Photos posted!

Some of you may still be getting notified of new posts, others may just keep checking back here hoping that I have started some new epic adventure... But either way, your in for a treat because you get to see pictures from the whole trip!

I have posted them on my picasa page:

picasaweb.google.com/matthiastm/EPICBIKETRIP

Enjoy!

By The Numbers

12183 -- highest elevation
3804.3 -- total miles ridden
115.1 -- most miles in a day
98 -- hottest day
83 -- longest stretch between towns
74.6 -- average mileage per day riding
58 -- days from NYC to SF
51 -- days riding
45.1 -- top speed
29 -- coldest night
25 -- pounds lost collectively
14 -- states
10 -- flat tires (Michele - 6, Chris - 4)
7 -- days resting
6 -- other bicycle tourists met
5 -- state capitals
2 -- state fairs
2 -- days riding in the rain
2 -- nights sleeping through the rain
1 -- broken chain
1 -- nights abandoning our campsite because it turned into a pond
1 -- free ride in a limousine

1 -- UNFORGETTABLE ADVENTURE!

Thank you so much to everyone for your support and encouragement!

I hope you have enjoyed living vicariously through us for a time, and I hope that I may have at least convinced one of you to take on such an adventure of your own! It is definitely worth it!

So long! And thanks for all the fish!

Day 58

Start: Napa, CA
End: San Francisco, CA
Distance today: 68.6
Total: 3840.3

For some reason I couldn't sleep last night. I ended up taking a moonlight stroll through Skyline wilderness park around midnight. Maybe it was the anticipation if the last day of the trip... Maybe it was something I ate... Either way, I got about 4 hours of sleep last night, so I was wide awake this morning for our last day!

After some annoying construction, we had a pleasant but hot ride through the hills north of San Francisco... Then we got to Sausalito, where we got out first glimpse of SF and and our first gust of the cool ocean breeze from the Pacific!!

We rode the rest of the way over the Golden Gate with big stupid grins on our faces 'cause WE'RE THERE!!!

COAST TO COAST, BABY!!!!

And if that wasn't enough, I finished off the day by riding my fully-loaded bike up Jones St in San Francisco at somewhere around 24% grade!

We're done! (by the way, if you are reading this, you are required to post a comment below)

So... Now what?

Oh that's right... start training for the marathon!

Hey, guess what....

WE JUST RODE OUR BIKES ACROSS THE COUNTRY!!!

It wouldn't be a trip to California without stopping at In-N-Out!!

Day 57

Start: Napa, CA
End: Napa, CA
Distance today: 30.5
Total: 3769.3

The day started at 6:30 with the dog belonging to the campers next to us barking for 30 minutes straight...

After fully waking up and gathering ourselves together, we headed to downtown Napa for some breakfast... Our first restaurant breakfast of the trip!

After breakfast, we headed out to ride up Napa Valley, but got delayed at a farmers market that sprung up on us... After about an hour of sampling various fruits, vegetables, olive oils, and enjoying some local live music, we finally headed out through the vineyards.

We had a very relaxing and slow day. We only stopped at one place for actual wine tasting (partly due to our lazy slow pace, and partly due to Michele's ability to only handle one wine tasting before riding a bike again)

Anyways, the point is that we had an extremely relaxed and lovely day sipping wine and riding through the valley.

Arriving back at the town of Napa in the late afternoon, we had time for some homemade ice cream and chocolate, followed by a bit of relaxing in the park, followed by another round of wine tasting, followed by some beer and appetizers at the local brewery, followed by sushi (and yes, more wine) for dinner!

After all that, I am certainly ready for bed!

One more day!!! AHHHHH!

Day 56

Start: West Sacramento, CA
End: Napa, CA
Distance today: 72.2
Total: 3738.7

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures today... I was too busy enjoying the beautiful ride through the hills east of Napa Valley. Really one of the most enjoyable rides of the trip, through rolling hills and trees, past rivers and lakes and vineyards... But don't worry, we should have lots of time to take pictures tomorrow.

The Adventure Cycling route we were following has us taking a ferry at the end to get across the bay from Vallejo to San Francisco. Had we followed their advice, we would actually be in San Francisco and done with our trip right now! But... A ferry?? That is so cheating. I mean, if we wanted to cheat and take something other than a bike, we could have hopped in a car and been done with the trip weeks ago! So no ferry for us.

Getting into SF on a bike, however, is not as simple as one may think. There does not appear to be any direct route. The non-direct route we have chosen took us to Napa... And how often do you just happen to find yourself in Napa Valley with a couple of bikes? So naturally, we decided to take the day off tomorrow and cruise around the valley, meaning our ETA for SF is Sunday!

Only two days left!

Day 55

Start: South Lake Tahoe, CA
End: West Sacremento, CA
Distance today: 115.1
Total: 3666.1

Weeee! Over 7000 feet down through pine forests, wineries, orchards, and the such down to a beautiful bike trail along a river to Sacramento!

Tomorrow, heading to Napa to relax and drink some wine. :)

Threat Down

#1 Threat: Bears!

Last sighting: approximately 10 feet from my bivy sack.

All food and things that might possibly smell like food have been moved to a secure location in the laundry room of the KOA.

Hopefully I don't smell like food...

Day 54

Start: Carson City, NV
End: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Distance today:
Total:

CALIFORNIA!!!

Didn't make it as far as we had hoped, due to a bike issue. Fortunately, the bike issue didn't happen until we were in the middle of South Lake Tahoe. There is literally no better place this could have happened... So we decided to spend the afternoon in beautiful Lake Tahoe.

Actually, it's probably a better place to stop than we had originally planned.... See, we have to go over a pass through the Sierra Nevada mountains that is over 7000 feet. We were planning on stopping about halfway down at a campsite around 3500 feet... But now that we're starting from Tahoe, we're heading all the way to Sacramento, at a staggering elevation of 20 feet. That's over 7000 feet of downhill in one day! It's going to be.. wait for it... LEGENDARY!

California! Californi-AAAA! Here we COOOME!

It's hard to tell, but the top sign says: "Welcome to California"

Day 53

Start: Fallon, NV
End: Carson City, NV
Distance today: 73.4
Total: 3508.4

That's four state capitals on the trip so far.

Pretty short and easy day to Carson City Just a day away from California!

:)

EPIC DESERT PHOTO

I thought I posted this photo with my post yesterday, but it doesn't look like it's there...

Day 52

Start: Austin, NV
End: Fallon, NV
Distance today: 114.7
Total: 3435.0

It's 110 miles from Austin to the next town on the Loneliest Road... On a good day, we average 10 miles an hour, including stops. That means that at best, it should take 11 hours, an with approximately 12 hours of daylight, we woke up crazy early so we could be on the road by sunrise... Of course, starting on the western slope of a mountain meant we didn't actually see the sun for some time, and
meanwhile we were FREEZING as we flew downhill. But we did get a pretty beautiful scene of a desert sunrise in a mist-filled valley...

It was actually really easy going due to the lack of wind (we have been fighting a headwind for most of the past few days) and it wasn't even noon by the time we reached the Show Tree at about 60 miles (more than halfway).

Now, I had heard rumors about the Shoe Tree... Supposedly it had a lot of shoes... But damn! It has A LOT of shoes! Hundreds and hundreds of shoes hung from every branch of this tree, with hundreds more scattered at it's base, either having fallen from the tree, or perhaps left there by those who couldn't quite get their shoes high enough. Naturally, we scavenged among the fallen shoes to find a few pairs to try for ourselves (I got two pairs in... Michele got really really close, but couldn't seal the deal)

A few miles down the road from the Shoe Tree, we stopped for lunch at Middlegate, a gas station and cafe that was once a station along the Pony Express, and has existed as some form of cafe or tavern since at least 1860...

After lunch, we got not just one, but TWO reminders that no matter how awesome and hardcore you think you are for riding your bike across the country, there is always someone more badass than you out there.

The first came in the form of Aaron Lisco, a fellow cyclist who started riding this June in Alaska! When I asked him what his final destination was, he responded "well, Argentina to start." Alaska to Argentina as a START??! Turns out he is planning a 60 country tour around the whole world which should take him on the order of 5 years! (www.beyondthegreatdivide.org)

The second reminder was The Human Express, a guy who decided to RUN the old Pony Express Trail, from Sacremento to somewhere is Missouri. He's trying to average 50 miles a day... That's right RUNNING 50 miles EVERY DAY!

Anyways, after lunch we cruised on by the Sand Mountain (a 200 foot high sand dune randomly in the middle of Nevada mountains, and through a dry lake bed in which hundreds of people have written names and/or messages with black rocks. Some examples:

- Marbaugh 'heart' Liston (ok, seriously, who uses their last names with a 'heart'? Especially when those last names are 'marbaugh' and 'liston'
- Casey
- Kacey
- Kaci
- KC
(I looked for 'sunshine band', but no luck)
And... The ever-popular: 'Poop' I actually saw this twice. Whether it was the same artist twice, one guy copied the other, or (in classic Newton-Liebniz style) they both independently arrived at the same idea, the world may never know...

Finally, we cruised into Fallon, had a thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, and we didn't get up until the next morning when we had to get back on our bikes and ride to Carson City.

ps - longest ride of the trip! 114 miles! Woohoo!!

Michele trying to throw a pair of shoes into the Shoe Tree...

Day 51

Start: Eureka, NV
End: Austin, NV
Distance today: 72.8
Total: 3320.1

All these Nevada mountain mining towns are feeling the same.

We had a nice break for lunch today at a place with petroglyphs and cool rock formations.

Lots of sun, lots of wind... Two more days in Nevada?

Day 50

Start: Ely, NV
End: Eureka, NV
Distance today: 81.2
Total: 3247.3

Climbed over 4 mountain passes today! Stupid basin and range topography. We made pretty good time, though, despite the many many miles of climbing. Not much else to report...

Day 49

Start: Border, UT and NV
End: Ely, NV
Distance today: 61.6
Total: 3165.0

1000-pi miles! Woohoo!

What a fun day. Well, it didn't start out too fun. Not that it was a bad start, but today's ride was in general pretty uneventful. Relatively short at 61 miles, nice weather. We got to our campsite outside of Ely a little after 3pm...

Reading the local brochure on things to do in Ely, we see an ad for one of the casinos that mention a free limousine pick-up from the campground! So the question is, would we rather ride our bikes another 3 miles into town, or get a FREE limo ride? Naturally, we assumed it would be a small taxi-type limo, but no! It was a full stretched limo that pulled up into the campground!

On the way to the casino, our driver mentions the Silver State Classic Challenge, an open road race on regular highway from Ely to Las Vegas, and it just so happens that the Friday before the race, all the race cars have a parade down the main street of Ely. And it just so happens that one of the traditions of this parade is for the race car drivers to toss candy out the windows to the kids watching the parade. And it just so happens that Michele is small enough to look like a kid to a guy on a race car who isn't really looking all thy hard... So... FREE CANDY!!!

We followed the parade with dinner at some Chinese place, where we bumped into a crew of construction folk who we met earlier in the day at a rest stop, and we got to have a laugh at the coincidence of having dinner at the same place.

After dinner, we went to a casino where we ended up losing $5 playing slots and drinking 99 cent margaritas that may or may not have actually had any alcohol in them, and finally got another FREE limo ride back to the campsite (but not before bumping into the SAME construction crew for the THIRD time that day)

Anyways, it's now 8:20 and Michele is already in bed. Seriously. 8:20. How awesome is that???

:)

Goodnight!

We got free candy!

We're in a limo!

Day 48

Start: Delta, UT
End: Border, UT and NV
Distance today: 87.9
Total: 3103.3

It's amazing sometimes how accurate Murphy's Law is... The longest stretch of the whole trip between 'towns' was 83 miles today through the desert, and somehow it was on this particular day, 50 miles from Delta, 30 miles from the Border Motel, with a 2000 foot ridge in the way, that my chain decided to break! There is literally no worse place on this entire trip that this could have happened.

Thankfully, I know what I'm doing and had a chain tool with me and 15 minutes later, I was on my way, and we go to the border around 5:00 (well, 4:00 pacific time)

Plenty of time to play the slots and have a few drinks to celebrate knocking off another state!!! Only 2 states left!

Day 47

Start: Eureka, UT
End: Delta, UT
Distance today: 53.3
Total: 3012.8

Passed the 3000 mark! Woohoo!

Short easy day to Delta... Ended it early since there is absolutely nothing for the next 90 miles! Next stop: Border Inn in Nevada!

Spent the day checking our the sights in Delta, which turns out to consist of a nice small museum in which we got to hold a $250,000 beryllium piece of equipment from a gyroscope that is on the Saturn rockets. Apparently Delta is one of two places in the world that mine beryllium.... Pretty cool!

Day 46

Start: Salt Lake City, UT
End: Eureka, UT
Distance today: 68.2
Total: 2960.6

Another day fighting a head wind... Well, most of the day. We got a break from the wind right at the end of the day when we had a 9 mile uphill climb to Eureka, an old mining town which looks like it was probably a pretty nice place back in the day, but is now fighting to stay alive....

Day 45

I have discovered an interesting feature of the iPhone camera... The sign in the picture is actually straight up, but we were driving by in a car when I took it... Apparently, the iPhone records images from right to left (top to bottom in the picture) so that the top of the sign was recorded before the bottom of the sign... Makes me wonder if this could be exploited to create snapshots that a normal camera would be unable to make...

Anyways, we had a fun and relaxing day at the Utah State Fair (fried alligator on a stick!), wandering around downtown SLC, and swimming in the Great Salt Lake (well, not swimming so much as just floating around...) Plus lots of food!

Tomorrow, we head south to catch up with the Loneliest Road (aka US Route 50) and start our journey across the desert!

Day 44

Start: Lodgepole campground, UT
End: Salt Lake City, UT
Distance today: 81.3
Total: 2890.3

Wow. This morning was one of those days that makes any trouble or difficulties we've had completely worth it! Near the campground last night was one of those signs warning trucks about a downhill. It said 7 miles. It lied. We ended up riding 16 miles downhill to get to Heber!

Riding down into Heber, all you can see in front of you are the Wasatch mountains (home to such ski resorts as Alta and Park City). Looking at those mountains, it's difficult to not get a little depressed about having to climb over them... Unless you happen to turn slightly south onto Provo Canyon road, and go straight through them downhill the whole way!!!

By noon, we had covered 50 miles, all but 8 of which were down hill (the other 8 were flat)... And not just down hill, but downhill through gorgeous mountains, streaked with different color rock layers, sprinkled with autumn reds and oranges, and topped off with clouds that I'll leave to the picture to describe.

:)

Day 43

Start: Roosevelt, UT
End: Lodgepole Campground, 16 miles south east if Heber, UT
Distance today: 83.1
Total: 2809.0

Climbed up about 3000 feet this afternoon to the Strawberry Resevoir, shown in the picture. We're at about 8000 feet in elevation and it is COLD.

Of course, the star filled sky makes the cold worth it... Until tomorrow morning when we wake up and it's even colder and we then have to pack up and ride 7 miles downhill. Normally I love riding downhill... But I might have to bust out my sock-mittens for that ride tomorrow.

Did you know that chapstick, when left in a black bag in direct sunlight can liquify and subsequently spill all over your face and shirt when you try to apply it without looking?

Did you also know that your shirt can be a surprisingly convenient place to store chapstick when you need quick and easy access?

Day 42

Start: Dinosaur, CO
End: Roosevelt, UT
Distance today: 65.3
Total: 2725.8

A new record: 4 flat tires in one day! Ok, technically three of them were last night... Here's the story:

After going to bed early following yesterdays frustratingly slow day fighting the winds, I woke up refreshed and looking forward to a nice long 90 mile ride to Starvation State Park, only to find both my tires riddled with thorns! I don't know what the name of the plant is that did this to my bike, but it should be something like Bikers Bane or Tire Terror Weed. I have never seen anything like it. At least a dozen barbs were embedded in each tire. Sure, only three or four went all the way through and into the tube, but that still leaves me with a tube with four holes in it!

Apparently, Michele and I rolled over this evilest of evil plants as we were walking our bikes from the restaurant to the park where we set up camp. The fact that we weren't riding our bikes, plus the fact that the barbs actually do a surprisingly good job of holding the air in (until you pull the out) let them go unnoticed last night...

So after spending most of the morning de-thorn-ing our tires, double checkin to make sure we got them all, and replacing the tubes (both my tires were victimized, while Michele somehow got away with just her back tire being attacked), we finally got on the road a little before 11.

Our slow start was only worsened by a stop at the Utah visitors center to inquire about a rumored paved bike path over the Wasatch mountains which stand between us and Salt Lake City (they had no info) and a later stop at a bike shop for new tubes for Michele (they didn't have any that would fit) and to inquire (again) about that bike path (no luck).

At this point we had given up on the state park and were aiming instead for Myton, when Michele realized her back tire was flat again! The culprit turned out to be a thorn that somehow eluded our double and triple check of the tire this morning. (Damn you Tire Terror Weed!)

Myton was now unreachable, so we settled for Roosevelt and arrived just as the sun was sinking.... The end of a second very frustrating day in a row...

On a good note: Utah is amazing! We're not even in any of the myriad national parks, forests, or monuments, but we still have super cool rock formations, canyons, and cliffs!

Plus, I came up with a great slogan for the state: It's Bee-Utah-ful!

What makes it so great is that it works on two levels. The first is the obvious play on 'beautiful'... Extra credit to anyone who gets the second....

Another one bites the dust!

Day 41

Start: Maybell, CO
End: Dinosaur, CO
Distance today: 57.3
Total: 2660.3

Well I must have jinx it by my post yesterday... We did NOT make it out of Colorado today (although we are only 3 miles from the border)

We rode less than 60 miles, yet it was one of the hardest days yet due to a 30 mph head wind the ENTIRE day! I cannot think of anything more frustrating than pedaling as hard as you can DOWNHILL and just barely reaching 10 mph.

About halfway through the day we encountered two riders going the other way (they started in San Francisco and were headed toward Washington DC). They had apparently just hit 45 mph without even trying. I strongly dislike them right now...

Anyways, The town of Dinosaur has a nice park to camp in with free public showers, so that's a plus.:)

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the picture, yes, that is Michele trying to look like a dinosaur.

Day 40

Start: Steamboat Springs, CO
End: Maybell, CO
Distance today: 70.6
Total: 2602.4

Two words to describe last night and this morning: wet and cold... It rained through much of the night and much of the morning, but luckily tapered off after lunch. Otherwise a pretty uneventful ride along the Yampa river.

Found a neat little hotel in Maybell. Built in 1894 as a hunting lodge, it still has lots of fun animal heads hanging on the wall (see picture for one that actually kind of creeps me out a little)

Also met a couple in a nice RV who have been stalking us the past few days... Just kidding! But they did stay at the same campsite last night, and have apparently passed us on the road repeatedly the past few days. Turns out they are big cycling enthusiasts who were more than happy to share some company and some wine! Thanks Anita and Bob!

Anyways, it's about 9 and past our bedtime... So goodnight! If everything goes smoothly tomorrow, this should be our last night in Colorado!

Day 39

Start: Granby, CO
End: Steamboat Springs, CO
Distance today: 86.5
Total: 2531.9

Here's Michele on the brink of a 10 mile descent (I know the sign says 7 miles, but it lied.) it's hard to think of something more rewarding after climbing up to the continental divide for the second day in a row than 10 miles of constant 35 mph riding with absolutely no need for pedaling or for brakes!

We have now crossed the divide three times in the past two days, but we're solidly in the pacific watershed from this point on... It's all down hill from here! (if only we were actually that lucky... Sigh...)

On another note, I just saw the most amazing array of color during a sunset, which my iPhone camera utterly failed to capture... :(

Finally, I'd like to give a shout out to all the amazing and dedicated teachers in NYC who start classes tomorrow! Best of luck! I miss you!

Day 38

Start: Estes Park, CO
End: Granby, CO
Distance today: 66
Total: 2445.4

I don't even know what to say! Today was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life!

I just rode my bike over Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. You can't tell from the picture, since there was no sign there, but it was taken at an elevation of 12,183 feet! We started the day in Estes Park at 7522 ft. That's a climb of 4661 feet!

Now, riding your bike over the rocky mountains at an elevation of over 12,000 feet would be crazy enough by itself, but add in 50 mph winds on the top of the ridge, and it's just INSANE!

I really can't quite believe that I didn't get blown of the road (I came pretty close a few times)

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Trail Ridge Road happens to be the highest continuous road in the united states. That means that out of all possible routes we could have taken to get from east to west, we chose the highest!

AMAZING!!!

Day 37

Start: Estes Park, CO
End: Estes Park, CO
Distance today: 29.3
Total: 2379.4

It might have been the Ethiopian food at the Tour de Fat, or maybe it was the soup at the mexican place, but either way, Michele wasn't feeling too well this morning, so we decided to spend an extra day in Estes Park before the long climb ahead of us.

While Michele recovered, I went out for a quick 28 mile ride through Drake and Glen Haven and back to Estes Park (about 18 miles down and 10 miles up) I reached a personal record speed: 45.1 mph!!!

Weeeeee!

Spent the rest of the afternoon tourist-watching in downtown Estes Park.

Day 36

Start: Rollinsville, CO (Fort Collins)
End: Estes Park, CO
Distance today: 42.3
Total: 2350.1

What a day... Started with some delicious apple and banana pancakes up at Jen and Josh's place, then they drove us to Fort Collins for the Tour de Fat, a bike festival sponsored by a brewery in Fort Collins. It was quite the scene... Hundreds of people all dressed up in ridiculous costumes cruising around town on bikes, followed by drinks, music, and general festival type tents and booths.... All the while still wearing costumes. We, unfortunately, were in normal street clothes and definitely felt underdressed for the occasion.

After the Tour de Fat, Michele and I set out for the mountains! Quite an amazing ride up through the canyon to Estes Park. It was a pretty short ride, mileage wise, but it gave us a good taste of the climbing we're going to have to do tomorrow... Up to 12000 feet! (we're around 7500 right now), But of course, what goes up must come down! I can't wait!!!

At the Tour de Fat in Fort Collins

(sponsored by the New Belgium Brewery, brewers of Fat Tire Ale)

Day 34 and 35

Start: Fort Collins, CO
End: Boulder (Rollinsville, CO)
Distance: 44.8
Total: 2306.1

So we rode from Fort Collins down to Boulder, where my sister Jen picked us up and took us up into the mountains to hang out. Don't worry, she's taking us back down tomorrow so we can rode up and over through Rocky Mountain National Park!

Had a fun night in Nederland eating BBQ and drinking at the local brewery, and then listening to a blue grass jam session at another bar across the street.

Today, we took a break from riding and went for a nice relaxed hike instead up in the mountains. Hopefully spending some time up here hiking at high altitude will make the next few days easier, when we ride up to over 11000 feet!

It's so beautiful up here, and everyone you meet is super friendly and cool. It makes me wonder why I don't live up here myself...

Days 32 and 33

Start: Greeley, CO
End: Fort Collins, CO
Distance today: 41.9
Total: 2259.2

Short fast ride to Fort Collins, met up with Austin on the way! Yay! we get to hang out with Austin and Kelley for a day, going out and getting good food and cookies and frozen yogurt and brunch and fun stuff.

Also got to restock on supplies like Clif bars, sunscreen, bike tubes, and other general supplies. Michele's making some semi major adjustments for comfort and to hopefully make the upcoming climbing a bit easier.

Trying to figure out what route to take over the mountains. The general consensus is that whatever route we take will be both hard and awesome... But we still have a few days to figure it out.

Day 31

Start: Akron, CO
End: Greeley, CO
Distance today: 88.9
Total: 2217.3

Ahead of us we can start to see the mountains... A shade of hazy blue, they blend in with the clouds so that at first you can't be sure you're really seeing them, but they're there... Waiting for us.

Behind us, the great plains stretch out for a thousand miles... Endless days of fields and grasslands....

But before we tackle the Rockies, a few days of relaxing with friends and family! Woot!!!

Day 30

Start: Benkelman, NE
End: Akron, CO
Distance today: 95.8
Total: 2128.2

No one showed up at the motel last night, so we headed over to the city park to pitch our tents... A nice park with absolutely beautiful grass... Ever wonder how a town in south western Nebraska gets beautiful grass? Wait until a little after midnight and you'll find out, just make sure everything you own is waterproofed... ;)

Made it Colorado today! Only 4 states left!

Day 29

Start: Oberlin, KS
End: Benkelman, NE
Distance today: 78.4
Total: 2028.0

We're not in Kansas anymore... Although you wouldn't know it if it weren't for the signs, all these prairie towns look the same, and the past few days are all running together...

We had a really strong south wind all day. 25-ish mph sustained with gusts up to 35. Made for an interesting ride west, especially when you combine it with the big trucks passing at 65 mph... But once we got to Bird City, we turned north to head up to Nebraska, where we will catch US route 34 to take us into Colorado, an damn those last 20 miles were fun riding with the wind! I think I averaged 23 mph without even trying...

Just sitting here now by a motel, waiting for the owner to get back to see if they have any rooms... How could they possibly not have rooms? We're in Benkelman Nebraska, and there is not a single car in the parking lot, yet there is a sign in the window that says no vacancy. Anyways, some guys that were leaving the parking lot when we pulled in said the owner went out for dinner and would be back in an hour... So we wait...

Day 28

Start: Phillipsburg, KS
End: Oberlin, KS
Distance today: 72.6
Total: 1949.2

Kansas = Straight and empty... But not flat...

Windy today, but it's been a cross wind from the south, so not as bad as it could have been.

Haven't seen a cloud in 3 days...

Day 27

Start: Beloit, KS
End: Phillipsburg, KS
Distance today: 98.4
Total: 1876.6

Here's a picture of us at the geographic center of the United States (well, the contiguous 48 states, anyways), just a few miles northwest of Lebanon, KS

There's not much there... This monument, a tiny chapel, and a trailer with a little exhibit about the different 'centers' of the US (the geographic center, the geodetic center, the population center, the google center...)

Of course, you can only get into the trailer if you know the code to the lock, which apparently they told only to the one market in Lebanon. Fortunately, we happened to stop in Lebanon for lunch before going to the center... But for those poor travelers who don't stop by the market, I guess they are out of luck!

Special thanks to Steven and Jane from Illinois who provided a much enjoyed cold beer and company while taking a break at the center!

Ps - if you ever find yourself in north central Kansas, and feel like stopping by the center (which you should!), the secret code to the trailer is 1-2. ;)

Day 26

Start: Manhattan, KS
End: Beloit, KS
Distance today: 96.8
Total: 1778.1

Woke up early to watch the sunrise over Tuttle Creek Lake (see picture). Other than that, we just rode 90 miles through farms and prairies to get to Beloit, a nice little town with free camping in their town park (which also happens to have a full disc-golf course)

I did not see a single cloud the entire day. Pretty amazing to ride through relatively flat prairie land with a great big blue sky all around you...

Day 25

Start: Topeka, KS
End: Tuttle Creek Lake, near Manhattan, KS (aka The Little Apple)
Distance today: 70.9
Total: 1681.3

OMG, the weather was BEAUTIFUL today!!! After a few days of riding in 90+ humidity, a cold front came through! It was a high of 80 today, with no humidity, and we even got lucky and had nice cool cloud cover, but no rain this morning through the front. This trip would be so much easier if the weather was like this every day!

I have to give a great big thanks to John and Sofia for letting us stay at their place in Topeka! Awesome BBQ, awesome Vietnamese crepes, and an awesome dog, Silo!

We rode for a bit today on the Historic Oregon Trail. We only lost one ox while crossing the river, and no one died of Cholera, so I guess we were lucky!

We had a rather easy ride to Manhattan (did we really ride 1600 miles just to end up back in Manhattan???) where we wandered around Kansas State campus and had some good beer at the Little Apple Brewery (thanks for the tip, Laura!)

A nice quiet campsite on a lake with a full moon rounded out this beautiful Kansas day... Wish I could get a picture of the moon, but since all I have is my iPhone camera, here's a picture of corn and soy instead...

Ps... Just where exactly does all this soy go??? I never realized we grew so much soy in this country. And speaking of growing things, where's all the wheat??? Aren't there supposed to be amber waves of grain somewhere? Maybe the wheat is grown earlier in the year, and then they harvest it and plant soy? Hmmm... Will have to investigate this...

Day 22

Start: Kansas City, MO
End: Topeka, KS
Distance today: 74.3
Total: 1609.4

Goodbye Missouri! Hello Kansas!

First impressions: eastern Kansas has a lot more hills than one might expect... It's deceptive, because the roads are still all pretty much completely straight. In the eastern part of the country, straight roads are flat roads... Here, the make them straight regardless of the hills.

Anyways, it was a pretty nice day from Kansas City. Had a nice breakfast at the only Vietnamese restaurant in Kansas City... We were forced to ride on the interstate for a bit to get into Kansas, since the road we wanted to take was under construction.

I had a delicious Elk burger for lunch in Lawrence, KS. How many of you have ever had elk before? We also took a brief stop in Lawrence to take a picture with a fan, Ted (if you're reading this Ted, we won't forget the post card!)

Staying with a friend of Michele's in Topeka, where we will be taking the day off tomorrow to relax and rest up!

Day 22

Start: Sedalia, MO
End: Kansas City, MO
Distance today: 100.7
Total: 1535.1

Our first century of the trip (over 100 miles)... although we came awfully close once before (99.6, if my memory serves me correctly)

Michele has a second cousin in Kansas City, so we decided not to finish the Katy trail (which would have taken us too far south). Plus, we didn't have dry camping gear after last night, so we made it a long day to get here.

Turns out that Michele's cousin's husband's family was having a BBQ tonight, so we got to spend the evening there eating and drinking (and meant that I got to spend most of the night listening to conversations in Vietnamese...)

They have a great story, though. Four brothers who came to the US in 1993 with just the clothes on their back... 17 years later, they all live in the same area of Kansas City, all with their own homes and businesses.

Missouri has been a really fun state, and while I'm looking forward to finishing another state tomorrow, there's part of me that isn't exactly sure what I have to look forward to in Kansas...

Trivia question of the day: in the category of abbreviations for types of roads (eg: st = street, blvd = boulevard, etc), what does 'tfwy' stand for?

ps - the answer for the trivia question a few days ago is: US Route 20

A little after 11pm, the rain let up enough to get back to our campsite... It wasn't just "soggy", it was a pond! Michele's tent had collapsed in the wind, and there was about an inch of water inside the tent. As it continued to rain lightly and then heavily, we packed up all the wet gear and headed to the nearest hotel... Don't even know where to begin hanging stuff up, and there's no way any of this will be dry by the morning....

It has been POURING RAIN for the past hour and a half at... We are stuck at the Missouri State Fair: 1) staying dry, 2) drinking beer, 3) eating greasy food, 4) listening to live music, and 5) trying not to think of the soggy campsite that awaits us tonight. 4 out of 5 sure ain't bad!!! Bring on another round! :)

Day 21

Start: Tebbetts, MO
End: Sedalia, MO
Distance today: 83.1
Total: 1434.4

Last night I was disappointed that we didn't meet any other bikers at the shelter... Well this morning, just as we're about leave, two bikers with fully loaded bikes come up looking for water.

Turns out, Emelio and Alex are riding to San Francisco (they started in Cleveland, and actually rode a lot of the same path that we did). And, since we were all planning on getting to Sedalia tonight, we decided to ride together. Even though much of the time on a bicycle is spent spinning pedals and not talking, it was great to have some company along the way.

Hopefully our paths will cross again between here and the coast! But for now, it's time to enjoy some greasy food at the Missouri State Fair!!!

Day 20

Start: Marthasville, MO
End: Tebbetts, MO
Distance today: 67.8
Total: 1351.3

This place is so cool! We are spending the night at the Turner Katy Trail Shelter. It's in Trebbets, a town with a population of 60. There's a post office, a church, a bar that's only open on Tuesdays and Fridays, a few houses and this shelter...

The shelter is a two story house that is filled with bunk beds. There are showers, a refrigerator, a microwave, a ping pong table, a bike workshop attached and air conditioning. There are enough beds for maybe 30 people. There's no one here to run the place, it's all on the honor system, and cost $5 a night. If only there were more people! I mean, it's kind of fun to have the whole place to ourselves, but it feels like this place was meant to be a gathering place of strangers, sharing their food, drinks, and stories of the road before heading off in different directions in the morning...

It's slow riding on the trail, since it's not paved... And the 68 miles I rode is actually a little misleading, since the shelter is only 56 miles from Marthasville. The extra 12 miles are a result of backtracking 6 miles to the nearest grocery store once we got to Tebbetts and found only a bar open on Tuesdays and Fridays...

Anyways, if anyone ever finds themselves living in Missouri, I highly recommend taking a few days to ride the Katy trail, and stay at the shelter! Just be sure to bring friends and drinks along with you!!

Day 19

Start: Bethalto, IL
End: Marthasville, MO
Distance today: 79.7
Total: 1283.5

I think this is the first picture we have of both of us at the same time (courtesy of the staff at the Bike Stop Cafe, in St Charles, MO, where we stopped for lunch before starting on the Katy Bike Trail through Missouri)

Stopped in Marthasville for the night, a town of about 800 people. When we asked around about a campsite, we were told to try the community club, a public park that had showers. Sure enough, the folks running the concession stand let us wash up and set up our tents, but warned us that there would be softball league games until about 11pm

We showered and walked into "town" to find somewhere to eat. After walking down both streets in town, and finding nothing that looked like it had been open in years, much less open that evening, we went back to the park to dine on concession stand hot dogs and cheap beer, and watch some softball, and let me tell you, this is the place to be! Everyone in this town and the neighboring three towns over between the ages of 21 and 40 must be here playing softball!

Crossing the Mississippi!

Day 18

Start: Effingham, IL
End: Bethalto, IL
Distance today: 96.1
Total: 1203.8

Passed by Route 66 today. Didn't get to ride on it, though, since it heads down to St Louis and we are by-passing St Louis to the north to meet up with a bike trail in St Charles. It would be fun to ride, though... Maybe next time... Anyone up for a road trip summer 2011, Chicago to Los Angeles???

Almost done with another state! Illinois an Indiana have just flown by compared to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Once we cross the Mississppi tomorrow, we'll just have 6 states to go!

Trivia question of the day: what is the longest road in the US?

ps... Our campsite smells like dead fish... :(

Day 17

Start: Linton, IN
End: Effingham, IL
Distance today: 97.3
Total: 1107.7

Here's a picture of out campsite.... Michele sleeps in the big yellow tent, I sleep on the sack on the ground. I totally think I win. Mine takes exactly 27 seconds to set up, about a minute and a half to roll up the next morning....

It was a nice cool 87 degrees today. We rode 97 miles, and yet somehow it seemed like an easy day.

We rode through some oil fields today. Did you know that Illinois has oil fields?? I sure didn't, and I lived in Illinois for four years!!

Illinois is FLAT

Day 16

Start: Columbus, IN
End: Linton, IN
Distance today: 80.5
Total: 1010.3

It's still too damn hot. At 7pm, the official temperature was 90. Now take that, rewind a few hours to when we were riding, and add in the humidity and lack of shade...

We were aiming for a state campground, but passed a motel at 7:30 with 10 miles left to ride (directly Into the sun) and decided to not go crazy and stop at the motel instead.

Incidentally, everyone recommends riding west to east across the country because of the winds, but I have to say that so far the sun has been much worse. If I was riding east in the afternoon and didn't have to face the sun the whole time, I think I would have had a more enjoyable day...

Going out for a drink, and setting the alarm for 6:00 to get some riding in during the (hopefully) cool morning.

Ps... Passed the 1000 mile mark today! Woo!

I would ride five hundred miles
And I would ride five hundred more
Just to be the man who rode a thousand miles to fall down at.... Bloomfield, Indiana.

Day 15

Start: Cincinnati, OH
End: Columbus, IN
Distance today: 97.7
Total: 929.8

HOT. But fortunately also flat. The nice thing about riding a bike is that you always have a breeze to cool you down a bit.

So we finished another state today!!! Goodbye Ohio! Made a good dent in Indiana, should take another day and a half to get through. Otherwise, a pretty uneventful day... We did get stuck on a gravel road for about two miles because Indiana back country roads apparently switch from paved to unpaved whenever they feel like it.

Day 14

Start: Morrow, OH
End: Cincinnati, OH
Distance today: 43.1
Total: 832.1

Short day into Cincinnati, where we got to spend some time with David Griswold, who is getting married tomorrow! Congratulations Dave and Meg!!!!!

The bike trails in Ohio have been good to us so far, but it looks like we're going to have to leave them for a while... Off to Indiana tomorrow. Our plan is to head pretty much straight west to St. Louis where we can pick up another rail-trail which will take us most of the way across Missouri.

I know that's still a ways off, but there doesn't seem to be much between here and there other than straight and flat.... I just hope the weather cools off a bit... The predicted high of 95 tomorrow could slow us down a bit...

Day 13

Start: Dublin, OH
End: Morrow, OH
Distance today: 94.3
Total: 788.9

Felt strong and refreshed after our day off yesterday. Add to it the flattest and straightest bile path I have ever seen and you get the easiest 94 miles I I've ever ridden. The only thing stopping us was the sinking sun...

Tomorrow, a nice short day to Cincinnati!

Day 12

Start: Dublin, OH
End: Dublin, OH
Distance today: 0.0
Total: 694.7

We took advantage of the generous hospitality of our hosts here in Dublin and took the day off to rest and explore Columbus a bit. I was kind of tempted to ride around the block a few times just to get the mileage up to 700...

Anyways, it was a very relaxed day of walking, eating, napping, cooking, and having a very pleasant long slow dinner. With the heat, humidity, and thunderstorms today, it was definitely the perfect time to take a break! It looks like we still have some hot days ahead of us on our way down to Cincinnati, but it should be pretty much completely flat, since we will be taking a rail-to-trail path most of the way there.

Day 11

Start: north of Newark, OH
End: Dublin, OH
Distance today: 52.8
Total: 694.7

I'm a little concerned about the accuracy of my speedometer... It's showing a top speed today of 56.3 mph... Considering that the fastest I have ever gone before is 43.8, and that today was almost completely flat, I'm pretty sure that number is wrong... Wonder if any of the other numbers are wrong...

Anyways, a pretty short day, and almost entirely flat, but still tough with the heat... mid 90's, and that's not taking into accept the humidity, or the fact that much of the ride was out in the open sun. Had some apple cider slushy to help get us through!

Thankfully, we have a wonderfully air conditioned place to sleep, plus a great dinner and delicious ice cream for desert! Thanks Chuck and Carol!!!

(anyone who finds themselves in or near Columbus should make a point of stopping by Jeni's Ice Cream)

Fresh apple cider slushy!!!!! Best $1.50 I have ever spent! Why don't more places makes slushies with real fruit juice instead of colored corn syrup??

Day 10

Start: near Freeport, OH
End: north of Newark, OH
Distance today: 79.2
Total: 641.8

Uhg. Hot and hilly ride, mostly through the middle of nowhere. I was hoping that the hills would stop now that we're in Ohio, but so far I have been proven drastically wrong.

We have assurances from several sources that our hills will soon end as we head towards Columbus tomorrow. I try to be positive and tell myself that I should enjoy the hills and curves while I can, since we have a lot of straight and flat coming up...

Day 9

Start: Wheeling, WV
End: near Freeport, OH
Distance today: 39.7
Total: 562.6

After a long and late night last night, we decided to take it easy today. Slept in, had a relaxing breakfast by the river, and only rode about 40 miles.

It was several miles uphill from the campsite to the nearest town, and since we didn't feel like riding in for dinner, we resigned ourselves to a dinner if clif bars. Fortunately, at that moment, a couple drove in and parked in the site next to us. They had come to swim and picnic, and were kind enough to share their wine, cheese, and shrimp cocktail, as well as their knowledge about the area and the best route to take in the morning. Thanks so much, Ron and Michele!!

Day 8

Start: Keystone State Park, PA
Finish: Wheeling, WV
Distance today: 99.7
Total: 522.9

Well, due to bike routes being generally windy, was a bit further than I thought to the state border. At 6pm, we had ridden 60 miles, and still had another 25 to the border, plus an extra 5 to the hotel I found on the iPhone (no convenient campgrounds in WV).

Anyways, it was 8:30 and starting to get dark by the time we reached where the hotel was supposed to be. Alas, there was no hotel to be found... Undaunted, we turned on our headlights and taillights and pushed on yet another 5 miles to the next hotel. Of course, that would have been too easy, and sure enough we found that hotel to be full.

At this point, I decided to start calling hotels before riding to them, and finally found one with rooms available another 5 miles down the road. Arrival time at the hotel: 10pm, having ridden the last 10 miles in the dark!

But the good news is we have left Pennsylvania! And, after all the riding in the dark, we finished nearly all of West Virginia, and are just across the river from Ohio...

Start: Holidaysburg, PA
End: Keystone State Park
Distance Today: 74.3
Total: 423.2

Somehow, with the combination of a big ridge to cross (elev. 2430), a flat tire, and a long lunch, we found that it was already 3:00 and we had only gone 20 miles!

A strong afternoon along another rails to trails route brought us another 40 miles. Finally. The last 10 were along a pretty major highway that was under construction. Fortunately, one side of the highway was finished, but not yet painted, and since all the construction workers had gone home, we had a brand new, car free highway all to ourselves!!

Less than 80 miles to the state border, so this should hopefully be the last post from Pennsylvania.

Day 6

Start: Bald Eagle State Forest
End: Holidaysburg
Distance today: 89.8
Total: 347.7

We passed the 100-pi mark today!! I've decided that 1000-pi is a pretty good approximation of the distance from New York to San Francisco, which means that we are a tenth of the way through the trip!

The afternoon found us following the Pennsylvania bike route G onto a path created from an old railway track. It's called 'rails to trails'. It was a beautiful ride along a river, with no cars... Nice and flat. Only problem was that it wasn't paved, and on road bikes loaded with all our equipment, it was only a matter of time...

Sure enough, Michele had a little tumble. Nothing too serious, a scraped knee... But it was enough that we decided to skip out on the trail and return to paved roads. Unfortunately, by this time it was almost 7pm. There were no official campsites nearby, and with michele needing to clean up her scrapes, plus the fact that most of our gear was still wet from last nights thunderstorm, we were looking for a nice hotel.

The nearest town, Williamsburg, had nothing of the sort, so with daylight running out, and Michele's knees scraped up, we pushed a final 15 miles to the nearest hotel, arrived around 8:45 pm, just as the sun was sinking below the horizon, and promptly went to the restaurant across the street for a beer.

:)

Day 5

Start: Bloomsburg, PA
End: Bald Eagle State Forest, PA
Distance today: 47
Total: 257.9

Either Michele slept for 11 hours, or she was up all night interneting on her blackberry... Either way, we didn't leave the campsite until 11am. Combined with a hot and humid day, and a very appealing state park around mile 46, we decided to call it a short day and go for a swim.

Swimming got cut short by a sudden looming thunderstorm. Realizing we has left things unwater-proofed at the camp site, we promptly left the beach and went about preparing the site. When the storm finally let loose, there wasn't anything to do besides take shelter in our respective tents and wait it out. First night in my bivy sack in the pouring rain, and it held up nicely against the flood!

Day 4

Start: Long Pond, PA
End: Bloomsburg, PA
Distance today: 74.5
Total: 210.9

Late start and moderate hills... But all in all, a pretty uneventful day. Pennsylvania has so far proven not to be nearly as hilly as many people had thought... I think southern Pennsylvania would have been much worse. Of course, we still have a whole lot of the state to go, so well see.

Must go get bug spray!!!

Day 3

Start: Boonton, NJ
End: Long Pond, PA
Distance today: 83.3
Total:136.3

Wow.. so far Pennsylvania has been so much more enjoyable than New Jersey. (sorry for anyone from NJ). It's just so nice to have a marked bike route instead of improvising through NJ where county routes all of a sudden decide to be limited access highways. On more than one occasion, we had to hop over the median of a highway to avoid a sudden unexpected on-ramp...

Long-ish day, although I'm hoping to be averaging more than 80 miles by the end of this thing...

I still don't think the scope of this undertaking has completely set in... Pennsylvania looks like a long state, and there are a WHOLE LOT of states to go after it...

Here's a picture of Michele near the Delaware Water Gap.

Day 2

Start: Manhattan, w 107th St
End: Tourne County Park, near Boonton, NJ
Distance today: 44.5
Total: 52.9

A late start due to apartment stuff, and Michele getting the first flat tire of the trip... before we even started riding!!! Didn't get to leave until around 2pm.

We had no route planned, so after going over the bridge, we just improvised by heading west and taken advantage of my fancy new iPhone!

Managed to do a respectable 44 miles. A solid second day that will hopefully help me build up to the long days ahead.

Heading for the Delaware Water Gap tomorrow and into Pennsylvania!

Goodbye NYC!!

Day 1

Start: Battery Park
End: 107th St.
Distance today: 8.3
Total: 8.3

The tour has officially begun! We started the trip at Battery Park, with the
Statue of Liberty in the background, and then rode up along the Hudson river back to our apartment. We will spend one last night here before heading over the George Washington Bridge tomorrow.

Along the way, we stopped for a burger and to enjoy a beautiful sunset. Perfect weather for the start of the tour!

Thanks to everyone who came out last night!!!

My New Home

Everything I need in one place....

Kick off party!

Michele and I will be having a kick off party this Friday! We will start by beginning our bike ride at battery park Friday afternoon, ride back to our apartment for a final farewell gathering in 4D!

Anyone with a bike is encouraged to join us at battery park. Just let us know so we can wait for you!

Pre-Departure

Welcome!

In a few weeks, I will be embarking on a journey across the country on my bicycle. Since many of my friends, relatives, and well-wishers have asked me to keep track of my adventures in some kind of blog... here it is!

The trip doesn't start until the end of July, so come back then for details!

Cheers!