From Tribune, KS to Eads, CO - 59.7 miles
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 6:25:27
Average speed: 9.3 mph
Max speed: 18.6 mph
Story [in words]:
being in a new time zone this morning meant that the sun came up much earlier in the day. we had planned to get up nice and early, mainly in an attempt to beat some of the wind. however, something got messed up with our alarm during the night and we ended up getting up about 45 minutes late. nonetheless, we were loaded up and ready to ride by about 7:15. unfortunately, by that point in time, the winds were already blowing much stronger than we would have liked.
we headed straight west with the wind blowing a solid 15 mph straight from the south. it wasn't a head wind...but a cross wind really isn't much better. we only had 16 miles left to ride before we crossed the state line into colorado, and it was almost as if kansas knew that, and just didn't want to give us up yet. it was some tough...and slow cycling. but finally, about mid-morning, we did indeed cross into our 6th state of the tour. pretty hard to believe to say the least.
we made it into a little town called sheridan lake a little before noon where we were able to order a pizza at a little gas station type of a thing. we basically tried to linger there as long as we possibly could...including a nap at the table that we were sitting at...mainly because we didn't want to go back out in the wind. just before we were going to leave, an eastbound cyclist who has been touring around different parts of the country since last september, came in and we shared a little bit of conversation with him. then a younger guy dressed in john deere clothes came in and we had a little conversation with him...he was pretty cocky to say the least...seemed to be awfully proud of the fact that he went to john deere university...interesting dude to say the least. (colli...that was partially in there for you)
we finally got back on the road a little after 2, to make the push to eads. the afternoon did seem to be a little bit easier cycling...but not much. maybe it was the fact that the road seemed to take a couple of turns to the north for a bit and we were able to get a little bit of wind to our backs.
as i was cycling along, i couldn't help but be jealous of my friend pervis. i have been kind of reading along with his blog from two years ago to see where he stayed and things. turns out when he was in this area, he had some really favorable winds, and when he came through this area he cycled 175 miles in one day. we are barely going to make 175 miles with yesterday, today, and tomorrow combined. oh well, that is the way that it goes. and unfortunately, the weather seems to say that it is going to be windy again tomorrow as well.
we arrived here in eads and found a family restaurant type joint on the main drag that looked like a good location for dinner. we parked our bikes, headed in, and found a table next to 5 older ladies. we had some great conversation with them about our trip. they seemed to be quite familiar with the route and with the cyclists who come through. this area is a really busy area for cyclists because there are a number of routes that converge in pueblo which is just a little over 100 miles west of here.
we will see what tomorrow brings...to be honest, i am a little bit dreading getting up. it feels a little bit scary to me...but at the same time, i think that we have really lucked out when it comes to this area and the potential winds that can happen.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Day 31 : Time Zone #3...
From Dighton, KS to Tribune, KS – 75.5 miles
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 7:29:30
Average speed: 10.1 mph
Max. speed: 17.4 mph
Story [in words]:
We got up early to try to cover some solid miles before the winds got going, as they were predicted to. We were loaded and on the road by about 6:45 am. It was definitely another great morning for cycling…I really like this riding on the plains. It is just so much less humid, which is so much more comfortable.
We rode into scott city, and found a place that we could grab a late breakfast. We found a great little local café, and it was an awesome breakfast to boot! We ate a ton…which isn’t always a good thing…but it turns out that today it was the right combo I guess. We barely ate the rest of the day…we felt fueled up and ready to go.
We got back on the bikes and headed into leoti, ks where we filled up our waters and had some great conversation with an older couple sitting at a table there. The gentlemen told us about back in ’70 when he, along with a group of a couple thousand cyclists, drove their tractors to Washington, d.c. for some sort of protest.
We finished our conversation with them, ready to knock out the last 24 miles for the day. The wind picked up a little this afternoon, which made the cycling a little more difficult…but all in all, not that bad. We also crossed into the mountain time zone just before we arrived here in tribune…which is great because we get an “extra” hour today! Sounds like more sleep to me!
Today I realized that back in Indiana (where we were both born and raised) and in Missouri (where we live now), we really have no idea what a big farm is. The farms out here in western Kansas dwarf anything that we can possibly imagine out east. The farms go on forever. Whether it is a cattle farm or some sort of a crop operation, they are absolutely huge! There were multiple times today where we were roughly 8 miles outside of the town that we were going to, and we could see the water tower in town as clear as day. It is really just fields for as long as you can see!
Day 30 : It Finally Happened...
From Rush Center, KS to Dighton, KS - ~63 miles
Story [in numbers]:
Unfortunately we don’t have the exact numbers for today…we had a little bit more trouble with the computer…the good news is that we got it back up and working by the end of the day.
Story [in words]:
With our late night of riding last night, it was a little bit tough to get up this morning. By the time we got up and got everything packed up and got on the road, it was about 8:30 am. It was another really great day for riding…not quite what yesterday was, but still awfully nice for riding.
We rode about 30 miles to ness city where we had planned to get a late lunch…however, due to our late start, it ended up being an early lunch. The place that we stopped to eat was at the recommendation of the lady that we had talked to the night before at the sports bar (they actually live right by ness city). We found the restaurant, and it looked a little shady to say the least…but we thought, what the heck. Then our server came and it got worse…she seemed like she was having the worst day in the world. I wish that I would have been able to think of some way to bring some joy into her life…she just seemed so incredibly closed off. Just to give a little glimpse of what the service was like…as we walked in the front door, there was a hand-written sign that said, “no smoking after 7 am”. While we were sitting at our table, our waitress spent more time smoking cigarettes and watching Days of Our Lives, instead of taking care of us.
Despite the poor service, and the fact that our orders weren’t quite correct…the food was actually pretty good. The bright spot of our time there, however, was that as we were sitting there waiting for our food, the lady from the sports bar walked in (we later found out that her name was sandy). She said that she had seen us riding a little while ago and that she was on her way back to work and wanted to stop in to say hi and give us something. She proceeded to give us two bottles…one with vegetable supplements and one with fruit supplements. She said, “I figured that you don’t get enough of these types of things on the trail.” She was just a super sweet lady to say the least.
After a much longer stop than we had planned on…largely due to the poor service…we got back on the road. And before long…it finally happened. We were cycling along, and cailyn said, “do I have a flat tire?”…to which I responded, “no, it doesn’t look like it.” But then, a couple of seconds later, she stopped and we could hear the air coming out of the tire. As I looked at the tire a little more closely, it became quite apparent that there was a thorn sticking straight out of the tire. We removed the thorn and then got the tire off and made a quick tube change. (conveniently, it was a front tire, which made it much easier) in about 15 minutes were all set and ready to get back on the road.
We had hoped to make it past Dighton, but with the slow lunch stop, the flat tire, and slightly tired legs from yesterdays long ride, we decided that we would just stay for the night. As we cycled into town, we found a dairy stand which seemed like a great place to grab some food and hang out for a while. While we tried to hydrate ourselves, we sat and looked at the maps for a little while. It is crazy, because we are getting to the point where we are able to predict fairly closely what the rest of our trip will look like. Here’s a snapshot of a few of the big things…we plan to be in pueblo, co on Saturday…we will go to the bike shop and get some tune-ups there. We should go up and over hoosier pass (the highest point on the route – 11,400 ft) on Tuesday. And we hope to make it to Yellowstone by Friday the 16th to meet our aunt and uncle who just happen to be vacationing in Yellowstone. It is getting really exciting because the colors are changing on our maps (which means that we are going up in elevation)…we are getting excited to see the mountains!!
While we were sitting at the dairy bar, a woman pulled in with her 5 children…we heard her say to one of the kids that dad would be joining them shortly. The woman was pretty interested in our trip and what we were doing, so we talked with her for a while. Turns out that her husband owns a fleet of combines that travels across the country harvesting as crops come ready. They said that they start in may and usually don’t finish until sometime around November. They said that they basically live out of a camper for the whole summer…seems like a crazy lifestyle…but they seem to do a great job with it. They were a great family though for sure. (colli – in case you are curious, we found out they are a green fleet)
Story [in numbers]:
Unfortunately we don’t have the exact numbers for today…we had a little bit more trouble with the computer…the good news is that we got it back up and working by the end of the day.
Story [in words]:
With our late night of riding last night, it was a little bit tough to get up this morning. By the time we got up and got everything packed up and got on the road, it was about 8:30 am. It was another really great day for riding…not quite what yesterday was, but still awfully nice for riding.
We rode about 30 miles to ness city where we had planned to get a late lunch…however, due to our late start, it ended up being an early lunch. The place that we stopped to eat was at the recommendation of the lady that we had talked to the night before at the sports bar (they actually live right by ness city). We found the restaurant, and it looked a little shady to say the least…but we thought, what the heck. Then our server came and it got worse…she seemed like she was having the worst day in the world. I wish that I would have been able to think of some way to bring some joy into her life…she just seemed so incredibly closed off. Just to give a little glimpse of what the service was like…as we walked in the front door, there was a hand-written sign that said, “no smoking after 7 am”. While we were sitting at our table, our waitress spent more time smoking cigarettes and watching Days of Our Lives, instead of taking care of us.
Despite the poor service, and the fact that our orders weren’t quite correct…the food was actually pretty good. The bright spot of our time there, however, was that as we were sitting there waiting for our food, the lady from the sports bar walked in (we later found out that her name was sandy). She said that she had seen us riding a little while ago and that she was on her way back to work and wanted to stop in to say hi and give us something. She proceeded to give us two bottles…one with vegetable supplements and one with fruit supplements. She said, “I figured that you don’t get enough of these types of things on the trail.” She was just a super sweet lady to say the least.
After a much longer stop than we had planned on…largely due to the poor service…we got back on the road. And before long…it finally happened. We were cycling along, and cailyn said, “do I have a flat tire?”…to which I responded, “no, it doesn’t look like it.” But then, a couple of seconds later, she stopped and we could hear the air coming out of the tire. As I looked at the tire a little more closely, it became quite apparent that there was a thorn sticking straight out of the tire. We removed the thorn and then got the tire off and made a quick tube change. (conveniently, it was a front tire, which made it much easier) in about 15 minutes were all set and ready to get back on the road.
We had hoped to make it past Dighton, but with the slow lunch stop, the flat tire, and slightly tired legs from yesterdays long ride, we decided that we would just stay for the night. As we cycled into town, we found a dairy stand which seemed like a great place to grab some food and hang out for a while. While we tried to hydrate ourselves, we sat and looked at the maps for a little while. It is crazy, because we are getting to the point where we are able to predict fairly closely what the rest of our trip will look like. Here’s a snapshot of a few of the big things…we plan to be in pueblo, co on Saturday…we will go to the bike shop and get some tune-ups there. We should go up and over hoosier pass (the highest point on the route – 11,400 ft) on Tuesday. And we hope to make it to Yellowstone by Friday the 16th to meet our aunt and uncle who just happen to be vacationing in Yellowstone. It is getting really exciting because the colors are changing on our maps (which means that we are going up in elevation)…we are getting excited to see the mountains!!
While we were sitting at the dairy bar, a woman pulled in with her 5 children…we heard her say to one of the kids that dad would be joining them shortly. The woman was pretty interested in our trip and what we were doing, so we talked with her for a while. Turns out that her husband owns a fleet of combines that travels across the country harvesting as crops come ready. They said that they start in may and usually don’t finish until sometime around November. They said that they basically live out of a camper for the whole summer…seems like a crazy lifestyle…but they seem to do a great job with it. They were a great family though for sure. (colli – in case you are curious, we found out they are a green fleet)
Day 29 : A Great Day for Riding...
From Hutchinson, KS to Rush Center, KS - 97.6 miles
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 8:17:57
Average Speed: 11.8 mph
Max Speed: 28.6 mph
Story [in words]:
the toughest part about today was getting out of bed and on the road. the hostel that we stayed at last night was just so nice. we laid in bed until about 8 am trying to decide if we were going to take the day off and hang out at the hostel or if we were going to cycle. then we looked at the weather on my phone and as it turns out, the temps were supposed to be a little lower and the winds were supposed to be light and from the east. and so we decided that we would ride...and as long as we were going to ride, we thought we would try to get close to a century ride.
it was almost 9:30 before we were loaded and on the road, but it was just a great day for riding. easily the best riding conditions of the whole trip! we rode into the first town of the day, and as we cycled in, we looked to our right, and there on the cross road was Jerry, the 70 year old riding the recumbent with the adventure cycling association group. we shared a little conversation with him, cycled to the gas station to fill our waters and headed back out.
shortly after leaving that town, we headed off our mapped route onto highway 96, at the recommendation of an eastbound cyclist that we crossed paths with a couple of days ago. we were pretty sure that we could cut out about 13-14 miles by going this route...and since we were already in the mindset of covering as many miles as we could, we thought that we would take the shortcut. as we cycled along on 96, in some really beautiful weather, we heard what sounded like a fairly large plane (which is a little out of the ordinary along these roads because we aren't close to many large airports)...as the sound got closer, we looked straight above us to hear a B-2 bomber. which for most people would be just a really cool sight...but for us it was a nice piece of home, because all of the B-2's are stationed at whiteman air force base which is just 8 miles east of warrensburg.
as we continued on, we stopped at a subway for a late lunch...and looked at a map and discovered that we had about 62 miles to go to finish our day. so we quickly hopped back on the bikes and rode 31 more miles to great bend...where we stopped at walmart to stock up on a couple of things. while we were there, we ran into two middle-aged guys that seemed very interested in what we were doing. turns out, they were both cycling enthusiasts.
we got back on the road from walmart at about 5:30 pm with about 31 miles left to get to our destination. it was really just a beautiful evening to ride. actually a little bit cool...it was one of the first times that i found myself just sitting back and taking in all the fields surrounding us. (it is a little bit easier to do that here in kansas because there really isn't a ton to have to think or worry about). there are fields of all kinds of different things everywhere...wheat, hay, beans, corn...and huge fields at that...they seem to go on forever. at one point, we came upon a hay field with square bales just sitting waiting to be picked up (Johnny - it made me think of our mission trip to Cookson Hills, Oklahoma...which seems like it was forever ago).
when we got to rush center, we found the 4-h park, which was just a tiny little "park" right on the route. there was a little sports bar just a block from the park and so we decided to stop in there to see if we could get a couple of sodas. as we walked up to the bar, there was a really nice older couple sitting there eating and they started talking to us about our trip. we ended up having some really good conversation with them...turns out that they moved to kansas from the los angeles area about 11 years ago to get away from the chaos. instead, they decided to build a roughly 160 acre farm from scratch.
after finishing talking to them, we headed back over to the park...set up our tent, ate the food that we had bought at walmart earlier in the day, and then headed into the tent to get some sleep. and finally it was a much cooler and much less humid day for us to get some sleep.
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 8:17:57
Average Speed: 11.8 mph
Max Speed: 28.6 mph
Story [in words]:
the toughest part about today was getting out of bed and on the road. the hostel that we stayed at last night was just so nice. we laid in bed until about 8 am trying to decide if we were going to take the day off and hang out at the hostel or if we were going to cycle. then we looked at the weather on my phone and as it turns out, the temps were supposed to be a little lower and the winds were supposed to be light and from the east. and so we decided that we would ride...and as long as we were going to ride, we thought we would try to get close to a century ride.
it was almost 9:30 before we were loaded and on the road, but it was just a great day for riding. easily the best riding conditions of the whole trip! we rode into the first town of the day, and as we cycled in, we looked to our right, and there on the cross road was Jerry, the 70 year old riding the recumbent with the adventure cycling association group. we shared a little conversation with him, cycled to the gas station to fill our waters and headed back out.
shortly after leaving that town, we headed off our mapped route onto highway 96, at the recommendation of an eastbound cyclist that we crossed paths with a couple of days ago. we were pretty sure that we could cut out about 13-14 miles by going this route...and since we were already in the mindset of covering as many miles as we could, we thought that we would take the shortcut. as we cycled along on 96, in some really beautiful weather, we heard what sounded like a fairly large plane (which is a little out of the ordinary along these roads because we aren't close to many large airports)...as the sound got closer, we looked straight above us to hear a B-2 bomber. which for most people would be just a really cool sight...but for us it was a nice piece of home, because all of the B-2's are stationed at whiteman air force base which is just 8 miles east of warrensburg.
as we continued on, we stopped at a subway for a late lunch...and looked at a map and discovered that we had about 62 miles to go to finish our day. so we quickly hopped back on the bikes and rode 31 more miles to great bend...where we stopped at walmart to stock up on a couple of things. while we were there, we ran into two middle-aged guys that seemed very interested in what we were doing. turns out, they were both cycling enthusiasts.
we got back on the road from walmart at about 5:30 pm with about 31 miles left to get to our destination. it was really just a beautiful evening to ride. actually a little bit cool...it was one of the first times that i found myself just sitting back and taking in all the fields surrounding us. (it is a little bit easier to do that here in kansas because there really isn't a ton to have to think or worry about). there are fields of all kinds of different things everywhere...wheat, hay, beans, corn...and huge fields at that...they seem to go on forever. at one point, we came upon a hay field with square bales just sitting waiting to be picked up (Johnny - it made me think of our mission trip to Cookson Hills, Oklahoma...which seems like it was forever ago).
when we got to rush center, we found the 4-h park, which was just a tiny little "park" right on the route. there was a little sports bar just a block from the park and so we decided to stop in there to see if we could get a couple of sodas. as we walked up to the bar, there was a really nice older couple sitting there eating and they started talking to us about our trip. we ended up having some really good conversation with them...turns out that they moved to kansas from the los angeles area about 11 years ago to get away from the chaos. instead, they decided to build a roughly 160 acre farm from scratch.
after finishing talking to them, we headed back over to the park...set up our tent, ate the food that we had bought at walmart earlier in the day, and then headed into the tent to get some sleep. and finally it was a much cooler and much less humid day for us to get some sleep.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Day 28 : A Sweet Hostel...
From Newton, KS to Hutchinson, KS – 44.8 miles
This morning we woke up, packed up our gear, said goodbye to our friend Charlie, and headed to McDonalds to grab some breakfast. We were about to leave when we started to have some great conversation with a couple of older gentlemen that were also there having breakfast. They were just average great guys. And as we were talking, I couldn’t help but think about what great community exists at a place like McDonald’s. in many senses, the community there on Sunday morning is probably better than at many churches. Just got me thinking about why that is.
We decided last night that we were just going to ride a half-day because our legs really felt like they could use a rest and there was a hostel listed on our maps here in Hutchinson. So, at a little before 9, we were on the bikes and headed for “Hutch.”
Thankfully, the winds weren’t terrible today…just enough to keep us cool…and it was fairly overcast for most of the morning, which really helped to make the cycling enjoyable. It was really a pretty uneventful ride, with the exception of in the middle of the day when we cycled past a massive field of sunflowers. (pictured above) unfortunately, it seemed as though we were about a week early as most of the flowers appeared to be just on the verge of blooming.
We arrived here at Zion Lutheran Church at about 2 pm to find a really wonderful little spot. They have basically turned part of their basement into a hostel, where they have actual beds, tvs, and a full kitchen that we were welcome to use. So we settled in, showered up, and headed to the Laundromat to get a full set of clean clothes. After doing our laundry, we stopped by the grocery store to get some food to make for dinner as well as some stuff for breakfast.
We enjoyed some great pasta alfredo, with broccoli, mushrooms, and chicken. It was great to have what felt like a home cooked meal.
When we arrived here in the afternoon, there was also an eastbound cyclist here who had stayed last night and was going to ride to where we had come from late in the day today. We shared some good conversation and stories about what lies ahead for each of us. Probably the most interesting thing that we found out about the guy is that he is from Louisville…which is not that interesting in and of itself…however, when we found out that he was from Louisville, we asked if by chance he knew Kirk (the guy that we rode with for a few days at the beginning of our trip) and it turns out that he did. Pretty crazy to say the least!
Since being in Kansas, with fewer cities and flatter terrain, I have found myself with more time to think and process. I have thought quite a bit lately about what makes for a good story.
Easily the most influential (and best) book that I have read this past year was A Million Miles and a Thousand Years, by Donald Miller. It is a book that is pretty much about exactly that…what makes a good story and how can we then live that good story. so that book has really sent me down that path of thinking about that type of stuff.
I have gotten the “good story” type feeling from the number of people who are reading along with this trip on our blog. But what makes it a good story? I think there are many elements that go together to make it a good story…but one thing that is going to have to be present at some point in time is a desire to quit. And on many occasions that has been the case for us in the process of living out this story.
As I cycled along, I was thinking about this idea more. I thought about one of the other really “great” stories that I feel like I have lived with my life…spending a summer working at InPursuit summer camp. During my time there, and especially looking back on my time there, there was no doubt in my mind that I was living a good story. and there were definitely multiple times during that summer where if I was given an easy opportunity to simply quit…I am pretty sure that I would have taken it and ran.
Then I started thinking about it a little bit from a Biblical perspective. The best example that we have…Jesus…had a moment where (while he was living a pretty good story) he said, “Isn’t there some other way”…which at least in some sense sounds to me like a desire to quit.
Or take John the Baptist…also a guy who lived a pretty great story…there was a moment where he was in prison (which probably didn’t feel to him like a very good story) and he sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was really the one or if they should expect someone else. And that may not sound on the surface like an attempt to quit, but I think that is exactly what it was…he was beginning to wonder if it was all worth it, and if not, he was ready to bail.
And one more…Peter…a guy who lived a good enough story to be the guy on whom the church would be built. He was interested enough in quitting this following Jesus thing that given the opportunity, he was willing to go as far as to deny that he even knew who Jesus was. Again, sounds to me like a desire to quit.
As I think and process this idea of living a good story, and what it takes to live a good story…I think I am realizing that if we are living a good story, there are going to be moments, and maybe even seasons, where we simply want to quit.
and the only way that we are going to end up living and completing a good story is if we flee the temptation to quit and keep pressing on towards the goal.
Day 27 : A Hot and Sunny Day of Cycling...
From Eureka, KS to Newton, KS - ~ 78 miles
Time on bike: 8:04:06
Max Speed: 26.6 mph
Average Speed: 9.7 mph
We left the park and headed to a gas station to grab something for breakfast. We managed to find individual cereal bowls…which we have been craving. So we bought 2 for each of us and a half a gallon of milk, which we ate and drank most of.
We had a tough (thanks to the wind), but pretty uneventful ride for the morning. It was 35 miles for us to get to one of our notorious gas station/grocery store/restaurant. When we first got to town, it appeared that there was no longer a place for us to get food, which made us quite concerned to say the least. However, after asking someone in town, we found the gas station.
The morning heat was getting pretty rough by the time we arrived…it was especially tough on cailyn. So, we decided that we would hang out there for a couple of hours before getting back out in the heat.
We set out from there again at about 2:30. We had 38 miles to ride with absolutely no services or stops to get to where we were going for the night. Thankfully, the ride seemed to go pretty smoothly and the heat didn’t cause too much trouble. About 5 miles before we got to Newton, we saw a speck in our rearview mirror that seemed to be slowly approaching. As it grew a little closer, we recognized it as a familiar sight…it was another loaded cyclist. It also quickly became apparent to us that he was moving much quicker than us. We exchanged pleasantries as he passed as we all continued pushing to the finish.
Before much longer, we arrived in Newton. We had planned to just find a place to grab dinner on our way to the park where we would be camping for the night. As we were almost to the park, we came upon a dairy queen and decided that would suit us nicely for the evening. And as we pulled into the parking lot, we discovered that the cyclists that had passed us had also chosen dq for the night. We went in, ordered food, and sat down next to him to find out a little bit of his story. turns out he is a teacher (physical education) from Virginia…and the craziest thing that we found out is that it was his 15th day of riding (it was our 27th day of riding). He is pretty much the only person that we have encountered that is doing it faster than us, and this guy isn’t even close. He is averaging more than 100 miles per day. Absolutely crazy to say the least!! As a side note, he was in what appeared to be amazing shape.
After finishing our dairy queen, all three of us cycled a few more blocks to a rather large city park where we camped for the night. It was another hot night…the one saving grace, was that there was actually enough wind to be able to get a little bit of breeze going through the tent…which helped at least a little.
With only a couple of towns along the route today, and less interactions with people, we had a little more time to observe the sides of the road today…so we thought that we would share with you a few of the things that we cycled past today. Here’s a list: a wrench, needle nose pliers, a lock, a steer (he was on the wrong side of the fence), part of a door, and plumbing supplies.
I think it is also time for the long awaited…Brad and Cailyn’s rules for Driving Around Cyclists:
Rule #1: Get Over (Substantially)
If you are not able to get at least half a lanes width over when passing a cyclist, then wait. If it is possible, get completely over into the other lane. This may not seem necessary, but from a cyclists perspective, this is much appreciated.
Rule #2: Don’t Pass When Approaching a Corner
If you can’t see clearly around an upcoming corner and make sure that there is not oncoming traffic coming around the corner, don’t pass. Wait until the cyclists have gone far enough around the corner that you can see clearly.
Rule #3: Don’t Pass When Cresting a Hill
If you can’t see over an upcoming hill to make sure that there is not oncoming traffic, don’t pass. Wait until the cyclists have gotten far enough up the hill that you are able to see clearly past the hill and you know for sure that you have adequate space to pass.
Rule #4: Be patient
I cannot begin to tell you have many times we have almost seen head-on accidents or oncoming cars forced onto the shoulder because a car was passing us (giving us plenty of room) when they couldn’t see if there was oncoming traffic or not…only to have oncoming traffic show up and then force them to have to make a split second decision to avoid an accident.
Day 26 : Kansas, Oh Kansas...
From Chanute, KS to Eureka, KS - ~ 70 miles
Story [in numbers]:
Story [in words]:
we enjoyed a great dinner last night at a mexican place in town with the people that cailyn used to work with. (one small correction....mark brought his wife, not his husband) thanks matt!! after dinner, we returned to the campground and got our tent set up for the night. after getting our tent set up, we noticed a nice looking older couple sitting in lawn chairs outside of their very nice camper. so we decided to journey over and chat a little. we had a great conversation with them about all kinds of different things. really nice folks to say the least! and a great experience in getting out of my comfort zone.
this morning we were tired. it was hard to get up and getting going for some reason. but by a little before 6, we were finally up and going. we packed up and quickly rode over to the walmart to pick up a couple of essentials that we were running low on. then we headed to the grain bin, a great little place for breakfast that we had learned about from one of the firemen when we stopped at the station last night. the breakfast did not disappoint, the community was great, and we had a great conversation with the lady at the table next to us. she even gave us her name and phone number in case we were even in town again and needed a good home cooked meal. people really are amazing with their hospitality. we finished our meal, paid, and got ready to get on the road. as we were about to jump on the bikes, this cute little 89 year old man walked around the corner, and just started talking our ears off. i am not sure of a lot of what he said...but i hope that it made his day to be able to sit and talk with us.
we finally got on the road at about 8:30. and i have to say, the morning ride was pretty average and uneventful. kansas has been fairly boring as far as the scenery goes, and we were out in the middle of nowhere, so we really didn't run into anyone. although, a little before noon, we did cross paths with an eastbound cyclist who we stopped and shared some good conversation with. we exchanged some tips about what was ahead and great places to stay and eat, and then we both got back on our way.
the eastbounder we met told us that there was a great little gas station/restaurant/grocery store just on the other side of toronto...so we decided we would stop there for a later lunch. it seemed like the place would never come...cailyn was especially ready for a break. but it finally did...and the cyclist was right...it was a great place. nothing terribly special...accept that the people were super hospitable. they had a cyclist log for us to sign and their name had something to do with lizards...so they gave us each a little toy lizard to take with us. as i was talking with the guy at the counter, he started into a story by saying, "back when i lived in fort wayne, indiana"...and i was like, "what, wait a minute...i grew us in fort wayne, indiana". and as if that was not weird enough, it turns out that he was a teacher and played organ at bethlehem lutheran school. so, we shared a few stories about fort wayne and he asked me some questions about what it was like now as he had moved away from there back in the late 70's. it really is a small world to say the least.
i had one particularly interesting and thought provoking conversation with this guy who had lived in fort wayne so long ago. i asked him if he was still involved in a lutheran church out here. to which he replied with something along the lines of..."you know how it is when you are lutheran...you learn to like it a certain way. and nothing out here really fits my needs." in the moment i just kind of nodded my head and let the comment go. but when we were back on the bikes and riding again, i began to replay that conversation in my head, and i began to think about what i said...or more importantly what i didn't say to him, and i was really kicking myself. i wish that i would have said something to him about the fact that being a part of a church is not about being a consumer and it is not about getting your needs met...it is about being part of a family and meeting the needs of others and then in the process we find that our needs get met. it is about being that change if it is not exactly what you want. the Bible is not a guide to help us find what we are looking for...it is a guide to show us how to act and live to bring those stories to life. it just seemed like this guy had gotten burned out...and i don't know what caused that...but i wonder if at least part of it was that he had the wrong attitude...the wrong perspective. i don't know for sure...but i do wish that i would have said at least a little more than what i did. because as i grow more and more in my faith, i have become increasingly aware that although we live in an incredibly consumeristic society, church is not about being a consumer.
we enjoyed our food, filled our waters, and were excited to get back on the road. we had about 19 miles to ride, and rumor had it that the city park we would be camping in had a pool that we would be able to swim in. we seemed to really just cruise through the last 19 miles. it is funny, because the people here in kansas seem to be proud of their "hills". they tell you that you are going to be climbing for the next 45 miles. and don't get me wrong...kansas is not flat like you might expect. there are hills and you are climbing, but they are just that...hills. it is really nothing at all. i feel like i could do these hills in my sleep. they are almost a little bit inviting so that we are not just cycling along on completely flat ground.
we got into eureka a little after 5 pm and quickly located the city park and pool. we asked if we would be able to swim and shower, and they said that we would be able to for free...but we would have to be quick, because they closed at 6. so we quickly got our clothes out and changed into our swimsuits and enjoyed some nice refreshing water. we cleaned up, and hopped back on the bikes and rode to the pizza hut that we had passed on the way in. we enjoyed a great taco pizza (made me think of you, mom)...some great conversation...and some relaxation in the air conditioning. after we finished our food, we headed back to the park and set up our tent for the night.
i can definitely tell that the story of kansas is going to be sun and wind. hopefully we can catch both at the right time. sure will make this state a whole lot easier.
Story [in numbers]:
Story [in words]:
we enjoyed a great dinner last night at a mexican place in town with the people that cailyn used to work with. (one small correction....mark brought his wife, not his husband) thanks matt!! after dinner, we returned to the campground and got our tent set up for the night. after getting our tent set up, we noticed a nice looking older couple sitting in lawn chairs outside of their very nice camper. so we decided to journey over and chat a little. we had a great conversation with them about all kinds of different things. really nice folks to say the least! and a great experience in getting out of my comfort zone.
this morning we were tired. it was hard to get up and getting going for some reason. but by a little before 6, we were finally up and going. we packed up and quickly rode over to the walmart to pick up a couple of essentials that we were running low on. then we headed to the grain bin, a great little place for breakfast that we had learned about from one of the firemen when we stopped at the station last night. the breakfast did not disappoint, the community was great, and we had a great conversation with the lady at the table next to us. she even gave us her name and phone number in case we were even in town again and needed a good home cooked meal. people really are amazing with their hospitality. we finished our meal, paid, and got ready to get on the road. as we were about to jump on the bikes, this cute little 89 year old man walked around the corner, and just started talking our ears off. i am not sure of a lot of what he said...but i hope that it made his day to be able to sit and talk with us.
we finally got on the road at about 8:30. and i have to say, the morning ride was pretty average and uneventful. kansas has been fairly boring as far as the scenery goes, and we were out in the middle of nowhere, so we really didn't run into anyone. although, a little before noon, we did cross paths with an eastbound cyclist who we stopped and shared some good conversation with. we exchanged some tips about what was ahead and great places to stay and eat, and then we both got back on our way.
the eastbounder we met told us that there was a great little gas station/restaurant/grocery store just on the other side of toronto...so we decided we would stop there for a later lunch. it seemed like the place would never come...cailyn was especially ready for a break. but it finally did...and the cyclist was right...it was a great place. nothing terribly special...accept that the people were super hospitable. they had a cyclist log for us to sign and their name had something to do with lizards...so they gave us each a little toy lizard to take with us. as i was talking with the guy at the counter, he started into a story by saying, "back when i lived in fort wayne, indiana"...and i was like, "what, wait a minute...i grew us in fort wayne, indiana". and as if that was not weird enough, it turns out that he was a teacher and played organ at bethlehem lutheran school. so, we shared a few stories about fort wayne and he asked me some questions about what it was like now as he had moved away from there back in the late 70's. it really is a small world to say the least.
i had one particularly interesting and thought provoking conversation with this guy who had lived in fort wayne so long ago. i asked him if he was still involved in a lutheran church out here. to which he replied with something along the lines of..."you know how it is when you are lutheran...you learn to like it a certain way. and nothing out here really fits my needs." in the moment i just kind of nodded my head and let the comment go. but when we were back on the bikes and riding again, i began to replay that conversation in my head, and i began to think about what i said...or more importantly what i didn't say to him, and i was really kicking myself. i wish that i would have said something to him about the fact that being a part of a church is not about being a consumer and it is not about getting your needs met...it is about being part of a family and meeting the needs of others and then in the process we find that our needs get met. it is about being that change if it is not exactly what you want. the Bible is not a guide to help us find what we are looking for...it is a guide to show us how to act and live to bring those stories to life. it just seemed like this guy had gotten burned out...and i don't know what caused that...but i wonder if at least part of it was that he had the wrong attitude...the wrong perspective. i don't know for sure...but i do wish that i would have said at least a little more than what i did. because as i grow more and more in my faith, i have become increasingly aware that although we live in an incredibly consumeristic society, church is not about being a consumer.
we enjoyed our food, filled our waters, and were excited to get back on the road. we had about 19 miles to ride, and rumor had it that the city park we would be camping in had a pool that we would be able to swim in. we seemed to really just cruise through the last 19 miles. it is funny, because the people here in kansas seem to be proud of their "hills". they tell you that you are going to be climbing for the next 45 miles. and don't get me wrong...kansas is not flat like you might expect. there are hills and you are climbing, but they are just that...hills. it is really nothing at all. i feel like i could do these hills in my sleep. they are almost a little bit inviting so that we are not just cycling along on completely flat ground.
we got into eureka a little after 5 pm and quickly located the city park and pool. we asked if we would be able to swim and shower, and they said that we would be able to for free...but we would have to be quick, because they closed at 6. so we quickly got our clothes out and changed into our swimsuits and enjoyed some nice refreshing water. we cleaned up, and hopped back on the bikes and rode to the pizza hut that we had passed on the way in. we enjoyed a great taco pizza (made me think of you, mom)...some great conversation...and some relaxation in the air conditioning. after we finished our food, we headed back to the park and set up our tent for the night.
i can definitely tell that the story of kansas is going to be sun and wind. hopefully we can catch both at the right time. sure will make this state a whole lot easier.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Day 25 : Anybody Got an Extra Sail???
From Pittsburgh, KS to Chanute, KS - ~ 60.2 miles
{note}
thanks to our friends justin and tracy, the story in numbers is back...they gave us the cycling computer off of his bike...
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 5:25:57
Max Speed: 26.8 mph
Average Speed: 11.1 mph
Story [in words]:
since we had ultra nice accommodations for yet another night, we decided to sleep in till 7 and grab some really good food at the free continental breakfast, before getting the bikes loaded up and heading back on the road. it was about 9 before we were out of the hotel.
as we came out of the hotel, i quickly noticed what i thought was a good sign. i headed over to a section of grass to see if i could confirm what i thought was the good news. i grabbed a few blades of grass, threw them up in the air, and sure enough...just as i had thought...the wind was coming straight out of the east. i felt like we couldn't get on the bikes soon enough...and if we would have had a sail, i would have thrown it up for sure. having the wind in your direction makes all the difference in the world. it is amazing what a new day brings.
we cycled with little effort as the wind blew us along from behind. although, we did have to go about 12-15 miles north today, so the wind did have it's drawbacks at times. at about 11:45, we were passed by a car out in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere...after passing us, it pulled onto the shoulder and driver rolled down the window, waiting for us to pull up next to him. it was a older looking gentlemen...his speech was a little hard to understand...but he was excited to tell us that there was a lutheran church just up the road that serves lunches on thursdays. we thought that sounded great...so we cycled on a couple of miles and found it just as he had said. a church with a full parking lot...we parked our bikes, and headed in.
it is always so funny to see the looks you get as you walk in. it is not one of shock or surprise really...since they are on this route, they are pretty used to seeing the cyclists...it is more one of excitement that you are there, and a desire to take care of you and make sure that you really enjoy their town. we quickly were engaged in some great conversations with people...then we grabbed some good food as well! they were even excited to give us a tour of the church...truly a small town community. they were just great people, though, a real bright spot in the middle of a bunch of farmland! it is so heart warming to be reminded of how good people are...we are created in the image of God...every single one of us, whether we realize it or not...and i am reminded of that at times like that.
we got back on the bikes and continued on towards chanute. today was the first day that we listen to headphones for a good portion of the day. cailyn started listening to the harry potter books on her ipod, and i was able to get espn radio reception on my phone pretty much all day, so i enjoyed some sports talk. it was the kind of day that just seemed very appropriate to just listen and ride...so we did, and it was quite enjoyable to say the least.
we are now sitting at a great little sub and yogurt shop in chanute. we are going to go and find our campground for the night and hopefully get cleaned up, before mark (cailyn's old boss), his husband, and two of the people she worked with meet us here for dinner. they are flying down in mark's personal private jet. it will be nice to have one more visit before we really head west for the next couple of weeks.
as a small sidenote...keep your eyes out in the next day or two...i am going to have a special section in a post entitled..."Cailyn and Brad's Tips for Driving Around Cyclists"...
{note}
thanks to our friends justin and tracy, the story in numbers is back...they gave us the cycling computer off of his bike...
Story [in numbers]:
Time on bike: 5:25:57
Max Speed: 26.8 mph
Average Speed: 11.1 mph
Story [in words]:
since we had ultra nice accommodations for yet another night, we decided to sleep in till 7 and grab some really good food at the free continental breakfast, before getting the bikes loaded up and heading back on the road. it was about 9 before we were out of the hotel.
as we came out of the hotel, i quickly noticed what i thought was a good sign. i headed over to a section of grass to see if i could confirm what i thought was the good news. i grabbed a few blades of grass, threw them up in the air, and sure enough...just as i had thought...the wind was coming straight out of the east. i felt like we couldn't get on the bikes soon enough...and if we would have had a sail, i would have thrown it up for sure. having the wind in your direction makes all the difference in the world. it is amazing what a new day brings.
we cycled with little effort as the wind blew us along from behind. although, we did have to go about 12-15 miles north today, so the wind did have it's drawbacks at times. at about 11:45, we were passed by a car out in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere...after passing us, it pulled onto the shoulder and driver rolled down the window, waiting for us to pull up next to him. it was a older looking gentlemen...his speech was a little hard to understand...but he was excited to tell us that there was a lutheran church just up the road that serves lunches on thursdays. we thought that sounded great...so we cycled on a couple of miles and found it just as he had said. a church with a full parking lot...we parked our bikes, and headed in.
it is always so funny to see the looks you get as you walk in. it is not one of shock or surprise really...since they are on this route, they are pretty used to seeing the cyclists...it is more one of excitement that you are there, and a desire to take care of you and make sure that you really enjoy their town. we quickly were engaged in some great conversations with people...then we grabbed some good food as well! they were even excited to give us a tour of the church...truly a small town community. they were just great people, though, a real bright spot in the middle of a bunch of farmland! it is so heart warming to be reminded of how good people are...we are created in the image of God...every single one of us, whether we realize it or not...and i am reminded of that at times like that.
we got back on the bikes and continued on towards chanute. today was the first day that we listen to headphones for a good portion of the day. cailyn started listening to the harry potter books on her ipod, and i was able to get espn radio reception on my phone pretty much all day, so i enjoyed some sports talk. it was the kind of day that just seemed very appropriate to just listen and ride...so we did, and it was quite enjoyable to say the least.
we are now sitting at a great little sub and yogurt shop in chanute. we are going to go and find our campground for the night and hopefully get cleaned up, before mark (cailyn's old boss), his husband, and two of the people she worked with meet us here for dinner. they are flying down in mark's personal private jet. it will be nice to have one more visit before we really head west for the next couple of weeks.
as a small sidenote...keep your eyes out in the next day or two...i am going to have a special section in a post entitled..."Cailyn and Brad's Tips for Driving Around Cyclists"...
Day 24 : State Number 5...Really???
From Everton, MO to Pittsburgh, KS - ~59 miles
since we had such nice accommodations last nice, we stayed up a little later watching tv and whatnot, so we decided to sleep in just a little bit. so, the alarm went off at 6 am and we were on the bikes and headed out by about 7. as we got back to the route, we ran into a number of the guys from the adventure cycling association group that we have been riding in the same area of for the last few days.
the first 10-15 miles of the morning were still somewhat rolling, with a couple of decent hills to climb. then, things began to flattened out, however, the wind began to pick up as well, which as i have mentioned before, is not terribly fun. at about 22 miles for the morning, we got to make a turn to the north, which put the wind straight at out backs for the four mile ride into golden city.
golden city, is the home of cooky's cafe...which we had been hearing about for the last couple of days. they are known for their mile high pies. we rolled into town and quickly found cooky's. we went in and found a table, and a few minutes later, jerry...the 70 year old that has already ridden the southern tier and is now riding back to the west coast on the trans am...joined us at our table. we enjoyed sitting and getting to know a little more of jerry's story...his family and home life...while we also enjoyed some amazing pie. the rumors were definitely true about the pie...they must have had 25 types of pie or more! i had an amazing dutch cherry pie, and cailyn enjoyed a rhubarb pie.
we loaded our waters as full as we could get them, as we were going to have 33 miles to ride with no services of any kind. by about 11:30, we were back out in the heat and wind, headed for pittsburgh. we had heard that the winds are the biggest challenge in kansas, and as we drew closer to the kansas border, it seemed like the wind was getting stronger and stronger. needless to say, it made for a challenging afternoon ride. the only benefit of the wind, was that it kept us feeling a little cooler as there is not a bit of shade in the middle of all of these fields of corn, beans and hay.
due to the wind, it definitely took us a little longer than i anticipated to ride this afternoons 33 miles, but by about 3:30 we arrived at the comfort inn in pittsburgh, where we will be staying with justin and his wife tracy. right after we found the comfort inn and met up with tracy...drew woolery, who i had the pleasure of performing his wedding service right before we left on the tour, also met up with us. justin, cailyn and i showered up and then we all headed over to applebee's to share some food and stories. we had some great food and enjoyed catching up on stories from the tour thus far. it was especially great to be able to catch up with drew for a while. a special thanks to drew's mom, melissa for buying us our dinner. also, a big thank you to mike and kem selman for the gift to help us along on our journey. it is a true blessing to have so many people following along with us on the blog and helping us and encouraging us in so many ways. so to all of you that are reading along, thanks!
after finishing our dinner, we returned to our hotel room to watch so you think you can dance...a show that we have enjoyed watching with justin and tracy for quite some time. it was a great blast from the past! now we are enjoying a very nice hotel room and a little more time hanging out with our great friends before we head back out on the road in the morning to begin to conquer kansas.
oh, and speaking of kansas, it is crazy that we are into our 5th state of the trip. it seems like it was just yesterday that we entered into missouri. it is going to be interesting to see what kansas brings as far as the cycling is concerned. it is going to be all about the wind...hopefully we can find some moments where the winds are down...or even better, maybe we can find a few moments where the winds are behind us. also, we are looking forward to what we have heard about kansas being the friendliest state.
since we had such nice accommodations last nice, we stayed up a little later watching tv and whatnot, so we decided to sleep in just a little bit. so, the alarm went off at 6 am and we were on the bikes and headed out by about 7. as we got back to the route, we ran into a number of the guys from the adventure cycling association group that we have been riding in the same area of for the last few days.
the first 10-15 miles of the morning were still somewhat rolling, with a couple of decent hills to climb. then, things began to flattened out, however, the wind began to pick up as well, which as i have mentioned before, is not terribly fun. at about 22 miles for the morning, we got to make a turn to the north, which put the wind straight at out backs for the four mile ride into golden city.
golden city, is the home of cooky's cafe...which we had been hearing about for the last couple of days. they are known for their mile high pies. we rolled into town and quickly found cooky's. we went in and found a table, and a few minutes later, jerry...the 70 year old that has already ridden the southern tier and is now riding back to the west coast on the trans am...joined us at our table. we enjoyed sitting and getting to know a little more of jerry's story...his family and home life...while we also enjoyed some amazing pie. the rumors were definitely true about the pie...they must have had 25 types of pie or more! i had an amazing dutch cherry pie, and cailyn enjoyed a rhubarb pie.
we loaded our waters as full as we could get them, as we were going to have 33 miles to ride with no services of any kind. by about 11:30, we were back out in the heat and wind, headed for pittsburgh. we had heard that the winds are the biggest challenge in kansas, and as we drew closer to the kansas border, it seemed like the wind was getting stronger and stronger. needless to say, it made for a challenging afternoon ride. the only benefit of the wind, was that it kept us feeling a little cooler as there is not a bit of shade in the middle of all of these fields of corn, beans and hay.
due to the wind, it definitely took us a little longer than i anticipated to ride this afternoons 33 miles, but by about 3:30 we arrived at the comfort inn in pittsburgh, where we will be staying with justin and his wife tracy. right after we found the comfort inn and met up with tracy...drew woolery, who i had the pleasure of performing his wedding service right before we left on the tour, also met up with us. justin, cailyn and i showered up and then we all headed over to applebee's to share some food and stories. we had some great food and enjoyed catching up on stories from the tour thus far. it was especially great to be able to catch up with drew for a while. a special thanks to drew's mom, melissa for buying us our dinner. also, a big thank you to mike and kem selman for the gift to help us along on our journey. it is a true blessing to have so many people following along with us on the blog and helping us and encouraging us in so many ways. so to all of you that are reading along, thanks!
after finishing our dinner, we returned to our hotel room to watch so you think you can dance...a show that we have enjoyed watching with justin and tracy for quite some time. it was a great blast from the past! now we are enjoying a very nice hotel room and a little more time hanging out with our great friends before we head back out on the road in the morning to begin to conquer kansas.
oh, and speaking of kansas, it is crazy that we are into our 5th state of the trip. it seems like it was just yesterday that we entered into missouri. it is going to be interesting to see what kansas brings as far as the cycling is concerned. it is going to be all about the wind...hopefully we can find some moments where the winds are down...or even better, maybe we can find a few moments where the winds are behind us. also, we are looking forward to what we have heard about kansas being the friendliest state.
Day 23 : A Hunting Preserve???
From Marshfield, MO to Everton, MO - ~ 49 miles
what a great morning...we didn't even get out of bed until 7:30. then we enjoyed an amazing breakfast of quiche, sausage, bagels, fresh fruit and coffee. simply another amazing meal! we stuck around for a little while after breakfast to finish up blogging and to enjoy the nice home and low humidity for a little longer.
we returned to the dairy queen parking lot where dave had picked us up last night. we got our gear all loaded back up and were ready to get back on the road just before noon. we rode just a couple of miles down the road when cailyn said, "i can hear my tire". we stopped to figure out what was going on, and it turns out that he front tire was rubbing on her front brake cable. so, we took a look at things, and decided that it would be best to reroute the brake cable. so we ran the cable a different direction, got everything back in place and working properly, and were on the road for good at about 12:30.
dave had told us that there was a great coffee shop in fair grove, which was about 15 miles into our ride. after stopping at the gas station in town to ask for directions, we were able to find the coffee shop. and man were we glad we found it...it was a really well done coffee shop. really hard to believe they are able to keep it open in such a small town. they told us that they get quite a bit of business coming out from springfield. we enjoyed some mimosa's and some great conversation, got our water bottles filled, and then got back on the road.
about 2 or 3 pm we passed another pretty major milestone on our tour. we came upon missouri highway 13, which runs about 2 blocks from our house in warrensburg. it felt quite close to home. and now we are also officially cycling west of home. in some senses it doesn't seem like a big deal...in another sense, it seems like a real monumental milestone as we really are west of home.
we continued on into the town of walnut grove, where we found another one of our favorite locations on the tour. a gas station/convenience store where they make sandwiches. we each ordered roast beef sandwiches with our choice of toppings. we loaded more ice into our water bottles and then got back on the road with about 22 miles left to ride.
this morning before we left dave's house, i looked at the maps and discovered that there was a town just 7 miles past where we were originally planning on stopping for the night, that had a hunting preserve listed with camping available. we weren't really sure what that meant, so i decided i would give them a call and see what it was about. they said they camping was free and they also had showers, and so we decided that would be a great option for tonight...free and showers is a great combo! as we got into everton, we followed the signs to the hunting preserve...when we finally got down the gravel road and to the preserve, it was a beautiful looking place. a quail and pheasant place...however we weren't sure where we were supposed to go. we parked our bikes outside what looked to be an out building and began walking towards the house. as we headed that direction, a guy came out of the house towards us. we had called ahead and told them we were coming and were interested in camping...as he came up to us, he immediately told us that it was too hot to be riding bikes across the country and that we were crazy. turns out they have a lodge here as well, and they allow cyclists to stay for $20 a person. so he asked, "are you sure that you don't want to stay inside in the air conditioning?" to which we said, "we just don't have the budget to do that." ultimately, the guy told us, "here's the deal...i've got these cots that you can put out inside and sleep on and i will charge you $10 total for the 3 of you. so, we are "camped" inside of what amounts to an entire house, all to ourselves for $!0. we are sitting, getting ready to go to bed, watching the college baseball world series.
man am i glad that we made the trek down the mile of so of gravel road!! this is quite the deal! it is just amazing what people offer you and what you come across out here!
what a great morning...we didn't even get out of bed until 7:30. then we enjoyed an amazing breakfast of quiche, sausage, bagels, fresh fruit and coffee. simply another amazing meal! we stuck around for a little while after breakfast to finish up blogging and to enjoy the nice home and low humidity for a little longer.
we returned to the dairy queen parking lot where dave had picked us up last night. we got our gear all loaded back up and were ready to get back on the road just before noon. we rode just a couple of miles down the road when cailyn said, "i can hear my tire". we stopped to figure out what was going on, and it turns out that he front tire was rubbing on her front brake cable. so, we took a look at things, and decided that it would be best to reroute the brake cable. so we ran the cable a different direction, got everything back in place and working properly, and were on the road for good at about 12:30.
dave had told us that there was a great coffee shop in fair grove, which was about 15 miles into our ride. after stopping at the gas station in town to ask for directions, we were able to find the coffee shop. and man were we glad we found it...it was a really well done coffee shop. really hard to believe they are able to keep it open in such a small town. they told us that they get quite a bit of business coming out from springfield. we enjoyed some mimosa's and some great conversation, got our water bottles filled, and then got back on the road.
about 2 or 3 pm we passed another pretty major milestone on our tour. we came upon missouri highway 13, which runs about 2 blocks from our house in warrensburg. it felt quite close to home. and now we are also officially cycling west of home. in some senses it doesn't seem like a big deal...in another sense, it seems like a real monumental milestone as we really are west of home.
we continued on into the town of walnut grove, where we found another one of our favorite locations on the tour. a gas station/convenience store where they make sandwiches. we each ordered roast beef sandwiches with our choice of toppings. we loaded more ice into our water bottles and then got back on the road with about 22 miles left to ride.
this morning before we left dave's house, i looked at the maps and discovered that there was a town just 7 miles past where we were originally planning on stopping for the night, that had a hunting preserve listed with camping available. we weren't really sure what that meant, so i decided i would give them a call and see what it was about. they said they camping was free and they also had showers, and so we decided that would be a great option for tonight...free and showers is a great combo! as we got into everton, we followed the signs to the hunting preserve...when we finally got down the gravel road and to the preserve, it was a beautiful looking place. a quail and pheasant place...however we weren't sure where we were supposed to go. we parked our bikes outside what looked to be an out building and began walking towards the house. as we headed that direction, a guy came out of the house towards us. we had called ahead and told them we were coming and were interested in camping...as he came up to us, he immediately told us that it was too hot to be riding bikes across the country and that we were crazy. turns out they have a lodge here as well, and they allow cyclists to stay for $20 a person. so he asked, "are you sure that you don't want to stay inside in the air conditioning?" to which we said, "we just don't have the budget to do that." ultimately, the guy told us, "here's the deal...i've got these cots that you can put out inside and sleep on and i will charge you $10 total for the 3 of you. so, we are "camped" inside of what amounts to an entire house, all to ourselves for $!0. we are sitting, getting ready to go to bed, watching the college baseball world series.
man am i glad that we made the trek down the mile of so of gravel road!! this is quite the deal! it is just amazing what people offer you and what you come across out here!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Day 22 : An Amazing Oasis on the Transam...
From Houston, MO to Marshfield, MO - ~ 64 miles
we got up early a headed out on the road in another attempt to beat the heat. we rode about 38 miles into the town of hartville, mo, which was a pretty easy and enjoyable ride. when we got to hartville, we found a great little diner with another cyclists welcome sign outside. we headed in to find, what i assume was the owner who also was the waitress, who was just one of the sweetest ladies we have encountered on the trail. she took amazing care of us, including taking all of our water bottles back into the kitchen and filling them with ice and water.
as we were just about ready to leave the restaurant, there was a blind woman who came in and sat at the table next to us. she was quite the talker...turns out that 28 years ago she lost both her child and her eyesight in the process of having a c-section. the amazing part is that she told us that it was through that whole experience that she came to believe in God and to believe that He was the one in control of what was happening to her.
after finishing our conversation with the blind lady, we took our full water bottles and got back out on the bikes. we had 27 miles, all without services, to get to marshfield. it was a rather easy ride all things considered...a few decent climbs, but nothing like the few days prior. we made it into marshfield around 3 pm, and found ourselves a nice spot at the dairy queen to get some ice cream to end our day or riding, and to wait for my friend, dave embree to come and pick us up.
dave is the campus minister at missouri state in springfield, which is about 25 miles from marshfield, and he offered to bring a van and trailer down, pick us and our bikes up, and take us to his house for the night for some air conditioning, a bed, and a chance to do some laundry.
so, shortly after getting our ice cream, he met us and picked us up and brought us to his house. turns out, the thing we didn't know, is that he also has a swimming pool in the back yard. so, we got some laundry started and then quickly got into our swimsuits and jumped into the pool. after cooling down, we spent some time blogging and chatting to people on the phone, before grabbing a shower, and then joining dave and his wife joyce for dinner. and man was dinner amazing...it was by far the best meal that we have had on the trail. fajitas, fresh salad, fresh fruit and homemade ice cream. quite the dinner to say the least. and great conversation to boot.
tomorrow we will sleep in and enjoy the bed and air conditioning...hopefully we will be back to the trail by 10 or 11. we are only planning on riding about 42 miles tomorrow, so a late start shouldn't be much of a problem at all. needless to say, this has been an amazing oasis. it continued to be humbled, amazed, and taught by the amazing hospitality that we have experienced as we have been on this trip. people have simply continued to amazing me! i hope that when this is all over, i can be more like these people that we have encountered.
we got up early a headed out on the road in another attempt to beat the heat. we rode about 38 miles into the town of hartville, mo, which was a pretty easy and enjoyable ride. when we got to hartville, we found a great little diner with another cyclists welcome sign outside. we headed in to find, what i assume was the owner who also was the waitress, who was just one of the sweetest ladies we have encountered on the trail. she took amazing care of us, including taking all of our water bottles back into the kitchen and filling them with ice and water.
as we were just about ready to leave the restaurant, there was a blind woman who came in and sat at the table next to us. she was quite the talker...turns out that 28 years ago she lost both her child and her eyesight in the process of having a c-section. the amazing part is that she told us that it was through that whole experience that she came to believe in God and to believe that He was the one in control of what was happening to her.
after finishing our conversation with the blind lady, we took our full water bottles and got back out on the bikes. we had 27 miles, all without services, to get to marshfield. it was a rather easy ride all things considered...a few decent climbs, but nothing like the few days prior. we made it into marshfield around 3 pm, and found ourselves a nice spot at the dairy queen to get some ice cream to end our day or riding, and to wait for my friend, dave embree to come and pick us up.
dave is the campus minister at missouri state in springfield, which is about 25 miles from marshfield, and he offered to bring a van and trailer down, pick us and our bikes up, and take us to his house for the night for some air conditioning, a bed, and a chance to do some laundry.
so, shortly after getting our ice cream, he met us and picked us up and brought us to his house. turns out, the thing we didn't know, is that he also has a swimming pool in the back yard. so, we got some laundry started and then quickly got into our swimsuits and jumped into the pool. after cooling down, we spent some time blogging and chatting to people on the phone, before grabbing a shower, and then joining dave and his wife joyce for dinner. and man was dinner amazing...it was by far the best meal that we have had on the trail. fajitas, fresh salad, fresh fruit and homemade ice cream. quite the dinner to say the least. and great conversation to boot.
tomorrow we will sleep in and enjoy the bed and air conditioning...hopefully we will be back to the trail by 10 or 11. we are only planning on riding about 42 miles tomorrow, so a late start shouldn't be much of a problem at all. needless to say, this has been an amazing oasis. it continued to be humbled, amazed, and taught by the amazing hospitality that we have experienced as we have been on this trip. people have simply continued to amazing me! i hope that when this is all over, i can be more like these people that we have encountered.
Day 21 : A Short Day to Recover...
From Eminence, MO to Houston, MO - ~ 41 miles
in an attempt to beat the heat, we got up early and were on the bikes by 6 am to try to save ourselves from dying of exhaustion. we stopped in town to grab some breakfast (another fairly unhealthy gas station breakfast)...and then we were back on the road trying to beat the heat.
the first 7 miles out of eminence were quite similar to yesterday...some pretty steep climbs and the legs were really screaming as we began. thankfully, about 7 miles in, the ground started to even out a bit, and the riding got substantially easier. about that time, we got passed by a couple of riders without gear...turns out they were part of the adventure cycling association supported group ride. there are 14 of them riding along with a support van that carries all of their gear. the most encouraging part is that we found out that they have been riding 9 days longer than we have...which made us feel really good about the number of miles we have covered thus far.
we also came across another guy in the adventure cycling association group who made us realize that what we are doing is really nothing that impressive. this guy is 70 years old...started riding in march in california...rode with another aca group across the united states on the southern tier route...he then rode up the coast and joined the transam group riding east to west. he will be riding for a total of 5 months...at the age of 70...that is just crazy.
we finished our ride into houston, and found our camping spot at the local city park. it seemed like a very nice park..during the day that is. turns out that we were close to a fairly busy road, there were obnoxious teenagers screwing around at about 10pm, and the pavilion we were sleeping close to had lights on it that stayed on the entire night. add to all that, the fact that the humidity was super super high, and the sleeping was not terribly enjoyable.
in an attempt to beat the heat, we got up early and were on the bikes by 6 am to try to save ourselves from dying of exhaustion. we stopped in town to grab some breakfast (another fairly unhealthy gas station breakfast)...and then we were back on the road trying to beat the heat.
the first 7 miles out of eminence were quite similar to yesterday...some pretty steep climbs and the legs were really screaming as we began. thankfully, about 7 miles in, the ground started to even out a bit, and the riding got substantially easier. about that time, we got passed by a couple of riders without gear...turns out they were part of the adventure cycling association supported group ride. there are 14 of them riding along with a support van that carries all of their gear. the most encouraging part is that we found out that they have been riding 9 days longer than we have...which made us feel really good about the number of miles we have covered thus far.
we also came across another guy in the adventure cycling association group who made us realize that what we are doing is really nothing that impressive. this guy is 70 years old...started riding in march in california...rode with another aca group across the united states on the southern tier route...he then rode up the coast and joined the transam group riding east to west. he will be riding for a total of 5 months...at the age of 70...that is just crazy.
we finished our ride into houston, and found our camping spot at the local city park. it seemed like a very nice park..during the day that is. turns out that we were close to a fairly busy road, there were obnoxious teenagers screwing around at about 10pm, and the pavilion we were sleeping close to had lights on it that stayed on the entire night. add to all that, the fact that the humidity was super super high, and the sleeping was not terribly enjoyable.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Day 20 : A Rough Day With a Beautiful Ending...
From Johnson Shut-ins State Park to Eminence, MO - ~55 miles
our start to the day was delayed again today because of the threat of rain. it seemed to be threatening a serious storm just before we got up, however it seemed to blow over. so before too long, we got things loaded up and got out on the road.
we had a great 10 mile ride into a little town called centerville where we found a great ma and pa joint where we were able to get some breakfast. we went in, sat down, and ordered some food...and before too long the one other guy in the place started to join in on our conversation from his table a short distance away. so we invited him to come over and sit with us. his name was dave, he lives in st. louis but has a little cabin for the weekends in centerville. he was full of great stories about all kinds of different things. it was a great way to start a morning.
we headed out from centervill and had another great 15 miles of riding to get us to a place called ellington. we got some food and drinks in ellington because it was going to be 27 miles without services to get us into eminence. as we left ellington, the riding got significantly tougher...the hills started coming, the temperature went up, and about 10 miles outside of eminence, we began to run out of water. it seemed as though we were literally limping into eminence. i was to the point where i was hoping that at the bottom of every hill we would find eminence. unfortunately, there were a lot of hills that did not have eminence at the bottom of them.
by the time we got to eminence, justin and i were both feeling pretty dehydrated...almost to the point of being delirious. we cycled up to another home down diner type of a place, and headed inside. the waitress must have thought we looked like we were about to die...she came over and asked if we wanted something to drink and so we promptly each ordered a water a mountain dew. it took us a good 10 minutes of just sitting there and drinking before we were even able to order food. once we finally ordered some food, a guy walked in from the bed and breakfast across the street. turns out he was another cyclist on the transamerica...but he had come down with shingles and was going to have to call it quits for his tour in eminence. he was an older guy, and i was just super impressed that he had made it that far. it was sad to see him have to shut it down...but in some senses, i think he was pretty excited to see his wife.
we ate our food and enjoyed it greatly. after we got ourselves feeling better, we headed down the street to the local grocery store to grab ourselves some hot dogs, buns and baked beans to cook over the fire for dinner. from there, we headed down the road about 1/2 a mile to the jack's fork campground that sat right on the jack's fork river. we asked the lady at the office if she could get us a site right down close to the river, and sure enough, they got us a site about 40 yards from the river. we got our tents set up and quickly got our swimming suits on and headed to the river to swim for a good solid hour in some very cold but very refreshing water.
we finished the night by making a fire and cooking hot dogs and beans over an open fire. between the great river swim and the cooking over the open fire, it was a great ending to a quite difficult day.
our start to the day was delayed again today because of the threat of rain. it seemed to be threatening a serious storm just before we got up, however it seemed to blow over. so before too long, we got things loaded up and got out on the road.
we had a great 10 mile ride into a little town called centerville where we found a great ma and pa joint where we were able to get some breakfast. we went in, sat down, and ordered some food...and before too long the one other guy in the place started to join in on our conversation from his table a short distance away. so we invited him to come over and sit with us. his name was dave, he lives in st. louis but has a little cabin for the weekends in centerville. he was full of great stories about all kinds of different things. it was a great way to start a morning.
we headed out from centervill and had another great 15 miles of riding to get us to a place called ellington. we got some food and drinks in ellington because it was going to be 27 miles without services to get us into eminence. as we left ellington, the riding got significantly tougher...the hills started coming, the temperature went up, and about 10 miles outside of eminence, we began to run out of water. it seemed as though we were literally limping into eminence. i was to the point where i was hoping that at the bottom of every hill we would find eminence. unfortunately, there were a lot of hills that did not have eminence at the bottom of them.
by the time we got to eminence, justin and i were both feeling pretty dehydrated...almost to the point of being delirious. we cycled up to another home down diner type of a place, and headed inside. the waitress must have thought we looked like we were about to die...she came over and asked if we wanted something to drink and so we promptly each ordered a water a mountain dew. it took us a good 10 minutes of just sitting there and drinking before we were even able to order food. once we finally ordered some food, a guy walked in from the bed and breakfast across the street. turns out he was another cyclist on the transamerica...but he had come down with shingles and was going to have to call it quits for his tour in eminence. he was an older guy, and i was just super impressed that he had made it that far. it was sad to see him have to shut it down...but in some senses, i think he was pretty excited to see his wife.
we ate our food and enjoyed it greatly. after we got ourselves feeling better, we headed down the street to the local grocery store to grab ourselves some hot dogs, buns and baked beans to cook over the fire for dinner. from there, we headed down the road about 1/2 a mile to the jack's fork campground that sat right on the jack's fork river. we asked the lady at the office if she could get us a site right down close to the river, and sure enough, they got us a site about 40 yards from the river. we got our tents set up and quickly got our swimming suits on and headed to the river to swim for a good solid hour in some very cold but very refreshing water.
we finished the night by making a fire and cooking hot dogs and beans over an open fire. between the great river swim and the cooking over the open fire, it was a great ending to a quite difficult day.
Day 19 : A Justin Kind of a Day...(he wanted me to call it that)
From Chester, IL to Johnson Shut-ins State Park - ~80 miles
we awoke early, excited to make it to our fourth state of the trip. we took a few pictures of the bulls and then hoped on the bikes, ready to ride. we quickly got to the mississippi river and crossed into missouri. (honestly, i am not sure that i really ever thought we would make it this far) we had a nice, easy 10 miles to start the day as we continued through the valley.
and then things changed...the next 35 miles as we rode to where we were going to meet justin and tracy were brutal to say the least. looking back on it, i am not exactly sure what made them so tough. we were climbing some really serious inclines again for the first time in a number of days, it started to get pretty hot, the winds were up, we started to run short on water, and we probably hadn't eaten as much as we should have. some combination of all of that made it a rough morning.
nevertheless, though a little later than scheduled, we made it to farmington to meet our friends. we enjoyed a excellent pizza at the heart of town at a place called bob-a-rino's pizza. after a couple of hours of eating, drinking, resting and having some great conversations, we got back on the bikes, along with justin, to ride another 35 miles for the day.
we rode about an hour or so, and the clouds started to roll in again...and as the rain started to spit we ducked into the closest driveway to find a house with a good sized porch on the front. we put our bikes on the porch and knocked on the door to see if we could wait the storm out there. however, no one answered the door, so we just waited on the porch and fortunately it only took 20-30 minutes for the storm to pass and we were back out on the road again.
we rode another 25 miles or so to finish up the day, and they were about as opposite from the morning miles as they possibly could have been. they felt largely downhill and seemed to go by easily. maybe it was the freshness and newness of having justin with us. it was really fun to have him along with us kind of trying to figure out the ropes as he began his adventure with us.
we arrived at johnson shut-ins state park to find some very nice rangers who gave us a very discounted price ($6 - cheapest state park on our trip thus far) and as we got into the campground, we found it to be by far the nicest campground that we have stayed in to date! turns out, they used to pump water up to the top of this mountain by the park during the night, and then during the day the water would run down producing energy. and a few years back, in the middle of the night, the levee at the top broke and there was a huge rush of water that basically wiped a bunch of the park out, and i guess that much of the park just opened back up earlier this year.
regardless, they get the award thus far for the nicest state park to camp in for sure! i hope that they are able to continue to maintain it and take pride in it...because it was nice enough that they should!
we awoke early, excited to make it to our fourth state of the trip. we took a few pictures of the bulls and then hoped on the bikes, ready to ride. we quickly got to the mississippi river and crossed into missouri. (honestly, i am not sure that i really ever thought we would make it this far) we had a nice, easy 10 miles to start the day as we continued through the valley.
and then things changed...the next 35 miles as we rode to where we were going to meet justin and tracy were brutal to say the least. looking back on it, i am not exactly sure what made them so tough. we were climbing some really serious inclines again for the first time in a number of days, it started to get pretty hot, the winds were up, we started to run short on water, and we probably hadn't eaten as much as we should have. some combination of all of that made it a rough morning.
nevertheless, though a little later than scheduled, we made it to farmington to meet our friends. we enjoyed a excellent pizza at the heart of town at a place called bob-a-rino's pizza. after a couple of hours of eating, drinking, resting and having some great conversations, we got back on the bikes, along with justin, to ride another 35 miles for the day.
we rode about an hour or so, and the clouds started to roll in again...and as the rain started to spit we ducked into the closest driveway to find a house with a good sized porch on the front. we put our bikes on the porch and knocked on the door to see if we could wait the storm out there. however, no one answered the door, so we just waited on the porch and fortunately it only took 20-30 minutes for the storm to pass and we were back out on the road again.
we rode another 25 miles or so to finish up the day, and they were about as opposite from the morning miles as they possibly could have been. they felt largely downhill and seemed to go by easily. maybe it was the freshness and newness of having justin with us. it was really fun to have him along with us kind of trying to figure out the ropes as he began his adventure with us.
we arrived at johnson shut-ins state park to find some very nice rangers who gave us a very discounted price ($6 - cheapest state park on our trip thus far) and as we got into the campground, we found it to be by far the nicest campground that we have stayed in to date! turns out, they used to pump water up to the top of this mountain by the park during the night, and then during the day the water would run down producing energy. and a few years back, in the middle of the night, the levee at the top broke and there was a huge rush of water that basically wiped a bunch of the park out, and i guess that much of the park just opened back up earlier this year.
regardless, they get the award thus far for the nicest state park to camp in for sure! i hope that they are able to continue to maintain it and take pride in it...because it was nice enough that they should!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Day 18 : Free Dessert!!!
From Ferne Clyffe State Park (Goreville, IL) to Chester, IL - ~66 miles
we thoroughly enjoyed our night with our english friends. we were planning on getting up early and getting the miles knocked out, however, shortly before the alarm was supposed to go off, we woke up to a rather large thunderstorm. so...we when the alarm went off, we turned it off and kept sleeping for a bit while the storm passed. not too much after that, there was a second storm cell that came through, so we continued to wait things out.
we finally got things packed up inside the tent, got out of the tent, went through most of our "normal" morning routine and were about to take down the tent when another storm rolled through. so yet again, we got back in the tent and continued to wait. again, the storm passed, and we finally were able to get the tent down and finish packing up.
it was pushing 9 am before we were able to pull away from the park. we headed, along with our new friends, into town to find a place to grab breakfast. we were cycling down the main drag of town when we saw a nice looking local joint with a sign out front that said, "cyclists welcome". generally speaking, if something says cyclists welcome, it is a good thing. and this was certainly no exception. we went inside to find a very cute place, complete with pictures of cyclist underneath the plexiglass on the top of the tables. we ordered a pretty standard breakfast, ate it, and then the waiter came and asked us if we needed anything else. we said, "no, i think just a check will do it." to which he said, "well, you get a free dessert." mind you, this was 10 am. so just to clarify we asked him if it was because we were cyclists that we got this free dessert, and he said yes, it was because we were cyclists. well, we couldn't pass up the opportunity for free dessert, so we topped our breakfasts off with a piece of homemade pie! not sure if it was the best for cycling, but it sure was good!
it was now pushing 10:30 am and we were finally getting on the bikes. we got about 5 miles of riding in when some serious clouds began to blow in from our right. they were some of the craziest looking clouds i have ever seen. it was very obvious we were in for yet some more rain. luckily, we happen on to a gas station that had shut down. we rolled under their front porch awning and waited as the clouds moved closer. and sure enough, a few minutes later it began to rain and before long it was absolutely pouring. we were thankful...so thankful to have found a great piece of shelter.
we finally got out on the road for good at about 12:30 pm. after the last storm passed on through, the sun came out and it became a very nice day to be riding. we rode 30 or so miles into carbondale with our english friends. when we got to carbondale, they decided they would stay there for the rest of the day to do some interneting and whatnot. we decided that we wanted to push on to chester. so, we stopped at a grocery store in carbondale and picked up some fresh fruit that we had been craving and then got back on the road. we had noticed in the morning that the book we have been using as a secondary resource listed a shortcut to go from carbondale to chester...it said that it was shorter and would avoid some hills, which both sounded great. shortcut it was then.
and it was quite nice to say the least. the ground was fairly flat as we left carbondale. and then, about 25 miles outside of chester, we dropped down into the mississippi river valley and the ground became almost completely flat for as long as we could see. we were so excited about it that we rode along at 13-14 mph for the next two hours. however, as always seems to be the case, we had to climb to get into chester. it never fails, wherever we decide to stay, we always have to climb to get there.
when we finally got into chester, we stopped at this little park at the center of town where there were these really cool murals painted of popeye and the rest of the popeye characters, because chester is the home of the creator of popeye. we then cycled down the main drag a little bit to find the fraternal order of eagles which was listed on our maps as a place that houses cyclists.
we really had no idea what the fraternal order of eagles was or what we were getting ourselves into...and let me tell you, we were still not sure as we rolled up. there were some motorcycles and a bunch of big trucks, and a couple of people drinking and smoking outside. we parked our bikes and headed in the front door...and i was kind of hoping we would find a hostess or front desk or something of that sort. however, there was none of that...instead, we saw to our right an arcade and to our left a full out country bar with a guy with long hair singing live music off of a karaoke machine. we walked around the bar for a minute before a waitress finally came up to us and said, "you guys want to stay here tonight?" we were still thinking...i'm not sure if we really do want to stay here...but we replied to her saying, "yes". she told us to roll our bikes around to the back and she would meet us and show us around. as we rolled our bikes to the back, we discovered that there was more to the fraternal order of eagles. behind the building there were two sand volleyball courts with what looked like a league going on...and then next to those, there were people setting up for a rodeo that was going to be going on the next night...complete with a dozen or so bulls.
she pointed us to a little shack looking building, so we headed down there to discover that there were 9 bunks and air conditioning inside the building. it was nothing fancy, but a nice place to crash for sure. they also had a little shower room that was also nothing special, but a great place to get at least a little cleaner.
i don't know what all fraternal order of the eagles are like, but this one was certainly a great place to end a day of riding!
tomorrow we will cross into our home state...we will cross the mississippi river first thing in the morning and then ride to farmington, mo where our friend justin schroeder will meet us to ride through missouri.
we thoroughly enjoyed our night with our english friends. we were planning on getting up early and getting the miles knocked out, however, shortly before the alarm was supposed to go off, we woke up to a rather large thunderstorm. so...we when the alarm went off, we turned it off and kept sleeping for a bit while the storm passed. not too much after that, there was a second storm cell that came through, so we continued to wait things out.
we finally got things packed up inside the tent, got out of the tent, went through most of our "normal" morning routine and were about to take down the tent when another storm rolled through. so yet again, we got back in the tent and continued to wait. again, the storm passed, and we finally were able to get the tent down and finish packing up.
it was pushing 9 am before we were able to pull away from the park. we headed, along with our new friends, into town to find a place to grab breakfast. we were cycling down the main drag of town when we saw a nice looking local joint with a sign out front that said, "cyclists welcome". generally speaking, if something says cyclists welcome, it is a good thing. and this was certainly no exception. we went inside to find a very cute place, complete with pictures of cyclist underneath the plexiglass on the top of the tables. we ordered a pretty standard breakfast, ate it, and then the waiter came and asked us if we needed anything else. we said, "no, i think just a check will do it." to which he said, "well, you get a free dessert." mind you, this was 10 am. so just to clarify we asked him if it was because we were cyclists that we got this free dessert, and he said yes, it was because we were cyclists. well, we couldn't pass up the opportunity for free dessert, so we topped our breakfasts off with a piece of homemade pie! not sure if it was the best for cycling, but it sure was good!
it was now pushing 10:30 am and we were finally getting on the bikes. we got about 5 miles of riding in when some serious clouds began to blow in from our right. they were some of the craziest looking clouds i have ever seen. it was very obvious we were in for yet some more rain. luckily, we happen on to a gas station that had shut down. we rolled under their front porch awning and waited as the clouds moved closer. and sure enough, a few minutes later it began to rain and before long it was absolutely pouring. we were thankful...so thankful to have found a great piece of shelter.
we finally got out on the road for good at about 12:30 pm. after the last storm passed on through, the sun came out and it became a very nice day to be riding. we rode 30 or so miles into carbondale with our english friends. when we got to carbondale, they decided they would stay there for the rest of the day to do some interneting and whatnot. we decided that we wanted to push on to chester. so, we stopped at a grocery store in carbondale and picked up some fresh fruit that we had been craving and then got back on the road. we had noticed in the morning that the book we have been using as a secondary resource listed a shortcut to go from carbondale to chester...it said that it was shorter and would avoid some hills, which both sounded great. shortcut it was then.
and it was quite nice to say the least. the ground was fairly flat as we left carbondale. and then, about 25 miles outside of chester, we dropped down into the mississippi river valley and the ground became almost completely flat for as long as we could see. we were so excited about it that we rode along at 13-14 mph for the next two hours. however, as always seems to be the case, we had to climb to get into chester. it never fails, wherever we decide to stay, we always have to climb to get there.
when we finally got into chester, we stopped at this little park at the center of town where there were these really cool murals painted of popeye and the rest of the popeye characters, because chester is the home of the creator of popeye. we then cycled down the main drag a little bit to find the fraternal order of eagles which was listed on our maps as a place that houses cyclists.
we really had no idea what the fraternal order of eagles was or what we were getting ourselves into...and let me tell you, we were still not sure as we rolled up. there were some motorcycles and a bunch of big trucks, and a couple of people drinking and smoking outside. we parked our bikes and headed in the front door...and i was kind of hoping we would find a hostess or front desk or something of that sort. however, there was none of that...instead, we saw to our right an arcade and to our left a full out country bar with a guy with long hair singing live music off of a karaoke machine. we walked around the bar for a minute before a waitress finally came up to us and said, "you guys want to stay here tonight?" we were still thinking...i'm not sure if we really do want to stay here...but we replied to her saying, "yes". she told us to roll our bikes around to the back and she would meet us and show us around. as we rolled our bikes to the back, we discovered that there was more to the fraternal order of eagles. behind the building there were two sand volleyball courts with what looked like a league going on...and then next to those, there were people setting up for a rodeo that was going to be going on the next night...complete with a dozen or so bulls.
she pointed us to a little shack looking building, so we headed down there to discover that there were 9 bunks and air conditioning inside the building. it was nothing fancy, but a nice place to crash for sure. they also had a little shower room that was also nothing special, but a great place to get at least a little cleaner.
i don't know what all fraternal order of the eagles are like, but this one was certainly a great place to end a day of riding!
tomorrow we will cross into our home state...we will cross the mississippi river first thing in the morning and then ride to farmington, mo where our friend justin schroeder will meet us to ride through missouri.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Day 17 : An English Kind of a Day...
From Cave in Rock State Park, IL to Ferne Clyffe State Park (just outside of Goreville, IL) - ~60 miles
i have to be honest, it was pretty rough getting out of bed and getting going this morning. it had been so nice to be with mom and dad, to be off the bikes for a day, and to be staying in the luxury accomodations that we had been in for the last two nights. needless to say, we hit the snooze on the alarm a few more time than usual. but by a little before 6 we were out of bed and by 6:45 we had the bikes loaded and were back out on the road.
we rode about 10 miles into elizabethtown where we met mom and dad at a little ma and pa restaurant for breakfast. we had a great breakfast with them before saying goodbye and getting back out on the road for good. just before we left the restaurant, we ran into a couple that appeared to be cyclists. and so as we were leaving, we asked them if they were cycling the transam and they said, "well, kind of". we inquired as to what exactly that meant, and we found out that they are from england, they started cycling 10 weeks ago in orlando, cycled up the coast and joined the transam, they will ride the transam to missoula, mt, and there they will diverge from the route and head to calgary where they have a son.
the english blokes (their word), left the restaurant just a minute or two before us. not too far up the road, we found them stopped on the side of the road and there were 3 cyclists stopped on the other side of the road. they were what appeared to be a father, son and daughter. they have been riding across the country in 3 week increments over the last 3 years.
we cycled with the english blokes out in the distance for the next stretch on the maps, and just before we were supposed to turn, we were passed by two cyclists. when we got up to our turn, the two guys that passed us, the two english blokes, and a support car from the two guys was waiting there. turns out, the two guys that passed us were with a third guy in the car and he was giving them support (food and water). we all pulled alongside the car and had some conversation and shared a few stories, while the guy in the car filled all of our waters for us. it was quite a nice little blessing! and it was great fun to have that may cyclists, doing the same thing, all together at one place!
after we left our mass of cyclists, we rode along with the english blokes for pretty much the rest of the day. we stopped for "lunch" at around 2 pm at a beautiful country church that had some very inviting benches underneath a great shade tree. we had our lunch and rested a bit and were just about ready to get back on the bikes when a nice older lady pulled into the parking lot. she parked right next to us and got out and asked us if we wanted to come into the air conditioning and get a glass of ice water. we said that would be great (and i am pretty sure the ladies were excited about using the restroom), so we went in and the air conditioning was definitely working...she filled our bottles with ice and water, and we stood in the kitchen and had some great conversation with her. her name was patsy curly...and she was a wonderful little find in the middle of a hot june day.
we decided that all four of us would cycle here to ferne clyffe and share a campsite. so, as we got to the turn for the park, the english couple headed to the park because they had food with them and we turned and headed into goreville because we had heard from multiple people that there was a restaurant in town with amazing ribs. we found a place to eat, but i think that as it turns out, i don't think that we found the place with the great ribs. but nonetheless, it was pretty good food!
we enjoyed our food, and then hoped back on the bikes and cycled the mile or so into the park to find our english friends and our campsite for the night. so, we are here with them for the night, sharing a campground and some lovely conversation. they are great people...and amazing conversationalists. i kind of hate to see us part ways, but i think that we will probably cycle on past them tomorrow.
today was probably the best/easiest day of cycling we have had thus far. we are not sure if it was because of the off day, a slightly different terrain, or a little bit lesser number of miles. whatever it was, it was a great day of cycling. i am kind of anxious to see how the legs feel tomorrow. hopefully it will continue to be great, pain free cycling.
i have to be honest, it was pretty rough getting out of bed and getting going this morning. it had been so nice to be with mom and dad, to be off the bikes for a day, and to be staying in the luxury accomodations that we had been in for the last two nights. needless to say, we hit the snooze on the alarm a few more time than usual. but by a little before 6 we were out of bed and by 6:45 we had the bikes loaded and were back out on the road.
we rode about 10 miles into elizabethtown where we met mom and dad at a little ma and pa restaurant for breakfast. we had a great breakfast with them before saying goodbye and getting back out on the road for good. just before we left the restaurant, we ran into a couple that appeared to be cyclists. and so as we were leaving, we asked them if they were cycling the transam and they said, "well, kind of". we inquired as to what exactly that meant, and we found out that they are from england, they started cycling 10 weeks ago in orlando, cycled up the coast and joined the transam, they will ride the transam to missoula, mt, and there they will diverge from the route and head to calgary where they have a son.
the english blokes (their word), left the restaurant just a minute or two before us. not too far up the road, we found them stopped on the side of the road and there were 3 cyclists stopped on the other side of the road. they were what appeared to be a father, son and daughter. they have been riding across the country in 3 week increments over the last 3 years.
we cycled with the english blokes out in the distance for the next stretch on the maps, and just before we were supposed to turn, we were passed by two cyclists. when we got up to our turn, the two guys that passed us, the two english blokes, and a support car from the two guys was waiting there. turns out, the two guys that passed us were with a third guy in the car and he was giving them support (food and water). we all pulled alongside the car and had some conversation and shared a few stories, while the guy in the car filled all of our waters for us. it was quite a nice little blessing! and it was great fun to have that may cyclists, doing the same thing, all together at one place!
after we left our mass of cyclists, we rode along with the english blokes for pretty much the rest of the day. we stopped for "lunch" at around 2 pm at a beautiful country church that had some very inviting benches underneath a great shade tree. we had our lunch and rested a bit and were just about ready to get back on the bikes when a nice older lady pulled into the parking lot. she parked right next to us and got out and asked us if we wanted to come into the air conditioning and get a glass of ice water. we said that would be great (and i am pretty sure the ladies were excited about using the restroom), so we went in and the air conditioning was definitely working...she filled our bottles with ice and water, and we stood in the kitchen and had some great conversation with her. her name was patsy curly...and she was a wonderful little find in the middle of a hot june day.
we decided that all four of us would cycle here to ferne clyffe and share a campsite. so, as we got to the turn for the park, the english couple headed to the park because they had food with them and we turned and headed into goreville because we had heard from multiple people that there was a restaurant in town with amazing ribs. we found a place to eat, but i think that as it turns out, i don't think that we found the place with the great ribs. but nonetheless, it was pretty good food!
we enjoyed our food, and then hoped back on the bikes and cycled the mile or so into the park to find our english friends and our campsite for the night. so, we are here with them for the night, sharing a campground and some lovely conversation. they are great people...and amazing conversationalists. i kind of hate to see us part ways, but i think that we will probably cycle on past them tomorrow.
today was probably the best/easiest day of cycling we have had thus far. we are not sure if it was because of the off day, a slightly different terrain, or a little bit lesser number of miles. whatever it was, it was a great day of cycling. i am kind of anxious to see how the legs feel tomorrow. hopefully it will continue to be great, pain free cycling.
Day 16 : Some Pictures So Far...
From Cave in Rock State Park, IL to Cave in Rock State Park, IL - 0 miles
since today was our first off day...and since we have plenty of internet and power, i thought i would get some pictures posted from the last number of days. here is an explanation of the pictures.
top left: cailyn and her mom in the very nice room that we stayed in last night and will stay in tonight as well.
top right: us with the couple we met here last night that is riding to maine.
second row left: a tugboat with a load of coal crossing in front of us on the ohio river.
second row right: cailyn on the ferry as we cross the ohio river.
third row left: me with the bikes on the ferry as we cross thr ohio river.
third row right: the dad and four kids that are riding on the two tandems and one single bike.
bottom left: cailyn riding along.
bottom right: our tent that we have called home many times over the last two and a half weeks.
today has been great being with mom and dad and not cycling. although, i must say, my legs are more sore today i think than they have been the entire trip. i guess they just haven't been stretched back out. so i am a little nervous to see how they are going to feel when we get back on the bikes tomorrow.
this afternoon we (in dad's truck) crossed back over the river on the ferry and went back to the last town that we passed through. turns out it is an amish influenced town and we drove around a little and then found a great placed called the front porch to eat lunch/dinner. it was good food for sure. as we were finishing eating, we noticed that it was starting to look like a big storm was rolling in, which wouldn't have been a big deal, accept that we had washed our clothes in the tub and had them hanging out on the balcony drying. so we quickly headed back towards home, and just before we got back to the ferry it started to pour. to the point where there were whitecaps on the river going upstream. needless to say, the ferry was not running for about 10 minutes while the heart of the storm passed by. eventually though, the worst of the storm was over and they loaded us on the ferry. the crossing was still awfully choppy...to the point where there were a few waves the came up and over the front of the ferry.
the day off has also given us a chance to reanalyze the maps to see where we stand with the entirety of our trip. it looks like if we are able to average 60 miles a day for the rest of our trips we will be able to get to yellowstone with a couple of days to spare. so we are thinking barring mechanical or medical issues, we whould easily make yellowstone because 60 miles a day shouldn't be a problem at all. and we may end up going a little past yellowstone, it just depends on how things come along over the next few weeks. or, we may also consider just hanging out for our final few days around yellowstone and just see more of the park. we will see.
tomorrow it will be back on the bikes bright and early in the morning (because it is supposed to be hot and sunny again), and we should be through illinois and into missouri by friday and then our good friend justin schroeder will come and meet us on saturday to start riding across missouri. it will be really fun to have some additional company and to be able to share with him what we have been learning and experiencing for the last 3 weeks.
oh, and dad just reminded me, when we got back from our crazy ferry ride, we pulled into the parking lot and there was a female wild turkey with a few really cute, really young babies following behind it. cute little things for sure!
Day 15 : A Stinky Kind of a Day...
From Utica, KY to Cave in Rock State Park, IL - ~82 miles
last night when we arrived in utica, we realized that we had crossed into the central time zone…we were glad to take in our extra hour of sleep. however, we did decide that being in a new time zone would give us light earlier in the day and so we would try to get out on the road even earlier to try to avoid some of the heat. so we were on the road by a little before 6 am, trying to beat the heat. we quickly knocked off 25 miles before the heat got up too high, and we decided we would stop at the sebree dairy bar for a quick breakfast. they had great biscuits and gravy…and interestingly, they were located on highway 41 which is the same highway that runs through kentland, where cailyn is from. we ate quick and tried to get back out on the road before it got any hotter.
we continued into dixon, where we stopped and got some powerade and filled our bottles up with ice, and then on into clay, where we stopped at a great little deli/diner and eat had a chicken salad sandwich and got our camelpacks willed with ice again, because it was going to be 22 miles from clay before we got to our next services. while we were in clay, cailyn had a great conversation with a cute, seemingly lonely, gentlemen who was leaving the restaurant as we were coming in. it is those types of interactions that really make this trip great!
we got back out on the road a little before two, and it was most definitely hot. as we began to ride, we noticed that there were clouds building out in front of us a little ways. often we are hoping to avoid any rain that we can, but today we were just hoping that we could get to the clouds and rain, because the thought of it raining on us sounded like a wonderful thing to say the least. we never really caught up with the rain, but we did catch up with the clouds and with a fair amount of wet pavement that indicated that it had rained just out ahead of us. and let me just say, those clouds were about the biggest help we could have gotten today. it helped to keep the temperatures down at least a little and they also gave us some shelter from the sun, which was much needed as we are both suffering from some sun poisoning.
as a side note, and in reference to the title for the day…today has been an incredibly smelly day. during the morning hours, we rode passed a bunch of huge chicken farms, which smelled awful to say the least. and if you have not had that experience before, just consider yourself lucky. and then in the afternoon, we went passed a number of large cattle operations where the cattle were just laying 6 inches deep in their own “stuff”…which as you can also imagine, made for quite the smell. all in all, a pretty stinky type of a day.
we made one final stop in marion to get a couple of power bars to give us the needed energy to make the final 12 mile push to get to the ohio river to take the ferry across to Cave in Rock State Park where we would be meeting mom and dad. we started in on our last 12 miles and watched as the miles counted up (we have noticed that in kentucky they seem to do some unique numbering of miles on their county roads. there doesn’t always seem to be a method to the madness…they appear to usually be counting either up or down from some intersection. and in this case, they were counting up from the intersection that we had been at in marion.). so, as the miles passed by, we got closer to the ferry and to our first rest day of the trip. we quickly reached the ferry and rolled right on to a mostly loaded boat. we parked our bikes on the side of the ferry and watched as a massive barge of coal passed in front of us. before long, we were off across the river, and then it was back on the bikes to roll off the other side (and surprisingly, it was free to cross over on the ferry, which I couldn’t believe).
we had just another ½ mile or so to get into the state park, with one last big hill to get us up to the lodge. we arrived at the lodge and called mom and dad to discover that they were still about 30 minutes away, so we were able to check in, get the bikes settled in, and get showered up before they arrived. the place that we are staying here is super nice, much nicer than any of us expected, and certainly the nicest accommodations of our trip. thanks mom and dad!
we headed up to the lodge for dinner and about half way through our meal, there were some other people that walked in and sat a couple of tables down from us that looked like cyclists. then when we saw that they had a map out on the table and a drysack along side it, we were pretty positive they were cyclists as well. so as we finished our meal, i walked over and asked them if they were cyclists as well, and sure enough they were. it turns out they are riding from memphis to maine, using two of the other adventure cycling association routes, and this is the one location on our two routes where our paths intersect. just so happens we were both at the right place at the right time. they had been living in memphis this past year, but are originally from maine and have a home in maine, and so they are cycling back home. they both had great, what I would assume are, maine accents. they seemed like a really great couple. i was telling mom as we walked back to our room, there is something really cool about meeting people that are also doing such a unique thing. no matter how different we may typically be from them, we can now almost always be great friends, simply because of the uniqueness of what we are doing. i think there is something there to be learned about loving others and about being friends with people as Christ would have been with others. i guess it is really about seeing the uniquenesses instead of the differences.
well, it is nice to know that we will not be cycling tomorrow. that we will just get to relax, hang out with the family, and let the legs and skin rest. it is much needed to say the least! it will be nice!
Day 14 : Some Awesome Company...
From Sonora, KY to Utica, KY - ~92 miles
we awoke this morning from a very very muggy night of attempting to sleep, at 5 am. we had the bikes loaded, a breakfast of muffins leftover from yesterday in our stomachs, and were out on the road by 6:20 am. we really wanted to be on the road early since yesterday was hot and windy. the best way to try to remedy both of those things is to get out early and get the miles logged.
the beginning of our ride was awesome! we logged miles super fast, and we didn’t see our first car (in either direction) until almost an hour into our ride. we quickly knocked out our first 26 miles, and decided to stop for an early “lunch” (it was about 9:30 am) of sandwiches. we scarfed our sandwiches and then quickly got back on the bikes to try to cover the miles while it was still fairly cool. however, it wasn’t much longer and the heat was up, however the wind was not as bad as it was yesterday.
the day moved along pretty normally, with the exception of the heat. we decided to take a break from the heat and get some much needed calories into our system at a little ma and pa restaurant just outside of fordsville, ky. it was much like all the other ma and pa restaurants in small town america. lots of local folks, local service, and greasy food.
we ordered a large pizza, an order of breadsticks, and some sodas…which hit the spot for sure. and let me just say, we were not in any hurry at all to get out of the air conditioning and back onto the bikes. so after we finished our food, we just kind of relaxed in hopes that it would get cooler. in the meantime, we struck up a conversation with the two guys sitting at the booth behind us. a father and son, who could not have hidden the fact that they were father and son if the world depended on it.
they were incredibly nice and very interested in our trip…what we were doing and where we were going. we told them that we were trying to make it 30 more miles today, in order to leave us 82 for tomorrow so that we could meet cailyn’s parents at Cave in Rock State Park. at that point, the guy just up and offered to put us and our bikes in his truck and drive us to Cave in Rock. i believe his words were, “it should only take us two and a half hours”. and as tempting as it was, we said that we should probably stick with riding…it kind of felt like cheating. then he said, “well I could take you as far as utica.” (where we are staying tonight) but again, we really appreciated the offer, but felt like we should just ride the miles. the guy was just amazingly nice, and it was apparent that he genuinely cared about us and was interested in helping us.
we chatted a little longer, and then they said that they needed to get going to make it back for church. they went up to the register, paid, and hit the road. we decided it was time to fill our waters, pay for our food, and get on the road as well. cailyn went to get started on the waters, while i went to pay for the food…however, when i got to the register, our waitress informed me that the guy that had been at the booth behind us had paid for our food. man…people are amazing…it may seem like there are no good people left in this world…but that is simply not true. a complete stranger just moments before, and he paid for our food!
i think the biggest thing that I have learned and been challenged by to this point in this trip is generosity. i don’t feel like i am always the most generous person, and to have people like this guy and my friend pervis, and the guy that gave us a ride when we broke down, be so generous…it is working on me in a great way i think.
so, we got our waters filled and got ready to tackle the last 30 miles for the day in what was still an absolutely blistering heat. before we got out of the parking lot, though, a truck pulled in with two older guys in it, who I wasn’t sure if they were smoking their cigarettes or eating them, and began to ask us questions about our bikes. they just seemed to be astonished by the way that they worked. and actually, for whatever reason, we seemed to get a lot of interest in our bikes and their uniqueness today.
after talking to them for a few minutes, we finally got back on the road. we actually were able to finish the last 30 miles without too much trouble, although we did have to stop again for more gatorade. (it was probably our third gatorade stop of the day) i just have to say, if you have stock in gatorade, we did our part today to pay for your retirement. we just couldn’t get enough gatorade today!
from the beginning of the day, we were planning on getting to utica, ky because we had heard from another cyclist that they had a nice fire station that hosts cyclists. as we rolled into town, we immediately noticed what looked like a fire house, but it looked brand new, to the point where it may not even be open yet. so we went to the gas station across the street to see if they knew anything about it. they suggested we ride over to the fire house and just see if there was anyone here (which we didn’t think there was anyone, because there weren’t any cars). however, as we rolled up to the building, we could see people inside. next thing we know, the front door pops open, and a young girl, maybe 11 or 12, says come on in. we wheel our bikes inside, to find that there are 5 other cyclists here for the night. a family…well, part of a family. it is a family with 9 kids. 4 of the children and the dad are doing this trip. and get this, they are riding a recumbent tandem, a regular tandem, and one singular bike. they seem like an amazing family. this is like their 32nd day of their tour…the same distance that we have gone in 14. but they are making it one day at a time. it was awesome to be here with them tonight! there is something so cool about watching large families interact!
tomorrow we will shoot for 82 miles…hopefully as quickly as possible…which should be aided by our excitement about seeing mom and dad and also about having our first rest day of the trip. man is it going to be nice to let the legs rest for a day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)