Monday, June 29, 2009

June 29: Day 47



Well, the shoulder was not going to last very long as it turned out after reading the maps of the route. George ended up riding only about 18 miles on a bike path and rest of the times, we drove and drove and drove (so it felt like) right out of Montana. We did visit the Adventure Cycling (AC) office in Missoula, MT. George ended up riding only about a century out of 300 some miles that he was suppose in Montana. He is pretty upset/unhappy about it but safety has to come first. So, we are now in Idaho. Montana had very limited area that was very pretty but the rest was pretty bare (kind a like Wyoming). Of course, Montana gets the worst road of the entire tour award so far. Idaho did start with similar kind a road with 65 mph speed limit. Very very pretty road with great scenery of river/creek flowing on one side and trees all around. We met someone who was very nice who works at the hotel where we are staying tonight and she and a local trucker helped figure out another route for us as they thought that we were being very dangerous trying to go on the route that was very curvy and windy with very little to no shoulder. They state the normal speed on those road is more like 90 MPH and that there are many deaths on those roads. Lets see what tomorrow brings with these roads.

We traveled from Sula, WY to Grangeville, MT
Miles Ridden :18

June 28: Day 46

What an interesting turn of events today. George was very excited to get back to riding after a couple of planned days off and first day of riding in Montana. I woke up with relaxing mood of not wanting to do much (which is very rare for me) and was diddling dawdling in the hotel room when George called me to let me know that there is a beautiful area about 11 miles into his ride, that I should check out. I quickly got everything together and got out there and man was it beautiful. I went for a little hike (I turned around when I saw signs to beware of Grizzly bears) and did a little ride. It was so beautiful that I felt like.... there is just so much beauty in this world that it hurts (its a movie line, see if anyone knows which one), but its so true some of the days around here. Then I got another call from George about a few hours later to have him be picked up as the roads were too dangerous for biking. The roads had no shoulder and were extremely narrow, they were windy and curvy and on top of that speed limit was 70 (yes, 70) mph. We had heard from a biker in Colorado that Montana had no speed limit, We know believe him. George had two people who tried to run him of the road and other times, he had to get off the road quickly when cars and trucks were approaching from behind. This happened about a dozen times in a 9 mile period and thats when he decided to get off the road and called me for SAG support. Its completely crazy to have those roads on the route. We ended up driving for a while with no change in road condition. We finally found an area where there was a shoulder and decided to call it a day there. We are hoping that the shoulder is here to stay.

We went from W. Yellow Stone, MT to Sula, MT
Total Riding Miles: 83

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Additional Picture


Old Faithful

Additional Picture


Hot Spring....Morning Glory

June 26 and 27: Zero mile days



We have been thoroughly enjoying the Yellow Stone National Park, its beauty and wildlife. It was raining and cold pretty much all day on the 26th. So, we did a safari in a car, while site seeing. Anytime, there is wildlife, people pretty much pull over and watch it. This works great for us as we got to see Grizzly bear, black bears (all from a safe distance, my new binoculars really came in handy), lots of Bison, Elks, and Deer. We now know how to differentiate between the Grizzly bears and the black bears. They look surprisingly alike, except for the hump on Grizzly's backs. We were disappointed that we did not get to see any moose in this park. Also, George tells me that there were three moose on the side of the rode, the day we went over the pass, which he saw but I did not. He was meeting me at the top of the pass and was coming from not too far behind me. But of course, it was on one of the major uphills, which I was trying to get up by looking down and working hard. While he was probably relaxing it up the hill (while going faster than me) and looking around. Oh well... We stayed in the Mammoth Spring Hotel (in a cabin with hot tub, really living it up for this part of the trip). It was a really nice area, and the little historical tour of the Yellow Stone Fort was like icing on the cake. We learned the history of how National Parks started. Very cool... Yellow Stone Park is going to be very difficult (if not impossible) to beat. George is ready to get back on the bike after a few hikes over last couple of days.
Overall Wyoming (minus the park): people are really friendly (We saw the most cow boy hats and boots here so far), roads had pretty nice shoulder, landscape is pretty bare (with some cool canyons). George is really missing trees and hopes that Montana has some change of scenery.

Zero Miles.

June 25: Day 45


Bison are everywhere

The most beautiful ride of the tour for George today: riding through Yellow Stone Park. We were pretty concerned about the traffic, especially since we had heard so many negative things about RV's. I guess the known thing in this RV capital of the world is that people rent these big vehicles and are not used to driving them, thus causing many accidents. George started really early to avoid as much traffic as possible. The park is so beautiful that he pretty much tuned out the traffic and totally enjoyed the ride and eye candy. He saw a bald eagle and its nest and lots of Bison up close (sometimes too close for comfort, but these Bison seem to be pretty used to people around here). We both were expecting Yellow Stone (America's first national park) to be very pretty, but it even exceeded our expectations. George was done with his ride by 12:30 ish and then we did lots of site seeing (mainly the Geyser area, including the Old Faithful). We stayed at the Old Faithful Inn and it is really nice (awesome lobby). We even had a couple of drinks (living it up now that George is taking a couple of days off to check out the park) while watching old Faithful erupt. Truly an awesome day all around. Oh, also crossed another state line, will be riding in Montana now after next couple of off days.

We went from Grand Teton National Park, WY to West Yellow Stone, MT
Total Miles: 73

June 24: Day 44



Today was the day to go over the second highest peak of the tour. We were told that our timing was perfect for this pass as there was lots of snow there about three days ago. Another one of those weather extremes. It had been snowing and raining there for three weeks before stopping. It was cold but overall not too bad. I made it over the pass (yeah...). George did not think that the climb was too bad, well I have a different opinion but that's what happens when you are not used to climbing hills much. But then again, I was riding on my mountain bike (even though its a pretty light, full suspension bike but does have very fat tires). George kep going ahead and I turned back to go down the pass to get the car. Man, the downhill ride of about 22 miles was way too much fun. While I was doing that George rode into Grand Tetons national park. Its very beautiful but brutal with traffic jams. Very little shoulder and lots of construction. George had to ride in the Pilot car as they do not allow bikers to ride through some of the construction area. We stayed in a cabin, right in the park (actually between Grand Tetons and Yellow Stone park). They had a Bison which pretty much hangs out around the resort. It was very cool to watch this Bison close up (he even has a name, Walter). Tomorrow we enter Yellow Stone Park, so excited, but nervous about the RV traffic in the park.

We went from Dubois, WY to Grand Tetons National Park, WY
Total Miles: 71

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

June 23: Day 43



Great day for both of us today. George set a new PR (Personal record) for the most mileage in a day. He comes in at a whopping 132 miles. We woke up at 4:35 am (again) and he was out there early and freezing. Today was the first day, since we have been in WY, that it was not windy. George wanted to take full advantage of that and so he did. He peddled and peddled all day (started at around 6 am and ended at 5 pm). The scenery in WY is just starting to change and becoming prettier. George says that he did all this mileage to get me (I say, its to get us) to Yellowstone National Park, which we both are really looking forward to visiting. I had my own mountain biking adventure. I took this random path, which seemed cool and secluded. This path lead me to this historic "Oregon Trail". It was a lot of fun as there was no one out there except lots of deer (and mosquitoes), me and my bike (oh, lets not forget my snacks). No mountain bike ride is really complete for me, without at least one fall. But the fall was not bad at all, some scraped up knees only. I found another trail (thanks to the LBS guy), but this one was a little more scarier as it was mostly single track, not a tough path but on the side of a cliff, most of the times. Since I was on my own and no one even knew that I went there, I was a bit afraid that if I fell here, no one will even know what happened to me. So, that was end of my biking for the day.

We went from Jeffrey City, WY to Dubois, WY
Total Miles: 132 (woo...hoo....)

Monday, June 22, 2009

June 22: Day 42



Another very windy day. George was on the road before six riding in the brisk cold weather of low 40's. We had to get up before 5 to get out there. (Hey, what kind a vacation is this when we set our alarm clock for 4:35 and its not just once, but a few times already). George met these true hitchhiking kind a tour riders today. They were happy to share with him that they hitchhike their way around regularly. When the going gets tough, they get a ride. I have had new respect for George, on this bike tour. To have the temptation of a ride, never really too far from him, but never taking advantage of that. He has not called me for a ride before he is done, unless its absolutely unsafe (weather or traffic related). Anyways, I did nothing but drive around trying to get cell phone reception to resolve some work issues. I did have fun watching this Sheriff (in a pick up truck) who had a major speeding trap going on there. There was a stretch of less than 0.25 mile, where the speed limit went from 65 mph to 50 mph (I think he rigged that up himself, since this entire town was of that length or less). He had to do nothing but drive on this little stretch one way and give a speeding ticket and the other way and do the same thing. Well, you gotta get your kicks somehow. I have been wondering where all the people are in WY, since all the town's are so tiny. George did some research and found out that WY has the least population in the country and the US gov. owns 48% of all the land. Figures....

We went from Rawlins, WY to Jeffery City, WY
Total Miles: 72

Sunday, June 21, 2009

June 21: Day 41

George is writing this post... but its not Rated R (hummm....)

Started a little early today, with a slight breeze. About an hour and a half into the ride met a group of 3 riders that started from Oregon. Along the trip I met many other east bound bikers but no one that actually started from Oregon. I was also the first west bounder going to Oregon that they met (kind of strange as I figured being off the trail for 10 days someone would have caught up, I know of a couple of riders that are a day behind me now). We hung out on the side of the rode and exchanged stories for awhile including weather and ride conditions. They have hit snow, Hail and high winds. While they were hoping to average 60 miles a day, due to the weather, they have been doing about 50. They also warned me about two areas with high dangerous traffic, Yellowstone Park (heavy RV traffic, Imagine Florida seniors driving in these big things) and the other, the only section of the trail that you actually have to ride on an interstate. They did this section yesterday and I was going to hit it today. It's Interstate 80 with a speed limit of 75 and loaded with trucks. There is a moderate size shoulder but not as large as some of the local roads. I was glad, I was hitting it on a Sunday. Anyway after a few pleasantries we went our ways.

The winds starting picking up soon after, by the time I got to the highway, it was blowing pretty hard. As I rode up the entrance ramp, I saw truck after truck speeding by (I guess they work on Sundays here) and the winds seemed to be getting stronger. The wind was blowing WSW and was heading into it going W. The first 3 miles were really tough, I was lucky to get up to 8 MPH. The wind was really blowing me around and the trucks whizzing by didn't help. By mile 4 I knew the wind was going to suck me up. The wind now was even stronger and now the trucks were creating a strong vacuum as they passed me. As they passed I would suddenly and uncontrollably get sucked in towards them, then the vacuum would suddenly dissipate and I would get tossed to the opposite direction. By mile 4 I was no longer able to keep the bike on the shoulder. Walking didn't see to be much of an option as it was difficult to walk against the wind and it would take forever to get off the highway , which was 3 miles (a rest area). I was tossed many times off the shoulder, thank goodness that it was a sandy soft shoulder that I could dismount quickly as it stopped me dead in my tracks. Once I got to the rest stop I figured I could call Kitty but our cell phones have not worked since yesterday. My plan was if the cell phones didn't work to hitch a ride 7 miles into town which is directly on I-80. Since Kentucky I have had dozens of people offer me rides thus I was sure I could get one that could also take my bike. However, the Cell phones worked good enough that Kitty understood to pick me up. Once we got into town, someone told us that there were gusts up to 70 MPH and that normal gusts here are 40-60. The weather channel only showed gusts up to 45.
Tomorrow is supposed to be more the same thus I will start 5:30 AM (winds are supposed to be about 10 MPH) and end it by 11 before the strong winds really come. but I'm thinking of tying a giant kite to the bike and perhaps I can fly to Yellowstone.
.....Today I saw moose for the first time, a pair that I was able to get very close too, perhaps 75 feet. They seem as curious about me as I was about them.

Went from Encampment, WY to Rawlins, WY
Total Miles: 50

Total tour Miles: about 2500 miles ridden
Total tour Miles left: about 1500 miles
Total days: 41 (39 actually on bike and 2 rest days)
Total full days ridden: 35 days
Total days shorten due to circumstances: 4 (2 due to wind, 1 Heavy Rain, 1 Mechanical issue)

June 20: Day 40



George had a great day of riding. First part of the ride was to go over the continental divide, which was a beautiful ride. He took his time going up (was in total tour mode, even took some breaks while looking for moose. I was bummed out in the morning as I could not go riding. I did feel much better as far as the whole altitude (I don't like the word) sickness. I was also not happy that the only thing in the area, I could find interesting to do required a lot of driving (in the opposite direction to where George was riding), "Rocky Mountain National Park". But it turned out to be surprising an awesome (my favorite park so far) place to visit. It started out by me finding out that its a free day (otherwise the cost is $20. Since I really don't like to pay for site seeing, it was a great news. The park has wild life.... yeah... it was great as I got to see Elks and Moose a few times, just hanging out in the wild. The drive up to the peak (which was about 12,000 ft., approx. 2 miles above the sea level) was gorgeous. One of the prettiest drives I have ever been on. What made it more fun (and a little scary) was that there was no ridge or anything to block the views as you ascend up on these very windy and curvy roads. I did a couple of little touristy hikes to check out the views and get to the highest elevation for the area. There was a lot of snow there, I saw a few people cross country skiing there. Crazy to see all this snow in mid June and of course some crazy bicyclists there too (then again, lot of people think that we are crazy in our own way too). I followed the internet advice to spending some time at high altitude and then coming down and sleeping at lower altitude. I was bummed that I only got to do about 30 min. of back country hike, which was also really beautiful. I had to leave early as the drive to pick up George was about 3 hrs., since he was really booking today. He took full advantage of the nice day and not only just crossed the state line, but went about 20 some miles further. I really wanted to go back and visit the park again but it is impossible as its very far away from the direction we are headed. What makes it worse is that in these small towns, there is only one road connecting you to places. So, sometimes you have to go all around to get to where you are going.

Colorado so far is my favorite state, especially for the scenery. Its very pretty and different scenery. The exciting thing is that we still have other places to visit that may beat the views (such as Yellowstone Park, Grand Tetons and also Oregon state). Lots of Ranches in the northern part of the state, people seem to be pretty serious about the fishing and water sports. Lots of outdoor activities. Strangely, the towns in Colorado are either very touristy or completely desolated. George was not entirely crazy about this state as the road surface was not the best and he thought that the scenery was nice but he likes more vegetation.

We went from Silverthorne, CO to Encampment, WY
Total Miles: 98

Saturday, June 20, 2009

June 19: Day 39



Best day of riding in Colorado so far..... according to George. The weather was great and so was the scenery, especially on this 10 mile secluded road. You take what you can get, especially when you are in a state where the roads are not the best. Since some parts of the ride today, he shared with the vehicles where the speed limit was 65 mph with no shoulder. I had a great time riding on that 10 mile road stretch as George called me and told me about it. According to him, it was pretty flat.... yeah right. I guess flat is a relative term, when you are in great shape vs. barely in shape. It was by far more hillier than where we live and train. I had fun climbing those flat hills and felt great. But I felt like carp later in the evening. We are thinking that may be I am still not fully acclimated to the altitude and may be I exerted myself too much on the ride. Which is too bad, since I wanted to try to challenge myself and try to make the Continental Divide pass, which is going to be possibly our third highest point of the ride (but if the second highest point still has snow on it, it will be closed, thus making tomorrow's the second highest). I guess I will have to try for the second highest one, hopefully it will be open and we will not have to take an alternative route that day.
We are voting the hotel room as the worst for the tour so far. The bathroom sucked, no a/c (this is not the only place that has no a/c and only heat in Colorado, very stuffy room etc...etc.. I love some of the scenery around here in Colorado but can't imagine living in a place where you need jackets year around. These days the temps in the morning and after sunset are around 40'is. People call this.... now the weather is getting pretty warm. Yikes....We are still waiting for us to be able to camp when the temps are little higher. Plus, Colorado does not beleive in providing flushing toilets for the campers. There are not enough trees around here to go in the bushes. Both of us can't stand to use the port-a-potty that are provided. Hopefully Wyoming will be different. We are hoping to cross the border tomorrow.

We went from Silverthorne, CO to beyond Sulpher Silver, CO
Total Miles: 74

Thursday, June 18, 2009

June 18: Day 38


George started bright and early to tackle the Hoosier Pass. This is the most excited he has been since the first day of our bike tour. He did great with the climb, but did think that it was hard, mainly due to the high altitude causing shortness of breath. I performed my SAG job very swiftly and efficiently by getting there to take some pictures and getting the heck out of there quickly to a lower altitude. I do feel way better than yesterday and feel pretty much acclimated.

George remarks: The uphill climb was difficult due to SOB (shortness of breath); however the downhill into Breckenridge was even worse due to SOB’s (Sons of bitches) drivers. Had a couple of drivers who tried to run my butt off the road even though I was either at or above the speed limit. Others just honked their horns at me, perhaps they didn’t see the big yellow signs that show a bicycle and the words “share the road” or perhaps they just didn’t know what that meant but then again they seem to ignore the speed limit signs too by about double.
Another phenomenon that I experienced was with other bikers on the bike trail (a trail just for bikes, no cars) between Breckenridge and Silverthorne. I must have passed dozens of bikers going the opposite direction and they didn’t make eye contact and not a single one even initiated a hello. Of course I was on a mission to say hello to every single one I came upon. What I found was that 2/3 of them didn’t even respond back. Kitty rode with me for a few miles and couldn’t believe it either. But thats when it hit me, perhaps the altitude has affected them and they can’t read, understand or speak English or maybe they just all happen to graduate from South Park Elementary and are just a bunch of Uncle F____s.
In any event the scenery was really cool.

We went from Hartsel, CO to Dillon/Silverthorne, Co
Total Miles: 58

June 17: Day Supplemental 2


We drove over a thousand miles to get to Colorado last night that way we could enjoy full day of acclimatization while site seeing. We went to The Garden of the Gods in the morning. You can probably guess from its name that it was a beautiful place. We then headed to our destination for the night at Buena Vista, since that fit the elevation requirement for us. We spent last night in Colorado Springs at elevation of around 6000 and Buena Vista is at around 8000. I felt a little more altitude sickness this time around, with some stomach issues, slight headache, and shortness of breath. George did not feel any symptoms. We stopped over to the Eleven Mile State Park area, which was also really beautiful, with water reservoir in the valley with mountain views all around (360 view).

We are really happy to be getting back on our Bike tour. Well, I am now calling it George’s Ride across and my drive and explore around America tour. Now that I have brought my mountain (instead of road) bike along, my plan is to do my own rides and not slow down George anymore. Since, these days I can’t keep up with him, while he is on his relaxed pace even with my kick ass speed. He has, rightfully so, moved on to another level of athleticism. It may get a little lonely for him to ride by himself all the time but probably not as much as driving around and exploring alone. It is hard to complain though when you are surrounded by such beautiful, breathtaking views all around.



Sunday, June 14, 2009

June 14: Day supplemental

(7 Falls Park.....CO)

Things at home are now Normal after a scary few days, NC House budget.....had cut our funding which would have put us out of business. Actually quite amazing, when for every state dollar put in to the fund 3 is matched by the feds. Can you imagine cutting therapy to children in your state while you are only paying for 25% ....Pure stupidity.

Well the real story, I talked directly to the chair person of the committee that cut our funding. She claimed that she knew it was going to be reinstated. They cut some critical programs for children as well as the elderly as a political ploy. They combined these critical services with a tax hike in the same amendment. Basically you either voted for them both or you voted against it. Well it worked, the public cry was huge, Our therapists among others sent thousand of emails and made hundreds of phone calls favoring the reinstatement...thus the tax raise. Of course several congressmen voted against the amendment because of the tax plan. It was clear what was going on, they funded pet projects like museums, non core services, low priority programs and left the critical ones without funding so they can but the tax hikes along in the amendment. This is according to the Republicans in the house, and actually it seemed after hearing all the debates this was clearly the case. In any event our funding is completely back and it was never going to be cut in the first place. Of course if we knew that, we would not have come back so quickly.......Those Sons of bitches !!!! By the way the increased tax on cigarettes was defeated in a separate amendment, yes NC has the lowest tax in the country on those cancel sticks.

We are leaving Monday morning to head back to the trail. Not sure exactly when we will start, its 1800 mile drive back and we have to get somewhat acclimatized for the next 34 miles which is all between 9000-11500 (we are at 600 feet now). I wish we would have done that 34 miles before coming back but we were in panic mode. This 34 miles is the highest point of our trail and a steady but not difficult climb (Hooiser Pass) but after that mileage its all down hill in to Breckenridge (ski resort).

I am excited to being going back and adding the camping thing

May NC House representatives wake up from their beds with a Easton Aluminum Seat post up there _ss. NOW thats something to be voted for !!!
(George has written the above part)

As far as my end or shall we say tailbone. While we were at home I did three days in a row of riding of about 5 hours (about 60 miles each ride) to see if I am ready. I was able to do the rides but the tailbone got progressively more painful. Thus making the tough decision of weather to bike full time for the rest of the trip or not easier. Obviously, Not. But now we decided to bring my mountain bike. I plan to ride but not for miles or distance but just for fun. We are able to add the camping thing (instead of staying at hotels) since we know that we will have the car for the rest of the trip. Camping is definitely more work, less luxury, but way more fun. We can also site see more, now that we are really going to be out west.
So, we are very excited to get back to Colorado and start again, after we are aclamatized.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

June 7: Day 37

It was a very windy but good day of riding. However, we learned about something Hugely important work related thing that we need to work on right away. It has to be hugely important for us to sadly have to make this decision to cut our once in a lifetime kind a trip short. We are not riding, but driving, first thing in the morning back to NC due to the incompetency of the North Carolina legislators. We are not calling this our very last entry as we are hoping to get back to this trip and finish it. "Till then...... this is it for now :(

We went from Wetmore, CO to Hartsel, CO
Total (George) Miles: 64
Kitty miles: 37

Saturday, June 6, 2009

June 6: Day 36

Bright, sunny, and warm start of the day today. We both started our ride together. My plan is usually to go one way and turn back and get the car. We had some good (long but gradual) hills to climb. But the great thing (only for me) was that I had some really awesome downhills with a tail winds. That was a lot of fun..... In the meantime, George was facing some major head winds that soon turned to across winds. They were very high (sustained winds of with gusts up to), enough to almost knock George off the bike. Good thing that he can quickly unclip out of his shoes. If it was me, I would have been down the first time. But, I would not have tried to get back on the bike after the first one either. He did finally give up and cut his ride short. So, I ended up doing a few more miles than him (wow, when was the last time that happened). I did try to sit up more on my bike (instead of leaning over on the aero bars) and my tail bone is a little more soar from that. Oh well, we'll see what tomorrow brings. We seem to be much better today as far as the altitude sickness.

We went from Pueblo, CO to Wetmore, CO
Total (George) Miles: 28
Kitty Miles: 34

June 5: Day 35

Zero mileage day for George (and me) today. We had a good time site seeing. We went hiking up to Seven Falls, lunch in Old Colorado City, visited Dwelling Museum and dinner in Manitou Springs. We both were feeling little light headed most (more in the morning) of the day. We are not sure if its related to the higher altitude (we spent the night at about 6300 ft. and hiked up to 7000 ft.) than we are used to (NC is about 600 ft.). I don't think that either one of us has ever been at this high altitude. We do hope that we get acclimatized soon. In a couple of days, we are supposed to be passing over the highest point of the tour at Hoosier Pass (11500 ft.) before heading down to Breckenridge. People seem to be pretty fitness oriented here. We have seen lots of biker and runners. There are a few areas that have bike lanes as well. Beautiful area with gorgeous mountain views.... but a bit too touristy and busy for our style. That does bring in great food though.

Total Miles: Zero for both of us.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

June 4: Day 34

Brighter day today with no rain in sight. George had a better riding day but he is really wanting to get out of the high plains, which is starting to happen some today. Roads are still pretty horribly bumpy. Hopefully, we saw our last slaughter house today (largest one thus far). There was some discrepancy between our speedometers (about 0.75 over 15 miles). So, we used our car speedometer to check the mileage. Turns out that George's speedometer is a little slow (it shows less mileage than actual, about 0.5 miles per 15 miles) and mine is a tad bit fast (about 0.2 miles per 15 miles), I am fine with mine (ha..ha..). It was a shorter riding day, so we did some site seeing. We went to Denver, but what was I thinking, George hates cities (look at where we live). Denver was cool but we did not spend much time there. Spent the night in Colorado Springs and had Indian food (yeah... cup of Chai really hit the spot) for dinner. So far Colorado seems to be more athletic of a place (we have seen for bikers and runners here than any of the other state so far) and has nice views. Tomorrow is a zero day (second one for the tour) for George and we plan to do some hiking and more site seeing.

We went from Sugar City, CO to Pueblo, CO
Total (George's) Miles: 50
Kitty's Miles: 32

Wednesday, June 3, 2009


Somewhat rough day for George, mainly first part of the day. It was cold and very cloudy but the main problem was that the roads here (start of Colorado) are very very bumpy. Not sure what material they use on these roads as they have a red hue to them. George thought that the roads were bad in Kentucky but these roads make those look great. We really hope that not all the roads are like this. At one point, George hopped in the car and we went 20 miles and roads were slightly better there. The other thing is that he is getting a bit done with the Plains (even though, we are officially in the high plains) scenery. Its very pretty but the scenery does not change much from day to day. He did finally got into the groove and did well overall. We are starting to climb some. These hills are quite different than what we are used to. Most of the hills, we know of, you work hard going up and then you get rewarded with a nice downhill. But these hills here, have no downhill (say what???), yup they just gradually go up and then g oflat. Since we have to get from the plains to one of the highest cities in the country (Denver, CO), we obviously need climb a lot. Better to do these gradual hills than one huge mountain (even though, I do think that we have one huge mountain to climb too, later on the route). We have been sad to see the slaughter houses around here. Not to mention that they smell horrible. We (humans) seem to be very cruel... there are beautiful, huge cow pastures, where the cows graze freely and life couldn't be better for them. Then we take them away from their home, put them in concentration camps (very crowded, dirty, polluted place), right before killing them. I realize that Beef industary is very important for our economy but when the whole thing stares at you, its a bit tough to ignore. Enough about that soap box.

We went from Calorado Border (Towner) to Sugar City, CO
Total (George) Miles: 73
Kitty Miles: 26

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

June 2nd: Day 32

Another day with some tail winds (... yeah...) with some rain too. George made it to the Colorado border but has not officially crossed it yet (about three feet short...lol). Kansas overall has been a good state, so far: we saw most bicycles here; best alternative energies award (we saw our first solar panels and also some wind turbines. They could really use more of these as it seems to be really windy here all the time but one location with 18 wind turbines is a good start.); friendly people; nice cow pastures (except for the overly crowded butcher farms in western Kansas).

We went from Dighton, KS to Colorado border
Total (George) Miles: 91
Kitty Miles: 16

Monday, June 1, 2009

June 1st: Day 31

Hey, its Happy Wedding Anniversary to us today. Even though a really good friend of mine had reminded me about this day coming up two days ago, but George still beat me in remembering our big day. I'll have to try to beat him next year (Hey, Penny can you remind me next year like at midnight on May 31st?). George had another good day of riding with tail winds for about an hour, with across winds for the rest of the way but not as high as they have been lately. I got on my bike too today. The aero bars were not as hard to ride on as I had thought but I don't like them (they do seem to help a little with the tail bone), mainly because the view sucks while using these things. The only view you have is of the pavement/road (its very difficult to look around). I felt like I was biking for a race or something instead of touring. Kansas is a great place to ride though, wide roads with very little traffic.

We went from Larned, KS to Dighton, KS
Total (George) Miles: 93 (highest mileage for the tour so far)
Kitty's Miles: 15