Missoula, MT to Thompson Falls, MT
111.27 miles
7:13.09 hrs
36.2 max
15.4 avg
With the cold weather moving in fast and snow falling in the mountains the course of action has changed for my route. I, sadly, am no longer going up to Glacier National Park. Instead I am taking route 200 from Missoula, MT towards Sandpoint, ID.
The ride today was very gloomy. I felt very poor for the first half of the trip. It must have been a combination of weather and stress from the trip. Or, it could very well have been from the snickers bars that I consumed in the early morning. I have noticed the effect that candy bars and nutritionally deficient food has on my body.
As I was pedalling along, the scenery along the river kept getting better and better. There are many moments of this trip that are engraved in my memory for eternity! It would have been an unbelievable ride if the weather was a little different. If the temperature was raised 20 degrees and the sun was out I can't imagine much better of a ride!
Tonight I am staying with a connection I made on CouchSurfing.com. They have put me up in a little cabin in the woods and it is great to be able to cook my own food on a real stove and have a 'large' space (comparative to my tent) where I can relax on my own. Thank you to the Gross family for allowing me to stay in your cabin, supplying me with some food and good company!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Day 40 - Saturday October 3rd
Helena, MT to Missoula, MT
142.73 miles
9:05.56 hrs
43.6 max
15.6 avg
Even though I broke my record for the longest ride in a day I am too exhausted to really think anything about it. The day started out with a decent size climb (1800') and then it was pretty much down hill from there. OR so I thought!!! When I turned north northwest onto 141 I was greeted by a couple hills to climb and a nasty side wind that prevented me from cruising along at the 20 mph that I have been starting to become accustomed to. The 33 miles on this stretch of 141 tool way longer than I hoped and was not fun!
What was fun was cruising along at 22-25 mph on route 200 into Missoula. With a strong back wind, and a slight descent, I was able to make great time during this portion of the trip. If it was not for the climb at the beginning of the day and the strong side wind on 141 I would not have been surprised if my average speed would have ended up around 22 mph.
Erica Weekes was able to hook me up in Missoula with a place to stay. Noah and Lydia are great hosts and are very fun people to talk to. Thank you so much for allowing me to stay at your place! I really appreciate it!
Tomorrow it looks like I will have favorable winds out of the East South East! Maybe another day of high pace. Hopefully I can take a little time tomorrow downtown Missoula to check out the sites since I did not get in today until dark. Oh, did you know that T-mobile does not work in Missoula? WTF? I guess Verizon has a monopoly on this area or something. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon I will have reception.
The article that came out in the Hudson Star Observer came out last Thursday and I finally got to see/read it! It feels pretty good to be in the news. I am not used to be putting in the spotlight like that. I have received a comment from someone in Hudson who read the article, looked up my website and gave me some encouraging words! Hopefully more people will read the article and get involved!
One more thing that I spend my time thinking about on a daily basis: How can I raise more money for this cause? If anyone has any bright ideas please let me know. I am thinking of having a dinner fundraiser when the trip is through. That will raise some money but not nearly enough! Whoever comes up with the best idea I will take out to dinner when the trip is over!
Enough of my random babble! Time for bed... Peace out!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Day 39 - Friday October 2nd
Bozeman, MT to Helena, MT
112.59 miles
6:40.50 hrs
30.7 max
16.8 avg
As I hit the road this morning I quickly noticed how cold my hands got and thought that I must stop somewhere and purchase some gloves that are a little more adaptable to the colder conditions. I opted for some cross country ski gloves because they are light weight, wind proof and provide a decent amount of insulation. As always making a decision on which ones to buy was difficult for me as I hate making wrong decisions. I found a store that actually had the gloves on sale 25% off! It is not that they were all that expensive to begin with but it always makes you feel better when you find what you need on sale. I would have liked to get some water proof gloves but in order to do so I would have had to spend in excess of $60 and I was not about to do that. I will just have to utilize the inexpensive plastic bags from a gas station next time it starts raining!
Of course as soon as I purchased the gloves and stepped outside it was much warmer out and I really didn't need to wear the gloves I had just purchased... but I did anyways. Well, at least for about 20 min until I really started sweating and didn't want to make the soaking wet. I would like to use my new gloves for something so that I feel like I made a good purchase but at the same time, if I never had to use them I would be pretty darn lucky!
People are asking me what I tend to think about during those long hours on the road. So, to give you a little insight to my thought processes while biking I will list off some of the topics that I thought about today and typically think about a little bit every day.
Career - I thought a lot about graduate school, specifically dental school and how this trip is preventing me from applying for the Fall 2010 semester at University of Minnesota. This topic sometimes makes me question if I should be doing this trip or concentrating on my future a little bit more. This trip is a dream for me but so is going back to school and doing something that I love. Maybe this trip is to prevent me from going back to school for a while so that I can explore and learn more about myself. I will be looking (not actively) for an opportunity to present itself that explains why it is that dental school may not be in my future, at least for Fall 2010.
Relocation - I thought about where it is that I want to go after I finish this trip. There are specific destinations that I need to visit in order to collect my life again but there is a lot up in the air about where in the US I will locate myself after this trip. I am nowhere near figuring this one out but things tend to shape up a little more every day.
History - There is a lot of time on the road to think about my past. My past jobs, past relationships, past choices. It is good to think about these things so that I can come to terms with myself on the decisions that I have made in life thus far. It allows me to hopefully realize where things may have gone wrong or what I could have potentially done to resolve a conflict or what I may have done different if I could do it all over again.
Oh crap! (enter object found on road here)! - This is a common thought that crosses my mind when I am pondering other things. It typically comes tot me in a dramatic, frantic and very expressive fashion. I guess that is gods way of saying "Pay attention to the road idiot!". It is never that dramatic but I think you get the picture. When I am looking around at the gorgeous scenery or deep in thought I sometimes may get distracted from the important task of watching the road in front of me. I have only run over 2 forms of roadkill thus far. One was a possum and the other was a dead bird. Hopefully I won't make that a common occurrence. When I am not lost in thought I am very frequently looking at the road, looking at my "rear view" mirror for cars and then repeating the process over, and over, and over again!
I thought about what I would be doing right now if I was not sitting on the bike for 6 hours a day peddling. This one is an open book because the options are endless. I could be in numerous places doing numerous things. It is kind of fun to think about this one, except for when I come up with one that I really would like to be doing at the moment instead of biking.
I think about my future in general and what I want out of life. I analyze what is important to me and try to visualize myself in different situations to see if I would be happy doing "x" and "y".
I think about finances and if I can afford to do this trip. I think about bills that I have to pay. I think about sports. I think about my family. I think about my friends. I think about what others are going through in life. I think about what I am going to eat next. I think about when I will have to stop at the bathroom next. I think about where I am going to sleep that night (when I don't already know and have decided to wing it, which is pretty often). I think about where the next possible place is that I am going to go that has bears (there is money on the table that I am going to be eaten by a bear). I think about happiness. I think about sadness. I think about how I want to live my life! And that is about it... If I change demeanor and start to think about important things while biking, I will let you know. What would you be thinking about if you were on a bike for 6-8 hours a day? Send me your thoughts to 7153381039 via text or email me at dlshirley@gmail.com. I will be able to reply to both while I am on the road (thank you blackberry).
The rest of my day went pretty well. I kept shedding layers and my pace was outstanding! After about 2 hours of cycling (my typical warm up cycle) I maintained a pace of at least 21+ mph for a good 2-3 hours. Once I stopped to use the rest room it took me a little while to get back into that pace but when I pulled into Helena, MT my average pace was 17.1 mph. When I started out I thought that I was holding a great pace when I was going 14-15 mph for a brief moment in time. It has now developed into thinking that 18-20 mph is a great pace and 14-15 is lagging! I wonder what my pace will be when I finish my trip?
As it has been brought up, my route has changed a little. Due to the weather I will no longer be going up to Glacier National Park and will be trying to find ways to get to the coast faster. With winter fast approaching in the Rockies it would be wise of me to stay as low as possible and out of the high altitudes so that I do not lose my fingers and toes. This means that the total length of the trip will most likely change. I have not really analyzed the route yet but it could be increased or decreased length and duration by the path I so choose. I also have decided that I will not be riding in rain, at least until I get to the coast. I do not want to die of hypothermia, although that would mean that someone could win some money from the 'going to be eaten by a bear bet'!
Tonight I slumber in the Cortez family household. They are relatives of my friend Sharron's husband. Thank you to both families for allowing me to stay in Helena tonight! It is very much appreciated!
Goodnight all!
112.59 miles
6:40.50 hrs
30.7 max
16.8 avg
As I hit the road this morning I quickly noticed how cold my hands got and thought that I must stop somewhere and purchase some gloves that are a little more adaptable to the colder conditions. I opted for some cross country ski gloves because they are light weight, wind proof and provide a decent amount of insulation. As always making a decision on which ones to buy was difficult for me as I hate making wrong decisions. I found a store that actually had the gloves on sale 25% off! It is not that they were all that expensive to begin with but it always makes you feel better when you find what you need on sale. I would have liked to get some water proof gloves but in order to do so I would have had to spend in excess of $60 and I was not about to do that. I will just have to utilize the inexpensive plastic bags from a gas station next time it starts raining!
Of course as soon as I purchased the gloves and stepped outside it was much warmer out and I really didn't need to wear the gloves I had just purchased... but I did anyways. Well, at least for about 20 min until I really started sweating and didn't want to make the soaking wet. I would like to use my new gloves for something so that I feel like I made a good purchase but at the same time, if I never had to use them I would be pretty darn lucky!
People are asking me what I tend to think about during those long hours on the road. So, to give you a little insight to my thought processes while biking I will list off some of the topics that I thought about today and typically think about a little bit every day.
Career - I thought a lot about graduate school, specifically dental school and how this trip is preventing me from applying for the Fall 2010 semester at University of Minnesota. This topic sometimes makes me question if I should be doing this trip or concentrating on my future a little bit more. This trip is a dream for me but so is going back to school and doing something that I love. Maybe this trip is to prevent me from going back to school for a while so that I can explore and learn more about myself. I will be looking (not actively) for an opportunity to present itself that explains why it is that dental school may not be in my future, at least for Fall 2010.
Relocation - I thought about where it is that I want to go after I finish this trip. There are specific destinations that I need to visit in order to collect my life again but there is a lot up in the air about where in the US I will locate myself after this trip. I am nowhere near figuring this one out but things tend to shape up a little more every day.
History - There is a lot of time on the road to think about my past. My past jobs, past relationships, past choices. It is good to think about these things so that I can come to terms with myself on the decisions that I have made in life thus far. It allows me to hopefully realize where things may have gone wrong or what I could have potentially done to resolve a conflict or what I may have done different if I could do it all over again.
Oh crap! (enter object found on road here)! - This is a common thought that crosses my mind when I am pondering other things. It typically comes tot me in a dramatic, frantic and very expressive fashion. I guess that is gods way of saying "Pay attention to the road idiot!". It is never that dramatic but I think you get the picture. When I am looking around at the gorgeous scenery or deep in thought I sometimes may get distracted from the important task of watching the road in front of me. I have only run over 2 forms of roadkill thus far. One was a possum and the other was a dead bird. Hopefully I won't make that a common occurrence. When I am not lost in thought I am very frequently looking at the road, looking at my "rear view" mirror for cars and then repeating the process over, and over, and over again!
I thought about what I would be doing right now if I was not sitting on the bike for 6 hours a day peddling. This one is an open book because the options are endless. I could be in numerous places doing numerous things. It is kind of fun to think about this one, except for when I come up with one that I really would like to be doing at the moment instead of biking.
I think about my future in general and what I want out of life. I analyze what is important to me and try to visualize myself in different situations to see if I would be happy doing "x" and "y".
I think about finances and if I can afford to do this trip. I think about bills that I have to pay. I think about sports. I think about my family. I think about my friends. I think about what others are going through in life. I think about what I am going to eat next. I think about when I will have to stop at the bathroom next. I think about where I am going to sleep that night (when I don't already know and have decided to wing it, which is pretty often). I think about where the next possible place is that I am going to go that has bears (there is money on the table that I am going to be eaten by a bear). I think about happiness. I think about sadness. I think about how I want to live my life! And that is about it... If I change demeanor and start to think about important things while biking, I will let you know. What would you be thinking about if you were on a bike for 6-8 hours a day? Send me your thoughts to 7153381039 via text or email me at dlshirley@gmail.com. I will be able to reply to both while I am on the road (thank you blackberry).
The rest of my day went pretty well. I kept shedding layers and my pace was outstanding! After about 2 hours of cycling (my typical warm up cycle) I maintained a pace of at least 21+ mph for a good 2-3 hours. Once I stopped to use the rest room it took me a little while to get back into that pace but when I pulled into Helena, MT my average pace was 17.1 mph. When I started out I thought that I was holding a great pace when I was going 14-15 mph for a brief moment in time. It has now developed into thinking that 18-20 mph is a great pace and 14-15 is lagging! I wonder what my pace will be when I finish my trip?
As it has been brought up, my route has changed a little. Due to the weather I will no longer be going up to Glacier National Park and will be trying to find ways to get to the coast faster. With winter fast approaching in the Rockies it would be wise of me to stay as low as possible and out of the high altitudes so that I do not lose my fingers and toes. This means that the total length of the trip will most likely change. I have not really analyzed the route yet but it could be increased or decreased length and duration by the path I so choose. I also have decided that I will not be riding in rain, at least until I get to the coast. I do not want to die of hypothermia, although that would mean that someone could win some money from the 'going to be eaten by a bear bet'!
Tonight I slumber in the Cortez family household. They are relatives of my friend Sharron's husband. Thank you to both families for allowing me to stay in Helena tonight! It is very much appreciated!
Goodnight all!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Day 38 - Thursday October 1st
Mammouth, WY (Gardiner, MT) to Bozeman, MT
89.32 miles
6:33.19hrs
26.7 max
13.6 avg
This morning I woke up and felt amazingly well! I did not have trouble getting out of bed and was eager to see what the day had to offer. It did take me a little while to get everything together and packed up because my bike was outside and all my gear was scattered out in the basement of the church. Well, it wasn't scattered all around but I wanted to make sure that I had it all very organized for when I set out on the road again.
After saying adieu to Sally and Jim, I calmly road by the heard of elk on the motel lawn next door and gazed up at the snow capped mountains that surrounded me. I spent a little extra time in town to call my father and give him an update that everything was alright and I was deciding to continue on my way. I know that everyone thought that I was snowed in but that was not the case.
Due to the previous days experiences with the weather I made sure that I had plastic bags to put over my socks and hands in case it started to rain. Rain was not really expected in the forecast but I was not going to take any more chances. To make sure I was warm I was also wearing, an underarmour sleaveless shirt and arm warmers under a polar fleece long sleave shirt under a cycling jersey under a heavy duty cycling rain jacket under a windproof/water resistant vest. I had legwarmers on with cycling shorts under my rain pants. I wore a thick pair of wool socks with my shoes and toe warmers over my shoes. I put my extra large pearl izumi gel biking gloves over my wind proof cycling gloves and with that combination, I was very warm. I tried to get a feel for how cold of conditions I could bike in with this setup but I did not know the current temperature to guage it by. I would say that I could probably bike in 40-45 degree weather fairly comfortably with all that gear on. I might have to stop at Walmart and buy a temperature guage for my own safety.
The day was gorgeous! The mountains were beautiful and leading all the way up to Livingston I had a slight tail wind which allowed me to make great time. Besides a flat tire (my rear tire has now been replaced along with the tube) and the cold at the top of the pass leading into Bozeman... it was a great day! My legs are now a little sore after climbing to the pass. I just hope that they will hold up for tomorrow's ride to Helena (107 miles I believe but there are no large climbs!)
As you can see, I am changing up my route a little bit. I am no longer looking strictly for the scenic route and am highly considering elevation changes due to the cold. Mountain passes no longer look like a good challenge. They are more of a dangerous misshappening that will slow my pace and prevent me from making good time. It is unfortunate that things have come down to this but I don't think that Glacier National Park is a wise choice for travel as well. I will have to see how the next few days go and if the weather starts to turn around or not but I am not expecting it to be sunny and 70 any more.
Tonight I am staying with a guy I met on Couchsurfing.com. It is a great site that I would highly recommend trying if you are looking to do some travel and can't afford a hotel or just want to meet some amazing people. Alex gave me a place to stay and his roommate made a great pasta meal to boot! Hopefully I can utilize this website more often for this trip, at least until I get to the coast where temperatures are a little better for camping.
I just ran the figures on my average mileage for the trip thus far and I come in at just shy of 83 miles per day of riding.
89.32 miles
6:33.19hrs
26.7 max
13.6 avg
This morning I woke up and felt amazingly well! I did not have trouble getting out of bed and was eager to see what the day had to offer. It did take me a little while to get everything together and packed up because my bike was outside and all my gear was scattered out in the basement of the church. Well, it wasn't scattered all around but I wanted to make sure that I had it all very organized for when I set out on the road again.
After saying adieu to Sally and Jim, I calmly road by the heard of elk on the motel lawn next door and gazed up at the snow capped mountains that surrounded me. I spent a little extra time in town to call my father and give him an update that everything was alright and I was deciding to continue on my way. I know that everyone thought that I was snowed in but that was not the case.
Due to the previous days experiences with the weather I made sure that I had plastic bags to put over my socks and hands in case it started to rain. Rain was not really expected in the forecast but I was not going to take any more chances. To make sure I was warm I was also wearing, an underarmour sleaveless shirt and arm warmers under a polar fleece long sleave shirt under a cycling jersey under a heavy duty cycling rain jacket under a windproof/water resistant vest. I had legwarmers on with cycling shorts under my rain pants. I wore a thick pair of wool socks with my shoes and toe warmers over my shoes. I put my extra large pearl izumi gel biking gloves over my wind proof cycling gloves and with that combination, I was very warm. I tried to get a feel for how cold of conditions I could bike in with this setup but I did not know the current temperature to guage it by. I would say that I could probably bike in 40-45 degree weather fairly comfortably with all that gear on. I might have to stop at Walmart and buy a temperature guage for my own safety.
The day was gorgeous! The mountains were beautiful and leading all the way up to Livingston I had a slight tail wind which allowed me to make great time. Besides a flat tire (my rear tire has now been replaced along with the tube) and the cold at the top of the pass leading into Bozeman... it was a great day! My legs are now a little sore after climbing to the pass. I just hope that they will hold up for tomorrow's ride to Helena (107 miles I believe but there are no large climbs!)
As you can see, I am changing up my route a little bit. I am no longer looking strictly for the scenic route and am highly considering elevation changes due to the cold. Mountain passes no longer look like a good challenge. They are more of a dangerous misshappening that will slow my pace and prevent me from making good time. It is unfortunate that things have come down to this but I don't think that Glacier National Park is a wise choice for travel as well. I will have to see how the next few days go and if the weather starts to turn around or not but I am not expecting it to be sunny and 70 any more.
Tonight I am staying with a guy I met on Couchsurfing.com. It is a great site that I would highly recommend trying if you are looking to do some travel and can't afford a hotel or just want to meet some amazing people. Alex gave me a place to stay and his roommate made a great pasta meal to boot! Hopefully I can utilize this website more often for this trip, at least until I get to the coast where temperatures are a little better for camping.
I just ran the figures on my average mileage for the trip thus far and I come in at just shy of 83 miles per day of riding.
Wednesday, September 30th
I woke up early this morning to hit the road with the goal of at least making it to Livingston, MT. After packing up my gear along with my wet tent, I made it all of 5 miles to Gardiner, MT before my hands and feet were wet and cold and my face hurt from getting pelted by the miniature hail coming down!
For this reason I decided that I would stop in Gardiner and do some online research of the current and forecasted weather. This was very difficult because it was a small town and every place that had computers with internet service was charging by the minute. I then proceeded to look for a pair of waterproof gloves (of which I could not find) and some plastic bags to put between my socks and shoes to prevent my feet from getting wet. I was able to obtain some plastic bags but no place in town seemed to have air dryers in their bathrooms of which I could dry my socks. Eventually I happened to talk the people at the Best Western to allow me to use their business center computer so that I was not left stranded in this city without anywhere to sleep/go. After researching the weather/hotel rates/people in the area that I might know or someone I know might know... I decided that I was just going to have to suck it up and get a hotel room. I was checked in upon at this time by the desk clerk. She wanted to know if I had found anything ... she also wanted to inform me that they usually charge non-guests to use the computer and wanted to make sure that I was actually doing what I was saying I was doing. I appologized to her for taking so long and explained to her that I was not having much luck and she said that I could go ahead and use it as long as I needed.
As I left the computer lab, 10 min later, the clerk asked again if everything was alright and I gave her a little more information on my situation. You know ... birthday, westyellowstone, cancer research, etc. She then told me of the church down the street that sometimes would allow people to stay overnight if in need. I thanked her for this information and headed in the church's direction.
Long story short, I stayed at the church, met some great people and had an overall pleasant experience. Unfortuneatley I did not have such a great first impression with the paster of the church but that story will have to come another time. Don't worry, the pastor and myself are now on good terms!
For this reason I decided that I would stop in Gardiner and do some online research of the current and forecasted weather. This was very difficult because it was a small town and every place that had computers with internet service was charging by the minute. I then proceeded to look for a pair of waterproof gloves (of which I could not find) and some plastic bags to put between my socks and shoes to prevent my feet from getting wet. I was able to obtain some plastic bags but no place in town seemed to have air dryers in their bathrooms of which I could dry my socks. Eventually I happened to talk the people at the Best Western to allow me to use their business center computer so that I was not left stranded in this city without anywhere to sleep/go. After researching the weather/hotel rates/people in the area that I might know or someone I know might know... I decided that I was just going to have to suck it up and get a hotel room. I was checked in upon at this time by the desk clerk. She wanted to know if I had found anything ... she also wanted to inform me that they usually charge non-guests to use the computer and wanted to make sure that I was actually doing what I was saying I was doing. I appologized to her for taking so long and explained to her that I was not having much luck and she said that I could go ahead and use it as long as I needed.
As I left the computer lab, 10 min later, the clerk asked again if everything was alright and I gave her a little more information on my situation. You know ... birthday, westyellowstone, cancer research, etc. She then told me of the church down the street that sometimes would allow people to stay overnight if in need. I thanked her for this information and headed in the church's direction.
Long story short, I stayed at the church, met some great people and had an overall pleasant experience. Unfortuneatley I did not have such a great first impression with the paster of the church but that story will have to come another time. Don't worry, the pastor and myself are now on good terms!
Day 37 - Tuesday September 29th
Cody, WY to Mammouth, WY
73.13 miles
5:11.42 hrs
41 max
14.o avg
Due to the fire in Yellowstone and the inability to camp on the eastern side of the park, Jim and Mary drove me up just inside the Eastern gate of Yellowstone and saw me off. It was such a pleasure to meet the Hilger family and I really appreciate everything that they did for me!
With the wildfires burning in the park the air smelled of smoke and made it a little difficult to breathe! I did not let this ruin my day because, after all, it is my birthday! I could not have asked for better weather. The temperature was 60 degrees and the sun was shining! I saw tons of wildlife and met some really cool people. I of course took my time getting through the park and made MANY stops! I was very happy to be in Yellowstone on my birthday. It would have been amazing to see Old Faithful on my birthday and stay in West Yellowstone at a BandB that I had set up but for some reason God did not have that in my cards. Instead he pushed me North towards Mammouth, MT where I ended up having a lovely dinner and spending the night at a campground that only cost me $5 because I was on a bike (Why don't more camp grounds do that?)!
I am now a Quarter of a Century old! Yikes!
73.13 miles
5:11.42 hrs
41 max
14.o avg
Due to the fire in Yellowstone and the inability to camp on the eastern side of the park, Jim and Mary drove me up just inside the Eastern gate of Yellowstone and saw me off. It was such a pleasure to meet the Hilger family and I really appreciate everything that they did for me!
With the wildfires burning in the park the air smelled of smoke and made it a little difficult to breathe! I did not let this ruin my day because, after all, it is my birthday! I could not have asked for better weather. The temperature was 60 degrees and the sun was shining! I saw tons of wildlife and met some really cool people. I of course took my time getting through the park and made MANY stops! I was very happy to be in Yellowstone on my birthday. It would have been amazing to see Old Faithful on my birthday and stay in West Yellowstone at a BandB that I had set up but for some reason God did not have that in my cards. Instead he pushed me North towards Mammouth, MT where I ended up having a lovely dinner and spending the night at a campground that only cost me $5 because I was on a bike (Why don't more camp grounds do that?)!
I am now a Quarter of a Century old! Yikes!
Monday September 28th
I spent today exploring Cody, WY. Through Mr. Hilger, I received free admission into the Cody Museum and had a splendid time. I biked around the city checking out the area and could have spent WAY too much money at the Sierra Trading Post! Don't worry, I didn't spend anything, I just wanted to! The day and weather are gorgeous and it was fun to have an extra day with the Hilgers! Thank you for everything Jim and Mary! Next time I am in the area I will definitely look you up, and I hope that you do the same!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Day 36 - Sunday September 27th
Ten Sleep, WY to Cody, WY
110.66 miles
9:07.06 hrs
25.8 max
12.1 avg
Last night Mr. Taylor called up one of old friends in Cody and arranged a place for me to stay tonight. The ride was once again long, hard and pretty boring until the very end. At the end of the ride I saw wild mustangs and witnessed an amazing sunset over Yellowstone that I would later on come to find that the reason it was so magnificent was because of the fires going on in the park!
The Hilger family was extremely nice to me! They opened their house to me, fed me and provided me with anything my heart desired! Well, not exactly but it was great to stay with them. The provided me with a relaxing and fun atmosphere where I could let loose and just joke around for a while. Upon my late arrival into Cody I received the bad news that I could not camp anywhere within yellowstone that was biking distance from Cody and there were fires in Yellowstone that may get in my way (aka. cut off my route to Old Faithful and West Yellowstone). After much research and deliberating, it was quite clear that if I wanted to spend my birthday in Yellowstone I would have to be escorted up to the entrance the morning of the 29th. So, this meant an extra day in Cody.
110.66 miles
9:07.06 hrs
25.8 max
12.1 avg
Last night Mr. Taylor called up one of old friends in Cody and arranged a place for me to stay tonight. The ride was once again long, hard and pretty boring until the very end. At the end of the ride I saw wild mustangs and witnessed an amazing sunset over Yellowstone that I would later on come to find that the reason it was so magnificent was because of the fires going on in the park!
The Hilger family was extremely nice to me! They opened their house to me, fed me and provided me with anything my heart desired! Well, not exactly but it was great to stay with them. The provided me with a relaxing and fun atmosphere where I could let loose and just joke around for a while. Upon my late arrival into Cody I received the bad news that I could not camp anywhere within yellowstone that was biking distance from Cody and there were fires in Yellowstone that may get in my way (aka. cut off my route to Old Faithful and West Yellowstone). After much research and deliberating, it was quite clear that if I wanted to spend my birthday in Yellowstone I would have to be escorted up to the entrance the morning of the 29th. So, this meant an extra day in Cody.
Day 35 - Saturday September 26th
Buffalo, WY to Ten Sleep, WY
66.62 miles
6:14.03 hrs
43.o max
10.6 avg
I woke up early this morning to make sure that I could make it down to the bike shop shortly after they opened at 8. Of course the regular bike mechanic was not in the shop but someone else helped me out. It took him a little longer than usual to do the task needed and there were some issues with truing the wheel but everything worked out in the end. I also walked away from that Shop, The Sport and Lure, with about 55 dollars (very good deal) in cycling apparel that would come in very handy in the near future (warm wear!)!
It was not till 11 am that I actually headed out on my bike and I was very nervous because this was the first VERY large mountain that I would have ever climbed. I had no idea what to expect nor did I know how long it would take to complete.
After 5 hours of brutal climbing I finally made it to the top. I thought I made pretty good time, maybe someone else can confirm or deny that claim? The last 8 miles were the hardest because the winds had picked up and they were blowing right into my face. My legs screamed as I peddled my bike over the summit, but I would not be defeated by this mountain.
It is crazy to think how much better of condition I am in now compared to how I was when I crossed over the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It would have taken me at least 2 days to get over the Big Horns if I had started out with them at the beginning of the trip. I might not even had made it over them? Who knows! I went from having to take a break every 5 min of climbing to climbing for 45 min between breaks. Now, that is an endurance shift if I have ever seen one!
While I was biking near the top of the summit I think I experienced the closest thing to a woman's hot flashes as possible. In the shade I was freezing and when the sun would shine through some trees my body and arms would almost roast, if it were not for the couple feet of shade from the next tree I would have had to shed layers.
The way down the Western side of the mountain was some of the most gorgeous scenery I have ever laid eyes on. Words cannot describe its beauty... well at least not my words at 12:30 in the morning! Lets just say that you should go and look at my pictures on photobucket (there is a link on my website at www.icycleagainstnegligence.moonfruit.com). The photos are not labeled but many should have the date on them. It was a gorgeous ride down the switchbacks thorough a magnificent canyon. The Sunset that broke the mouth of the canyon near the end of my decent took my breath away. The delicate shades of pink, blue and purple were jaw dropping. If you ever have the chance to drive down, or up, the western side of 16 over the Big Horns... DO IT!
Tonight, as I was riding out of the canyon towards Ten Sleep I decided that I would give in and just purchase a motel so that I could get a good nights sleep for a ride well done! Much to my amazement, I did not have to do so. About 2 miles outside of Ten Sleep a lady, Mrs. Taylor, pulled up beside me in her car and asked if I had/needed a place to stay. She had some cabins that she typically rented out to hunters that she offered to me for the night. I met her at her house and she showed me my living quarters. There were three cabins all outfitted with bunk beds and antiques. They were small and quaint, just perfect for me! Mrs. Taylor allowed me to come in and take a shower; always a treat for a biker, and after hearing the story about my trip we conversed for a couple hours over a nice slice of peach pie! (photos of the cabin on my website as well)
66.62 miles
6:14.03 hrs
43.o max
10.6 avg
I woke up early this morning to make sure that I could make it down to the bike shop shortly after they opened at 8. Of course the regular bike mechanic was not in the shop but someone else helped me out. It took him a little longer than usual to do the task needed and there were some issues with truing the wheel but everything worked out in the end. I also walked away from that Shop, The Sport and Lure, with about 55 dollars (very good deal) in cycling apparel that would come in very handy in the near future (warm wear!)!
It was not till 11 am that I actually headed out on my bike and I was very nervous because this was the first VERY large mountain that I would have ever climbed. I had no idea what to expect nor did I know how long it would take to complete.
After 5 hours of brutal climbing I finally made it to the top. I thought I made pretty good time, maybe someone else can confirm or deny that claim? The last 8 miles were the hardest because the winds had picked up and they were blowing right into my face. My legs screamed as I peddled my bike over the summit, but I would not be defeated by this mountain.
It is crazy to think how much better of condition I am in now compared to how I was when I crossed over the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It would have taken me at least 2 days to get over the Big Horns if I had started out with them at the beginning of the trip. I might not even had made it over them? Who knows! I went from having to take a break every 5 min of climbing to climbing for 45 min between breaks. Now, that is an endurance shift if I have ever seen one!
While I was biking near the top of the summit I think I experienced the closest thing to a woman's hot flashes as possible. In the shade I was freezing and when the sun would shine through some trees my body and arms would almost roast, if it were not for the couple feet of shade from the next tree I would have had to shed layers.
The way down the Western side of the mountain was some of the most gorgeous scenery I have ever laid eyes on. Words cannot describe its beauty... well at least not my words at 12:30 in the morning! Lets just say that you should go and look at my pictures on photobucket (there is a link on my website at www.icycleagainstnegligence.moonfruit.com). The photos are not labeled but many should have the date on them. It was a gorgeous ride down the switchbacks thorough a magnificent canyon. The Sunset that broke the mouth of the canyon near the end of my decent took my breath away. The delicate shades of pink, blue and purple were jaw dropping. If you ever have the chance to drive down, or up, the western side of 16 over the Big Horns... DO IT!
Tonight, as I was riding out of the canyon towards Ten Sleep I decided that I would give in and just purchase a motel so that I could get a good nights sleep for a ride well done! Much to my amazement, I did not have to do so. About 2 miles outside of Ten Sleep a lady, Mrs. Taylor, pulled up beside me in her car and asked if I had/needed a place to stay. She had some cabins that she typically rented out to hunters that she offered to me for the night. I met her at her house and she showed me my living quarters. There were three cabins all outfitted with bunk beds and antiques. They were small and quaint, just perfect for me! Mrs. Taylor allowed me to come in and take a shower; always a treat for a biker, and after hearing the story about my trip we conversed for a couple hours over a nice slice of peach pie! (photos of the cabin on my website as well)
Day 34 - Friday September 25th
Upton, WY to Buffalo, WY
121.54 miles
8:43.50 hrs
30.1 max
13.9 avg
The road was long and boring! There is not a whole lot to say about this day besides I was fortunate enough to receive a free place to pitch my tent at the local YMCA. I will have to remember to look for more YMCAs along my way.
Thank goodness I started bright and early today because it allowed me to get into Buffalo before too late. I did pull in just as it was getting dark but it allowed me to stop at the grocery store and pick up some necessary food, set up my tent and try and fix my bike. Since I was sitting right in front of the Big Horn Mountains I figured that I should probably fix my spoke before I rode onward to conquer them! I figured that I would be able to take it off myself using my pliers but boy was I mistaken. After taking off the wheel and messing around with the rear cassette for about 30 min or so, I gave up. I was hoping that I didn't need the special tooling that they use in a bike shop to take the cassette off but I guess I was mistaken. Crap, this meant that I needed to find a bike shop in town that I could bring to tomorrow morning before I rode out. In other words, by taking off my tire and messing around with it, I now was not going to be able to get off to an early start the next day as planned.
After checking online, via my blackberry, I was fortunate enough to be only 4 blocks away from the only bike shop in town. Whew! That was a close one!
I think I am going to make it to Yellowstone for my birthday! I can't wait! It will be nice to have a B&B to stay at on my birthday! It will keep it from being so lonely!
121.54 miles
8:43.50 hrs
30.1 max
13.9 avg
The road was long and boring! There is not a whole lot to say about this day besides I was fortunate enough to receive a free place to pitch my tent at the local YMCA. I will have to remember to look for more YMCAs along my way.
Thank goodness I started bright and early today because it allowed me to get into Buffalo before too late. I did pull in just as it was getting dark but it allowed me to stop at the grocery store and pick up some necessary food, set up my tent and try and fix my bike. Since I was sitting right in front of the Big Horn Mountains I figured that I should probably fix my spoke before I rode onward to conquer them! I figured that I would be able to take it off myself using my pliers but boy was I mistaken. After taking off the wheel and messing around with the rear cassette for about 30 min or so, I gave up. I was hoping that I didn't need the special tooling that they use in a bike shop to take the cassette off but I guess I was mistaken. Crap, this meant that I needed to find a bike shop in town that I could bring to tomorrow morning before I rode out. In other words, by taking off my tire and messing around with it, I now was not going to be able to get off to an early start the next day as planned.
After checking online, via my blackberry, I was fortunate enough to be only 4 blocks away from the only bike shop in town. Whew! That was a close one!
I think I am going to make it to Yellowstone for my birthday! I can't wait! It will be nice to have a B&B to stay at on my birthday! It will keep it from being so lonely!
Day 33 - Thursday September 24th
Oreville, SD to Upton, WY
77.37 miles
5:31.36 hrs
40.3 max
13.9 avg
I saw Crazy Horse Monument in the morning and was not overall impressed. They wanted $5 to get into passed the gate and I decided against that. All I wanted was to see the monument, which isn't even near done, and take a picture. I didn't understand how Mount Rushmore doesn't charge anything for cyclists and Crazy Horse does. I feel like it should be the other way around.
The decent out of the Black Hills was great! There were a couple climbs on the way out but nothing of any significance. Entering Wyoming was a good feeling because I felt that I was really making progress on my trip! This feeling lasted for the first hour where I truly felt I was in "Cowboy Country" with the desert and scenery like you would see in an old western! After that hour, when things flattened out it kind of sucked!
I have spent the last 4 days without my iPod. It really allows you to think clearer and pay attention to your surroundings. I feel like I got a good sense of the Black Hills because I didn't use my iPod.
Hopefully I can update this more in the next couple days... Until then I have to get to sleep as I have quite a bit of biking to do tomorrow!
77.37 miles
5:31.36 hrs
40.3 max
13.9 avg
I saw Crazy Horse Monument in the morning and was not overall impressed. They wanted $5 to get into passed the gate and I decided against that. All I wanted was to see the monument, which isn't even near done, and take a picture. I didn't understand how Mount Rushmore doesn't charge anything for cyclists and Crazy Horse does. I feel like it should be the other way around.
The decent out of the Black Hills was great! There were a couple climbs on the way out but nothing of any significance. Entering Wyoming was a good feeling because I felt that I was really making progress on my trip! This feeling lasted for the first hour where I truly felt I was in "Cowboy Country" with the desert and scenery like you would see in an old western! After that hour, when things flattened out it kind of sucked!
I have spent the last 4 days without my iPod. It really allows you to think clearer and pay attention to your surroundings. I feel like I got a good sense of the Black Hills because I didn't use my iPod.
Hopefully I can update this more in the next couple days... Until then I have to get to sleep as I have quite a bit of biking to do tomorrow!
Day 32 - Wed September 23rd
Rapid City, SD to Orville Campground, Black Hills, SD
52.77 miles
5:01.57 hrs
38.7 max
10.4 avg
I had a lot to take care of this morning before heading into the Black Hills. I changed my rear brakes (front are still good), mailed some maps to my folks, bought a 110V to USB converter so that I could charge all my appliances and hopefully will not have to go without a charged cell phone or ipod for a long time!
It felt so good to enter the Black Hills and get out of the high winds and head south a little bit! The ride through the hills was gorgeous and I was so happy to be on something other than flat ground with plenty of green vegetation! I stopped at a cute little Norwegian/Swedish store where I tried and fell in love with salted black licorice! One of my main goals of the day was to see Mount Rushmore. Some people, a while back, told me that it was not worth going out of my way to see but I now disagree! I think it was an amazing feat to make those faces in that rock at such a day in age. Even though I had to climb up the hills to get to the monument it was well worth the effort. I just wish I had a little more time to spend there hiking around and exploring the landscape!
As it was starting to get late and I only had about an hour and a half of sunlight left I headed out towards a couple campgrounds that were on my route and still open for the season. This is where I am SO glad that I purchased my warm weather gear (arm warmers, leg warmers and windproof gloves). With the sun going down fast the shade kept on getting colder and colder. I put on my cold weather gear and was in heaven! It really works! Hopefully it works in colder weather as well!
I made it to the Oreville Campgrounds with just enough time to scout out a camping spot, meet a girl who was traveling across the country for job relocation and decide that it would be better to share a campsite and save some cash ($5 each for the night instead of $10). We ended up going into Hill City to get something to eat and it was fun to have someone to talk to who was also on the road exploring the US!
Oh yeah, I broke another spoke just 30 miles into today! What is going on with my rear wheel? This should not be happening. The wheel immediately went out of alignment and I made some tension adjustments on opposing and adjacent spokes to prevent rubbing. After a few phone calls and checking the internet on the phone I was sad to find out that the next 'potential' bike shop was not until right before the Big Horns. The adjustments made enough of a difference that I was comfortable waiting until the next bike shop. Unfortunately, there were no certain bike shops anywhere on my route before the Big Horns, this made me a little worried but I figured I could fix it myself if need be.
52.77 miles
5:01.57 hrs
38.7 max
10.4 avg
I had a lot to take care of this morning before heading into the Black Hills. I changed my rear brakes (front are still good), mailed some maps to my folks, bought a 110V to USB converter so that I could charge all my appliances and hopefully will not have to go without a charged cell phone or ipod for a long time!
It felt so good to enter the Black Hills and get out of the high winds and head south a little bit! The ride through the hills was gorgeous and I was so happy to be on something other than flat ground with plenty of green vegetation! I stopped at a cute little Norwegian/Swedish store where I tried and fell in love with salted black licorice! One of my main goals of the day was to see Mount Rushmore. Some people, a while back, told me that it was not worth going out of my way to see but I now disagree! I think it was an amazing feat to make those faces in that rock at such a day in age. Even though I had to climb up the hills to get to the monument it was well worth the effort. I just wish I had a little more time to spend there hiking around and exploring the landscape!
As it was starting to get late and I only had about an hour and a half of sunlight left I headed out towards a couple campgrounds that were on my route and still open for the season. This is where I am SO glad that I purchased my warm weather gear (arm warmers, leg warmers and windproof gloves). With the sun going down fast the shade kept on getting colder and colder. I put on my cold weather gear and was in heaven! It really works! Hopefully it works in colder weather as well!
I made it to the Oreville Campgrounds with just enough time to scout out a camping spot, meet a girl who was traveling across the country for job relocation and decide that it would be better to share a campsite and save some cash ($5 each for the night instead of $10). We ended up going into Hill City to get something to eat and it was fun to have someone to talk to who was also on the road exploring the US!
Oh yeah, I broke another spoke just 30 miles into today! What is going on with my rear wheel? This should not be happening. The wheel immediately went out of alignment and I made some tension adjustments on opposing and adjacent spokes to prevent rubbing. After a few phone calls and checking the internet on the phone I was sad to find out that the next 'potential' bike shop was not until right before the Big Horns. The adjustments made enough of a difference that I was comfortable waiting until the next bike shop. Unfortunately, there were no certain bike shops anywhere on my route before the Big Horns, this made me a little worried but I figured I could fix it myself if need be.
Day 31 - Tuesday September 22nd
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.
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.
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.
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