Day 23 - The Flood Remnants

Another 112 miles today. The riding is getting steadily more humid. The heat isn't intense but at this humidity it makes any temperature sweaty. The riding here is still flat. The most notable point of each day are these amazing sun rises ((())). I've been getting on the road about a half hour before sunrise each day in an attempt to get some pedaling done to beat the heat. But I end up using the time to make extra mileage, which is also good.

I'm a little nervous about my wrist. The pain isn't subsiding. I'm not sure if it hurts more from spending extra time in the saddle, or if it's going to hurt regardless... Today is/was Blufton, IN, to Upper Sandusky, OH. I pulled into Sandusky around 5 pm. I was looking to meet some people and do some chatting so I looked for a restaurant/pub to find some dinner at. On the main street in Sandusky I found the Pour House. As I was looking for a change of clothes, and my wallet I met a very nice couple who were entering the bar. I talked with them for a minute as they were curious about my ride and my bike.

I went inside to change my clothes (longing for something not soaked with sweat). I came out of the bathroom and was debating where to sit, at the bar or a table, when I heard someone behind me ask me if I would like to join them. I turned around and it was the couple I had met out front. I ate dinner with them and we chatted about everything we could think of. They were incredibly nice, bought me dinner and two beers, and then even invited me to sleep at their house for the evening! I was a little leary at first, as I'm sure they were of me also, but it turned out to be a great house and they the nicest people I've met in a while! Even better it was the best night sleep I've had in months!

The days ride yesterday and today was filled with signs from last weeks flood. Everyone had stories of their neighbors, offices, places of employment, that had been affected by the flood. In the neighborhood where I stayed that night people had pulled out rugs, furniture, and anything that had been damaged by the flood and placed it curbside for pickup. The rivers were swollen well beyond the banks and levels were commonly at the bottom of the foliage on the trees that line the banks of the rivers. That's a lot of water.

Day 22 - The contrasts of people

Today was a one hundred and ten mile day. That's an extra 50 miles in the last two days. We'll see how long I can keep this pace for. I stopped at a small gas station this morning where the owner also makes and sells fried chicken. I got to talking with him and another customer about my ride and their epxeriences. They were very nice and had great support to share. The heat didn't hold out long today, it was hot by 9am, and VERY humid! The owner of the store offered me some free food that they were cooking, I chose a corn dog. He gave me two. They were actually really good!! I wish I could remember the name of the store!

This part of Indiana is very rural. I'm on route 24 for the morning and then 124 for the rest of the day. Their are only two towns with shops in this 110 mile stretch! I ran out water at one point today and had to go to someone's house to try and find a store. It turned out that Mrs. Yarde and her family had taken a cross country tour on their bikes last summer! There were 6 of them total! They rode from San Diego to Florida. She was more than happy to fill my water bottles for me, and also offered me food! I was full at the time, but it is so nice to know that people like this exist out there! She also gave me her phone number in case I ran into any trouble and the low down on where camping is available.

I had a run in with a local for the first time today. It's something that I've been afraid of since I left. It's hard to know cyclists and not know of someone who has a story like this. I was riding down the road when I truck passed me so close it really scared me! He passed within two feet of me! That is ridiculously close especially when someone is driving at over 55! I lost my temper a bit and gave him the bird. He drove a little way down the road then pulled into a driveway, that's when I got nervous. I reached to the back of my rear pannier where I've been keeping my bear spray. I was hoping to not ever have to use it, but I don't want to put myself in harm's way either (not using the bird will be the method of choice next time). He drove back to me and started yelling all kinds of curse words and names at me, just as a minivan pulled up with two older women. They said to me, "Don't listen to anything he has to say. You're doing great and keep on going." I said thanks to them, but was still nervous becasue he did keep on driving but in the back of my mind I knew he was coming back around. He come back he did. He pulled up alongside me and continued his yelling as he swerved in and out of the oncoming traffic lane. The only reply I got in was, "You almost killed me." To which he didn't a bunch more yelling and then said, "If you get killed out here it's your own damn fault." Without going into a breakdown of where the fauly really is I think it's fair to say that giving the middle finger will no longer be in my repertoire of responses, and thank god I didn't have to use the bear spray. I kept running through my head what I'd do if he pulled ahead and stopped and I couldn't avoid being assaulted. It went like this. Spray angry redneck with bear spray. Run away from angry redneck while dialing 911.

With that done, I felt nervous for the rest of my ride. Ever fearful that he'd show up around the next corner with some friends. Probably an over reaction, but i couldn't help but worry. I did think that I hope this Mental Health Parity legislation goes through because I think he may need it. Tonight I'm resting my head in Blufton, IN. Tomorrow I'll be in Ohio. I think it will take me 3 days to get across and then I'll be in Pennsylvania!!!!

Family I will see you guys soon!

Here are the maps for my next couple of legs.

Canton, OH, to Nazareth, PA: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=canton,+oh&daddr=40.934265,-78.969727+to:nazareth,+pa&mrcr=0,1&mrsp=1&sz=8&mra=dpe&dirflg=h&sll=40.480381,-79.255371&sspn=1.905261,3.702393&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=40.526327,-77.629395&spn=1.903957,3.702393&z=8


Nazareth, PA, to Burlington, VT: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=nazareth,+pa&daddr=burlington,+vt&mra=cc&dirflg=h&sll=42.553685,-74.25728&sspn=7.380087,14.80957&ie=UTF8&z=6&om=1

Day 21 - Powerful Tailwinds and EST

El Paso, IL, to Remington, IN, all in a days work. It was raining this morning. I'm noticing a trend. I like riding in the rain, Rain=Cool. After the first hour a powerful tailwind helped me ride for 2 hours at 22 mph. This made a long mileage day go by quite quickly. 100 miles in 6 hours.

I entered the great state of Indiana today, although I was at first confused about the dinky welcome sign.I did find the real one a few more miles down the road. (please ignore that I don't have a picture of the Illinois state sign, I skipped over that one)

I'm staying at a very nice althoug pricey and close to the highway campground. Their is a nice clean lake with a beach/swimming area, showers, laundry, water, electricity, all for $18.00.

I've finally capture a cicadda making all that noise that I keep hearing from the trees anytime it's hot. This tree was small it was right on the trunk The flash really confused it. It didn't make anymore noise after I took the photo.
I've also arrived in the Eastern Time Zone! Getting close! If the tailwinds maintain I may push through for some extra mileage this week. We'll see what happens.

Day 20 - New Plan

I'm going to catch up. Today Julia is going to give me a ride three days ahead (about 1 1/2 hours in car time) to El Paso, Illinois. This will put me back on track. In addition I've decided to shed some weight... which unfortunately comes in the form of my laptop. Writing these blogs has been one my favorite parts of the trip. Now I'll be a little more dependent on public computers. Which just means shorter entries. I may decide to do more video and photo content in place of it. I've broken four spokes and had around 16 flats. This should greatly help those problems as well as alleviate some of the stress on my legs, and mind.

So for the last post from my laptop. C'est la vie.

Day 19 - Hard Pedaling, Driving Rain, and Going Solo?

I woke up feeling really strong today. When I got on the road it immediately translated into hard pedaling. I felt fast. Despite falling asleep last night in humidity so high that I was sweating as I lay in my tent, despite the downward slope I was sleeping on, and despite the early am rainstorm I still felt good! Last night we camped beside this lake in a small park. The lake was nice to take a dip in after the days ride, washing away all the sweat, bug spray, and sun screen that accumulates between showers. I was a bit hesitant to jump into the lake having had a few bad experiences with polluted lakes back in CT as a kid, a couple places it turned out people had been flushing raw sewage from their homes into the lakes. Unfortunately this was only discovered a few years after we had frequented the area although it did explain the consistent ear infections. But I got over it and took a cooling dip.

I accidentally slept in this morning. My usually internal alarm clock lapsed and I found myself waking up at 6:30. Feeling as though I had a late start on the day probably helped intensify my desire to pedal, that and I knew I was going to be meeting up with Julia. I haven't seen her in almost four weeks! To make a short story short, I rode really hard for 68 miles to Ottumwa, IA. I ended up not making a single stop and got stuck in several rain and thundershowers along the way. The worst of which was when I actually arrived in town. Torrential downpours filled the streets with so much water that I was riding through a consistent 1/2 to 1 foot of water.

Along the way I had lost sight of Matt. I knew I'd meet up with him as we planned to ride to Ottumwa and rest for the night. When I got there and found shelter I turned my phone on and got a message from him, but it was from that morning. He said that he had stopped and that he was wondering where I was. I called him back and left him a message that I was in Ottumwa. That I had ridden right through the day, and where I was. I didn't hear from him... That night Julia arrived a day early, with Lucy!

I took a hard look at my schedule. And made a tough call. I decided that I would ride with Julia until the point where I was back on schedule so that I can make the family party that my mom has planned for September 2, and say goodbye to my sister who leaves for school the next day. The decision came from one simple fact for me. I'm not doing this to prove anything to myself, or to prove to anyone else that I'm capable. I'm doing this to raise awareness for Mental Health Parity Legislation, and to have an amazing adventure. I worried that I was some how compromising the ride, but in fact I'm just going to make it more possible that I can reach my destination. It's regrettable that Matt didn't call me back. I would have liked to talk to him prior to leaving. I tried him a couple times tonight, but his phone is still off.

Day 18 - Break Down

Morning camp then a broken hub. A large diameter wire from a concrete sub structure entered Matt's rear wheel seized its forward momentum and ripped the spoke from the hub, rather than the typical broken spoke. You can see the wire in the picture.

Matt took a taxi into Des Moines about an hour north to buy a replacement wheel. We're going to crash here for the night. It's 3:30 and not really worth riding just for 10 miles... until tomorrow.

Day 17 - Ferocious Headwinds and Dangerous Highways

We left Shenendoah this morning with trepidation for what the weather might do. The sun was burning red through the morning fog and clouds with a heavy moisture still hanging in the air. The temperature was lingering in the 70's as it does most mornings, leaving us little to go by. As we pedaled deeper into Iowa a few things became prominent: 1) Iowa is VERY hilly 2) Iowa does not pave the shoulders of its highways 3) Iowa drivers ARE NOT courteous. If I have any advice for any bicyclist riding across the country it is DO NOT RIDE THROUGH IOWA! It is not safe for bicyclists here. The highways are incredibly dangerous! Their is absolutely no shoulder! Drivers do not hesitate to honk and drive you off the road, or pass within a foot at highway speeds! It is very scary to be on the roads here. This has been by far the most stressful part of this trip, and is the only one I have been really looking forward to being done with. Even 112 degree days do not come close to the anxiety and fear that we are experiencing riding on these roads. Here is a short video. I whipped out my camera because this truck was blaring it's horn as it was driving up behind me. Typically that had only happened when I'd been run off of the road so I grabbed my camera, only soon enough to get this short clip as the truck flew by and the wind blew me off the road.

With that said the countryside here is nice. The landscape is a cross between the high hills of Wyoming, and the relative flat topography of Nebraska. We lucked out again with the weather. The morning was a bit muggy but the temperature hung in the 70's and 80's throughout the day. But a headwind kept our progress to a slow minimum. A 20-30 mph wind blew directly in our faces all day long. It drove us backwards, up hill, as we tried to speed down. Usually tapping out at 13-17 mph. That was top speed while PEDALING downhill!

Now we are in Creston, IA. We're camping in McKinley Park, having just had a shower at the town pool, ready for a good night sleep, and an early morning. We heard a rumor that for 30 miles or so we will have a shoulder tomorrow. A much desired promise.

Day 16 - 3rd Week Day One

In the 70's with showers throughout the day. This is the way to ride. Despite leaving us waterlogged as we rolled out of Lincoln it was a tremendous surprise to have a cool day of riding after the tortuous heat of last week.

As the skies cleared a little we hit our next milestone, Iowa. 4 states down.

Our stop today is Shenandoah, IA. Matt has done a couple interviews with a radio station there, and we're going to head down to meet them.

The riding today was fairly difficult. The rest days seem to make it harder for my body to get back into riding. Then as we were cruising through the Eastern Section of Iowa we suddenly came upon this heavily wooded area. The humidity was drastic compared to the flat plains below this steep curving hill that snaked up and around this lost rain forest. But it didn't last. Iowa has many more rolling hills than Nebraska, more of a mellow version of Wyoming. As we rolled into Shenandoah, around 5pm we found our destination the KMA 960 radio station. We got a quick meet and greet with the crew then an interview with Matt's contact Kristen Gray. The interview was fun! She asked us questions about our motivation, and how we came to be "big thinkers." Some of it was funny, for example I never really thought of myself as a big thinker. I know I like to think, I love new ideas, and to learn but I just assumed everyone is that way. I still think they are. But the best part was when she asked what she could do for us. The only thing I could come up with was helping with Mental Health Parity Legislation. It's the one thing that is nagging me on this trip that I feel like I'm not doing enough about. So I told her about the legislation and what it means to people everywhere and how it can help. In return she told me that she's going to be interviewing the presidential candidates prior to the Iowa Caucuses and that she'd ask them that question! This is huge! This is more than I could have hoped to do.

Were crashing here at the town park in Shenandoah, starting to become a pro at sleeping in these parks. We've had some ice cream and dinner and now it's time to sleep.

Day 11-14 Nothing more than hot, and the people.

(pictures will be added soon)It’s been really hard to write or take pictures lately. The heat is a constant 105-112. One day it stayed in the low 90’s, but it was so humid we were soaked all day. The news said it was 88% humidity.

But the people we’ve met on this leg of the trip have been amazing! Matt broke a seat bolt in Indianola, NE. All the stores were closed, but the Settler’s Celebration was going on at the park so we went to look for some help down there. These two guys helped us out for 2 hours! Finally pillaging some parts from one of his kids’ bikes in order to get us back on the road.

Every town we’ve stayed in or passed through has been like this! It’s really been amazing how generous and helpful everyone has been. Last night we were camping in Fairmont, NE. They let us camp in their city park (they don’t have sprinklers we made sure to check). A wife and kids of one of the town board members brought us a big Tupperware container of cookies! She told us to take as many as we could. Unfortunately we had just spent 4 hours in the neighboring convenience store waiting for it to cool off and the sun to go down. We ate and drank quite a bit so we didn’t have much room left. We are what we could and they were really good!

We’ve also been surprised by the town swimming pools that we’ve come across. The previous two nights we camped in Town Park’s right next to the town pools. Disappointingly they were both closed… but we might have taken a swim anyway.

Today we arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska. It is August 14. Tomorrow will be the two-week point of our trip, and the halfway point. We rode ridiculously hard this morning and made the 56 mile ride in 3 ½ hours. We had good motivation as we are staying with a good family friend, and it’s also the first time I’ve been in a house in almost two weeks. It’s still hot outside, and doesn’t looking to be backing off anytime soon. We’ll rest here and head out on Thursday morning. I’m very excited to be in Lincoln! It will be nice to be somewhere that I know, and around people that I know, even if only for a day.

Day 10 – Heat and Hello Nebraska

The final night in Colorado was thankfully uneventful. The storms abated. The wind blew a little, but mostly it was calm. The only trouble occurred at 4am when the sprinklers kicked on. At first I thought another intense rain storm had found us, due to the amount of water that was entering the tent. I popped my head out and saw myself completely surrounded by sprinklers. Rather than face the gauntlet of sprinklers in my skivvies while dragging a fully loaded tent I wished for the best and zipped the rain fly door closed. It would have been perfect had it not been for me inside out rain fly. I must have but the fly on inside out when I set the tent up the night before, and so the rain started to drip through the zipper and the vent on the other side. I rolled over and went to sleep. It was not worth fixing and I was only going to sleep for another 1 ½ to 2 hours anyway. I can do that wet.

The ride today was grueling. It was 108 at our hottest reading (that’s at speed with the wind cooling us a little). In addition this was also our longest day yet, we pushed through for 102 miles today.

The three notable milestones are entering my third state! The second is the Central Time Zone. Both Matt and I had forgotten/momentarily lapsed that we’d soon be gaining an hour of sleep. Although Matt was curious why it kept getting lighter earlier. We easily lose track of things like this. Time and distance take on a new dimension at the speed of a bicycle.

The third and final isn’t so pleasant, the first crash. We were pulling into the town Palisades, NE, in search of some cool air and refreshments, which is usually in the shape of a grocery store. As I turned the left hand corner I saw a large swath of what looked like wet pavement, but wet pavement happens all the time so I didn’t think much of it. As I entered the turn my tires slipped out from under me without hesitation! I hit the pavement and started sliding jamming my wrist in the process, and removing bits and pieces of the flesh from my shin. In the end nothing major was broken. My ego was a little bruised; I slightly tore a bag and had some minor injuries. Not too bad for an accident.

We picked up and headed into town. We were searching around for our relief when a gentleman gave us a quick tour. He pointed out the restaurant, directly in front of us. The grocery, across the street, and the location for “a good spot to cool off and have a beer.” Not normally being much of a drinker it’s amazing how good a cold beer has been tasting at the end of these days. We walked over with him to the American Legion. We wheeled our bikes in and sat down. We talked a bit about our ride, cooled off, drank a beer, asked about the town, about what the four guys do, filled out water bottles, and then headed down the road. We had another 29 miles and the sun wasn’t going to wait.

These next 11 miles proved to be the hardest. My method of using half of my water to soak my clothes was becoming less effective as our constant 20 mph headwind started to dissipate and the humidity climbed. Thereby leaving me wet and hot. Not until out last 10 miles did the temperature begin to drop. When it did we kicked up the tempo a notch and burned through the last bit at a racer’s pace finally arriving at the free McCook, NE, City Park. Complete with showers, water, electricity and camping! All from the good people of McCook, Nebraska.

Day 9 - Don't Dare

The land of Giant Grasshoppers has graced the shoulder of our highway this morning. I've never seen insects this size before! They're as big around as hot dogs, sometimes larger, and about 3 inches in length. They were all over the side of the highway. Sometimes in lonely solitude, and then others were getting it on.



As the day gave way to the heat the grasshopper's disappeared and we were in search of a new pair of biking shoes for Matt. We had just gone 25 miles with Matt wearing a sandal on one foot and his remaining shoe on the other. We were told about a bike shop in the "college" town of Sterling, CO. But in Sterling, CO it turns out they don't have any bike shops. In fact it turns out the nearest bike shop might be in Lincoln, NE. With this hear that's going on a ride for a couple hundred miles in Africa. Instead Matt ordered a pair online and had them shipped overnight to McCook, NE. Tomorrows destination.

All things considered the ride was going very smooth. We continued to cruise through used to be towns with their grain elevator skylines giving them away for miles in advance. We were lucky enough to find an actual grocery store out in the wilderness of the grasslands, many towns don't have their own grocery stores. Matt bought a bag of ice, gatorade, and a sandwich. I bought a gallon of water (room temp), a vitamin water (cold), and a sandwich, for lunch.

The thermometer was reading 98 degrees in the shade. The air conditioned grocery store was telling me to just stay inside, forever. The ice just wanted to be water, and so it was, and the bikes just wanted to be pedaled so we did. We were almost 2/3 of the way to our stop for the night, Holyoke, CO. The heat was beating down on us and i was really feeling it. My energy and motivation just being sapped from me. We passed through another used to be town and then of in the distance the clouds. big black beautiful clouds! I exclaimed to Matt my excitement about the prospect of potential rain. We both agreed that a break from the sun would be nice, and we dashed for the shadows of the clouds a couple miles ahead of us. Then I made a big mistake. I looked at the big beautiful clouds, I pointed my finger at them and I said, "Rain on us you clouds! I double dog dare you!"

Matt laughed at my childish dare. But within 20 minutes the skies began to open up and volkswagen size raindrops were falling. Matt caught one in the eye and had to stop to recover. Still we were hooting and hollering in excitement. Almost instantly my body was rejoicing at the temperature drop. I was opening my arms to the rain and letting it wash the sweat and salt from the days. I could taste the salty water as it ran down my face. A couple drops of rain hit my lips and I winced from the pain, i kept my head down a little after that. I started to pour my water bottles over my head to speed up the cooling down and rinsing process.

We sprinted into town to find a campsite. Outrunning the storm for 5 minutes when it came back with a vengeance. The storm dumped heavy, intense rain like I haven't seen in years, and it continued to do so for the next several hours! It was at times furious rain with claps of thunder and lighting. We darted for the town park and caught shelter while the storm abated just long enough to dash to the laundry mat. Then I darted to the internetless library in search of the internet. From which we reconvened and made our way to the public pool where they let us shower for free! Then to the fairgrounds for some free camping! Thankfully our ride from the laundry mat to the showers and then to the campground was dry. Then we started cooking, and hell hath no fury like the weather on a dare, and it poured!
After the storm blew off in the distance we were left with some amazing sunsets! Now I'm laying in my tent writing, with a storm on the way in.

Day 8 - The Missing Shoe

Day 7 was an off day at Ft. Collins. (the internet here seems to slow for video and pictures... I'll have to update all of this in Lincoln)

Today, Day 8, started out like any other day, but slower and later. Thankfully we had a quick and fairly easy ride into Stoneham, CO. After passing through a couple there's nothing here towns we were excited about the prospect of a town with more than a gas/grocery/antique station.

Earlier today we ran into a woman who filled my water bottles with water, and ice completely unprompted by me! She told us when we get to Stoneham we need to check out Dewey's, and to not bother with the cafe on the highway. But on the way to Stoneham we bumped into this little cafe, the only thing in town except for the rodeo and the grain elevator. With the rodeo apparently being the best in the region according to all the newspaper clippings on the mini fridge. The best part was the 50 cent soda machine outside, and the $1.00 fountain sodas inside. I can't remember when a drink other than water could be b ought for a dollar or less!

We've been getting funny responses from people throughout our trip, although they lack variety. The woman running the cafe asked us where we were headed. Usually these questions get only two responses: 1) A grunt followed by a laugh. The person then exclaims, "Not Me," or "Better you than me" or something very close to that. 2) Their eyes get big and they say, "Wow that's far." Followed by, "How long is that going to take you?" Then almost everyone responds along the lines of 1. She was number 2.

We pushed on down the road and got to Stoneham a few hours later. Having forgotten the advice regarding where to go we went into the cafe on the highway. We walked in as we admired he Harley's out front. I walked in first, all spandex clad. As I stepped in every eye in the place fell on us. Everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared. All 9 people. Unconsciously but out loud I said, "Woah." Then smiled and said hello. It would have been perfect if a creaky swinging door hinge was fading out behind me while a tumbleweed blew through. But Matt and I sucked up our self consciousness and got an overpriced burger and some soft drinks. before long everyone there was curious about what we were doing and all of them were responding according to the #2 question response type.

We ate then asked the woman behind the counter about camping. We headed into town, which turned out to be 8 people, a grain silo, and Dewey's (one block in total).

It was early so we decided to take a nap at the dilapidated community center on the benches outside. After about an hour nap we headed down to Dewey's for some drinks to kill sometime before it was cool enough to setup camp as it was a cool 92 most of the day. So 5 beers and the best fried chicken I've ever had later we headed back to the community center to setup camp. As we rolled into camp, some 200 yards from Dewey's, Matt realized one of his cycling shoes was gone from his bag, which is in his trailer, which is attached to his bike.

They had been Velcro'd to each other then stuck under a bungee strap, but now only one was there. We searched the stretch of land to the bar, the other patrons even moved their cars to look under them (not even kidding this is how nice everyone that we've met is!), but nothing. I even climbed onto the roof of the bar the next morning just to make sure we weren't having a joke played on us. But it was seriously gone. All we could do was sleep. Amidst the cloudless rain showers and howling coyotes we finished off another day.

Day 6 - Hello Colorado

The morning began like most. Wake up, pack up, eat, then pedal for several hours on end. As I left Laramie this morning there were several police cars flying by sirens screaming heading for some unknown disaster. About a half an hour later I came upon traffic that was backed up for about 3-4 miles. As I approached I could also see a helicopter coming in from the distance. I rode to the front of the line and the heli was parked on the highway.

The victim was in an ambulance. It was a motorcycle driver. The rumor among the bystanders was that he tried to pass a vehicle and couldn’t make it. He then tried to pull back in, and hit a truck. His motorcycle was 120 yards down the highway from him where it had run off the road, looking like it was ghost riding of its own accord.

The other rumor was that he lost his leg in the accident. Three of his friends were there. They were all riding up to Sturgis for the bike rally. The hardest part of this for me was as I rode past the accident scene. There was blood all over the highway, and bits of flesh. It also looked as though he had been dragged for a good distance as there was a blood trail traveling in the opposite direction that he had been traveling. This was a very hard moment for me. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my own vulnerability on this trip. I’ve spent many moments in fear of what was approaching me from behind. I’ve been run off the road several times by wide loads carried by tractor-trailer trucks. As a bicyclist I stand no chance against a motor vehicle. It does scare me that I’m putting my safety at the hands of all the drivers out there. I guess all that I can do is do everything that I can to be as safe as possible, which I do. I don’t know the fate of the motorcyclist. But I hope that he makes it through this, and I hope that his friends also are ok. I know how something like this can deeply effect a person. I found myself feeling increased annoyance with drivers who don’t make an effort to give me space when I’m riding. It’s easy to see the difference when all you do is stare at the white line on the shoulder.Many people move half way across the lane for me, even when I’m on the edge of the road. Then there are other people who ride the white line. Some even come closer as they pass by, and after passing meander back into the middle of the lane. They scare me. But it is all part of the journey. We’re not going to be seeing traffic like this for some time once we leave Ft. Collins. It’ll be back roads USA, Midwestern style.

There is an off chance that I may be meeting with a CBS affiliate during my stay in Ft. Collins. I hope to be meeting with them about mental health parity. I’m feeling like I haven’t been able to do a whole lot for this as of yet. Though I’ve been handing out my cards that have my web address on them, hopefully that will help. I hope this doesn’t lend to anyone’s fears or worries about this trip. I came into it knowing what the dangers of riding bicycles on the roads are. I know full well what can happen, and what does happen. What makes the risk worth doing this is that I can get hurt or killed anywhere. Most of my scars and medical bills have come from accidents very close to my home. I could worry about the what ifs, and spend some safe time on a couch. Or I can not worry and see what life has in store.

Most of the road into Ft. Collins was enjoyably downhill. There was a 2000 foot drop in elevation between Wyoming, and Ft. Collins, CO. I came across to interesting points. The first one is the town of Tie Siding. What's left of the the town is the grocery/post office/antique/flea market shop. The second point of interest if the abandoned post office/store at the top of the pass between Tie Siding and Fort Collins. I decided to give you the experience of this downhill ride and took some video, it's about 60 seconds of the downhill up until 37 mph when I started to get nervous about riding with one hand.
The only significant change from Wyoming to Colorado has been the amount of traffic. It's definitely busier here, and people drive like city people. They give you next to no space on the shoulder! Some even try to get closer as they pass. A bit unnerving. I also met up with Matt today. We almost rode past each other as he was headed to check out a KOA campground that we thought was 5 miles outside of town, but ended up being 10. As I passed it I thought it might be it but then thought better of it as the sign said 10 miles to Ft. Collins... so we stayed in town at this dive of a Motel for pretty cheap.

We went out for a couple beers and some all you can eat pizza, and by the way all you can eat really is the way to eat! Then we casually meandered back to the motel and crashed for the night.

The next day was the first off day. We ran some errands, various bike parts, food, then we went and saw a movie. We saw 1408 a horror film, it was ok. But tomorrow it's back to the pedals. After a day off my body feels completely rejuvenated! I'm excited to be feeling strong and pain free again! Alas my time with the internet is coming to an end.

Day 5 - Pain

I started out today with a let's get this over with attitude. I even packed last night with the intention of rolling out of my sleeping bag. Packing my tent. Eating a clif bar and pedaling. The pedaling was the only part I had trouble with. My but and left knee are sore beyond what I want. This morning I took 600mg of Ibuprofen and lots of butt creme. It took me until about 9:00 to loosen up and for my knee to feel a little better. Around the same time I came to a construction zone as I continued down I-80. This diverted all of the traffic from my lane into the oncoming lane. I debated whether to risk riding with no shoulder or bearing the construction zone. Since it's Sunday morning, I know I'm not going to find any construction workers on site, so I'll got for it. I ride about 5 miles when I come to the first understanding as to why they closed the road completely. I decided to not risk the tiny shoulder and instead try and hoist my bike up onto the bridge. It's friggin heavy... and I just drop it on its side on top. I came to another bridge obstruction, and a 1 mile section of dirt road. After navigating the 8 mile section of construction I had a noisy shoulder with lots of tractor trailer traffic to keep me company. I'm now excited to be in Laramie, and done with interstates! Never again!

p.s. I haven't taken many pictures in the last two days. I've felt incredibly tired and sore and it's sucked my motivation a little. Some good sleep and rested bones will change that.

Day 4 - The Trials

This morning the wind persisted. I struggled with a 6-7mph top speed through 11am when I approached a climb up a continental divide marker. Not a significant climb, just a step up to a plateau like area, and finally the head wind shifted. The wind was now blowing from behind and pushing me down the road. With much gratitude from me, as my mood and energy levels are suffering from lack of sleep.

I'm headed to Rawlins. From which I need to find a way to Walcott, my planned resting place, as the map showed I-80 as the only route out of Rawlins. I decided to call the highway patrol and see if their was an legal issues with riding down the Interstate. As it turns out, like most things in WY, you can do whatever you want. The woman at the highway patrol assured me that I can ride on the highway, but I need to make sure that I stay in the emergency lane. I didn't want to point out to her the obvious problem with riding in the traveling lanes, and only later wondered if they had previous problems with bicyclists in the traffic lanes.

I stopped at a gas station and grocery store in Rawlins filling up on water, clif bars, and one coffee. I made my way to the highway and found it to be easy and fast cruising. My planned stopping point of Walcott came up faster than expected, it was only 1pm. I decided to push on through for another 20 miles, knowing that it would make for a shorter day tomorrow. I was feeling great so I went for it. What I didn't factor in were the unknowns. The terrain and my potentially deteriorating physical condition.

After the first few plush miles of downhill, smooth pavement, and accelerating tail wind a large hill like I hadn't seen before appeared. Then 2 more came. By the first of the second two my left knee gave out. I began to pedal with just my right leg, but keeping my left leg moving. The pain isn't serious, just overuse. 350 miles will do that. At the top of each climb I felt an immense sense of accomplishment. After living on ibuprofen all day I'm really feeling the need for some off days. I'm now camping behind a hotel in Elk Mountain. I hope to get into Laramie early tomorrow. Relax, then headout early to Ft. Collins the next day for some R&R!

Day 3 - The Desert

I fell asleep last night around 8pm. Slept well. I woke up at 4:30am but decided not to rush. I packed last night so I knew I had time. Finally got on the road at 7. My body is hurting. Specifically my wrists, knees, hamstrings, and right achilles tendon. In no particular order, and some are new some reoccurring. Some I'm worried about, and some I'm not. What's a struggle without some pain?

I'm heading from Lander to Muddy Gap today. I'm assured their is a convenience store there. The morning miles rolled by as they're beginning to do quite regularly. I had a feeling a climb was in store, and sure enough... But when I reached the top there was no downhill this time. It had brought me to an all new elevation that persisted for miles, and almost instantly went from high plains to desert. Along with the elevation gain came what you back east call a hurricane, but in Wyoming they call it wind. At time it pushed me forward making my pedaling effortless, and others it would blow me right across the shoulder. The noise was almost deafening.

When I'd open my mouth to eat the wind would whistle across my mouth as it was open. The wind was loud, but it didn't cover the distinctive sound of a rattle. I slammed on my brakes, and swerved back around momentarily forgetting about traffic but snapped out of it in time to notice their weren't any cars around. I whipped out my camera and found the source of the noise. My first ever rattle snake. I didn't get too close, the video isn't great... Once I headed my way back down the shoulder the snake turned and did the same in the opposite direction.

My next stop was the little gem of a town named Jeffrey City. As I rolled into town I became excited by the number of buildings. After all that desolate hot earth and driving wind I was looking forward to a little respite and some company. But as I got closer to town things looked a little strange. Their wasn't any movement around town.







I only just found out that this once bustling Uranium Mining Town was abandoned in 1982. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_City The only still open business is the Split Rock Cafe, and as the white board tells ONLY business that hasn't closed. I rode around and looked at the buildings. Barracks and houses dot the once town but now are all empty, a modern day ghost town! I had lunch at the cafe (I guess when you're the only cooking, food, gas, anything for 85 miles in either direction you can server whatever you want) an interesting chicken sandwich and then pushed on down the road.

The route had quite a few historical markers on it. Most notably was a former stop on the Oregon Trail, Split Rock. It was later used as a Pony Express Fort, the placard noted that at one point Wild Bill rode horseback for 20 hours some 240 miles, to deliver a message at one point riding one horse at full speed for 24 miles while outrunning a group of Native Americans.





There was also a section where the steel covered wagon wheels of the pioneers had worn away the rock, and the remnants of the pony express station could still be seen. My resting spot for the night is Muddy Gap, a mere 7 miles down the road. What I didn't know when I chose this location is that Muddy Gap is only a gas station at a road junction. I'm camped out on the front lawn of the gas station, as they kindly offered my the space to avoid the rattle snake laden ground that exists everywhere else. I'm looking out on the road I descended not to long ago.



I'm fed up (by that I mean I ate) and ready to go to sleep. It's 7:30pm. The sun and customer's aren't going to let me sleep for a bit, especially since this is the main route to the Sturgis Bike Rally. But it is rattle snake free unlike all of the other ground in this area.

-Morning note: The wind blew all night 30-50mph. I slept maybe 4-5 hours.

Day 2 - Reprieve

I woke up this morning at 5:30 and messed around until finally hitting the road at 7am. It was lightly drizzling, the skies looked like they’d hold back the sun for me. I prefer cold and drizzly to hot and sunny, just makes riding easier. I threw my rain gear on and headed into the unknown. I was a little afraid of the ride ahead of me after yesterday. My knees were sore from all the slow climbing and my cold has yet to cut me some slack, but thankfully the weather and topography were with me. The first 40 miles of the ride was all downhill!






No joke! I didn’t slip under 20 mph (well maybe once or twice) for that first leg of the ride. At 10am I had already ridden just over half of the ride! The scenery was also beautiful as I cruised through the Wind River Reservation.






(I can’t wait until towns are closer together than 85 miles. I wonder if that used to be a full days ride horseback, and so these towns popped up for people to stay at in between destinations.) After the 40 miles of downhill I found myself in these meandering rolling hills. It was almost a surreal scene. It started with a climb up a hill, which then I found myself on the top of another hill, which lead to a climb up another hill. But from any one hill you couldn’t see what was behind the next hill.





It ended up not really mattering as it was only hills behind each hill, but it was a little comical at times and I was laughing to myself about it.

I stopped at the Hines General store on the Reservation and ate a hamburger and bought a new gallon of water, since I only needed to fill up 3 ¾ of my bottles I had to chug the last bit of the gallon… between that and the burger I felt like I swallowed a bowling ball. It was tough to pedal but I really kept hoping that I’d find riding as easy as that morning and that really kept me motivated. As I pedaled out of the store I saw a stone marker for Sacagawea’s grave, which it told me was 3 miles down the road on the left. Now what’s ironic about this sign is that they tell you it's down the road, but their isn’t a sign at the turn that you need to take in order to see the grave. That was to be one of the sights I wanted to see on the trip, but alas it will have to wait.

Speaking of irony I’m glad to know that the weather has retained its sense of humor. What I had been most nervous about on this trip has been the heat, but since mid-day on the 1st it has been chilly and showering! It is now thundering and lighting out, and once again I have sought the safety of a motel room. I had setup camp in the Lander City park, as they allow free camping there, when it started thundering. Being setup under trees in an open area I started calling all the motels, and I was there within 20 minutes as was the rain. I’m going to need a day off soon to let my body do some healing, but for now I’m sitting here sipping on tea. It’s nice to be able to enjoy some tea after a long bike ride.

Holy #$*%! Day 1

Today was a first day of epic proportions! I started the day at 4:30 looking to get a head start on the sun. I was on the pavement by 5:30. Julia and Lucy accompanied me for the first bit of the ride.

Then it was nothing but pavement until 10:30 when I came to the Togwotee Pass. I started climbing the pass at 10:30 and continued to climb for 15 miles and 3 1/2 hours!! I'm not kidding. Previously I wrote about riding the Teton Pass and how that would be the hardest thing I could anticipate on this ride, yeah well I was wrong. Although this pass may not have been as steep as the Teton Pass it dwarfed it in sheer length! I knew that at some point on this ride I would be broken. However, I did not anticipate it being the first day! But eventually I did make it
as I am writing this from Dubois, WY.

Throughout the ride I had to deal with a lot of construction and dirt roads. I was escorted through one construction are by the pace truck, and by escorted I mean they made me and my bike ride in the back while they drove me through. The second construction zone I pulled up to just as they were getting ready to let people go. The flag guy told me I needed to wait for the pace car to get a ride, but as the gentleman who was peeing on the side of the road while in the line of traffic approached his pickup the flag guy yelled to him, "Hey wanna give this guy a ride?" To which the driver replied No, and the passenger sure. So I was loaded into the back of this pickup. Once in we were given the go ahead to continue. The passenger took his beer can from the floor crumpled it up and threw it at the flag guy who didn't notice, and with the spinning of the truck tires and some dust clouds we were gone. These guys were nice enough to drive me through the dirt road section. It was very rough and I definitely would have struggled greatly had I tried to ride through it. As we drive the rain started to come down. We were going fast enough that it was stinging me as it hit. They offered to keep driving me on into Dubois, but I declined feeling that I really wanted to do this ride the right way. I spent the rest of the ride trying to outrun thunderstorms, which left me seriously questioning the need to preserve my pride. I think I would have rather preserved my legs and my lungs in retrospect. But it was good to pedal, and I'm learning to not get excited when I see bends in the road, because most likely the top of the pass or town is not around that one, now matter how much you want it to be. With the rain now coming down in sheets, a flood advisory, and trying to kick this cold I decided I'd stay in a Motel tonight. Here I can watch the rain from comfort and hopefully sleep soundly and do some recuperating. Until tomorrow or next time I have internet.