Wall, SD to Rapid City, SD
57.49 miles
5:14.28 hrs
33.1 max
10.9 avg
It was just the previous day that I found out that it was legal to cycle on the interstate in many states. That is what happens when a state does not make roads along all major interstates. Other states that allow this include, but are not limited to, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, California, etc. This was very fortunate for me because today's journey was going to be nearly all highway! I do have to say that traveling along the highway on a bicycle is not my favorite thing in the world, specifically through SD. It is boring, there is not much to look at and traffic goes by very fast! What is nice about it is that the roads are well kept and there are very wide shoulders to ride on.
The Weekes family hooked me up once again with a place to stay in Rapid City, thanks again! And a huge thank you to the Korb family for being so patient with me at the bike store, putting me up for the night and feeding me a great meal! It was much appreciated and left me in a great place the next day to attack the Black Hills.
When I got into Rapid City I went straight to the bike shop to get my spoke fixed. In forecast of the potentially cold weather ahead, I could not resist from stocking up on cold weather gear. I spent quite a bit of money and was feeling like I could potentially have gotten a better deal somewhere else and maybe I should have waited to make those purchases... boy was I mistaken!
As I was riding that day I dislocated my rear brake because it was rubbing so bad on the rim. It was both annoying and inefficient! When the bike shop in Rapid City looked at it they noticed that the rim had been bent pretty bad and the rim had actually been worn away for some odd reason. This is potentially a manufacturer's defect in the rim and I was advised that I may want to take this up with Trek. I also purchased new brakes in anticipation of wanting to change them out before I started hitting the Black Hills and Big Horn Mountains. I changed the rear breaks out that next morning before taking off towards the Black Hills.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Day 30 - Monday September 21st
Philip, SD to Wall, SD
69.46 miles
6:56.13 hrs
34.8 max
10.0 avg
Even though it was only 30 miles from Philip to Wall. I took a round about 70 mile round about route so that I could see the Badlands. At first I was skeptical if I wanted to even visit the Badlands, I was sure glad I did when I finally got there! Although, about half way through my scenic route through the Badlands I was ready to get out. The driving factor was not so much the scenery, it was the high winds that have prevented me from making good time for the past couple days.
This morning when I woke up I was not feeling well. My stomach feels a little woozy and I am hoping that I am not coming down with anything. While riding today I thought a lot about my diet. I made a pact with myself that I would eat as healthy as possible at all times from here on out. No more going off my diet and submitting myself to foods of low quality. This should allow me to really listen to my body preventing me from being able to blame anything for my hard days of riding and narrow down how certain foods affect me physically and mentally.
Tomorrow it is predicted that the winds will only be 20-25 miles per hour! I can't believe that they approached that as ONLY 20-25. That just means that over the past few days the winds must have been much higher! Anyone know what they were?
Due to the camping facilities in Wall charging $20 for a night I opted for the $35 motel room instead. I ended up meeting my neighbors, an elder couple traveling around SD and ND, and they offered me great conversation and some cheap wine. It was fun to sit back and relax with them a little, after having a shower of course because I am sure I smelled pretty bad!
Somewhere along my route I broke a spoke without knowing it. I knew this at the beginning of the day but since it was on my rear rim and I did not have the tooling to take off the cassette to replace the spoke I had to ride it out. While carrying such a large load on the rear rim, I knew that any riding on the rim could be detrimental to its life as we know it! More on this later!
69.46 miles
6:56.13 hrs
34.8 max
10.0 avg
Even though it was only 30 miles from Philip to Wall. I took a round about 70 mile round about route so that I could see the Badlands. At first I was skeptical if I wanted to even visit the Badlands, I was sure glad I did when I finally got there! Although, about half way through my scenic route through the Badlands I was ready to get out. The driving factor was not so much the scenery, it was the high winds that have prevented me from making good time for the past couple days.
This morning when I woke up I was not feeling well. My stomach feels a little woozy and I am hoping that I am not coming down with anything. While riding today I thought a lot about my diet. I made a pact with myself that I would eat as healthy as possible at all times from here on out. No more going off my diet and submitting myself to foods of low quality. This should allow me to really listen to my body preventing me from being able to blame anything for my hard days of riding and narrow down how certain foods affect me physically and mentally.
Tomorrow it is predicted that the winds will only be 20-25 miles per hour! I can't believe that they approached that as ONLY 20-25. That just means that over the past few days the winds must have been much higher! Anyone know what they were?
Due to the camping facilities in Wall charging $20 for a night I opted for the $35 motel room instead. I ended up meeting my neighbors, an elder couple traveling around SD and ND, and they offered me great conversation and some cheap wine. It was fun to sit back and relax with them a little, after having a shower of course because I am sure I smelled pretty bad!
Somewhere along my route I broke a spoke without knowing it. I knew this at the beginning of the day but since it was on my rear rim and I did not have the tooling to take off the cassette to replace the spoke I had to ride it out. While carrying such a large load on the rear rim, I knew that any riding on the rim could be detrimental to its life as we know it! More on this later!
Day 29 - Sunday September 20th
Pierre, SD to Philip, SD
89.21 miles
7:51.43 hrs
30.6 max
11.3 avg
I could tell during the early morning that this day was going to be lagging and slow. I ended up getting three flat tires on my trailer from many different reasons, some of which I don't even know. One was from a thorn that punctured through the tire. It was a small little thorn that I could not believe would hold up when being rolled over by 50 lbs of gear. With all these flats it seemed like the day would never end and that I could never make up any ground. I became paranoid with getting a flat and I constantly had to stop and check my tire every time I felt a little extra drag being produced. Most often it was just an increase in slope or wind.
Today I took in a lot more scenery than usual and this lead to me peddling slower as well. Fortunately, the winds seemed to shift perpendicular to the direction I was headed for most of the trip. The first 2/3 I had the wind shifting in my favor but the last 1/3 of the trip the winds got nasty!!! I had at least 30-40mph constant gusts of wind out of the NNW as I was heading west. At times my bike was at a 20-30 degree angle to the road as I shifted my weight into the wind so that I could stay up straight. Thank goodness there were not a lot of cars on the road because there were times that I was pushed 5-7 feet out into the road because of this wind before I could correct and fight back to the shoulder. It took me 3 hours to go the 26 miles to my final destination and there were times when I was fighting to go 10 mph downhill! I was surprised that nobody stopped and offered me a lift. One gentleman stopped in his small car and wished me good luck in my trip and I was just happy to use his car to get out of the wind for a min or two.
When I got to Philip the local gas station attendant sent me in the direction of a kids park to pitch my tent. It was supposed to rain pretty hard that night so I set it up under a tree and with the strong side wind I placed a picnic table on its side to slow it down. It didn't rain that night but the sprinkler system did turn on in the park before I fell asleep and I had to improvise putting up a blockade by each sprinkler so that my tent would not get soaked!
89.21 miles
7:51.43 hrs
30.6 max
11.3 avg
I could tell during the early morning that this day was going to be lagging and slow. I ended up getting three flat tires on my trailer from many different reasons, some of which I don't even know. One was from a thorn that punctured through the tire. It was a small little thorn that I could not believe would hold up when being rolled over by 50 lbs of gear. With all these flats it seemed like the day would never end and that I could never make up any ground. I became paranoid with getting a flat and I constantly had to stop and check my tire every time I felt a little extra drag being produced. Most often it was just an increase in slope or wind.
Today I took in a lot more scenery than usual and this lead to me peddling slower as well. Fortunately, the winds seemed to shift perpendicular to the direction I was headed for most of the trip. The first 2/3 I had the wind shifting in my favor but the last 1/3 of the trip the winds got nasty!!! I had at least 30-40mph constant gusts of wind out of the NNW as I was heading west. At times my bike was at a 20-30 degree angle to the road as I shifted my weight into the wind so that I could stay up straight. Thank goodness there were not a lot of cars on the road because there were times that I was pushed 5-7 feet out into the road because of this wind before I could correct and fight back to the shoulder. It took me 3 hours to go the 26 miles to my final destination and there were times when I was fighting to go 10 mph downhill! I was surprised that nobody stopped and offered me a lift. One gentleman stopped in his small car and wished me good luck in my trip and I was just happy to use his car to get out of the wind for a min or two.
When I got to Philip the local gas station attendant sent me in the direction of a kids park to pitch my tent. It was supposed to rain pretty hard that night so I set it up under a tree and with the strong side wind I placed a picnic table on its side to slow it down. It didn't rain that night but the sprinkler system did turn on in the park before I fell asleep and I had to improvise putting up a blockade by each sprinkler so that my tent would not get soaked!
Day 28 - Saturday September 19th
Miller, SD to Pierre, SD
73.84 miles
5:41.39 hrs
20.9 max
12.9 avg
Since I rode the extra mileage yesterday to make it to Miller I had a much shorter ride to Pierre today. The wind was stronger than the previous day and there were many more hills to climb but it was fairly easy because I knew that I could push the pace without wearing myself out.
As I pulled into town I stopped at a truck stop to use the restroom. As I was checking out I met a couple of locals who were interested in my story. They were sitting in the casino/bar and offered me a beer. No mom, I was not there to drink and gamble, but I did take them up on the beer. One of the gentlemen graciously offered to show me around town. It was fun to see the town from the eyes of a true "old western" city rancher. He showed me the local park of which I ended up camping at, some local shops that might have been of interest if I was not so hungry and tired and I met some great local folk of which he knew. It was fun to see the difference in my lifestyle compared to those of the "wild west".
I ended up camping about 30 feet from the Missouri River at a very nice park that was free. You really can't beat that! The gentleman that was showing me around offered to put me up at his ranch for the night but I felt that it was better to be near my route out in the morning than 5 miles outside of town.
73.84 miles
5:41.39 hrs
20.9 max
12.9 avg
Since I rode the extra mileage yesterday to make it to Miller I had a much shorter ride to Pierre today. The wind was stronger than the previous day and there were many more hills to climb but it was fairly easy because I knew that I could push the pace without wearing myself out.
As I pulled into town I stopped at a truck stop to use the restroom. As I was checking out I met a couple of locals who were interested in my story. They were sitting in the casino/bar and offered me a beer. No mom, I was not there to drink and gamble, but I did take them up on the beer. One of the gentlemen graciously offered to show me around town. It was fun to see the town from the eyes of a true "old western" city rancher. He showed me the local park of which I ended up camping at, some local shops that might have been of interest if I was not so hungry and tired and I met some great local folk of which he knew. It was fun to see the difference in my lifestyle compared to those of the "wild west".
I ended up camping about 30 feet from the Missouri River at a very nice park that was free. You really can't beat that! The gentleman that was showing me around offered to put me up at his ranch for the night but I felt that it was better to be near my route out in the morning than 5 miles outside of town.
Day 27 - Friday September 18th
Volga, SD to Miller, SD
109.77 miles
7:35.30 hrs
25.8 max
14.4 avg
Again, another long ride through South Dakota. Miller was a little farther away than I wanted to travel but it was the only city over 80 miles away with a campground. The wind was quite a factor in today's ride. It came from the south west and I had to "ride and grind" for many hours in the Western direction until the road turned north. When this happened I found myself traveling at a steady 22 mph and it felt great! It was a real morale booster and made me feel like I could make it to Miller after all.
Of course this windy advantage could not last forever. The road soon turned back West but I did not mind it so much any more because I was not too far from Miller. When I pulled into Millar I found out that there was a free park just inside the city. It was my lucky day! After I set up my tent I rode towards a local bar and grill to get something to eat. As I was locking up my bike some high schoolers drove by yelling at me to tell them who I was. They got out of the car and came up to meet me. I told them what I was doing and conversed with them for about 20 min or so. I gave them all livestrong bands just so that I could go and eat... I was starving!
After eating, I headed back towards my tent and ran into the high schoolers again. They wanted to converse some more and there was one girl in specific that seemed very interested in me. We will leave the story at that for now... you can ask me more about it later if you are interested. The story is not that good anyways, just kind of funny.
109.77 miles
7:35.30 hrs
25.8 max
14.4 avg
Again, another long ride through South Dakota. Miller was a little farther away than I wanted to travel but it was the only city over 80 miles away with a campground. The wind was quite a factor in today's ride. It came from the south west and I had to "ride and grind" for many hours in the Western direction until the road turned north. When this happened I found myself traveling at a steady 22 mph and it felt great! It was a real morale booster and made me feel like I could make it to Miller after all.
Of course this windy advantage could not last forever. The road soon turned back West but I did not mind it so much any more because I was not too far from Miller. When I pulled into Millar I found out that there was a free park just inside the city. It was my lucky day! After I set up my tent I rode towards a local bar and grill to get something to eat. As I was locking up my bike some high schoolers drove by yelling at me to tell them who I was. They got out of the car and came up to meet me. I told them what I was doing and conversed with them for about 20 min or so. I gave them all livestrong bands just so that I could go and eat... I was starving!
After eating, I headed back towards my tent and ran into the high schoolers again. They wanted to converse some more and there was one girl in specific that seemed very interested in me. We will leave the story at that for now... you can ask me more about it later if you are interested. The story is not that good anyways, just kind of funny.
Day 26 - Thursday September 17th
Cottonwood, MN to Volga, SD
95.59 miles
6:48.28 hrs
22.7 max
14.o avg
Today was a very difficult day of riding. My legs hurt from the very beginning and it seemed like they didn't want to go over 12 mph. There was a slight headwind and it felt like I was always climbing. What ever happened to SD being perfectly flat? I kept on pushing and sooner or later I was able to increase my pace as my legs finally settled into the ride.
I stopped at a little convenience store in Taylor, SD to use the restroom and eat a little lunch. As I was checking out, the cashier inquired about what I was doing and I was more than happy to tell her the summary of my trip. After I checked out, I went outside and sat down at a table to consume my grilled chicken sandwich and 'ice pop' (you know, those long sticks of flavored ice). Not more than 2 min later the lady for the register came out and said, "I hope you wouldn't mind if I called the local newspaper to come down here and interview you would you? Cuz I already did. Would you be able to stick around for a few minutes?"
I laughed and said that would be fine...
A reporter from the Tyler Tribute came out and I had an interview. The article should have been posted on www.tylertribute.com. I have tried to search the site for an article but navigation of this website is difficult and I was unsuccessful in locating the article. It should have been posted on September 25th.
I spent the night with the Tevdt family outside of Volga, SD. While I was there, Mrs. Tevdt approached me in a similar fashion as the convenience store clerk and hoped that I wouldn't mind if she already contacted the local newspaper to interview me. Two interviews in one day! I feel like a celebrity, not really but it is flattering.
95.59 miles
6:48.28 hrs
22.7 max
14.o avg
Today was a very difficult day of riding. My legs hurt from the very beginning and it seemed like they didn't want to go over 12 mph. There was a slight headwind and it felt like I was always climbing. What ever happened to SD being perfectly flat? I kept on pushing and sooner or later I was able to increase my pace as my legs finally settled into the ride.
I stopped at a little convenience store in Taylor, SD to use the restroom and eat a little lunch. As I was checking out, the cashier inquired about what I was doing and I was more than happy to tell her the summary of my trip. After I checked out, I went outside and sat down at a table to consume my grilled chicken sandwich and 'ice pop' (you know, those long sticks of flavored ice). Not more than 2 min later the lady for the register came out and said, "I hope you wouldn't mind if I called the local newspaper to come down here and interview you would you? Cuz I already did. Would you be able to stick around for a few minutes?"
I laughed and said that would be fine...
A reporter from the Tyler Tribute came out and I had an interview. The article should have been posted on www.tylertribute.com. I have tried to search the site for an article but navigation of this website is difficult and I was unsuccessful in locating the article. It should have been posted on September 25th.
I spent the night with the Tevdt family outside of Volga, SD. While I was there, Mrs. Tevdt approached me in a similar fashion as the convenience store clerk and hoped that I wouldn't mind if she already contacted the local newspaper to interview me. Two interviews in one day! I feel like a celebrity, not really but it is flattering.
Day 25 - Wednesday September 16th
Chaska, MN to Cottonwood, MN
116.1 miles
7:14.41 hrs
25 max
16.0 avg
Today was pretty flat and fast. There was not much to the day besides miles upon miles of corn fields, cows and dead sunflowers. I was really looking forward to seeing some amazingly bright fields of sunflowers following the sun but was sadly disappointed. My mood is good and I am still feeling a pull from home but I just keep looking forward to what lies on the other side of SD.
Before I left from WI yesterday I stopped at the local bike shop because now that my bike was under a load the rear cassette was slipping again. The mechanics at the shop said that it looked good but the only real way to know was to replace the cassette and see if it still slips. I had it replaced and it didn't slip on my trial run before I headed out of town for good. They tell me that this cassette (sram) is of equal quality as my shimano but I find it more noisy and it makes a lot of high pitched tinking sounds when climbing and changing gears. The shifting also does not seem nearly as smooth as my ultegra. As I look back on getting the cassette replaced I think that might have only needed to adjust the rear derailleur a little bit and it would have been fine. I guess that was a waste of $35. Oh well, too late now.
I spent the night at the Dieken's household in Cottonwood, MN. I had a great time conversing with Mrs. Dieken and was treated with great hospitality. I had a great nights sleep and it was a pleasure meeting some of the Weekes's family friends. Thank you Dieken's and Weekes's!
116.1 miles
7:14.41 hrs
25 max
16.0 avg
Today was pretty flat and fast. There was not much to the day besides miles upon miles of corn fields, cows and dead sunflowers. I was really looking forward to seeing some amazingly bright fields of sunflowers following the sun but was sadly disappointed. My mood is good and I am still feeling a pull from home but I just keep looking forward to what lies on the other side of SD.
Before I left from WI yesterday I stopped at the local bike shop because now that my bike was under a load the rear cassette was slipping again. The mechanics at the shop said that it looked good but the only real way to know was to replace the cassette and see if it still slips. I had it replaced and it didn't slip on my trial run before I headed out of town for good. They tell me that this cassette (sram) is of equal quality as my shimano but I find it more noisy and it makes a lot of high pitched tinking sounds when climbing and changing gears. The shifting also does not seem nearly as smooth as my ultegra. As I look back on getting the cassette replaced I think that might have only needed to adjust the rear derailleur a little bit and it would have been fine. I guess that was a waste of $35. Oh well, too late now.
I spent the night at the Dieken's household in Cottonwood, MN. I had a great time conversing with Mrs. Dieken and was treated with great hospitality. I had a great nights sleep and it was a pleasure meeting some of the Weekes's family friends. Thank you Dieken's and Weekes's!
Day 24 - Tuesday September 15th
I have renumbered my days to only include days I ride. Therefore today was my 24th day of riding instead of my 26th day on the road + a week at home.
Here are the stats!
Hudson, WI to Chaska, MN
71.85 miles
5:12.32 hrs
28.4 max
12.5 avg
Leaving home was very difficult both emotionally and physically. I had not been on my bike for more than 2 hours during my week off and Hudson seemed like a place that I should be ending my bike trip, my final destination versus a midpoint. I knew this portion of the trip would be challenging mentally as well. Western MN is full of flat land and rolling hills (if you can even call them that) giving me much time to ponder the vast unknown and think about my life in general. This, of course, is something that I feel I need but is not something that I looked forward to. Knowing that this was going to be an emotional, mental, and physical challenge I decided to face it head on by not listening to my ipod. I did this also for safety because making my way through MSP would have have been safe while listening to an ipod.
My mood was pretty gloomy today with all the emotion running. I met up with another biker on a 30 mile ride who joined me for 10 miles or so, just over the boarder of MN. It was fun to chat with him and he seemed very impressed with my trip. I was impressed with the half ironman that he just completed the previous weekend!
I never would have thought that I would ever have any trouble navigating through Minneapolis/Saint Paul. I guess it is because I know how things should work in this area and when things weren't exactly how I thought, or roads were closed, it was overly frustrating. It took me a VERY long time to get through these cities and therefore I did not get as far as I hoped during today's ride. I made it to Chaska, MN, the birth place of my grandfather Raymond, and I spent the night illegally in some wildlife preserve on the south side of the 41/60 intersection. I was nervous the whole night that someone was going to come by and kick me off or even worse; give me an expensive ticket!
When I pulled into Chaska and it was starting to get dark, I spent about an hour and a half asking people if they knew of a place to camp near by. I had high hopes for someone from MN to offer me a place to stay (their back yard), but was unfortunately not granted this privilege. Come on' Minnesota, you people are supposed to be some of the nicest in the country! I suppose it doesn't help that I was asking people coming out of Wallgreen's.
Since I did not make very good time today, tomorrow will be quite a long ride; at least 115 miles. At least I know that I have a place to stay in Cottonwood, MN.
Here are the stats!
Hudson, WI to Chaska, MN
71.85 miles
5:12.32 hrs
28.4 max
12.5 avg
Leaving home was very difficult both emotionally and physically. I had not been on my bike for more than 2 hours during my week off and Hudson seemed like a place that I should be ending my bike trip, my final destination versus a midpoint. I knew this portion of the trip would be challenging mentally as well. Western MN is full of flat land and rolling hills (if you can even call them that) giving me much time to ponder the vast unknown and think about my life in general. This, of course, is something that I feel I need but is not something that I looked forward to. Knowing that this was going to be an emotional, mental, and physical challenge I decided to face it head on by not listening to my ipod. I did this also for safety because making my way through MSP would have have been safe while listening to an ipod.
My mood was pretty gloomy today with all the emotion running. I met up with another biker on a 30 mile ride who joined me for 10 miles or so, just over the boarder of MN. It was fun to chat with him and he seemed very impressed with my trip. I was impressed with the half ironman that he just completed the previous weekend!
I never would have thought that I would ever have any trouble navigating through Minneapolis/Saint Paul. I guess it is because I know how things should work in this area and when things weren't exactly how I thought, or roads were closed, it was overly frustrating. It took me a VERY long time to get through these cities and therefore I did not get as far as I hoped during today's ride. I made it to Chaska, MN, the birth place of my grandfather Raymond, and I spent the night illegally in some wildlife preserve on the south side of the 41/60 intersection. I was nervous the whole night that someone was going to come by and kick me off or even worse; give me an expensive ticket!
When I pulled into Chaska and it was starting to get dark, I spent about an hour and a half asking people if they knew of a place to camp near by. I had high hopes for someone from MN to offer me a place to stay (their back yard), but was unfortunately not granted this privilege. Come on' Minnesota, you people are supposed to be some of the nicest in the country! I suppose it doesn't help that I was asking people coming out of Wallgreen's.
Since I did not make very good time today, tomorrow will be quite a long ride; at least 115 miles. At least I know that I have a place to stay in Cottonwood, MN.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
No internet to update
I have not had the internet for some time and have not been able to update this site since I was back home in Hudson, WI. I am now in the Black Hills and once again only have a couple min to type so I will not be doing any statistical updates at this time; those will come when I find a Library near by a lunch destination. SD has been rough... a lot of heavy head winds and slow travels! I am almost through with it and only have the Black hills to cross until I enter WY! My route in WY has changed a little and I will write more on that later... all I will say is that I won't be going so far south anymore.
Monday, September 14, 2009
A Week at Home
First off, I would like to apologize for not updating my blog in a timely fashion. A week seems like such a large sum of time to do something as simple as updating a blog, no? Well, I have found myself very busy with other activities while at home that have prevented me from updating my entries. Who would have thought that I would be so busy?
The following is a map of my anticipated course for the next two days...
This 'vacation' has been very nice! I spent the first day relaxing and not worrying about my trip. I felt I deserved something of the sort since I had just put my body through some grueling situations. Since my left calve was in quite a bit of pain over the past three days of riding, I placed it under the infrared light and stayed off it as much as possible. With the help of my mothers healing hands my calve quickly healed and my legs felt great! Of course my mother did not stop at just my calve, she had plenty of other muscles and joints to work on. Being the worrying mother that she is, and probably rightfully so, she is on pins and needles about how my legs, wrists, hands, back and probably my left pinky toe are doing. Gotta love her for it though, because she just cares that much!
I will skip all the mumbo-jumbo that happened in between important parts of my break and this leads me up to the weekend; the whole reason why I stayed home for a week. My brother Jon played in a soccer tournament in Madison, WI. My parents and I went down to Madison and met up with my sister and grandparents on Friday night. It was great to see Grandpa Jim and Grandma Alice for I have not had many opportunities to visit them since I accepted the job in Massachusetts. Of course there was tons of talk about my bike trip but the real treat was just getting to spend some more time with all my family.
Since returning back to Hudson on Saturday night, I have been constantly on my computer planning out my route into the Rockies, applying to dental school, placing new music on my iPod, mapping out my trip thus far, updating my blog, writing letters to family friends and trying to upload the rest of my photos onto photobucket.com. I have also been packing constantly, picking out a new seat for my bike (I have two new ones now) and I was interviewed by the Hudson Star Observer (article release on September 24th). Of course I have been dinking around on my computer researching random things as well but that is more of a cooping mechanism so that I don't go crazy with all the stress.
I knew that leaving my hometown would be hard but I never thought taking a week break would be so stressful. It is a different stress than while on my bike but it wears me out just as much, if not more. While I was traveling from Maine towards Hudson, WI, I always had the idea in my head that I was heading home. I had a destination that meant a lot to me and I had a large drive to get there. Now that I am home that drive to get to the next place has diminished quite a bit. I am not looking forward to crossing Western MN and all of SD. This could potentially be the hardest part of my trip for two reasons.
1) It is very flat and there is not a whole lot to look at
2) I am traveling away from home which feels like it should be my final destination
I am really looking forward to getting to Yellowstone but that is quite a ways out (about 2 weeks) and that is a lot of biking to do for a single destination. After I make it to Yellowstone things should be a lot better though. There are so many amazing sites to be seen from Yellowstone till the end of my trip that I will be in heaven! I just have to make it there... I will just keep telling myself, "think happy thoughts".
To bring the first part of my trip into conclusion I have included a map of the trip thus far. I made this map on a new site I found called 'map my ride'. It is quite a nice site and I will hopefully be using it more often for the duration of the trip. I will pair this site with couchsurffing.org to make sure that I meet as many people as possible over the next 3 months.
The cool thing about 'mapmyride.com' is that I can transfer my route to google earth and do a mini 3-D tour of the route. I love technology!
Wish me luck on the next week of travels for I will be very lonely and hopefully depression does not kick in! You know what... I am going to kick this portion of the trips arse! Who knows, it could be the most fun I have ever had! I just pray for no 25mph headwinds!!!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Day 23 - Sunday September 6th
137.61 miles
8:41.21 hrs
32.0 max
15.8 Avg
8:41.21 hrs
32.0 max
15.8 Avg
As expected, I got to a late start this morning. I didn't start biking till 11:30 and this made me pretty uneasy about the whole day. I knew that I had about 130 miles to ride before I reached the sanctuary that I call home. Lucky for me, the ride was flat and fast for the majority of the trip. The route was also engulfed by gorgeous scenery that took my mind off the distance ahead and allowed me to lose myself in the ride.
As I was approaching the 50 mile marker (into the trip) and was coming down a decent sized hill, two bikers on a training ride pulled out about 300 yards in front of me. With a little bit of adrenaline pumping through my body in hopes that I could meet up with these bikers and ride with some company once again (like I did in VT), I found myself biking at a steady 22 mph on average for the next 2 miles or so. At first I was gaining quite a bit of ground on these two gentlemen but as they slowly increased their pace I was no longer jumping that gap as quickly as I hoped. Soon enough, the adrenaline was starting to wear off and found myself about 50 yards behind my target. I quickly jumped out of the saddle and started to sprint. As I got closer and closer I started to feel the slip stream and I knew at that point that I had them in my grasp.
After I caught these two gents, I sat patiently in the back of their turbulence and took a joy ride for the next 12 miles or so. The gentlemen held a pace of about 22 miles an hour on average throughout their ride and I was very impressed that I could keep up with them with my loaded bike. Towards the end of the conjoined ride, I found myself loosing ground on the climbs but I easily caught back up on the descents. Unfortunately, I was not able to converse with them before they turned off into a gas station but I can't even imagine what was going through their heads when they saw a guy with a loaded bike keeping up with them on a training ride! I was proud of myself!
A couple dozen photos and about 9 hours of actual biking time later, I ended up pulling into my house around 9:30 pm. My mom was worried frantic and wanted to come pick me up when I was near Prescott but I would not let her, I needed to complete this day unassisted. In doing so I set a new record for myself for longest ride in a day! I can't wait for the week of relaxation to begin!
Day 22 - Saturday September 5th
128.78 miles
8:00.21 hrs
39.5 max
16.0 avg
With my family coming down to Madison the following weekend for my brothers soccer tournament, I packed up all the essentials into my two panniers and left my trailer in Madison for my 270 mile trip home to Hudson, WI. Losing the trailer allowed me to pick up the pace and really make good time on the longer ride. The combination of decreased rolling resistance and increased aerodynamics made riding much easier. I was surprised to find that the increased height of my center of gravity did not bother me while riding.
I had strangly gotten in contact (they rarely ever answer their phones) with two of my old high school friends the previous night who currently attend Iowa State University. I asked them, with little hope of them accepting, if they wanted to go camping at La Crosse on Saturday. They were both quick to say, "Okay, sounds good", without any hesitation. I was very excited to see them and this just gave me more motivation to make it to La Crosse in good time.
I took highway 14 all the way into La Crosse and the scenery was gorgeous. I had never been up the South West side of Wisconsin and had the opportunity to ride through my mothers birth place, Viroqua, WI. After making the trek through this quadrant of WI I have a new found respect for Wisconsin's landscape. Much to my dismay I strained my left calve some time between arriving in Milwaukee (maybe at the soccer game) and leaving Madison for La Crosse. On my trip to La Crosse my calve really started acting up (about 60 miles into the ride). At this point I could not put a lot of preassure on it without some intense pain. I pushed through the pain in excitement for the night to come.
Camping that night was a ton of fun! We shared stories, played cards, grilled some burgers and brats and just joked around till 'way to late' in the morning. Even though I knew that I had a long hike ahead of me the following day, I was ok with staying up late because it had been way to long since I had seen my friends and it was only one more day of riding before I would have a week at home with my family to rest.
8:00.21 hrs
39.5 max
16.0 avg
With my family coming down to Madison the following weekend for my brothers soccer tournament, I packed up all the essentials into my two panniers and left my trailer in Madison for my 270 mile trip home to Hudson, WI. Losing the trailer allowed me to pick up the pace and really make good time on the longer ride. The combination of decreased rolling resistance and increased aerodynamics made riding much easier. I was surprised to find that the increased height of my center of gravity did not bother me while riding.
I had strangly gotten in contact (they rarely ever answer their phones) with two of my old high school friends the previous night who currently attend Iowa State University. I asked them, with little hope of them accepting, if they wanted to go camping at La Crosse on Saturday. They were both quick to say, "Okay, sounds good", without any hesitation. I was very excited to see them and this just gave me more motivation to make it to La Crosse in good time.
I took highway 14 all the way into La Crosse and the scenery was gorgeous. I had never been up the South West side of Wisconsin and had the opportunity to ride through my mothers birth place, Viroqua, WI. After making the trek through this quadrant of WI I have a new found respect for Wisconsin's landscape. Much to my dismay I strained my left calve some time between arriving in Milwaukee (maybe at the soccer game) and leaving Madison for La Crosse. On my trip to La Crosse my calve really started acting up (about 60 miles into the ride). At this point I could not put a lot of preassure on it without some intense pain. I pushed through the pain in excitement for the night to come.
Camping that night was a ton of fun! We shared stories, played cards, grilled some burgers and brats and just joked around till 'way to late' in the morning. Even though I knew that I had a long hike ahead of me the following day, I was ok with staying up late because it had been way to long since I had seen my friends and it was only one more day of riding before I would have a week at home with my family to rest.
Day 21 - Thursday September 3rd
94.69 miles
6:51.58 hrs
27.6 max
13.7 avg
Lindsey's boyfriend escorted me out of Milwaukee this morning. He too is an avid biker and it was great to ride with someone again. It became apparently obvious how much the trailer slowed me down on the climbs as he shot ahead of me every time we started up an incline. It sure made the ride go by faster. It is crazy what a little companionship and conversation can do for a ride. He took me through the scenic route around the south side of the city and then saw me off once we got to the Western side of the city.
The rest of the ride towards Madison, where my sister lives, was pretty nice. Again it was a longer day, but I made very good time. As I approached Madison there was a gorgeous sunset right over the lake on the south east side of the capital. This was the third city in a row that I cycled into after dusk. This did not bother me because every time I would enter a city at night I had a specific destination and a person of whom I was going to be seeing shortly.
It was great to see my sister, I ended up staying an extra day so that I could spend a little more time with her. It was one of the first times that we had an opportunity to do something, just the two of us. Time well spent!
6:51.58 hrs
27.6 max
13.7 avg
Lindsey's boyfriend escorted me out of Milwaukee this morning. He too is an avid biker and it was great to ride with someone again. It became apparently obvious how much the trailer slowed me down on the climbs as he shot ahead of me every time we started up an incline. It sure made the ride go by faster. It is crazy what a little companionship and conversation can do for a ride. He took me through the scenic route around the south side of the city and then saw me off once we got to the Western side of the city.
The rest of the ride towards Madison, where my sister lives, was pretty nice. Again it was a longer day, but I made very good time. As I approached Madison there was a gorgeous sunset right over the lake on the south east side of the capital. This was the third city in a row that I cycled into after dusk. This did not bother me because every time I would enter a city at night I had a specific destination and a person of whom I was going to be seeing shortly.
It was great to see my sister, I ended up staying an extra day so that I could spend a little more time with her. It was one of the first times that we had an opportunity to do something, just the two of us. Time well spent!
Day 20 - Wednesday September 2nd
96.72 miles
6:21.50 hrs
26.6 Max
15.1 Avg
As I left Chicago in the 'early' morning my mood was very poor. I don't know exactly what factors contributed to my low morale, it could have been one of many. This was the first time that I had been to Chicago and not been able to really see any of the city, in a relaxed manner. I really didn't have enough time to spend with Molly and this bugged me immensely. Perhaps it was from a phone call I had with Dawn the previous night? The crappy road conditions? Or the poor directions some people gave me to get to the road I wanted? Or... I have no idea really... All I know is that I wanted more time in Chicago but felt rushed to get home. Next time I will make sure that my visit is more relaxed.
I kept this mood for most of the day until I hit the Wisconsin boarder. At this point my mood immediately altered. The feel of Wisconsin pavement under my wheels pepped me up and I was excited to get to Milwaukee to see Lindsey. Of course, one missed turn on the southern side of Milwaukee put me into town later than expected.
Lindsey, a good friend from SLU (Saint Louis University, for those who know nothing about my college life) is a very athletic woman and had an indoor soccer game this night. She kindly invited me to play with them and I happily accepted the invitation. Who am I to give up an opportunity to play sport? Even though I biked nearly a hundred miles previous to playing I was still excited to get on the soccer pitch!
Since I was not a member of the team I was last in line to get on the field. When my turn came, I jumped on the field and immediately tried to sprint towards the opposing player with the ball about 5 yards ahead of me. No more than 3 steps later I found myself flat on my face; my legs had forgotten how to run. I was so embarrassed but I could not help myself but laugh it off. I didn't find myself on the ground again the rest of the game, except when I meant to but I never had to pay so much attention to putting one foot in front of the other in my life. It is crazy what three weeks of just biking can do to your muscle memory. I wonder if my running muscles have started undergoing atrophy; I felt SO slow!
6:21.50 hrs
26.6 Max
15.1 Avg
As I left Chicago in the 'early' morning my mood was very poor. I don't know exactly what factors contributed to my low morale, it could have been one of many. This was the first time that I had been to Chicago and not been able to really see any of the city, in a relaxed manner. I really didn't have enough time to spend with Molly and this bugged me immensely. Perhaps it was from a phone call I had with Dawn the previous night? The crappy road conditions? Or the poor directions some people gave me to get to the road I wanted? Or... I have no idea really... All I know is that I wanted more time in Chicago but felt rushed to get home. Next time I will make sure that my visit is more relaxed.
I kept this mood for most of the day until I hit the Wisconsin boarder. At this point my mood immediately altered. The feel of Wisconsin pavement under my wheels pepped me up and I was excited to get to Milwaukee to see Lindsey. Of course, one missed turn on the southern side of Milwaukee put me into town later than expected.
Lindsey, a good friend from SLU (Saint Louis University, for those who know nothing about my college life) is a very athletic woman and had an indoor soccer game this night. She kindly invited me to play with them and I happily accepted the invitation. Who am I to give up an opportunity to play sport? Even though I biked nearly a hundred miles previous to playing I was still excited to get on the soccer pitch!
Since I was not a member of the team I was last in line to get on the field. When my turn came, I jumped on the field and immediately tried to sprint towards the opposing player with the ball about 5 yards ahead of me. No more than 3 steps later I found myself flat on my face; my legs had forgotten how to run. I was so embarrassed but I could not help myself but laugh it off. I didn't find myself on the ground again the rest of the game, except when I meant to but I never had to pay so much attention to putting one foot in front of the other in my life. It is crazy what three weeks of just biking can do to your muscle memory. I wonder if my running muscles have started undergoing atrophy; I felt SO slow!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Day 19 - Tuesday September 1st
113.7 miles
8:10.24 hrs
25.3 mph Max
13.9 mph Avg
With a slight wind to my back and an hour to gain with a time zone transition, I thought I had plenty of time to travel the 103 miles (quoted by google maps) from Notre Dame to Moliver's house in Chicago... well, I made it. I made it at around 9 pm. I can thank a flat tire for that! Out of all the tires to get a flat, I figured that my trailer tire would be the last to get a flat, for it is a heavy duty mountain bike tire. Fortunately, I was prepared for such an occurrence and got to patch the tube up with my patch kit! I was wondering how long it was going to take me to get to use some of my tooling. Hopefully I won't have to do it again in the near future.
At the end of my trip I had the pleasure of biking along and by Chicago. The city looked amazing! I couldn't believe how much glass is in those buildings. With the way the sun was hitting the glass along the coast it was as if the City was protruding from the water. It was quite the site to see. I wanted to put my bike aside and just sit in the park and ponder life while gazing at the city by the water. It would have been so lovely to do. This was the first visit to Chicago when I have not been able to spend some time in the city exploring and people watching. I thought I had seen most of the city, but I guess not. I will have to make sure that the next time I visit that take a stroll on the Lakeshore Pkwy Trail!
8:10.24 hrs
25.3 mph Max
13.9 mph Avg
With a slight wind to my back and an hour to gain with a time zone transition, I thought I had plenty of time to travel the 103 miles (quoted by google maps) from Notre Dame to Moliver's house in Chicago... well, I made it. I made it at around 9 pm. I can thank a flat tire for that! Out of all the tires to get a flat, I figured that my trailer tire would be the last to get a flat, for it is a heavy duty mountain bike tire. Fortunately, I was prepared for such an occurrence and got to patch the tube up with my patch kit! I was wondering how long it was going to take me to get to use some of my tooling. Hopefully I won't have to do it again in the near future.
At the end of my trip I had the pleasure of biking along and by Chicago. The city looked amazing! I couldn't believe how much glass is in those buildings. With the way the sun was hitting the glass along the coast it was as if the City was protruding from the water. It was quite the site to see. I wanted to put my bike aside and just sit in the park and ponder life while gazing at the city by the water. It would have been so lovely to do. This was the first visit to Chicago when I have not been able to spend some time in the city exploring and people watching. I thought I had seen most of the city, but I guess not. I will have to make sure that the next time I visit that take a stroll on the Lakeshore Pkwy Trail!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday August 31st
REST DAY! This will be the first full rest day on my trip. I am visiting a friend at Notre Dame and am a little worried about the 103 miles I have to travel tomorrow to get to Chicago. It would be nice to do a little biking today to cut down the mileage for tomorrow. I am thinking that I might bike 20 miles this late evening and spend the night at a campground, to do just that. Not much more to say about today except that Notre Dame is gorgeous and I went to a Biology class today. It brought me back to undergrad days and makes me want to go back to school.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Day 18 - Sunday August 30th
118.00 miles
8:33.15 hrs
27.7 mph Max
13.7 mph Avg
This was a long day!!! I went well above my previous mileage high and my legs feel noodled. For the first time, walking down the stairs is difficult after the ride. I am staying with a friend's family friend and they are very hospitable. Upon arriving in Edwardsburg I had beer, a large plate of ribs, tater-tots and cooked carrots awaiting me. It was the best meal I could have asked for! Thank you Wayne and Anne for everything! You really made my night!
With such a distance to travel I did not know if it was going to be possible for me to make it all the way to Edwardsburg, since I got to a late start 9:30am. It was not nearly as windy as the day previous but there were definitely some hills to conquer. These hills were rolling and nothing compared to the mountains I passed through in NH, VT and NY, but I did not want to attack them in forecast of my legs/knees giving out if I took them too hard.
Typically, I would ride for 2 hours, take a little break, ride for another 2 hours, take a little break... etc. until my destination. Of course I would have to stop randomly for bathroom breaks, etc. Since I did not get started as early as desired it meant that I would not be able to take it easy and take a lot of breaks because I would be in the saddle for a presumed 9 hours. This means any time spent off the bike for a rest could prolong my trip longer than I had time to cycle with light. So, I would have to be on the bike constantly for longer periods of time than I was used to. Lets just say that 9 hours in a saddle with a half hour break for lunch was not exaclty fun for the touche'.
This was a long day!!! I went well above my previous mileage high and my legs feel noodled. For the first time, walking down the stairs is difficult after the ride. I am staying with a friend's family friend and they are very hospitable. Upon arriving in Edwardsburg I had beer, a large plate of ribs, tater-tots and cooked carrots awaiting me. It was the best meal I could have asked for! Thank you Wayne and Anne for everything! You really made my night!
With such a distance to travel I did not know if it was going to be possible for me to make it all the way to Edwardsburg, since I got to a late start 9:30am. It was not nearly as windy as the day previous but there were definitely some hills to conquer. These hills were rolling and nothing compared to the mountains I passed through in NH, VT and NY, but I did not want to attack them in forecast of my legs/knees giving out if I took them too hard.
Typically, I would ride for 2 hours, take a little break, ride for another 2 hours, take a little break... etc. until my destination. Of course I would have to stop randomly for bathroom breaks, etc. Since I did not get started as early as desired it meant that I would not be able to take it easy and take a lot of breaks because I would be in the saddle for a presumed 9 hours. This means any time spent off the bike for a rest could prolong my trip longer than I had time to cycle with light. So, I would have to be on the bike constantly for longer periods of time than I was used to. Lets just say that 9 hours in a saddle with a half hour break for lunch was not exaclty fun for the touche'.
Day 17 - Saturday August 29th
51.36 miles
4:25.36 hrs
24.3 mph Max
11.5 mph Avg
Since I have about 3 days to get to Chicago from here I decided to take it easy this morning and not be too worried about time. I was going to head towards Ann Arbor and have lunch there while I checked out the campus. This really didn't happen for I didn't leave the hotel till about 1:30pm-ish. It was good to sleep in but it would have been better to bike an extra 20 more miles instead for then I could have camped somewhere closer to the destination I had set up for the following day.
It was fun to see Ann Arbor but I missed the majority of the campus by going down Main Street and transferring over to State Street on the south side of campus. It was very cold, VERY windy (headwind) and kind of hilly making this trip not very fun. I did have my iPod up and working which was a plus, comparative to the five day stint where it was out of battery during my trip through Ontario.
I ended up making it to Irish Hills Campground just on the West side of Clinton. The normal price for camping was $22, which is outrageous for a single tent, but he game be a 'break' and only charged me $15 for the night. That is such a high rate for having someone just pitch a tent and then go with no upkeep or anything. I think I want to open up a chain of parks across the US just for people like myself and only charge $5 per night/per person. Hopefully that would cover all the costs of the land and upkeep (probably not going to happen but it is an idea!).
Since I have about 3 days to get to Chicago from here I decided to take it easy this morning and not be too worried about time. I was going to head towards Ann Arbor and have lunch there while I checked out the campus. This really didn't happen for I didn't leave the hotel till about 1:30pm-ish. It was good to sleep in but it would have been better to bike an extra 20 more miles instead for then I could have camped somewhere closer to the destination I had set up for the following day.
It was fun to see Ann Arbor but I missed the majority of the campus by going down Main Street and transferring over to State Street on the south side of campus. It was very cold, VERY windy (headwind) and kind of hilly making this trip not very fun. I did have my iPod up and working which was a plus, comparative to the five day stint where it was out of battery during my trip through Ontario.
I ended up making it to Irish Hills Campground just on the West side of Clinton. The normal price for camping was $22, which is outrageous for a single tent, but he game be a 'break' and only charged me $15 for the night. That is such a high rate for having someone just pitch a tent and then go with no upkeep or anything. I think I want to open up a chain of parks across the US just for people like myself and only charge $5 per night/per person. Hopefully that would cover all the costs of the land and upkeep (probably not going to happen but it is an idea!).
Day 16 - Friday August 28th
77.99 miles
5:43.37 hrs
26.1 mph Max
13.6 mph Avg
Today was a VERY interesting day! It started out with me getting an average start out of Charing Cross and heading towards Windsor, ON at a brisk pace along a new route that the Sparks family recommended due to its decrease in overall distance. With a slight breeze at my back it started to rain pretty hard about 10 min into my travels. I didn't mind the rain really because of the tail wind that I had, you don't come by many of these when traveling East to West. I already had my rain gear on due to temperature outside (55 degrees) and in preparation of the clouds ahead. Unfortunately, I was soaked after about two hours of riding. With the elements against me I pushed through and arrived at the boarder a lot sooner than I expected. I was very excited to get back into the US!
Here is where things get interesting... There are two ways to cross the boarder. You can either take the bridge or you can take the tunnel. As bikes would most likely not be able to go in the tunnel I headed to the bridge. I took my time along the river taking pictures of Detroit and taking in the view of the bridge. As I rode up to the boarder patrol station to pay a toll to cross the bridge I found out that you cannot bike across the bridge either! This put me into a little predicament... I ended up calling a cab but when I found out that was going to cost me at least $50 I nixed that option. There was no way that I was going to spend $50 to go a mile in a cab!
The other options I had for traveling across the boarder were to travel back East and then North around Lake St. Clair to another boarder crossing (120 km away), Travel back East and then South to Kingsville to take a Fairy to PeLee Island and then take another fairy to Bay Point, OH, or to pack up my bike into a bag (?) and take the bus across the boarder where I was, or find another person riding in a truck and ask him if I can throw my bike in the back of his truck and then we ride across. Yes, I am talking about hitch-hiking... and I chose the last one. Of course this was probably not the smartest idea but it was a lot better than spending a couple extra days trying to get over the boarder. Anyways, the boarder patrol did not like me hitch-hiking across the boarder and the truck I was in got searched and I got a little lecture from the cop.
Needless to say, I made it over the boarder safely, but I was unable to get in contact with unemployment. I guess that will have to wait until next week.
When I got over the boarder and through Detroit I had little time to get out of the city and find a camp ground to stay at. As you can imagine, there are not many camp grounds around the suburbs of Detroit. I stopped at a grocery store to look at a map and asked around. As I was checking out, talking to the cashier, a lady overheard my conversation and approached me when I was outside packing up the food I bought on my bike. She started talking to me about how she loves to bike around and some of the options I had. She was going to get in touch with a friend who lived fairly close by and see if I could camp in their back yard but ended up offering to put me up at a Redroof Inn for the night. This was truly a treat and made my day a lot better compared to me previously thinking that I was going to be stranded in Canada for a couple nights.
I ended up spoiling myself this night and went out to eat. My days total expenses came in well above the budgeted $15/day that I am trying to stay under but I didn't really care at the time. Overall, I am well under my budget and things will work out.
Here is where things get interesting... There are two ways to cross the boarder. You can either take the bridge or you can take the tunnel. As bikes would most likely not be able to go in the tunnel I headed to the bridge. I took my time along the river taking pictures of Detroit and taking in the view of the bridge. As I rode up to the boarder patrol station to pay a toll to cross the bridge I found out that you cannot bike across the bridge either! This put me into a little predicament... I ended up calling a cab but when I found out that was going to cost me at least $50 I nixed that option. There was no way that I was going to spend $50 to go a mile in a cab!
The other options I had for traveling across the boarder were to travel back East and then North around Lake St. Clair to another boarder crossing (120 km away), Travel back East and then South to Kingsville to take a Fairy to PeLee Island and then take another fairy to Bay Point, OH, or to pack up my bike into a bag (?) and take the bus across the boarder where I was, or find another person riding in a truck and ask him if I can throw my bike in the back of his truck and then we ride across. Yes, I am talking about hitch-hiking... and I chose the last one. Of course this was probably not the smartest idea but it was a lot better than spending a couple extra days trying to get over the boarder. Anyways, the boarder patrol did not like me hitch-hiking across the boarder and the truck I was in got searched and I got a little lecture from the cop.
Needless to say, I made it over the boarder safely, but I was unable to get in contact with unemployment. I guess that will have to wait until next week.
When I got over the boarder and through Detroit I had little time to get out of the city and find a camp ground to stay at. As you can imagine, there are not many camp grounds around the suburbs of Detroit. I stopped at a grocery store to look at a map and asked around. As I was checking out, talking to the cashier, a lady overheard my conversation and approached me when I was outside packing up the food I bought on my bike. She started talking to me about how she loves to bike around and some of the options I had. She was going to get in touch with a friend who lived fairly close by and see if I could camp in their back yard but ended up offering to put me up at a Redroof Inn for the night. This was truly a treat and made my day a lot better compared to me previously thinking that I was going to be stranded in Canada for a couple nights.
I ended up spoiling myself this night and went out to eat. My days total expenses came in well above the budgeted $15/day that I am trying to stay under but I didn't really care at the time. Overall, I am well under my budget and things will work out.
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