A New Adventure!....Coming soon

What: Short Bike Trip
Whom: Kitty and George
Where: Mountain biking From DC to Pittsburg PA., about 330 miles, no car, no hotels.
When: September '09, just before Jamelle's wedding.
How: Bringing along all our camping gear via a bike trailer (B.O.B)
Why: Why not?

Kitty's Summary

Here is my overview of George’s Bike and My Drive and Explore across America Tour. This was an absolutely great trip. Initially, I did have a hard time dealing with not being able to bike. But once I had my attitude adjustment, I really enjoyed the sight seeing. What was really great was that you never knew what the day will bring, which is usually true for everyday, but the days were really unpredictable on this trip.

What I learned about myself: is that I love nature and wildlife but am selfish about it in a sense that I would rather be on my own there (well… it’s better with George but its fine to be on my own as well). I don’t particularly enjoy touristy places, even though I am a tourist there (hmmm…). I am however, paranoid about getting lost in the woods; it must be because I am fully aware of my poor sense of directionality.

What I learned about George: I think that I already knew this but the trip just confirmed it for me once again... Commitment and Dedication. He gives a new meaning to these terms. I am not sure how many people out there will get up at 4:30 (several times on their vacation) to get the miles in. He took NO days off for soreness or mood (not feeling like riding today). Peddled hard and stayed mentally focused the entire trip, regardless of the weather: the wind, the rain, and cold. Speeding cars & trucks and rude & dangerous drivers did bring him down some but did not stop him from getting to the finish line safely.

What I learned about our great country: There is just so much Land (vast empty land) here and so many beautiful places to see. Almost every state had some areas and views that were absolutely breathtaking. People overall are pretty nice and friendly but there are always those who break that mold. I also saw sure signs of Global Warming (every state has been having some kind of extreme weather in the last year or so). Another thing I saw (and wish that I could do something to change) was the overcrowded and stinky Slaughterhouses for cows. I have some ideas as to what needs to be done but how that can be accomplished is beyond me. May be one day that can be a project I can take on, during my extra time.

Some Favorites:
Places: Yellow Stone and Grand Tetons National Park; Mammoth Caves; Lava River Cave; Rocky Mountain National Park; Portland City Park; Garden of the Gods; Some scenic overlooks on the Oregon coast.
Hikes: Interstate Park (in VA crossing over to KY); Small Random Hike in Montana (no name I think); Clear Lake Loop Trail in OR.
City: Bend, OR.
Prettiest States: Oregon (we are not counting NC or VA in this, since they are like our backyard). Idaho gets the second place award. Missouri third place.
Best Overnight Stay: Cabin in Toronto State Park, KS
Best B&B: Myers B&B, Marion, KY
Best Hotel Lobby: Old Faithful Inn, WY
Best Generic Hotel Room: The Vintage Hotel, Portland, OR

This trip resulted in:
Miles Driven: 22,000. This includes going back to NC and back to CO in the middle of the trip and also sight seeing to Portland, then Seattle, before getting back home. (Wow….. that is a lot of miles, especially for a bike tour. Talk about supporting the gas companies)
Falls: Two, both Kitty (hmmm... good thing that I was not mainly biking, can't imagine how many falls I would have had then).
Food Consumption: Lots of junk food such as Sugar filled snacks (Snickers, Twix, Ho Ho's, Ding Dongs); Peanut Butter; Bananas; French Fries. (George is going to stay away from Peanut butter products for a long time now).
Causalities: All causalities happened during driving (obviously animals would like for us to ride our bikes more): Two birds and one squirrel by me. One bird by George.
Violations: For Kitty: One parking ticket in VA and One pull over for tailgating in KS (but no ticket). For George: Speeding ticket in WA (the very first state on our drive back)

Well, that’s the wrap up from me…..
P.S. After seeing big part of this country, I realize more than ever that we live in a really beautiful place. I am thankful and feel lucky to love where we live... Hillsborough, NC.

George’s final thoughts

Yellowstone NP (Old Faithful inn)

This was really a fun trip and I learned a lot from my travels.
There were many things I enjoyed but at the same time there were also places and things I didn’t care for. Here is a brief list of likes and dislikes:
Most Scenic State: Virginia
Most enjoyed riding through: 1-Missouri, 2-Kansas, 3-Virginia(wasn't in tour mode to start)
Friendliest state: Kansas
Toughest climbs: Missouri (Ozarks)
Most Solar and Wind use: Kansas (wind) and Wyoming (Solar)
Most Dangerous riding states (In order) 1-Montanna,2(tie)-Idaho and Eastern Kentucky
Least friendly state: Colorado (where even bikers don’t say hello) but Virginia is a close 2nd.

Overall I really enjoyed Kansas and eastward, I did have issues with Eastern Kentucky as the roads were very unsafe due to a storms and narrow and windy roads. There were also the dog issues in that area. I found the western states with the exception of Oregon less scenic; they are basically high deserts with little vegetation. Anywhere there were trees, there was a national park. Of course Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons can’t be beat, they were just awesome and the most enjoyable days of the whole trip. I would definitely go back there. But when it comes down to it.... my favorite state in which I would live in, is my home state of North Carolina. It is full of beauty and where we see plenty of wild life in our own backyard, not to mention the great climate.

Some favorite times along the trail: As I biked along the road in the middle of cow country, these cows would run along side of me, the birds in Kansas also seemed to follow along. In the mornings after rain, riding along streams with no traffic or people around. I also liked riding along railroads for some odd reason.

Physically, I didn't find this very difficult. I actually gained a pound, perhaps in leg muscle but maybe just in my head. Some days I felt like I did nothing even after 75 miles of riding, at times I felt like I was sitting on a couch all day. I enjoyed climbing mountains but disliked the wind.

Would I do this again?
Probably not, while it was enjoyable most of the time, I really dislike cars now and some of the morons that drive them, its just too dangerous out there to be riding on a road bike. My favorite activity continues to be mountain biking and my plan now is to find a mountain bike trail that goes North to South though the US or at least some trail where we can get lost for a couple of hundred miles. If we fail to find a Mountain bike trail there is always Back Packing.

Mission Complete

Eugene OR to Pacific Ocean (Florence OR)
Total Miles: 89

Final Numbers:
Total tour miles: about 3,400 miles rode (Odometer corrected)
Total days: 57 (53 actually on bike and 4 zero days(sight seeing/rest days))
Total full days rode: 46 days
Total days shorten due to circumstances: 7 (2 due to wind, 2 Heavy Rain, 1 Mechanical issue, 1 road conditions, 1 sight seeing)

*more details to be posted including Kitty and Georges final comments that will contain a list of likes and didn't likes.

July 6: Day 54

Another early and very cold start of the day. George felt that this is the coldest he has been since the start of the trip. Not that the temps were the lowest, but his body has gotten used to the heat and is no longer acclimated to the cold. To add injury to assault: there was a pretty brutal head wind, since he still had the Santiam pass to go over and the steep downhill with the cold wind can be pretty torturous; and there was the heavy traffic (as the McKenzie pass is closed, Santiam pass is the only way in and out of Sisters). I was concerned about George, so I decided to forgo my plans of climbing the Black Butte Observation Tower, and check on him after I checked out of the hotel. Of course, he did not really need any help but warmth, which there wasn't much I could do about. I was then rewarded by randomly finding this awesome hike. It was a very easy hike (so no real workout or anything) but filled with great, breathtaking, picturesque views of the bluest lake ("Clear Lake") I have ever seen. It was a pleasure to be on a very well groomed, marked, and single track hiking (parts of it allowed mountain bikes) trail where ATV's are not allowed (which is unusual for the western states). The hike started out with this lush green forest, which reminded of a park (Little River, easy loop) back home, except for tress (instead of the deciduous trees, this park had pine trees of course). Soon the trail lead me to the lake and it went alongside this beautiful lake on one side, with lava rocks on the other. Most part of today's ride was very pretty (going by McKenzie River), but there was a lot of traffic. George seems to be getting pretty sick of the cars, buzzing by him all the time and is just looking to do the mileage to get to the finish line, which is pretty much in sight now...woohoo...

We went from Sisters, OR to Eugene, OR
Total Miles: 93

July 5: Day 53

Today was a short ride day and what a great idea that was. George rode early to get into the town of Sisters, which is short for Three Sisters (named after a chain of three mountains in the area). The views of the mountains are nice in the town and the town is quite cute. George did decide to go a bit longer towards the Santiam pass. The original plan for him was to take the McKenzie pass, which is suppose to be very pretty. The pass gets a lot of snow and it usually does not open 'till early July. We had met some TranAmers (in Wyoming) who said that they were on the pass the day it opened. They had just plowed it and no cars were allowed to get on it at that time. But turns out that the pass is now closed for construction and they do not let cars or bikes on it. So, basically, the pass is closed in winter due to snow and in summer for construction... go figure. Thus we have to take the longer (by about 20 miles), less steep but heavier traffic, Santiam pass. George ended the ride by 10:30 and the traffic was pretty bad on it already. So, he will get out there early again tomorrow to get through that area. He only has about 180 miles (wow, that's all) left 'till we get to our final destination of Florence (yeah..). I did a quick drive through tour of the "Smith Rock Park", which has nice views of the cliffs. This park is known as one of the best places for rock climbing. Later in the day, we went sight seeing around Bend area to the Lava Monument and Lave River Caves, and drove up to the Pilot Butte Mountain Summit. The Lava River Cave was the bomb. We finally found a cave (which we have been searching for, for a long time)that you can go around in, without a guided tour. There are no lights there and you have to bring a flashlight (which of course we forgot), as obviously its very dark in there. Its about 1/2 mile one way and we rented a lantern for this. The ending part of the cave was awesome as it was really narrow and low, we had to crawl (on our hands and knees) to get to the end. This was especially tricky while trying to hold on to the lantern and my bag (that among other things, had the camera for this posted picture, in it). We had a great time in there. This is as close as we are going get to Spelunking (caving) on this trip.

We went from Redmond, OR to Sisters, OR
Total Miles: 37

July 4: Day 52

Better scenery day today, especially as George went through the Ochoco Pass (which was a pretty good hill, but not a problem for mountain goat). Another very hot day and we were done with the ride part by 11:30 am. George saw some really big horn deer (the kind we see in NC) and lot more cows as well. He also saw a big RV that had gone off the road and shoulder down into a gully and needed a crane to get it out. Another example of some people driving big RV’s who are not able to control them. I did some little hikes in the Ochoco National Forest and got to watch part of 4th of July parade of the town of Redmond. George is planning to take tomorrow off (well, make it a very short day of about 19 miles) to check out the area of Sisters, which is suppose to be a really cool town. We did go to another really neat town (so far that's probably the best town we have visit on this trip so far), Bend.

We traveled from Mitchell, OR to Redmond, OR
Total Miles: 65

July 3: Day 51

Today was another good day of riding with some nice views of canyons (in John Day's Fossil Bed area). George got going early and ended by noon to avoid the heat and the traffic. Since this is 4th of July weekend and we are in somewhat touristy area, we figure that stopping by noon would be a good idea for next couple of days. The road continues to be pretty good and there is not much traffic. I went for a hike which was pretty good and lead me to a really high peak with great 360 degree views of the forest around the area and other mountain peaks. There was also some snow by the peaks, very strange to see as it has been so hot in this area lately. I was a bit freaked out as I had to drive on a very narrow and curvy mountain road (completely away from any kind of civilization) for about 8 miles to get to the trail head. I need to start letting George know where I might be hiking, in case something happens, he knows where to look for me. The fact that I have just starting listening to an audio book written by Stephen King about a little girl who gets lost when going on a hike (on the AT)with her family. Of course, she made the fatal error, which I never do, of leaving the marked trail while looking for a short cut. Anyways, all went well with George’s bike ride and my hike. We stayed in a very little town, where everybody knows everyone’s name, which was interesting. We also went site seeing at the Painted Hills. It is very hot and dry in this area, barely any plants grow and little wild life, so it seems. I met this really nice local couple, who said that it never rains here in summer, which we believe as rain has not been an issue with the bike tour lately (mainly since we hit the western states).

We went from pass Mt. Vernon, OR to Mitchell, OR
Total Miles: 63

July 2: Day 50

Another great day of riding but it was suppose to be really hot today. So, George started really early and finished by noon. The roads are still pretty wide with a good shoulder. Oregon, so far, is pretty bike friendly. We also saw a caution sign with picture of bike on it. I went for a run in the morning before it got hot and that was good enough for me.

We went from Unity, OR to pass Mt. Vernon, OR
Total Miles: 66

July 1: Day 49

First day of riding in Oregon and it was good riding. The roads are wide and had some shoulder, but to top it off the speed limit was 55 mph... yeah. Also, the route kind a parallel's the interstate, which makes the route lot less crowded. It was a bit of a tough day, not because of all the climbing (there was a lot of it) as the mountain goat is all cool with that, but it was hot and also still the high desert country, lacking in any big trees. The scenery will change some tomorrow and I know that as all I did today was drive forward and back to check out the area and to see where to stay. I did not mind this as much today as there was not much to do in the area. It was way too hot to run and no hiking in the area (Turns out that there was a LOT of hiking in the area but I had no internet to be able to research that. I figured this out two days later when we had the internet). I could not go for a bike ride as my tailbone is more soar... why, because... one, my donut has a hole in it and it deflated. I figure it was time to retire that thing. Two, I had a little spill, yes again, yesterday (while walking backwards on to a pretty big rock) and my back is a bit bruised up and also tailbone hurts a bit more. Ironic, that George is the one who is on the bike tour but I am the one who has had a couple of falls. Well, better me than him, since I am already not biking much. We stayed in a cabin with no running water at a state park, the closest we have come to camping.Its still pretty cold at night and first thing in the morning for us to be able to do real camping.

We went from Ontario, OR to Unity, OR
Total Miles: 72

June: 30: Day 48

George got to ride big part of his ride today but then had to get in the car for the rest of Idaho as the roads were very curvy, narrow and no shoulder, with high speed, and heavy truck traffic. I was the official “Road Scout” (not happily though as it was third day in a row of me mainly driving around in the car, my least favorite thing to do) today. We crossed over to Oregon via car. We tried to do some research about the speed limits in Oregon, including for our new route (which meets up with our old route in about 105 miles) here. Most people do not know the speed limit of back roads but some tuckers did say that the maximum speed on the freeway in Oregon is 55 mph (which they thought was really slow but we loved the sound of that). May be this means that the speed on the back roads will be lower too. Looking at the big picture of our route that we had chosen as it included “Yellowstone Park”, turns out that the association which makes the maps “Adventure Cycling (AC)” kind of messed us up. They are located in Missoula, Montana and it looks like that AC made up the route to make sure that cyclists would stop by their home town. But in doing so, you not only have to go about 400 miles out of the way but also have to ride through these dangerous roads of Montana and Idaho. We had seen that we were going out of the way but wanted to keep going on that route as we wanted to see Montana (turns out that it was not all that it was cracked up to be). In the hindsight (which is always 20/20), we could have gone a different route and saved us all that driving distance. Oh well, but at the end of the day, the good thing is that if George gets to ride through the rest of Oregon, we will be very happy. He is technically already at the mileage (about 50 miles short) that it takes to go from coast to coast on a bike (if you do no detours), which is pretty cool, if you ask me. As for Idaho, its prettier than other western states so far but some parts are pretty bare. People are very nice and friendly. Someone asked George if he was ok, when he was taking a break, which has not happened since Kansas. Roads, of course get thumbs down.
Little soap box: We talked with a local from Idaho. He was very apologetic that the roads are so dangerous for cyclists and gave us some insight on this issue. He said that the reason for the high speed limit is economical. Of course, we should have known that. He said that the when the speed limit was changed from 50 mph to 65 mph, there were about 200,000 more deaths on the roads that year. But they would not change the speed limit as the factories who want the trucks to get the stuff out and back to them faster and they do not seem to care that its killing more people. He said that he has talked to several truck drivers and they all have said the same thing that they have the pressure of getting to places faster in order to keep their jobs. So, that is the skinny on these high speeds, especially in Montana and Idaho.

We traveled from to Grangeville ID Ontario, OR
Total Miles: 60

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

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

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....)

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

May 31,2009: Day 30

George had the earliest start (on the bike by 6:15) for his ride today. He wanted to take advantage of the Easterly (tail) winds (for the first time in Kansas). The forecast was for the winds to shift to mainly southerly (across winds) around 10 am. Not to mention today the temps were going to be in the 90's. He was planning for a shorter ride of about 50 miles but He decided take advantage and ride the wind, however by 1200 it turned to a 25 mph across wind. It was blowing him over, thus he stopped at 1245. He did do the most mileage per given time today for the entire trip. Man, wouldn't it be nice to have the tail winds all the time, we would be done in no time. I did not get to try out my aero bars. The plan was for us to try out the bike in the late evening when the wind usually dies down but not here in Kansas (atleast not today). We did some site seeing, Fort Larned and the old fashioned blacksmith made us a iron hook as a souvenir. We have just the place for it, in our new mud room (at home). Kansas surprisingly has more road/recreational bikers than any of the other states we have visited so far. But for some reason, its very hard to find bananas here (and MO) at the local gas stations, unlike in KY and VA.

We went from near Buhler, KS to Larned KS
Total Miles: 83

May 30th, 2009: Day 29

Successful day with Aero bars, George's hand is feeling much better. He obviously has to learn how to ride on these bars, as he was all over the road when first trying them out and had several close calls of wipe outs. Good thing that there is little traffic on these roads. He is still facing mostly head winds. Turns out that the Aero bars really help (go faster with less effort) when riding during windy conditions. So, not a bad timing to get the carpel tunnel symptoms, while we are in the windiest state. I did some speed works during my short run today (I terribly missed my running partner). George came up with the idea of trying out Aero bars on my bike, as it may take some pressure off the tailbone. Since the weight is much more forward when using the aero bars. I am so desperate to get on the bike that I will try pretty much anything at this time. So, after the ride, off to another bike store we went (in Hutchinson). We had a great lunch at the local Mexican restaurant (suggested by the nice bike store guy), while he worked on the bike. I am looking forward to trying out the bike with these aero bars tomorrow and see if I can go further with less pain. However, I am somehat nervous about it for other reasons, such as falls. I am pretty clumsy to start out with and it seems to be much harder to control the bike when riding on the aero bars. So, we'll see....

We went from near Ebling, KS to Buhler, KS
Total Miles: 51

May 29th, 2009: day 28

George is enjoying riding in Kansas. The cattle seems to run with him, away from him and occasionally towards him (there were three cows on the road today on his route). George even likes the oil pumps that are all over the place in the farms here (I am beginning to wonder about this guy). He is experiencing the first physical ailments that may slow him down. Numbness and decreased strength, to the point of not been able to shift gears, with his left hand. We went to the nearest bike store (in Wichita), they thought that he had classic signs of carpal tunnel from biking too much. He now has Aero bars on his bike to take some pressure off the wrists. They suggested that he take a few days off but of course George is not up for that, he was ready to bike with one hand, if he had to. He will just cut the miles down for a couple of days. We had Greek Food at the mall, which was pretty darn good for mall food. I did nothing much today, I had to be SAG support during the ride as there were no places to replenish the fluids. I did relax at the cabin before meeting up with George. There were some hiking trails at the park, but they are all under water due to recent floods in the area. Seems like that all the states we have been to so far have had some kind of weather disaster. Anyone who does not believe in Global Warming, needs to get out and travel more. I am planning to take a few days off from biking as my two attempts at riding have not been very successful.

We went from Toronto, KS to near Ebling, KS
Miles: 74

May 28, 2009: Day 27

George is really liking Kansas so far. The roads are nice and wide, people are really friendly, and its flat (but windy, so far its always been a head wind) and green with lots of cattle. We spent the night in a cabin at Cross Timbers state park. The cabin was right on the water, with great views. It gets the best place we stayed during our bike tour award (its not over yet, may be another place will beats it). The kicker, however, was that they do not provide pillows, sheets or towels. So, we used the silk saks to sleep in (for the first time) and made do for the rest of the stuff. Surprisingly, great food and ambiance at the only restaurant in the town, Courtney's Devine Pizza and Pasta. I got on my bike once for a short ride only, not going too far too fast with that.

We went from Girard, KS to Toronto, KS
Total (George) Miles: 80
Kitty's miles: 6

May 27, 2009: Day 26

Windiest day today (way worse than yesterday) and on top of that it rained (and poured) on George. Winds were up to 30 mph, westerly winds (Head winds) and the temps dropped as the day went on. He was pretty sick of fighting the wind and getting wet and made it a shorter ride day. He did make it across the state line though. We met another TranAmer (and he was American), who is east bounder (he started from the west coast and going to east coast). He and George had lunch together and exchanged stories with each other. I had my own little adventure today. I went for a hike at really cool "Prairie State Park, MO", they have wild Bison and Elks. I had a pretty close encounter (well thats a bit exaggerated) with a huge Bison. My internet research says that if the Bison reacts to your presence, it means that you are too close. Well, this one definitely reacted to my presence but thankfully by running away from me. I knew that I have gained some weight but did not realize that it was that much that even a buffalo thought that I was such a big cow. All kidding aside, I don't believe that any human can really be intimidating in size to the bison as they can weigh up to 2500 lbs. I did not get on the bike today as my tailbone was a little soar from yesterday's ride.
Our little over view opinion about MO: Great views (including the wine area), good roads, and friendly people. Less hiking and many more ATV trails here.

We went from Golden City, MO to Girard, KS
Total Miles: 48
Kitty's Miles: 0

May 26, 2009: Day 25

Kitty on her bike.....
There were two detours due to road construction that George was able to ride through. Its interesting that for cars, both the detours said road closed but provided no other road signs for the detour. I guess only locals, who know these roads well, are suppose to be traveling on these roads. We now have met about four different Trans Am'ers, all but one has been American. Where are the Americans? Do they not want to see this beautiful country via cycling? We stayed the night in Kansas. After the ride, we needed to go to the bike store for little bike maintain for George's bike. Well... now on to last, but not least, thing for the day. I got on my bike for a ride... yeah... I would have thought. But it was pretty disappointing that I only made 2 miles and my butt was hurting. This was in the morning. I got off the bike and rested and then tried again in the afternoon. I did 5 miles then, but not without pain... oh well.... I guess I was hoping that I would have been healed better than I am at this point. I do need to remember that its still pretty cool to be able to take the time off and travel across America, even if its on my bike.

We went from Marshfield, MO to Golden City, MO
Total (George's) Miles: 81
Kitty's Miles: 7

May 25, 2009: Day 24

We started the day with light rain and George's luck about staying pretty much dry finally ran out today and it poured and poured and kept on pouring for almost all of his ride today. And I SAG'ed and sagged the whole way. Its much tougher to ride in the rain when the roads are curvey and hilly, not to mention the visibility (of cars seeing you on the road) is very low as well. He was able to ride over 30 miles, so at least he didn't get dressed up for nothing. I guess the weather people were finally right about the weather today. We are hoping for better weather tomorrow. Oh, we stayed the night in a wacky town, name of the town was Houston (and its in Texas county... humm...) Scenary in MO continues to be very pretty. People are also very nice. I was pulled over to the side of the road (while SAG'ing) and someone asked to see if I was ok (good samaritan). Also, got some free snacks at a gas station at the end of the ride, since the owner was Indian (need to mention that he was a Punjabi.... go Punjabi....).

We went from Houston, MO to Marshfield, MO
Total Miles: 38 wet miles

May 24, 2009: Day 23

Alley Springs.... the water there is pretty blue, but not as blue as the Blue Spring.

Another beautiful scenery and riding day but not necessarily the best weather day. Forecast was for rain all day with afternoon thunderstorm... Again. It rained little on and off during the riding time but George made it to his destination without getting too wet. I checked out the "Alley Spring", which was beautiful, in the morning and then did the SAG thing rest of the day. Another hilly route, top speed of 42 mph today.

We traveled from Eminence, MO to Ben Davis, MO
Total Miles: 70

May 23, 2009: Day 22

Picture of little Leiah and Chewy calfs....

Great riding day..... George hit a new downhill speed record today. Yesterday when he went downhill at the speed of 41 mph, he thought that one could not be beat but today one of the hills, he hit 46 mph... wow... the car speed limit in that area was 35 mph. The weather forecast was for thunderstorm starting at noon, so we did not have much expectations for riding after that time and I did more SAG than normal (meaning that I pretty much followed George around, starting at noon). I was able to go for a nice run in the morning though. Beautiful scenery today but no detours to the wineries, I guess we are not in the wine zone anymore. George had another high mileage day, looks like that he does that on majorly hilly days, no wonder his trail name is mountain goat. We are staying the night at a pretty cool place.... Eminence Resort.

We went from Farmington, MO to Eminence, MO
Total Miles: 84

May 22, 2009: Day 21

Inside Crown Ridge Winery...

George was able to fix his bike enough to keep going (while 5 of his gears were not working) but he was concerned since this was the closest we would be to a bike store (an hour away by car in St. Louis) , the next one was 350 miles away and nothing would be open Sunday or Monday. thus we took a trip to St. Louis. We figured this area was really worth spending an extra day....seeing St. Louis and more wineries also checking out this cool town of Farmington. While the bike was being fixed we went to the Gateway Arch Park etc. The bike store had the bike in perfect shape in about an hour and a half. We drove back to wear George left off in Farmington and enjoyed the local attractions. I did have to cancel my Tiger Santuary tour in order to go to St. Louis for bike fixing and site seeing. But we had a real fun day....

Coffman, MO to Farmington, MO

Miles: 14

May 21, 2009: Day 20

George wanted the Brewery, while Kitty wanted to do the winery......We did both What a beautiful day to ride in Missouri....
We entered Missouri and it was completely flat as soon as we went over the bridge from Illinois. But it was very short lived, George was back on the windy roads with lots and lots of hills to climb, in no time. He really enjoyed this ride as roads are little wider, but more than that the views were gorgeous and lots of cows, he could moo with. I discovered that we are in the wine country. There are some really beautiful wineries here. I have not sampled any wine yet (not that I would really know a good wine from a bad one) but hope to try some tomorrow. I also found out about a tiger sanctuary (one of the vineyards have some rescued tigers) and am going to do a tour there tomorrow. I found all these things just driving on the bike route and did some detours. Love these kind a detours, too bad that not all the detours end up this nice. So, we both loved our first day in Missouri. The only bad thing that's happening is that George's bike is acting funny (I think its something to do with the derailleur, the gears are not shifting properly). Ironically, he had no issues with the bike thus far on this tour and the very first ride after the bike maintenance day, his bike has issues.... nuff said...

We went from Muphysboro, IL to Coffman, MO
Total Miles: 64

May 20, 2009 Day 19

Today was bike maintaince day.......

We stopped in Carbondale IL. Its a well known town for TransAmerican riders, sort of the Damascaus of the AT. There are 3 bike shops on the same street, directly on the route. They were extremely friendly and really did gear their shops for transamericans. We got much needed supplies that we have not been able to find 'till now: reflective triangles, mirror ( a special kind for George's bike), and route map holder. The bike has performed great up to this point, everything functioning great (with the exception of the mirror but hopefully new mirror will change that). We went to the "bike surgeon". They spent about 2 hours on the bike, cleaning the drive train, lubricating the cables, rotation the tires and replacing and putting on a new chain. The cost $45. George had similar maintenance before leaving for the trip and our Local bike store charged us close to $200 and they didn't clean the drive train or rotate the tires. Pretty cool, ain't? (George helped me writing these lines... obviously...). George did have a hard time getting to his destination today, mainly because of some major damage done by an internal hurricane (winds of up to 106 mph) that hit this area about a 1.5 weeks ago. This caused some missing road signs and construction that was not shown on his bike map. My leisurely (slow) run turned into a fast Tempo run as I had forgotten to take the GPS with me on my run (of course, today was the day for that) and had to run back fast to the car to help George with directions. The good thing is that George is not the only one with soar legs today, for a change I feel my legs too... yeah.. Oh not to mention (my favorite part) we had really good Thai food for lunch while bike was being worked on. We have not had any ethnic food since the bike tour started.

We went from Tunnel Hill, IL to Murphysboro, IL

Total miles: 50