Day 26 - This is the end my friends.

I've debated my wrist throughout this ride. I've worried about it. I've prepped for what I thought would be the worst and what I thought would be the best. Ultimately I think it was extended time in the saddle and the climbing that did me in. When I'm climbing it's difficult to ride in a position that doesn't weight my wrist. I've consulted my family and Julia, everyone unanimously feels that I shouldn't continue on. My stubbornness wants me to continue to ride, riding uphill in a sitting position using one hand. But that just isn't realistic.

Monaca, PA, is in the end my final destination point. 2000 miles from my origin, Jackson, WY. I've met amazing people who truly proved to be the highlight of this trip. I've seen the small towns of America. The back highways. The towns that used to be. The cities that still are. I've pushed my body to the limits of what I thought I'm capable of and realized I'm capable of even more. I tested my ability to achieve something that for so long seemed insurmountable. The journey that I anticipated is truly the journey that I had. The hours of time to sit and be with my thoughts. The emotional struggle through barriers and towards goals, large and small.

I hoped and fantasized about doing amazing things for the advancement of mental health rights. I may not have realized them to the full extent that I dreamed, but I have come to understand that anyone can take on an issue and work to make a difference. Sometimes just talking to people about it is enough. I'll have to wait and see.

Amazingly the actual riding was the easiest part of the trip. What I thought would be a grueling slug fest of a fight across the country came to be an ordinary exercise of discipline. A full time job in which you have your ups and downs. Everyday is a struggle, but the ups truly make the struggle and the downs worth it! The immense sense of accomplishment after climbing a hill, or achieving the day's distance goal.

Most importantly I set out on this journey hoping to find what I wanted to do with my life. To let go of my attachments to my material possessions, and the everyday life that becomes routine and an inadvertent hurdle to pushing towards my dreams. To pull together all the motivation, fear, and resistance to Graduate School and fully appreciate what it is that I want from this life and how I'm going to make that happen.

But most importantly I want to thank everyone who became interested in what I was doing. Who gave me verbal, physical, financial, and cyber support. I'm now headed up to Vermont to work with Jim Geier making custom wood rocking chairs, www.vermontfolkrocker.com and spend some time with my girlfriend's family www.jerrygeier.com . I'm now ready to push forward into the next phase of my life.

Day 25 - Pennsylvania

They're backkkkk! The hills are here. It's amazing how quickly they've come back. It's not as I imagined they'd return. I anticipated a gradual increase, a slow acclimation to climbing. But it's more of a here were are! As they jump around the corner and yell surprise. A nice change from corn fields and flatness. The best part is the winding downhills! Imagine a 30 mph downhill with sharp curves around corn fields and rock walls. It's majestic.

I stopped at a gas station this morning about 30 miles out of Sugar Creek. Two Amish men approached me as they had seen me the day before in Walnut Creek. We talked for about 10 minutes about my ride and where they were headed. They are working in construction and had hired a younger non Amish man to drive them. One of the men also had his kids with him. I'm not sure what they do all day while he works. They couldn't have been more than 4 and 6 years old.

The ride today is a bit grueling. I'm climbing so much that my wrist is getting wrenched on. Normally I have time to rest it by dropping into my aerobars, but I can't say I didn't expect this. I made sure to take full account of all potential problems, and this was one of them.

I rode 115 miles today. About half way through the day today I had to ride one handed. My wrist is just getting to the point where it can't take the strain anymore. I'm staying in Monaca, PA, for the evening. I'm a little worried about camping here. I've ridden through some of the worst ghetto's I've ever seen, notably East Liverpool, Ohio. I think I may have even spoke with a verifiable pimp. I decided not to talk with him about women's rights.

As I approached Monaca today a dark looming thunderstorm system was rolling in. I've decided to stay in a hotel, as I'm also questioning my fate for the rest of this ride. I'm getting some outside pressure to not risk further injury to my wrist. I can't say that I don't agree. Having already faced potential surgery on it, I really don't want to risk having a bone graph, which will happen if I've broken the bone off.

The hotel I'm staying at has nicely given me a discounted rate! In addition they upgraded my room to a jacuzzi suite! Sweet! Now it's time for some bubbly relaxation.

Day 24 - The Amish Country

Today is the leg into the back country of the Amish, or what it really is the back Tourist country of the Amish. From Upper Sandusky to Sugar Creek, Ohio. The family I'm staying with is 10 miles further from my actual stopping point yesterday which only adds about 30 minutes to the ride.

I tried to get up earlier than usual and get a nice early start, my plan was foiled as I apparently needed the sleep. I slept in a little bit then got going with a little food from the family. The sunrise was beautiful today. It poked through the clouds in a remarking resemblance of what I remember the ideas of heaven looked like from my Catholic childhood, but now I know it's just a beautiful sky. The riding through Ohio has continued with this pressing headwind. It doesn't want to give up. It keeps me at a consistent 11-15mph, which isn't terrible but it does eat away at my self confidence. When I'm moving this slow for so long it truly feels like a constant uphill struggle. As though you are fighting this invisible force, it's an amazing personal struggle! But one that I can see will be a great lesson for the workforce, and for continuing my education.

As I approached Eastern Ohio the roads have become a bit more hilly. The terrain has given way to wooded areas as well. The countryside is beautiful here! The houses all resemble early era farm houses but are mostly in immaculate condition, especially those of the Amish and Mennonites.

I have an admiring sentiment towards the Amish way of life. Their is something incredibly luring about the simplicity of life without cars and electricity. Where everyday life is about your family, food, and community. I guess you just have to hope that you have good family and neighbors.

I had the opportunity to speak with a couple Amish people. Their were all very intrigued with my ride. The were also surprised at how far I was able to ride in a day, and overall. Everyone here in Ohio is incredibly nice and generous!

I ate at an Amish restaurant that night, curious about what Amish food is like. Basically it's what my Grandmother would cook when I was a kid. A very nice man and wife offered me a bed at their home. I had already setup camp very near to the restaurant and found myself longing to just lay down as soon as possible so I did unfortunately decline. But they did convince me to stop in for breakfast! I was really looking forward to the discussed bacon and eggs, but I again overslept! This time I didn't wake up until 7:20. I think these long days are a bit harder on my body then I realize. Although I did ride for 11 hours, so it is to be expected.

My campground is behind an Amish store, and in front of an Amish home that is now used for tourist walk throughs. Apparently free with water, and electricity. My tent really does feel like home when I set it up, it's a nice feeling.

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.