Final Thoughts and Advice for Tourists

I'm writing this final blog post from home. I'm sitting on my couch, on my computer, eating food from my cabinets and drinking milk from my fridge. It's all of the little things that I've missed the most. I got to see my family today, and it really hit me how much I had missed them.

We woke up this morning and headed to the UPS store. The first one was closed, so we tried a second one. This one was open; great news! We started boxing them up, and while fitting it all in the box was tough, we got it to work. Jason had to go to a bike shop to get his pedals off, but we made it work. I shipped mine for about $114, which was less than I had expected it to be.

We were running pretty late at this point. We got to LAX at about 10:45 with our flight taking off at 11:35. We got though security quickly though and still had time to grab some food. Our flight went well and we got to Baltimore safely. Our second flight was originally delayed an hour, but we took off only about 45 to 50 minutes late. We got into Portland around 11:40 where we met my parents, my sister Sally, Jason's mom, and our good friend Woody. We drove home and it was just incredible. It feels so surreal to be back in my house where life is normal.

I'd like to take a few minutes to give some quick thoughts and advice for anyone who comes across this blog in hopes of doing their own trip.

1) Don't Over-Plan: We did this mostly by accident, as we just didn't have time to put much together. If you try to plan every day, it will only frustrate you.

2) Roll with the Punches: This is pretty similar to the last point. Things will not go how you expect them to (usually.) You have to be able to change your plans on the fly. If you're having a great day, like if you have a tail wind and a cool day in the west, go further than you had planned. Just because you were going to stop at 80 miles doesn't mean that you have to. On that same note, if you're having a terrible day, stop early. The wind will be better tomorrow, or your legs will be more fresh. You've got to learn to adapt to your situation.

3) Carry less: Clothes are heavy. One shirt does weight much, but a bag of them does. Shave weight wherever you can. Our system was to shed weigh as we went, but we could have easily started with way less. If you have to stretch to think of a situation where you need something (with the exception of some tools, which are actually essential) then you probably don't need to bring it.

4) Get paper maps: We used almost solely our phones, and it didn't work out plenty of times. The battery died, or you lose service, and you're done. This would be especially true if you were touring by yourself, or if  your group had the same service provider. Jason and I had different providers (I had AT&T and Jason had Verizon) so we usually could make it work, but we wanted paper maps plenty of times.

5) You WILL ride at night: It doesn't matter that you'd planned not to. Something will go wrong, and you'll have to fix a flat, or you'll get an address wrong. Get a GOOD bike light; a headlamp is not good enough, trust me. On this same note, if you want to ride at night for any part of your trip, try to time it with a full moon. We got lucky and hit the full moon when we were doing huge days and thus riding partially at night. On that same note, riding at night can be a good option since it's cooler and there's usually less wind. Just be prepared. Keep an eye on cars behind you, and assume that they won't see you; riding into oncoming traffic is a good idea since you can see them coming, just be careful on winding roads.

6) You WILL get flats: Practice changing your tire. You don't want the first time to be in the middle of the desert. Carry more tubes than you think you'll need, and carry patches as well. It's not impossible to get two flats in one day. I met one older tourist going from California to DC who had gotten three that day.

7) Carry a lot of water: This is especially true through the desert. Three water bottles are NOT enough for a 70 mile stretch of road through 105 degree weather. You'll want extra to have to throw on yourself to cool down. The most I ever carried was 7 bottles: 3 bottles and 4 Gatorade bottles full of water. Even if you don't use it, it helps mentally knowing that you have it just in case.

8) Talk to locals: They know the roads and the hills. Frequently they can tell you better roads to take, or at least give you new ideas. Be wary of course for they will probably be way off on the mileages that they give you, but they're an important resource nonetheless. Plus, it's fun hearing their stories and meeting interesting people.

9) Carry food: Just like having water, it's important to have snacks. Not all gas stations are open 24/7, and you'll get hungry at strange times. If it's hot, snack even if you don't feel hungry. You're body will be happy that you did.

10) Push yourself: If you're doing a big tour, then you're already doing this, but keep it in mind. Ride through that rainstorm with hail. Camp on the side of the road behind a baseball field where you won't get found. Go further than you think you can. That's what touring is about. Push your limits and you'll feel the reward. Some of my fondest memories are of the hardest and most challenging parts of the trip.

11) Relax and have fun: Take your time and enjoy, after all that's why you're touring. If you've had a terrible day (which you will from time to time) get a hotel and have a hot shower. Sleep in a little late. You're doing this to have fun, so remind yourself of that from time to time.

12) Stealth camp: This is for those trying to save a few bucks. Stealth camping can be really fun. We found that the best places were baseball fields and parks on the outskirts of town. It's harder in the midwest, but when there are forests, use the cover of trees to hide yourself. I read some good advice once that said basically that if you think you're hidden, chances are local kids will know of that spot too. Just be careful and you should be fine. Stealth camping for an entire long tour would be no fun as it's fairly stressful, so try to mix it up with real campgrounds and a hotel once in a while.

That's my list for now... I'm sure I'll think of more, and I'll try to keep this updated as I do.


This tour was the biggest thing I've done in my life. It's changed me more than I had ever imagined it could, and in ways that I didn't expect. I'm proud of what I've done; really and truly proud. I don't feel that way often, if ever, and it feels amazing. I've gotten far more of an education being out on the road for 50 days than I will ever get at any institute of higher education. I'd like to say thanks to my wonderful parent for all of their support, both financial, and much more importantly, emotionally. I could not have done this without them. The phone calls home were what kept me going. Thanks as well to my fantastic sister, Jason's mom, and all of my friends at school and at home. You're all amazing.

So go out and do something amazing. Don't over think it. Just because you haven't done it before doesn't mean that you can't do it. It's terrifying but that's what makes it so damn fun. Stop reading this and go take up your own adventure.

If you'd like to get in touch with me for any reason, to talk about touring or bikes or anything else, you can get in touch with me at gmerritt@colby.edu.

Signing off for the last time until my next adventure,
Greg Merritt

Day Forty Nine

And so the adventure comes to a close. We rode 74 miles from San Bernandino, CA to Venice Beach in Los Angeles, CA.

It was really a spectacular last day. It wasn't too hot or too windy. We had good roads all day through the suburbs of L.A., and we had bike lanes for a goog portion of the day. We rode fast, leaving the motel this morning at about 8am. We got burgers for lunch, but made it quick so we could keep going.

Riding through the city was really cool. Los Angeles seems like a really cool town and I wish I could have seen more of it.

With about 9 miles to go, we stopped for a bathroom break, and to buy paper and champagne. We only found paper. So we stopped again, but this time found only champagne. Finally we found a bathroom about 5 miles from the beach. From there we went at a dead sprint. We started recording, and got a great video.

Highlights of the video include lots of yelling and trying to make red light turn green, Jason's friend Sam (who we're staying with tonight) rolling up alongside of us, and we almost getting hit by a car. At that point nothing could stop us. We rolled onto the beach, ditched the bikes, and ran to the Pacific Ocean. After basking for a minute or two, I took off my shoes and put my camera in safe place. I went for a swim, and enjoyed making it all of the way across the country.

Eventually we went back to the bike and met Sam and her friend. We took tons of pictures and had a blast. We popped champagne and finally got to lift the bikes over our heads in triumph. It was surreal to actually finish the trip. It was an abrupt ending. We basically rode until we ran out of country to ride across.

From the beach we took a ride to a bike shop in hopes of getting boxes. They didn't have any, but the second shop did. After some logistics, we decided to strap the boxes to the roof and ship the bikes early in the morning before our flight.

After a quick ride down Sunset Boulevard, we went back to Sams and showered and snacked. We decided on mexican for dinner, so we headed out to some restaurant. After we ate, we took a long driving tour of the city, which was great. We got to see the Hollywood sign; it wasn't lit up so we couldn't get a picture, but we can still say that we've seen it! We got a bit lost, as Sam only moved here about a month ago, but it was a great time nonetheless.

Tomorrow: Home.

Day Forty Eight

Today went a little more slowly than we would have liked, but it was fine. My computer stopped working about halfway through the day, but according to Google Maps it was 85, so given our wrong turn and other things, I'll say that we rode 87 miles from Twentynine Palms, CA to San Bernardino, CA.

We slept in a bit since we got in so late last night. We were on the road at 11. It was really hot again, but it was either better than the days past, or we're just getting used to it. The kicker today was the wind (again.) It's like going up a hill with no top.

We ate lunch at Subway, which was great since we hadn't had a legitimate meal in a while. After we ate, we had a huge downhill. Jason missed our turn, so we trekked up the hill a bit. Unfortunately, our road was dirt. So, we turned back around and headed to I-10, whether we were allowed to ride on it or not.

The answer was not. As we pulled in to a rest stop to refill water, a cop came up behind us. He was nice, and just said that we couldn't ride on this stretch of freeway. It was fine, and he just said to get off at the next exit. So we did that, and were in a much better situation than we would have been with the dirt road.

From there it got even windier. Actually, there was a wind farm (I think that's what it's called?) right there as well; so many turbines! We made it to Banning at about 8 and found an italian restaurant, which we've been wanting for what seems lime weeks. We checked our milage, and it was exactly 100 miles to the beach. We booked a motel (another Motel 6) about 27 miles away.

Our night ride was awesome. There were great road with bike lanes, and we're back in society so there we street lights for a while. We were on the road at about 9:20, and were at the motel, after stopped to buy breakfast, by midnight. So now we rest for a few hours and do 72 miles as fast as we can.

Tomorrow: Venice Beach, CA, where our adventure comes to a close.

Day Forty Seven

It was another long day. We rode 126 miles from Needles, CA to Twentynine Palms, CA.

We woke up to find that bikes weren't allowed on I-40. We knew they were at some points, so we we trekked as far as we could on backroads, and then there was no sign prohibiting us at that exit.

Jason got a flat, so we fixed that. We passed an exit where we were asked to leave the freeway, but we pretende we didn't see the sign, and kept going.

It was insanely hot today. Like, probably around 110, maybe 105. We climbed 2000 feet until we exited the freeway. We didn't get kicked off by the police, though we almost wanted to so that we could get a ride in an air-conditioned car. We mostly weren't kidding.

After we got off, we sat to take a break. A nice guy stopped (probably because we looked haggard) and gave us some water. He told us he owned the auto shop in the next "town" (population around 10 maybe? His shop was the town,) and that we should stop to get water. So we made it the 11 miles and stopped. We chilled in the shade and drank water and ate snacks and chatted with the old man napping outside. He was nice, and very interesting, just incredibly quiet.

After we left, we trekked the 34 miles to Amboy. It was still hot. but we made it, and sat in the air-conditioning for a while. We drank some drank, filled water bottles, and headed out.

The sun went down, and it cooled down considerably. We climbed a gigantic hill, which, combined with my dehydration (it's literally impossible to stay hydrated) and hunger, made me very unhappy. Near the top, I "realized" that the hotel was 20 miles closer than we'd thought. That turned my mood around, and got me up the rest of the way. We had an epic downhill, which is always nice. At our turn, we realized that the hotel was not in ya new location, but actually in te original location. Bummer.

We rode another 19 miles into town to our Motel 6. We rolled in at about 2:45. Of course, we were on the third floor. No worries though, there was an elevator. Then our key didn't work. I went back down, got a new key, and am now crashed in bed. We've got 140 miles to Los Angeles, and another 15 to the beach.

Tomorrow: Somewhere a few miles east of Los Angeles.

Day Forty Six

Today was long, but we finally made it into California. We rode 126 miles from Seligman, AZ to Needles, CA (my odometer's reading 121 miles but it broke for about 5 miles.)

We woke up and got breakfast and were out of the hotel around 10. We stopped for snacks and bought awesome american flag bandanas. Then we hopped back on I-40.

We were on I-40 for about 70 miles. It was okay. About 5 miles from Kingman, Jason got a flat. We found a shard in the tire, and replaced the tube. Then we stopped and ate dinner at Panda Express. When we came outside, the tire was flat again. Luckily, the Wal-Mart was next door. So we walked over and I stripped the tire off while Jason bought tubes. I found two more shards in the tire. Yeah, they were a great purchase.

Then we left for the rest of our day, which was about 50 more miles. It got dark, so we lulled out lights and reflectors. We had a huge climb through what I can imagine would have been really pretty in the daylight. Then we finally got the decent we'd been waiting days for. We dropped about 3500 feet in about twenty or so miles. It was awesome. We could see the city for nearly the whole decent. I'd say it was my favorite stretch or road thus far.

We crossed into California without much of a welcome sign. We stopped at Jack-In-The-Box for a bite to eat, and checked into the Motel 6 at about 12:10. So now it's time to sleep so we can wake up early and go hard again.

Tomorrow: Twenty-Nine Palms, CA.

Day Forty Five

Today didn't quite go as expected, but it was okay nonetheless. We rode 104 miles from our hotel at the Grand Canyon National Park to Seligman, AZ.

We got up this morning and trekked over to the cafeteria to grab cream cheese. We're probably not supposed to take it, but hey, if it's free when you buy a bagel then it should be free if you don't buy a bagel. We ate in our room, packed up our bags, stopped by the market to buy snacks, and were on the road around 10.

The first 60 miles were okay, just a lot slower than we'd hoped. We thought that the elevation of Williams was lower, but it actually wasn't. That combined with a light headwind, made for some slow going. We got in around 5:30, and got dinner at Jack in the Box, only because we didn't want to waste miles in to town to find a better place. After a pit stop for McDonald's smoothies, we were back on the road at around 6:45.

That left us with about 40 miles to go. We were on I-40 (yes, in Arizona bicycles are allowed on interstates) so we had a good road and good shoulder. After a few miles of a slow climb, we found a "6% Grade Next 6 Miles"'sign, which was awesome. It was about a 10 mile decline, all told. We got a great sunset, and took out reflectors and lights. It's very nearly (or maybe it actually was) a full moon, so we had enough light to ride. There were some big rolling hills, but we made
it to Seligman just shy of 10.

We have one of the nicest $60 hotel rooms I've ever seen. And the town seems really cool too. I wish we had time to explore. It's the "birthplace" of historic route 66, and apparently the movie Cars was based on this town (the tow-truck is parked just across the street.)

Tomorrow: Needles, CA.

Day Forty Four

What an amazing day. We rode a total of 4 miles, which was just down to the post office and grocery store.

We slept in late in our super comfortable beds. We gathered ourselves and headed over to the cafeteria in the lodge to get breakfast. It was really really expensive, but I suppose that's expected at a National Park. The we went to the gift shop to get t-shirts. We tried to look as touristy as possible, but it's hard to compete with the people here.

We went back to the room and I got a shower. We checked our route from here to Los Angeles (exciting!) and made sure we had hotel options. We decided on what we were shipping home, and rode down to the post office. I shipped all of my camping stuff (tent, sleeping bag and sleeping pad,) plus my back bag, which also had a handful of stuff in it. So now we're riding super ultra light. I'm down to just two bags with the bare minimum in them. Then we got lunch, went bag to the room to drop the bikes off, and walked down to the canyon's edge to catch a bus that would bring us to the good viewing places.

The canyon truely is, well, grand. I expected it to be amazing, but it still surpassed all of my expectation. It really is a see-it-to-believe-it kind of place. We snapped a ton a amazing pictures.

At one of our first stops, we got to talking with a group of kids. One of them suggested a brilliant picture, so we took that. We found out shortly that this group was actually two group who were just hanging out. We boarded our bus with one of them, our new friend Robert. He plays football at Coastal Carolina, and was in Arizona helping a friend move. He'd decided to take a day at the Grand Canyon, much like we were doing. We spent the rest of the day with Robert, which was great. It's nice to have more than one person to interact with out here.

After all of the stops we went to get dinner before reboarding a bus to watch the sunset. We ended up missing our bus by about one minute. Bummer. We ended up watching it from a different spot, and all was well with the world.

Robert came back to our room for a few minutes so he could borrow Jason's phone charger so that he could call his mom. We hung out for a few minutes longer, and then he left to drive back to Flagstaff to his friends new apartment.

We watched some television and booked our flights home. Wednesday, July 20th at 11:35am we will be on an AirTrans flight home. Now it's back to the road on our final stretch to the Pacific Coast.

Tomorrow: Seligman, AZ.

Day Forty Three

Today was insane. We rode 138 miles from somewhere around 16 mules west of Kayenta to our hotel in Grand Canyon National Park.

It was really a day of accomplishments. First of all, we made it to the Grand Canyon, our biggest destination other than Los Angeles. Second, it was our biggest day of the trip, and that record will probably stand. Thirdly, we hit our 3000 mile mark.

We realized the night before that time in Arizona is strange. Apparently they don't observe daylight savings time. However, we had been on a Navajo Indian reservation since entering Arizona, so we didn't know. So, we somehow managed to pick up an hour, so we're essentially on pacific time now, sort of. So we woke up at 4, and were on the road around 5:15. We rode some fast miles, and were in Tuba City around 10:30. We got lunch and talked to Jason's mom, who had gotten our hotel booked for us. I called my mother to wish her a happy birthday (Happy Birthday!) and were back on the road around noon.

We'd also realized that the Grand Canyon had an elevation of about 6800 feet, where we had thought it was around 2000. That meant it was either flat or uphill, not a big downhill like we had hopes for.

After lunch it got really windy. We rode a very slow 22 miles to Cameron, where we snacked for a minute. Then it was off to do the last leg of the day.

It started with a huge climb. That was followed by another huge climb. All said, I put the total climb at 35 miles, except for about a 2 miles downhill near the middle. By the top it was dark, and we had about 26 miles further to go. So we snacked for a moment, took out lights and jackets, and headed out.

It was rolling hills, some of which were really pretty steep. We could see the canyon from time to time, to out right. it was pretty amazing having your first viewing of this place be by moonlight on a bike ride. While my spirits had gotten pretty low on the hill climb, I was feeling better once to started getting some downhills. We rolled into our hotel at about 11:30, putting our total risky time at about 18 hours and 15 minutes. Wow.

So I'm pumped to sleep in a comfy bed and take a shower and get a good nights sleep.

Tomorrow: The final rest day, taking time to explore the Grand Canyon.

Day Forty Two

Today went pretty well, similar to yesterday, but without the terrible ending. We rode 103 miles from 12 miles west of Shiprock, NM to somewhere 16 miles west of Kayenta, AZ.

We woke up to the same mud that we dealt with last night. We packed up and carried the bikes and all of our bags over to the road (at least 100 yards, probably closer to 200.) We cleaned the bikes as well as we could, and by about 2 hours after we'd woken up we were back in good working shape. We biked down the road a few miles and ate some breakfast.

We hit the Arizona border about 10 miles into our day, which is always great. Only one more left!

We had some fun hills today, but mostly it was just rolling. At the top of one of our bigger hills, there were some folks taking pictures of us. We'd seen their van go by and thought the license plate was "TEAMNBC" so we got excited, but it turns our it was "TEAMBNC" which stood for Team Ball N' Chain. They were just this couple who had gotten married after riding a tandem up a hill to their wedding ceremony, and had gotten jerseys that said the slogan. Oh well. They gave us some drinks (Muscle Milk, which I've wanted to buy all trip but have been too cheap) and some tubes. the tubes were too small, but we figureded they'd work in a bind. Awesome. I wish we got prizes at the top of every hill.

I got a flat tire today, which bring the score up to 6-2, with Jason still in a commanding lead. It turns out it was a staple that did me in. It went right throughy Kevlar tires and into my tube. Don't ever let someone at a bike shop order tires for you. Especially if they're
Panasonic Paselas.

We got to Kayenta and got dinner at Subway. We finally were able to charge our phones. We then rode a fast 16 miles out of town, trying to get as many miles in before dark as possible. We found a nice grassy and somewhat hidden spot off the road, and are calling it home. Tonight should be our last night of camping, if all goes as planned. I'm not going to miss it, at least not for a while.

Tomorrow: Waking up at 5 to do our biggest day yet. Pressing 140 miles all of the way to the Grand Canyon. CAN'T WAIT.

Day Forty One

Today started wonderfully and ended terribly. We rode 97 miles from Carson National Forest, NM to somewhere a few miles west of Shiprock, NM.

We woke up in a national forest, which was just beautiful. We were up early since we had gotten to bed so early. There was almost no wind, so we rode a smooth 50 miles or so to Farmington, NM where we got lunch.

From there the wind picked up a bit, but nothing too bad. Out pace slowed, but we still managed to get to Shiprock around 6. Shiprock is 97 percent Native American, and located on the Navajo Reservation. We got asked for gas money, and for money for food. Apparently we must look wealthy.

We bought dinner at a grocery store and ate at Sonic. From there we headed west, with the intention of just getting as far a we could. That's when the weather took a turn for the worse. We could see the storm approaching, and decided to try to plow through it.

It's a big storm. It started getting dark, so we pulled down the first road we found. We walked our bikes over to a space between some hills in hopes of not being seem by traffic or any others. This was a lot harder than it sounds, since it was all very dense clay-ish mud. It caked on the wheels making it hard to wheel. Jason's bike had fenders, so the caked mud was even worse. I grabbed a few of his bags, and he basically carried the bike over. This was in the middle of an open field, while it was thundering and lightning. It was probably just about the most scarred I've ever been, and probably about the most real danger I've ever been in. But we did what we had to do, and made it through. So now we're trapped in our tents, hoping to wake early and do a big milage day tomorrow. Things are going to look up. They have to from here.

Tomorrow: Somewhere near Tonalea, AZ.

Day Forty

We love New Mexico. My cycling computer seems to have stopped working (it keeps milage, I just can't flip to the right screen) so I'm not sure of the exact miles, but it was around 60.

Update: My computer was working again this morning! We rode 62 miles.

We woke up later than usual, and got on the road around 10. We were originally planning to only ride 27 miles to Dulce, NM, but we were feeling good and ambitious, so we decided to ride more. That being said, since any miles past Dulce were extra, we decided to stop for breakfast. Just outside of the breakfast place in Chama, Jason's front tire went flat, again. Bah. So we got our breakfast, then proceeds to change the tire. We were pretty sure the flats were due to wrinkled tape on the wheel, so we retaped it with electrical tape, and patched the tube. The first patch didn't hold, so off came the tire again. The second patch held, and got us through the day.

So we were on the road at around 12:30. It was a beautiful day to ride. We made it to Dulce and got lunch, then headed out.

I had this image in my mind if New Mexico, but what I'm seeing is not even comparable. It's a bit different than the Colorado Rockies, but beautiful nonetheless. We've had lots of huge downhills today, so we've been able to just enjoy the sights.

We rode through Carson National Forest, and actually we're technically camping in it, just on the far western edge. It amazing, and I recommend it as a vacation destination to all. We found a sign that said camping was permitted within 300 feet of all roadways, so we hunkered down. 

We made it just in time. As soon as we picked our site, raindrops started falling, and by the time time the tent was up it was pouring. We ducked into our tents and experienced the biggest thunderstorm I've ever heard. It was terrifying. But alas, we survived. Now if we can make it through the night without having a battle with a rattlesnake, we'll be in business.

Tomorrow: Shiprock, NM.

Day Thirty Nine

A lot of today was pretty rough, but we managed to end on a high note. We rode 74 miles from Alamosa, CO to Chama, NM.

We had a huge head wind all morning. It's really frustrating, but there's nothing we could do about it. So we plugged along, and made it to Antonito, CO for lunch. We had a crazy waitress, and laughed a little bit too much.

From there we headed west into the mountains. We were told our uphill would start after a bridge, so we were pretty leary of any that we came across.

Jason had a hard time today. Before lunch, he got a flat. Ugh, great tires, but it happens. Then after lunch, another flat. We tried to patch t, but there was a tiny hole in the patch. Great. So we changed a total of three tires today. We're starting to get faster.

It was flat for a or longer than we had expected. But inevitably, we cross a bridge and saw the sign, "La Manga Pass Summit: 5 Miles." The first mile was really steep, but it got better from there. We made it to the top eventually, where we were at 10230 feet. We realized how cold it was and layered up. It was getting pretty late by that point, but we decided to press on.

Aside from maybe a one mile climb, it was a decent all the way to Chama. It got dark, but we had some moonlight, so we rode the 15 or so miles. It was actually pretty amazing. I wish that I could have seen it in the day light. A twelve mile decent is one of the most enjoyable experiences in the world. Jason saw a couple elk, too, but I missed them somehow.

We got to Chama just before 10, and have set up camp at a (real) campground. We're bummed about having to pay, but at least we get hot showers here.

Tomorrow: Dulce, NM, or somewhere west of it.

Day Thirty Eight

Today we finally got to climb some mountains. We rode 78 miles from Walsenburg, CO to Alamosa, CO.

After about 20 miles of a gradual rise, we hit hills. It was just over a 6 mile climb, andfelt pretty good. The summit was about 9500 feet, so we got some pictures with the sign and started the decent.

The wind was far worse today than the hills. We had a very stiff headwind all day except for the last two or three miles of our climb. Going downhill we were averaging about 10-12mph, and that's with pedaling. So that was disappointing.

We made it to the bike ship in Alamosa at about 6:05, and they closed at 6:00. No worries though, they were great. We got our new tires, and did a little maintenance on the bikes (new brake pads, lubes chain, etc.) It feel like we've got new bikes. Hopefully this will mare our climbs tomorrow a little bit easier.

We got dinner at a Mexican buffet which was awesome. Then we got some food for breakfast and headed towards this baseball field/fair grounds. We were going to stay under the bleachers, but someone came and turned the lights on. So now we're just out in a field behind a pile of sand. What a life.

Tomorrow: Chama, NM.

Day Thirty Seven

The Rockies. We found them. We rode 76 miles from La Junta, CO to Walsenburg, CO.

We had a rough start. About two miles down the road, my back tire went flat. Fairly expected, but ugh nonetheless. So we patched the tube, but halfway through pumping it we could still hear another leak. So the tire came off again. We put my front tire and tube on my back wheel, and my back tire and a new tube on the front wheel. That worked, and got me through the day.

The day was a 75 mile stretch of nothing. It was absolutely beautiful, but barren. We'd gotten lunch this morning, knowing it was a bare stretch, which I'm certainly glad we did. Finally we came over a rise and, boom, mountains. Shortly after, we came over anther rise, and we could see what we were about to be up against. It was cloudy, so the view was a bit hazy, but it looked pretty ominous.

We made it to Walsenburg and got mediocre Mexican food for dinner. We sat and listened to New Found Glory and ate our burritos. Then we went to the gas station to stock up on food for another pretty barren stretch tomorrow. It was pretty dark by this point, so we high-tailed it out of town the three miles or so to Lathrop State Park. It's on the way, so it's just three less miles we have to do tomorrow. We've gotten in late enough that I'm pretty sure we're not going to have to pay, which would be stellar.

Tomorrow: Waking up early to trek to Alamosa, CO so that we're there before six to pick up our new tires. It will be our first day of doing legitimate mountains.

Day Thirty Six

Even though today was a pretty short day it was eventful. We rode 58 miles from Lamar, CO to La Junta, CO (pronounced la-ha-na, apparently.)

I woke up before Jason again, and packed up all of my things. As I was about to wake Jason up, a few softball girls came onto the field. So I told him to hurry, and we packed his stuff up quickly and left awkwardly as the team laughed at us.

Jason immediately noticed he had a flat tire, so we had to fix that before we even left. It went pretty smoothly, and we were on our way. About 20 miles down the road, I noticed that mine were low. Upon inspection, I saw that my tires had worn almost all of the way through. We pumped it back up, and kept on our way. It was low again by the time we made it to Las Animas for lunch.

We were hoping for there to be a bike shop in either Las Animas or La Junta, but no dice. No where to buy a tire. The closest shop we found was in Alamosa, which will be our stop in two days. We called and after some frustration with the owner, I ended up talking to the shop mechanic who was very helpful. He told us he could probably order us some tires to be in by Friday afternoon, and that he would stay a bit late if we couldn't get there by 6.

At about two miles to go, my tire finally gave out, and wouldn't hold any air whatsoever. We have a hotel tonight, so Jason rode there to drop his stuff off, while I started the tire repair. The tire had a massive hole and so I patched an older one with a smaller hole. The good news if that the tire looks like it hasn't worn ALL of the way through. So there's still hope. Jason took my bags to avoid putting too much weight on the patch right now, and we rode to the hotel. The patch is holdig thus far. It only had to last about 140-150 more miles. We'll find out.

So we're getting dinner at Sonic now, and are pumped to watch a movie in our room later. It's a good thing that we have a room tonight because it looks like a massive thunder storm is about to roll through.

Tomorrow: Walsenburg, CO.

Day Thirty Five

Well, we're not in Kansas anymore. We rode 82 miles from Lakin, KS to Lamar, CO.

I woke up this morning before Jason, and decided to go look for a bathroom. As I did, I saw a lady drive in, and shortly after, a sheriff car drive in. Uh oh, I thought. So I walked back, and just as I was passed the cop car and thought that I was out of range, I got the, "Excuse me, Sir?" Bah. He asked if we were camping, and I said yeah and that we were getting ready to pack up. He didn't seem upset in the least, and we chatted about the trip for a few minutes. Phew.

So we got up, and had awkward interactions with the lady who had to have called the police. She seemed nice enough though, so it was fine. We were eating breakfast by the road, and were offered cantaloup by some guy and his wife in an RV. Yum! I love cantaloupe.

We crossed the time zone, and passed into mountain time, which was pretty cool. It's nice getting the extra hour, although now it gets dark pretty early. We rode shirtless for most of the way, which was probably a bad decision given the sunburn I have now. Oh well, it'll tab over eventually. We made it to Syracuse and got lunch there. After that we headed to the post office. We intended to send a few items home, but got a little carried away. I ended up sending probably between 15-20 lbs of stuff. I'm down to the bare minimum now, and I could actually feel my bike get lighter. It's the perfect thing to do before tackeling the Rockies.

We crossed into Colorado! Hooray! I'm pretty happy to not be in Kansas anymore. Everything is much more alive here. Apparently it's because Colorado steals all of the water from the Arkansas River before it gets to Kansas. Who knew.

So we're in Lamar now. We called the police department to see if we could sleep in this park. Hey said no, but gave us the location of a park we could sleep in. Score. We went to dinner, and headed back to camp. The place looked a little rough, so we set up camp in a softball field. As long as I get some sleep, I'm happy.

Tomorrow: La Junta, CO.

Day Thirty Four

We had another good day today! We rode 81 miles from Dodge City, KS to Lakin, KS.

We woke up and headed to a gas station after packing our things up. We ate breakfast on the curb as per usual.

We made it to Cimarron, and decided to get lunch since we figured we would find much between there and Garden City. It's a good thing that we did. After our Subway sandwiches we were back on the road.

The next stretch was a little slower than we would have liked. You know when there is construction and the road looks like a cheese grater went over it? Yeah, the road was like that. For about 15-20 miles. Luckily the tires held up, and eventually the road was good again.

We made it to Garden City and scouted the McDonald's to get more smoothies. During our (refreshing and delicious) break, we looked into the Fouth of July celebration in town. It turned out that the fireworks were cancelled due to fire concerns. Bummer. So since we weren't getting a fireworks show there, we decided to keep on going.

On our way, we passed a Mustang on the side of the road, with no one in it. Peculiar, but hey. A few minutes later, the car pulled up beside us as the women in the passenger seat took pictures of us. We chatted for a minute and eventually both pulled over to exchange numbers. Wolf (he goes by his last name) is from Germany and lives in Hollywood. We think he said something about being a writer, but his accent was pretty thick. We exchanged phone numbers and Facebook info and got another picture with his... well, either young wife or daughter, we're not sure. He told us we should call him when we were in LA and we could "make party in Hollywood." He said they wouldn't be back to California until the 25th, so it's not looking promising, but who knows. At least we have an invite in Hollywood.

We're staying at this park/fair grounds/golf course place. We can see fireworks in about three different areas, with a few stragglers off in other directions. I just built a shower out of a hose and a fire-pole on the playground. It was cold, but actually worked better than I had planned.

Tomorrow: About 80-90 miles down Rt. 50, crossing into Colorado and getting another hour!

Day Thirty Three

Today was really rejuvinating. It got me excited to ride again. We rode 118 miles from Arlington, KS to Dodge City, KS.

We started the day with something unheard of: a tailwind. We cruised right along and did our first 35 miles or so to Pratt (where we had wanted to get last night) by about 12:45, and that was with a pretty late start.

We got lunch at Starvin Marvin's BBQ. We're far enough west now that this is real BBQ. We spent a while there reassessing our route. We realized that there is basically no road that runs east-west through New Mexico remotely near where we need it. After extensive discussion, we're back to Colorado. I'm excited, and think that it's a great change of plans.

We headed back out en route to Greensburg. They were wiped out by a tornado about 5 years ago, apparently. Thats when we hit our first real rain. The first storm was big and threatening. There was a lot of thunder and lighting, and hail, which hurts a lot to ride through. After a bit of clear weather, we got the second storm. This was basically the first storm, but worse. At one point, we had got hit by a gust that had to have been close to 90 or 100 mph. I got blown off the road, and Jason was literally blown off of his bike. Ah! But it cleared slowly from there. The positive to this heavy wind was that it was a tail wind (when it was steady.) We rode at about 20mph (which is FAST on our touring bikes) the whole 30 miles, so we made it there in about an hour and a half.

We got Mexican food there, and decided that we'd head to Dodge City, another 44 or so miles. We just couldn't pass up the tailwind, and didn't want to waste some easy miles.

So we headed out to Dodge City. It was a fun ride with the wind at out backs. We expected a third storm that we saw approaching, but we managed to out-run it or something, because it never did hit us. We made it to Dodge City around 8:40, took some pictures in town (it's a really cool western looking town) and got smoothies at McDonald's.

From there we headed to a park. It looked to busy, so we picked another and rode a little ways out of town to it. We're now camping behind a baseball field. Hooray for not paying for campgrounds!

Tomorrow: Somewhere along Rt. 50/400, trying to find a good place to spend the 4th.

Day Thirty Two

Well, we made some mistakes today. We rode 62 miles from Newton, KS to Arlington, KS.

We woke up in the middle of a car show. When I awoke, there was only about 3 cars there, but they started fillig in quickly. We eventually ended up chatting with one of the guys, and he was really very nice.

In the middle of the night I awoke to see another cyclist roll into our park. I'm not sure exactly what time, but it was sometime between 12 and 3 am. This poor guy slept in later than us, and awoke to a ton of cars. Hah. We didn't know whether we should wake him or not, but it all worked out. We talked to him a bit, mostly to see where he stayed the night before. Apparently he'd ridden through the night. I think that he was living further off of the grid than we were. We ran into him again in town, and we got water together and said our goodbyes. We never did get his name, so we refer to him by any number of fictional names.

It was hot again. I won't expand on that. It was really windy again. Such is life. After talking to Arnold, we got the idea that we wanted to ride into the night to avoid the heat. So that was our plan.

Jason apparently had some family in Hutchinson that he'd all but forgotten about. So, when we got there, we got there address and headed over. Jason hadn't seen Trenda since he was three, so we were basically hanging out at a strangers house. We're not even totally sure how they're related, but third cousin is what Jason decided on. She was very nice though, and we were very grateful. We got lunch and did our laundry, and got to have a shower. Then we just sat around in the AC and watched High School Musical. Eventually we headed out.

We stopped in Arlington for dinner, beforeour night ride. We ate at the Crazy Horse Saloon, which was awesome. It was owned by this couple with 8 kids, and they were great. We got excellent Philly cheese steaks.

After dinner, we went next door to buy some fireworks. There were a bunch of kids outside who were pumped about our trip. They ended up giving us 15$. Now, we truly were going to buy fireworks regardless, so we didn't feel too badly about using that money for our purchases. So we strapped the explosives to our bikes and headed off.

We realized within 5 minutes that we had had a terrible plan. Riding at night is hard, and not fun. So after assessing the situation we rode the half mile back into town and stayed at a park. Oh well, we should have known it was a bad plan. We're bummed that we missed miles in the afternoon waiting to ride at night, but life goes on.

Tomorrow: Somewhere down Rt. 54.

Day Thirty One

Today was hot again, but this time far windier. We rode 61 miles from Cottonwood Falls, KS to Newton, KS.

It was pretty close to the same temperature as yesterday. Maybe a little cooler just because of the wind, but not much. And the wind was considerable. It said online 23 mph, and a direct headwind. So it was slow going. We held maybe 7 mph for the first 30 miles or so. We're basically riding on a highway, so the blacktop is hot and there's virtually no shade. We took to stopping at bridges and hanging out in the shade there. Kind if sketchy, but necessary.

We made it to Florence, KS and we found another pool! They had water areobics until 1 (it was 12:30) so we went and got lunch first. We came back after, and paid the 2$ to swim. it was a great way to cool down. We got invited into a game of sharks and minnows, but graciously declined. We chatted with the owner for a while, and bought a couple popsicles! What a way to get out of the heat.

We rode another 10 miles to Peabody, where there was another pool. We were bummed to find that they closed at 5:00, when it was 5:30. Oh well. We rested in the park for a while listening to country music.

It had started to cool down a bit, so we headed out to do out last 18 or so miles. We found a sprinkler and sat there for minute to cool down, and rode fast to Newton. We made it here, got some great Mexican food for dinner, and then rode to the city park where we're staying. They love their fireworks here in Kansas. It was pretty loud earlier, but it's
quieted down now.

Tomorrow: Somewhere on Rt. 50, milage depending on heat and wind.

Day Thirty

Woah, a whole new decade of days on the road. Today we rode 62 miles from Lyndon, KS to Cottonwood Falls, KS.

It was by far the hottest day I've ever experienced. We saw 99 degrees with a "feels like" of 107. Hot. So we rode really slowly and just plugged along. We stopped pretty often and hung out in the shade. When we would stop a bit I'd start to feel light headed, so I'd just sit for a few minutes, drink some water, then do a few more miles.

Eventually we made it to Emporia. We stopped at a gas station and bought some drink (7Up actually, peculiar purchase but it was delicious and refreshing.) We sat inside to drink them, and met a new fried Terrance. He was this older guy, retiredc who was getting coffee at the gas station. We chatted with him for about an hour. He was great, and new a lot about all of the local areas. He had traveled to a lot of exciting places too (especially Alaska, he got me all excited to go there some day. He was an awesome guy, and we were glad to have made our new friend.

We made a great trip to Goodwill too. We found some great t-shirts! Excellent. Then we went to eat at Subway. If you can't tell, we were doing everything we could to stay out of the heat. At that point it was about 6:00 and had started cooling down, so we headed out and did our last 20 miles.

We stayed at this town park THAT HAD A POOL! They were just closing, so we awkwardly went in and swam for a few minutes. We made some conversation with the locals, but it was a pretty quick dip. Then we got dinner at Casey's General Store, and headed to bed.

Tomorrow: Newton, KS.

Day Twenty Nine

Well, today was pretty boring. I rode a total of 10 miles into town, once for lunch and again for dinner.

Today was hot. Exceptionally hot. And tomorrow and the next day are supposed to be the same way. Highs of 103 says the weatherman. Oh boy. I spent most of the day sitting in the shade. The owner guy here lent me a comfy chair, so I pretty much just said around, played games on the phone, and studied for my GRE's a bit.

After I got back from getting dinner, this guy came over and told me that I could
come hang out in his camper to get out of the heat for a while. So, I grabbed my sandwich and went over. It turns out that he lived in Reading, MO (right near Joplin, MO) and had lost his house in the tornado. So, he's living at his parents' camper until he can close on the new house. It was really awesome chatted with him and hearing all of the first hand stories from the tornado. He lived with his dog, Jamie, and was really close with his son who goes to college on Topeka. So thanks Gary for letting me come and watch TV and be air conditioned and get some great stories.

And Jason is back! He got a ride here from some nice lady named Nancy for the last 35 miles or so. She made him a sandwich and gave us some homemade cookies. Things are starting to feel "normal" around here again. It's nice not being alone in Kansas anymore. I guess I didn't realize how much I missed just having someone to talk to.

Tomorrow: Cottonwood Falls, KS.

Day Twenty Eight

Today really had it's ups and downs. Hah, literally. I rode 79 miles from Paola, KS to Lyndon, KS.

The day started great. I don't know which part of Kansas is flat, but it's not right here. Not that it's terrible or anything, but there are just a lot of rollers. It was hot but not too hot, just enough to keep me sweating and thirsty.

I finally made it to Osage City. I got dinner at Subway, then headed up to my campground. I found the address, but no campground in sight. I was not pleased. So I found another, which was 13.5 miles back along the same way that I had came in. Awesome. I got to that address and no campground. By this point I was pretty legitimately upset. So I called the place, and he said they were 2 miles north of Lyndon, where I was about 1 mile south. Sigh. So I rode up, and made it there eventually.

The day took a turn for the better at that point. I'd met 2 cyclists earlier going from northern California to DC. It turns out that they were part of a 5 guy team (4 riders and a support vehicle driver,) and they were staying at the campground I had ended up at. So, I'm at their campsite, and I got to hang out with them all evening. They have an 18 year old, a 40 something year old, and two guys in their 70's, plus the driver. The guy in his 40's was great. He bikes around a ton, and sounded like he'd been on a lot of adventures. He seemed a little jealous that I was doing it self-supported. So we chatted all night, and they made me a burger. Cool. So thanks to those guys for brightening my day up.

I also left my wallet at the counter of the check-in, and the owner was nice enough to return it. I guess it's a good thing that I returned the one I found, because it brought me that good luck.

The sky is huge out here. I love the Midwest.

Tomorrow: A waiting day here, where Jason will meet me tomorrow night!

Day Twenty Seven

Today was annoying. I rode 40 miles from Harrisonville, MO to Paola, KS.

Those 40 miles were probably 65% dirt roads. Not nice packed dirt like the Katy Trail, but bumpy rocky dirt. And it was surprisingly hilly. I'm glad I was only riding 40 miles, because I'm not sure I could have held onto my sanity had I done much more.

But hey, at least I crossed another state line. Although I didn't even get a state line sign. The road was called "State Line Road" so I took a picture of the road sign and went on my way.

I was finally able to get in touch with the owner of this wallet I found. Jason and I found it last Wednesday, and, not being able to find a phone number inside, I just emailed the Katy Trail people and waited. I got an email a few days later saying someone with the right name had posted a lost wallet on their forum. So, I called the number, and left a message. I thought it was strange that I wasn't getting a call back, but there wasn't much more that I could do. Finally this morning, the lady called me. So, when I got to Hillsdale I sent the wallet to it's owner (using her credit card, which we had agreed on.) Her license said Santa Fe, NM, so Jason and I were hoping to get a place to stay out of the deal, but apparently she had moved to Lincoln, NE. Bummer. So
my good citizen deed has been completed for the trip.

I got dinner at this gas station. Pre-made sandwiches, BBQ Twisties, and Peace Tea. Yum.

The road into my campground was like 3 miles long. Literally. I wasn't too impressed. Eventually I found the check in place, and payed for my site. I chatted with the guy a bit, who asked me if I was crazy. I've been getting that a lot. He told me the route he would take, which was basically what Jason and I were planning on doing anyways.

I'm staying in a State Park right on a lake, so I went for a walk on their trails, which was nice. The weather is beautiful right now.

Tomorrow: Turkey Point Campground in Osage City, KS to await Jason on Wednesday night.

Day Twenty Six

Today was a waiting day in Harrisonville, MO. I guess I'll say that I rode 8 miles, but I'm really only putting it so that my odometer count stays corrects.

I slept until about noon, which was awesome. I watched TV for awhile, then motivated myself enough to ride into town to get lunch and dinner stuff. 

I tries to go to this coffee place, but alas, it was Sunday and they were closed. Blast.

So I just went to the supermarket and bought sandwich stuff. And milk. I hadn't had milk in ages so I was pretty excited about that. I was going to ride around town for a bit, but the sky didn't look too friendly, and frankly I think I had seen all that there was to see.

I just hung around all afternoon. I ate, watched more TV, and did a lot of planning. I think I got the next 9 days planned out, which includes a few huge milage days. Let's hope Kansas really is as flat as they're saying.

I got my socks, spandex, and a few tanks washed, along with my bike.

Tomorrow: Hillsdale State Park in Paola, KS.

Day Twenty Five

Today was okay. I rode 57 miles from Windsor, MO to Harrisonville, MO.

I woke up to a cloudy sky. By the time I was packed and ready to go, it was raining, and by two minutes down the road, it was pouring. No worries though, I actually enjoy riding in the rain. The only downside at that point was that I was on the trail, which is dirt, so my newly cleaned bike got a fresh coat of mud on it. Oh well, I'll just wash it again.

It got bad when the thunder and lighting came. Normally I'm not really to intimidated by storms, but this one really was on top of me. Luckily I came to a bridge, so I took shelter there. It was crazy for about 20 minutes. I saw a strike about 300 yards away. I've never heard thunder so loud. Luckily, weather passes by quickly out here, and so it was relatively clear in no time.

I finished the Katy Trail, going down to Clinton. It was actually out of my way to go to Clinton, but 1) I wanted to finish the trail and 2) I was afraid of hitting dirt roads taking another route. I made it to Harrisonville, MO around 3 and checked into my motel. It's okay here. I ordered pizza so that I didn't have to bike into town, and enjoyed getting to watch some TV.

Tomorrow: A rest (err... waiting) day in Harrisonville, MO.

Day Twenty Four

Today went about as well as it possibly could have. It was sunny, high 70s to low 80s, with no wind. I rode 62 miles from New Franklin, MO to Windsor, MO.

Nothing really eventful happened on the ride. I guess I met two women this morning who were pumped about riding 26 miles to Pilot Grove. They said I was belittling their accomplishment with mine (they were joking, clearly.) I ate lunch in Sedalia at a great little cafe. I sat at the bar and chatted with the owner.

Oh yeah, I hit what we decided was our halfway mark. 1700 miles. Pretty cool. I wish Jason were here to enjoy it.

I'm camping in this town park where they have a handful of campsites. It's a nice place. There was a Sonic right down the road, so I had that for the first time. I was underwhelmed. It's really pretty standard fast food.

When I got back, it was still really early, and I was board, so I decided to clean my bike. It now looks brand new. I even cleaned all the junk out of the cassette, and relubed the chain. I'm good to go now.

I talked to Jason a few minutes ago. His uncle passed today. My thoughts are with him and his family. The funeral is Tuesday morning, so he should be back out Tuesday night, or Wednesday. We'll be back on the road together in no time.

Tomorrow: Harrisonville, MO, which I'll call home for a couple days.

Day Twenty Three

Today I rode a measley 32 miles from Easley, MO to New Franklin, MO.

I got the chance to do a bit of hiking today. I'd been looking at the bluffs all morning, wanting to get a view from the top. So, when I passed a sign for a scenic lookout, I couldn't pass it up, especially since I'm in no rush for a few days. It was a short 5 minute (if that) walk, but the view was pretty amazing. There was a nice old lady at the top who I chatted with for a while. She offered to take my picture and email it to me, which was peculiar since I was holding my camera. I suggested she just take it on mind, and while she was a bit flustered about the LCD screen, she did just fine.

It was really windy today, and pretty cool, especially for Missouri this time of year so I hear. I didn't push to hard, and went pretty slowly. I got lunch at a gas station. Mediocrity at it's best.

I eventually came to this campground, Katy Roundhouse. It wasn't nearly as far as I'd wanted to go, but it was only 6$ for the night, with a shower. So I decided to just crash here.

I got hotdogs and beans and tea and apples and had quite a feast for dinner. It felt good to cook for myself, even though it was only over a fire. You take what you can get around here. So then I charged the phone and camera, took a shower, and am in bed. For those that are interested, the beard is great. Here's a teaser:

Tomorrow: Windsor, MO (Still on the Katy Trail.)

Day Twenty Two

Today went pretty much as expected. I rode a lonely 51 miles from Portland, MO to Easley, MO.

I slept in late this morning knowing that I was going to be doing a low mileage day. Once I was up, I went to the shower room to get ready, to find it locked. The manager had told me to lock it when I left, and so he must have 1) been an idiot and not seen that I was still there and 2) not trusted me. Ugh. It was find though I suppose, I had showered the night before. So I brushed my teeth out of a water spicket and wet on.

About 15 miles down the road, I found this awesome house open to bike tourers and hikers (and anyone else, I suppose.) It was 5$ a night on an honor system, and they had beds, showers, a bike shop room, the works. I wish I had known it was there and gone last night, or been able to stop today. Oh well, if I'm ever on the Katy Trail again I know where to stop.

I ate lunch at this airport restaurant outside of Jefferson City. I got there at 1:45 and they closed at 2. I ate the worst sandwich of the trip (yeah Jason, probably worse than Dimitri's) and went on my way.

There was a tour on the Katy Trail going west to east, so I passed about 300 people in about an hour. I felt like I was going the wrong way on a one-way street. I only almost got hit once. I've been "Howdy"ing everybody in Jason's honor.

So now I'm at Cooper's Landing. It's a marina/RV park/ camping/grocery/music venue/Thai food place. Hah. I didn't get the Thai food, but got a burrito from the store instead. Something about Thai food in central Missouri made me uncomfortable. I ate outside listening to some older guy playing guitar and singing songs. I've got a recording if anyone wants a taste of this life someday.

I'm writing this post sitting on the dock, watching the sun set on the Missouri river, still listening to the same guy. I'm really not quite sure how I'm going to introduce myself back into society.

Tomorrow: Still on the Katy Trail.

Day Twenty One

What was supposed to be a great day took a turn for the worse. I rode 54 miles from Augusta, MO to Portland, MO. Jeesh, I feel like I'm back in Maine.

Last night was crazy. I woke up to wind gusts around 3am so I put my rain fly on. Jason woke up around the same time and staked his in too. We could see the huge cloud bank rollig in. It was good timing, because not 2 minutes after I got back into my tent, it started raining. I checked my weather reports every 5 minutes for the next half hour to make sure there were no tornado warnings, but we were fine. I eventually fell asleep, but awoke again around 5 to loud thunder. It was just incredible. We got up around 7, and the rain was just stopping.

We got ready to go, and Jason miraculously found the tent bag that he had lost out in the corn field. Awesome.

The day was great until lunchtime. Jason had gotten a phone call about a week and a half ago saying that his uncle who had been fighting cancer wasn't doing very well. A few days later, they said he was doing much better. However, today he four out that he has about 3 days. So, Jason is flying home to see his uncle one last time, and make sure he gets to the funeral. Send your thoughts and best wishes to Jason and his family.

So the plan is: Jason is riding straight through 190 miles to Kansas City to fly home. I'm going to spend a few low mileage days on the Katy Trail, and a few in Kansas City. Jason will then fly back out to Kansas City, and we'll continue the trip. Hopefully we won't lose more than a couple days. It's like halftime for our trip, since KC is more or less the halfway point.

So I'm camping in Portland, MO tonight. I'm writing this from the most cliche Midwestern bar, eating chicken strips and fries. We'll be back on track in no time.

Tomorrow: Still on the Katy Trail.

Day Twenty

Today was great! We rode 84 miles from Highland, IL to Augusta, MO.

This morning Jason and I were sitting at our complimentary breakfast when we saw two apparent bike tourers leave they hotel. When they returned to fill their water bottles, we asked them where they were headed. Apparently they started in Los Angeles and were headed for DC. They asked us if we were planning on taking the Katy Trail through Missouri, and when we said no, they told us we should really look into it. Missouri is they home of the Ozarks, and while the hills aren't huge, there are lots of short steep climbs. The Katy Trail is part of the Rails to Trails program, which converts old railroad beds to bike and running trails. That means it's flat. Super flat. From where we got on in St. Charles, MO it run 230 miles west to Clinton, MO, about 20-30 miles from the Kansas state border. Needless to say, we room their advice and aimed for the Katy Trail.

We crossed the Mississippi River today too! It's actually flooding right now, so it's super high. They casinos along the riverfront were all flooded out. We made our way over to the Arch in St. Louis and hung out for a bit, basically just long enough to get some pictures. They we headed out.

It was terribly hot, and it took us awhile to find a reasonably priced lunch. We eventually found a pub that was a bit pricy, but it worked. We had a terrible waitress, and we were at the restaurant about an extra 45 mins just waiting for our check. Oh well. As we were about to leave, this guy came up to us and asked if we were the ones with the Treks. We told him about our trip and he was pretty excited. He told us that life as a vagabond was the life to live. Apparently he had just quit his job of 11 years, bought a sailboat, and was getting ready to sail around the world. I don't knowif I could licethis way forever, but he was a pretty interesting guy.

We eventually made it to the Katy Trail. It's awesome. It's not technically paved, but it's crushed limestone and good enough to ride on. We made it to Augusta, and decided we didn't want to ride anymore to the campground we had in mind. We were pretty hungry, thirsty, and tired.

Luckily there was a middle school softball gameright off the trail. We stopped and got dinner at the concession stand, and watched they game. After waiting for the game to finish and everyone to clear out (maybe 50 people) we set up our tents in the outfield. We're hoping we don't get kicked out, that'd be tragic. We should be fine though. We charged our phones a bit, and are crashing, getting ready for our first full day on the Katy Trail.

Tomorrow: 100 miles (give or take) down the trail.

Day Nineteen

I really don't have much to say about today. We rode 92 miles from Greenup, IL to Highland, IL.

We woke up to rain. It was still pretty warn though, so we just dealt with it. We rode for about an hour before it cleared up. We found a turtle on the road, and took some pictures together. I named her Shelly.

The day went smoothly once the rain stopped. It got nicer and nicer as the day day continued, and it was hot and sunny by the afternoon. We pressed pretty hard, and we made it to Highland around 6:20. We're staying in a hotel again tonight. We made it to Muncie on Jason's birthday, so he still had a birthday present hotel room to cash in on.

We went swimming at the hotel and then got dinner at Mazzio's. Then we came back to the room, and just chilled eating Italian food and watching Miss USA. Solid night.

Tomorrow: Somewhere in Missouri (crossing the Mississippi!)

Day Eighteen

Today was a really great day. Or I should say ended up being a great day. We rode 85 miles from North Spencer, IN to Greenup, IL.

We were actually off to a terrible start, much like our day ended. There were thunderstorms all night, which actually woke me up, which is saying a lot because I'm a pretty heavy sleeper. Luckily my tent is great, and kept me dry. Jason had a little less luck and got a bit wet, but we didn't get struck by lightning, so it's all good.

We got breakfast at the campground. They had this goofy system where you ordered at the window, brought the slip to the desk to pay, then brought the slip back. I accidentally got an extra order of scrambled eggs, but I ate them anyways. I got some B&G (biscuits and gravy,) which were actually pretty good.

It was supposed to rain all day, but we ended up avoided it all day save for a few sprinkles. We got the inciteful advice that it was "gon' rain." Thanks man, you're really helping our optimism.

It wasn't especially hilly, but not completely flat either. Oh well, it all evened out I think. We hit the time change today too, so we got a free hour. Awesome. We also accidentally rode on Rt. 70 (a highway) in an accidental merge incident. We cut through the grass quickly though, and were soon in the clear.

We got lunch in Marshall, IL. Our waitress was a little standoffish, but when we told her we were from Maine, she revealed that fact that her uncle apparently owns "like half of some
town called Auburn." Hrmm. Paul Duplease or something like that? The name actually
does sound familiar.

The excitement of the day came when we passed through Martinsville,
IL. We were riding by a little community event when some
people called us over for drinks. We accepted, and spend about a half hour at the Rt. 40 festival. Yup. They were celebrating a road. Apparently it's historic or something, and this was it's 200th anniversary or something. So we got orange drink, popsicles, and se
cookies. We got pictures too, and might be in their paper, since we were riding the road they were celebrating across the country. I'm going to try to get a copy of the paper shipped home.

We're staying in a hotel tonight since last night was so miserable. It was only 40$, but it actually really nice. We can't ask for more. We were in early enough that we were able to take a ride into town. We got ice cream and dinner, and stocked up on donuts for breakfast. It really ended up being a great day.

Tomorrow: Highland, IL.

Day Seventeen

Today was a really long day. We rode 117 miles from Muncie, IN to North Spencer, IN.

The day was off to a great start. We had a big breakfast, and were on the road by 8:40. Dr. Harvey road the first 10 miles with us, which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I think the way he took us was a little out of the way, but in the end I'm sure it didn't cost us more than about 5 miles.

The morning went pretty well. It was flat and pretty straight. We ate lunch at 3rd Generation Pizza and got chicken fingers. They were mediocre at best and gave me pretty bad indigestion. Blagh, oh well.

Some guy handed us two coupons for free sandwiches from Chick-Fil-A out of his car window. So we got those and were on our way

Near Plainfield, IN it started getting a bit hilly, and that lasted for about the last 40 miles of our trip. At about 20 miles left to go, we faced about 3 miles of dirt roads. And even when we made it off of the dirt, the roads were still terrible. With about 4 miles to go, it started to rain, and our last mile was on another dirt road. We got to our campground just before 10, so we rode for about 13 hours.

On the plus side, Dr. Harvey gave us some Halt dog spray. So we got the chance to use that a few times today when we were getting chased. For the most part we just yelled, "HALT" at the dogs, and usually they would stop... especially the chained ones.

Tomorrow: Effingham, IL (changing time zones!)

Day Sixteen

Today was a rest day in Muncie, IN. The Harvey's are really great. We had an amazing breakfast and lunch, and a big spaghetti dinner. I'm really starting to miss homecooked meals, so it feels spectacular to be cooked for again.

We took a ride into Ball State to get a tour of the university where Dr. Harvey is a professor. They bought us smoothies and bought us each a Ball State t-shirt, which was awesome. After the tour, we did some parts shopping. I got my new rack and some gloves (I think I was starting to do permanent nerve damage to my palm/pinky finger, so hopefully they help.) We're so appreciative of Mrs. Harvey carting us all over town, it would have been a huge pain to try to bike everywhere we needed to go.

We returned home, and I got my new rack put on. It seems a lot sturdier than the original, so hopefully it works out. We were able to just sit and relax and watch TV, which felt amazing.

After dinner we went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful night out. I almost wish I had been out riding. Almost.

We came back and got directions for the next week printed out. It's nice to have a whole week planned rather than trying to do it day by day.

So we get one more night in a real bed with nice shower before about 2 weeks of trucking across the Midwest. We've decided to cut south earlier than planned, which will allow us to avoid Colorado altogether and as much of the Rockies as possible. We should be seeing Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico now, which I'm actually pretty excited about.

Tomorrow: Hickory Hills Campground, North Spencer, IN.

Day Fifteen

We woke up this morning to a big change of plans. We rode 104 miles from Bellefontaine, OH to Muncie, IN.

Last time we checked our maps, we had about 280 miles from Orrville, OH to Muncie, IN. We did 119 miles yesterday, so we were planning on doing about two 80 mile days. However, apparently using walking directions saves huge numbers of miles compared to bike directions (why? I don't know...) So when we rechecked our map this morning, we only had 100 miles to Muncie, IN. So, we decided to do another big day (this time with a late start, since we had planned on doing a shorter day.) But we made it in by about 8:20. Not too shabby.

I realized this morning that my back rack had broke  even more. We rigged up a pretty good system with some rope, and it took enough of the weight to get me all 104 miles to Muncie. I should be able to get it repaired/get  new one tomorrow in town.

We stopped in Bellefontaine center this morning to buy snacks and a lunch so that we wouldn't have to stop for a long lunch. While we were stopped, a guy drove by and asked where we were headed. So we chatted for a minute before he drove off. Typical. However, a few minutes later he drove by again, and handed us a Subway sub. We're so grateful for all of the amazing people we've met so far.

We did an awesome 14.7 mile piece this morning. We basically treated it like a sprint and did it in just over 45 minutes, which is on the order of a 19mph pace. We love the Midwest.

We also got our first real rain this morning. It lasted for probably about 2 hours, but was only really frustrating for about a half hour. Actually, not even frustrating. I actually really enjoyed riding in the rain. Not that I want it every day, but it was nice for a bit.

Anyways, we made it into Indiana a day before we expected. There was no welcome sign, just a state line sign. How anticlimactic.

We got chased by more dogs. Most were smaller and fine, but some were definitely a little bit scary. Please chain your dogs Midwest.

We're staying with some family friends of Jason's, the Harvey's. It's kind of funny actually, because my sister was friends with their daughter when they lived in Auburn. What a small world. They made us burgers and pasta salad and broccoli and potatoes and all kinds of amazing things. If you can't tell, food is really the biggest part of our life right now, second maybe to actually cycling. We had hot showers and each have our own real bed, and I was able to watch the Bruins win the Stanley Cup. Today is great.

Tomorrow: A rest day in Muncie, IN.

Day Fourteen

Yup, we're definitely in the Midwest. We rode 119 miles from Orrville, OH to Bellefontaine, OH.

And that 119 miles wasn't all flat either. This morning was actually surprisingly hilly. We were up at 5 (well, I was up at 5:30) and we were out by just after 6:30. We had some rolling hills for a while, and some bigger hills around Mansfield, OH.  After Mansfield though it sure flattened out. We were able to cruse at about 15 mph, which sounds slow for a road bike, but for a loaded touring bike, it feels like you're flying.

I had some trouble with my ankle today. Near the end of the day yesterday it was starting to hurt, and it continued today. I get tendinitis quite often, so my guess is that it's something like that. I'm hoping that some ice and Advil, with a rest day in a couple days, will do the trick.

I also noticed today that a piece of my rack was broken. I'm hoping it will hold together for the next two days until we get to Muncie, IN for a rest/repair day, where I can either fix it or get a new one. Hah, sometimes it feels like I'm in a video game  where I have to try to make it to checkpoints and find stores. 

It took us forever to find lunch today. We finally found a place around 3:45 and about 75 miles in. We sat there for a while and charged the phones while we watched Rosanne and then Miss Congeniality II.

We hit our 1000th mile today too! That really makes it feel like we've come a long way. We celebrated with an ice cream cone. Chocolate vanilla twist, of course.

We're staying at Zane Shawnee Caverns, which in this native-American run campground. It's kind of weird here. We splurged for a cabin (which is called "the raven,") but kind of wish that we'd just tented, because it's not really worth the extra money. Oh well, now we know.

So if nothing goes wrong with the bikes, and if the land stays flat, our next two days should be great. We have two days to do about 160 miles. Since we did almost 120 today without much trouble, we're hoping that it'll go great.

Also, Jason is 22 tomorrow (the 15th.) Be sure to send him birthday greetings! We're getting a hotel tomorrow to celebrate, and hopefully our day won't be very long.

Tomorrow: Somewhere between Bellefontaine, OH and Muncie, IN

Day Thirteen

Today was just about a perfect day. We rode 76 miles from Hubbard, OH to Orrsville, OH.

For the record, we're officially in the Midwest. When we first crossed the border into Ohio, I was pretty skeptical about calling Ohio Midwest, but now that we're into the farmland, I've got no problem saying that. Things are absolutely starting to flatten out. That's not to sh we didn't do some sizable hills today, in fact we had about 15 miles of rolling hills, and a ride through the fairly hilly Akron, OH. But on average, the lad is looking a lot flatter.

Speaking of Akron, what a terrible
city. Here's an tidbit that pretty much sums up the city:

We were riding alon when we heard a lot of yelling. We passed a house with about 7 or 8 people on the porch. A large white lady had one foot up on the railing, pelvic thrusting, while another lady shouted, "BUT I WAS ON BIRTH CONTROL!" We also drove past an 'Adult Arcade' with the slogan, 'It's better than instant bingo!' Now I don't know what an adult arcade entails, or what instant bingo is, but I've got a new favorite expression. Like I said, basically sums up the city. Never going back there.

Our new friend Ally from Hubbard, OH bought us a bag of granola that we'd been trying to find the night before. Awesome. They're a great family. Grammy came to visit us this morning, so we chatted with her while we got packed up this morning.

The day really did go very smoothly though. Few hills, no dogs, no flat tires, and a beautiful low 70's and sunny. Just perfect.

We're staying at Caskey's Campground tonight. He got invited inside, so we went in and chatted with the owner for about an hour. He offered us a ride into town, so after we set up our tents we went in and got dinner. We met his grandfather too, who's 87 and still gardening and buildig stuff. He fought in WWII in Italy, and apparently lost his senses of taste and smell in construction accident. What an incredible guy. I wish we'd had more time to hear some of his stories. Anyways, the owner is super nice, and only charged us 10$ for the night, which I'm pretty sure is about half off. I love nice people.

And I'm writing this post from my tent with the rain fly off, and under a big Midwestern sky. Life is great.

Tomorrow: Waking up at the crack of dawn and trying to push 116 miles to Bellfontaine, OH to stay in a cabin.

Day Twelve

We're really knocking down states quickly here. We rode 63 miles today, from Titusville, PA to Hubbard, OH. I wish we could keep doing a state border per day, but I suppose that we'll be in Ohio for a few days.

Boy, other than a free dinner last night, Pennsylvania wasn't very good to us. Today was really hilly again. It's a good thing that we had planned for a shorter day, because we wouldn't have been able to make it much further.

One thing's for sure, the Pennsylvanians are definitely not a fan of paving their roads. We saw more dirt today than ever before. I mean, I realize it's Amish country and all, but it was kind of ridiculous. We ran into a completely new style of paving today too. The half pave. No, not side by side, or one end paved the other dirt, but instead striped. I'm not joking. Literally, 100 feet of pavement, 100 feet of dirt, 100 feet of pavement, 100 feet of dirt, etc., for a solid few miles. I just don't get it.

The Pennsylvanians also love not tying up their dogs. I was riding behind Jason this morning when I heard a few barks. This was nothing new, so I thought nothing of it. However, when the barks continued to get louder, I turned to see two rather large black beasts pursuing us. When dicussing it with Jason later, he said he heard me yell a certain curse word and fire past him as quickly as I could, which is when he turned to see the dogs. We ended up escaping with our lives. While this was the worst of it, we were chased by at least three other dogs along the way, not all quite as threatening.

Finally, after the dirt, dogs, and hills, we made it too Cedar Ridge Campground in Hubbard, OH. We chatted with the owner for a while, and with the owners granddaughter, who works at the camp, along with her boyfriend. They offered to give us a ride into town to get dinner, which was great because 1) we didn't have to ride in, and 2) he drove like a 2010 Mustang (okay, I'm not actually sure about the year, but it was really nice. So we got dinner and a tour of Hubbard before returning to make a fire and eat dinner.

Tomorrow: Somewhere in the southwestern direction from Hubbard, OH.

Day Eleven

Well, we finally made it out of New York. We rode 90 miles from Salamanca, NY to Titusville, PA.

We had a pretty smooth first half of the day. We got lunch just before the border. There were some hills, but nothing too bad. When we finally crossed over into Pennsylvania, we were disappointed to not have a big "Welcome to Pennsylvania!" sign. All we got was a "Keep Pennsylvania Green" sign. Oh well, I guess that's what we get for taking back roads.

The day took a turn for the worst around 5:00 and about 25 miles to go. Jason got a flat tire. We were able to fix it relatively quickly, but it definitely set things in motion.

We took a turn down to Flat Road (which we were excites about, hoping that it was in fact flat) but found that it was dirt. If we have to do a short dirt road, we suck it up, but we were supposed to be on this for a while, so we decided to head back to the main road and take the long way around.

The bad thing about the long way around though is that is was hilly again. I know that Jason was certainly bummed about this, but I thought it was actually
kind of fun. It was basically like doing a sprint workout, with a rest on the downhills.

Eventually we made it to Titusville center. We stopped to grab dinner at Pasquales, a pizza and sub shop. They were the best! They gave us each a HUGE heaping portion of an incredible strawberry shortcake. And even better, about halfway through our order, the folks there decided to give us our meal for free. Some people are just too nice. So, if you're ever in Titusville, PA and need some food, now you know where to go.

Quite fittingly, the last 6 miles from Pasquales to Oil Creek Campground were terrible. We had about a mile and a half climb to about a 4 mile, very hilly, dirt road to the campground. But we eventually made it in around 9:45. Everything is wet here, so the fire was a no go, but hopes are high for a better day tomorrow.

Tomorrow: Hubbard, OH

Day Ten

Woah, double digits! Today was a pretty good day, all and all. We rode 99 miles from Bath, NY to Salamanca, NY. We really debated doing an extra mile to hit the century but inevitably decided against it. We'll get it eventually...

The day started off in a pretty rough manner. In our first 50 minutes, we rode 3.7 miles. the hills were just attrocious. We did get to bike along with some deer thins morning though, which was pretty cool. Jason had to hit the breaks to avoid them. Nice.

From there the day got a lot better though. The land finally leveled out and we were able to really bang out a lot of miles. The weather was a lot better today too. It was mid-70's, which is pretty much an ideal riding temperature.

We ate lunch in Angelica, NY at this nice little place called the Acoustic Cafe. We've been doing so well with lunches. Hopefully we'll be able to keep that up. After lunch a couple doing a motorcycle tour chatted with us for a few minutes, and got our picture. Hopefully we'll get to end up in lots of random people's photo albums.

The second half of the day was pretty uneventful. We got a lot of flat ground and really cranked out the mileage. We decided to not stay in Allegany State Park since we were getting in after they closed, as well as avoiding some hills by going elsewhere. So we're at Elkdale RV Park, where they're letting us put up our tents. Sweet.

Hopefully we'll be getting out of New York and into Pennsylvania tomorrow mid-day. I'm pretty pumped to get out of this state. Oh and by the way, Salamanca, NY is really high on my list of places that I never want to come to again.

Tomorrow: Titusville, PA

Day Nine

Oops, I forgot to blog last night! Yesterday was a really hard day. We rode 64 miles from Ithaca, NY to Bath, NY.

It was hilly. And hot. Hilly and hot. Really hilly and really hot. We were going To stay at Demon Lake Campground, but with about 9 miles to go (and at 7:30 at night) we saw a sign for a campground 2 miles away, and decided to stay there.

Today is much cooler, and quite a bit flatter. Things are looking up.

Today: Allegany State Park, NY

Day Eight

Today was a rest day. It sure felt great to be off the bike for a while, and hopefully we'll feel rejuvenated tomorrow. I was incredibly hot today too... we saw 96 in Ithaca.

Ithaca was great to us! We got our bikes fixed last night, and finished up some more mine repairs today. I played with my seat height, filled my tires, lubed my chain, and got my pedal working again. We also successfully changed Jason's tire. Great!

We had a great time hanging out in the city too. Carla took us swimming at first dam, which actually isn't really a dan, but just a big cool rocky swimming place. We almost watch a kid jump about 50 feet into shallow water, but luckily he didn't, and we distribution have to see someone die. We met up with Carla's friends Kaiya, Emily, and Abby, and got lunch with them downtown. After, we went and explored a gorge at Treman State Park. Epic.

We went out to dinner with Carla's Dad, stepmom, stepbrother, and his girlfriend. We had some strange dinner conversation, but we had a great time. We also met the wife of the drummer of Blue Oyster Cult. Cool? Thanks to Carla and her family for taking us in for a day and a half and buying us food. We appreciate it so much.

So, we're reset. Laundry's done, bikes are fixed, some gear was unloaded, and we're fed and rested. We're ready to get back on the bicycle.

Tomorrow: Somewhere 20-30 miles west of Corning, NY. Maybe at a commune?

Day Seven

And so ends our first week on the road. It was also our shortest. 60 miles, from Morrisville, NY to Ithaca, NY. We're staying with Jason's friend Carla.

We woke up to our friend Dan bellowing out his window, "Gentalman, start your engines!" Chatted with him while we packed, and got a nice early start.

All of our excitement today happened before we even started riding. As we pulled into the gas station this morning to get some breakfast, a guy at the pumped said, "Hey! Is one of you Greg?" Quite shocked, I told him that I was. Turns out it was Paul, the owner of the campground we were supposed to stay at. We explained what happened, and Paul's wife told us we may have to sell ourselves if we run out of money. Doubtful.

Moments after breakfast, my clip unscrewed from my show into my pedal. In an attempt to retrieve my clip, I broke my pedal by stripping the bolt, so I was forced to ride clipless on my right foot for the day. Oh well.

We had a beautiful ride to Ithaca. Jason had a little trouble with bags, and got a flat tire about 2 miles from Carla's, but we made it through relatively comfortably.

We took a ride in to the bike shop in town to get things looked at. For me, it was my fork and pedal, and Jason was searching for a new back rack. The guy said he couldn't have a fork for me in 2 days, but gave us the number of a guy that could. Apparently my pedal is reversible and just has a test ride pad on one side. Oops.

So, we took a ride to Swan Cycles to see Glen the bike master. Glen works at Cornell, and runs a makeshift shop out of his home. He doesn't do it for (much) profit, but just because he loves to bike. I got a brand new Surly Long-Haul Trucker fork, installed, for only $94. Absolutely amazing. That's probably about $50 less than any other shop would be able to do the job. Glen is the man. Jason got a new rack too for an incredible price.

We returned to Carla's very happy, and ate a huge dinner of steak and absolutely delicious pasta. Then we took a ride into town to get ice cream and drive around. Today was the best day yet.

Tomorrow: A rest day.

Day Six

Well, I don't have a whole lot to say about today. Everything went pretty smoothly. We rode 61 miles today from St. Johnsville, NY to Morristown, NY.

Today was hot. Really, really hot. I ended up with about 5 layers of sunscreen on. Better that than rain though I suppose. I can't complain.

We started the day with a gigantic uphill. We didn't even try to ride up it. So we walked our bikes about a mile and half up the side of a mountain. On the plus side, the downhill on the other side was just as incredible.

We got a lot of flat roads today, and managed to get a lot of good miles in. We got lunch in Ilion, NY. What a weird little town. We got a bag of bagels, ham, cheese, chewy bars (emphasis on the bars, they're not Chewy brand,) and two teas for under 10$. Great deal? So we made bagel sandwiches on the sidewalk.

We rode through downtown Utica. It's definitely on my list of top five places I don't want to live. We also rode through Clinton. What up NESCAC.

Lastly, and most excitingly, our sleeping situation got marginally better tonight. We rolled into Morrisville and were getting dinner before heading over to the nearest campground. However, we ended up meeting this guy who told us that the camp was no good and that we should come to his house and camp in his backyard. So we gladly accepted. So we ate our Subway sandwiches in Dan's backyard on newspaper placemats, got a nice shower, and chatted next to the crick with nice little bonfire. What a life.

Also, as a side note, I forgot to mention all of the wildlife we've seen. Countless chipmunks and squirrels, some rabbits, a handful of deer, and lots of fish jumping. We also almost got attacked by geese on about three different occasions. Bah.

Tomorrow: Ithaca, NY.

Day Five

Boy, we sure had a lot of ups and downs today. 86 miles, from Nassau, NY to St. Johnsville, NY. I'm not quite sure where to start, so I guess I'll do positives first and negatives second.

Today really flattened out. We had a few big climbs, but not much compared to the last few days. We got lucky with the bike paths today (er, mostly, see negatives later,) for they were paved and allowed us to get in some really fast miles. And they were beautiful.

We stopped to find a map this morning in Nassau center. We went in to Grampy's, but alas, no maps. So, we went next door to look for maps. When they didn't have maps or a bathroom, we returned to Grampy's to at least fill our water bottles. But let me tell you, Grampy wasn't happy about us looking for maps elsewhere. He got (legitimately) mad at us for leaving and coming back. Sorry gramps, just need a maps of New York. Anyways, Jason'S friend Dave left shortly after, and Jason and I decided to head towards St. Johnsville (oh, we finally found a map just down the road, New Yorkers love their Stewarts.)

We rode through downtown Albany, and managed to survive. We lunched at Subway, and chatted with the clerk for a while while trying to fond a campground. We eventually found a place, but when we called, the manager told us of a big 5 mileclimb right before, and told us of another closer campground. What a really great guy.

Now on to the negatives. When we were on one of our bike paths, we ended up at a random barrier, and had to lug our bikes up a hill and across a few traintracks.

However, that was the least of our worries. On the next bike path, I was ripping right along at about 13 mph when some kids passed by the other way. I moved to the side to give them room to pass, but as I came back to the center, there was a big wooden post in the middle of the trail that I'd forgotten to watch for. Anyways, I hurdled 220 lbs of weight into the post dead on. However, on a loaded touring bike, you don't go over the handlebars as you might at first expect. Not with 50 lbs of weight on the back. No, what happens in you just stop. Oh, and also bend the bejesus out of your fork. Anyways, it bent straight back, so I can still ride it fine, the wheel is now just about a half inch from the bottom tube. Such is life. Ill try to have someone bend it back at the next bike shop we find, or buy a new fork, or i could just keep riding on it.

And lastly, we ended up riding into the night. We rode through upstate New York by headlamp into our campground. It was cold and dark and not very fun. Jason was having a lot of trouble with his rack too, so he had even less fun than I did.

But we made it. We're here safe and sound, camping again. We were on the road for 13 hours today, so I'm calling it bed time.

Tomorrow: Somewhere between here and Ithaca, NY.

Day Four

So I'm writing this post from the inside of my tent in. We rode just about 68 miles today, from Amherst, MA to Nassau, NY. That was our third state border... the next one won't come for a while.

Today was a lot better than the last. Maybe I'm just starting to get used to doing 10 hour weighted rides every day. The head wind that we'd been dealing with finally let up, which was fantastic, and it was bright and sunny all day. I'm sure not looking forward to our first rainy ride.

Jasons's friend Dave rode with us today. He's camping with us tonight and riding a few miles with us tomorrow. It's been great to have the company.

We ran into some pretty big hills today, but nothing too steep compared to Prescott Hill yesterday. Just some long 2-3 miles climbs. But we managed to get some pretty incredible
downhills too, so I guess it all evens out.

We had another great lunch today. Our lunch pictures are the best. We met some guys who toured England, Ireland, Wales, etc., and who had mountain-biked Nepal. He seemed like a pretty cool guy. We also met a few folks hitch-hiking from Burlington across the country. We're just letting tons of cool people!

We're camping tonight since we couldnt quite make it to Albany. We chatted with the guy here, and still haven't found the head ramrod (their words, not mine,) who owns the place to pay. I'm sure we'll find him in the morning.

Time for bed though, another long day of hills awaits.

Day five: Somewhere just east of Utica? (let us now if you have a place for us to stay!)

Day Three

First of all, sorry that the maps up top aren't working so well. They actually do work very well, but running the app on my phone wrecks the battery and we need the phone for maps more than anything. Hopefully that'll get resolved eventually...

Today was better than the last. 70 miles almost on the dot, from Littleton, MA to Amherst, MA.

We're still dealing with a pretty good headwind, but it died down a little bit for the second half of the day. We've had good luck with the weather otherwise (except that I burnt my shoulders... oh well, at least they match my arms now.)

We're still having good luck with the bags. They only fell off once today when I hit a huge pothole on a big downhill. A minor retaping and I was good to go.

Speaking of big hills, we ran into a HUGE hill off of 202 in Mass. I think that there were about seven turns that we took where the hill just kept going. I walked up the last third of it probably. Ridiculous.

We just had a huge spaghetti dinner, and are hot tubbing now. Perfect.

Day 4: Somewhere between Albany and the NY state boarder.