We made it!

We made it! We started on July 12 and rode through 11 states. We met lots of nice people and saw some beautiful scenery. We traced a lot of history of the nation and its many stories. Our muscles got tired sometimes, but we slept and ate well and woke up every morning ready to ride again. We worked together to overcome the challenges each day offered, and we had a good time.

We are in Tigard, OR and are clean, wearing jeans and cotton and are content. Not only that! but we arrived to homemade cookies and Russian cream (the dessert from our wedding). This afternoon we rode to Nick's parents house with his parents and Kathie Carlisle from Champoeg Park.

After leaving Baker City in the morning, we climbed up and over Sumpter Pass (correct spelling in OR, incorrect for the namesake), Tipton Pass and Dixie Pass. There were some confederate sympathizers in Eastern Oregon. On the descent from Tipton Pass we ran into a herd of cows. We'd passed lots of open range signs but hadn't seen cows on the road. We may have mentioned that we have an interesting effect on animals and that all cows look up at us as we ride by. These cows began to run in front of us down the road. Nick was herding about 25 cows and Kristin brought up the rear and had about 5 stragglers in front of her. We camped for the night outside of Mount Vernon in a state campground. We were tired of one pot meals at this point so we experimented with the options of a supermarket deli. We ate barbecue pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans and deviled egg potato salad.

The next morning we planned a short day to Mitchell, OR so that we could make a 5 mile trip off route to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We were curious by the time we got to the fossil beds who John Day was. He had two towns named after him, John Day and Dayville, a river--the John Day River, and the fossil beds. We thought he must have been an important guy. He was a fur trapper and his claim to fame was being rescued naked at the mouth of a river on the Columbia after being robbed by a group of Native Americans. Later settlers would point out that river as they passed by. "That's where they found John Day naked!" Apparently, if the mouth of the river gets named, that name applies to the whole river up to the headwaters. The fossil beds and visitor center were definitely worth the detour. It turns out that Oregon has more than basalt, and the eastern side of the state has fossil beds that span about 40 million years of the Cenozoic and have many mammal and plant fossils. There are NO dinosaur fossils as the sign said. After the fossil beds we climbed up and over Keyes Creek Pass and descended to Mitchell. There were tough headwinds that made the climb a challenge and the descent a bigger challenge. Kristin was coasting at 14 miles per hour on a 7% grade. That's bad.

Mitchell was a tiny town with a cafe, a store, a motel and a bear. We stayed at the motel, bought dinner at the store and shared it with another touring cyclist, ate a good breakfast at the cafe (including an ice cream pancake), and visited the bear. From there we climbed up and over Ochoco Pass. It may seem like we're doing a lot of climbing and we haven't even gotten to the Cascades but we had three passes after Baker City and then a pass a day for the next three days. When we descended from Ochoco Pass we got our first view of the Cascades. It was neat to finally see some scenery we'd seen before and recognized. Nick enjoyed naming all the peaks. We made it to Sisters that night and showered at a gym before camping at the city park.

In the morning we climbed up to the Santiam Pass. From here we left the TransAmerica Bike Route to get to Tigard. We'd pieced together a route that took us on a forest service road down to the valley. We were on it for 58 miles and for a while it was very remote. We descended along a pretty creek after a steep climb that we didn't expect. We crossed the Willamete Valley and ended the day in Corvallis. Earlier in the day, we'd talked about what to eat for dinner when we got in and were both excited about Chinese. When we arrived at the Econolodge (it WAS the last night of our honeymoon) we found a Chinese restaurant in the parking lot. After riding 124 miles and spending over 11 hours on our bikes, we were happy.

Today we left Corvalis and biked north to Champoeg--a park on the Willamette River 20 miles from Nick's parents' house and where they decided to make Oregon a state. We passed lots of hops farms on our way. It was mostly flat and we made good time. We arrived at Champoeg park to find Nick's parents and lunch. From there Nick's parents and Kristin and Nick rode over the Willamete and then up 99W to Tigard. After Newburg, Kathie Carlisle joined the ride in and completed the Carlisle connection where Kurtis rode out with us and Kathie rode in. After 19 miles we arrived in Tigard! Wahooo.

We're excited and glad to be here. We couldn't have done it without all of you so just for the fun of it here is a special thanks to: Nick's parents for lots of supporting phone calls, riding in with us and help navigating to Tigard; Kristin's parents for chocolate, walnut, oatmeal raisin, molasses, peanut butter chip cookies, phone calls and riding out with us; Alex, Peter and Katie for being great siblings and checking in by phone, Sarah and Sean for hosting us in Pueblo, cooking great food and playing bocce and euchre; Tara and Phil for cookies and phone calls, the Horsleys for sharing what to expect and panniers, Ken too for the panniers, Lisa for encouraging posts and Jason for opening a KOA in his front yard, Kurtis, Kathie and John for riding with us for part of the trip, AND so many more...

Some SUPERlatives from the trip:

Longest Day: Depending on how you look at it - either 138 miles from Chanute to Newton, KS or 11.5 hours on our bikes from Sisters to Corvallis, OR

Best place to get a bite to eat: Delaney's in Goreville

Saddest moment: the top of Lolo Pass in the cold cold rain

State most likely to be chased by dogs but with the most hospitable hosts: Kentucky

Biggest dinner: tough call but probably the half gallon of chili but maybe the two boxes of red beans and rice and 8 tortillas or the maybe the sage butter sauce and homemade raviolis at Sarah and Sean's. Any way you look at it, we ate a lot of big meals.

Strongest headwind: We thought it was bad in Kansas, then we thought it was bad in Wyoming, but then it seemed worse in Montana. We'll go with Oregon before Baker City or Mitchell--the last really strong headwinds. Each time seems worse than the time before

Best descent ever: into Hell's Canyon, Idaho where we achieved 2 minute miles for a long time

Most inflatable Christmas lawn ornaments: KOA at Natural Bridge

Best buy: dollar store fleece!

The numbers:

4146.7 -- total miles traveled

48 -- total days riding our bikes (50 for the whole trip including our days off in Colorado)

70 -- number of days Nick and Kristin have been married

15 -- century plus days (over 100 miles traveled)

13 -- nights in a motel (ok we're not very hard core and stayed in motels most nights it got cold/wet/windy or needed extra motivation to get into town)

6 -- number of flats (3 each for those counting)

We're going to head down to Pasadena later this week to start graduate school. The adventures will continue but we probably won't blog about them. Thanks for following along. Send us an email if you get a chance.

Back on the Oregon Trail

We're writing first thing in the morning today to try something different. We got into Baker City last night under stormy skies and decided to stay in a motel, and we found one with a computer.

The day we posted from White Bird, we got onto US 95 and rode up the Salmon River. It was a Saturday, so there were lots of rafters out--sometimes 7 rafts in line for the rapids. We followed three different river valleys in Idaho. They were all beautiful, but it was neat to see the differences between them. The Salmon was more arid and steeper walled than the Clearwater, and it was fun to watch the rafters. Before we had the bad luck with the weather last week, we were talking about taking a day off for a rafting trip. Seeing the crowds made us feel a little better about not doing it. In Riggins, we bought dinner and breakfast and started climbing up a smaller fork of the Salmon. We ended the day in a high meadow that's the headwaters for the Little Salmon. We stayed at Zim's Hot Springs, and we took a soak after a light meal--a half gallon of chili and 8 oz. of cheddar cheese.

The next morning was cold again. We were above 3000', which seems to be our upper limit for early mornings these days. We stayed in the tent until the sun hit it, and the thermometer said 34. We rode up and out of the meadow to the Weiser River Valley. We stopped for a snack and grocery shopping in Council. The park there had two giant, iron steam tractors and a flag pole made out of old rail road track. We climbed out of the valley to a pass that descended to Hell's Canyon. It was hot, windy and dry. We camped by Brownlee Reservoir that night and, to contrast the night before, were sticking to our sleeping bags.

We woke up yesterday morning and crossed the Idaho-Oregon border! Woohoo. And we're in Pacific Time for the rest of the trip so our cell phones should be less confused. We crossed 3 time zone changes in Idaho. The ride out of Hell's Canyon was pleasant. We had a cool morning and the grades were not too bad. We stopped for a snack in Richland, OR, and Kristin had a flat, which we fixed, and we met another east bounder. Danny from Beijing. Out of Richland, a front moved in with lots of wind. It blew down the canyon we were riding up--right in our faces. It threw tumbleweed at us and nearly brought us to a stop. It started raining about 10 miles from Baker City, and we decided to stay in a motel. Now it's rained on us in every state on the route. Except Maryland, which we were in for an hour. But it didn't rain in Maryland the day of our wedding, so we can count it.

We're still hoping to be in Tigard on Saturday. If you're interested in riding in with us, we should be at the entrance of Champoeg Park around 1:30. If you want to ride your bike down or drive by, we'll ride across the river to Newberg, then up 99 to Tigard. It's about 19 miles from Champoeg to Tigard.

The numbers:

3700--approximate miles so far.

weather or not

The question of the last few days has been whether or not to keep biking each day. We've had some weather come through from the Pacific Northwest that brought days of rain. We did a bit of both--stop early and push through. We're currently in White Bird, Idaho and we just visited the Whitebird Battlefield.

After we left Twin Bridges we joined up with the Lewis and Clark Trail and followed it into Dillon. We stayed at our second KOA of the trip but this one didn't have the batting cages, mi nature golf and inflatable lawn ornaments featured at other KOAs--it still had a pool. The next day we were hoping to climb over three passes--Badger Pass, Big Hole Pass and Chief Joseph Pass so that we could avoid another cold morning and descent from above 6,000 feet. When we got up into the Big Hole Basin we picked up a bottle of red wine from Kristin's sister Katie at the post office in Jackson. It had a dinosaur on it. We took advantage of a tailwind and headed to Wisdom, the last town before Chief Joseph Pass. Before we got there the winds turned completely around on us and nearly pushed us off the road. Just before they changed, they picked up a vanilla scent. When we got to the prophetically named town of Wisdom, our route turned directly into the wind and the sky was threatening rain. We called it a day and watched Olympic horse dressage competitions on the TV in our motel. The Dutch lady won an unprecedented third gold medal. Then we ate two dinners and drank the bottle of wine.

In the morning, we passed the site of the Big Hole battle between Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce and the US Army. At this point we began following the Nez Perce's flight to Canada from White Bird, backwards. We then climbed up to Chief Joseph Pass and our last time crossing the continental divide--#9. We caught good tailwinds down the Bitterroot Valley to pick up chocolate peanut butter chip cookies from Tara and Phil. They were GOOD! We really enjoyed the Bitterroot Mountains until ominous black clouds and screaming headwinds came down about 14 miles from Lolo, our destination. We made it in with a few spits of rain and hail and stayed in another motel. We got a good Mexican dinner and did laundry next to a liquor store. Some friendly bikers were making good use of the proximity.

The next morning it was rainy rainy but we decided to ride anyway. We headed along Lolo creek towards Lolo Pass. When Lewis and Clark went over the pass they stayed up high and battled snow. We stayed near the creek and battled rain. By the time we got 25 miles in, we were cold and wet. We warmed up by getting more wet--in Lolo Hot Springs! The water temperature was about 103. We were trying to decide whether to stay there or climb 7 more miles over the pass and into Idaho and stay at Lochsa Lodge on the other side. We called the lodge to ask about cabins and decided to push through when there was a break in the rain. It didn't last long and we were soon cold and wet, again. We made it to the pass where they had FREE hot chocolate and coffee! AND we learned that the lodge was full. They neglected to mention this on the phone. We got lots of advice from sympathetic travellers and rangers, and we came up with three options: sit in the lodge and look forlorn hoping someone would take us into their cabin, ask at the ranger station to set up our tent under an awning, or go to the Powell campground and hope for a pavilion. When we got to the lodge we paid to shower and ate a meal but no one offered a dry place to stay. Feeling like there was no room at the inn, we rode down to the ranger station looking for a ranger. We caught them as they we closing and it turned out 3 other cyclists were in the same situation. They got permission to stay in the schoolhouse at the station--with heat and a bathroom with a shower. We stayed there too and caught happy hour at the lodge with our three new cyclist friends. They were a lot of fun. We swapped stories and one of them was towing a dog. It was once again amazing how bad days can turn good so quickly.

Yesterday the rain cleared up. Under morning fog we descended along the Lochsa/Clearwater River through a forested, steep-walled valley. When the sun burned off the fog we began to really enjoy the scenery. We followed the Clearwater all the way to Kooskia where we decided to keep going because we were having such a nice ride. We climbed up another branch of the Clearwater River and then through basalt deposits to Grangeville, Idaho. We skipped internet yesterday and decided we were more excited about cell phone service and a diner breakfast!

Now we are in White Bird where the Chief Joseph Band of Nez Perce began their flight after a major battle and victory over the US Army. It has been interesting followings these trails: the Lewis and Clark, the Oregon, and the Nez Perce. It has given us breaks at interpretive signs and something to think about as we ride.

We are hoping to arrive in Tigard next Saturday. If you are interested in riding in with us and are in the area, we'll put more information up soon about a rendezvous near Champoeg Park.

Numbers
16 - days with rain. When we were in Idaho we realized we've been rained on in every state (except Maryland) so we'll see what happens in Oregon.

Looking for Hannah Montana

We're in Twin Bridges, Montana and are headed to Dillon for the night. We had a great morning riding downhill with a tailwind and crossed our 3,000 mile mark (17 mph avg!). We then went up and over a 2,000 ft. climb and descended into the Ruby Valley and some historic mining towns. Yesterday afternoon we watched the smoke from a forest fire from our campsite and have been biking in brown haze today. We've had a great few days biking through the national parks and met some great people along the way.

After we left the Rawlins Public Library, it took us 40 minutes to bike 4 miles out of town. We battled headwinds the whole way. With our intended camping spot 30 miles up the road we might have made it by 10. Instead it took us 8 minutes to get back into Rawlins. While in Rawlins, we restocked the cliff bars that Terry and June had given us in Boulder to fuel our legs. We found a deal for 25 cents a bar and spent a total of 11$ for breakfast, bars, juice and sandwich fixings. Thank you to the man that let us borrow his savings card. We also bought $6 worth of fleece at the Family Dollar. We'd had some cold mornings and the weather predictions were calling for a cold front to arrive from N. Dakota the next day and sit over Wyoming and Northern Colorado. It was expected to bring colder temps, rain and snow above 9,000 feet.

We left Rawlins the next morning wearing our new fleece gloves and hats. We were biking through a sparsly populated area and there weren't many services so we decided to go 124 miles to the next larger town, Lander. It was as if we put our bike tires in old wagon ruts that day because our path criss-crossed the Oregon Trail. We stopped to check out Split Rock, where the Oregon Trail and the Pony Express Route met and biked along the Sweetwater River. We spotted a Pronghorn on the road as we were leaving a snack break in Jeffery City. It was neat to see one so close.

Wyoming had the widest shoulders by far and we rode away from traffic through most of the state. However, the road surface often left a little to be desired. At times it was like riding on the rumble strip--for miles. On one particularly long descent into Lander the shoulder was covered in long cracks that parralleled the white line. We tried to steer our bike to keep our wheels out of the cracks. At the same time there were strong cross winds doing their best to force our tires into the cracks. It was a bit like a video game steering around obstacles with your seat tilting and vibrating underneath you.

We found a great camping spot in Lander at the Holiday Lodge that featured hot showers, a jacuzzi and free continental breakfast. Unfortunately the cold front arrived that and it rained on us all night long. Many things got soaked including one of Kristin's bike shoes, Nick's new fleece apparel, the rain fly, the bottom of the tent, the ground cloth and the bottom of our sleeping pads. We ate breakfast while we put a load through the dryer and packed up the tent and fly wet. Our ride that day was gorgeous. We biked through the Wind River Gorge and up into the Wind River Mountains. We even had a tailwind for most of the day. We passed through Dubois (prounounced Dew-Boys) and stayed in a cabin 10 miles beneath Togwotee Pass (elevation 9,658 ft.).

We were a bit concerned about snow through the pass because it had snowed south of it, but it was clear. We dried out and woke up to another cold morning--34 degrees and a pass to climb. The descent down to Teton National Park was COLD. Our coldest yet by far. We stopped for coffee and hot chocolate at the first lodge we came to after summiting (about 10 miles downhill). The hot drinks were not enough to warm us back up. It took hitting road construction where a 2 mile stretch of road was unpaved. A pilot car lead traffic through the construction vehicles. We got to put our bikes in the back of the pilot pickup truck and ride in the cab. That heater did the trick. We entered Teton National Park after sharing our peanut m&ms with a hiker on the continental divide trail whose package hadn't arrived at the post office. We biked past Jackson Lake and enjoyed the scenery before climbing up the caldera and into Yellowstone.

When we woke up in Grant's Village in Yellowstone the next morning it was 31 on our pocket thermometer. The fleece was not enough and we ended up not getting started until 9:00 and spent the time in the camp store staying warm. We watched Old Faithful go and saw some hot springs and boiling mud pools. Nick also got another flat tire. He had the same problem Kristin did where the valve came off the inner tube. We were about to bike out of the park without seeing much in the way of wildlife when we biked right past a moose on the side of the road. We crossed into Montana and entered West Yellowstone to do some grocery shopping and eat Blizzards before headed on to Hegben Lake and Quake Lake. Quake Lake was created during a 1959 earthquake when a landslide blocked the Madison River. It was cool to still see the huge debris pile and the dead trees. The Army Corps of Engineers dug out a path for the river before there was flooding downstream. We camped last night right below it at the Slide Inn.

Nick and Kristin's Daily Diet:
It has been a long time since we've had to stock up in a convience store (sometime in KS) so this is our current grocery store diet.

Breakfast:
2 containers of fruit yogurt (each)
granola (we usually eat 1 lb. every two days)
bananas

Snacks:
peanut butter and honey sandwiches, cliff bars, peanut m&ms, or gorp (depeding on where we are in the day)

Dinner:
A one pot wonder (we've tried lots of things and have recently enjoyed the boxes that have a can of meat and sauce, pasta and cheese -- if the servings per container says 5 it works)
1/2 gallon of fruit juice (we enjoy the Dole variety with Pineapple)
fruit (kiwis, apples, bananas, peaches, plums, etc.)

The numbers:
3050 -- miles ridden thus far
5 -- erupting geysers in Yellowstone
8 -- times crossing the Continental Divide
6 -- flat tires
3 -- more west bounders met and passed in Yellowstone (many more east bounders but we've lost count for the moment)
2 -- more state lines to cross!

Welcome to Wyoming

Not only did Sean drive 3 hours round trip to pick us up in Silverthorne, CO on Friday then again to drop us off on Monday, he made breakfast on Monday as well. Blueberry pancakes, yum yum.

The pancakes carried us North from Silverthorne on 9. We crossed the Colorado River and followed it East for about 20 miles. Thunderstorms waylaid us again, but this time in a diner with soup and pies and brownies. After sitting for about an hour we continued on wet roads to Hot Sulphur Springs. It was a short day. It was strange to be on the road again. No showers, but we went to sleep before dark. We set our alarm early to get some miles done before afternoon thunderstorms.

The next morning it was cold. Very cold! We turned our alarm off and waited for the sun to come up. When we got up, it was only 35! We started riding a little later, but our hands were still very cold. Nick rode with socks on his hands. A little after it warmed up, Nick got another flat from glass, and the pump wasn't working. We could only get around 40 psi rather than the 110 recommended. We worked our way up Willow Creek to Willow Creek Pass around 9600'. With the riding up to, over, and down the pass we crossed the Colorado River, the Continental Divide, and the North Platte River. Crazy. It was an easy pass, but we were feeling off. We had headwinds on the descent and made some slow flat miles to Walden. We even debated stopping in Walden, but at 4 pm after grocery shopping we got back on our bikes to ride either 22 miles to a campground near the CO-WY border, or 50 miles to a private campground with hot showers and a diner breakfast in Riverside, WY. That was enough motivation, and with dry skies we pulled in just at sunset.

It was just as cold in Riverside this morning. We spent the cold hours in a diner and got on the road at 8 am. We made good time to Walcott Junction where our route joined I-80 for 13 miles. The riding was not as bad as it sounds. The shoulder was really big, and the traffic wasn't too bad. Now we're in Rawlins. We pumped up our tires, bought Kristin a new bike computer (her wires broke. Sad.) and doing the internet thing. We'll watch the sky and the winds and see how much further we go. We hope to be in Yellowstone by the weekend.

The numbers

156--trucks that passed us on I-80.

Resting with friends

We're in Louisville, CO near Boulder for the weekend staying with our friends Sarah and Sean. We didn't ride our bikes on Saturday or Sunday! It feels a little strange.


The morning we left the Ordway hostel we rode 11 miles up the road to Olney Springs to pick up a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies from Kristin's mom. It was neat entering the rain shadow. Getting to Pueblo the climate was even more arid with cactus and sagebrush. It's fun to watch the wildlife change as well. We saw a jack rabbit and badger in Kansas. As we entered Pueblo riding on the shoulder of US-50 we rode alongside a prairie dog colony. They were scared but curious. We also saw a coyote cross the road outside of Olney Springs.

We were following an old railroad track with telephone poles that were barely above head height and falling apart. It was very dry and desolate, but Pueblo was a big city--by far the biggest we've been in. We stopped there for lunch, and when we left it wasn't long before a group of thunderstorms appeared in front of us. The lighting kept getting closer and the wind stronger. At first we thought about taking shelter near a small white building we saw in the distance. When we arrived at it, it turned out to be a semi truck tractor. The thought of crouching next to it while the storm passed pushed us to a ranch house with a big wrap-around porch we could see a half mile up the road. We went up to the house and the family was very generous and let us park our bikes in the garage and stay in the house for the storm. It was a big one with about 2 inches of rain in an hour and a half and lots of lighting. When we continued on our way, still hoping to make it past Canon City, our luck ran out. Nick got a flat tire from a piece of glass he probably picked up riding through Pueblo. After we fixed it, Kristin put air in her back tire and the inner tube valve tore off the inner tube. We had to replace a second flat. The winds turned around, and we slowed down a lot. We only made it as far as Florence that night - 89 miles for the day but 20 short of where we thought we had to be to meet Sean on Friday. No showers either, which was sad. And sort of gross.

Not making it those last 20 miles we had no idea what to expect the next day. We intended to end the day 12 miles from Hoosier Pass--85 miles ahead and 5,000 above us. It would be our first day of climbing in Colorado. We screwed up setting our alarms and didn't get the early start we thought we would need. With all that, it turned out to be one of our favorite days on the whole trip. We made good time while climbing and the mountain scenery was beautiful and a welcome change. At one point we stopped to eat sandwiches and fill water bottles at a hostel that we would have loved to stay and enjoy. We even found homemade tamales in a little town called Hartsel. It was a good thing too because during the last 19 mile stretch between Harstel and Fairplay it started raining on us and at 9,000 feet it was cold! When we got in to Fairplay it was still raining and colder. It got down to about 42 that night. But we learned in Kansas what the tough do when the going gets tough.

When we woke up in the morning, ready to summit Hoosier Pass and the continental divide, we could see our breath. The last 2,000 feet of the climb went fast and we did it in about an hour and a half but we were not warm. After the summit, the descent was even colder. We stopped in Breckenridge for hot drinks. From Breckenridge to Silverthorne we followed bike paths that parallel highway 9. It was nice not riding on the shoulder, but it was strange to see so many people on bikes that weren't riding across the country. We don't think they knew what to make of us.

Sean picked us up around noon Friday in Silverthorne just off I-70. Now we're relaxing. We made ravioli and ice cream and played euchre. We played a lot of euchre with Sarah and Sean in college. We're watching the Olympics and managed to catch the opening ceremony. We had lunch today with Terry and June--old neighbors of Kristin's. We're getting back on the road tomorrow morning clean, well fed and well rested. Thinking about this weekend has motivated us for a long time and we're finally enjoying it!

Getting over Hoosier Pass was a big accomplishment. At 11,542 feet, it's the highest point on our route. We've been hearing about it for a long time, and we've finally seen some climbing in the big mountains, and we're optimistic for the rest of the trip. The big storms of last week are supposed to be over, so we should have warmer weather, but we'll still have to deal with smaller afternoon storms. Getting flat tires was sort of a bummer, but we were feeling like a goalie with a shut out or a pitcher with a no hitter--there was a lot of pressure that's gone now. Actually, on the drive down from Silverthorne we put our bikes in a trunk rack, and the heat from the exhaust melted Kristin's back tire giving us our third flat! We've never heard of that happening. Still, the tires have only had one puncture flat in over 2000 miles--the other two flats can't be blamed on the tires. We found a new spare tire and did some bike cleaning and routine maintenance. We replaced both of our cleats on our shoes because they've worn out. A part of Kristin's cleat actually broke off and made clipping in hard. We didn't really anticipate so much wear from pushing off and walking around in our bike shoes.

The restful weekend has been good, and seeing friends has been wonderful. We're ready to get back on the road tomorrow morning where we left off.

Some numbers:

3--flats.
2,385--miles traveled.
2--days with no miles ridden. We haven't even gotten on our bikes.

Yes We Kansas!

Wow. It seems like its been a long time since we last posted any news and we've covered a lot of terrain. We've made it to Colorado! We rode into the state just after the sun came up (more about this later) this morning. We're in Ordway, CO at a hostel for the night. Tomorrow we'll pass through Pueblo and head towards our first pass in the Rockies -- Hoosier Pass at 11,542 ft.

While at the Safari Park in Chanute, KS we didn't see any wild animals but we did manage to catch some beer league softball across the field from our tent. They played with the lights on until about 11. We also discovered a "Super Walmart" and got things like fresh fruit, clif bars and granola that we can't always find in minimarts.

On the last post we mentioned we'd either stay in Cassoday or have a really long day. At about 4:30 in Cassoday we decided to jump the 38 miles, no services section and make it to Newton. We ended up biking 138 miles that day. Our longest of the trip (and our lives). We picked up a package of cookies and a digital thermometer from Kristin's mom. We also discovered that day that Kansas does in fact have hills. We climbed up and over the Flint Hills. When we stopped at a gas station for a break we learned that it doesn't get really flat till after Newton. We also first encountered the headwind that day. We ate dinner and chocolate milkshakes when we arrived.

The next day we had another afternoon service gap. This one was 58 miles. There were more head winds and also cross winds from the south southwest. We thought it was rough going with the wind but the bright side was that at least the wind was blowing us off the road. For bikers headed east the gusts forced them into traffic. During the service gap we watched a couple windmills turn our direction, which was satisfying. With good winds, we got into Larned at around 7:15. Just in time to either (a) catch the 7:30 "Dark Knight" (b) buy groceries or (c) go swimming at the city pool. We stocked up on food and made it to the pool just as they announced it was closing. The lifeguards were nice enough to let us shower. (Thanks guys). We tested the thermometer and got a high of 110 in the sun, 129 in Nick's pannier, and a high of 97 in the tent at night. The heat and teenagers circling the parking lot of the pool made it hard to sleep. The winds had been so bad during the afternoon we decided to get up earlier to ride before they picked up. We left Larned in the dark.

Despite leaving at such an early hour, that day was our most challenging yet. Our plan was to bike to Ness City, 66 miles further on, wait for the heat to drop and the wind to die down and then continue on. Our average speed during those 66 miles was about 7 miles per hour and we didn't get to Ness City until 2:00. The headwinds forced us into our granny gear a few times! We also recorded a high of 111 on the thermometer. We never made it out of Ness City. When we tried at 4:30 the winds forced us right back into town. We found the laundromat closed at 5:00, the grocery store closed at 5:00 and the pool closed at 5:00. When the going gets tough, the tough stay in a motel.

We woke up even earlier to try to beat the winds for a bit. It worked. They didn't get going until about 9:00 am. We left at about 5:00 am and biked in the dark for a good hour. It was surreal to only be able to see within a small circle of light created by our headlamps. The winds continued to be strong through much of the afternoon. About 15 miles away from Tribune, KS we began racing against a storm and long line of grey clouds. We actually had a tailwind that the storm brought up at were going above 20 miles per hour at times. We made it 10 miles before it caught us and we had to take shelter in an abandoned grain elevator. When we arrived in Tribune we gained an hour to mountain time but it didn't help us. The library had closed at 2:00 and there was no laundromat.

We used the time zone change to our advantage and woke up at 3:00 this morning new time. We had another 58 mile stretch without services and weren't sure what the wind and temperatures would do today. We had a tailwind the whole day and the morning was overcast. We made great time and went 118 miles. We got into Ordway before at 2:15 in the afternoon. We crossed into Colorado and through Eads, CO--the halfway point on the route. Our average speed was 14.6 miles today! We've even managed to do laundry and get on a computer. Our luck has changed.

The numbers:
2140 -- miles travelled thus far
6 out of 7 -- the number of days we've gone over a hundred miles this week
0 -- flats
111 - highest temperature recorded between Ness City and Tribune
61 -- new tally for east bound cyclists

Flat Roads in Kansas

We are in Chanute, Kansas--city motto, "The gutter is our bike lane." It has almost 10,000 people, so it's a huge city. We'll be staying in the Santa Fe Safari Park tonight. It's not actually a safari park, unfortunately. The road it's on is Santa Fe Rd., and a couple here went to Africa on safari and made a museum. The museum is next to the library, but it's closed.

You have never known two people so happy to be in Kansas. We crossed the border this morning. The roads are less busy than they were in Missouri, and they're much flatter. We finished the hills with 11 miles left to go yesterday, and we haven't been in our granny gear since.

After we posted in Houston we continued through rolling hills to Hartville. The wind was against us and it got very hot. At one point Nick had to stop to lie down. He found a shady spot but didn't see the poison ivy. No reaction, though. We stopped in a store in Ben Davis and learned that there was another westbound couple hoping to camp in Hartville. We'd first heard about this couple in front of us in Hindman, KY--our first day in Kentucky. The chance of catching and meeting them motivated us through the last 20 hot miles. They were a nice couple from Marin, CA. She was having hip problems, so they'd slowed down a bit. We ate dinner with them and set up our tent near theirs on the courthouse lawn. They're carrying a cast iron skillet.

The next day we pushed to get out of the Ozarks and the hills of Missouri. The day started overcast, and we didn't see our shadows all day. It was nice to be cool, but in the late afternoon we had some rain showers and thunderstorms nearby. We had to stop to make sure they weren't headed our way. We ended the day with 12 flat miles to Golden City, MO, just 40 miles from Kansas. We slept in the city park there. At around 9:50 pm, just as we were headed to bed, some local kids showed up to play basketball in the same pavilion we'd set up our tent. They had very dirty mouths and were terrible shots. They left us alone and left about a half hour later.

This morning we had a big breakfast with more free pie in Golden City, then rode our way into Kansas. The riding will be very different in Kansas. Usually, we ride for about 20 miles then take a break and eat a peanut butter and honey sandwich. We've been doing that for weeks in the mountains. You can just imagine how many sandwiches that adds up to. But after our breakfast, we rode 50 miles before stopping. It was amazing. We met 3 more eastbounders as well. They'd all started solo, but met up in Kansas and are pushing each other to finish. One of them left Astoria, OR just 2 weeks before we started our trip. That made us feel like we're making some progress. We stopped riding here in Chanute, as we said above. After we post this, we'll buy groceries for dinner and breakfast, then head for the park.

Overall, we're still doing well. We're excited to be out of the hills for a bit. Missouri sounds like misery if you say it wrong, but we slowed down through it and had a good time. There were so many dead armadillos. We'd never really seen one before, but the roads in Missouri were nearly paved with them. We'll see what Kansas brings.

Tomorrow we're either stopping in Cassody or doing a very long day if the wind is right and it's not too hot.

The numbers:

HZNPBFOONECCBBVKZA--The roads we rode in Missouri. At one point we went from Z to A, which sounds thorough, but backwards.
1600--miles ridden.
42--eastbound bikers we've met to date.
8--westbounders we've passed.
431--Kristin's Yahtzee high score. Nick's highest is 223.
2--country song titles inspired by the Ozarks: "I Can Go Anywhere (In My Granny Gear)" and "My Shirt Is My Pillow (And You Can Share It With Me)"
12.7--our average speed today. Nearly 2 miles per hour faster than any day yet. We love Kansas (so far)!

Coasting in the Ozarks

We figured out how to let people leave comments on our posts. Enjoy.

We're currently in Houston, MO and spent the last few days in the Ozarks. We'd heard a lot from other cyclists about the Ozarks before we even got here. Some even bypassed them via a freeway and a gravel bike path. We're really enjoying them and have even worked in some sight-seeing along the way.

After leaving Murphysboro we rode along the Mississippi River levee. It was a flat ride for a change but very hot and humid. We ended the day in Chester, IL with Missouri over the river from us. It was our first experience staying in a city park and having free access to the city pool and showers. It was a refreshing way to end the day.

We rode into Missouri and the Ozarks. We ended our first day in Missouri in Pilot Knob and stayed in a motel because it had been a little while. We went swimming for the second day in a row and watched the last stage of the Tour de France on TV.

Yesterday morning we headed first to Elephant Rocks State Park and rode our bikes around elephant sized boulders (and bigger). The morning was cloudy with some rain, a nice break from the heat. We then headed up the road to Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. Since Kristin was last there in 2004, there was a major flood. In December 2005 the Taum Sauk Reservoir upstream of it overflowed its dam (One of the park rangers said there was a flood sensor error). It washed out much of the park structures and trees. They've put a lot of work into fixing it up and there are new paths and signs. After we left the Shut-Ins we climbed up and coasted down, many times. We finished the day in Alley Springs on the Jacks Fork River.

This morning we checked out the spring and it's a big one. There is a picture of Nick next to some of the flow. It releases about 81 million gallons of water a day. We've climbed up onto the Ozark Plateau and the riding has been a lot less like a roller coaster today.

The numbers:
1350--miles ridden
4--jars of peanut butter eaten
4--tubes of sunscreen applied
0--Flat tires
4--of the last five nights with some rain
3--Homes of note visited: Besides the Lincoln home, we've also been to Dr. Pepper's home in Rural Retreat and Popeye's home (and his illustrator's) in Chester, IL.

Rolling Hills of West KY

We are currently in Murphysboro, IL and this afternoon we will bike along the Mississippi River to Chester, IL. Tomorrow we head into Missouri and the Ozarks. Carleton Geologists: Kristin is excited for this stretch because we'll visit some of the Missouri fieldtrip stops.

After we left Berea, KY we biked through rolling farmlands until we camped at Lincoln Homstead SP. We think this is maybe where Abraham Lincoln's family homesteaded, but not him because the next day we passed signs for Lincoln's birthplace and boyhood home. From the Lincoln Homestead we decided to push hard for the next three days to make it to Goreville, IL by Sat. morning at 9:00am to pick up Nick's 2nd long sleeve jersey at the post office.

Our first of the three days we passed through Buffalo, KY and picked up some molasses cookies from Kristin's mom at the post office. We also stopped at a Dollar General in Sonora. We'd passed by a lot of Dollar Generals not knowing what they were. They have a huge selection and played disco music while we shopped. We bought two dinners we were so excited. We didn't end up eating either dinner for three days. We ended our first of the three long days at 94 miles with Arnold, Lucy and Lauren at the Double L gas, grocery and service station. They've been unofficially and now officially hosting bicyclists since 1993. We joined them for dinner that included fresh vegetables from their giant garden. It was a great meal with good conversation.

The next day we passed through the Rough River Recreation Area. The police there were not very nice. We passed a lot of eastbound cyclists that day and enjoyed swapping stories. We ended the day 96 miles on in Sebree, KY. We arrived at a bicycle hostel to find mattresses to sleep on, couches and a tv to catch up on news and weather, a washing machine and best of all, our second home cooked meal in a row. It was the basement of a Baptist church in their youth center. We joined the pastor and his wife, Bob and Violet, for dinner. They feed every bicyclist who comes along. The food was fantastic and they had amazing stories of the bicyclists they had met. This included a few cyclisits going around the world. They topped off the night with vanilla ice cream and fresh peaches.

Yesterday we left Sebree, KY and took the ferry across the Ohio River to enter Illinois! We went 101 miles and passed the 1,000 mile mark for the trip so it was a big day. We started the day with three hours of rain which wasn't too bad. Except for the puddles in our shoes. We camped for the night 12 miles outside of Goreville, IL and had more rain through the night.

Today we made it to the post office and had breakfast at Delaney's in Goreville. We had a great egg, cheese and sausage biscuit and lots of sweet tea. The restaurant was very friendly to bicyclists and offered everyone that was touring free dessert. We had apple pie a la mode at 8:30 in the morning. It was delicious. They also took polaroids of all the bicyclisits that came through so now we have a picture of us under a glass tabletop in Goreville.

The count

30--number of minutes (paid!) we have to write this post
0--flats
1125--miles ridden so far
15--days we've been on the road
1--Buffalo sighting, and we're not to Yellowstone yet.
2 more turtles saved from the road. People in Kentucky seem to like to hit turtles on the road. It's sad.

But Kentuckians are also great hosts to cyclists. Off to Missouri.

Appalachians behind us

First, we uploaded some new pictures. They're in the bike pictures slide show in the right hand margin.

We're in Berea, KY, "The Gateway to the Appalachians", I guess that means they're behind us.

We were going to try to post a couple days ago, but the library was closed on Sunday. A lot of things were closed on Sunday including the coal mines. Crossing Eastern Kentucky, we didn't see a single coal truck, which was great. I guess they drive like crazy and pass close.

So last time we posted we were in Rural Retreat, VA. The next day we made our last high climb up and over to Damascus, VA. The grades were gradual, and we were able get up pretty quick, so we stretched the day out at the end with a 1500' wall that took a solid hour to get over. It was steep and long. Kristin called it Mt. Doom. I think it's actually called Clinch Mtn near Hayter's Gap, VA if you want to look it up.

We spent that night in a church that's left open for cyclists near Rosedale, VA. No showers again, but they had a watering can and hot water from the tap, so we got creative.

The next day was a day that songs will be written about. We rode 50 miles to Breaks, VA at the border (we missed the post office, getting there after noon on Saturday. If you sent something to Breaks, it'll come back to you. We learned a lesson). Then we rode 61 more miles all the way to Hindman, KY to get over 5 big hills and a big gap in towns to stay in. We counted down the hills as we went but ended up with one last steep one up to the bed and breakfast run by the Knott County Historical Society. It was a great place to stay. The proprietor, David, met us at the top of the hill with 2 glasses of sweet tea. We drank those, and he brought out two more. It was great to sleep outside away from I-81, but we stayed up way past our bedtime talking.

Then we've had a couple shorter days to recover from the long day and to deal with the heat. Last night we stayed behind the Presbyterian church in Boonesville, KY. A big thunderstorm came through, but we'd set up our tent under a little shelter they had there. There we a couple East bound guys there who gave us some information.

The bikes continue to perform well, and we're holding up. There was a 48 mile gap in gas stations today that we had to suffer through nearly running out of water. We should have filled the extra bottles that were empty in our panniers.

Thanks for all your emails. We're having fun.

The numbers

102--Highest temperature observed on a bank thermometer (Elkhorn City, KY)
15--Dogs maced. We found Halt! Dog Repellent--The Mailman's Best Friend
1--Roadside repair. I broke my chain climbing up to Breaks, VA on the epic day. I need to downshift earlier.
0--Flats tires (we're not counting fixing Carol's tire at the Bergmann's house).
5--Turtles on the road, 2 saved by us. We couldn't stop for the others.
11--Other cross-country cyclists. 8 East bound, 3 West bound. 4 had support vehicles.
720--Miles traveled so far.

Day 6 in Rural Retreat

After leaving Buchanan we rode up and over lots of hills. When we stopped for Gatorade in Troutville, a local newspaper woman interviewed us and put a posting in the local news --
http://blogs.roanoke.com/botetourtview/2008/07/bikers_come_through_on_the_transamerica_route_esta.html
After that we learned that even small hills can wear you out, but the afternoon flew by after subs at a shop in Catawba. We also encountered our first thru-biker there. His name was Rob and he is headed west. Here's his website: http://www.gowestusa.org/. He's riding to raise money for an organization that takes homeless kids out west in the summer. We biked together for a while and shared a campsite last night in Christiansburg. At the top of the last climb into Christiansburg a little white dog ran down his driveway and chased Nick and bit his front pannier. By the time Kristin got there he was ready to chase again, but he didn't catch her. We're trying to buy pepper spray (the suggested dog repellent).

This morning we set out for Rural Retreat (where we are now) with hope of laundry, a hostel with beds, and a public library. In the middle of the day we were climbing over hills and started to see black then white smoke on the horizon. We when crossed over Interstate 81 and looked down there was the fire, a big accident and the northbound direction was completely closed. All the traffic was diverted to our road! But only for a couple miles. The afternoon seemed particularly hot and we were glad to get in to rural retreat.

Tomorrow we're headed over another 3,000+ foot peak but it is the last in the Appalachians.

Count:
0--Flats (go tires go!)
400--Miles
3--other cross-country cyclists: Rob and two guys we met who left San Fransisco on May 31st.
2--Milkshake stops
2--encounters with unleashed dogs

Gear update:
So far our bikes are fantastic. They are very smooth and absorb the bumps of the road. The gearing has gotten us up all these steep hills and mountains with no issues. The brakes (which are original) actually feel better than our road bike brakes and saved us on some curvy descents. We're very happy with the wheels and tires and are impressed that we haven't had a flat yet (knock on wood). The panniers (thanks to the Horsleys and Ken) are also working well.

Day 5 on the Tour

We've had a great four days. Some ups, some downs (especially through Shenandoah NP).

We made it to Front Royal our first day and appreciated the ride out with Kristin's mom, Carol, and Kurtis and John. It got hot and hilly after they left us, but we made it in ok.

The next day we climbed into Shenandoah up to Hogback Mountain. It took us about four hours to get to the first campground in the park (above 3,000 ft). After that we descended a little, but climbed above 3,000 feet 2 more times. We ended the day early with some thunderstorms. We set up camp after they finished but then got more rain through the night.

Day three was easy compared to the day before and we ended in Rockfish Gap. We stayed at a motel and cleaned/dried out our tent with another 3,000 ft + mountain ahead of us. We named it Mt. Vesuvius for the little town of Vesuvius on the other side.

We didn't have a lot of problems climbing up the Blue Ridge but the descent was a bit hairy. We stopped for our first BBQ of the trip at Gertie's in Vesuvius. We then rode to the KOA outside of Natural Bridge, VA. We think Jason Harding should open up a KOA Kampground in the practice fields behind his house.

Right now we're in Buchanan, VA hoping to make it to Christiansburg.

Our Count (of anything and everything):

0--Flats
248ish--Miles thus far
1--Thunderstorms/Rain
6--Bears - including 1 mom and 2 cubs that crossed in front of us on a hill (there was no one else around)
Lots--Deer with fuzzy antlers and fawns with spots
2--Near trip-ending disasters
3--Weird tourist attractions: "Foamhenge", wax museum and wax factory - to see "history in the making", and an safari park with a picture option with a baby tiger.

We will try to post pictures later this week.

Day One: Pre-Ride

Kurtis Carlisle just walked in the door. All our stuff is packed. We're pushing off around 8 am. Kurtis and John Smink are riding with us to Leesburg. We're crossing at the ferry north of Leesburg, then trying to get to Front Royal near Shenandoah National Park tonight.

Yesterday we loaded the bikes and took a short trial ride. We adjusted the front derailleurs to make room for the super low gears. No flat tires, and we're not counting yesterday's miles on the total.

Hopefully Kurtis and John are ready for a slow ride. And hopefully we didn't forget anything.

We'll find out down the road.

Sending Mail

Some of you have asked if you could send a letter or treat along the way. Here are some instructions:

Address your mail:
Hold for Arrival Date: (Listed below for each Post Office)
Skip a line
Kristin Bergmann/Nick Boekelheide (pick one)
General Delivery
Town, State, Zip Code

Here are the towns we'll check for mail in (the hold dates are 3-5 days after we're expecting to be there in case we are slower than we think... so plan on mailing things so that they'd arrive a week and a half before the date)

Breaks, VA 24607 July 21st
Buffalo, KY 42716 July 26th
Goreville, IL 62939 July 29th
Centerville, MO 63633 August 1st
Buhler, KS August 8th
Rand, CO 80473 August 20th
Moran, WY 83013 August 29th
Jackson, MT 59736 September 5th
White Bird, ID 83554 September 9th
Blue River, OR 97413 September 15th

Nick says, "Whenever I send an email to everyone I know, I ask them to mail me things."

Departure Day Minus One

We're just about to head off on our 11 state bike trip - Maryland to Oregon. We thought this blog would be a fun way to stay in touch as we ride. There are a few features - two sideshows of the bike trip as it develops and the wedding for those that haven't seen any pictures. There is also a place to leave us messages.

We picked up our two bikes from the shop yesterday and have been finishing errands, packing and working on the bikes since then. After we finished packing this morning we took them out for a spin. We're planning to head off after a breakfast of homemade pancakes tomorrow morning. We'll cross over into Virginia via White's Ferry and then head south towards Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park.