crossing the Mississippi River;
CORN!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Through to Illinois
It's been a while since my last update and there's much to tell, but I'll start with the biggest news: it appears that I'll be completing the ride by myself. A few days ago Fred left me on the side of the road and I haven't seen him since. So I suppose I'm going solo from here on out, which is fine. I'm in Urbana, IL, staying with my college friends John and Natalie. We're about to sit down to dinner, so I'll leave the details for later (don't worry, tomorrow is a rest day, you'll get a proper update soon). Here are some pics: yet another campsite sunset;
crossing the Mississippi River;
CORN!
crossing the Mississippi River; CORN!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
And.....We're Back
Okay, problem solved. I had to get a cab 40 miles up to Des Moines to a bike shop where I bought a whole new wheel. It would have taken too long to get a new hub shipped from the manufacturer and I still would have needed a bike shop to rebuild the wheel with the new hub, so I sucked it up, paid for the cab and the new wheel. Fred and I are both super tired after all the stress, so we'll probably just spend the night here even though we technically could make it to the next town over. With the exception of an amazing radio interview we did with Kristan Gray of KMA in Shenendoah on our first day, Iowa has not been kind to us. The roads here are atrocious and the drivers are the worst this side of Boston. That being said, all the people we've met off the bikes, including my taxi driver, have been wonderful. But Iowa roads are not cycling friendly.
Uh Oh
Hit a big snag just now. We're in Osceola, IA. We were just riding into town on a side road where there was construction and a heavy gauge wire caught my rear wheel, ripping a spoke through the hub. Normally, a broken spoke is no big deal, but the problem is the spoke is fine, but my hub is destroyed. So now we're weighing our options to figure out how to proceed. At the bare minimum, we've lost another day.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Photos, Finally!
Here are a few quick photos for you. Our picnic dinner one night; some lovely flat-land scenery; a midwestern sunset storm. And the header photo is of the road out of the mountains toward Denver.
Well, I'm in Lincoln, NE at another public library. I brought my camera but the damned computer won't let me upload any photos, grrrr! Anyhoo, I suppose I'll just try to catch you all up at least a little bit. (Sidebar: For those who need more frequent and colorful updates, Fred has been keeping his blog more current.)
Let's backtrack a ways and talk about the Rockies, shall we? I'll tell you about Monarch Pass. My second day of riding was initially supposed to end in Gunnison, CO, which is a little more than 4o miles west of the beginning of the climb up Monarch. But thankfully, I felt good and made good time going into Gunny and was therefore able to push on to cut down the next day's mileage. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to camp until I got right up to the bottom of the pass, so I ended up riding nearly 40 miles further than I had originally planned for and 20 miles further than I wanted to. But it's okay, because the campground I eventually came to had a nice convenience store, a restaurant where I got a pretty good burger, and a tepee with a cot for me to sleep on so I didn't have to set up my tent and all my other gear. I have photos, but alas, they will have to wait.
So the next morning I was rested and ready for the slog up Monarch. This is an extremely long and difficult climb and I was expecting it to come pretty close to breaking my spirit. However, after about two miles of climbing I finally settled into a rhythm and was able to climb at quite a steady pace, which is the absolute best way to attack a tough climb of any nature. Again, pictures speak louder here, so I'll just give you the vital statistics:
10.48 miles from bottom to top
2:09:25 ride time
4.8mph average
2,677' vertical gain
4% average gradient
10% maximum grade
When I got to the summit I stopped in front of the Forest Service sign to take a photograph and I heard a voice say, "Welcome to the top." I looked behind the sign and saw another cyclist who was sitting against the sign writing up some postcards. Turns out he had ridden up from the other direction and was on a week-long ride across Colorado. We chatted a bit and I gave him some advice about stopping in Telluride and he told me what to expect on the descent. I love meeting other riders on the road.
The descent was fast and easy (no hairpins) and before I knew it I was in Salida, CO doing an interview with Jonathan Schwab of the Salida Mountain Mail. Poor guy was nursing a number of injuries from a mountain bike accident; he had his left arm held inside his t-shirt like a sling. But he was interested in my story, asked good questions, and had his photographer take some action shots of me on my way out of town. He says the article should be published shortly, and I'll post a link to it when it comes out.
I spent that night at a KOA in Johnson Village.
Totals for the day:
58.51 miles
5:20:43 ride time
3,894' vertical
10.9mph average
(Spoiler alert: These average speeds will increase proportionately to the decrease in vertical gain. Thank you, Nebraska.)
The next day I continued north, riding through the town of Fairplay where I stopped to take a self-portrait with the "Welcome to" sign, which my sister Eve then emailed to the paper so they could print just the photo with a brief caption. I continued up 285 to the town of Bailey, where I asked several people where I could camp for the night. Everyone initially looked around like a lunatic had just asked directions to the asylum and then told me to turn around and find a spot of National Forest Service land, which I did, backtracking a few miles in a burgeoning rain storm until I found this dirt road climb. This is where I set up camp and my new friend Sean offered me his camper for the night, as mentioned below.
80.57 miles
7:20:01 on the saddle
10.9 mph average
4,215' vertical (though there's always the possibility of this being well off because of the barometric pressure changes caused by the storm)
The next day was my last in the Rockies. The riding was relatively uneventful, though it left me with the memory of being constantly above 8,000' and wondering when I was going to start the descent into Denver. I knew Denver is around 5,300' or so, and therefore, every mile I pedaled above 8,000' meant my descent would be that much steeper. I've only got ten minutes left before this computer boots me off, so I'll just say quickly that the descent was exactly what I had been anticipating. Approximately 12 miles straight downhill. Hardly pedalled at all. Again, I was happy that there were few hairpins and I almost never touched my brakes.
Also, I chose not to stop in Denver and pushed on all the way to Fort Collins.
104.71 miles
8:16:06 riding
12.5mph average
4,066' vertical
Okay, gotta go. I'll catch you up on the rest of the trip since then (and, hopefully, add some audio/visual material) as soon as I can. I'll be in Iowa tomorrow. See ya!
Let's backtrack a ways and talk about the Rockies, shall we? I'll tell you about Monarch Pass. My second day of riding was initially supposed to end in Gunnison, CO, which is a little more than 4o miles west of the beginning of the climb up Monarch. But thankfully, I felt good and made good time going into Gunny and was therefore able to push on to cut down the next day's mileage. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to camp until I got right up to the bottom of the pass, so I ended up riding nearly 40 miles further than I had originally planned for and 20 miles further than I wanted to. But it's okay, because the campground I eventually came to had a nice convenience store, a restaurant where I got a pretty good burger, and a tepee with a cot for me to sleep on so I didn't have to set up my tent and all my other gear. I have photos, but alas, they will have to wait.
So the next morning I was rested and ready for the slog up Monarch. This is an extremely long and difficult climb and I was expecting it to come pretty close to breaking my spirit. However, after about two miles of climbing I finally settled into a rhythm and was able to climb at quite a steady pace, which is the absolute best way to attack a tough climb of any nature. Again, pictures speak louder here, so I'll just give you the vital statistics:
10.48 miles from bottom to top
2:09:25 ride time
4.8mph average
2,677' vertical gain
4% average gradient
10% maximum grade
When I got to the summit I stopped in front of the Forest Service sign to take a photograph and I heard a voice say, "Welcome to the top." I looked behind the sign and saw another cyclist who was sitting against the sign writing up some postcards. Turns out he had ridden up from the other direction and was on a week-long ride across Colorado. We chatted a bit and I gave him some advice about stopping in Telluride and he told me what to expect on the descent. I love meeting other riders on the road.
The descent was fast and easy (no hairpins) and before I knew it I was in Salida, CO doing an interview with Jonathan Schwab of the Salida Mountain Mail. Poor guy was nursing a number of injuries from a mountain bike accident; he had his left arm held inside his t-shirt like a sling. But he was interested in my story, asked good questions, and had his photographer take some action shots of me on my way out of town. He says the article should be published shortly, and I'll post a link to it when it comes out.
I spent that night at a KOA in Johnson Village.
Totals for the day:
58.51 miles
5:20:43 ride time
3,894' vertical
10.9mph average
(Spoiler alert: These average speeds will increase proportionately to the decrease in vertical gain. Thank you, Nebraska.)
The next day I continued north, riding through the town of Fairplay where I stopped to take a self-portrait with the "Welcome to" sign, which my sister Eve then emailed to the paper so they could print just the photo with a brief caption. I continued up 285 to the town of Bailey, where I asked several people where I could camp for the night. Everyone initially looked around like a lunatic had just asked directions to the asylum and then told me to turn around and find a spot of National Forest Service land, which I did, backtracking a few miles in a burgeoning rain storm until I found this dirt road climb. This is where I set up camp and my new friend Sean offered me his camper for the night, as mentioned below.
80.57 miles
7:20:01 on the saddle
10.9 mph average
4,215' vertical (though there's always the possibility of this being well off because of the barometric pressure changes caused by the storm)
The next day was my last in the Rockies. The riding was relatively uneventful, though it left me with the memory of being constantly above 8,000' and wondering when I was going to start the descent into Denver. I knew Denver is around 5,300' or so, and therefore, every mile I pedaled above 8,000' meant my descent would be that much steeper. I've only got ten minutes left before this computer boots me off, so I'll just say quickly that the descent was exactly what I had been anticipating. Approximately 12 miles straight downhill. Hardly pedalled at all. Again, I was happy that there were few hairpins and I almost never touched my brakes.
Also, I chose not to stop in Denver and pushed on all the way to Fort Collins.
104.71 miles
8:16:06 riding
12.5mph average
4,066' vertical
Okay, gotta go. I'll catch you up on the rest of the trip since then (and, hopefully, add some audio/visual material) as soon as I can. I'll be in Iowa tomorrow. See ya!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Where's My Shoe?
Hey all,
If you're in or around Stoneham, CO and you happen to find a black Shimano carbon-fiber cycling shoe with a red Look ARC cleat for the left foot, possibly in the tall grass, possibly with bite marks from a dog all over it, I would sure appreciate your letting me know. You see, I somehow managed to lose said shoe and have ridden the past 180 miles or so with one proper cycling shoe and one Adidas flip-flop, which is not really the ideal setup in terms of efficiency or comfort or style or anything else.
I'm here in McCook, NE, at the public library, waiting ten more minutes for the post office to open where I've had a new pair of shoes sent to general delivery. I guess you could call this situation a minor mishap.
Anyway, yesterday was a tough day. It was brutally hot all day and we rode 102 miles through some relatively uninteresting terrain. Both Finn and I had a few mechanical problems which slowed us down and Finn had a minor fall turning through an oil slick in Palisade, NE. Fortunately, the good people at the American Legion hall took pity and gave us beer and an air conditioned respite. The last 15 miles of the day we covered in less than half the time it took us to ride the previous 15 miles, due mostly to the cooler dusk temperatures and the motivation to get to McCook.
Obviously, there's much more to tell you about and I wish could post some photos, but you'll just have to wait for that, as the post office should be open soon and we want to get back on the road. Talk to you again soon!
If you're in or around Stoneham, CO and you happen to find a black Shimano carbon-fiber cycling shoe with a red Look ARC cleat for the left foot, possibly in the tall grass, possibly with bite marks from a dog all over it, I would sure appreciate your letting me know. You see, I somehow managed to lose said shoe and have ridden the past 180 miles or so with one proper cycling shoe and one Adidas flip-flop, which is not really the ideal setup in terms of efficiency or comfort or style or anything else.
I'm here in McCook, NE, at the public library, waiting ten more minutes for the post office to open where I've had a new pair of shoes sent to general delivery. I guess you could call this situation a minor mishap.
Anyway, yesterday was a tough day. It was brutally hot all day and we rode 102 miles through some relatively uninteresting terrain. Both Finn and I had a few mechanical problems which slowed us down and Finn had a minor fall turning through an oil slick in Palisade, NE. Fortunately, the good people at the American Legion hall took pity and gave us beer and an air conditioned respite. The last 15 miles of the day we covered in less than half the time it took us to ride the previous 15 miles, due mostly to the cooler dusk temperatures and the motivation to get to McCook.
Obviously, there's much more to tell you about and I wish could post some photos, but you'll just have to wait for that, as the post office should be open soon and we want to get back on the road. Talk to you again soon!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Rest Day
I met up with Finn yesterday in Fort Collins and we're taking a rest day here. I'm writing from the library at CSU, which is really nice by the way. Yesterday I was just supposed to ride around the city looking for a place for us to stay or to camp for the night, but I ended up riding about 30 miles. Not a lot compared to what I've been doing, but I wasn't even wearing my bike shorts or jersey because I thought it would be a lighter day, so it still took its toll on my caboose.
I was on my way out of town, heading toward a KOA (Campground of America; I don't know what the story is with the "K") when I saw Finn on the other side of the road. I had been climbing a hill and didn't even notice him until he stopped and yelled across the street. A funny way to meet, I thought, especially after not having seen him in nine months.
Shit. Finn just directed me to this headline from cnn.com: Dangerous heat has parts of U.S. sweating. Turns out the plains states are expecting a record heat wave, right as we're riding through. Ugh... The heat is the only thing that actually worries me about this ride. It'll be okay though, we're careful people and we know how to deal with it. It may push our schedule back by a few days, which is fine but frustrating. We'll have to go slower and stop earlier than we would otherwise. Oh well.
I forgot to bring my card reader, so no photos today. Sorry. Here's a quick story for you:
On Day Four I rode into the tiny mountain hamlet of Bailey, CO and asked at a local cafe for directions to a campground. They weren't too sure, but they told me to turn back the way I'd come and go about two miles back to Shawnee, where there's National Forest Service land on which I could set up a tent for free. It was just beginning to rain at this point, so, reluctantly, I retraced my steps until I found this dirt road that they had mentioned. I rode, very slowly, up until I found a flat piece of ground that I thought might be an acceptable spot, in between two sections of obviously private property. I eventually got my tent set up and prepared to spend the rest of the night cooped up out of the rain (this was around 5pm, I think).
After an hour and a half or so, spent anxiously peering through my rain fly every so often at the sound of barking dogs and passing cars (I was afraid that I had actually set myself up on someone's front yard and would be asked to pack up and leave in the middle of the storm), someone called out to me. He said he knew what it was like to camp out in the rain and offered me a bed in his camper. At first I politely refused, but with his insistence and promises of a warm, dry place to sleep, I found myself enthusiastically accepting. His name is Sean and he and his wife were amazingly kind hosts, saying modestly that that's what you do in small towns. Long story short, I had the best night's sleep since leaving Telluride.
I was on my way out of town, heading toward a KOA (Campground of America; I don't know what the story is with the "K") when I saw Finn on the other side of the road. I had been climbing a hill and didn't even notice him until he stopped and yelled across the street. A funny way to meet, I thought, especially after not having seen him in nine months.
Shit. Finn just directed me to this headline from cnn.com: Dangerous heat has parts of U.S. sweating. Turns out the plains states are expecting a record heat wave, right as we're riding through. Ugh... The heat is the only thing that actually worries me about this ride. It'll be okay though, we're careful people and we know how to deal with it. It may push our schedule back by a few days, which is fine but frustrating. We'll have to go slower and stop earlier than we would otherwise. Oh well.
I forgot to bring my card reader, so no photos today. Sorry. Here's a quick story for you:
On Day Four I rode into the tiny mountain hamlet of Bailey, CO and asked at a local cafe for directions to a campground. They weren't too sure, but they told me to turn back the way I'd come and go about two miles back to Shawnee, where there's National Forest Service land on which I could set up a tent for free. It was just beginning to rain at this point, so, reluctantly, I retraced my steps until I found this dirt road that they had mentioned. I rode, very slowly, up until I found a flat piece of ground that I thought might be an acceptable spot, in between two sections of obviously private property. I eventually got my tent set up and prepared to spend the rest of the night cooped up out of the rain (this was around 5pm, I think).
After an hour and a half or so, spent anxiously peering through my rain fly every so often at the sound of barking dogs and passing cars (I was afraid that I had actually set myself up on someone's front yard and would be asked to pack up and leave in the middle of the storm), someone called out to me. He said he knew what it was like to camp out in the rain and offered me a bed in his camper. At first I politely refused, but with his insistence and promises of a warm, dry place to sleep, I found myself enthusiastically accepting. His name is Sean and he and his wife were amazingly kind hosts, saying modestly that that's what you do in small towns. Long story short, I had the best night's sleep since leaving Telluride.
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