Gas station in tetons

We are sitting in a gas station/rv park somewhere in wyoming waiting out a thunderstorm by drinking coffee and watching fox news. Woohoo 12 miles to jenny lake!

Fun with Friends

Day 41, July 19th
Walden, C0
63 miles

We are still loving Colorful Colorado. Yesterday was quite short, but full of beautiful mountains and fresh lakes and rivers to swim in. In the morning we rode the first 20 miles with Eric, my brother's friends from Frisco, CO. He is a mountain bike racer so he pretty much kicked our butts. But it was fun to ride with someone who really knew the roads and the bike paths. It was a pleasure to ride on bike paths for a change, and away from the traffic.

We made it to Kremmling with plans of continuing on to 60/70 miles, but were persuaded to stay the night behind the fire station with some other bikers that were our age, and rainbow gathering guy who wasn't, and another austrailian chap. It was a full house with barely enough room for all the tents, especially Tim's. It was about 7 tents in total, (Maya and I are the only ones who share resources, the guys all had single tents). I guess the guys can't handle being that close to one another.

We all chipped in for a lovely burrito feast featuring beans, cheese, lettuce, avacado, onion, really expensive organic tomatoes and sour cream. We were all excited to have so many people to split the costs of a fine meal. After the meal we indulged in a little 24pack of coors lite to celebrate the rockies. We put on a little music and had a little party and got some more- this time Natty Lite which the Austrailian chap did not take a liking to at all.

We all had a great time and the short day was definitly worth it.

Thanks to our new friends we took a shortcut today that cut off about 20 miles. Today was our first day that we biked 60 miles without any services. But we planned ahead and brought plenty of water and food so that we didn't have to flag down cars and beg for water as our friends had to do yesterday. We encountered a thunder and lightning storm in the distance as we cycled into Walden. The winds got quite strong at some points and would actually push you off the road. The semi-trucks did a nice job of that as well. But we've made it here and are looking forward to an early night.

Day 40, July 18th
Kremmling, CO
47 miles


Thanks to Mary and Becky Weinstein, Michael Caputi and Emily Garmalo for their donations.

Colorado: Hot & Cold!

Day 39, July 17th
74.7 miles
Frisco, CO

Total mileage to date: 2,511.3 miles!

We made it up to Hoosier Pass, home of the continental divide, at an elevation of 11,542 feet. Well, not technically because a construction vehicle picked us up and took us past the summit to the end of the construction zone. I guess we were a nusiance in their eyes. However, we still have pictures to prove this amazing feat, thanks to Justin who insisted on walking back up to the top after they took us past the summit. The construction workers took pity on us and drove us back up to the top. (We really only missed out on a 100-200 feet)

Day 38, July 16th
49.6 miles
Guffey, CO

I guess the hills and the heat took their toll today. I also made the silly realization that the Rockies are called the Rockies, because they are rocky! Imagine that.

Day 37, July 15th
83.4 miles
Penrose, CO

We saw the mountains on the horizon for the first time. After the flats of Kansas they were a welcomed sight indeed.

Day 36 July 14th
63 miles
Ordway, CO

Jillian invited us into her home for the evening as she does with many other cross country bikers. She was a lovely New Zealander and made us feel right at home.

Day 35 July 13th
110 miles
Eads, Colorado!

We entered the desert climate of eastern Colorado. This was a much easier 100 mile day than our first one. It was also the first day we woke up before the sunrise thanks to fellow biker Brett Hendricks.

Day 34 July 12th
76 miles
Scott City, KS

We lounged and sunbathed by the pool at the Scott City Athletic Club.

Day 33 July 11th
76.2 miles
Alexander, KS

We broke 2,000 miles. Woo who!!!

Day 32 July 10th
94 miles
Hudson, KS

We met up with our first thunderstorm in the Kansas plains where there was no shelter to be found so we had to brave the storm. The rains and wind was so strong that we had to get off our bikes and walk them for a bit, but before we knew it the storm subsided and left us with the fullest, brightest, largest rainbow any of us had seen.

Our First "Century" and some more "trail angels"...

Day 31 July 9th
100.5 miles
Newton, Kansas
1,884.4 miles total

It's been one month on the road today and we have completed our first 100 mile ride in a day. We pulled into the city of Newton, Kansas tonight around 8pm, exhausted, yet still on the quest to find the city park where we could camp for free. After asking around at gas stations we had made it to the area where the park should have been, we found a fire station and asked them to just point our tired bodies/bicycles in the right direction. "Are you looking for a place to stay?" They asked us... and of course we were. They then took us into their beautiful station which has air conditioning, showers, tv, dinner and ice cream for desert. What more could we ask for?

Day 30 July 8th
70 miles
Toronto, KS

Day 29 July 7th
72.0 miles
Walnut, KS

Day 28 July 6th
86.6 miles
Golden City, MO




Thanks to Marth Ward, Jon Roy, Justin Constantino, Leah Jubara, Conception Constantino, Fonting Yu, Christine Cunningham and Tom Reynolds for your much appreciated donations!

Day 27 (July 5th)
67.6 miles
Marshfield, MO

Just a quick note as we are currently in the middle of a nice 60 mile day. We are having lunch here in Hartville, Missouri before we head on to Marshfield to stay the night.

Once we get through some of these hilly areas of Missouri we should be on flat land from here through Kansas and until we reach the Rockies of course. We are looking forward to Colorado because it's supposed to be some of the most beautiful riding conditions of the whole trip. And from some of the comments we just read it seems like we'll have some pretty nice places to stay! I will look at the route in detail to see how close we come to the Harbors, I'm pretty sure it's not far from Fort Collins. It would be great to see you and I will keep in touch.

And paul... if you read this, we were on 80 for awhile in Kentucky, you should let me know which way you're heading so you can follow us with water bottles and carry our stuff! : )

-Rose

ps. Happy Birthday Eben! I wonder if you read this...


So I think the Ozarks are over. I hate to say that because I feel like they were way to short and sweet. We heard rumors about a huge hill and we were warned of its presence numerous times from people as far as 30 miles away. One guy we met went as far to say that he feels bad for his car everytime he goes up it. Well, this monster of a hill was supposed to be located right after Alley Springs (one of the most beautiful rivers I have ever seen), but it wasn't that bad. It was the worst hill in the Ozarks (so far) but didn't compare to some of the mountains in the Appalacians. The Rolling hills just west of the Ozarks are making for an enjoyable ride. Hopefully by the time we reach Kansas I will take my knee brace off for the first time since Day 5 of the trip. Wish me luck!

Now we are off to Marshfield

-Maya

Day 26 (July 4th)
73.7 m
Houston, MO

Day 25 (July 3rd)
70.0 m
Ellington, MO

Day 24 (July 2nd)
91.5 m
Farmington, Missouri

Illinois in a day... what?

Day 23 July 1st
rest day
(1227.9 miles total)

Road kill: More than we can count...
Bee stings: Justin 3, Rose 1, Maya, 1
Lincoln homesteads: 2
Drive by conversations: Rose, 1 Maya, 2
Thunderstorms: 3 (Only cycled in one)
Mishaps: Maya left tent poles in Kentucky (had them shipped to S. Illinois-required some creativity)
Flipped trucks blocking the road: 2
Mormon preachings: 1
Newspaper interviews: 1
Bikers met so far: 10 males, 0 females.... ?
Earliest morning: 6am
Latest evening ride: day one, 9:30pm, but dark and scary
Scariest event so far: Biking with the ferocious coal trucks to Breaks Interstate park with no shoulder and narrow curvy steep roads ahhh!
Funnest event so far: Biking with the $15 ipod speakers through Marion, Kentucky.

So we've been picking up the speeds these last few days as it has flattened out a bit. (However Southern Illinois had plenty of steep little ups and downs.) We are currently in Murphysboro, Illinois which is right on the border with Missouri, staying with some old friends of my Father.
We've met up with another biker named Justin and are continuing to travel with him as his partner went home weeks ago with a bum knee. Today we will all go into the bike shop in Carbondale to get some tune ups and much needed bike accessories as bike shops can sometimes be hundreds of miles apart.
We're not exactly looking forward to eastern Missouri for a number of reasons. The Ozark mountains are supposed to be just as steep as the Appalacians and the roads, possibly even narrower. A firefighter we met from Detroit who was biking cross-country to raise money for child burn victims told us that somebody actually tried to run him off the road! And another biker we met, Ryan Johnson had a similar experience. Not to worry anyone out there! We are getting this rest day in so that tomorrow we can wake up bright and early and speed through the eastern Missouri. Then on to the flatlands of Kansas where we hope the wind will be on our side : )

-Rose

Once again we would like to thank those who have donated, we really really appreciate it! Bob Cheak and Dan Kestlan from the friendly little city of Burgin, Kentucky, and also the cross-country rider Rol Hesselbart from Heath, Mass.

Thank you!





Day 22 June 30th
91 miles

Day 21 June 29th
58.7 miles

Day 20 June 28th
74 miles
Maya got her first flat tire!

Day 19 June 27th
95 miles

Day 18 June 26th
60 miles

Day 17 June 25th
40.2 miles