We Made It :)

Day 69, August 16th
4356.2 miles total
Florence, Oregon

average mileage/day: 70.3
7 rest days total






Two young girls without support and much cycling experience made it across the United States without taking the easiest, shortest, or quickest route. I know we surprised a lot of people along the way, including ourselves.

We have many more stories to tell of our good fortune and the kind hospitality we have encountered, but for the moment we are going to bask in the sun on the coast of the Pacific. We will also tally up our total mileage which is somewhere over 4,000 miles!!!!!

Yay for Oregon!

Many thanks to the generous donations of Karl Meyer, Matt & Yvonne Devlin, Jerry & Marcy Monkman, Walter & Shirley Donelson and Ron & Nancy.

Good fortune in Oregon

After a 70 mile uphill struggle getting out of hell's canyon we made it to Baker City yesterday night around 6pm. Low on water and hungry we headed straight for the grocery store to replenish our bodies. Purchases consisted of chocolate milk, bagels, pasta, soup, granola bars, soda and fruit snacks (just in case you were wondering). After a failed attempt to find a lawn to sleep on we decided it would be best to just head towards the RV campground. It was getting dark and cold and we needed to cook our pasta. We hadn't paid for camping in a while so we might as well accept defeat... just this once. "Camping 2 miles ahead" read the sign... there is nothing worse then another 2 miles after you think you are done for the day. Especially when it is 2 miles in the wrong direction. And especially when it is 2 miles in the dark... (especially when I can't find my flashlight which I can never seem to find at night).
But anyway, things got better as they always seem to for us. As we're biking along this car pulls over and a friendly face appears. Two kids get out of the backseat and run down the road. "Where are you headed?" The man asks us. "well... right now?" I say, a bit confused . "Uhh yeah??" "Oh we're just going to try to find this campground down the street" I say. "Well would you like a better option?" He asks... of course we do. So he takes us back to his house where his kids had run off to. The kids apparently get embarassed when their dad talks to all the bikers that go by. But we are the first to get to stay at his house, this is really exciting for him. And really exciting for us.

And now we're getting bumped off the computer... more to be written soon ...

We spent two nights at Rick's house which was a refreshing rest for us. It became like a home and we were sad to leave. Hopefully our paths will cross again at some point.


some 70 miles later....

The next day after leaving Rick's house and Baker City, Oregon we climbed two passes in thunder storms, rain and even hail. After arriving at a gas station/restaurant we ordered some coffees and sat down to dry off a bit. We met a couple from Las Vegas who were staying in Prairie City (nearby at their ranch house), Jim and Margie. Jim is a biker too, so immediately he started talking to us about our route and our bikes. Margie had taken pity on us as we sat there looking like "wet rats" ordering coffee upon coffee and eating our fig newtons. They invited us to come up to their ranch where we spent the night in nice warm beds again (this time fortunately out of the rain).

The big town of Missoula...

August 3rd 11:00am
0 miles so far...

The towns of Montana keep getting better and better. Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Missoula, one of the biggest cities we've come to since Colorado. Missoula is also home to the headquarters of Adventure Cycling, which is where we are currently writing this post from.
This morning even the headquarters asked us how old we were, they all seemed to think we were a bit young to be doing this alone. I guess it had something to do with Maya's braids and maybe our colorful homemade jerseys (pictures soon to be posted!). They did say that they thought we looked pretty confident for our age. Which is a big compliment considering the headquarters see all the bikers that come through going cross-country.

Little did we know Missoula was 26 miles off route, but was certainly worth the trip. Missoula is also one of the most bike friendly cities we've been to since Colorado, making us feel right at home.

Last night we enjoyed some live music from the Babylon Rhythm Band at the Top Hat. We pulled up to the joint with our bikes and all our gear, leaving them outside in an alleyway with the hopes of finding a nice plot of grass to sleep on for the night. We absolutely refuse to stay at a KOA, an overpriced nationwide campground. We loosened up on the dance floor, made some friends and eventually found a place to stay for the night. Many thanks to Miller for letting us crash on his floor.

So it turns out that this big town of Missoula is not so big... we've seen a number of the people today that we saw last night at the bar. They go... "so you're those girls with the shirts, what was up with that?" And we go... "yeah i guess so, we're biking cross-country for greenpeace" oh that is crazy. Which is what they all seem to think.

So before too many people recognize us from last night, we are going to get out of this town and head up to some hot springs for the night. Hopefully we will get there before dark!


Day 55, August 2nd
64 miles to Missoula

Day 54, August 1st
73.2 miles to Hamilton, MT


Many thanks to Martin Devlin of San Diego for his generous donation.

National Parks: Interesting Facts

Cost of car to enter National Park: $25.00

Cost of 3 bicycles to enter National Park: $36.00


Okay, I don't mind giving money to the National Park system, that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is that for 3 cyclists to get into a national park it would be cheaper to take a car in with a bike rack rather than simply cycling in. It's true, even 6 cyclists in a van would still be $25.00, while if they had actually rode their bikes in it would cost $72.00.

What also bothers me is that a bicycle has almost no impact upon the land, it pollutes nothing to the environment and it will most definitly not harm the animals in the park (as a car going 45mph possibly could). So shouldn't the national parks try to encourage this form of travel?

Perhaps if they had specific bike paths through the woods, or large shoulders throughout the park designed for bicycles I wouldn't mind paying the fee. But the National Parks we went through (Grand Tetons and Yellowstone) are catered towards cars and RVs and that is pretty much it.

Feel free to comment.

-Rose

Still pedaling away...

Day 54 (August 1st)
Currently in Darby, Montana.
60 miles so far.

Day 53 (July 31st)
Wisdom, Montana
69 miles (3,321.6 miles total)

We climbed two passes and encountered some terrible headwinds for the second day. We sure are paying for that one day of incredible tailwinds.

Day 52 (July 30th)
Dillon, Montana
73 miles

We got over the pass with no problem at all, but later on in the day we encountered some of the worst winds!

Day 51 (July 29th)
rest day

After a late night, we decided to rest up in Ennis before climbing 2, 000 feet to get out of Ennis and enter Virginia City.

Day 50 (July 28th)
Ennis, Montana
86 miles

We left Yellowstone and entered Montana. Now we only have Montana, Idaho, and Oregon left to go! We also had the most powerful tailwind of the trip so far. We covered 40 miles in less than 2 hours. It was incredible.

Day 49 (July 27th)
Madison, Yellowstone National Park
76 miles

We saw Old faithful errupt and saw numerous geysers in Yellowstone. Yellowstone however did not compare to the beauty of the Grand Tetons.

Day 48 (July 26th)
Colter Bay
rest day...19 miles

We survived the bitter cold night and hiked 7 miles around Jenny Lake at the base of the Grand Tetons although no bears were to be seen, we did see some elk, a moose, and numerous pronghorns.

Day 47 (July 25th)
Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons!!
81 miles

What we have all been wating for!

Day 46 (July 24th)
Wind River, WY
64 miles

A beautiful free campsite by the lovely Wind River.

Day 45(July 23rd)
Rest Day

Just when we thought we solved the problem of the flat tire syndrome we didn't make it out of Lander. It turns out we needed to buy rim tape to repace the rubber liner to cover the spoke holes which were causing the tubes to puncture. Although we figured out the problem, we were forced to take a rest day in order to wait for the bike shop to open the next day in order to buy more spare tubes. The rest day was greatly appreciated however. We also met a bunch of other bikers thoughout our stay!

Day 44 (July 22nd)
Lander City, WY
91 miles

Countless flat tires for Rose :( One for Maya

Day 43 (July 21st)
Lamont, WY
75 miles

Stayed in the back of Grandma's Cafe

Day 42 (July 20th)
Saratoga Springs, WY
68 miles traveled...12 miles hitchhiked due to a severe thunderstorm

We bathed in the Saratoga hot Springs!

We would also like to thank Rachel Doyon and Mathew Dalessio for their contributions to greencycling. Matt Dalessio completed the transamerica trail last summer and we are hoping to beat his time this year!