

Helyn and Ane
Ane (her hand says "I love you mom"

Day 11 Avon to Townsend

2007-07-08T23:19:00.000-07:00

View coming down the pass

Helyn at viewpoint on the way down the pass
Prime Beef Country!

Day 11 (July 5) Avon to Townsend

2007-07-08T23:15:00.000-07:00

The Rockies - MacDonald Pass - The Continental Divide 6,325 ft (the highest elevation of our trip)

Vern, Bob, and Marty
Vern, Bob and me

Even More Day 10 Missoula to Avon

2007-07-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

My ghetto style saddle rigging that didn't work at all.
Missoula to Avon
100.02 miles
12.3 mph average

Well the padded ghetto seat seemed to work ok in the morning but as the day went on it became terrible. The saddle height was wrong even though the guy in the bike shop adjusted it to accomodate the padding - this caused my knees be on fire. After lowering the seat, my knees got a lot better. So the saddle was terrible and this was my toughest day riding yet. I almost couldn't finish the last 3 miles, my sit bones were in so much pain. But I did finish, and despite the terrible pain, the scenery today was breathtaking. What a beautiful ride! I also got a message that my amazing friend Rachel had her baby today, Adam David Birchwood, born on the Fourth of July!!! I tried out someone else's saddle as soon as I got into camp and arranged for our amazing crew to pick one up for me the next day in Helena. The day ended well with a fabulous dinner catered by a cafe in Avon. Wonderful tomato sauce, fresh fruit and homemade pie (5 or 6 to choose from)!

More Day 10 (July 4) Missoula to Avon

2007-07-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

Water Stop - two of our wonderful crew members: Cathy and Jerry trying to stay cool in the HOT sun
Jodi and David

More Day 10 (july 4) Missoula to Avon

2007-07-08T22:33:00.000-07:00

A friendly visitor sucking up some condensation in the dry heat

Alex and Barry

Barry and Alex

Day 10 (July 4) Missoula, MT to Avon, MT

2007-07-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

A typical water stop - Mary and David
Water Stop - Jodi, Pollie (our ride leader), Mary

Blackfoot River
Barry

Day 8 Pictures - Thompson Falls, MT to Missoula, MT

2007-07-08T21:54:00.001-07:00

This is actually Day 7 (July 1st)
Day 8 (July 2)

Our very warm welcoming at the University of Montana. They made this amazing sign for us and hung it in our dorm. Missoula is an amazing town that I absolutely loved! Aaaahhhh, REST.

More Day 7 Pictures - Sandpoint, ID to Thompson Falls, MT

2007-07-08T21:46:00.001-07:00

Me

Moose area, I didn't see any though
yard in Clark Fork, ID
Our 3rd State!!! The very large state of MONTANA! Big Sky Country!

Day 7 Pictures - Sandpoint, ID to Thompson Falls, MT

2007-07-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

More Day 6 pictures - Spokane to Sandpoint

2007-07-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

Lumber
Sandpoint High School - our home for the night
Cathy, one of our fabulous crew members
Relaxing at Sandpoint High School, clockwise yellow jersey to yellow jersey: Rodney, Pollie, Stephen, Kari, Andy

More Day 6 Pictures - Spokane to Sandpoint

2007-07-08T21:21:00.001-07:00

Vern

Day 6 Picutres - Spokane, WA to Sandpoint, ID

2007-07-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Great old fashion fountain shop in Riverside, WA - lunch break: Floyd, Helyn, her huge root beer float
Vern and Jodi at fountain shop
Vern, Jodi, me, Helyn, Floyd, and Marty
Yahoo!!!!!! Our 2nd state - Idaho!!
Pend Orielle River, ID

More Day 4 evening pics and day 5 - spokane rest day

2007-07-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

Jeff and Helyn
Helyn and Jeff
Jeff and Helyn having a great time
Bob cutting into an enormous calzone at David's Pizza in Spokane. We have been known to eat dinner and then leave and go eat our second dinner in a different restaurant. I've never been so hungry, all the time, in my life!

More Day 4 Pictures and kicking off our Spokane rest day

2007-07-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

Wood horse in Reardan, WA
Spokane, kickin' off our first rest day! Jack and Dan's Bar: Helyn and Adam
Helyn and Adam
Margo, Helyn, me and my lovely sunglass/helmet tan
Floyd and Helyn.

More Day 4 Pictures - Odessa to Spokane

2007-07-08T20:49:00.001-07:00

Sitting on some crates at Sing's gas station
Very patriotic and not even the 4th of July yet: David, Trish and Greg (our tandem pair)

me

Day 4 Pictures - Odessa to Spokane

2007-07-08T20:39:00.001-07:00

Mary, Jodi, Sing (the gas station owner who rode one of our bikes around his parking lot and gave us all free bottled water. He made us give him one of our blog addresses so he could keep checking up on us. He told us the bikes in India are all upright and he would kill his back riding one of these road bikes and leaning over the handlebars), Alex

More Day 3 Pictures - Vantage to Odessa, WA

2007-07-08T20:28:00.001-07:00

Massage line at campsite at Odessa high school: Mary, Trish, Margo, Michael, Jeff, Dan
Cook team filling the water jugs for tomorrow's water stops at a friendly neighbor's house next to the high school in Odessa
Another massage line later in the evening at the Odessa High School

Day 3 Pictures - Vantage to Odessa, WA

2007-07-08T20:17:00.001-07:00

Ane, Mary, me - view of Columbia River
Me, in the fabulous jersey that my students all signed. I have gotten so many compliments on this jersey. I love wearing it, it gives me lots of motivation! Thanks Team 6 - I hope you're checking in and reading this.
Jodi
Wild Horses Monument
Sagebrush, high desert ("palouse" - term used for scablands)

Day 2 Pictures - Easton to Vantage, WA

2007-07-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

This is actually Day 1 on the way to Easton, WA
Day 2 at check point taking a lunch break: David, Ane, Marty, me, David (mechanic), Brian
view of Mt. Ranier? looking back on the Cascades
Sagebrush - the most common vegetation on unfarmed land

Okay, this is really Day 3 leaving Vantage on our way to Odessa, WA. Vantage is just on te other side of the bridge. That's where we camped the previous night. Columbia River - we biked across that bridge

More Day 1 Pictures - Seattle to Easton, WA

2007-07-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

Michael Yee riding up mountain pass over the Cascades
Me, David, and Margo most of the way up the Cascade Pass

Props to my amazing students!

2007-07-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

This should have been done a long time ago, I just haven't had the time. My students are amazing. I teach 7th grade Life Science and my 5 classes of students raised almost $900 for the American Lung Association to support me! They rock! Thank you so much! I hope you are all having a wonderful summer! I can't wait to hear about your adventures next fall. Don't forget to come visit me. Everyone loves your jersey that you all signed. It really gets me by on rough days with all your wonderful encouraging words on it. I wil post pictures of me wearing it as soon as I get to a computer again that lets me. THANK YOU!

Day 9 - Rest Day - Missoula, MT

2007-07-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

What a great town. I could definitely live here. I got to know it pretty well riding about 12.5 miles around town to different bike shops. Some people hiked up to the big "M" on the mountain at the edge of town and camped up there last night. They said it was amazing, but they didn't get much sleep. Had amazing vegetarian Indian food for dinner and the best chai tea I've ever had. Lots of sorbet too! Instead of getting a new saddle, I got the ghetto version. A bike shop in town duct taped some foam onto my saddle! They said once my bones are no longer sore and bruised, I should be able to take the padding of layer by layer and get my butt used to my saddle. If it doesn't work by Billings, I will be buying a new cushy saddle. The ghetto set up wasn't that bad. I ordered some really nice densly cushioned shorts too. They will arrive in Billings on the next rest day. Didn't get to my laundry or blogging until about 9:30pm. It is now midnight and I am finally caught up. I am really going to regret this tomorrow though! I've been going to sleep at about 9 pm on ride nights and I am on breakfast set up tomorrow morning. It's going to be a very long day! Having a wonderful time though and really enjoying getting to know everyone better!! This is truly an amazing experience!

Day 8 - Thompson Falls, MT to Missoula, MT

2007-07-03T22:43:00.000-07:00

Rode 102.57 miles today. Average 13.5 mph

This was a long day, but I got into camp at the University of Montana at about 3:40 in the afternoon. The fastest century I've ever done. The morning was great and fast. I felt good. The afternoon, I slowed down a LOT, I had to stand up constantly. The ride was beautiful though. Got some yummy black licorice in a little town - mmmm. I was starving all day today. Breakfast didn't seem to work for me at all. My second breakfast was a king size snickers bar that ate in about 10 seconds. The last 26 miles of the ride was a long gradual hill, but the then the downhill seemed to last forever and took us right into Missoula. It was wonderful! My high speed was 44.5 mph and I was braking a bit because someone was in front of me. The high speed for the day was won by Andy - 52 mph. Another rest day!!!! Looking forward to shopping for a different saddle and eating sorbet and sleeping!

Day 7 - Sandpoint, ID to Thompson Falls, MT

2007-07-03T22:36:00.001-07:00

Rode 89.07 miles (Average 13.9)

By the way, I'm riding with 26 inch wheels and fat touring tires, I almost wish I had my road bike. My touring bike is really heavy and the tires are slow! A lot of people are riding beautiful titanium or carbon bikes that weigh nothing and are extremely fast. I'm the only person with 26 inch wheels. I bought my awsome steel Bruce Gordon touring bike with the intention of riding across the country fully loaded, self supported. That didn't work out and I had this great bike that I was dying to ride, so I brought it. It's really overkill and slow for this fully supported ride. I can't wait to so lots of self-supported touring with it, but for this, I really kind of wish I had a light road bike. I do like the low gears on the Gordon, they are very friendly on my bad knees, but I haven't really needed my granny much at all.

Our third state - pretty exciting! Big Sky country! Today was long day! My toe was feeling better. I loosened my shoes a lot and it was just fine. Had to stand up A LOT today to relieve my sit bones. It really slowed me down a lot. Scenery was beautiful today!!! I'll be seeing a lot of Montana for a while now!

Day 6 - Spokane, WA to Sandpoint, ID

2007-07-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Rode 81.51 miles. Average 14.2 mph

Beautiful Day - 70s. Butt really hurting in the morning. A lot of riders are suffering from the same butt pain. Sit bones are sore and some people have saddle sores. I bought a gel seat cover in Spokane and tried it out for about 6 miles today. It spread the pressure and pain out everywhere instead of just over my sit bones. I quickly took it off and just dealt with it. Big toe hurting today and top of it was numb. Tendon on other foot that lifts my foot up also hurting. Both of these we just minor annoyances though compared to the sore sit bones. Great easy day though! Another tailwind! Checked in at high school in Sandpoint and rode into town before showering or setting up tent. We Made it to our second state! Very exciting! Sandpoint is a great tourist town with lots of little shops and bike paths. It's a big ski town in the middle of beautiful mountains and near Priest River. Can't remember the name of the mountain range. Got a bike shop to fit me for some Specialized shoe inserts to help spread out the pressure on my metatarsals and help with the toe pain. Got back to the high school just in time for a cold shower and dinner (got some great sorbet in town - a nice treat). Fell asleep writing in journal again. Cold evening!

Day 5 - Rest Day, Spokane, WA

2007-07-03T22:25:00.000-07:00

Rest Days are wonderfull! Started my blog at the Gonzaga University library. We are staying on campus in the dorms. Bought some new bike shorts with denser padding. got a 1hr maggage - wonderful! Had some great pizza and did my laundry. Good Stuff!

Day 4 - Odessa to Spokane

2007-07-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

Rode 81.00 miles today. Average 14.1 mph

Amazing tailwind today! Practically blew us up the hills! Great day of biking! Butt still in pain. Rest day in Spokane - a wonderful and much needed thing. Went out with some people that night and had a great time. Pictures to come. This computer is not allowing me to upload any of my pictures. Also, on a side note - thanks for all the comments everyone has left. It's great to hear from everyone! I really enjoy reading them. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Day 3 - Vantage to Odessa

2007-07-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

Rode 84.87 miles today (average 12.1 mph)

Woke up feeling very refreshed. Fell asleep last night at about 8:30. After breakfast at the restaurant again we biked over the Columbia River. The bridge was I-90 with no real shoulder, but luckily it wasn't windy. I guess it can get pretty bad when it's windy and large semi's are passing by at high speeds. Across the bridge led to a hill climb with a great tourist lookout point near the top. There was a wild horses monument at the top of a mountain ridge and the view of the Columbia River and bridge below was beautiful. This part of Washington is basically a high desert with lots of sage growing everywhere that wasn't farmed. One side of the road would be wheat fields with irrigation sprinklers and the other side would be desert sage. It was pretty crazy! Felt good today, except for my extremely painful sit bones. Riding alone today was zen training for pain tolerance. Camped at high school in Odessa, a very small town with wheat as it's only livlihood. Many of the farmers however are paid not to grow wheat in their fields now by the US Dept of Agric. because the country has too much wheat! Pretty backwards. The entire town knew we were there, we pretty much doubled their population. We shared the high school with a football camp. Went down to a restaurant and had a local beer. It felt good to relax.

Day 2 Easton to Vantage, WA

2007-07-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

Rode 73.41 miles today

Overslept this morning. Only set one alarm and turned it off and slept for 20 minutes longer. Late for breakfast setup. The morning ride was beautiful but cold. There was mountains and a river. I rode by myself for the morning and enjoyed it. I took a very long lunch break at the check point. We have a water stop, a check point, and a second water stop each day that our crew provides us. Rode the afternoon with Ane and David. My butt was killing me!!!! Sit bones were SO sore! I had to stand up every 15-20 minutes. It was a tough afternoon. We had a strong headwind which makes it feel like you are not even moving. There was the crest of the hill we needed to climb lingering in the distance for about 3 hours that we never seemed to get any closer to. Headwinds are not good for your mental state at all. They are draining and terrible. But we made it. I rode with a lot people at this point and we encouraged each other to the end - it was great having their support - I needed it! Finally at the top of the hill, the downhill was amazing and long! David and I stopped at a petrified forest site. There was some petrified wood enclosed in iron grates. It wasn't that exciting, but fun to do some sightseeing. We camped on the Columbia River and ate dinner at a restaurant at the campsite. It was great!

Day 1 - Seattle to Easton

2007-07-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

I rode 82.8 miles today. The day was great! It was so fun to meet all of the riders for the first time. I was feeling much better, just had to stop to blow my nose constantly! I was pretty worried about how I would ride today, considering I hadn't ridden in a little over a week, but it wasn't bad at all. We crossed our first of three mountain passes - Snoqualmie Pass at 3,000 feet. It was a beautiful ride, past huge old trees in the national forest. The pass wasn't that steep. The roads out here are not as steep as the roads in the east. It was just long and windy with beautiful scenery. I rode with Margo, Ane, David, and Michael Yee for a good part of the day. My sit bones were killing me at the end of the ride. I was riding with a selle anatomica saddle and switched it out to my backup terry butterfly saddle at the end of the day. The saddle was working great for me at home, but I couldn't get it comfortable this day at all. Hopefully the Terry will be better.

I was so concerned about having my luggage weigh less than the maximum allowed weight of 70 lbs that I left a lot of things home that I wish I had packed. It was kind of cold last night, so I went to REI in Seattle and got some long underwear and good snacks. I was very glad to have them tonight. Today's weather was 50s - 60s. It was a chilly morning and was glad to have my arm and leg warmers.

Well the first day was amazing, and I'm looking forward to each day to come!

First Day Riding, Seattle to Easton

2007-06-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

The Big Riders!
Passing Over the $350,000 check from all of our donations to the head of the Washington American Lung Association

Snoqualmie Falls
Ane, Liz, Margo, David at the Falls

First Day Starting Ceremony

2007-06-29T16:38:00.001-07:00

Dan
Our Host Family
Starting Line - Lake Washington, Stan Sayer's Park
Margo, Helyn, Cricket, Bob
Ben

More Pictures from Seattle, before the ride

2007-06-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

Iron Mike, Me, Dan Scott

Mike

Margo and Jodi

Helyn

Big Ride 2007 Bike Jersey

2007-06-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I don't have time to flip them right side up, I'm almost out of time on this computer, but these are our jersies that I volunteered to be in charge of ordering for us. I was to work with the jersey company, Voler and tell them what we wanted on our jersies. I started sketching some designs and emailed them to them and they worked with my designs and improved them to end up with a pretty nice jersey. Everyone seems pleased with them and they are colorful and visible on the road. It was fun to draw the sketches, I haven' t drawn in years, and I really enjoy it. It was a great way to procrastinate too, it sure beat grading papers!

Seattle - Before the Ride Began

2007-06-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it to Seattle and had just finished putting my bike back together. I arrived with a pretty bad cold and felt kind of crappy but very excited to meet everyone and start my adventure. I was staying with 7 other big riders with a host family, the husband had done the ride a few years prior. It was great that 8 of us were all staying together because the rest of the big riders (there are 46 of us, I think) were each staying with different host families alone. We were lucky because we got to spend two days together before the ride started and really bond and get to know each other. These people are great! Our mechanic, Dave also stayed with us, who is also an awsome person!

Last long ride of my training

2007-06-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

This Saturday was my last long ride of my training. It actually wasn't all that long, but it was definitely full of elevation. Our first day riding is 77 miles and has about 4000 to 4500 feet elevation gain. To prepare for that, I rode up 5000 feet in 64 miles on Saturday. For those of you who are local, I rode up and over the ridge twice with several hills in between. It was a great route starting in New Paltz and going over the ridge on 44/55 to Kerhonkson, then out to the Ashokan Reservoir via many beautiful back country roads and then riding through Stone Ridge to High Falls and heading back up and over the ridge past the Mohonk Mountain House back into New Paltz. Unfortunately, it was pouring out for most of my time on the other side of the ridge (the non New Paltz side), which was most of my ride. My ride began and ended with absolutely beautiful weather in New Paltz though. It was a great ride and I definitely feel ready for the elevation now. Bring on the Cascades! I may not be fast, but I've got endurance and I feel pretty confident about what lies ahead. My flight leaves in 5 days, what lies ahead is nearly here...

Soon enough...

2007-06-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

Well, there's only a little more than a week left before the ride begins. I've finally finished my fundraising, thanks to my students' amazing donations! My training has been going well. I've been so busy lately with last minute preparation for the ride and preparing my students for their final exam and grading the final assignments that riding time has been very hard to fit in lately. I got to ride with my brother this past weekend during a rare local appearance which was great! I'm in much better shape since the last time I rode with him in October or November. I can't wait for it all to begin and meet all of my fellow riders. But until then...I've got a lot of preparation still left to do before I leave my home, my cat, my bills, and my job for a summer of excitement! Soon enough...