Bike Across America

Middlebury, VT to Sharon, VT (The Last Day of a Great Tour)

2010-08-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

August 21, 2010
65 miles
Total miles 3,641

This was the last day of the official tour. On our final day we left the Middlebury Inn and headed south to Brandon Gap. All of us had a real sense of accomplishment that we had ridden all the way to Vermont after 9 weeks on the road. We also felt a little apprehensive knowing that our lives as we have known them for more than two months would come to a close. We all had formed close relationships with each other and it was sad to think we may never see or ride with each again.

I enjoyed being with every rider throughout the trip. Each one was an amazing role model of a "can do" and positive person. Also, the two support drivers, Tim and Blaine were great. They gave me the extra lift to make it all this way.
I truly and sincerely will miss all of them.

On this final day our big job was to make it over the Gap. It was a four mile climb uphill but the last mile or two was incredibly steep with a nasty sting at the top. My cycle comp. read 12% incline, steady for about 1 mile. That tired most of us out and we all were happy to see Blaine at the summit with some snacks.

Heading south on Vermont country roads from Middlebury

Sharon and Kim reaching the summit of Brandon Gap

Snack stop at summit of Brandon Gap

The ride down the summit was very good and Lesa said it was one of the best down hill rides she has had. At the bottom of the Gap we turned north in order to stop at a coffee house in Rochester.

Lesa speeding along after a fast down hill from Brandon Gap

Kim finally found a coffee cup that will satisfy her love of java in Rochester

After about a half hour at the coffee shop we turned back south and headed toward Sharon, VT about 20 miles away. Ed, I and Sharon were in front in South Royalton and made the final turns to the entrance to Ken and Nancy's street a little east of Sharon. We stayed at the bottom of the road to wait for others to arrive. We felt we came all this way and we were going to arrive at the house at the same time together.

The rest of the group arrived at the entrance to Fay Brook Road shortly after we did with Nancy. We decided it would be great to follow Nancy the last mile to her house. It was a wonderful last mile with all of us riding right behind Nancy to the house. This is how it all started in Seattle with Nancy leading the whole group the first few miles out of the city. So it was very special to have her lead us the final mile.

Blaine was ready as we approached and had food set out for us. As we sat and ate lunch on Ken and Nancy's porch we talked about the trip and thanked the
W's for all their work making the tour wonderful. Dick, who rode with us from Seattle to Luddington, MI drove to the Ws' house to met us. Tim, our first support driver also drove to the Ws' house to meet us. He was sporting a new mustache. Also, John, who had ridden on a previous cross country tour came to the house to join us for the celebration.

In about two hours most of the group had gone their separate ways. Ed, John, Lesa and I stayed the night and wanted to attempt riding farther into Maine. However, the weather report for the next several days wasn't good. But I thought I'd give it a shot and if it got too dangerous I could always bail out.

On Sunday when we woke up it was pouring rain but we headed out anyway. Nancy was scratching her head wondering why would we want to ride in bad weather. After ten miles of riding in New Hampshire with horrible shoulders and lots of traffic I decided it was better to end the trip with the frame of mind as we all did yesterday than riding two more days in horrible conditions.

I went back and stayed at Tim's house near the VT-NH border. Tom was there too and we had a good time hanging out and enjoying a good dinner. Today I am heading to Boston and hope to see a few relatives I have not seen in many years.

The final mile on Fay Brook Road-Nancy (only rear tire visible on the left) in the lead

Reflecting about the trip on Nancy and Ken's porch

The group all together one last time.

Silver Bay, NY To Middlebury, VT

2010-08-20T13:24:00.001-07:00

August 20, 2010
31 Miles

The folks at the Silver Bay Center provided a great morning breakfast. We decided not hit the road until around 9:00 a.m. since this would be a short riding day.

Home last night on Lake George with our bikes under the entrance sign

Lake George at sunrise before we headed north

I left with Gail and Tom and we rode up the western side of Lake George for about 14 miles before we came to the town of Ticonderoga. We hung around the visitor's center there for about 45 minutes and then rode to Ft. Ticonderoga. This fort has a lot of history dating to the Revolutionary and French and Indian War. The fort is well preserved and had a number of demonstrations.

Tom entering Ft. Ticondiroga

Ft. Ticondiroga

Ft. Ticondiroga

Ft. Ticondiroga

By lunch time we took the ferry across Lake Champlain to the Vermont boarder. The wind picked up significantly. The first 10 miles were very pleasant as there were no cars riding on the narrow roads. However, once we got to our lunch spot in Shoreham the road surface became rough and the traffic increased. Tom, Gail, and I met the others in the group outside the library in Shoreham. After lunch we all road to Middlebury and got there around 2:00 p.m. This town is very nice and we got to stay in a classy hotel called the Middlebury Inn. Ken and Nancy took us all out to "Fire and Ice" and then ice cream afterwards.

Ferry ride to Vermont from Lake Champlain

Entering the final state of the organized tour

Lunch Stop on country road in Vermont

Indian Lake, NY to Silver Bay, NY

2010-08-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

August 19, 2010
59 miles

This is the third day riding in the Adirondack mountains. This three day stretch has to be the most beautiful consecutive three days of the tour.

When we woke up this morning it was foggy at the hotel. We had to climb out of the Indian Lake watershed and the sun was shinning nicely once we got to the summit of the first hill. Also it was not humid which made for another great day of cycling.

Morning Climb east of Indian Lake out of the fog with Gail way in the distance

We first rode again on Hwy 28 to North Creek until we got to Riparius. When we reached the Hudson River there were many rafting groups getting ready to spend the day on the river. This area is very forested and pretty. After Chestertown we came to our lunch stop on Bryant Lake. As we headed east we had a significant climb toward Lake George. Once we reached the summit we had a 4 1/2 mile down hill to the little town of Hague.

We headed south along the shore of Lake George to the YMCA/Siver Bay Center of the Adirondacks. This is a huge facility with many things to do on the lake.

Reaching the Hudson River with Ed, and Tom

Crossing the Hudson River in Riparius

Lunch stop at Bryant Lake

Looking west after the big climb from Bryant Lake. This is where we had been cycling for the past few days.

Elephant Rock on the downhill to Silver Bay

Reflection in Hague

Old Forge,NY To Indian Lake, NY

2010-08-18T12:15:00.001-07:00

August 18, 2010
47 miles
Just as we were eating breakfast at the trailer this morning a couple of deer came up and wanted food too. They are pretty used to people around here.

We are in the heart of the Adirondacks now. No more flat rides.

We left the Forge Motel around 8 a.m. and took a back road around the lake to Inlet.

Dinner in Old Forge. Kim, Gail Tom, Blaine, Sharon and Ed

Some deer asking Blaine for a hand out at our motel

Lake view from Old Forge Motel in the morning

At Inlet we got back onto Hwy 28 which is a designated bike route. Riding conditions were excellent again as it was cool with no headwinds. Most of the ride consisted of up and down rollers with a few steep hills. I kind of enjoyed it as the humidity was very low and we got some great down hill rides.

22 miles into the trip we stopped in Raquette Lake and had an ice cream cone while checking out another beautiful lake. It was another 11 miles to Blue Mountain Lake.

Snack stop in Raquette Lake. Gail and Ed

We had a great spot for lunch with a view of Lake Durant. This area is very well preserved for a state park.

Finally we got to Indian Lake around 1:30 p.m. and some of the group stopped at another ice cream shop waiting for Blaine to come to the motel to check us in.

As the official tour winds down the group is now feeling very mellow. The rides each day are shorter and most of us take it easy by stopping at several shops along the route.

The obligatory satellite dish in the beaver den shot

Rest stop with Gail, Ed, and Ken

Blue Mountain Lake

Our lunch stop on Lake Durant with Kim, Sharon, Blaine and Tom

Rome (Delta Lake) NY To Old Forge, NY

2010-08-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

August 17, 2010
49 miles

I woke up this morning feeling a little chill in the air. This is the first time I felt it that cold since Glacier NP. I prefer it a little cool and it felt like around 60 degrees.

The group had breakfast at the camp cafeteria and Gail, Ed, and I headed out around 8:00 a.m. We headed north on some farm roads around Delta Lake. There were few cars on this section.

Breakfast at Delta Lake

A beautiful day to ride in the Adirondacks

When we turned onto Buckhill Rd. we hit a series of steep hills. Nancy told us last night at our meeting that this road is the steepest on the entire route. I checked my Cateye gauge and found one of the hills to be 17%. Fortunately this road wasn't as long as Stevens Pass in Wash. or Pine Canyon in Wa.

Ed almost at the top of the first hill on Buckhill Rd.

Buckhill Road (the steepest hill on the entire route at 17% grade) Nancy out front followed by Gail and Ed.

After some more country roads we got onto Hwy 28 which is also considered a NY bike route. The traffic was very busy here all the way to Old Forge. Lots of people were coming up to the Adirondacks for vacation.

We got to our hotel around 1:00 p.m. and all enjoyed eating lunch sitting in Adirondack chairs overlooking the lake. I later went to the Post Office and shipped a bunch of stuff back home that I would not be needing anymore.

Part of our group went to a restaurant/pub for dinner and had a great time.

Riding on Egypt Road

Ed and I entering Adirondack Park

Our view out of the hotel room in Old Forge

Jordan, NY To Rome (Delta Lake) NY

2010-08-16T13:01:00.001-07:00

August 16, 2010
68 miles

We woke up to a very strong storm with quite a bit of lightning. However, by the time we hit the road the skies had cleared and we had wonderful conditions. It was cool and there was a tail wind.

Ed, Gail, and I headed out early and got to Baldwinville relatively early. This area is on the Erie Canal and is a suburb of Syracuse, NY. As such, it had some traffic that we had to deal with. One advantage of this was that there were a few decent coffee places. Once Ed saw a Barnes and Noble we all stopped in to have an coffee.

Ed, Gail and I entering Baldwinville, NY

Pit stop at Starbucks in Baldwinville, NY

Today's ride was very good. We had no precipitation and the shoulders were the best of the whole tour. They seemed to be 8 feet wide and smooth unlike the conditions in the Midwest.

There were only a few hills but I could tell we are more than half way across NY. It is cooler now and I think we are relatively close to the Adirondacks.

Thanks NY -Perfect road conditions, wide, smooth shoulder, tail wind and clear skies

I used my GPS for the last few miles because some of the roads were not marked around Delta Lake. This area is just 20 north of Rome, NY

Lunch stop outside Lake Oneida

Last view of the Erie Canal on our route

Ed and Gail nearing Delta Lake

Our cottage dorm at Delta Lake

Newark, NY To Jordan, NY

2010-08-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

August 15, 2010
40 miles

Last night at our nightly meeting the weather report was for rain in the morning. As such, we all decided to get up early to try and beat the storm. We had breakfast at 6:00 a.m. and loaded the truck at 6:30 a.m. By the time we got on our bikes it started to rain a little.

We rode on Hwy 31/Bike trail 5 all the way to Jordan. I really liked this road because the shoulder was huge (about 10 feet wide and smooth!). So far, riding in New York has been very good.

Morning ride on Hwy 31

Gail, John, and Lesa riding on Hwy 31

Along the route today we went through a number of very small farming towns along Hwy 31, These included Lyons, Clyde, Savannah, and Weedsport. Because of the short day we got into Jordan by 10:30 a.m. and had lunch outside the church parking lot. About noon it started raining again. I was glad we weren't riding far today because of the afternoon rain.

We all hung out in the lobby reading, blogging and listening to music. A couple from the church came and made us dinner.

Our home for the night in Jordan before the storm

Great dinner provided to us by a local couple

Brockport, NY to Newark, NY

2010-08-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

August 14, 2010
59 miles

Dinner provided by folks at the Brockport church

Today was a shorter day bicycling so everyone was in the frame of mind to take it easy.
Yesterday I bought an MP3 player because I knew I would be on the Erie Canal bike trail today for a long time. I loaded the player with music and rode the first part of the trail by myself. John and Lesa were ahead of me all the way to Specerville.

John and Lesa on the Erie Canal Trail out of Brockport

Near Rochester I met up with Gail, Ken, and Nancy and rode with them to Pittsford. This little town was very nice along the Erie Canal. There were restaurants that overlooked the canal. Gail and I had a great Greek salad overlooking the canal.

Then we headed east on the trail but it soon became very ashy so we jumped back onto Hwy 31/Bike trail 5 all the way to Newark. In the area of Palmaya a couple suggested we take an alternative route which turned out to be a dead end so I got back onto Bike Trail 5 and met up with Ken, John, and Lesa and followed them into Newark where we were staying at a Presbyterian church. In the evening we had dinner at a bar/grill and to my delight they had beer from Sonoma County. Well, of course I had to support my home county and had some Lagunitas IPA.

Erie Canal Trail

Genesse River

Stopping for a break on the Erie Canal Trail with Gail and Ken

Rowing team in Rochester, NY

Gail and Ken riding on the Erie Canal Trail

Boats lowered in the lock on the Erie Canal

Niagara Falls (Canada) To Brockport, NY

2010-08-13T13:33:00.001-07:00

August 13, 2010
70 miles

Ken went over directions in the morning today since some of us were out late to see the lights of the falls.

The instructions appeared to be a little complicated at the beginning because of customs and some routing. We decided to follow Ken so we wouldn't get lost.

Crossing a bridge over the Niagara River connecting Canada with the US

Customs entering the US didn't take too long and we followed Ken about 20 miles on Upper Mountain Road until it met Hwy 31. There was a coffee shop so everyone decided to check it out even though we had a lunch stop 10 miles later in Middeport.

Going through customs on the US side

After lunch, Gail, Lesa, John, Tom and I headed east toward Brockport. We stopped at a Walmart in Holley and Lesa decided to get a pillow. I ended up getting a cheap MP3 player.

During the last stretch Gail and I rode together. We jumped on the Erie Canal trail from Holley to Brockport and got to the church by 3:00 p.m.

We then walked down to the Canal and there were showers for bicyclists and boaters passing through.

Many members of the local church showed up for dinner and provided us with some great food.

Pitstop at the bakery near Lockport

Erie Canal in Lockport, NY

A locke on the Erie Canal with boats waiting to be lowered to the next locke

Gail riding on the Erie Canal Trail

Downtown Brockport

Niagara Falls (Canada) Restday

2010-08-13T13:20:00.001-07:00

August 12, 2010
4 miles

This was our last rest day of the official trip. Ed and I began the day by going to the old part of Niagara Falls Canada to do laundry. Then it was back to the hotel to hang out for a few hours.

We checked on Tom's condition and he said his leg was doing better and he would be ready to ride tomorrow.

Around 3:00 p.m. we took a bus to the tourist area of Niagara Falls. Then we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe. Around 6 p.m. went to the Secret Garden restaurant and Ken and Nancy treated the group to dinner.

Afterwords Gail, Ed and I walked to the falls to see them at night with the lights on.

Dinner at the Secret Garden with Niagara Falls mist in the background

Panorama

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls at night

Selkirk,, Ont. (Canada) To Niagra Falls, Canada

2010-08-12T11:52:00.001-07:00

August 11, 2010
89 miles

Today was a tough day. We had to ride a long way and also both Ed and Tom got injured in two separate incidences.

Tom, Ziva, Susan, Ed and I headed out of camp together back to Highway 3. After a couple of miles on this road a rock apparently was thrown up from a truck and hit Ed in the forehead. Ed had a pretty good bruise and had to stop for a few minutes before continuing to ride.

Ed riding on Lakeshore Drive- Lake Erie in the background

Riding along Lakeshore Drive

After about 26 miles into the ride we stopped in Dunville for a coffee break. We stayed there about an hour. I then went outside and sat with Tom under a tree for a while. We had a good talk before the rest of the group came out of the coffee shop. Once we got back on the bikes the humidity rose significantly. I was pouring sweat and thirsty most of the rest of the ride.

When we came to Port Colborne we stopped and had lunch. The only waiter at the cafe took forever to get our orders. Kim and Sharon showed up soon thereafter and joined us.

Coffee break in Dunville. Ed has a bandage on his forehead where he was hit by a rock.

After lunch we made our way out of town to the Friendship Trail. While on this trail Tom hit one of the wooden posts blocking cars from entering the trail. He was pretty bruised up and his right leg really swelled. Ed went to a C store to get some ice while I tried to put pressure on Tom's leg to keep it from swelling any further.

Riding on the Friendship Trail toward Fort Erie, Ontario. Tom in the foreground

We rode a little slower to Fort Erie on the trial. I called Ken to give him an update that we were running a little later than expected. He and Blaine had driven the trailer to the hotel at Niagara Falls and they were now riding back to meet the group.

At Fort Erie we turned north toward Niagara. Ed, Tom and I got a little confused in the route so we had to ask several people including some policemen how to get to the falls.

As we worked our way through the town of Niagara Falls we stopped at the viewing area and looked at the falls. There were many tourists here but we got through the traffic without a problem.

We didn't get to our hotel in the north end of Niagara Falls until about 4:30 p.m. Ed and I shared a room at the Super 8 hotel. He and I later went to a government liquor store and bought some beer for the group. Later a number of our group came to our hotel room to hang out and relax.

We all went to a restaurant near the hotel for dinner. Then we met up in Ziva's hotel room to wish her and Susan goodbye. Ziva's husband came up from Maryland. Susan was flying out to NYC for an exhibit of her stain glass.

Looking east across the Niagara River to Buffalo, NY at the end of the Friendship Trail

Ed and I reach Niagara Falls, Canada

Port Burwell, Ont (Canada) To Selkirk Ont. (Canada)

2010-08-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

August 10, 2010
58 miles

We didn't have the greatest sleep at the Port Burwell campground. Some guys in a nearby campsite were making a lot of noise late at night. Also it poured around 11:00 p.m. so the tents got wet and muddy.

Once we folded up the tents I saw that my bike had fallen in the storm and the mirror had broken off. I tried to fix it but the plastic mount wouldn't hold together. (Mirrors were essential on the tour and I felt a little naked without it.)

Fortunately in the morning it had cleared and the riding conditions were good. Ed, Tom and I decided to head out early and enjoy the morning.

Leaving Port Burwell Campground, Tom and Ed in the lead

We stopped in Port Rowan and had an iced coffee in this nice town. Others in the group also joined us in the cafe.

We had our lunch stop in a small pull out overlooking a marsh area near Lake Erie. Then we rode to Normandale for ice cream.

Before Port Dover I saw that my odometer was approaching the 3,000 mile mark. Ed, Tom and I pulled over to celebrate and mark the spot for others. Lesa and John pulled up and Lesa took a picture of us at the 3,000 mile mark.

Odometer clicks over for 3,000 miles

Marking the spot where we hit 3,000 miles

Ed, Tom, and I celebrating reaching 3,000 miles

Then Ed and I rode to the beach area in Port Dover and saw hundreds of people swimming in Lake Erie. We saw Nancy and Ken having lunch at a cafe in town.

Beach at Port Dover- Lots of people enjoying the 72 degrees water

As we got to the Selkirk area some of the roads weren't marked. I could not use my GPS as we were going into a "provincial park" and the garmin map did not have the roads of the park on it. We flagged down some motorcyclists but they didn't know the area. Then Ken showed up and we followed him into the camp.

This camp area was very nice with great views of Lake Erie.

Ed and Ken riding the last few miles toward the campground

Sharon, Kim, and Ziva drying out tents from the rain in Port Burwell

Panorama of view of Lake Erie from our campsite

Dinner at the Haldimand Conservation Center-One of the best camping spots

Ridgetown, Ont.(Canada) To Port Burwell, Ont (Canada)

2010-08-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

August 9 2010
72 miles

After we left the dorms in Ridgetown we stopped at Yeks Smokehouse for breakfast. Most of the group stopped here before heading out on the road. Ed asked me to ride with him as we headed out of town. We got on a very smooth road called the "Talbot Trail" for 26 miles. No shoulder but the surface of the road was nice.

Ed in the early morning heading out from Ridgetown

Lunch stop was in Port Stanley near the railroad museum. Everyone did the obligatory jail photo of the circa 1700's jail near the trailer.

Sharon enjoying today's ride

We rode east after lunch to the Port Burwell Provincial Park. It was very humid at the campground and most of us waited until close to dinner before showering. Later in the day it clouded up and began to rain. Blaine, Sharon, and Ziva prepared dinner and we had our nightly meeting during a rain shower. Later in the night while in our tents the skies let loose with lots of rain.

A guy explaining to Ed and Tom how tobacco is harvested

Guys harvesting tobacco on the side of the road

Ed's bike with a "loaded" ice chest

Ziva's technique on how not to tear up while cutting onions

Dinner is served

Ken will help out anyone with bike problems

Nightly meeting in the rain at camp going over tomorrow's route

Sun coming through trees at Port Burwell Provincial Park the next morning

Columbus, MI to Ridgetown, Ontairo (Canada)

2010-08-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

August 8, 2010
68 miles

Today we were scheduled to go into Canada. To do this we had to ride to St. Clair, MI then turn south to Marine City, MI and catch the ferry to Sombra, Ontario.

When we started riding around 7:30 a.m. it felt more humid than it had been the last few days. Also we had a lot of clouds but no rain. The whole group got to the ferry at the same time. It took about 10 minutes to cross the St. Clair river and going through Canadian customs was a snap.

Our first rest stop. Sharon (on the right) was chalking the road to let John and Lesa know we had left the church and would be at the ferry terminal.

On the ferry crossing the St. Clair river to Canada

Going through customs in Sombra,Canada

Entering Canada

We followed the St. Clair river for a ways and then turned southeast toward Ridgetown. Often we had headwinds when we made a turn. Fortunately it was not a high mileage day and we got to Ridgetown, Ontario by 3:00 p.m.

We rode to the University of Guelph and settled into the dorms there. The dorms were older than the ones in Wa. and Mi. We parked our bikes across the green in a large storage shed. There were also no other people on campus for summer school.

Ken and Blaine went to get takeout for us for dinner and we ate it in the lobby of the dorm building.

Kim enjoying the ride in Canada

Our final rest stop after turning onto Ridge Line Rd to Ridgetown.

Frankfort, MI to Columbus, MI

2010-08-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

August 7, 2010
82 miles

This was another day where we had a lot of miles to cover. Tom, Ed, and I left the hotel in Frankenmuth around 7:30 a.m. I almost missed the first turn (Branch Run) as it came up sooner than I expected. Tom pointed out the road and we then turned east toward Otter Creek. This area was a little hillier than we had experienced in the rest of MI.

Ed near Otter Creek, MI

Tom and Ed at a coffee shop in Brown City

Our lunch stop was in a park in Brown City. We didn't stay there too long as we still had many miles to cover. The road to Capac was busy but when we got there a store was having a grand opening and giving out free drinks and hot dogs.

The rest of the ride was a little hard with some head winds. Tom and I arrived at the church in Columbus at 3:00 p.m. which is basically out in a corn field. We had to wait about an hour to get in as a wedding was going on when we first showed up. Some of the church members prepared a great dinner for us.

John and Lesa joined us and will be riding with us for the rest of the tour.

(P.S thanks to Susie R. for sending chocolate covered huckleberries for the group. We all loved them.)

Should I trade in my bike for this one?

Ken and Nancy in Capac, MI,. On the left is where they were giving out free food

Dinner provided at the church in Columbus

Our home for the night, the church in the corn fields

Alma, MI to Frankenmuth, MI

2010-08-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

August 6, 20010
64 Miles

Last night we stayed at a wonderful college dorm at Alma College. Jim C. a trustee there and former rider of BAA 2008 helped us by providing great lodging and a delicious dinner at the college. Thanks, Jim C. It was great meeting you.

Great dinner provided at Alma College last night

After another catered meal in the morning we left a little later than usual-around 9 :00 a.m.

This ride was going to be the flattest of all the rides on the tour. What was also good -we had a tail wind most of the way.

Turning south after Alma

The ride consisted of mainly riding through crop fields. However while taking some roads we had to ride on gravel or dirt. Apparently Ken's bike had a problem with this as his second tire blew out.

I saw this sign before hitting a number of dirt roads

Dealing with dirt roads

Dealing with dirt roads

Originally we were not supposed to have a provided BAA lunch stop on the ride but Ken notified us via chalk that we could stop near a field around mile 40 to get food off the truck.

The weather was much cooler than yesterday. In fact when we left Alma riders put on jackets as it was about 65 degrees.

We arrived in Frankenmuth around 1 :30 p.m. Frankenmuth is the third german town on this tour. The other two were Levenworth and New Ulm. Frankemuth also is capitalizing on it's German heritage by it's new/old architecture.

After we got settled at the hotel I put up the BAA clothes line in the back of the Frankenmuth Hotel next to a corn field. Then I walked into town and ended up eating dinner at the Frankenmuth Brewery with a good view of the river.

Ken's note letting us know we will have a lunch stop

Flat roads today

Heading toward our lunch stop

Nancy on a farm road after our lunch stop

Sign in Frankemuth

German feel in Frankenmuth

Frankenmuth

Fremont, MI to Alma, MI

2010-08-05T13:27:00.001-07:00

August 5, 2010
78 miles

Well, it had to happen some time, I guess. I got my first flat of the entire tour today. Luckily I noticed it at a rest stop near a store in Howard City. (However, my bike is performing incredibly well and the only mechanical problem I had so far was a flat! It is a wonderful bike)

This morning we left Fremont at around 7:30 a.m. and had to cover a lot of miles today. There were many turns initially and we were lucky as Nancy had chalked this area to keep us on the route. However, when we got to Newaygo we still had trouble locating the right route and had to ask for directions to Howard City. From Newaygo to Howard City was a straight shot on a busy highway (M82). I was out ahead of Susan, Ziva and Tom and I guess I ran over something that gave me a slow leak. At Howard City Tom and I went into a supermarket and got something to drink. When we came out I noticed my rear tire was flat. Susan and Ziva just pulled in and we all walked my bike to a shaded area in the parking lot where I put in a new tube. We all got back on the road quickly.

Tom, Susan and Ziva nearing Howard City

We met up with Ed, Kim and Sharon a short time later and all made it to the lunch stop near the Cheese Factory. This area has a lot of Amish people working on farms. They were selling milk products at the store.

The gang near our lunch stop at the Cheese Factory

Amish Cart near the Cheese Factory near Coral

Amish Buggy east of Howard City

After lunch we headed east with a slight threat of rain. We only got a few drops and the clouds disappeared. When we turned on McBride Road out of the town of McBride the road surface turned to dirt for about 3 miles. We weren't sure if we should be on this road until Susan asked someone living on a small farm for directions. We continued on the road and finally got to Alma around 3:00 p.m.

I noticed part of the college on the left side of the road. When I turned left onto a sidewalk ramp I hit some gravel and took a spill injuring my hand. A little later we saw that the dorm we were staying was on the opposite side.

Jim C. a trustee of the College and a former BAA rider in 2008 came to the dorms to visit. Ed and I talked with him for a while and then saw him later at the college cafeteria for a catered dinner. Our group met for dinner in a nice large room on campus and we were joined by about 10 students and a few teachers from the school.

Tonight we are staying in new dorms on the Alma College Campus. Ed and I are sharing a very large suite in the dorm hall.

Stone siding house on McBride Road

Our home for the night-Alma College Dorms

Alma College Campus

Ludington, MI to Fremont, MI

2010-08-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

August 4, 2010
65 miles

Our first ride in Michigan was great. I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty of Michigan once we started riding this morning.

We headed south from our hotel in Ludington and entered a nice country road with up scale houses called the Pere Marguette Hwy. A lot of these homes faced west overlooking Lake Michigan. The scenery and riding were very nice.

Tom, Susan and Ziva on the Pere Marguette Hwy

Our first town we crossed was Pentwater which is near a nice lake. Again this appeared to be an affluent area. Then we got on the Hart-Montague bike trail which was probably one of the nicest bike trail I've been on. Although we only got to be on it about 12 miles, we seemed to enjoy ever minute of it. Our lunch stop was at the tail end of the trail near a creamery called the Country Dairy.

Pentwater Lake

Entering Pentwather, Michigan

After lunch we jumped on a busier highway called M-20. Fortunately there was a shoulder with no rumble strips.

Then when we got to Hesperia we turned east toward Fremont. By now it was very humid and at least riding made it seem a little cooler since the air was moving around us.

We got to Fremont by 1:30 p.m. This is the home of Gerber baby food. The population seems about 10,000.

The folks at the church brought dishes for dinner. We hooked up the shower cabana in a large garage area and it was still pretty humid. In the afternoon I sat and talked with the minister of the church about traveling around the U.S. He seemed like a pretty interesting guy.

Ed and I found upstairs rooms with thick carpet to sleep. I opened the windows in the room I was staying in and had a nice breeze at night.

Ziva having a good laugh after seeing her first tank since her injury

These guys had very long horns

Riding on the Hart-Montague Trail

Saw this along the side of Hwy M20

Entering Fremont, Michigan home of Gerber baby food

Manitowac, WI To Ludington, MI

2010-08-03T18:56:00.001-07:00

August 3, 2010
5 Miles

It was a short riding day today as we had to cross Lake Michigan by ferry. We were staying 3 miles north of town in a church and we didn't have to be at the dock until after 12:00 p.m.

Susan and I rode to a famous local bakery for scones and then to an Italian delicatessen for sandwiches to take on board with us for the four hour ferry ride to Ludington, Michigan.

A great saying at the Manitowac bakery

We all got to the dock around the same time and loaded the bikes in the trailer. Susan, Ziva and I had deck chairs on the port side of the boat.

We sat with Dick for a while. When we got to Ludingtown we all said our goodbyes to Dick as this was his final day for the tour. Dick was a great guy and we will miss him. Hope to see him again in Vermont.

We arrived in Ludington and lost an hour since we are now in the Eastern time zone. We didn't get to dinner until around 8:30 at a restaurant up the street from our hotel.

Tomorrow we will have our first full day of riding in Michigan. Also Ziva will join us for part of the ride.

The ferry coming to pick us up

The group entering the ferry in Manitowac

With Ziva and Susan on the deck of the ferry

Coming into Ludington

Now in Michigan

Fond du Lac, WI To Manitowac, WI

2010-08-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

August 2, 2010
68 miles

Today was our last big ride in Wisconsin. We left the Ramada in Fond Du Lac around 7 :30 a.m. and worked our way out of town. We hit a construction zone just north of town where, this time we were forced to turn around and make a detour to get on Hwy 151. One construction worker actually told us we could not go through the regular road as a bridge was out and directed us to go on a different route. We jumped onto a lot of county roads that were strangely named by letters, double letters and sometimes when they run out, triple letters.

Hotel in Fond Du Lac where we stayed

Most of these lettered roads, however were great to ride on. There was little traffic and we lucked out again by having cloudy weather (shady) with a tailwind.

Nancy and Ken on the county roads

Crazy lettering system for county roads in Wisconsin

When we got to Elkart Lake we were advised to stop at a coffee shop to get a cup of coffee and take a break. Blaine and Ziva were already there and we also had lunch by the truck in the city park.

After lunch Susan, Dick, Tom and I rode on and got to County road MM. We really enjoyed this road because it had all the right conditions: smooth, downhill and a tailwind. We took it all the way to Lake Michigan and then turned north on LS (Lake Shore) road.

At our meeting last night Nancy told us not to forget to stop at the Cedar Crest dairy bar in Manitowac before going to our home for the night, the United Church in Manitowac. The whole group stopped at the Cedar Crest and had huge ice cream cones before riding through town. The church was about 3 miles north of downtown.

After settling down at the church I played table tennis with Blaine and then some of us worked on blogs in the lobby.

Made it to Lake Michigan

Susan and I clowning around at the Dairy Bar

Downtown Manitowac

The gang riding in downtown Manitowac

Bicycle statue of "Earl Late for a Date" in downtown Manitowac

Portage, WI to Fond du Loc, WI

2010-08-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

August 1, 2010

68 miles

Last night at our nightly meeting Ken advised us that there may be dense fog this morning that could make visibility poor. We decided to leave the hotel in Portage around 8 a.m. so the fog could clear up. Once we started rolling out of town the fog had disappeared completely.

Ed and I jumped on the Levee Trail that followed the Wisconsin River for a few miles before getting onto Country Road P.

The gang getting ready to leave the hotel in Portage

On the Levee Trail in Portage

We followed P for several miles and came to an area with "road closed" signs telling us there is a detour.

Ed and I decided not to follow the detour sign and went straight through and had no problem. In fact, it was as if we had one giant bike trail with the road all to ourselves. Ed called others in the group to let them know that they did not have to take a detour.

Ed chalking in areas that are confusing

In the "Road Closed" section of County P

What ? in Randolf

More farm scenes

We followed P through small towns like Pardeeville, Cambria, and Fox Lake.
At Fox Lake Ken treated us to anything we wanted at Mullins Drive-in. There were hundreds of other cyclists at the drive-in too. They were from Bike Wisconsin, a six day ride around Wisconsin.

Some of the gang ordering at Mullins Drive In

Mullins Drive In in Fox Lake with hundreds of cyclists

After lunch Ken asked me to follow him and chalk routes that may be confusing to other riders. Tom decided to follow and the three of us were moving pretty fast. Ken is a faster rider than me or Tom and we struggled to keep up the pace. I was going through a lot of water as were Ken and Tom. Before we got to Fond Du Loc we stopped at a C store to get some drinks. Then it was only two miles to our home for the night, the Ramada Inn in downtown Fond Du Loc.

Since the hotel did not have washers Ed and I walked a couple of blocks north to a bar called "Shooters" that had a laundromat inside. It was strange to have to walk through a bar to get to the machines.

In the evening I took a walk downtown and met up with Sharon and Kim. The three of us ended up eating at a sports bar for dinner.

After our nightly meeting we celebrated Blaine's birthday in the lobby of the hotel.

With Ken and Tom entering Fond Du Lac

Sparta, WI to Portage, WI

2010-07-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

July 31, 2010
90 miles

Everyone woke up early because we had a long ride ahead of us. Breakfast was at 5:30 a.m. and I rode out alone a little after 6 a.m. Since I was riding my road bike I decided to skip the Sparta/Elory unpaved trail and ride on Hwy 71 to Elroy. Turns out it was a good choice for me as there was no one on the highway that early, I had the road to myself and the pavement was relatively smooth. I had lots of opportunities to stop and check out mom and pop type of farms. I rolled through a few small towns like Norwalk, Wilton, and Kendall. Each time the road would intersect the trail it would climb up a hill and then there would be a good downhill on the other side.

A beautiful morning on Hwy 71 with no cars

Scenery along Hwy 71

Once I got to Elroy (33 miles into the trip) our directions instructed us to get onto the "400 trail" This trail was similar to the trail yesterday but I had to slow my speed down to about 10 mph because the dirt trail had water, sand mounds and bumps. On the trial I passed through more small towns like Union Center, Wonowoc, and LaValle. I got off the trail in Reedsburg which was now the 55 mile mark. Reedsburg seemed like another nice small town in Wisconsin with beautiful old buildings.

As I worked my way out of Reedsburg I came to a park where our lunch stop was. I was the only one so far who had passed through. I stayed there with Blaine for about half an hour.

The ride from Reedsburg to Portage was very nice along country roads however some of the intersections were not marked so my gps came in handy again. As I was riding down one country road a wasp nailed me with an excruciating sting.

Got to Portage around 2:30 p.m. and found the downtown to again, have nice old style buildings. Our hotel is about three miles out in a commercial area. The others showed up later in the afternoon. Ziva had fallen and injured her leg so Blaine drove her and Susan to the hotel.

Clydesdale horses young and old

Getting into Amish country

Riding on the 400 Trail

Reflection in Reedsburg waiting for the light to change

Winona, MN to Sparta, WI

2010-07-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

July 30, 2010
57 miles

Nancy pointing out on the US map our progress

Today Tom, Ziva, Susan and I left the church in Winona and crossed the Mississippi river into Wisconsin. As we crossed the bridge it started raining lightly and was actually pleasant as the temps were cool and not humid.

We then turned southeast and headed toward the town of Trempealeau, WI. This was an easy ride as it was flat with no wind. When we got to Trempealeau we tried to look for the dikes and locks where tug boats move larger boats up and down this portion of the river. I guess it was a light day as we did not see any movement.
A new state!

Entering Trempealeau, WI near the Mississippi

In Trempealeau we got onto our first rail to trail today the "Great River Trail".
We rode this trail for approximately 22 miles until we connected to another trail "the Lacross River Trail"". Both trails were beautiful and of course, more pleasurable than riding on main roads.

House on the Mississippi built for potential flooding

Entering the Great River Trail

On the Great River Trail

Talking with Mitch on the Great River Trail

More views on the Great River Trail

With Sharon, Tom, Ziva, and Susan on the LaCross River Trail

As we rode on the second trail we met Blaine with the truck in West Salem. This was our lunch stop.

Then it was another easy 15 miles to Sparta, WI a town that claims to be the number one biking town in the US. As you enter town you see a statue of "Ben Bikin" commemorating bicycle heritage.

After getting settled and unpacked at the church I walked downtown to the local library to blog. I saw Tom walking around too. We were served pasta for dinner at the church.

Sparta is another very nice little town with great old building that are kept in good condition.

Blaine our great support driver from Rapid City to Vermont

Sparta railway statiion

"Ben Bikin" the huge statue of the bicycle in Sparta

Church in Sparta where we are staying tonight

Downtown Sparta

Sparta Courthouse

Winona, MN

2010-07-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

July 29, 2010
0 miles-Rest day

A few days ago I thought when I reach Winona I was going to really use our "rest day" for rest. So today I was determined not to get on my bike. I wanted to relax and see a few sites in Winona but mainly take it easy. After all, tomorrow we will be back riding with no rest days until a half day crossing Lake Michigan. And our next real rest day won't be until Niagara Falls.

After breakfast I walked onto the campus of Winona State and saw some very nice buildings. I then walked to the post office and sent stuff I didn't need back home.

The next stop was taking a tour of replicas of the Nina and Pinta-Christopher Columbus' boats which were moored near downtown.

While there I could see various cool buildings like the courthouse and an investment building.

Winona was named after an american indian pricess that jumped off a cliff rather than marrying a man who was selected by her parents. This city is surrounded by water-to the west a lake and to the east-the Mississippi River. There are two universities, Winona State and St. Mary's.

Since this is an official rest day I thought it would be nice to include photos of the riders in our tour. They are below.

Replica of the Pinta on the Mississippi River-Winona

Winona County Courthouse

Another interesting building in Winona

Winona State

Winona State

Folks of Winona providing dinner at church

Stain glass Winona

The Riders:

Nancy (Tour Leader)-Vermont

Ken(Tour Leader)-Vermont

Dick-Vermont

Tom-Cailifornia

Ziva-Maryland

Susan-Maryland

Kim-Vermont

Saron-Vermont

Ed-Kentucky

Greg-Montana

Susie-Montana

Kasson, MN To Winona, MN

2010-07-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

July 28, 2010
74 miles

It was another early morning wake up. We had the hotel breakfast at the Kasson Americaninn at 6:00 a.m.

Before everyone was finished packing I rode 2 miles over to the stone water tower in downtown Kasson. I could see it in a distance from our hotel but I wanted to get a picture in the morning.

Stone Water tower in Kasson, detour ride in the early morning

When I returned to the hotel, Ed, Dick and I rode out heading east on Hwy 14 toward Rodchester. About 6 miles in we turned off that highway and went on a semi country road to skirt Rodchester traffic. However, some of us got a little confused with the directions and made sure we were on the right road. After we saw Nancy get onto the Zumbro trail we knew we were going the right way.

Starting the Zumbro Trail near Rodchester following Nancy

Riding while taking a picture on the Zumbro Trail

We had a great lunch stop in St. Charles in a park. Then we headed out but lost Ziva and Susan so Tom, Dick and I rode to Stockton and could tell by the geography that we were getting close to the Mississippi River. The weather was good and it wasn't as humid as yesterday. After reaching the river we headed south about four miles to downtown Winona. It appears to be a beautiful city and a nice place to have a rest day.

Reaching the Mississippi River

The first view we saw of the Mississippi River

An interesting church near downtown Winona

This is the church we are staying at tonight and tomorrow night

Fairbault, MN to Kasson, MN

2010-07-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2010
45 miles

It was already very humid and cloudy when we set out today from Fairbault. We had to take several roads and turns to get out of the city. Once we got onto county roads it rained very briefly.

I rode with Ziva, Dick, Tom, and Susan most of the way.

Americinn in Fairbault- Sky getting cloudly with Susan on the right

Stopping at first hill Hwy 60

After our lunch stop near West Concord I asked Ken if he knew about a coffee house as our rooms in Kasson would not be ready until three.

As we were riding in Manderville we saw a new coffee house called "County Seat Coffee" Most of the riders stopped there to have a cool coffee drink. Just down the road we stopped at a Farmer's Market and saw many booths with fresh vegetables for sale. I think Ken and some others bought some types of vegetables for one of the dinners in Winona.

We arrived in Kasson around 2 p.m. at the Americann Inn and sat in the lobby for about an hour before we could go to our rooms. In the evening Ken got take-out at a Chinese place and we ate in the hotel banquet room.

On the road taking a break

Dodge county courthouse

Downtown Mantorville the county seat near Kasson

River in Mantorville near Kasson

New Ulm, MN to Fairbault, MN

2010-07-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

July 26, 2010
73 miles

Because we had a lot of turns to follow on today's route, most of us decided it would be a good idea to stay as a group during the ride today.

We all left New Ulm UCC church around 8:00 a.m. We took a few streets to head out of town and eventually got onto Hwy 68 for about 22 miles. There was little traffic and the road had rolling hills lined with corn and soybean fields. Again we lucked out on the weather as it was cool in the morning with a slight breeze.

Getting ready to ride out of New Ulm

Making the turn on Hwy 68- Kim in the lead

The gang stopping on Hwy 68 to check on directions

When we got to Mankato we met up with Ken at a park. He lead us through the city to the Sakatah Singing Hills Trail.

We followed Ken for about 8 miles until we joined Blaine at our lunch stop at the beginning of the trail. This trail is the longest bike trail I have been on (about 40 miles.)

Along the trail we stopped in one little town and got some ice cream. Then we continued riding east.

The trail ended in Fairbaut. We traveled up a busy road to get to our home for tonight- the AmericInn in Fairbault. We ordered take out from an Italian restaurant and ate dinner in the hotel lobby dinning room.

Fairbault is named after a french fur trader and the town was established in 1826. The population is around 20,000.

Mankato Rail station

Ken calling Nancy to get an update on trail directions

Ziva, Dick, Tom, Susan on the trail

The gang along the trail

Lagoon along the trail

Tracy, MN to New Ulm, MN

2010-07-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

July 25, 2010
62 miles

Some folks who prepared dinner and ate with us in Tracy, MN last night

Our home last night in Tracy, MN

Tracy, MN- not a lot going on

The weather looked excellent when we woke up at the church soI was eager to get on the road and enjoy light Sunday traffic. I took off from Tracy by myself around 7:30 a.m. The conditions were prefect. No wind and temps about 65 degrees. I could hear birds and a few types of bugs making noise. Since the road was relatively smooth my road bike was wonderful to ride. I was up to 20 mph without really trying. I thought this is so different from the bumpy sections in Montana and S. Dakota were there was either road construction or just expansion joints to bounce you around. I couldn't help but ride fairly fast.

Today we would continue to follow on US 14

Early morning with the road to myself

We had no wind at all today. The towns came quickly on Hwy 14. I saw mostly large fields of soybeans or corn along the route.

I got to the first town on today's route within 20 minutes

Clearing 2,000 miles

Soybean fields

Lots of corn too

Our lunch stop was in Sleepy Eye and I arrived there first. I hung out with Blaine, the support driver while I ate a sandwich in a park by a lake. Half an hour later I was heading to New Ulm, our home for tonight. I had to slow down here because the rumble strips were either in the shoulder forcing you to ride out in traffic or leaving you about 12 inches of shoulder. Needless to say, I slowed down but I couldn't look around at the scenery as I had to watch carefully where my tires were.

Rumble strips that force you to ride in traffic taken after the lunch stop

Reflection in Sleepy Eye

Got to New Ulm around 1:30 p.m. A lady (Bobbie) in the B & B next door let us use the showers there to clean off. In the church there was large room with recreational tables. Blaine and I played a lot of table tennis. After dinner, Tom Ed and I walked downtown to a pub. I stayed at the pub for one beer and then walked to the nearest wi fi signal in a laundromat. While there Greg and Susie stopped in to wi fi too. In the evening Ed and I slept in an area near the organ in the church.

This town was settled by German immigrants in 1864. (This is a more authentic German town than Levenworth, WA that we rode through quite a while ago.) The downtown has a German flavor but most shops were closed today, Sunday. New Ulm sits just west of the Minnesota river and the nearby Cottonwood River. The population is about 14,000.

Downtown New Ulm

Former Post Office in New Ulm

Church in New Ulm

Church in New Ulm

Our home for tonight in New Ulm, I am sharing a room with Ed

Brookings, SD to Tracy, MN

2010-07-24T13:58:00.001-07:00

July 24, 2010
62 miles

When we woke up at the church this morning we saw broken limbs all over the church property from the incredibly strong storm that went through Brookings last night. The riders pitched in to move the limbs in large piles as it was a mess.

I hit the road with Greg and Susie this morning around 8 :00 a.m. The weather was now perfect for riding since the storm moved on.

We headed east on Hwy 14, which we rode all day.

About 21 miles into this ride we crossed into Minnesota. At that point I really felt I have finally crossed a threshold of 2,000 miles and made it to the Midwest.

Greg and Susie early into today's ride near the SD-MI state line

Entering a new state

There were hundreds of large windmills along the border as one enters Minnesota

The windmill blades are large

After taking pictures at the state line I raced to Tyler Minnesota for the Danish festival. I rode all over town and finally came to the fairgrounds where there was a big line to buy aebleskive, a danish dish. It is basically batter fried and syrup put on it, with a side of sausage. I had to try it to experience the town.

Then I took off on my own heading east through Florence and Balaston. This area is quite a change from SD as there were a lot of established farms, lakes, and rolling hills.

Made it into Tracy, MN around 2: 30 p.m. and helped Blaine set up the cabana and unload the luggage. We are staying at another church tonight.

After getting settled at the church I walked to a cafe that had wi-fi and updated the blog. There wasn't much going on in this little town.

Later in the evening Ed and I walked around town before hitting the sleeping bag.

Starting to see lots of lakes

Arriving in Tyler looking for the festival

People cooking the aebleskive

My danish meal in Tyler

Scenery along Hwy 14

We took US 14 all day

Arriving in Tracy, Minnesota

Huron, SD to Brookings, SD

2010-07-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

July 23,2010
77 Miles

Last night in Huron we had a great vegetarian pasta meal prepared by Sharon, Ziva, and Susan.

Today everyone woke up at 5:30 a.m. and had breakfast. I left with Susan and Ziva just before 7 a.m. We worked our way out of Huron going through the downtown area that we had not seen yesterday. As we left town we saw a large statue of a pheasant. It claimed to be the largest.

In Huron the "world's largest pheasant

Rumble strips in eastern SD that made you have to ride out in traffic

In the morning it wasn’t humid and there was no wind so it was perfect for riding. Today’s ride included passing through several small towns including, Covour, Manchester, DeSemt, Volga before reaching Brookings.

In Manchester we saw a memorial for the people who were killed by a very powerful tornado in 2003. Our lunch stop was in Lake Preston in the town park. DeSemt is the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder (The Little House on the Prairie).

Memorial of the people who were killed in Manchester

The details of the tornado in at this spot in Manchester

Arriving in DeSmet

Cute kids dressed up at Laura Ingalls Wilder's home

We noticed many frogs on the road today. They were all over the place, mostly dead roadkill. My down tube, seat tube and brakes were covered in frog guts.

Near Arlington I stopped at a park and relaxed in the shade. I saw Tom ride by. He said everyone else is behind him.

Got into Brookings by 2: 30 p.m. and stopped at the local bike shop downtown. Ken was also at this shop checking out the new bikes.

Brookings is another South Dakota college town. It has a nice downtown with a few good coffee shops.

The people at the church prepared a great dinner for us and a number of there congregation ate with us. Later in the evening a strong storm rolled through knocking down lots of tree limbs around the church.

Little town of Volga just west of Brookings

Downtown Brookings

Brookings train station

Friendly people at the church who fixed dinner and ate with us

Ft. Thompson, SD to Huron, SD

2010-07-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2010
82 miles

It rained heavily last night and when we woke up it was very cloudy. I rode out with Susan and Ziva from the Lode Star Hotel. We quickly made a right onto Hwy 34 which went on for several miles. The weather seemed pretty good being partly cloudy or cloudy with no rain. We worked our way out of the Missouri River Valley climbing slightly up hill for a number of miles.

Ziva riding in the morning

When we stopped on the side of the road about 20 miles on Hwy 34 we noticed a herd of buffalo off to the right.

Our lunch stop was in Wessington Springs, about mile 42. The stop was next to a truck stop and gas stations on both corners.

Buffalo off Hwy 34

Hwy 34 went on for miles

After leaving this spot the terrain changed from hilly to flat. There was a long downhill ride after Wessington Springs. Also, we noticed the humidity climb dramatically from the first part of the trip.

After 6 more miles we turned north onto US 281, It was great because we had a tailwind up to our turn off to Huron, Hwy 14.

Tom and I were the first to arrive in Huron. Just before seeing the "Huron Welcomes You" sign I noticed my chain slipping. At one point it flipped off the chain ring. I shifted it into a non demanding gear and went slowly into Huron looking for the church we will be staying in. Tom and I got a little confused as to the route at this point and had to ask for directions to the church. As we waited to go in the church I could see one link of my chain was bent or the pin holding the link came out. When Ken arrived he put in a new pin on the chain. Hope it holds for tomorrow.

Huron welcome sign; this is the area my chain started really slipping

Home for the night- the Lutheran Church in Huron

Murdo, SD to Ft. Thompson, SD

2010-07-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

July 21, 2010
77 miles

We are now in the Central Time Zone so it was darker than we were used to when we got going this morning. We started out going east on a frontage road that paralleled I90. The road surface was rough for about 10 miles and then it got better. It was very nice early on as we were quite a ways from traffic. Also, at this point it was cloudy but no rain so it was nice and cool.

Looking at our hotel in Murdo just before we rode east(The flag on the right is blowing in the wrong direction!)

First part of the ride was pleasant

However, as we moved east the winds from the east picked up and eventually became strong headwinds. Moreover, the clouds started getting thicker and darker. By the time we got to Kennebec it had rained a little. We hung out a while and saw Dick cruise in with a flat tire. He called Blaine to assist in getting the pump.

When I left this stop the winds became stronger and harder to ride through. The next 23 mile stretch to our lunch stop in Reliance was tough fighting the winds.

Snack stop Kenebeck

A few large machines shared the frontage road with us

Frontage road where there were strong headwinds

I grabbed my usual sandwich of hummus and turkey at the truck and saw that the clouds were now becoming very dark. I knew we had 20 miles to our destination at Ft. Thompson so I ate quickly and got back on the road. I was riding north on Hwy 47 trying to beat the rain. As I got closer to the Missouri River it started raining hard. The rain came down much harder than any other time on the tour. Fortunately that lasted only about 10 minutes and I was able to find the Lode Star Motel in Ft. Thompson. It was on the Crow Indian reservation with a casino next to it.

Just before dinner the rain started up again. Ed, Tom, and I decided to get a ride to the Casino restaurant in the hotel van. The whole group was at the restaurant. I can't say anyone really cared about the quality of the food there.

After dinner we were able to walk back to the hotel as the rain stopped briefly. However later in the evening while in our rooms it rained heavily again.

Missouri River at Ft. Thompson just after a strong shower

Wall, SD to Murdo, SD

2010-07-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2010
88 miles

Ed, Tom, and I helped load the van at sunrise in Wall and got on the road just before 6:00 a.m. We jumped on the interstate and it was flat with no traffic. The first 20 miles were done in no time.

Leaving Wall at sunrise

When we got to Catus Flats we turned into the east end of Badlands Nat'l Park and looked at the formations there.

Entering Badlands

Badlands

Panorama of Badlands

Then we rode on frontage roads the rest of the day. These roads had no traffic and it would have been nice to have an ipod. Grasshoppers were all over the road like yesterday.

We had great weather again as the wind wasn't in our faces and the temps seemed seasonably low.

Our lunch stop was at mile 55 where the frontage road got near to the interstate.
After I crossed the grass from the frontage road to the rest area I saw a sign warning about snakes.

The last 20 miles I got to ride with Sharon. She was riding strong today and was the first to get to our home for the night, the Days Inn in Murdo.

We had dinner at a cafe across the street and then walked to the eastern end of town and got ice cream. There was a young Ukraine exchange student serving us. Then we walked back to the hotel in the heat.

Lots of these on the side of the road

Nancy pulling into Kadoka

Saw this sign after I crossed the grass to our lunch stop

What is that in the distance?

Getting Closer to Murdo we had a lot of rollers

Rapid City, SD To Wall, SD

2010-07-19T11:48:00.001-07:00

July 19, 2010
55 miles

It was a little hard to get motivated after having two rest days in Rapid City. We set out in a group leaving the hotel but got off course in the city. After a few wrong turns we were back on a frontage road that paralleled I90 for about 25 miles.

We stopped at a convenience store in New Underwood and saw a group of fully loaded cyclists traveling to Iowa. Our route directions indicated at this point to get on the freeway but most of us continued on the frontage road.

First stop at New Underwood

Biker Bar?

After about 15 miles more on the frontage road Ed and I got onto the freeway because we knew the lunch stop was coming up in a rest area. However, there wasn't an on-ramp so we used the long off-ramp to get back on the freeway. Others got on a few miles farther.

A few miles before Wall, in the Cheyenne River Basin we noticed millions of grasshoppers all over the place. They flew into our spokes and hit our bodies. I could hear my tires every now and then crushing grasshoppers that were sitting on the road.

I had a quick bite to eat at the lunch stop and it was getting hot so Ed and I got back on our bikes and rode the last 11 miles to Wall, a tourist trap type of town.

Lunch stop at rest area

In the Cheyenne river basin

We saw millions of these grasshoppers everywhere when we got close to our lunch stop

Riding out of the Cheyenne River basin. Ed in the distance

After we got checked into our rooms and showered at Anne's Hotel we walked over to Wall Drug. About 1/2 hour later I reached my limit of this place. It was filled with shops with all sorts of cheap souvenirs. Ed, Sharon, Kim and I walked to Red Rock Cafe and got a bite to eat. As we were eating a major thunder shower rolled through. It poured heavily for about 20 minutes. Several ditches were overflowing with water.

Tacky Wall Drug

Rapid City

2010-07-18T14:19:00.001-07:00

July 18,2010
0 Miles (rest day #2)

Today I was determined to rest and work on my bike. Ken replaced my chain with a new one and I tried this new oil recommended by other riders. Rock and Roll Gold.

After working on my bike in the hotel parking lot, Ed and I went to a very good coffee house that serves strong coffee (Dunn Bros.)

Going to our favorite Rapid City coffee house

Then we walked around the downtown business section. A lot of the streets in this area have statues of the presidents on each corner. Also, there is an alley called "Art Alley" were the city lets people do tasteful graffiti on the back walls of businesses. This area is right near a famous hotel the Alex Johnson. The downtown is thriving, unlike a lot of other old sections of downtowns elsewhere.

We enjoyed the Firehouse Brewery last night so Ed and I went back again. We sampled more beer and had another nice dinner.

With one of the presidents, Martin

Firehouse restaurant

Art Alley with Ed, Kim, and Sharon

Alex Johnson Hotel

Old car rally cruising Rapid City

Downtown Rapid City

Ed and I enjoying one last trip to a good place-Firehouse Brewery

Rapid City

2010-07-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

July 17, 2010
0 Miles (rest day #1)

Today the group went on a van tour in the Black Hills. We first stopped at a bike shop so people could get a few parts and then we drove to Custer State Park. At one point a herd of buffalo crossed the road. We could see a number of calves in the herd.

Then we stopped in the town of Custer and Nancy treated us to lunch at the New Sage Restaurant.

We briefly stopped at Crazy Horse monument but the guy at the entrance window wanted to charge us whopping $72 to get in so we gave that a big PASS.

Finally we went to Mt. Rushmore and stayed there about an hour and a half before heading back to the hotel.

In the evening we walked downtown and decided to have dinner at the Firehouse Brewery. Ed, Kim, Sharon, Tom and I sampled a number of craft beer. The beer and dinner were excellent. We stayed there for a couple of hours and had a great time.

The town of Custer

Crazy Horse

The Guys at Mt. Rushmore

Dinner at the Firehouse Brewery Restaurant. Sharon, me, Ed, Tom, and Kim. (Ed wearing his new Kentucky hat)

Spearfish, SD to Rapid City, SD

2010-07-16T14:45:00.001-07:00

July 16, 2010
50 Miles

Last night we stayed at the dorms at Black Hills State University in Spearfish. It was a great little town. I wish I could have explored it more.

We all had breakfast at the college cafeteria at 6: 30 a.m. and loaded the truck by 7: 30 a.m. I rode today with Ziva, Dick, Susan, and Tom.

As we left Spearfish I could tell that the temp. today would be hot. We rode on frontage roads for about 10 miles east and then jumped on I 90 until Sturgis. We all got off and explored Sturgis, the capital of the big hog motorcycles. In two weeks we were told 750,000 people on motorcycles come to this place.

On I 90-Ziva and Susan with Dick and Tom in the background

Entering Sturgis-Tom, Ziva, Susan, Dick, and me

Goffing off in Sturgis

Downtown Sturgis

After Sturgis we got back on I-90 until Tilford. This part of the freeway had rumble strips across the entire shoulder every 30 yards. We just had to roll through them taking the bumps because we did not want to go out in the traffic lane.

At Tilford we were able to ride on frontage roads until we reached Rapid City. The temp. reached 96 degrees according to one bank sign.

We all went to Dunn Bros. Coffee and had blended coffee drinks before we could check into our hotel, Howard Johnson. We will stay here three nights. After I got checked in I immediately went to the pool and stayed there for one hour. What a great pool to cool down.

As I was swimming around I thought about the tour so far and thought that if I had to rate it I would give it an A++++. Ken and Nancy have organized such a great trip for us and everything is going smoothly. Tonight they are taking us out to dinner and tomorrow they are renting a large van to take us to Mt. Rushmore and Crazyhourse monuments.

Home for three nights in Rapid City

Newcastle, Wy To Spearfish, SD

2010-07-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2010
57 Miles

This is the third time for me to visit the Black Hills. Each time I am amazed by the beauty of the area. I love the green and blue tones.

I left Newcastle around 7:30 a.m. and rode with Greg and Susie most of the ride. We climbed up from Newcastle for about 29 miles. There were some steeper sections and I used my granny gear a few times.
Courthouse in Newcastle

Entering the Black Hills

The weather was perfect for the ride up. It seemed about 70 degrees with a slight tail wind. I reached the South Dakota state line about 10:30 a.m. with Greg and Susie. Then we had about a 3 miles climb farther up Hwy 85 to O'Niell Pass. Tim and Blaine set up lunch and I worked up an appetite climbing all morning.

Panorama on the way to O'Niell Pass

Nice food at the Pass

Crossing into a new state- South Dakota

Panorama of the Blackhills

Making it to O'Neil Pass with Greg and Susie

Great Green tones in the Black Hills

I was the first to start the 30 mile down hill into Spearfish via Spearfish Canyon.
There were plenty of beautiful spots to check out. Too bad the area isn't a national park to protect it.

It started to heat up to the high 80's degrees as I got lower into Spearfish Canyon. Once I entered the town of Spearfish I went to the local bike shop and had the mechanic check my bike out. Spearfish seems to be a nice little college town.

We are staying at Black Hills College in the dorms tonight. We ate at the college cafeteria which was very nice.

The beauty of the Blackhills

Spearfish Canyon

Downtown Spearfish

Gillette, Wy To Newcastle, Wy

2010-07-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

July 14, 2010
75 Miles

It was nice to sleep in a comfortable bed at the Clarion Inn in Gillette. We had breakfast at 6:00 a.m. and I started the ride by myself. I headed east from Gillette on Hwy 51 and passed a large coal power plant. The road paralleled I-90 to Moorcroft. (about 29 miles)

Coal Power plant east of Gillette

Miles of coal cars headed west

Our first snack stop was in Moorcroft. It was next to a C-store. As I was talking with Tim and Blaine most of the group showed up.

Morning in Moorcroft

Downtown Moorcroft

Snack stop in Moorcroft, Tom, Ziva, Blaine, Tim, and Ed

The group headed southeast to Upton and had a great tailwind. Also, we lucked out on the weather again as it was cool.

Our lunch stop was in Upton and Tim and Blaine provided an great lunch. Not only did they have various lunch meats, veggies and spreads, they also had two types of hummus, pita bread and fruits. The lunch stop was in a hilly area with some trees. We had not seen many trees for the past week.

After the lunch stop we hit a 8 mile stretch of road construction. When I got through the construction I got to ride on new, smooth pavement with a tailwind. It couldn't get much nicer than that.

Arrived in Newcastle around 2:00 p.m. and found our home for the night, the Senior Center. The women in our group made a wonderful mexican dinner. After dinner we gave Tim a cowboy hat as a going away present and thanked him for his wonderful support.

Panorama looking east toward South Dakota

Panorama of road to Newcastle with Ed riding up the hill

Road surface for 4 miles, this stuff causes your hands to get numb. It was called "milled pavement"

I guess they allow really long gas trucks in Wyoming, How many wheels does this thing have ?

Tim trying on his new hat at dinner in Newcastle

The wonderful mexican dinner

Buffalo, Wy To Gillette, Wy

2010-07-13T13:00:00.001-07:00

July 13, 2010
72 Miles

There was no other way to get to Gillette than riding I-90 for 72 miles.

I left the United Congregational Church with Tom, Ziva and Susan at about 6:00 a.m. The first 35 miles on the interstate weren't bad as there was no traffic and it was very cool. I read the temp. at a bank in Buffalo and it was 59 degrees. The road/freeway climbed significantly for a number of miles as we went eastbound on I-90.

Our lunch stop was at a rest stop 35 miles into the ride. I stayed there only a few minutes to get juice and a snack and got back on the freeway. Tom had the same idea, i.e. get the ride over with as there wasn't too much to see on the stretch of road.

It never got really hot for the entire ride as I arrived in Gillette around 11:50 a.m. We are staying at the Clairon Inn, the same hotel I stayed in 2 years ago with my son.

We couldn't check in when we arrived so I walked over to a coffee shop and got an iced coffee. Ed and Kim pulled up and did the same thing. We then hung out in the lobby for a few hours until we could check in. The hotel was quite nice and Ed and I went to the whirlpool after dinner.

Dinner at the Congregational Church at Buffalo, Ziva decided she had a little cowgirl in her after shoping with Kim and Susan in Sheridan

Pretty much the scenery all day

Ed after a long ride, Wake up Ed! It's not meeting time yet.

Sheridan, Wy To Buffalo, Wy

2010-07-12T15:49:00.001-07:00

July 12, 2010
40 miles
I made the mistake of thinking today was going to be an easy day as we did not have a lot of miles to cover.

Everyone slept in and had breakfast at the Trails End hotel in Sheridan around 8 a.m.

I rode with Dick, Tom, and Ed all day. Our hotel was located at the north end of town and rode south through downtown Sheridan. It looked like a nice place to visit and I wished we had stayed closer to downtown last night.

As we headed farther south we saw the typical larger stores including Walmart. There was also a Starbucks.

The weather was warm for morning as we passed rural homes with horse pastures. When we turned south on Hwy 87 we got a headwind and we also had to climb a number of hills. The biggest hill came when we had to go up to the town of Story on Hwy 193. Half way up we stopped to take pictures since there was a nice view to the north.

Leaving Sheridan and heading south on Hwy 87 with Ed and Tom up front

Panorama looking west on Hwy 87 at the Big Horn Mtns.

Panorama on Hwy 193 after a 9% climb up a long hill, Ed is asking Dick and Tom to get into a photo.

We were hoping to find a store at the top of the hill to get a cold drink but found none. At this point we felt that this short mileage day was actually harder than anticipated.

We had a downhill after Story but again, the headwinds slowed us down.

The only route to Buffalo at this point was on I-90. 12 Miles of freeway at 90 degrees made us a little concerned about tomorrow's ride to Gillette which will be entirely on I-90 (over 70 miles). But this stretch turned out to be not that bad.

When we arrived in Buffalo we went to the largest outdoor pool in the US. It was huge and was fed by fresh water from a river. The temps. felt like it was river water as it was in the high 60's. Later Ed and I walked downtown to the local library to blog and then to a historic hotel bar. Apparently many years ago there was a shoot out and the bartender showed us a bullet hole still visible in a wall.

We are staying tonight at the United Congregational Church in Buffalo.

Heading onto I90 south to Buffalo, but wait a minute- Is Dick going to take another 20 mile detour?

Hardin Mt To Sheridan, Wy

2010-07-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

July 11, 2010
86 miles

Another wonderful day to ride. We woke up early as we had a big day, mileage wise. The breakfast at the Rodeway Inn was weak and I was hungry about an hour after we started rolling.

It was raining very lightly as we left Hardin. Ziva and Susan wanted to go out of town as a group. I ended up riding with them all day.

Stopping at an American Museum

Awesome road conditions

Even though we had a little rain, we enjoyed this ride very much. The clouds kept the temps. down and we were comfortable.

Lunch Stop

We used frontage roads paralleling I-90 all day long. Some of these roads had no traffic on them and they proved to be perfect for cycling.

About 50 miles into the ride we reached the Wyoming boarder. Although we had a great time in Montana, it was good to cross into another state to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Nancy and Ken had been riding with us along this section.

We got into Sheridan around 3 :00 p.m. I am sharing a room with Ed at the Trails Inn Hotel. Our room looked out to a number of train tracks with long trains rolling through carrying coal.

Tim, Dick, Tom, Ed and I had dinner at the hotel restaurant. After dinner we met for another nightly meeting to go over the route for tomorrow. When the meeting was over people mentioned that after 21 plus days of riding it is very common to get all sorts of butt pain issues. Including rashes etc. I am no exception to those issues. Discussions about "Butt Butter" application and methods of preventing pain in the derriere was a bit bizarre and comical.

Entering a new state

Ken, the good husband giving support to his wife Nancy up a hill

Mile 86 Sheridan, Susan and Ziva up ahead

Billings, Mt To Hardin, Mt

2010-07-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

July 10, 2010
55 miles

We slept in today because we had a little shorter ride, 55 miles. Nancy had said on previous trips the Hardin Rd. could be tough if it is hot and there are head winds. However, today we were lucky again because it was cooler than normal and we had wonderful tailwinds. Nancy and Ken told us that we had the best weather conditions on any trip. It was wonderful.

We all left Billings together because we were not sure of the route out of town. Once we reached the Hardin Road it was partially cloudy with a tail wind. We first had to climb a fairly steep hill but then the ride was sweet. Total tail winds with perfect conditions.

Near crest on Hardin Road outside of Billings

Half way along the road we had our lunch stop near two loan trees. The surrounding area was filled with prairie grass.

We arrived in Hardin at 12:30 p.m. about an hour before we could check in. Five us went into the conference room at the hotel to blog before we could get into our rooms.

We were trying to hire someone to take us to the Little Big Horn Battlefield about 17 miles away. Unfortunately, we couldn't find anyone who could drive about 7 of us up there. There was a pool at the hotel with a large slide. Nancy and Kim went in for a swim.

Later in the evening we went to pizza place for dinner. Afterwards we walked to get an ice cream at Dairy Queen before returning to the hotel.

Porcupine roadkill, sorry old guy!

Hardin Road, nearly perfect conditions

Lone Tree and Lunch stop on Hardin Road

Fields with great tones

Entering Hardin about 15 miles from Little Big Horn Battlefield

Harlowton, Mt To Billings, Mt

2010-07-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2010
90 miles

Today we had to cover a lot of miles. We woke up at 4:30 a.m. and had breakfast at the church. We all got out on the road by 5:30 a.m. We headed east on Highway 12.

I was out front and had a great tail wind for 47 miles. The road followed the Musselshell River on right. It seemed as if the road was slightly going downhill following the river.

Church in Harolton, home for last night

Goofing off in the church- Reverend Chuck giving a sermon

Great riding conditions for morning with no cars on the road

Our first snack stop at Ryegate. Tim was waiting and as usual, he was gracious in making the riders comfortable. I will miss him when he goes back to Vermont when we get to Rapid City. After a brief snack I took off east toward Lavina. Made it there quickly because of the tail winds. Then I turned south on Hwy 3 toward our lunch stop in Broadview. Now I had a cross wind. There was a 12 mile stretch of road construction that had an rough road surface. It was "vibration time" and my hands felt numb several times from the bumps in the road. Leaving Broadview the ride became a little challenging because there was a long portion that was dry and bleak. It seemed like it was 20 miles without services.
Tim, number 1 rated support driver

Finally I crested the plateau in Billings and took the Zimmerman Trail to the western portion of Billings.

It was fairly hot when we arrived in Billings. Tom and I walked up the street to a market to get something cold to drink. We are staying at a church in Billings and a gracious women made dinner for us.

Little town of Lavia. Flag denotes cross wide

Lots of hay rolls and the best bike to ride

20 mile stetch that went on for a long time

Billings after a long day

Standford, Mt to Harowton, Mt

2010-07-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

July 8, 2010
69 miles

After the rain and cold weather in Glacier N.P., we lucked out again today in Standford. It was cool when we got up. Ken and Nancy treated us again to breakfast at the cafe in Stanford.

I returned to the motel after breakfast to help Ken break down the tents and load the trailer. Then I got on the road around 7 :30 a.m.

We headed eastbound on Hwys. 200/89. I caught up with a few riders on the way to Eddie's Corner, our snack stop. Tom was already there when I arrived and said he'd like to stop briefly and then start riding again since we have heard this area gets a lot of wind later in the day.

Looking to the east toward Eddies Corner

Tom and I headed south on Hwy 191 toward Judith Gap. We were counting on checking out their famous milk shakes. As we got closer to town there was construction on the road so we had to take a detour on an unpaved road and narrowly missed the milk shake store. The road turned muddy since they were spraying it with water and when Tom stopped near me I saw that he got pasted with mud.

Tim had set up the trailer in an area near the detour by some water tanks so everyone could see him despite all the construction going on.

After my typical lunch of ham or turkey sandwich with grape juice and a cheese stick I hit the road again. As I passed the wind mill area I noticed the blades were not turning. The wind was very slight so nothing was turning.

Both Tom and I arrived at the Federated Church in Harowtown around 2 p.m. No wi-fi around so I headed to the public library down the street where I saw Tim, Susie, and Greg also using computers. As we walked back from the library Tom, Tim, and I talked with some guys on Harleys traveling around the country. They were trying to decide to stay here the night or go south.

Later in the evening Ed and I walked around this little town but there wasn't much going on. We saw a few buildings built many years ago when perhaps things were livelier.

Panorama of the low central Montana

Windmills in the area of Judith Gap but no wind today

We were lucky as this area is usually windy

My odometer hit 1000 miles even though I actually have 35 more miles since I took off the bike comp. over Logan Pass

Entering Harowton at 2 p.m.

Great Falls, Mt To Standford, Mt

2010-07-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

July 7, 2010
61 miles

We were lucky to have wonderful weather today. The high was about 72 degrees. Ken said that it is usually much hotter this time of year.

We left the Ursuline Center around 8 :00 a.m. and went on a lot of side streets to get out of Great Falls.

We headed east, south east past Malstrom Air force Base on Hwy 87. This is prairie country and there was little wind today so we lucked out.

Leaving Great Falls on a super concrete highway

Tim set up a snack stop in Belt at a rest area. Then we traveled a little farther to Raynesford, the site of the first nuclear war head which is still active. Greg and Susie tried to take a picture of the site but they were warned not to do so.

Up the hill is the site of the first nuclear warhead "Ace in the Hole"

Lunch stop was at Geyser where I had cheese sticks and a ham sandwich. We got into Standford around 2:00 p.m. and found out that there was a problem with the reservations, i.e, there weren't enough rooms for our group. We had only three rooms available but everyone in the group was cooperative and we teamed up in rooms and tents.

Ken and Nancy treated us to dinner at a cafe in Standford.

Lunch stop near Raynesford

Typical views during the ride

Nearing Standford with Ed wearing his "Going To The Sun" Jersey

Home for the night

Ken and Nancy treating the group to dinner in Standfornd

Great Falls Rest Day

2010-07-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

0 miles

Today was our second rest day of the tour. I slept in to a whopping 7 :00 a.m. We had breakfast at the Ursuline Center at 8 a.m. I tried to blog and noticed that my computer had a bug in it that caused it to malfunction. I called a local repair person and his wife, Jackie came by and picked up the computer. They worked on it for a few hours and drove it back at 8 30 p.m.

During the day I went shopping and took a tour of the Ursuline Center with a resident named George showing us around. Some of the other riders went to the Lewis and Clark museum and toured downtown Great Falls.

At our nightly meeting Nancy and Ken told us that we will be heading into more desolate land and will not see trees naturally growing for weeks. The next time we may see trees is in the Black Hills. Since we will be traveling in treeless land, Nancy said that a lot of riders will be "tested" as they ride for miles and miles in just prairie lands.

George giving us a tour of the Ursuline Center

Ziva pointing to a map held by Nancy showing how far we've gone so far

Choteau, Mt To Great Falls, Mt

2010-07-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

July 5 2010
55 miles

After we had breakfast at the New Life Church in Choteau we loaded up the truck and noticed it was raining. We all put on rain gear and started riding south around 8 a.m.

The New Life Church in Choteau

It rained for about 50 minutes till we got near the town of Fairfield. I was riding in back of Greg and Susan but they stopped for coffee in Fairfield and Ed pulled up.
Ed and I rode together from Fairfield.

Greg and Susie

Meeting up with Ed

South of Choteau

Mid way in today's ride

Pleasant ride with few cars

We dropped in elevation after Fairfield so it was an easier ride toward Great Falls.

The lunch stop was right before we got near I 15 in Vaughn. After lunch Ed and I took a frontage road to north Great Falls.

We crossed the Missouri River and noticed the water level high because of the recent rains.

Dropping in elevation and looking south toward Great Falls

We arrived at our home for two nights-the Ursuline Center in Great Falls. Ed and I went for a walk looking for coffee and just as we entered a store it started to pour heavily. We saw Ted and Ken in Target so we caught a ride back to Ursuline in Ken's Excursion. During dinner we talked with an interesting guy named George, originally from France and Chile but he has traveled all over the world.

Looking West toward the Rockies

Crossing the Missouri River in Great Falls

Ursuline Center-Great Falls

Valier, Mt To Choteau, Mt

2010-07-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2010

58 miles

Nancy and Ken treated the group to breakfast at the Panther Café in Valier. During breakfast we had our meeting because we did not to have it at the usual time, the night before. Ken asked if anyone wanted to do the ride a new way to Choteau down a dirt/ gravel road instead of the traditional route. I chose the traditional route as I was on a road bike and my tires were not suitable for rough gravel.

Our accommodations last night

Ken and Nancy planning the specifics for today

Breakfast At the Panther Cafe in Valier

Ziva, Tom, and I took off around 7:30 a.m. and had to ride east toward Interstate 15 before we hit a frontage road paralleling the freeway southbound. We had tailwinds for both stretches and were moving fast. Greg and Susie also took the same route.

Tom riding in the morning

Our snack stop was in the town of Conrad. Tim and Nancy set up the trailer in a supermarket parking lot after shopping in Conrad. I had some fresh plumbs and cookies.

Ziva and Tom entering Conrad

Miles and Miles To ride

Rockies to the West

Then we had to turn west on Hwy 119 where we were met with strong headwinds for 13 miles. Once we got on Hwy 120 south the winds were a little better. This stretch was about 18 miles until we got into Choteau. We met up with Dick on Hwy 120 . He had taken the dirt road with the riders.

Ziva just before we hit the headwinds

I missed the local parade in downtown Choteau but a policeman said the rodeo started at 2:00 p.m. I turned south on Hwy 89 and found the New Life Church south of town. I grabbed a conference room for sleeping tonight.

Entering Choteau

Choteau Courthouse

Rising Sun, Mt To Valier, Mt

2010-07-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

July 3, 2010
79 miles

When we woke up this morning in or cabins it was very cold with the wind blowing east. Everyone met in Sharon and Kim's room for breakfast and then hit the road around 7 :00 a.m. The first five miles to St. Mary were easy. Then we turned south on Hwy 89 and had a big seven mile climb. Fortunately it was cool as we would be sweating a lot otherwise.

Leaving Glacier National Park, looking west with Logan Pass still socked in with clouds

St. Mary Lake, Gracier

After 17 miles we turned east on Star School Rd. This part was awesome as we had a strong tailwind. Everyone was having a good time because we could go about 25 mph without pedaling much. This is the western edge of the Blackfeet reservation. We noticed a lot of crap on the surface of the road including broken glass and debris.

Riding on Star School Road-What a great ride

Then we turned back onto 89 and traffic picked up. Although I don’t like riding in a traffic lane in Montana because people are driving 70 mph plus by you, I had to go out into the lane because of the constant glass in the shoulder.

We took 89 for about 25 miles before we turned onto Hwy 44 east to Valier. At this point we had another great tailwind and got up to high speeds with little traffic.

We are staying at the Mountain Front Lodge tonight. This place looks like it was built in the 1950’s.
Nancy is taking us all out to dinner tonight. I am sharing a room with Ed tonight.

Lunch Stop

Leaving the Blackfeet Reservation with a few male blackfeet native americans with us

Kim and Ziva at a rest stop

Lake McDonald, Mt To Rising Sun, Mt

2010-07-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

July 2, 2010
35 miles

The weather forecast for today was 90 % chance of rain. When we woke up it was raining hard and there was thunder and lightning. Nancy told all of us we shouldn’t leave the hotel because of the lightning. We had breakfast by the trailer and waited around thinking what to do. Ken told us a few options.

All of us trying to decide whether to ride over the pass in very bad weather in the morning-Ken advising us of our options

Some people chose to take the shuttle over Logan Pass to avoid the rotten weather. I was leaning in that direction but when I saw Ed ride off by himself toward Logan Pass I decided to ride with him. We both made it up Steven’s Pass in Washington helping each other up . A total of 5 in the group decided to ride (Greg, Susie, Ken, Ed, and I) and the others took the shuttle.

As Ed and I rode east it continued to rain. I got more concerned as I knew soon we would be climbing and would have to go over a 6,000 ft pass in horrible weather.

When Ed and I made the hairpin turn to climb higher the rain stopped. We climbed steadily for 10 miles in between fog and wind. The views were nice but the clouds obstructed a lot of peaks. We also had to work our way through construction areas limiting vehicles to one lane.

One mile before the top the wind really picked up. We started to get very cold because of the sweat we were generating under our rain gear. When we crested the summit Ed shook my hand congratulating both of us. However, we didn’t go over to the summit sign for a photo because it was freezing by now. We quickly rushed to the Visitors Center. We only went there to get out of the wind and cold.

Once in the Visitor's Center we became disappointed as the building was not heated. Even though we were inside it was still very cold. The only good thing was that were were out of the wind and rain.

Notwithstanding the fact that I had rain gear on I was still soaked and shivering. I changed my jersey but the new one was wet because the rain had seeped through my Camelbak lining.

After staying inside the visitor’s center for 30 minutes we decided to head down the summit to the other side of the park where others in our group had gone. This turned out to be the hardest and most uncomfortable part of today's ride. Ed and I were freezing cold and now it was sleeting. The decent was steep and my hands got completely numb. I could not even work my brakes going down hill. We pulled into several pullouts just to get our feeling back in our hands. Both of us thought we may be in danger of hypothermia.

But as we slowly worked our way down hill it got a little warmer. Ed was taking pictures with his IPhone as I left my camera in my suitcase because I did not want it to get soaked.

We finally got to Rising Sun Lodge. Ed and I went to the restaurant to heat up and have soup and coffee. Ed said because of that experience “we are bonded for life”.

From Going To the Sun Hwy (Taken previous day)

The steep climb up to Logan Pass (Taken previous day)

The steep climb up to Logan Pass taken by Ed's iPhone

Going up to Logan pass by Ed's iPhone

Logan Pass (taken previous day)

Ed and I near St. Mary Lake still with rain gear on, very wet and cold but warming up slowly

Eastern Side of Glacier before Rising Sun finally starting to get warmer

Comfortable after a warm shower and now time to relax

Lodge in St. Mary

Whitefish, Mt To Lake McDonald-Glacier National Park

2010-07-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2010

39 miles

Wonderful dinner at the Foursquare church in Whitefish

Since we had a relatively short ride today with few hills, Ken suggested that we could leave Whitefish late and ride to Glacier/Lake McDonald Lodge by 3 :00 p.m.

Most of the group went downtown in the early morning. Ed went back to Glacier Cyclery and bought a "Going to the Sun" jersey. The superstitious side of me made me not want to buy one as I did not know if I will make it tomorrow over the pass.

Later in the morning we rode the back roads out of Whitefish to avoid the traffic. Some of the county roads were peaceful with little traffic. It was a nice morning. Eventually we hooked with Hwy 2 heading east and the traffic picked up.

Early morning in Whitefish

Leaving Whitefish on a county road

We passed Columbia Falls and then got into Hungry Horse. This town is famous for its Huckleberry cuisine. I was riding with Ziva and Tom. We found a Huckleberry Café and I had a great huckleberry shake.

Then we climbed a bit to get to the entrance of Glacier National Park. Since bicycles are not permitted to be on the Going to the Sun Hwy after 10 :00 a.m. we had to pull into a village called Afgar and wait there until 4:00 p.m. before we could ride again.

Near Glacier with sign showing good news: "Going To The Sun" Hwy open.

Ziva, Tom, and I decided to park our bikes at Afgar and take to shuttle to Logan Pass to see what we would be riding tomorrow. It took 1 ½ hours on the shuttle to reach the top. The weather was cold and we had to wait in different construction zones before we could proceed. Seeing the steepness of the Going to the Sun road made me a little concerned if the weather would be bad.

Entering Glacier

In the evening we had dinner in the cafe at the lodge. Our meeting that night took place in the parking lot of the lodge.

I shared a room with Dick this night.

Hotel rooms we stayed in at Lake McDonald

Outside meeting going over tomorrow's route

Lake view at McDonlad Lodge

Eureka, Mt To Whitefish, Mt

2010-06-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

June 30, 2010
60 miles

Our route today was south on Route 93 to Whitefish. The first 30 miles were Ok because there was a shoulder but the traffic was heavy even early in the morning. This route goes to the Canadian border down to Kalispell.

Ed and my room at the Riverstone Lodge

Leaving Eureka around 7 :30 a.m.

A lake along the route

About the 30 mile mark things got worse. The road had a lot of bumps and the shoulder got very narrow down to about 1 foot. Cars and trucks are allowed to go 70 miles per hour down this road. Also there were many loaded trucks carrying logs and gas. They raced by without moving over.

I stopped at about mile 42 where Tim had the lunch stop. By then my nerves were frayed. Other riders started pulling in and commenting about how bad the road conditions were. I stayed at the lunch stop about 15 minutes, a short time because I wanted to get the ride over by getting to Whitefish safely.

About 10 miles before Whitefish the road got very bad with no shoulder, hills, and constant traffic.

When I saw the "Welcome to Whitefish" sign I was relieved.

First I went to check out a bike shop in town. Then headed to the church we would be staying at and noted others in the group also had been stressed out too.

I am thankful that we had good weather as I would not want to be riding this stretch of road with that added hazard. It was by far the scariest road I have ridden on. There were so many roadside memorials along the route that I lost count.

I saw dozens of these along Route 93

I was glad to see this sign after riding 60 miles on Route 93

Libby, Mt To Eureka, Mt

2010-06-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

June 29, 2010
73 miles

At our meeting last night Ken told us that today's ride would be tough because we would be riding up and down drainage ditches around Lake Koocanusa. So I got up around 5:00 a.m. and got breakfast. Most of the others in the group were also up.

I went solo and took off at 5:45 a.m. However, I missed the highway turn for Route 37 and went out about 2 miles before realizing I was going in the wrong direction. Once I was back on course the first part of the ride was very peaceful. At about 6 miles up I saw where R.W. Grace had the asbestos mine that became a horrible tragedy for Libby residents.

Heading toward Libby Dam in the early morning

I hit the top of the Libby Dam at mile 17. No one was around and it was still early morning. Then started the constant ups and downs around Lake Koocanusa as the highway would go down every time you came to a creek feeding into the dam. Lake Koocanusa is named from Kookanai River, Canada and USA. Incidentally we are very close to the Canadian boarder. The lake was a bit low because of the lack of snow this year.

Libby Dam-mile 17

My dashboard

Lake Koocanusa

Up until the lunch stop I seemed to have the whole road to myself. There were no cars but a few cyclists going the opposite direction. Also there was shade as it was still early in the morning.

I saw Tim parked at the lunch stop around 42 miles. I sat and talked with him and joked around for about 30 minutes.

Arriving first at the lunch stop, mile 42 with Tim waiting

Dandelions Montana style

55 mile marker- the bridge over Lake Koocanusa

Then the bigger climbs came after lunch. Also it got very hot and I was sweating a lot. I drank a whole bottle filled with gatorade in a 20 mile stretch. By the time I got to Rexford I was really hot. I still didn't see anyone from our group. I did see a guy going the opposite direction on a fully loaded recumbent. I chatted with him a while but he was only going about 35 miles a day. He told me that the roads out in Montana are not good for the skinny tires I have on my bike.

Finally at around mile 69 I got into Eureka. It was very hot here too. I stopped at a convenient store and got directions to the Riverstone Family Lodge. I had to ride north on Hwy 93 four miles to get to the lodge. The lodge is 3 miles from the Canadian boarder. I was the first rider to reach the lodge and put up the clothes line- my official job from Ken. The lodge is very nice and I am sharing a room with Ed.

Tonight Tim is cooking dinner for all of us in the lodge dining hall.

Home for the night-the Riverstone Family Lodge- Ed and I have the first room with the bikes out front

Clark Fork, Id To Libby Mt

2010-06-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

June 28, 2010
68 miles

Last night Ken and Nancy learned that the short cut to Route 200 had some major construction and we would have to go on a detour if we didn't get through by 8 a.m. mountain time. Ken encouraged all of us to leave the Diamond T Ranch by 6:30 a.m.
I first rode with Nancy to the construction area. When a large construction truck passed us I thought we weren't going to make it through the regular route. I then sped ahead and met up with Susan, Ziva, Dick, and Tom. It was 7:00 a.m when we got to the construction area. We saw the detour signs and debated whether to go through anyway. The others decided to go on the detour and I followed. I did not see Nancy yet.

The detour required us to ride on dirt roads for about 4 miles. When we saw a lady in a pickup on the road she told us that we were near the bridge to Rt. 200.

Morning at Diamond T Ranch

At the construction zone deciding what to do

Clark River just after the detour about 2 miles into Montana

We took Rt 200 east and stopped at a real estate office with a Montana sign as there were no "Welcome to Montana" signs on the dirt road.

Had to settle for this sign welcoming us to Montana

After about 8 miles we headed north on Hwy 56. This road had far less traffic and near perfect conditions. Our lunch stop was near Bull Lake. Tim had a hard time finding a decent spot to stop the support vehicle.

Early morning on MT Hwy 56 with Ziva, Tom, Dick, and Susan

Riding next to Bull Lake

Panorama of Bull Lake

After lunch I headed out first toward Route 2. I got to Kootenai Falls around 1:00 p.m. and was the first one to check out the falls.

Then I headed another 10 miles to Libby. We are staying at the United Lutheran Church tonight and are going to another church for dinner.

The tour organized that we take showers in various citizens homes. Tim and I went to Eileen's house. She was very sweet and told us about her family. Her husband recently died of lung cancer and you could tell she was very lonely. She wanted to bend our ears. Libby is a supperfund sight. R.J. Grace mined asbestos a number of years ago and Libby was contaminated. Many of its residents contracted different forms of lung problems.

Kootenai Falls- Where the movie "The River Wild" was filmed

Panorama of Kootenai Falls

Coming into Libby, Mt

Home for the night in Libby

Dinner provided by the folks of Libby

Sleeping quartes

Farragut State Park, Id To Clark Fork Id

2010-06-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

June 27, 2010
61 miles

I had a relatively good night sleep despite camping. It seemed that the park got quiet around 9 p.m.

Ed, Dick, Tom and I took off around 7:30 a.m. and rode on the left side of Lake Pend Oreille toward Sandpoint.

We passed through Carrywood and then stopped at a place that raised wolves near Cocolla. This organization is trying to reintroduce wolves in the area but is getting some resistance.
Meadow along the ride

One of the wolves at the Wolf People Reserve

Our lunch stop was at the city park in Sandpoint. Great weather and a nice ride on the bike trail to Sandpoint. However, there was one section that had tree roots creating severe bumps in the trail. I lost my light from flying around on the bike.
Ed and I just south of Sandpoint on the bike trail.

Lake Pend Oreille In the City Park at Sandpoint

After lunch I headed out on my own and had a nice quiet ride all the way to the Diamond T ranch passed Clark Fork. We all got bungalows. I shared one with Ed and Dick. Nancy and Kim made a great soup and salad.

Our home for the night, The Diamond T Ranch, Clark Fork

Spokane, Wa To Athol, Id

2010-06-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

June 26, 2010
65 Miles

We left the great dorms at Gozaga Univ. around 8 a.m. Before we loaded the trailer, Tim and I ran over to Starbucks to get a strong cup of coffee.

Typical Nightly meetings going over the next day's route

New dorm room at Gonzaga Univ.

We headed east along the Centennial trail across the state line into Idaho. It was a beautiful ride with great weather conditions. There was a spot along the trail were we stopped to see a classic car rally.

Dick checking out the classic cars

After we crossed the state line we headed north on Pleasant Valley Rd. Traffic began to pick up but there was a good shoulder.

Crossing the Washington-Idaho State line on the Centennial Trail

Kim and Ziva close to the state line

Farther down on the Centennial Trail

On the Centennial Trail East of Spokane

Lunch was in Rathburn Id. After lunch I rode with Tom, Ziva, and Dick to Farragut State Park. This park is supposed to be one of the biggest state parks in the country. Tim cooked burgers and veggie burgers and made salad. We are not starving on this trip. I am eating way more than I would normally and the support/food has been good.

The group had several tents and I shared with Ed.

Ziva along the route

Just before Farragut State Park

Tim, Our great support driver cooking dinner at Farragut State Park Campground

Roasting marsh mellows

The group at dinner

Rest Day In Spokane

2010-06-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

June 25, 2010
4 miles

This being a rest day I wanted to do chores for then next leg of the ride.

I started out going to Starbucks with Tim, our support person. We had a good time talking for about one hour before we went to the Ganzaga Cafeteria for breakfast.

Next I took about one hour cleaning my bike as it is amazing how filthy it gets riding through all kinds of conditions. I also did some laundry in the dorm we are staying since the next several days will not have any kind of conventional laundromats. Next up was some shopping at Walgreens and REI.

Finally I went back to the Gonzaga library to blog.

We had meals provided in the Gonzaga University cafeteria.

We will have a meeting tonight as tomorrow is another ride day, this time crossing into Idaho.

Gonzaga University

Wilber, Wa To Spokane, Wa

2010-06-24T17:27:00.000-07:00

72 Miles
June 24, 2010

Last night at our meeting at the church in Wilber it started to rain very hard. I thought we would have a rough time today as I lay in my sleeping bag at the church. However, in the morning we were very lucky as things quickly improved before we got on our bikes. We had beautiful skies all the way to Spokane. We also had a slight tail wind.

Ed heading out of Wilber in the early morning

We first rode to a place called Creston, 10 miles into the ride. When we stopped in Davenport we saw lots of people from the "Big Ride" traveling to D.C. They were taking a rest stop at the plaza in town along with most of our group.

Wheat Everywhere along the ride. All the wheat is naturally irrigated by only rain

Then about 42 miles into the ride we stopped at the lunch sag in Reardan. One guy from the Big Ride group came over to our lunch stop and admired the food that we had compared to what they get on the Big Ride-Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches all the time.

The ride into Spokane got a bit confusing as Ed and I decided to push ahead of the group and find our way. Ed, Dick and I went on the Centennial Trail but I think we veered off and did not see Nancy's chalk marks pointing us in the right direction

We got to the dorm at Gonzaga Univ. and I had time to update the blog. This was the first time I had a lot of time to edit it and upload pictures as it takes a while to do so. The dorm building was very nice as it seemed new with nice lobbies and a free laundromat. We had our meals at the university cafeteria.

Lunch Stop in Readon

On the Centennial Trail coming into Spokane

Riding on the Centennial Trail approaching Spokane

Our home for Two nights - Couphlin Hall at Gonzaga University

Waterville, Wa To Wilber, Wa

2010-06-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

June 23, 2010
74 Miles
The first 44 miles of today's ride were wonderful. We went through wheat fields outside of Waterville and then hit the Coulees. These are old canyons that were made millions of years ago when water rushed down from Canada during the Ice Age. There was little traffic and wide open roads. Our lunch stop was at mile 44 in Coulee City.

Farmer- A very small place

Nancy Just Outside Waterville taking a picture

East of Waterville

Nancy and I near Farmer

Ed and I just before the Coulees

Part of our group at the Coulees, Ziva, Ed, Susan and Tom

Riding down inside the coulees

Ed approaching east of the coulees

A long way to go before our lunch stop

Coulee City in the distance- About 4 miles to lunch stop

Just before our lunch stop

More coulees

After lunch the next 30 miles seemed a bit harder as we had headwinds and heat. I rode with Tom, Ziva and Susan on this stretch.

Traveling east of Coulee City we rode through Hartline and Almira before reaching Wilbur. This is where we had headwinds and the ride was more difficult. Dick, who had taken a detour up to the Grand Coulee Dam had ridden even more miles. Most of us were tired when we got to Wilbur.

Once we got to the church in Wilbur, a church member Tootsie, took us up to the high school to shower. Then we walked around town before dinner.

Most of the area was covered by miles and miles of wheat fields.

Afternoon view of abandon building in wheatfields

Abandon House surrounded by miles of wheat fields

Our Home for the night- Community Presbyterian Church

Leavenworth , Wa To Waterwille, Wa

2010-06-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

June 22, 2010
45 Miles

Every evening before a ride, we have a meeting to discuss the next day's ride. Nancy hands out detail instructions for the route. Last evening during our meeting in Leavenworth Ken talked about an area we will be riding called Pine Canyon. It is a 7 mile climb in a desert setting. He kind of got me a little concerned so I planned to head out early to beat the heat.

Breakfast at Mrs. Anderson's Bed and Breakfast

Leaving Leavenworth-Even the McDonald's has a Bavarian style

The Safeway Market- Leavenworth Style

Nancy leaving Leavenworth

From Leavenworth the first 20 miles is downhill to the Columbia River in Wanatchee. It was a great ride and the temperature was mild.

I rode solo to Cashmere about 10 miles down the highway. This town was very quaint. The applets and couplets tour wasn't open as I rode in pretty early.

Entering the cute Town of Cashmere

Next I rode to Wanatche and saw a guy on the bridge over the Columbia river who was in the other cycle group. He had two flats. I offered to help him but he said a SAG was coming with tubes.

Going Toward the Columibia River

Next I rode to our lunch stop in Orando next to a C-store. The route to Orando followed the Columbia river where there were a lot of fruit stands.

The Columbia River Before Our Lunch Stop Panorama

Once we turned north to follow the Columbia it started to get hotter. I was riding fast today and got to the lunch stop first. From there I headed up Pine Canyon and poured water on my shirt and head before I left. The ride up Pine Canyon wasn't bad and Ken said we were lucky because the area is experiencing a cool wetter June. He said on past tours the temperature was much hotter.

I arrived in Waterville just after Ken. We were staying at the United Lutheran church. After taking a shower, Sharon, Ed, Kim and I went to the local pool and swam. Later we walked around this small town and stopped in a local saloon to have a beer. We had pasta for dinner again.

The day's ride consisted of a relatively flat ride to Wanatchee and then a 7 mile climb up Pine Canyon to Waterville.

Entering Waterville at the end of the day's ride

Home for the night, the Waterville Lutherin Church

When we don't have a laundromat we do it the old fashion way

Kim, Sharon, Ed and I celebrating in Waterville after making it up Pine Canyon

Dinner at the church

Skykomish, Wa To Leavenworth, Wa

2010-06-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

June 21, 2010
53 Miles

Today was a day of contrasts. We started out riding from the Skykomish High school when it was about 50 degrees. We headed up Stevens Pass which is one of the highest points on the route. The only town between Skykomish and Leavenworth was Wellington. It was cold and misty.

Reaching the Summit at Stevens Pass

But it turned out to be good riding conditions to climb a 7 mile mountain. We all did it and when we got to the top we had about a 20 mile downhill ride. The blue sky opened up and it was paradise.

Ed and I starting the desent from Stevens Pass

Me Loving the Ride

Beautiful riding conditions

Wonderful riding conditions east of Stevens Pass

Lunch Stop at rest area on Route 2

When we arrived in Levenworth we got to stay at a really nice bed and breakfast. Leavenworth is a remade German tourist trap but it was very fun to walk around. Ed, Tom, Tim, Dick and I ate at a German sausage/pub type of place. We all were wearing our Bike Across America shirts. Sharon, Kim, Ziva, and Susan saw us as we stood out like sore thumbs and they came over to talk with us before going to another location.

The ride conditions were a long steep seven mile climb over Stevens Pass and then a long decent to Levenworth.

Kim happy to be coming into Leavenworth

Downtown Leavenworth

Home for the night- Mrs. Anderson's B.and B

Woodinville, Wa To Skykomish, Wa

2010-06-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

June 20, 2010
52 Miles

We left Northshore church at about 8:00 a.m and took some back roads to get to Route 2, our primary route for the next several days.
The Church We stayed in in Woodinville

We rode first to Duvall on 203 and then up to Monroe. The road to Monroe was quiet and good cycling. At about the time we hit Route 2 in Monroe we saw several riders in the Cycle America group- about 80 in the group.

Since it was Sunday, the traffic on Route 2 was heavy. We went east through Sultan and met Tim, our support SAG in Gold Bar. At that stop it began to rain heavily so everyone got under a roof that had picnic tables.

Tim parked the trailer near a shelter for our snack break

Stopping for a snack break on Hwy 2 in the rain

Farther along- on Steven's Pass Route Two

With raingear heading up the Cascades

Our group didn't mind the rain, ate a good lunch and then started climbing the Cascades past Baring, finally to Skykomish. It was very cold and damp when we got to the Skykomish Highschool at about 300 p.m. We saw many other riders from Cycle America arriving too.

Ed and I walked around town and went to a pub where we saw cyclists from the other group. We also saw that the many town buildings were being lifted so the soil could be clean. Many years ago the trains dumped oil into the ground contaminating the surrounding area.

The high school that evening was packed with bicyclists from both groups. Ed and I took the "blue room" upstairs to lay out our sleeping bags.

The riding conditions were rolling at first then a gradual climb on Route 2.

Skykomish Highschool where our group and a group of 80 cycles from Cycle America stayed the night.

Ken and others ready to move into the high school for the evening

Having a beer with my riding partner Ed at a Skykomish Pub

Our nightly meeting in a hallway of the high school

Seattle, Wa To Woodinville, Wa

2010-06-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

June 19, 2010

40 Miles

First Night at the Fauntaloy Church in Seattle. Bikes Ready To Go

First Meeting Going over instruction on Ride out of Seattle

This was the first day of the official tour. We left the Fauntleroy Church at 8 a.m. and dipped our rear wheels into the water at Puget Sound.
Just Before We Do our first Pedal

Our group ready to roll

Dipping Our Rear Wheels in the Pacific Ocean-Puget Sound

Looking North to Downtown Seattle

The whole group followed Nancy on a bike trail to south Seattle and took a few pictures. All of us rode over the South Seattle Bridge into downtown Seattle right next to Pike Street Market area. The weather was overcast but very good for cycling. It was misty in a few spots but we didn't get too wet. After making our way through downtown we went into the Fremont section where there was a fair going on. Nearby we stopped to look at the troll/sculpture under the bridge.

Heading toward the Freemont Section near the Space Needle

Troll Under Bridge in the Freemont Section of Seattle

Next we rode several miles on the Burke-Gillman trail past the University of Wash. There were three nude cyclists celebrating the summer solstice.

On the Burke-Gillman Trail near the University of Washington

Then we rode to Bothel heading toward Woodinville. In downtown Woodinville the group stopped and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then headed to the last hill on today's route.

The ride up to the church in Woodinville was on a relatively steep street out of town. At the church a man and woman prepared a pasta dinner for us. Later that evening the man, who is a cyclist gave a presentation on bicycle safety called "vehicular cycling."

We found a number of rooms where we could lay our sleeping bags down for the night.
.
Northshore Church UCC our home for the night

Our Hosts serving Dinner at the Church

Arrived In Seattle

2010-06-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

June 16, 2010

I rented a car from Hertz in Santa Rosa on Tuesday and drove up to Seattle in two days. The first day I drove to a hotel just south of Eugene, Or. Then it took me about 5 hours to drive to South Seattle. I stayed at the Wildwood B. and B in West Seattle the first night. Ken and Nancy were there along with Dick, another rider. When I went to drop off the rental car, the woman at Hertz was so nice. She offered to drive me back to South Seattle so she shut down the office and drove me there in the car.

That evening Nancy, Ken, Dick and I went to a restaurant near the B & B. The next day we moved over to the Fauntleroy church where we stayed two more nights. In the morning others had not arrived yet so I helped Ken unload the bikes they had transported for others all the way from Vermont.

Bikes At Chuch

Other riders started arriving in the afternoon. I walked up to a shopping center and bought a last minute things for the trip. Nancy made the dinners at the church which were great.The dinners prepared by Nancy have been great.

First Dinner at Fauntleroy Church

Getting Ready To Eat

The next day we had a shake down ride. I rode over to Vashon Island for a brief ride. No camera with me so I can't post anything from there. Then I rode up to Arron's bike shop and got some rubber handlebar plugs so my bars wouldn't damage the carbon frame.

Tomorrow we will ride north and east a little to Woodinville, Wa. about 36 miles. I heard the forecast is for rain= not good for the first day of the official ride. I put on my removable fenders for the ride. Since we are riding though Seattle I will probably follow Ken or Nancy as there will be several routes and turns to figure out.

Ken's Excursion with Trailer-Support Vehicle

Sleeping Quarters before we figured out we all could set "up camp" in any of the many rooms of a church

One Month To Go

2010-05-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

This passed week I did three rides. On Tuesday I contacted Nancy W. who was passing through Sonoma Co. on her perimiter trip. She had been staying with Jon in Healdsburg. Jon had been a rider on the 2008 Mod. Northern Tier group with Nancy and Ken. That day I drove up to Healdsburg and met her and Jon riding south. I rode with her and Jon to Windsor and Jon left us and rode back to Healdburg.

Meeting Nancy and Jon in Healdburg

Jon slpiting off in Windsor

Leaving Nancy at the end of the Prince Greenway Trail in Santa Rosa.

On Wednesday I did my typical route to Tomales which is only 31 miles but has some good hills.

Then on Thrusday I rode to Bodega Bay via Coleman Valley Road. This ride is very good for training as it has a number of hills to climb.

Looking west on Coleman Valley Road

Spring Time In Sonoma County

2010-04-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

April 12, 2010

I have added a number of items to my Roubaix in the last couple of weeks. First I bought a Specialized "Dirt Bag" that attaches to the seat. In it I store two tubes, a mini Allen tool set, patch kit and Powerbar. Also, added (temporarily) are the Crud fenders. I will take them off and only use them in bad weather. Moreover, I placed one bottle cage on and I am trying to determine where I can easily place the other without interfering with my pump.

While in Oregon I went to REI and purchased a NorthFace Rolling Duffle and a 2 1/2 inch air mattress. I saved a lot as I did not have to pay sales tax in Oregon.

More modifications will come, of course. This will be an on going thing as most tourers find what works and what doesn't.

Last week we finally had very good weather. This week, things changed back to the wet stuff that has been very common this "El Nino" year.

I have taken off the kickstand because I was hitting it with my left heel. I then reattached it when I moved it back. I don't know if it will still get in the way of my pedal stroke. It is nice to have a stand but I will not let it at all interfere with my peddling.
Couldn't get any better riding conditions. Along the Marshall/Petaluma Road.

Looking Southwest to Tamales Bay.

Bohemian Hwy heading toward Occidental.

New Modifications To Roubaix

2010-03-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

March 27, 2010

This week I had Norcal Bikes change my cassette to a lower ratio. Since I have a 10 speed the only cassette available is the IRD. I chose the 12-32 as I did not want to get too carried away with getting the lowest possible gears.

I just took the bike out for a short test ride on the long driveway. I notice some skipping in the second and third cogs. This is a little frustrating and I will try to go for a long ride tomorrow to see if it is a real problem.

I also added Shimano touring peddles so that one side has a clip and the other side is flat for in town traffic. Further, I attached my Ortlieb handlebar bag.

This is the new cassette with a mountain derailer as I could not keep my 105 with this cassette.

Here is my Roubaix with the new additions.

In the above picture you can see that the weather is fantastic. Last week we were in Colorado and the weather was very cold. In fact, when we flew out of Denver to Sacramento it was snowing and we thought there was a chance that we could not fly out. That was the first time that I had been in a plane that had to "de-ice" before takeoff.

For the past week I have been on four rides. One to Bodega Bay over Coleman Valley Road, one to Petaluma via Chileno Valley Road, one to Tomales, and one to Forestville. All absolutely beautiful rides. I am so lucky to live in this area.

Preparation

2010-03-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

Friday March 12, 2010
Greetings!

This is the first entry of my blog. Thanks for checking it out.

I have always liked this quote and thought it was fitting for my blog and frame of mind. 'Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.' Mark Twain.

Traveling has always been an important part of my like. When I was in my 20's and 30's I enjoyed traveling all over the world and not having any schedule, with the freedom to go where ever and when every I pleased. Bicycling, in particular was both a wonderful physical activity in combination with traveling, albeit slowly.I have done some unsupported tours which were cool because they gave me freedom. But the drawbacks were that I had to carry all my gear and figure out each night where to stay. Now that I am in my 50's it is nicer to have someone who knows the lay of the land help organize a trip. I have wanted to go on a supported long distance tour for some time.
In 2008 Nancy and Ken W. organized a cross country trip from Seattle to Vermont but I could not go then because of family and job obligations. They have done a number of such tours over the years. When they advised me that they would do another trip in 2010 I got very excited and started emailing Nancy about joining the tour.

Late January 2010 Nancy sent a detailed packet of information about the trip. I am very impressed by the organization of the trip. She sent a daily itinerary of mileage, places will will stay, and a list of items required. Also included is a very detailed schedule of the first three days. She listed the names, addresses and emails of all the riders. I emailed Ken with a few questions regarding equipment and could see he was a great bike mechanic. He knows a lot about bikes and that will be nice if I have some bike issues.

Beginning in January I started ramping up my mileage on a bike. I try to ride at least three times a week even though the weather in Northern California has been rainy. In fact, a few times I thought even though it was pouring rain I should get out and ride. I put on all my rain gear and just rode slower. Sonoma County has some of the most beautiful areas to ride. I am very fortunate to live here. The scenery is awesome.

Up until January, I planned on taking my Cannondale Touring bike because I can ride that thing through anything and it seems to take it just fine. It also very low gears and has Continental Top Contact tires that look new after 1,500 miles and have never had any flats. But is is very, very heavy 28 lbs. and feels like a tank. That's the big problem. It is slow compared to a lighter weight rode bike.

I also have a Specialized Roubaix Comp that is approximately 18 lbs. I can ride it much farther with less effort than the Cannondale. So, now I have decided to take the Roubaix. That means I have to tweak it a bit to get it in the right set-up for the tour. I am changing out the cassette for an ird 12t-32t to give me lower gears for hill climbing. I just put on 25 cm Continental gator skins. Also, just order are Crude fenders from England that I hopefully can take off and on when the weather changes.

If I had chosen either bike I am sure there would be times that I wish I had the other one.

This month I was able to talk with two riders of the Bike America 2008 trip. Bill F. and Jim C. They both were extremely helpful and gave me so much helpful information. They also suggested that I choose the Roubaix instead of the Cannondale. Thanks for your help Bill and Jim!

Now that I have decided to take the Roubaix I need to change or add a few things to make it more suitable for this ride. Since I do not have a rear rack I will attach an Ortlieb handlebar bag in the front. I will also get a suitable saddle bag under the seat. I mentioned before that I changed the tires to Conti. Gatorskins, and will put on an ird cassette to have lower gears. I probably will not switch my brooks saddle on my Cannondale as this bike has a Fizk Amante carbon seat that is very light.

I am also adding Shimano A530 peddles so that I can have one side for the clip and the other side no clip. I found that these type of peddles are the safest when you are in an area with city traffic. I always felt nervous clipped in with no option in heavy traffic areas.

I had a rear attaching kickstand (Greenfield Stabilizer) that was able to fit on my Roubaix carbon frame. Kickstands are great for tours. It is nice to be able to have your bike upright at stops out in the middle of nowhere instead of laying it down.

My Cannondale Touring Bike

My Roubaix