America by Bicycle Cross Country Challenge Log

June 9th, Day 1 - San Francisco, CA to Fairfield, CA (87.74 miles, 13.46 avg, 6hrs 30min ride time) We all left the Clarion hotel together as a group and rode 16 miles to the beach where we dipped our wheels. It was pretty slow riding to the beach, but that was fine with me. I needed to start slow and warm up a bit. Shortly after dipping our wheels, we rode over the Golden Gate bride. That was pretty cool to finally see the bridge in person after seeing it only in pictures in the past. The views while on and around the bridge were great. After that, the route was just rolling hills through a few smaller towns. We also rode on many bike paths. Although the traffic wasn't very bad, it was nice to be on the bike paths and not have to worry about cars. We then rode 19 miles on highway 37. That was pretty interesting in that it was a highway with a 55 and 65 mph limits. There were good wide shoulders, so it wasn't too bad, but it seemed to take forever to get off that road! We were then in Fairfield and the motel was about 10 miles away. We climbed around 3200 feet. Weather was hot - around 90 or so, and a little breezy. Click here for today's pictures.

June 10th, Day 2 - Fairfield, CA to Sacramento, CA (61.13 miles, 12.83 avg, 4hrs 45min ride time) Today was very flat - mostly through farmlands. There were a few small towns, and we did ride through the UC Davis campus. We had some very strong headwinds for at least two-thirds of the day. I was told later that the winds were around 30mph with gusts up to 35-40mph. In some of the farmlands (flat) we were going about 9 or 10 mph. Last night I was talking with a few other riders, and we figured that today would be fairly easy, and should go by fast. We sure were wrong! The last 15 miles or so were bike paths and then city streets of Sacramento. Our directions were not quite right, so it took us about 1 hour to get to the hotel (3 miles!), but after asking several people for directions, we found it. Kind of frustrating at the time, but in the whole scheme of the day, it really wasn't a big deal. Elevation gain today was around 800 feet, and the weather was hot and very windy. Probably the worst winds I have ever ridden in.

June 11th, Day 3 - Sacramento, CA to Auburn, CA (50.05 miles, 14.6 avg, 3hrs 25min ride time) Today was a fairly easy day after yesterday's winds. For the first 33 miles, we were on a paved bike path. While riding on the path, I saw a few rabbits, fish in a stream, several different birds (that I hadn't seen before), and a deer. Some other people I later talked to said they saw a peacock. Towards the end of the day, we were getting closer to the Sierra Mountains, so the terrain was more rolling. Total elevation gain today was 1800 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

June 12th, Day 4 - Auburn, CA to Truckee, CA (66.32 miles, 11.20 avg, 5hrs 55min ride time) We started off climbing from the hotel, and that was basically the story of the whole day! We had many long, steady climbs today, many of which were over 3 or 4 miles long. The mountains were really pretty. Due to the lack of roads in the particular area, we had to ride 16 miles on interstate 80. That wasn't too bad, but it was mostly uphill. While climbing on I80, I started to realize the cleat on my right shoe was not angled correctly, so my right knee started hurting, and slowly grew worse as the day progressed. By the time we got off I80, I was pedaling mostly with my left leg, and continued that way for the rest of the ride (about 20 miles). Right now, I have a really tired left leg, and a very sore right knee! Hopefully the hot tub later tonight will loosen things up a bit and it won't hurt too badly tomorrow. We were supposed to ride through Donner Pass today, but the only road in the area (Donner Pass Road), was closed because someone was shooter a commercial at the summit. We had to be shuttled about 10 miles ahead by van, and then we rode roughly another 14 to the hotel. Total elevation gain today was supposed to be a mere 8200 feet, but since we had to be shuttled for part of the route, it wasn't quite 8200. This morning started off cool, but quickly got hot, and topped out around the low 90's. Click here for today's pictures.

June 13th, Day 5 - Truckee, CA to Sparks, NV (50.57 miles, 15.24 avg, 3hrs 19min ride time) What a day! At mile 2.4, we climbed 5 miles to the summit of Brockway at an elevation of 7179. It started off fairly easy, but the grade increased as towards the top of the hill. After that, we had a nice downhill to the shore of lake Tahoe. What a sight! There was a very light fog in the distance, and behind the fog, were snow capped mountains. I took several pictures, but I don't think they will do it justice. After stopping at the lake, we continued on, which happened to uphill again! This time we were climbing 8.1 miles to the 8900ft summit of Mt. Rose. What a climb... it went on forever. For the first time of this trip, I had trouble getting enough air. I have never ridden high enough that elevation caused problems. In the last 4 miles of the hill, if I stood up to climb, I would get very slightly dizzy when I sat back down. It sure was good to see the sag stop at the summit of Mt. Rose! My right knee was still bothering me from the day before, but it wasn't quite as bad. Once at the summit, we had a 16.7-mile downhill ride into Sparks, NV! What a blast! I was able to roll along around 35mph for the whole distance. That felt great, and I was able to spin a little and get my legs loosened up from the climb. Once into Sparks, we had about 10 miles to ride on flat roads through the town before we arrived at our hotel. Today's total elevation gain was 4600 feet. It was very cool this morning when we started out, and stayed cool until we reached the summit of Mt. Rose. Once about half way down the Nevada side of the mountain, it started heating up very quickly! Click here for today's pictures.

June 14th, Day 6 - Sparks, NV to Lovelock, NV (91.52 miles, 20.53 avg, 4hrs 27min ride time) We were in the desert today, and we were rolling! We had a slight tailwind for most of the day, which was great! My roommate and I had a hard time all day getting going. We were late to breakfast, and late getting started. We started basically dead last! After a few miles, we caught up to Peter, and we formed a loose paceline. Due to the tailwinds and very flat terrain, we were riding around 24 to 28 miles. At mile 18, Peter didn't see a small piece of wood, and when he hit it, he got thrown into the guardrail on the side of I80, and that was the end of his day. He's ok, and he's just about got his bike fixed. He'll be back riding again tomorrow. After that, we kept on rolling for a while. We finally got tired, and slowed down to around 22 or 23mph. Towards the end of day, we were down to about 19 to 21, but I still felt pretty good overall. Almost all of our riding (except for 14 miles), was on I80 since there are no other roads here. It was extremely boring after a while. Actually, it was so boring that my left foot went to sleep! The sun was amazingly hot. Around mile 55 or 60, I looked down at my right leg, and it was blistering up from the sun! I had sunscreen on my legs and arms, but apparently it had worn off by then. I sweated very little, or so I thought. It was so hot that the sweat evaporated almost immediately. That made it hard to keep drinking water, but I think I was able to stay relatively well hydrated. Total elevation gain today was 1200 feet.

June 15th, Day 7 - Lovelock, NV to Winnemucca, NV (74.13 miles, 18.54 avg, 3hrs 54min ride time) Today was another day with mostly interstate riding on I80 East. It was fairly boring like yesterday, but we went a little slower than yesterday. Greg (my roommate) and I rode with Hulda. It was nice to take it a little slower and ride with other people. Not much interesting happened today... I got my first flat tire of the trip from a small wire on I80. Hulda, Greg, and I walked about 3 miles round trip to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. That was about all that happened today. Weather was really hot once again, but with the fairly short mileage, we were done around 12:15. We had a very light head wind today... just enough to make us work, but not enough to slow us down very much. Click here for today's pictures.

June 16th, Day 8 - Winnemucca, NV to Battle Mountain, NV (55.98 miles, 17.46 avg, 3hrs 12min ride time) Another boring day in the desert! We did have a 3.8-mile hill to climb, so that was pretty exciting. I was really glad to have some variation to the flat nothing that we've been riding for the last several days. Following the climb, we had a 5.6-mile downhill, but it was not steep enough to amount to much fun. After the second sag stop at mile 39.2, we had a light headwind, but it was enough to wear us out. There was also a long stretch of rumble strips on the interstate... that was fun. Greg and I were really worn out by the time we got to Battle Mountain. Greg went to bed around 8:15, and I wasn't too far behind him. We were told before we arrived that Battle Mountain was voted Armpit of America. It did not take long at all to understand why! It was terrible there.. The town was basically a ghost town. Supper was pretty bad. The Hulda, Jennifer, Greg and I got up and walked across the street to McDonald's to get a few burgers to finish off the meal! Elevation gain was 1400 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

June 17th, Day 9 - Battle Mountain, NV to Elko, NV (72.34 miles, 18.36 avg, 3hrs 56min ride time) Day 4 on I80.. What fun. Like the past few days, Greg and I said we were going to take it easy. The ride started that way, around a 16 to 18mph pace, but after the first sag stop, there was a 13-mile hill to climb! It was not a very steep hill for most of the way, but it was a good workout. I absolutely loved it! It was great to have 1 hour of the ride that was not flat! I have never minded climbing, but today I was excited about it. As Greg and I were on the final 2 miles or so of the hill, Reinhard (who lives and trains in the Swiss Alps) comes motoring by! I picked up the pace a little, but he kept pulling away. I thought I could see the top of the hill at that point, so I decided I would try to catch him. It took me the whole remaining length of the hill, but I finally caught him just before the top! Reinhard, Greg, and I stopped at the top to take a quick rest, and then we had a fairly long downhill to the second sag stop. We decided to eat an early luch at Burger King. At this point there was only 24 miles left for the day! When we left, we realized we had a very good tailwind, so we took advantage of it and started rolling along pretty well. We arrived in Elko around 11:15, and we stopped at a bike shop and the Dairy Queen. We tried to kill a lot of time before going to the hotel, because whoever gets there first has the privilege of assisting in unloading the luggage truck! Since we have already helped out several times this trip, we were hoping someone else would do it. We finally got tired of sitting around, so we decided to take a chance and check in at the motel. Unfortunately, we were still to early and had to help unload the truck. I was pretty happy about today because we finished so early, and I felt really good compared to after yesterday's ride. Total elevation gain was 2600 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

June 18th, Day 10 - Elko, NV to Wendover, UT (107.15 miles, 20.11 avg, 5hrs 19min ride time) This morning we got up before the buttcrack of dawn at 4:30. Breakfast was at 5:00, and we were on the bike riding at 5:30. It sure was early, but we had a lot of ground to cover today, and we wanted to beat as much heat as we could. By 8:00am, we had completed 45 miles! There were several hills, but only one was really bad. The others were the kind that makes you go slower and work harder, but still question whether or not you are going up hill. That happened a lot in Nevada. At mile 100 today, I checked the ride time, and it was 4 hrs and 52 minutes! My first century under 5 hrs! Of course, we had a tailwind for most of the day, but there were a few huge hills. Another interesting point is that the last 150 miles or so in Nevada were much more rolling and the land was a lot greener than western and central Nevada. I ended up riding the last 15 miles with Reinhard, and we rolled in to town about 11:20. We stopped to eat at BK hoping to not have to unload the luggage truck again, but unfortunately, we had to help finish up. I didn't mind too much, but I got a little bit irritated when the other guys that were unloading just took off and left when Reinhard and I returned from eating. Oh well.. Weather was actually pretty cool for most of the ride since we left so early. Had a good tailwind for most of they, but sometimes it was a bad crosswind, and for the last 10 miles, it was a bad headwind. Elevation gain was about 3600 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

June 19th, Day 11 - Wendover, UT to Salt Lake City, UT (117.95 miles, 15.36 avg, 7hrs 40min ride time) Once again, we were on I80 all day. The first 35 or 40 miles were through the Salt Flats. They weren't as boring or mind numbing as I was expecting them to be. We also had a cross/headwind all day long except for about 2 miles. Greg and I rode with Hulda most of the day. Today was more of a mental game than physical. Elevation gain was 890 feet. Everyone was really glad to be here.. Tomorrow is our first rest day, and we are all looking forward to it! Click here for today's pictures.

June 20th, Day 12 - Rest Day in Salt Lake City, UT Last night I sat out around the pool for a few hours with Terry. A few days ago, Terry purchased an acoustic guitar from a pawnshop for $60. He was out playing some Allman Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, some bluegrass stuff, and lots more that I can't remember. It was great.. I went to bed at 11:45, which was much later than the usual 9:00. Today Hulda, Jen, Greg, and I caught a cab downtown to Temple Square. We took a free tour of the Mormon temple. It was interesting to hear how the buildings were made in the 1800's, etc. After that, we ate at the California Pizza Kitchen. I ate way too much and felt sick for almost 2 hours after eating. We all felt pretty bad after lunch, and our legs hurt too bad to walk much more, so we caught a bus back to the hotel. There were times when I was walking that I got a lactic acid burn in my quads. When we returned, I sat around for a while, and then I helped Bruce, the other mechanic, assemble bikes for the 10 new people that are joining us until we get to Pueblo. For dinner, I went out to eat with the America By Bicycle staff at the Red Rock pub in downtown Salt Lake City. It was really good, but once again, I ate way too much. I ate way too much today.

June 21st, Day 13 - Salt Lake City, UT to Provo, UT (67.02 miles, 15.02 avg, 4hrs 27min ride time) Some of the ABB staff said I would feel like superman today after the rest day. Well, they were wrong. I felt like crap, and my legs were still very tired and worn out. Other than that, today was definitely one of the better days of this trip as far as scenery goes. We rode through some rolling farmlands, and there are some pretty big mountains around us (I don't know which ones they are). I still didn't feel like eating today after yesterday's overload of food, so I had just a salad at dinner tonight. Tonight after dinner we walked across the street to a mall, but that didn't last long. The mall wasn't very big, and we didn't feel like walking much. I came back to the motel and started laundry. Elevation gain today was 1700 feet, and we had a headwind for almost the whole ride. Click here for today's pictures.

June 22nd, Day 14 - Provo, UT to Price, UT (75.3 miles, 16.19 avg, 4hrs 39min ride time) We started off with a long climb, but it wasn't very steep. Until the first sag stop, the road was pretty deceiving. We were going slowly, usually around 12 to 14mph, but the road appeared to going downhill. After the sag, there was a hill that looked like a hill, and it went up for around 7 or 8 miles. At the top of the hill, the elevation was around 7400 feet. We rode into a rain cloud, and got rained on for about 15 minutes. It stopped raining about the time we started a beautiful 8 or 9-mile downhill through Price Canyon. This area of Utah is fairly pretty; there was a river that followed our road for several miles and it was somewhat green with a few trees as well. It's nice to see something other than a dirt landscape. Another interesting point was that the highway patrol was looking for Elizabet Smart on the road that we cycled on for the whole day. Elevation gain today was just short of 3700. Click here for today's pictures.

June 23rd, Day 15 - Price, UT to Green River, UT (65.5 miles, 18.32 avg, 3hrs 34min ride time) Unfortunately, we breakfast was at 6am this morning. We were not very happy to have to get up out that early for a short day. (Greg and I arrived in Green River at 10:30am.) The route today started off great. It was mostly flat with one short climb and several slight downhill grades at various points. There was a very fun, straight, steep downhill into the only sag stop of the day. We were able to roll along well for a while after the sag because it was mostly flat and I think we had a slight tailwind as well. Around mile 45 or 50, the road curved and then we had a headwind for the rest of the day. The road today was extremely bad. Very poorly paved and a bad shoulder. Our motel tonight is a real dump. It's terrible. The room smells awful and the toilet doesn't stop running unless you use the sink and the ice bucket to fill up the tank. I can't wait to get out of this hole tomorrow. Two vans took people to Arches National Park today, but I decided not to go. Riding for 2 hours round trip in a hot 15-passenger van to walk around in the desert did not sound like fun to me! Instead I had a redneck afternoon and sat around and watched the NASCAR race at Sears Point. It was great to loaf around next to the A/C and finally get cooled off and do absolutely nothing. Elevation gain today was 1160. Click here for today's pictures.

June 24th, Day 16 - Green River, UT to Grand Junction, CO (97.49 miles, 13.71 avg, 7hrs 6min ride time) Another long day in the saddle. We had headwinds for almost all of the day, and it got hot very fast. It reached at least 105 degrees before we finally got to the hotel. Today I rode with Hulda all day. It was a slow hot day, but we eventually made it. I think today was tied for the 2nd most difficult day of the trip. On a positive note, another state is complete! We are out of Utah and into Colorado now. Thankfully there will be no more interstate riding, and finally some other terrain besides desert. Click here for today's pictures.

June 25th, Day 17 - Grand Junction, CO to Montrose, CO (68.38 miles, 14.04 avg, 4hrs 52min ride time) Another day, another headwind. The first 30 miles to the sag stop were really hard, but after the sag, the wind died down. The sag was in the middle of a construction zone, so it was pretty dusty. Once out of the construction, we went through some rolling hills and stopped in the town of Delta for lunch (Greg, Hulda, and I). After lunch, I felt even better, and the final 24 miles of the day were not very difficult. Elevation gain was 2500 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

June 26th, Day 18 - Montrose, CO to Gunnison, CO (65.15 miles, 13.45 avg, 4hrs 50min ride time) Today didn't start off to well. We didn't like our breakfast options, so we rode to McDonald's before we got started. Once on the route, we were promptly greeted a really nasty headwind. We also had 2 major hills before sag stop. I'm not sure exactly how long they were but he first one was at least 4 miles, and the second was a little longer. On a day without wind, they wouldn't have been too difficult, but today those two hills were pretty difficult. The sag stop was at the top of the second hill, and I was glad to see it. Yesterday and today my bike was making some noise from the drivetrain, and it was ghost shifting in the front and rear. I stopped a few times to check it out, but I couldn't find anything wrong. At the sag stop, I talked to the other mechanic, Bruce, and we decided to put a new chain on there. The Shimano Ultegra chain that was causing problems only had about 1400 miles on it. I replaced it with a SACHS PC89R.. Even before I rode my bike, I could tell that had fixed the problem. It shifts much better now, and is generally much smoother. After the sag, the ride today was actually pretty good. Colorado would be better except that it is fairly hazy from forest fire smoke. Elevation gain today was 4790 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

June 27th, Day 19 - Gunnison, CO to Salida, CO (66.81 miles, 16.06 avg, 4hrs 9min ride time) Today was a lot of fun! First of all, there were no headwinds to greet us this morning! The route today was rolling hills up until the sag stop around 29 miles in. I started off at a slower pace than usual. I tried to spin and keep it around 14 to 16mph. For the most part, I was successful, and I was feeling pretty loose after a few miles. Before the first sag, we rode by some bison in a field (see pictures). We weren't very close, but they still looked pretty big. I also had another flat tire - the 6th for the trip so far. Around mile 34, we began the 9-mile climb to the summit of Monarch Pass, which crosses the continental divide at 11,312 feet. Most of the climb was around 6 to 8 percent grades. Once at the top, I sat around for a while and talked with the other riders who had already reached the summit. Hulda and I wanted to ride a chairlift to the top of the mountain to check out the view. Jen and Greg wanted to start the 23 mile downhill to the motel, so they went on. Hulda and I went to the top anyway, and we were glad we did. On the ride back down, we were rained on, but luckily, it didn't last very long. There was one 10-mile stretch that was about a 6% downhill grade.. that was a blast! At first I thought the rain would be a problem, but it really wasn't too bad. At one point, Hulda and I got behind a tractor-trailer truck that was going 25mph. At the next passing zone, we sprinted around the truck and resumed our 36 to 40mph pace! It did not take very long to ride the 27 miles into Salida to the hotel! Today was tied for the best day of the tour with day 5. Elevation gain today was 3900 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

June 28th, Day 20 - Salida, CO to Pueblo, CO (93.89 miles, 19.55 avg, 4hrs 48min ride time)

June 29th, Day 21 - Rest Day in Pueblo, CO Today I didn't feel like doing anything at all. I got out of bed at 10:30. Soon after that I walked to K-Mart and Burger King. After that, I literally just laid around all day. I watched a NASCAR truck series race, a baseball game, and then an IRL race. I also did some laundry, which was desperately needed. I was going to go to a street rod show with some other guys, but they decided not to go. Greg and Hulda rented a car and went to Royal Gorge. I originally was going to go, but I decided not to because walking around in the heat did not sound like fun to me.

June 30th, Day 22 - Pueblo, CO to Lamar, CO (121.93 miles, 19.13 avg, 6hrs 22min ride time) I don't regret lying around all day yesterday. Today I felt really strong and well rested. Probably the best I've felt since the trip started. Today's route was mostly flat with a few rolling hills. We are now into a brown, boring section of Colorado. So far, every state we have been through to this point has been more boring than interesting. I am looking forward to getting more toward the eastern end of the country. We had 3 sag stops today.. Greg, Hulda, and I rode together again today, and we were rolling. The first and second sag stops seemed to blow by. We were having a blast. At the second sag stop, we met up with Reinhard, and he rode with us for the rest of the day. Around mile 84, we saw a Dairy Queen and decided to stop for lunch. Around this time, the wind changed on us, and we now had a headwind. The first 85 miles went so well, that I still had a 5 hour, 1 minute century. I wasn't trying for a 5hr century, but when we stopped for lunch, I realized we would be really close. The last 37 miles were pretty hard thanks to the wind, but we made it into the Best Western Cow Palace around 1:45. Overall, the day went much better than I was expecting, and physically I also felt better than expected. Today started off cool at 6:00am when we began, but after lunch, it was extremely hot. Greg's computer said the temp was 108. I believe it, it sure was a scorcher.

July 1st, Day 23 - Lamar, CO to Garden City, KS (104.79 miles, 14.32 avg, 7hrs 18min ride time) Today we were greeted by headwinds, and they stayed with us all day long. We entered Kansas, and we are now in central time. So far, Kansas is very mind numbing, as expected. There's not much to write about today.. Windy, boring, blue sky, mostly brown fields... Click here for today's pictures.

July 2nd, Day 24 - Garden City, KS to Dodge City, KS (52.88 miles, 13.87 avg, 3hrs 48min ride time) Today was another short day turned long thanks to headwinds. It's going to be a very long 4 more days until we are out of Kansas. My left knee was hurting a lot yesterday, and it wasn't any better today. After 8 miles or so, I told Greg and Hulda just to go on. I didn't feel like pushing hard enough to keep up with them. I decided to go slow today, spin, and take it easy on my knee. Also, with the short mileage, I didn't want to get to town too fast because our rooms wouldn't be ready. As it turns out, our rooms still weren't ready when I got there, so I went to eat lunch. I took a few pictures today, but it's nothing to get excited about. Dinner tonight was at a Chinese joint next door. I was really happy to have something other than the usual pasta and salad! Click here for today's pictures.

July 3rd, Day 25 - Dodge City, KS to Great Bend, KS (85.55 miles, 18.93 avg, 4hrs 31min ride time) Today I forgot to write here, so it's now the 4th, but I am having difficulty remembering what happened yesterday. Actually, since we're still in Kansas, I'm probably not forgetting very much at all. We had a bit of a crosswind/tailwind, so the ride wasn't anywhere as hard as I had expected. Click here for today's pictures.

July 4th, Day 26 - Great Bend, KS to McPherson, KS (64.57 miles, 16.68 avg, 3hrs 52min ride time) I forgot (didn't bother) to write anything for today again, but we're still in Kansas..... Click here for today's pictures.

July 5th, Day 27 - McPherson, KS to Abilene, KS (64.05 miles, 18.96 avg, 3hrs 22min ride time) We crossed the half-way mark in mileage today! The route today was northeast, so the wind from the south gave us a tailwind for most of the ride. Hulda and I arrived at the sag stop by 9:00, which was over half of today's distance. The humidity has really picked up a lot in the last few days, and the land is started to green up a bit. The terrain is more rolling than the last few days. I ate lunch at Subway with Hulda, Jen, and Kate C., which really hit the spot. We are getting tired of fast food burgers for lunch. After I got a shower and cooled off for a little while, Hulda and I walked about a mile to town to see what there was to do. We went to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, an antique shop, and Radio Shack. Elevation gain today was 400ft. Click here for today's pictures.

July 6th, Day 28 - Abilene, KS to Topeka, KS (109.56 miles, 15.39 avg, 7hrs 6min ride time) Today started off early as usual, but it was already warm, and extremely humid. In the last 4 days, it went from being hot and dry to hot and humid. Today's route was rolling again - up and down hills all day. I'm not sure why, but today I felt very tired all day long. I usually have more energy than today, but I just couldn't get going. I wasn't sore or hurting, but I felt drained. The day grew hot very fast, and the humidity increased as the day went on. Greg was riding too fast for me, so Hulda and I didn't try to keep up. We caught up with him at the first sag, and then we all rode together for the most part for the rest of the day. At mile 71, there was a "deli," which supposedly was a good lunch stop. As it turns out, it was a run-down gas station with a few small sandwiches. I was pretty hungry at the time, but I had a sandwich to hold me over until Hulda and I stopped at Subway in Topeka. We finally got to the Holiday Inn around 3:15. I took a quick shower, and then Bruce, Michelle, Reinhard, and myself went to local bike shop to get a star nut for Larry's new fork (and a few other things). A few days ago Larry tried to bike with his laundry to a Laundromat... that idea resulted in a crash and slightly bent his fork, handlbars, and destroyed his front wheel. We had the replacement parts overnighted from Bike Nashbar, but as it turns out, they sent a 650c fork - we had to have a 700c fork. We ended up putting the new wheel on his bike, and we decided that he could ride it. It wasn't bent badly enough to be a safety concern. We'll have the correct fork in another 3 or 4 days, and it will be safe to ride until then. It was a rat race until dinner was over, and then I had about 2 hours left until bedtime! The days go by too fast! Click here for today's pictures.

July 7th, Day 29 - Topeka, KS to St. Joseph, MO (85.93 miles, 17.54 avg, 4hrs 53min ride time) I felt a lot better today than I did yesterday, but I was still tired. The ride today took us through downtown Topeka on our way to St. Joseph. It was great to ride through a real city again after seeing nothing for the last several days in Kansas. At mile 48 or so, a pivot on my front derailleur broke, so I had to take the derailleur off and ride the remainder of the day in my small chainring. That wasn't too bad - I didn't run out of gears until about 26mph, and we were not going that fast anyway. At mile 56, we crossed the Missouri River. It didn't take long to get hot today, and it was humid all day long. We took a shortcut into St. Joseph, which was a lot flatter than the route we were supposed to take, and it cut 4.5 miles off the day's ride. The last 15 miles were pretty hard due to the heat, being tired, and lots of hills. Elevation gain was 2800 feet.... lots of rolling hills today. Click here for today's pictures.

July 8th, Day 30 - Rest day in St. Joseph, MO I went to the Pony Express museum and the Jesse James house with Mike and Jen. The Pony Express museum was interesting... lots of good stuff there. The Jesse James house was small (therefore short), but they had a lot of historical items and a good amount of historical information. I am convinced that days off are bad. My legs enjoy them, but that's about it. I always end up feeling much worse on the day off than I do when we are riding as usual. I think my body doesn't know what to do. I hate to just lie around and do nothing, but I don't feel like doing anything. Also, public transportation is almost always a hassle, but we eventually get where we want to go. Today was another hot one.. still very humid. Click here for today's pictures.

July 9th, Day 31 - St. Joseph, MO to Chillicothe, MO (70.79 miles, 20.00 avg, 3hrs 32min ride time) For the first 5 miles, I had a lot of trouble getting going, but I eventually loosened up. I decided I wanted to ride hard today, and after I got rolling, I started to feel pretty good. My original plan for the day was to take it easy since tomorrow is going to be a tough one, but I was having too much fun to back off. The ride today was more rolling hills, but they weren't too bad until the last 12 miles. For most of the day, I was able to roll along around 22 to 24mph, but I slowed down a lot towards the end. I was hauling.. I even managed to get in before Reinhard! Today's weather started off hot and very humid at 7:30am, and it got worse. I was at the hotel by 11:15, which was great. It's kind of hard to get in early, but it's great to have a little extra time to relax and cool off before the day's activities begin. Mechanic hour today was nuts. It started off at 3:00. Bruce put on a quick seminar on how to tune up your bike for anyone who was interested. Probably 3/4 of the riders on the trip came. After that, we had a long line of repairs to take care up. Larry's fork finally came in, so we had to install that. George crashed again today, so we had a fair amount of work to do on his bike. Mechanic hour ended up lasting about 2.5 hours. We also had a huge thunderstorm roll by, which quickly drenched everything and knocked the power out for a few minutes. It's now about 7:30, and I am still damp from the rain. Elevation gain today was 1200 feet.

July 10th, Day 32 - Chillicothe, MO to Kirksville, MO (81.41 miles, 14.67 avg, 5hrs 33min ride time) I was really hurting after riding as hard as I did yesterday! That was a mistake, but I was having too much fun to slow down yesterday. I was tired and worn out all day long. It didn't help that today was the day of "a thousand hills." The ride was up and down all day. There were very few flat spots. I rode with Terry most of the day.. In the last few days I have been trying to ride with different people. Terry usually leaves a lot later than I do, but I was running late this morning, so I was able to leave with him. Around mile 38 or 40, it started raining, and continued to rain for the rest of the ride. For the most part, it was a light rain, but initially it was a heavy downpour with brief thunder and lightning. Many people stopped in barns near the side of the road, but I kept on riding. The less I stopped, the sooner I would be at the hotel. I just wanted to get done. Breakfast this morning left a LOT to be desired (it was a light hotel conti). The last 10 miles were very hard for me.... breakfast had long worn off, and I was really tired. When I got to the hotel, I ordered a large pizza form Papa John's and ate the whole thing in about 10 minutes. Elevation gain today was around 3600 feet.

July 11th, Day 33 - Kirksville, MO to Quincy, IL (96.01 miles, 15.57 avg, 6hrs 9min ride time, road kill count: 14) Today was an adventure. We were originally supposed to ride only 71 miles, but due to road construction, we were instructed to take a different route. We thought after yesterday that the endless line of rolling hills would be completed, but today actually turned out to be harder. The road was freshly stoned (oil sprayed on road and fine gravel spread on top... called a "road"), and it was very rough and bumpy. We also had a headwind for a decent amount of the hills. I rode with Greg for most of the day.. around mile 70, we met up with Kate and Maston. We were all hungry, so we decided to stop a Pizza Hut. That hit the spot, and really helped. I was hurting up until I ate some food. After I ate, I felt a lot better, and I actually felt like I had something left. About 3 miles after Pizza Hut, we crossed the Mississippi River on a small ferry. We were originally going to cross the river on a bridge, but the bridge was down to one lane, and Doug didn't want us to ride it; therefore we had the longer, harder, route. Once across the Mississippi and into Illinois, the land leveled out, and we got a tailwind! The last 17 miles or so went by quickly and without too much pain. Mechanic hour wasn't too busy today, which surprised me since we had a lot of rain yesterday, and very rough roads today. Elevation gain was 2890 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

July 12th, Day 34 - Quincy, IL to Springfield, IL (102.00 miles, 15.71 avg, 6hrs 29min ride time, road kill count: 13) As you may have noticed, I have added a road kill count to keep me entertained during the rides! It's quite funny.. it has to be identifiable to count, and mostly intact (separated possum legs don't count!). Yesterday I was talking to someone, and the said, "Hey, did you see such-and-such?" I said, "Yeah! That was carcass number 5!" Anyway... Today hurt. It was a lot flatter than yesterday, but there were still several hills. About 6 miles out this morning, I got flat tire number 8 of the trip. While I was stopped changing the tube, it started raining. I was thinking, "Great, I'm already tired, have 97 miles to go, a flat tire, and it's raining!" Luckily the rain stopped about 2 miles later, and held off until about mile 65. While I was changing my flat, Reinhard came by and stopped. He waited for us because he wanted some people to ride with to take turns leading to break the wind. As usual, we had a headwind for at least 2/3rds of the day. After the first sag stop at mile 42, the winds really picked up. Greg and I let Reinhard go... it hurt too much to try to keep up with him. We poked along around 13 to 14mph for close to 15 miles. We finally came to the second sag stop, but the sag van wasn't there yet. We stopped at a gas station where we saw several other bikes. After grabbing some food, Greg and I left with Reinhard, Keith, Frank, and Christine. From that gas station, it rained for the remaining 35 miles to the Best Inn in Springfield. Mechanic hour was pretty slow, probably due to fact that most people got in late today. Elevation gain today was 1900 feet, if I remember correctly.

July 13th, Day 35 - Springfield, IL to Champaign, IL (103.28 miles, 14.91 avg, 6hrs 55min ride time, road kill count: 6) Today started off pretty good with a breafast at Bob Evens. However, since we ate at a real restaurant, it was about 7:00 before we really got going. The route today was fairly interesting.. we had many turns, and of course, the usual headwind. I am getting so tired of headwinds. We really haven't had a good tailwind since Nevada. Greg, Hulda, and I rode together again after 4 days of riding with other people. We were all really worn out by mile 85. We stopped around mile 79 for lunch at Subway hoping that would give us more energy, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Road kill was down today from the past 2 days.. I'm not sure why. I guess there are not as many critters running around in cornfields. The 3 really long days in a row have been hard on everyone. We are getting in around 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoons and there's just not a lot of time to recover. I was pretty tired today, but I did feel a little better than I have in the last 3 days, so I was happy about that. Bruce and I were covered up at mechanic hour today. We were about 1 hour later for dinner, and still had a few things to finish up after we ate. Elevation gain today was 1900ish again.

July 14th, Day 36 - Champaign, IL to Crawfordsville, IN (80.06 miles, 18.71 avg, 4hrs 16min ride time, road kill count: 18) Another state is finished! Around mile 41, we crossed into Indiana. Today Greg, Hulda, and I rode hard for the entire ride. We had a very slight headwind most of the day, but it wasn't bad enough to slow us down too much. Greg's family from Indy was here at Holiday Inn to greet him when we arrived. They drove Greg, Hulda, Kelli, and myself to Arby's for lunch, and then we enjoyed a cake by the pool. Today we got in pretty early compared to the last few days (11:50am), so I had a lot of time to kill today. I am already not looking forward to the rest day in Indy. Hopefully I'll find something to do; we'll see. Mechanic hour was slow today.. Tomorrow is going to be a madhouse when we change about 20 chains. More on that later. Elevation gain today was 1100 feet.

July 15th, Day 37 - Crawfordsville, IN to Indianapolis, IN (60.71 miles, 16.28 avg, 3hrs 43min ride time, road kill count: 5) Today was a short, easy day, and we decided to not push very hard. I wanted to have some legs left for the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indy that we were going by on the route. For those of you that don't know, a velodrome is a racetrack that is designed for cyclists. The turns are banked very steep in order for riders to maintain a fast speed all the way around the track. It was a lot harder than I expected! I was not able to go fast enough to get more than half way up the banking, and I was giving it everything I had. I only did 1.5 laps. We are staying at the Days Inn in downtown Indy (which is great for rest day activities), but the route was a little sketchy coming in. This is the first year that AbB has stayed here and done this particular route, so they are still working it out. For the most part, it wasn't bad - only a few turns were sort of confusing. On he way in, Greg, Hulda, and I stopped on the circle to eat lunch at Qdoba. Tomorrow I'm going to find a fast food joint! I'm getting tired of all the healthy subs and stuff we've been having for lunch. I need a greasy burger! Elevation gain today was around 800 feet, I think. In place of mechanic hour today, we had a chain changing party. At the first of the trip, Bruce said around halfway we would change everyone's chain and he explained why it was necessary. Last week we placed an order for about 20 chains. Bruce added a $2 "beverage charge" to the cost of each chain, and bought drinks for everyone to have while the new chains were being installed. I thought that this had the potential to be a nightmare, but many people caught on quickly and were able to do it themselves once Bruce went over in detail on how to do it. Click here for today's pictures.

July 16th, Day 38 - Rest day in Indianapolis, IN

July 17th, Day 39 - Indianapolis, IN to Richmond, IN (72.88 miles, 17.97 avg, 4hrs 3min ride time, road kill count: 22) I still don't like rest days, but I didn't feel too bad today after being off the bike yesterday. I started out riding with Greg and Hulda, but today I just wanted to ride alone. At the only sag stop of the day, I made it a quick stop and left in front of them. We had some rolling hills today, but they were pretty gentle and easy - just enough to make the day fun. The roads were good today.. Some of them had recently been repaved, which was great. I should not have pushed as hard as I did today since the next 4 days are going to be hard, but I felt good and there was a slight tailwind. Mechanic hour was insane today. Bruce and I were busy for two solid hours. We had a few bottom brackets to tighten, the usual derailleur adjustments, I taped some handlebars, and we finished building Terry's new bike.

July 18th, Day 40 - Richmond, IN to Marysville, OH (119.04 miles, 16.36 avg, 7hrs 6min ride time, road kill count: 37) We are in Ohio and finally on real time, Eastern Daylight! Today's route was nice... green, a few rolling hills, and lots of turns. The turns eventually got me in trouble, though. At mile 25.7, we took a left, but we were supposed to go through the stop sign another 0.2 miles before our left turn. I was with Andy and Mike when we realized we were lost. By the time we figured out we were lost, and where we were, and finally got back on route, we had added 15.1 miles to our ride. It was only supposed to be 105 miles today. For the most part, I rode kinda slow today, so the extra miles didn't bother me too much. I rode with Andy for probably 10 miles of the day, so that was a lot of fun, mainly because he pulled me at 22 to 24mph. We finally got in around 4:00. Mechanic hour was at 5:00, and it was busy as usual. We worked 1.5 hours today. Elevation gain today was 1900 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

July 19th, Day 41 - Marysville, OH to Wooster, OH (113.31 miles, 16.89 avg, 6hrs 42min ride time, road kill count: 47) I rode with Doug for the first 55 miles, which was a lot of fun. We had many good conversations, and we were maintaining a good speed. Doug stopped to make a phone call, so I kept on going. Unfortunately, I was too busy counting road kill and checking out a tanker truck wreck, and I misread the directions. I made a left turn instead of a right turn, and I ended up back in the town of Butler, which I had already rode through earlier in the day! I was not very happy... especially when I figured out I had just added 9 miles. I was still pretty tired from yesterday's long ride - getting lost was the last thing I needed. I finally got straightened out when a group of other riders came by, so I followed them and told them where not to turn! At the second sag stop, we heard on a radio that there was a severe thunderstorm warning in about 45 minutes. I decided to start riding, and I had planned to stop at a gas station about 3 miles down the road. I made it to the store just in time.. I bought a sandwich and a drink, and decided to just wait there for a little while until the lightning passed. A few minutes later, Mike rode by and stopped at an overhang at a church across the street. When the rain let up, I went over and joined Mike. We talked for a while, and after 20 minutes, the storm passed and it stopped raining. At this point, we had about 30 miles left. I slowed down a bit and rode with Mike for at least 10 miles. I was glad to slow down.. My legs were really tired. We had some very steep rolling hills between the two sag stops, and the route was still rolling hills all the way into town. 0.5 miles from the hotel, I got a flat rear tire. I wasn't too happy about that, but I stopped and changed the tube. It was too flat to limp in on, and I didn't want to damage my wheel. Elevation gain today was 3780.

July 20th, Day 42 - Wooster, OH to Niles, OH (95.62 miles, 16.92 avg, 5hrs 39min ride time, road kill count: 39) I started off riding alone today, but unfortunately, I got lost again! When I got back to the correct road, I met up with Reinhard, Frank and Christine, so I rode with them most of the day. I only gained 1 mile on that mistake! Later Christine dropped back, but we joined up with Terry. Ohio has been pretty.. Nice and green and lots of rolling hills. Early this morning there was a fairly heavy fog over the cornfields and farms in the distance. I felt good except for 15 miles before the second sag. After the second sag, there was only 20 miles to go, and I felt pretty good. Around mile 90, we got confused on the route, so we stopped and asked someone about some roads. As it turns out, we made our own route to the road we wanted to get on that would take us into Niles. Today was supposed to be 92 miles, so 95.62 wasn't too bad. Maybe tomorrow I won't get lost at all! Elevation gain today was 2650.

July 21st, Day 43 - Niles, OH to Erie, PA (90.91 miles, 17.71 avg, 5hrs 8min ride time, road kill count: 39) Click here for today's pictures.

July 22nd, Day 44 - Rest day in Erie, PA I didn't do much at all today... The adventure of the day was hiking 6 blocks to do laundry, which wasn't too bad. There was not much to do in Erie. We stayed in the Avalon, which was 10 blocks from Lake Erie. The lakefront was nice, but the rest of the down seemed pretty dull. There were tons of empty buildings. I ate dinner with the staff again at Outback, which was great!

July 23rd, Day 45 - Erie, PA to Hamburg, NY (84.85 miles, 17.14 avg, 4hrs 57min ride time, road kill count: 26) This morning started off in the rain, which was not too fun. Erie had not received any rain for over 1 month, but of course since almost 50 cyclists were in town, it had to rain! Rain generally causes debris on the road to surface from the cracks and stick to your tires. I had 4 flat tires today! 3 of them were while it was still raining. Around mile 40ish, it quit raining and started to dry out. Before the sag stop, we had to take a detour around a bridge that was out. The detour only added 3 miles, which wasn't too bad. The ride today was slightly rolling. We followed the shoreline of Lake Erie for the first 58 miles until we turned east on 20. Traffic wasn't too bad today, but it definitely has been picking up a bit in the last few days. Towards the end of the day, I caught up with Dave and Kate H., and rode with them for the last 15 miles of the day. Mechanic hour today was pretty busy. A parts order came in, so we had 3 sets of shifters to install, plus the usual minor adjustments. Elevation today was 1010 feet.

July 24th, Day 46 - Hamburg, NY to Canandaigua, NY (95.37 miles, 16.41 avg, 5hrs 48min ride time, road kill count: at least 31 - I missed several) The first 30 miles today went by quickly, but then the route changed. We rode on 20 East for the rest of the day, and we fought a headwind and crosswind all day long. The route was rolling for the whole ride, and the hills got worse for the last 30 miles. Elevation gain for the day was 3200, but it seemed a little more than that. The weather today was unseasonable cool.. It was around 70 to 75 all day long. It actually felt good. I was glad to not get roasted for a change. I am really getting tired of long (85+ miles), boring, hard days with headwinds. Luckily we have 6 days left, and nothing longer than 85-mile days. Physically, I am very tired. I can't recover enough in the time off that we have, and the last 6 days that have been long and hard really did me in. I can't wait to be finished and take more than 1 day off! Click here for today's pictures.

July 25th, Day 47 - Canandaigua, NY to Syracuse, NY (63.97 miles, 17.44 avg, 3hrs 40min ride time, road kill count: 28) Since today was a short day; we slept late until 6:45 - that was great! Breakfast was at Denny's, which was the usual grand slam plate. I had every intention of taking it easy today to start resting for Sunday's ride, but after I got warmed up, I felt decent and rode harder than I wanted. I was a bit anxious to be finished for the day and have some time to hang out and relax before mechanic hour. The ride today was rolling again, but not too bad with an elevation gain of only 1500 feet. I rode by myself basically all day. I briefly rode with Andy for about 1 mile before the sag, and 2 miles from the hotel I caught John and Irwin. We aren't near anything, so I had to get a pizza delivered for lunch.

July 26th, Day 48 - Syracuse, NY to Little Falls, NY (86.22 miles, 16.40 avg, 5hrs 15min ride time, road kill count: ?) I started off alone today, but it wasn't long until I caught a large group of at least 10 riders. After a few more miles, the group that I was with dwindled down to about 6. While we were at the first sag stop around mile 30, it started raining lightly. The rain continued for about 10 miles, and then quit. Around mile 42 we had to go through a construction zone, in which I hit a large hole in the road that caused a slow leak in my front tire. I finally had to stop around mile 46.5 to change the flat. I hated having to stop then because I lost the group that I was riding with. Later in the day, I got another flat. I decided that the Panaracer StradiusPro tires had to go. I put them on about 10 days ago because I wanted something lighter. I knew I was taking a risk, but I was to experiment a little bit. They are great tires when it's dry, but in wet conditions, road debris sticks to them and I get a lot of flats. The last 25 miles of the day were fairly difficult and boring. I was riding by myself, there were no turns, and of course, there was the usual headwind. Elevation gain was 1320 feet.

July 27th, Day 49 - Little Falls, NY to Albany, NY (71.02 miles, 17.63 avg, 4hrs 1min ride time, road kill count: 7) Today was fairly interesting.. There were several small towns along the way. I rode with Reinhard and Frank all day. A new rider, Doug, joined us at the sag stop and rode the remaining 30 miles with us. We maintained a pace around 18 to 22 mph for the first 55 miles, but then traffic picked up and we had many turns, stop lights, and stop signs which slowed us down a bit. About 15 miles out, we stopped at a local diner to eat lunch. It was really good, but I was not able to loosen up and feel good again all day. Luckily it was only 15 miles to the Clarion.. We were happy to have a really nice motel. Elevation gain was 1420 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

July 28th, Day 50 - Albany, NY to Greenfield, MA (79.23 miles, 17.04 avg, 4hrs 39min ride time, road kill count: 3) Today was the most fun I've had since Monarch Pass in Colorado! There were 4 major climbs today, but they weren't as difficult as I had been told. I rode alone until roughly mile 50 when I met up with Reinhard and Doug R. They had stopped and were waiting where the second sag stop was supposed to be. The sag van hadn't gotten there yet. I had already decided that I was not going to stop. I felt good and I didn't want to stop and get stiff. I briefly stopped to talk to them, and we decided to keep going. According to our cue sheet, we had a 20-mile downhill after the 4th summit. The downhill was basically over after 8 miles. We were very disappointed. Reinhard and Doug were going to stop for lunch around mile 68, and I was going to keep going. There was a very nasty looking cloud in the sky ahead of us, so we all decided just to keep going and try to beat the rain to the hotel. We pushed very hard.. There were several times I thought I was going to slow down and let them go, but somehow I managed to hang with them. As it turns out, we beat the rain by about 10 minutes! I was very happy that our plan worked and we didn't have to ride in the rain again. The weather today was overcast and cool. At the top of the first Brookshire summit, there was a lot of fog and visibility was very poor. I can't believe there are only 2 more days left! We've been riding for so long that's it's almost hard to imagine actually reaching our destination and being finished! I am definitely looking forward to taking a few days off the bike and letting my body rest and recover a bit, but it won't be long until I'm back on a bike. Elevation gain was 5280 feet.

July 29th, Day 51 - Greenfield, MA to Lowell, MA (85.35 miles, 17.20 avg, 4hrs 57min ride time, road kill count: 2) Today started off early.. had had to get up at 5:15 in order to have the luggage on the truck at 5:45. Breakfast was at Friendly's at 6:00. What a joke.... they were very slow. It was almost 7:00 by the time I was finished eating. I went to my bike to start the ride, and I noticed that my rear tire was flat. I think I over-inflated it, but I'm not quite sure. It seemed to take forever to get going today. I started off riding with Peter, Charlie, Dave, Maston, and Terry, but they were going a little too slow for my taste. I was tired from yesterday, but I had to move a little faster than 12mph. Terry and I broke away from the rest of them, and we rode the remainder of the day together. After I got moving a little, I loosened up and started to feel a little better. I never felt great today, but for the most part, I felt about the same as most days in the past since St. Joseph. The first 40 miles of the route today were very rolling with a few good hills, but after that, it leveled out a little bit. The second sag of the day was put on by a rider's friend.. She had ice cream out for everyone - it was great! I had 3 cones and 1 bowl. The last 18 miles into Lowell were more difficult for me. I was tired and the long stop at the second sag didn't help at all! Mechanic hour today was practically non-existent. Hardly anyone showed up, and Bruce and I called it a day after 15 minutes. It was really nice to have nothing to do on the last day! Jo Anne and Christine hosted happy hour in their room at 4:30 for everyone who wanted to come. I went and hung out for about an hour.. We had a great time talking and hanging out. Probably at least 25 people came by while I was there. 1 day left!! Elevation gain today was 3610 feet. Click here for today's pictures.

July 30th, Day 52 - Lowell, MA to Portsmouth, NH (55.03 miles, 16.98 avg, 3hrs 14min ride time, road kill count: didn't count) Today started early (too early)... breakfast was at 6:00 at the Ground Round next door to the motel. After eating, I left the motel with a large group of riders, but once we got out of Lowell, the group broke up. I rode with Frank and Reinhard for most of the day. After the sag stop, we decided to stop at a small restaurant for coffee and a light snack. We had a lot of time to kill, so we sat around for a while. We were supposed to meet our police escort at the Rye Junior High School at 11:30 at mile 50.5. At 8:30, we had already completed 30 miles! We still got to the junior high school about 1 hour too early, so we sat around and talked with the other riders who were there early as well. Around 11:30am, Doug did a quick roll call to make sure everyone was present, and then we began our short escort to the Wallis Sands State Beach. We were all very excited about finally arriving after looking forward to this moment for a long time! When I arrived, I saw my family, greeted them, and then I proceeded to the ocean to dip my wheel. It was a relief to finally be finished, but I will miss all the people I met and the daily routine of riding. There were many hard days during the summer, but overall I had a blast! Click here for today's pictures.