California Coast: Day 6 – Ahead of schedule for once!

I don’t think we have ever known what it is like to be ahead of schedule. But after our 55 miles today, we are only another 55 miles or so from Santa Barbara. So when we get there tomorrow, we will have a day to relax and enjoy the city. Today’s ride was mostly inland and away from the coast, but was still a great ride. We dropped the rental truck off at the airport, grabbed breakfast next door, and headed on our way. It was our warmest day so far, but still only mid 60’s (Meanwhile its pushing 100 degrees at home)! After about 20 miles of rolling hills, easy riding, and a brief stop in Pismo Beach, we stopped for lunch near Oceano, CA. The afternoon ride took us back to Route 1 once again.

When we reached Guadalupe, we were feeling pretty good and decide to put in another 28 miles to get us within a day’s ride of our destination. Shortly into the ride Zach recorded the first flat tire of the trip, and then just a few miles later, the second. We repaired the tubes, and even replaced the tire the second time to get us back on the road. Anticipating a few steep climbs near the end, we cruised along before taking a brief rest with the final climb ahead of us. We made pretty quick work of the winding two-mile climb, very reminiscent of parts of the Rockies. When we reached the top we could see our destination, and we took off down the hill. We picked up speed on the very nice five-mile downhill and were on the outskirts of Lompac, CA in no time. We rolled into town and spotted a deal at the Motel 6, so we checked in, showered up, and headed down the street to a Chinese Buffet. We are looking forward to a challenging, but enjoyable ride tomorrow as we head into Santa Barbara. Tired and sunburned (sorry mom), we are ready for bed early once again to prepare for our final ride tomorrow – this week has flown by! (Maggie)

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Day 3 – Increased hills and decreased fluids.

Today we made our way to Santa Cruz, CA. As I write this it’s 8pm PST and everyone is asleep – we are exhausted! 60+ miles today.

We left Pacifica early and were immediately greeted by a huge hill. After powering up the hill we took a short stop and enjoyed the view. Each hill is tough (easy compared to NY, VT, & NH) but is very rewarding because the views are just flat out AMAZING. Check the pictures out on the flickr feed to your right. Today’s ride was 99% ocean view.

Staying on route 1 and most of the bike trails the entire way  allowed us to be no more than 100 feet from the beach for the entire day. We took advantage of this and stopped frequently to take it all in – and also nap ☺

Somewhere along the way Dad’s stomach stopped agreeing with him and he lost his appetite. I think its dehydration. The problem with the weather here is it’s not warm enough to warrant constant drinking of water – so we often forgot to drink. Dad skipped on dinner and went straight to bed as Maggie and I found dinner at a nice (we were very underdressed, as per usual) spot in Santa Cruz. Maggie and I put down 2.5 pitchers of water during dinner, so I guess we were all a little dehydrated – I don’t think any of us felt 100% today. Dad is still not feeling well and I just put him to bed with some ginger ale and crackers. Get better old man.

Tomorrow morning we will rise early to take on some more miles, but not before doing some bike repairs. Maggie broke a spoke coming into Santa Cruz today and fell asleep before we could get to fix it, and Dads bike and mine could use some tuning. I guess we forget that we need to treat these bikes like fine tuned instruments. Beautiful California awaits us in the morning and I’m falling asleep. Good night everyone, and if you’d like to drop some tips of how we better share our experiences email me @ zwoodward at Comcast dot net

If you want hourly updates on the trip as it’s happening make sure to follow twitter.com/sumwhereonabike

Also check out youtube.com/somewhereonabike to view all the videos from the trip, updated daily.

Cheers, Zach

Day 2 – A little more vacation and a little less mileage

Well, we have really begun to turn this bike trip into a vacation. After a great night’s sleep we woke up to the sunrise over the San Francisco Bay. Despite the late night, we were up super early because of the time change. So we enjoyed a relaxed start and a great breakfast at the hotel. After some basic repairs we killed a little time in Sausalito while waiting for the bike shop to open. The people at Odyssey Bicycles were able to get Brian’s gears running smoothly again, and we stocked up on a few more gear links (just incase…). We grabbed a quick snack then caught the ferry across the bay to Pier 1 and Fisherman’s Warf. The view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the city, and even Alcatraz were unbelievable. We wandered around the city for a bit before catching up with the bike route (this city is packed with bikes). Again, we were ready for food so we stopped for another snack before finding our way back to the bridge, where we started our route south. It was obvious that we were not going to knock out the 80 plus miles we had planned so we took our time and enjoyed the nice ride out of the city, plenty of steep hills though! The scenic route along the coast was incredible, and we followed it until calling it an early day at the Holiday Inn in Pacifica, CA. After grabbing dinner, and catching the Habs game we are all ready for bed, though it’s only 8 O’Clock here.  Hopefully we will be up early again, ready to get ourselves back on schedule tomorrow.

(Maggie)

August 8 – We Made It!

Day 63:

WE MADE IT! Exactly two months after dipping our tires in the Atlantic we reached the pacific ocean. With the ocean just a few miles away (Bay View, Washington), Jake took off, while the rest of us were stopped, to ensure he would reach the ocean first. Zach and I weren’t going to let him have it that easily so we sprinted off in an attempt to catch him. No luck though. I saw him turn the corner and run to the water before I reached the beach. It’s okay he can have those bragging rights…I still made it to the top of every mountain pass first! More importantly though, after nine weeks of biking, and only two full days off, we successfully rode from New Castle, New Hampshire to Anacortes, Washington.

It seemed like just another day of riding when we woke up in our tents, packed our gear, and started out on the 14 mile ride to breakfast in Marblemount (yesterday’s original destination). It was pretty cloudy, but we enjoyed the break from the heat. After a buffet breakfast at the Marblemount Dinner, we stocked up on drinks, and headed out with a long day ahead of us. For once the ride was mostly downhill and flat so we were making great time. By staying on Highway 20 we saved ourselves a few miles. Just before lunch in Concrete, Zach had yet another flat tire…a pinch flat after hitting a large rock. With only two tubes left, we replaced that one and hoped to make it through the day without any more flats, but Dad’s rear wheel was on it’s last legs, and the tire cord was showing through. After lunch in Concrete (crazy to think of how many of these little town diners we have eaten in over the last 9 weeks) we were back on highway 20 for a while. With another uneventful 20 miles behind us, we spotted a DQ and couldn’t pass up the opportunity… so we enjoyed a little ice cream before our final 20 miles. We were off the main road, riding on rough county farm roads once again. As we neared the end, we climbed one very steep hill and with Jake right beside me I knew he was scheming. And after a quick rest stop, he took off for his victory. When we all caught up, and touched the ocean for the first time, we found the bike trail into Anacortes…our final 10 miles. After 85 miles, we finally arrived at the Anaco Inn for the night, where we were very pleasantly surprised by our two room villa! We enjoyed some pizza and relaxing (real relaxing…no worries about tomorrow’s ride!) and headed to bed…very excited to sleep in! Tomorrow we will formally dip our tires before leaving the bikes at the bike shop to be shipped home, while we head to Seattle and await our flight home on Tuesday!

It’s hard to believe we are finally done! Thanks to everyone we met along the way, and those at home keeping close tabs on us the whole way!

Maggie

August 7

Day 62:

After a wonderful sleep in the Country Inn and a great big breakfast we were off to tackle our final mountain pass. We did not get very far past the general store before the EXPLOSION! Jake’s rear tire, already extremely bald from all this riding, tore right through and the tube popped. Luckily, we had a replacement tire, so we were able to replace the tube and the tire before continuing on our 20-mile climb. The sun was out and it was getting hot. As usual, we took our time getting to the top, stopping every five miles to regroup and have a quick snack break. The climb got much steeper as we neared the top, and Dad and I stopped with about 3 miles to the top to load up on snowballs and waited for the others to arrive! With the final hairpin turn is sight we headed for the top. Up around the corner, I looked over the edge and saw the others not too far behind. Finally, the sign was in sight and we had reached the top…Washington Pass: Elevation 5477 feet. Turning around, we saw a sign that read “7% grade – Next 7 miles” …we had just climbed it! We decided to knock off the last mountain pass before lunch, so we cruised down 3 steep miles and climbed the last 2 to the top of Rainy Pass: Elevation 4855 feet. With no services available for the whole day, we stopped for lunch at the Rainy Pass Picnic Area where we enjoyed lunch of Ramen Noodles, crackers and peanut butter, freeze dried chicken teriyaki, gummy worms, and whatever else we had left. With the rest of the
day a guaranteed downhill we were eager to make quick work of the next 50 or so miles. We cruised down the mountain, surrounded by the gorgeous views, for a little while but were soon slowed by the wind. We really can’t catch a break! The wind was incredible. It was actually blowing us over, and we turned around to find that it would actually push us up the hill…where was that while we were climbing? The view over the turquoise lakes was still spectacular as we worked our way down the mountain. We definitely we not making the time we had hoped for, as we had anticipate cruising at 20 mph for 50 miles. With the wind picking up, we hurried to the nearest town as it was nearing dark. Through two tunnels and down a hill we arrived at the Newhalen county store just before closing. We quickly munched on some sandwiches for dinner and stocked up on snacks for the night. It was clear we weren’t going to reach or original destination, so we headed one mile down the road to a State Park campground where we set up just before the last of the sunlight disappeared. Having fallen14 miles short we have a long day ahead of us if we still plan to finish tomorrow…so we are in our tents and ready for bed. Must rest up for our final day as we plan to arrive in Anacortes, Washington tomorrow night!

Maggie

August 6

Day 61:

Beneath cloudy skies we left Okanogan to tackle our second to last mountain pass. After stocking up on drinks and topping off the tires with air at the bike shop (creatively named “The Bike Shop”), we were back on highway 20. It was hot already, and we began our climb with a very steep hill. Eventually, it evened out a bit, but we were still climbing. Tired already, we welcomed a short break to talk to Tom Pitts, a local agricultural consultant and rancher who allowed us sample his fresh picked cherries. They were great! I think I could have eaten them all day…thanks Tom!! We certainly took our time on the way up to Loop Loop Pass. Don’t let the name fool you, this was a very legitimate mountain pass, harder than yesterday’s climb but not as difficult as Sherman pass. After climbing 3000 plus feet over 20 miles, I reached the elevation sign, and was surprised by the gradual final mile to the top. I waited for the others to begin the 12 mile decent into Twisp. We flew down the hill, over 30 mph for sure! After a very late lunch at the Pub, was very filling, and gave us enough energy for the final 23 miles. We began to climb again, as the ride to Mazama is just the beginning of tomorrow’s final mountain pass. Riding late in the day, we saw tons of deer throughout the rolling hills. Of course we finished the day with some big hills and finally arrived at the Country Inn to warm showers and comfy beds. Our trip home is finalized as we will finish Saturday and are forced to hold off till tuesday to fly home due to our last minute reservations….so we will be in Seattle for a few days. We are off to bed to rest up for our final mountain pass tomorrow and our second to last day of riding…wow!

Maggie

August 5

Day 60:

Today was hot! If you have windchill in the winter do you have
windwarm in the summer? The southerly wind started with a vengence at
noon and it was like riding into a blast furnace. We were told the temp
topped out at 108.

The temp was a fact during the day but did not become a factor as we
banged out another mountain pass (Wacaunda pass ) where we had
another young bear cross our path.

Once over the pass, we entered the desert like terrain of the area
east of the cascades. Very dry with limited vegetation.

We met a few fellow travelers today, one guy from Rhode Island who
started the week before us and a family from Calgary. The Calgarians
are were a family of 5 and the kids looked to be about 7,6,5. They are
riding a tandem and a triple. They are taking a year to do the west
coast. My hat is off to those guys riding their rigs through the
mountains.

After 41 miles and a quick flat repair for Jake, we arrived in
Tonasket for lunch. We have had number of flats lately. I attribute
this to the very hot temps and tires that are becoming very worn. We
should probably have rotated tires earlier in the game.

We battled the inferno to Okanagon. After a total of 70 plus
miles completed we enjoyed a swim in the pool before a late
dinner.

Brian

August 4

Day 59:
I need to start this by taking back what I said after climbing Logan Pass – that was not the hardest thing I have ever done. Today we climbed Sherman Pass in Washington, the first of the Cascades. We set out from Kettle Falls with extra frozen water, G2 and snacks for what we expected to be a fairly difficult climb. That is the understatement of the trip. As we started up, Jake and I passed a road worker who asked if we were heading for Republic. When I answered “yes”, his reply was “it’s only going to get much worse before it gets better”. I thanked him very much, coming just shy of calling him a jerk. The climb at the beginning was pretty standard, although not the switchback style of Logan. Mostly, long, gradual climbs. The temperature warmed up very quickly so we were going through our water supply steadily. About a third of the way up, Maggie had a broken spoke so we stopped for a quick repair. Traffic was not too bad although we saw plenty of logging trucks, which was a bit of a surprise. Fortunately, they were coming down the hill so didn’t bother us too much. We met a few other bikers, one gentleman who had just started his eastward journey to Bar Harbour a week ago. He let us know we had our work cut out for us on the upward climb as he happily glided downhill.

Brian, Maggie and Zach had the lead with Jake hanging back with me – thanks Jake. With about 7 miles to go, Jake and I met up with the others at a nice little bridge turnout close enough to a creek. Great place to wade in the water and even dunk our heads to cool off. The water felt great. We set off for the final climb but it didn’t get any easier. I found myself stopping to rest about every half mile – sorry I slowed you down Jake. Brian stopped every so often to make sure that Jake and I were not too far behind before continuing on with Maggie and Zach. As Jake and I finally saw the sign for the Scenic Overlook, a driver with an rv came down the hill and shouted “almost there!” – music to our ears. Jake and I pulled into the overlook but saw no sign of the others. We checked out the area and decided that they must have gone a bit farther down the road. We should have known – we weren’t quite at the top. Another half mile brought us to the very top as evidenced by the elevation sign and the steep grade sign we love to see. 5500 ft! Everyone was laying down by the information map – good idea. We were all out of water so just rested before heading down the glorious downhill. Before we left, Brian called the Northern Inn and booked us in for the night. It was obvious we weren’t going to get any farther than Republic today. Some of the more optimistic had grand thoughts of getting two passes done today. Oh how wrong they were.

The kids headed down ahead of Brian and I (I think they may have broken some speed limits on the way down). Brian and I chose the more gradual pace using our brakes regularly. I tried not to worry too much about the kids ahead of us. The ten miles went by very fast and we arrived just outside of Republic and stopped for a late lunch. When the waitress found out we had just climbed the pass, her reply was “I think all you bikers are nuts”. The food was great and we soon re-hydrated and re-fueled. I must confess, I almost fell asleep at the table.

Three miles later, with the obligatory final hills (ugh!) we arrived at the Northern Inn, a very nice motel. Some ice for my knees and a glorious shower and I felt a bit revived. I napped while the rest caught up on their Internet stuff. Now, Brian and the kids are down the street at the market getting some snacks and drinks for tonight and tomorrow. Time to get our “Family Guy” fix for the night (never though I would be saying that!) I don’t remember when I was this tired. Tomorrow’s climb won’t be nearly as high and I certainly hope the hills are not quite as long. Wish us luck.

Carolyn

August 3

Day 58:

After seeing the elevation map of Washington State, some of us were a little nervous when we got started in the morning. Fifteen miles into the ride everything seemed to be going well except for the heat that was starting to get to us (Upwards of 95 degrees), but of course around the next corner was a very steep hill, and then another one, and another one. It was almost like Vermont/New York all over again. We all were breathing heavily at the top of each hill making us take breaks much more frequently than we usually would. We managed to climb almost 20 miles without a single downhill before we got to the actual top of the mountain (4400 ft above sea level). The final hill to the top of the mountain seemed a lot easier than the rest probably because we all could see the 6% Grade for 8 Miles sign at the top. The 8 miles downhill did not seem nearly long enough, but thankfully it put us right into the middle of Chewelah, a decent sized town where we eagerly found a place to eat a very late lunch (4:00 pm!). As we were heading out of Chewelah we stopped at the grocery store nearby to fill up our water bottles for the 40 miles ahead of us (And it was past 4 o’clock). With about 14 miles to go until we got to Kettle Falls, Zach managed to get yet another flat tire (Maybe Tracker isn’t the only blind one in the house). We have changed flats so many times by now that we were able to make quick work of this one and finish our ride without any more problems. We have two passes to climb tomorrow so hopefully we can get the good night sleep we need and a filling breakfast in the morning as we get that much closer to finishing our trip.

Only the best

Jake

August 2

Day 57:

After spending two whole weeks in Montana it is hard to believe that we spent just one day in Idaho. We finished a long day yesterday in true Montana fashion, complete with hills, heat (103 degrees!), and even a little wind and enjoyed a good night’s rest next to the grazing cows (who need to learn to chew with their mouths closed!) on the hotel lawn. A quick breakfast next door got us going and we took off towards Sandpoint, ID. It was another very hot day (high 90’s) so we were happy to have the breeze off Lake Pend Oreille, as we cruised along beside it for most of the morning. As we neared Sandpoint, we began to feel a little less “in the middle of nowhere.” After quick stop at the local bike store to check our tire pressures, we went in search of lunch. While eating outside we chatted with a few locals, who were able to suggest an alternate route for tomorrow and recommend that we take a short break at the beach down the road. That we could not pass up! So after refueling, we made a short trip to the city beach where we enjoyed an extended lunch break and ice cream! While there, we ran into a few other bikers and happily traded stories. We all would have liked to stay for the rest of the afternoon, but with 34 miles ahead of us the bikes were calling. A great bike trail lead us out of the city and back onto the main highway. But for some reason we never seem to make great time on these kinds of trails…and a flat tire slowed us down a little as well. While on the bridge out of town, a small shard of glass punctured Zach’s rear tire and we made quick work of the repair. The afternoon was a hilly ride along the lake and we began to feel the afternoon heat. With about 8 miles to go, Dad was victim to the second flat of the day…this time his front tire. We found some shade and cold drinks and went to work on replacing the tube. In doing so, we realized that we only have two spare tubes left, so some patching is definitely in order. As usual, we managed to stretch even our shorter days into longer ones. We crossed into Washington and were disappointed to see the “Welcome to Washington” sign absent opposite its Idaho counterpart. The closest gas station provided some much needed drinks, and air for the tires. McDonalds looked like the only option for dinner, so we headed over there…some of us a little less excited than others. Finally we made it to the hotel…though I am not sure were the day went…it’s almost 8 o’clock! Tomorrow we will see our first glimpses of the Cascades as we begin to tackle our final map, and our final state!

Maggie

August 1

Day 56:

Goodbye Montana!! I say with great enjoyment that we are no longer in Montana. North Dakota and Montana (except for the rockies) were the most PLAIN stretch of country I’ve ever seen. We were welcomed into Idaho with a more conservative speed limit (55mph) as opposed to Montana’s speed limit of 70mph. Today’s ride took us 70 miles from Libby the small town of Clark Fork, Idaho. There were a few hills but nothing we can’t handle. And of course we saw a few bikers including a man who is en route to Bar Harbour, Maine.

When we got into Clark Fort the nice people at the motel in town let us camp on their lawn and use the shower facilties. Thanks to Bob and Freda for the hospitality. We would of preferred to stay in the motel but it was full up. Thanks to those good folks! Tomorrow should take us 64 or so miles into New Port, WA, where we will look ahead to the Cascades.

It’s weird to think that our trip is almost complete…

Zach

July 31

Day 55:

Spectacular. That is the only word to describe today’s ride. I am ahead of myself however as spectacular also describes the massive thunder and lightening storm we watched as we camped last evening (for free! ) at the Frontier Campground in Rexford, MT.

Shortly after settling in for the night the rain began in earnest and the show began. The sky was live for about 45 minutes. During the ensuing downpour, we heard the sounds of others setting up camp next door to us. In the morning we awoke to a little village of tents all around us.

After our camp breakfast (thanks to Linda, Leyton and Alex for the hot coffees) we started out for Libby under a brilliant sun in a cloudless sky. A short distance form the campground we crossed the Koocanusa Lake Bridge and traveled carless route 228 along the spectacular shoreline of the glacial blue lake. No cars also means there were no services on this route and our regular snack stops were absent today. As a result, the lack of both a substantial lunch and robust breakfast took their toll on our energy levels. There is no denying that today’s 70 miles were some of the most grueling of the trip but also among the most beautiful. We enjoyed our lunch on a high promontory overlooking the lake and an Osprey nest compete with 3 young and very noisy birds.

At the end of route 228 we stopped at the Libby Dam (this dam created the lake) and got some badly needed refreshments at the visitor center. The rangers on duty told us that we were just 3 and ¼ down hill miles from food at the River Bend Restaurant and Saloon. We all felt better after having a meal and realized once again what a small world it is as our server (Rita Ouellette) is originally from Dover, NH. This week we also met people from Concord and Epping.

We were about to start out on highway 37 for the 14 mile ride to Libby when a local mountain biker Damon suggested on alternate route. Thank you Damon. We enjoyed a carless ride on the shady side of the river to Libby and checked into the Venture Motel where we were rejuvenated by the hot tub.

Brian

July 30

Day 54:

After a very enjoyable stay at the Pine Lodge in Whitefish, we woke fairly early and grabbed a quick breakfast and set off. The road was fairly rolling with still some nice downhills. At Olney, we had a nice snack at the local mercantile and then headed off in the direction of Eureka. With Fortine only 22 miles away, we decided that would be our lunch destination. The local bar/saloon/café was soon spotted, right on the golf course, which made for a nice spot for a few minutes in the shade after lunch. By then it was quite hot. Not sure if we should make Eureka our final destination (20 miles away) or go on to Rexford, we set off debating the pros and cons of each. Eureka had motels and Rexford had campgrounds. You know which way the boys were voting. I was of the mind to get a few extra miles in today so tomorrow would not be too long. I find I function best when the mileage is around 70 or less. Arriving in Eureka late in the afternoon, we called the two motels. Again, we were faced with a dilemma. One had wifi but no cots, the other had cots but no wifi. Also, the price was a bit steep. The only other consideration was the weather, which was calling for scattered thunderstorms possibly. Not fun if we camped. We grabbed some cold drinks while deciding what to do. Finally, we decided to go the extra 7 miles to Rexford and camp near the marina.

Just one mile down the road, we had a quick rain shower (the boys were not amused) but it quickly passed. Then, Jake who was behind me, shouted “flat tire”. I yelled to Brian and Zach and Maggie who were ahead of us but they did not hear. So, Jake called Zach on his phone and had a truck flag down Brian to tell him to come back and help fix the flat. In the meantime, Jake and I took his wheel off and waited. (Brian has the tools after all) The local sheriff stopped to make sure we were ok and then Brian and the others arrived back up a hill. The tire was changed in record time and off we went.

Of course, there was a big hill entering Rexford and we soon found ourselves at the Frontier RV Park. Brian entered the Bar and Grill and inquired where we should set up camp. The manager was not around, so the girls in the bar just told us to set up on a nearby grassy patch around the corner. We set up camp and headed over to the bar for a great dinner of chicken and salad. The bar also has a shower, so after dinner we took turns cleaning up. Pretty good set up for a bar. As I write this sitting in the tent, Brian and the kids are visiting with the people next to us in an airstream trailer. They are from Cranbrook, BC. I saw several other BC plates in the park. Lots of stories being told.

Tomorrow, we head off to Libby where Brian has already booked us into a nice motel, complete with pool and hot tub. Should only have 60 miles tomorrow so we’ll hope the rain doesn’t continue into the day. Time for sleep.

Carolyn

July 29

Day 53:
The night in the cabin was nice! It was so nice that we didn’t end up leaving the West Glacier KOA until almost 11:00am. We enjoyed a downhill ride out of the campground and just as we got to the bottom a group of three on touring bikes passed by us. Almost immediately after seeing these guys go by us a group of about 15 bikers flew by us on racing bikes… I wonder if we could go that fast without our gear? There was no catching them. However we were able to catch up to the smaller group. Of three. After catching up to them we discovered they have quite a bit of experience in the biking field. Check out the adventures at http://www.bikebums.com (I love the domain haha). My (Zach) and Jake’s bike needed some repairs so when we arrived in Whitefish (only 30 miles from West Glacier) the bike store was the fist order of business. Apparently my bike has different sized spokes in it.. that’s not good. Well they are still in there because we would’ve had to have my entire rear wheel rebuilt which we don’t have time for and with about ten days to the finish line (even though it’s not a race.. until the last day!) During lunch we made our hotel reservations. I had our first hotel lined up where I had to struggle to negotiate the foldaway bed. As Jake I walked to the hotel Maggie, Dad, and Mom road ahead of us and checked out the hotel. Needless to say the place smelled like CRAP. We passed on that dump. The Pine Lodge right across the street was more than accommodating and is one of the nicer places we stayed at an affordable rate. Dinner took us to a happening spot where we enjoyed large servings of lasagna.

30 miles, and a poolside afternoon + DQ for desert, makes for a pretty easy day.

I’m going to miss the rockies as we head further West… but I am sure excited that were getting closer to finishing the trip.

Zach

July 28

Day 52:

Logan Pass, 6646 ft above sea level… done!

With our biggest climb ahead of us, we woke up early with hopes of sunny skies. The forecast for the afternoon wasn’t great, but with blue sky all around we decided the ride was a go. After packing up and enjoying a pancake breakfast at the KOA, we headed two miles down the road to the entrance of Glacier National Park in Saint Mary, Montana. We paid the daily fee and began to ride the “Going to the Sun Road” leading us to the top of Logan Pass, along the continental divide. Anxious (some more nervous than others) and excited, we had been thinking about this ride through the Rockies for almost the entire trip. With seventeen miles to the pass, we headed out beneath clear skies. The first five miles went by quickly, and were not much of a climb. In fact, we actually rode downhill a few times. Usually we would welcome the down-hills, however, with two thousand feet to the pass, we knew going down was only going to make things harder. Finally, after turning the corner and seeing our first hairpin turn we began to climb. Stopping often to take in the gorgeous scenery, and rest of course, we took our time going up. The climb was surprisingly gradual, compared to the mountains we tackled in Vermont and New York. With just a few miles to the pass, the dark clouds moved in quickly, and the rain began. We took shelter along the side of the road (people driving by took pictures of us!) until the storm passed, then put on extra layers and continued on. But not to long after putting the layers on, the sun broke through, and we had to stop and remove them. We continued alongside the beautiful waterfalls, beneath the rock overhangs, and around corner after corner. Finally, with the visitor’s center in sight, we turned the last sharp corner and climbed to the top. Just before getting their we received a little encouragement from a family we met last night at the KOA, who were riding down in a tour bus. We had reached the top of Logan Pass, and the continental divide. Eager to sit down and eat our lunch, we parked ourselves outside the visitor’s center and plowed through almost all the food we brought..Jake’s panniers are surely getting lighter. After admiring the view from the top, we layered up for the 32 mile decent, and took off down other side off the 6.5 percent grade “Going to the Sun Road.” Immediately, we spotted the wildlife we had been waiting for, in the form of white mountain goats. We flew down the mountain, around the very sharp turns overlooking the valley and snow covered mountains. The view was spectacular and we were very happy to have traveled westward and saved the best for last! More importantly, Dad was happy to be able to ride on the inside of the road, as his fear of heights is not a good match for small guardrail and steep drop-off into the gorge. Also, there was a good deal of road construction on the way down, something we would not have wanted while climbing. We enjoyed cruising along effortlessly (though using our brakes a lot) and enjoying the vast expanse of mountains, above, below, and beside us. Determined to have a snowball fight in July, we stopped at the first sign of reachable snow to hurl it at one another. We continued our decent, until reaching the Lake McDonald Lodge for and early dinner. The food (and dessert of course) was great! We attempted to make reservations at multiple motels, but they were all full so we set our sights on the West Glacier KOA, 14 miles away. We continued descending the “Going to the Sun Road” around the gorgeous turquoise lakes and streams, until reaching west glacier and climbing the one mile hill to the campground. It’s not a complete day if we don’t end with a hill! Dad surprised us with a cabin for the night (though I am convinced he is just afraid of the bears) and we are happy to have a roof over our heads. A short soak in the hot tub for our legs, and warm showers felt great after a long day. Proud of our day’s accomplishments, we are getting settled in for the night. We look forward to making quick work of the rest of Montana!

As embarrassed as I am to do so, I feel compelled to end today’s post with a quote from the song I had stuck in my head all day…

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose

Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb!

Maggie

July 27

Day 51:

We awoke to a beautiful sunny morning in Waterton National Park. Waterton is often referred to as the most beautiful of the national parks and we can certainly see why. We started out today with a ride through the village among the deer / elk and along the lake surrounded by majestic mountains. Truly an inspiring sight. Leaving the village we stopped for breakfast at the Prince of Wales Hotel, which sits high on a hill overlooking Waterton Village. We enjoyed an incredible view from our breakfast table.

After a substantial breakfast and requisite pictures we started to climb. We climbed for most of the day and followed the Chief Mountain International Highway across the border back into the US. A couple driving in the opposite direction stopped to advise us of mother and baby bear a few hundred yards ahead. However, when we arrived they had disappeared. During a trip today though we saw even more cattle as they roamed freely through the mountain forest and on the highway, which was traversing an Indian Reservation. We got a few laughs watching the cows react to various comments.

Continuing our climb, we arrived at a scenic overlook with a commanding view of Chief Mountain. Maggie correctly translated “scenic overlook” to mean “ downhill from this point on” and with few exceptions we cruised swiftly down the highway to a late lunch (4:00 PM) in Babb, Montana. We then traveled the few remaining miles to Saint Mary, our destination for the night, which is located at the entrance of the “Going to the Sun Road”. We are camping on the St. Mary River at a beautiful KOA with a wonderful hot-tub and pool which we welcomed after our day of climbing through the Rockies under brilliant sunshine. Our “biker tans” sparked numerous conversations from strangers who ask what we have been doing to have such “unusual and dramatic” tans.

Late night Pizza and numerous other snacks and we need to get well rested for our climb to Logan Pass in the morning.

Brian

July 26

Day 50:

With cloudy days forecasted for the weekend, we decided to add a day to ensure better weather once we reach Glacier National Park (we have been told it is well worth the wait) and to avoid weekend traffic. So we planned two shorter days before the BIG climb; to veer off the route towards Waterton, Alberta today, and then head south to Glacier tomorrow.

We all took advantage of the short day ahead to sleep in and enjoy a late breakfast (though it took a much longer than anticipated). We didn’t leave Cardston until close to 11 o’clock, but were eager to knock out today’s forty miles. With the Rocky Mountains visible behind the clouds, we continued to climb the gradual hills, interspersed with some nice down-hills too. We cruised through the first 15 or so miles, winding around the farms and green mountain sides…a great ride! Zach and I stopped outside a general store, and waited for the others. Having broken my second spoke on the way down the previous hill we went to work on the quick repair before grabbing snacks inside. From there we headed out for the last 18 miles to Waterton Lakes National Park. Our ride was briefly interrupted by thunder and lighting, so we pulled over and took shelter under our bike/tarp fort. We waited it out then continued on, just as the rain began to really pour and the thunder picked up…and the cows went crazy. The storm didn’t last long, but the dark clouds lingered over the mountains as we approached the park. Upon arrival, we climbed up to the beautiful Cameron Lake and then coasted downhill into the village. Even with the cloudy skies, the mountains were very impressive, and we can’t wait till the storms pass and the skies clear…hopefully tomorrow! We arrived in the village around 3 o’clock to deer casually walking the streets and wandering about in front of the hotel. We checked in to our room, cleaned up, and headed into town for an early dinner. The food and the view at the Bayside Inn was fantastic! We wandered around town for a bit then headed back to the room for a relaxing night. Tomorrow’s short ride to the base of Logan Pass will allow us to begin exploring the Rockies and preparing for the big climb.

Maggie

July 25

Day 48:

Knowing we had our first real “uphill” day since New Hampshire and Vermont and there was actually nothing between Cut Bank and Cardston, we got an early start because of the day ahead of us. After a good breakfast we started our trek towards Alberta, Canada. We made quick work of the first 15 miles because of the little wind we had to fight, but once again Zach had to slow us down. Pulling over to the side of the road we learned Zach had not one, but two broken spokes, I think he’s broken more than me by now. The four of us quickly fixed the spokes (Maggie was up ahead because her ipod was way to loud and she couldn’t hear us calling her) and got back to what we have been doing for 48 days, biking. Stopping at the 30 mile marker we had a quick snack and then continued the rest of the 8 miles we needed to cross the border.

Talk about a welcome to Canada! The two border agents pointed us to a shaded grassy spot for our picnic lunch (we had a 73 mile stretch of no services today ) and called the US agents to let them know that it was OK for us to lunch in “no-mans land”. Apparently there is a 10 foot wide strip of land on either side of the border that does not belong to either the US or Canada but is the responsibility of the “International Border Commission”. The agents also kindly filled our water bottles and took our picture in front of the “Welcome to Alberta” sign.

The great road and riding conditions … NO WIND … smooth pavement … only 20 cars over 73 miles … brilliant sunshine … 70 – 80 temps … started in Cut Bank and continued on our climb into Canada and the Rockies. Our real Canadian welcome came near the end of our ride as we neared our destination of Cardston, Alberta. We stopped to chat with 90 year old Dr. BJ Larson riding his bike on his “regular” 12 miles loop. It was a pleasure to chat with him on the road and a wonderful surprise when a called our hotel room a few hours later and then came to visit bringing with him some wonderful cookies baked by his wife Lois. We all enjoyed the chance to chat with the Doctor and needless to say the cookies were gone in no time. Dr. Larson is a great Ambassador for Cardston and provided a great welcome to Canada. It was our privilege to get to know him.

We had a great view of Chief Mountain as we entered Cardston this afternoon and are looking forward Waterton Village tomorrow.

Jake & Brian

July 24

Day 47:

Today was an unplanned half day. We started the trek heading west with the notion that we would be in Cardston, Alberta tonight. What we thought would be a nice 100 mile run turned into a slow crawl as we began our ride. We had expected easterly winds to push us up the mountains but we ran into exactly the opposite. After making it 16 miles we felt the rain coming (very dark clouds in the west) and with the wind so fierce we were forced to stop on the side of the road. Moving all our bikes together in a circle we created a barricade like structure where we took shelter for a while. Dad, Maggie and Jake even took out their sleeping bags and made themselves comfortable. When the rain started pouring we took out our tent ground sheets and tarps and quickly went to work constructing a ceiling. We spent the rest of the storm in the comfort of our make shift fort… sitting 10 feet away from the highway. When the storm finally passed we made our way into Cut Bank where we saw the rocky mountains equipped with snow and all for the first time this trip, and the first time ever for most of us. The wind today is too much to handle and on top of that we are all pretty tired. Once in Cutbank, the team took our lunch and during this time we decided to stay the night. There is a 73 mile stretch of NOTHING on the climb to Cardston so making any further progress today was out of the question. Tomorrow we begin our adventure into the rocky mountains! For me this is the most exciting part of the trip as the landscape thus far has been rather dull (speak for yourself zach!) Mom and Dad are stocking up at the grocery store for our long day tomorrow as we won’t have any services until we reach Cardston, and the rest of us are watching TV, reviewing the maps, and uploading our pictures.

Cheers
Zach

July 23

Day 46:

Sleeping under the stars, without the rain fly was a great idea! With the cool breeze, we enjoyed a great night’s sleep, especially those of us who managed to sleep through the train whistles. We woke up to the sun rising beside our tents, and quickly packed up our gear alongside Sue, who was doing the same. She headed back to Mike’s Bar for breakfast, and we followed soon after. After polishing off some microwaveable breakfast sandwiches while sharing info with Sue, we headed off in opposite directions. It was nice to get an early start to the day but after just twelve miles the heat and the sun had caught up once again. We found a small bar in Inverness to refuel on drinks and snacks, and get out of the hot morning sun. The wind began to shift to the North (crosswinds for us) late in the morning and we made better time along highway two until reaching Chester for lunch after twenty-six miles. We enjoyed our Subway lunch and stocked up on drinks for the next forty miles, through small towns with no services. Though another hot afternoon, we were thankful for the diminishing wind, and managed to cruise along in the afternoon. After another twelve miles, Zach and I found shade beside some large farm silos where we waited for the others to arrive. When you’re really hot and need some shade you realize that there are absolutely no trees here in Montana. I guess that why they call their “gophers” ground squirrels. After another ten miles a small maintenance shop was a very nice surprise, for cold drinks and cool AC. Anxious to get to our destination we made good time on the last twenty miles. There were plenty of trains to keep it interesting and even some nice downhill stretches. Coasting was a nice change from working against the wind on the down hills. Finally we made a long descent into Shelby, MT where we headed through town to the Comfort Inn…which is of course is at the top of a hill! Showers, laundry, and dinner down the hill, finished off a seventy-mile day. With northeasterly winds forecasted for tomorrow, we will try to take advantage of the tailwind and log some bigger miles. We are hoping for great weather as we approach Glacier National Park in the next few days!

Maggie

July 22

Day 45:

As I write this, we are camping in the town park at Hingham, MT. I had a feeling I had overextended myself doing yesterday’s 95 miles into Chinook but was game to try 80 today. We had a great start to the morning (after repairing Zach’s umpteenth broken spoke at the hotel. We set out for Havre where there was a bike store and zoomed through the 21 miles there in an hour and three quarters. After leaving Zach’s and Brian’s bikes at the bike store (Brian minor gear problem) we walked over to a bar and grill for lunch (no bread so sandwiches were not an option). Bikes were done when we finished eating so headed out for Chester, another 60 miles. Unfortunately, the wind had turned and the day had heated up greatly. We gamely set off having to stop and re-hydrate every ten miles.

Stopped in a very very small town of Kremlin where our maps said there was a gas station. It turned out to be just pumps with a drink machine out front which we didn’t have enough dollar bills. Fortunately, the owner was there (Neil McCormack) and invited us into his office building where he raided his son’s fridge for us for drinks and even gave us some dollar bills to use the machine. Neil has 14,000 acres of wheat which is just about to be harvested. He was kind enough to let us stay and cool off out of the sun for as long as we wanted (some of us wanted to pitch the tent right there). However, we headed out again in the sun and realized soon after that we were probably not going to have the energy to get to Chester where Zach had booked us into a very nice B & B. We stopped after another 10 miles at the town of Guildford. As we turned into the main road, a car pulled up and a very nice woman informed us that the general store was just down the road where we could get more cold drinks and snacks (she and her husband owned it).

Off we went and ended up in the Guildford Mercantile, a very old business now run by Laura and Ted (sorry, didn’t get the last name). They have quite a story about originally living in California and, due to some major health scares, decided to make some major life changes and ended up packing up the family and moving to Guildford where they bought the Mercantile. Very nice people. Laura treated us to freeze pops and went on line to print out the weather and wind forcasts for the next several days. They had some great information about our upcoming miles to Glacier. One of the things Laura told us about was Hingham, just sixe miles down the road (although at that point, six miles seemed like a lot). She called Mike at the local bar and grill and obtained his hours and the information about camping in the town park. (sprinkler system operates on odd and even dates – one side gets it then the other). Also, Mike has showers available (most of the time for the harvest workers) but anyone can pay $3 for a shower. So, we bid goodbye to Laura and Ted and headed off where we enjoyed a nice meal and some great conversation with everyone at the happening spot. Ran into Sue (www.afterphdbeforetenuretrack.blogspot.com) who is traveling alone going east on her bike. She is also camping here at the park and we’ve had some laughs sharing stories. Zach had an interesting chat with a gentleman from South Africa who spends 7 months out of the year traveling the countryside working at a farm hand and sending the money home to his wife and children. You never know who you’re going to ended up talking to on this trip.

So, here we are and everyone else is tucked into their sleeping bags except me. It is a beautiful night with a light breeze blowing so the vote was for flies off the tents to fully enjoy the sleeping outside experience. And thus ends the day. Goodnight.

Carolyn

July 21

Day 44:

I am very impressed with the resilience and determination of each family member. After a couple of demoralizing days of battling strong winds we caught a break today. We were not so lucky as to get a tail wind but we had the second best thing … an almost windless day.

Everyone rose to the challenge as we pounded out 95 miles under sunny skies and in high 80 degree temps. 68 of these miles were after lunch! I have given up trying to get the kids on the road early. Even the argument that the winds are lighter in the morning does not budge them.

Carloyn impressed me ( yet again ) by staying with the pack all day. A century a couple of days ago and now 95. Not bad for a newbie.

We got spaced out a bit this morning and shortly after Zach, Maggie and I pulled over a couple of couple ( we would later learn they were Greg and Jane of Minneapolis ) pulled up in their car to say that a young man ( Jake ) was a ways back and had some kind of problem. They said that they had spoken to Carolyn on their way by and they kindly offered to drive me back the couple of miles to Jake. I collected my tools and went back to meet up with Jake and repair what turned out to be a flat tire. Resourceful Jake had taken his panniers off his bike and was carrying his bike on one shoulder as he walked west carrying his panniers. Many thanks to Greg and Jane for your help. Your timely stop and kindness were a big part of us getting our miles in today. I hope you enjoy your time in Glacier and safe travels back to Minneapolis.

I am not normally bothered by mosquitoes but they grow them really big and aggressive here in Montana. Their swarming today resulted in a record time for what has become Zach’s daily spoke replacement. This would actually be his first of 2 broken spokes today.

We have now passed through a couple of Indian reservations and have learned and seen of some of the challenges facing these people. We had the pleasure of meeting Gerald on the Fort Belknap reservation today and enjoyed our discussion and his hospitality.

As we now see more trains than cows, I have replaced my mooing at the cows with getting the train engineers to blow their whistles. They are very obliging and I can’t help but wonder if it s the same engineers who are traveling with us across the country.

Easterly winds are forecast at least for the morning…..think the kids will be up?

Travel points:

Breakfast: OB’s cafe in Saco. It was like watching a Neil Simon play to see the pissed off cook handle things until the waitress arrived late. Very entertaining.

Lunch: West end truck stop in Malta…the mosquito capital of the world. Within a few minutes of standing outside there were at least 15 on my back.

Dinner: Late but at the motel (Chinook Motor Inn ) … and then bed…nice.

Brian

July 20

Day 43:

It is seriously day 43.. wow. So we are all hunkered into our $45 a night motel in Saco, Montana and we just discovered there is wifi!! Do you realize how important that is?! The very second we found out the password Dad whips out his iphone and connects, Jake jumps on my ipod touch, and Maggie and I open up the macbooks.

Today was pretty exhausting… and frustrating. The day started off with a nice cheap breakfast in the Casino / Restaurant (everywhere around here seems to call itself a casino) and headed West. About 20 miles deep into the day we arrived at the Bar / Cafe in Hinsdale, Montana. We were 10 minutes late and the cafe was closed. 😦 However, Jennifer took care of us by heating up a few pizzas, filling all our water bottles up, and even offered to drive us all the way to Malta. We denied that amazing offer because that would be cheating. When someone decides to actually take that shortcut I’ll let them know in Seattle that they didn’t actually bike across the country. bahahaha !!

Anyway – We only made 43 miles today after leaving Gasgow. 43 miles seems like nothing compared some of the long days we’ve put in on flat land but today we were combating 30 mile per hour head winds. This is extremely frustrating because you work so hard only to move 5-9 mph. Even on hills we had to down shift. Dad is still working out the mileage for tomorrow as the winds should be a little less intense. Apparently we are in “mosquito valley” where the mosquitoes can turn a white horse black. Wish us luck!

Shout out to Kenny for looking up the weather and wind conditions for us as we all had very limited cell service. Dad’s got AT&T which apparently has no service anywhere out west so far, and we all have verizon which is pretty reliable. Just enough for a phone call! Thanks Kenny!

PEACE
Zach

July 19

Day 42:

Having ridden our first century yesterday, we had planned for a shorter ride today. In fact, we needed to log just 50 miles, only half of yesterday’s milage, in order to reach our destination. Sounds easier, doesn’t it? Well, let’s just say the wind and the weather can turn an easier ride into a difficult one. We woke up after a great sleep and headed back to the Old Town Restaurant for breakfast…the motel’s continental doesn’t quite cut it! From there it was back to highway two once again (bustling with RV’s today). The further we got, the stronger the headwinds grew and the more the temperature rose. Counting down the mile markers was a slow process process today. With temperatures pushing 100, it was definitely our hottest day. After about 15 miles we knew it wasn’t going to be the “easy” 50 miles we anticipated/hoped for. We took a break on the roadside and made a reservation at a motel in Glasgow, MT. The next 18 miles to lunch were most definitely a struggle. I honestly expected to look behind me and see Mom lying on the side of the road. At the very trying 2 week point she is surviving some tough days, rides that are certainly testing the rest of us! Hot, dehydrated, and hungry we battled the wind until finally arriving at Bergie’s Cafe in Nashua, MT. Upon arrival Mom said, “If I had seen a trough at one of those farms, I would not have thought twice about jumping in.” It was hot! Straggling in, we grabbed cold drinks from the cooler before finding a seat. Our meal got interesting after this as our waitress was, well, not very pleasant. I don’t think she said more than 10 words the whole time. It was good for some laughs, that’s for sure! While there we ran into two guys from NH/VT heading east and enjoying that tailwind. Finally, we got up the energy to head back into the blistering sun for the remaining 14 miles. Though slowly, we rode along beside the bypassing trains, and stopped frequently to get everyone back together. Finishing with a slow climb, and finally a long downhill, we rode into Glasgow towards the nearest gas station for cold drinks. One block down we found the La Casa Motel and headed inside for some cool air. Though riding only 50 miles, we finished only two hours earlier than yesterday; I think we all agreed that we would rather have ridden another hundred miles in yesterday’s conditions than today’s 50. Dinner across the street at Eugene’s Pizza (Mom said she would’t walk more than 200 yards) put life back into everyone pretty quickly. The good news is that tomorrow should be less windy and much cooler! Not surprisingly, we will be in bed early tonight and up early to avoid the worst of the wind.

Maggie

July 18

Day 41

Waking up to numerous pillows and even a bible being thrown at me, it’s hard to believe that we finally achieved something we hadn’t done the whole trip. We totaled 100.1 miles from Williston to Wolf Point making today our first “century” day! Though we had to take a round about way to dinner in order to squeak out the last 2 miles. It’s amazing after only 14 days Mom managed to do something we weren’t able to do until day 41, many props to Mom for keeping up and not quitting! With only around 20 miles to the Montana border from our Hotel we were able to eat a filling breakfast and get there by 10:30, but because of the time zone changed we gained an hour putting the clock back to only 9:30. 20 Miles by 9:30, I think that’s a new record! Even though to cross the border we had to go through a bit of construction, the view the other side was worth it. Looking up to what seemed like an endless sky we knew we had entered Montana (Only three states left!). Another record soon followed because we squeezed in 45 miles until we stopped for Lunch at a local pizza place in Culbertson. Knowing we still had 55 miles to go we tried not to spend to much time relaxing in the air-conditioned restaurant. We even managed to replace a broken spoke on Zach’s bike while pizza was cooking. 20 miles later we came face to face with Brockton, a town we had been advised not to even slow down in because of the high crime rate in the area. After cruising through Brockton, we arrived again at a town we had been warned about, Poplar. Even though Mom and Dad stopped at the convenience store there, this was still a town we had been told to keep our heads up in. Dying of thirst, we stopped 15 miles later at a bar and grill to rehydrate on Pepsi’s and Mountain Dew’s. As we sat there drinking, a local at the bar informed us that the county we were in had the second highest crime rate in the country….awesome. He told us that Poplar had guns and Wolf Point has knifes (and the next town has bats), luckily we got to go through Poplar but had to stop in Wolf Point, I suppose knifes are better than guns. We got to enjoy a nice dinner at the Old Town Grill before we went back to our Motel and called it a night. We need a good night’s sleep in order to get back on our bikes tomorrow and head towards Glasgow.

– Jake

July 17

Day 40:

Another great day in North Dakota! We logged 71 miles and are now within 20 of the Montana border. It was hard getting up this morning, at least for the three of us who had to endure Mom and Dad’s snoring all night! But, we made it to Joyce’s Cafe on Main Street (music playing through speakers on street lights was a nice surprise) for breakfast and were on the road by 9:30. The sun was shining, the wind quiet, and the temperature just right at 70 degrees when we headed out. We cruised through the early miles until lunch at the Ray Cafe, with almost 40 miles behind us. Lunch was great and we enjoyed chatting with waitress Anna (see picture). After refueling, we were once again on highway 2, enjoying our nice wide shoulder and beautiful rolling hills, noting the mile markers counting down to the Montana border. Though we didn’t take many breaks, it was nice to finish a long climb and take a little break in the sun once in a while to get everyone caught up. Usually Mom and Dad headed off first, while we enjoyed our extended road side rest, until heading out to catch up. We continually passed oil pumps on either side and were cheered on by the honking of truck drivers all day…no wonder all the hotels are bustling with oil workers. Luckily, we had made a reservation in Wiliston, where we arrived around 5:30. Hungry as usual, we headed next door for an earlier than usual dinner at the Trapper’s Kettle Restaurant before settling in for the night.

I have to admit, I had my doubts about North Dakota…I expected the endless, hot plains, desolate flat roads, and fierce headwinds. Well, after our last day in this state, we have been pleasantly surprised. First off, the terrain is not at all flat. We climbed long gradual hills and enjoyed descents equally as long, where Jake demonstrated his “no handed” riding! At the top of every hill was a gorgeous view of the rolling hills surrounding us, as well as the never ending landscape in front of us. Never did I ever expect this from North Dakota. And, with the wind almost nonexistent today, we made very good time. With tailwinds forecasted for tomorrow, he have planned our first century ride (100 miles)…wish us luck! If all goes well, we will be entering big Montana with some very big miles. With a long day ahead of us, we are all ready for some much needed rest.

Maggie

P.S. Thanks again to the Lothrop Family for looking after Tracker!!

July 16

Day 39:

Today was a great day. We had the pleasure of starting the day by having breakfast with Stuart and Caren (www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/4900 ) and very much enjoyed getting to know them and swapping facts re the trails that are in front of each of us. We hope they will visit us in New Hampshire when they complete their “seaside to seaside” in 2010.

The day started off cool like a late September morning but with brilliant sunshine with few clouds in the huge blue sky. Despite the sunshine, the day never really warmed up enough for us to take off our “high viz” jackets.

We left Minot via Route 2, which is off the Adventure Cycling route but based on info provided by previous tourers and reinforced by Stuart and Caren we opted to take it. We will remain on this route for a few hundred miles!

Route 2 is a four lane divided highway and for most of today it had a wide and clean paved shoulder. Although there is a moderate amount of traffic most drivers chose to pass us in the far left lane leaving plenty of room. We were particularly lucky today as we came across a 10 mile stretch that was newly paved but not yet open to cars. Even the still strong but no longer demoralizing winds on our starboard quarter could not take away from the great feeling of cruising on the open road through the hills (yes hills!) of western North Dakota.

Just prior to lunch we met local resident Duane Jussero while taking a quick break on the highway. Duane kindly provided me the “Will work for food sign” you will see in the pictures. Based on the food budget so far on the trip it may come in handy! Thanks Duane! Duane also recommended the “Tumbleweed Café” in Berthold for lunch and we really enjoyed meeting the owner Jean. We then relaxed for a while in the sunshine on the broad porch of the café before setting of to our final destination for the day, Stanley ND. Beautiful country along the way with numerous small lakes and ponds punctuating a landscape of yellow canola flowers and the purple flax. A beautiful sight with lots of wildlife. Apparently a very wet fall, abundant snowfall this winter and a wet spring have contributed to this year being especially prolific. This area of North Dakota (about 80 miles south of the Manitoba / Saskatchewan border is also very active with oil activity and as we headed to Stanley we saw a number of active oil wells.

We had a great dinner …and service! … at the “Palermo Bar and Grill” in Palermo and great conversation with our waitress and owner Della Johnson.. Like many of these small towns (think population of 200 on a busy day ) this is the only game in this town or in this case in any of several surrounding towns.. Based on the advice of previous tourers we stopped for a great dinner before proceeding to Stanley and checking in at the Painted Horse Motel. Apparently we were lucky to get a reservation at any motel as all of the oil activity is has the rooms taken by the oil workers.

Our pit crew was in action today and replaced another broken spoke in Zach’s rear wheel in no time. Mom was in her 10th day on the road today and like we all did before her today she “bonked”. She has done a great job to date and will fight her way through the next few days. Hopefully the wind will give us all a break as we now near the end of our ride through the ‘Midwest’ and head for the “West” which begins at the North Dakota / Montana border.

Brian

July 15

Day 38:

I guess since we took a day off I should write the blog…I love my days off!! Let’s see…I slept in :)! watched T.V in bed all morning, ate lunch at subway next door, followed by Dairly Queen dessert of course. Then the rest of the afternoon was spent in front of the tv and computer…just a little taste of a normal summer! The rest of the gang headed downtown to the bike store to pick up Maggie’s bike and get Zach’s checked out. I of course stayed at the hotel to do what I do best…NOTHING!! When they all came back we headed up the hill for dinner and are back in the hotel getting ready for bed early. It will be another windy day tomorrow so we will be on the road early to avoid the worst of it…

Jake

A few things I missed:
Thanks to Rory at Val’s Cyclery for all his work and advice. Your service was great and fast!! We got maggie’s gears tuned up, and stocked up on a few extra things for the long, empty road ahead. While there we ran into Stuart and Caren McDowell who are headed east, and also staying at the super 8 tonight -it was great to chat and we are thankful for your advice, but jealous of your tailwinds!

Harold and Norma: Mom really enjoyed talking to you this morning, thanks for your interest! Enjoy the reunion!!

July 14

Day 37:

Where to start about today…In short, today was hard work. We managed to get a fairly early start after a quick breakfast at the Econo Lodge. It started raining lightly as we left so we all donned our rain gear. Maggie’s bike seemed to be running quite well on Brian and Maggie’s repair job. I’m still impressed. The morning ride was not too bad even with the light rain. We had planned to stop in Towner (Cattle capital of ND) for a quick snack – 20 miles. Just as we were pulling into the gas station, the rain started coming down hard so we ran fast for cover. The rain stopped while we enjoyed some drinks and snacks so we headed off for Granville where we would stop for a late lunch. The wind had picked up to around 20 mph so it was late when we arrived at the War Veteran’s Memorial Diner (45 miles) in Granville, a very small town. The food in the diner was great. Just like real home cooking. We even took a few minutes outside in the sun to digest lunch before heading out again for Minot. By then, the wind had really begun to blow – 25 mph or more. We tried to do some serious drafting, especially for my benefit and we were somewhat successful. Brian says the wind slowed down our speed to 6 mph. Chicago may be the windy city but ND is the windy state. We tried to make light of the wind but at times all you could do was put your head down and try to pedal.

As we neared Minot (about 10 miles out) dark clouds came in and with them heavy rain. Brian, Maggie and Zach were ahead of Jake and I and took cover under a semi trailer over to the side. I barely heard Maggie calling to me, and Jake didn’t hear so he kept peddling over the hill. Fortunately, the rain stopped almost as quickly as it started so Maggie quickly caught up with Jake. We took a quick pit stop for drinks and to catch our breath. Brian assured us we were getting close so we headed off on a rural road to Minot. The wind was so strong, that we had to shift down to pedal down hill. I thought a couple of times I was going to have my bike blown right out from under me. We made it to the Super 8 after 69 miles and had to carry our bikes up to the 3rd floor, as there was no room for them downstairs. We then walked up behind the motel to another hotel (Grand Internationa) for a great dinner. Now to get some sleep and get Maggie’s bike to the shop tomorrow to finish the repairs. We are taking tomorrow off as the winds are forecast even stronger than today. My knees and quads are happy with that decision.

Carolyn

July 13

Day 36:

I was told I did such a good job yesterday that I should do this again today. What a line! We all had a good sleep last night in Minnawanken (one of my personal best) and managed to get up before 7:00. Breakfast down at the Bait & Tackle before heading out in a beautiful tailwind. Maggie was plugging away on her three gears, hoping to get to a bike store in Rugby at the end of the day. Rain was forecast for later in the day so we set a pretty quick pace trying to out ride it. We arrived in Esmond after 26 miles where there was supposed to be a small restaurant. The restaurant was there but closed on (you guessed it) Mondays. We were directed to the village park where there were picnic tables and public washrooms where we set up our camp stove and cooked up some ramen noodles for Brian and the boys while Maggie and I made do with pretzels, peanut butter and trail mix. Not much of a lunch but it got us going again.

Heading out for what should have been an easy 30 miles to Rugby, Maggie was hit again by more gear problems. Her gear cable pulled free. When she and Brian caught up to the boys and I, Brian had rigged the cable somewhat but needed to make some adjustments. I have been quite impressed with the ingenuity from Brian and the kids with regard to repairs, etc. I don’t know how Maggie retained her composure through all this nonsense. After some adjustments, she had access to 15, 25 and 35 which Maggie said was better than what she had. Fortunately, the wind was still in our favor and the hills were gradual so we cruised through the last 24 fairly easily and arrived in Rugby (supposedly the “geographical center of North America”) around 4:00. An early end to the day by our standards. Pulled into the Cottage Café with fortunately an hour before closing for an early dinner (or really late lunch if you don’t count our snack earlier). The food was great and they had really good coffee for a change. While we were there, Brian called the local hardware store to see if they possibly had any bike parts. They said they had some, so he and Maggie left the three of us to go check into the Econo Lodge while they picked up some parts for Maggie’s bike.

As I write this, Maggie and Brian and working diligently away on her bike. Let’s hope it works. Minot is 70 plus miles (the last place with a bike store for awhile we’ve been told). And, we just heard a forecast of SW winds 25 mph or higher. We better all get a good sleep tonight. Tomorrow will be a long one. Wish us luck with the repairs everyone.

Carolyn

July 12

Day 35:

We all enjoyed our stay at the Prairie Lodge in Pekin – a little too much as some of us slept in again. Mom found some coffee in the kitchen fridge and quickly brewed a pot – hooray! Next on the menu was oatmeal which most of us enjoyed. Knowing that meals would be a problem today, we had loaded up on some snacks the night before at the Peek In Pub to get us through until days end.

Heading out it looked like it might be a great day. The wind had died down and then changed to our backs. Enjoying this tailwind was a bit short lived as Zach broke a spoke on his rear wheel. Of course it was a spoke on the drive side and required the sprocket be removed. Quite an ordeal but thanks to Larry at the Fargo Island Park bike store Brian and Jake knew what they were doing and how to leverage some make shift tools. After a short while, we headed off with a couple more stops to check Jake and Zach’s tires for rubbing issues. As lunchtime approached, we had to decide whether to enter the small village of Warwick on the Indian reservation and see if there were any places to get lunch or if we would make do with what we had on us. We decided to take the plunge and landed in the middle of a youth rodeo in progress – complete with concession stand. They had everything we could possibly want including the best sugar donuts, freshly made this morning. We enjoyed lunch while watching the little kids trying to ride bucking broncos and doing pole bending and barrel racing. I had to explain some of the finer points of horse shows to the kids. All in all, it ended up being a really fun interlude.

Off we headed with Minnawanken as our destination. Again, we had a tailwind and very flat roads through the Spirit Lake Sioux Indian Reservation. Beautiful. Apparently, the wind gods thought we were enjoying ourselves too much because the next victim was Maggie’s bike. She lost the use of all her small gears, leaving her only 19, 29 and 39 useable and she also had a broken spoke on the drive side. Zach and I had arrived at the top of a hill a little way ahead of Brian, Maggie and Jake and stood there wondering what they were doing two hills back. They finally caught up after trying to at least lock the gears in a more useable gear, but to no avail. Needless to say, Maggie was not happy. I won’t tell you what her exact words were. Even with just three gears, she managed to lead the group and cruise along for the next 40 miles…

Despite this setback for Maggie, we flew along with the help of the wind again at our backs. Took a short break at a gas station next to a large casino run by the reservation. A beautiful spot right on Devil’s Lake. We have been told by locals that this large lake has been rising several feet a year for the past several years and many people have had to move their homes as the land went under water. Continued on another 40 miles to Minnawanken which is also on Devil’s Lake and checked into the Spirit Water Inn and Resort. A local stayed open late to make us some pizza and we then spent some time replacing Maggie’s spoke and adjusting spokes to true the kids wheels. Chatted with some fishermen in the next cabin about the trip and a few minutes later, they brought us some freshly caught and cooked walleye – yummy.

So, the day had its highs and lows and we managed to put in 68 miles. Even better, we’ve been told we’ll have another east wind tomorrow. Let’s hope we can find a place along the way to get Maggie’s bike repaired so we can really rack up the miles. Time to relax a bit before bed.

Carolyn

July 11

Day 34:

Where to start for today … gun fire, breakfast at the grocery store, the wind or Zach’s incredible deal …

Last night, after settling into a nice sleep in the middle of the town park we were awakened by a gunshot sometime before midnight. The locals came out of their homes to see what was going on but no one seemed to know who was shooting or at what. The rest of our night was uneventful and we woke up to a cool but dry morning. Traveling 3 blocks from the park to the local grocery store ( the store had no windows at all but we did not get the story) we went to the back corner of the of the store where the owner – family business for the last 76 years – cooked us breakfast by getting the ingredients off the shelves of the grocery store and sending us to the coolers to pick out our beverages. He is the only game in town (and for miles around) for breakfast and he cooked a great meal with more than ample serving sizes. He only has a small grill so he had to cook our meal in shifts. By the time we finished our grocery store breakfast it was 10 o’clock. Another late start to the day.

Leaving Hope we once again faced our friend the wind coming full force from the northwest and by the time we finished a late lunch 2:30 we had only put in 25 miles. We lingered over lunch with a couple of newly weds (Cormac and Lindsey ) from Boston who were honeymooning by biking across the country. Our first “small world” story of the day is that they are good friends with Irene Jenkins, Maggie’s assistant hockey coach from St. Paul’s. They gave us some great pointers as well as referred us their blog at LindseyandCormac@blogspot.com. They also complained that the wind has been consistently in their face. Seems like the wind is a challenge no matter which way you are gong. Cormac and Linsey took advantage of the train for part of their journey through Montana to beat the wind and the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are said to turn a white horse black in seconds! Mom and Zach think the train sounds like a great idea.

Shortly after lunch we met another couple traveling form Vancouver BC to Bar Harbor. They gave us some great pointers with respect to traveling in Montana. Thanks.

As we attacked our last forty plus miles late in the day … again.. the wind gave us a break and diminished completely. We made pretty good time through the rolling countryside of North Dakota. About 7:30 we rolled into the bustling town of Pekin (Population 202 ). We thought we would get some dinner at the local bar and then continue a view miles off route to camp in the Tolna town Park. We met another cyclist form Minnesota who was planning to spend the night at the park in Pekin and we thought we might join him after dinner and not go onto Tolna. As it turns out there is a hunting lodge in Pekin and Zach took charge so we would not have another night in a town park especially since showers were forecast. Over dinner of great pizza at the Peek-Inn Pub Lorie, the owner made numerous calls on our behalf and located the owners of the lodge in the next town. Long story short Zach negotiated a great deal for our nights lodging in an apartment in the lodge complete with laundry facilities. The owners Les and Keith were so impressed with Zach they stopped by the Peek-Inn pub for a beer and to chat. They even offered to provide us with a car so we could travel to Tolna to attend the street dance and fireworks. They thought Jake would have a great time with the local young women. Thanks for the offer guys. They even stocked the fridge with soda for us. The lodge is a nice place and the price is right. A notice over the kitchen sink reads, “Absolutely no cleaning of fish or game in the rooms” and may indicate that cyclists are not their main customer

While at the Peek-Inn another customer mentioned he had a cousin in New Hampshire … you guessed it … she lives in Dover. Peek-Inn Proprietor Lorie and customer Gary were awesome in helping us plan our evening and tomorrow’s travels. Thanks to both. Stop by her bar if you are in town and say hi.

Showers all round, laundry (thanks Mom), some TV and bed. We will all sleep well tonight.

Brian

July 10

Day 33:

Unfortunately, we were forced to trade in our nice tailwind for a brutal 15 mph headwind from the northwest. We were up early after our rest day, but took a little while to find our way out of Fargo. Once we got going we rode on long, straight stretches of county highways …right into the wind. North Dakota is living up to its flat reputation; I don’t think we climbed a single hill all morning until stopping for lunch after 33 miles. Our chances to stop are becoming less frequent and Kelly’s Café was our first opportunity for food today, with nothing else for an additional 20 miles. While eating, we met with Dave and Paul from Vancouver and who are heading east to Newfoundland. They certainly were enjoying a nice tailwind today. It was very nice to chat with you both, good luck and we hope to see you in NH! A family of 4 headed to Maryland passed by while we were finishing out the last few miles before lunch…again we were jealous of their tailwind. After lunch we rode through much of the same farming territory. We stopped in Page at a small Café, a recommendation from Paul, for pie and ice cream. While there we stocked up with food for the night, unsure what we would find along the way. We continued to battle the wind for the final 14 miles until reaching Hope, ND. We ate dinner at the local eatery and then headed down the road to the city park to camp. The pool bathrooms and showers were left unlocked just for us, but only Zach and I were tough enough to handle to ice cold outdoor showers…it actually felt refreshing afterwards. Settled into our tents, we anticipate another windy day tomorrow across the North Dakota plains.

Maggie

July 9

Day 32: (Rest Day 1)

For the first time we are going to bed in exactly the same place we woke up in…Fargo, North Dakota. After a month of riding, we decided to take our first day off in perhaps the largest city we will see for a while. We knew that from here on services will become less abundant, so we took advantage of the opportunity to get some rest, do some laundry, and make sure the bikes are ready for the next 1600 miles. Jake was probably most excited about the day off, and has been begging for a while now to be able to sleep in until 12 and not touch the bike for one day. Well, he got almost all that today. He slept till 11 while the rest of us walked to breakfast. Later on, Mom headed to the Laundromat to take care of some overdue laundry, Dad repaired a few tire tubes, and Maggie and Dad planned the days ahead. Jake and Zach took it easy at the hotel too…sitting in bed and watching t.v/catching up on the internet for a good part of the day. After a late lunch, and some more “doing nothing” we headed to the bike store to pick up the bikes. With new chains installed, a few replaced spokes (the wheels were rebuilt on Dad and Jake’s bikes), and wheel adjustments we are ready to go. We stocked up on spare tubes, chain grease, and spokes as well. Thanks to Larry and Zach at Island Park Bike Shop, you guys were great! From there we hopped on the bikes and headed to the Drunken Noodle for dinner, a great recommendation from Zach…thanks again! Even though Jake had hoped to avoid the bike all day, he managed to survive riding the few blocks to the restaurant. We are back to repacking and getting ready to go again in the morning. Looks like we will be battling a strong headwind tomorrow so we will certainly need our rest. Tomorrow we begin to ride out of the Red River Valley and across North Dakota.

Maggie

July 8

Day 31:

After about 60 miles we were able to cross another state of the list as we left Minnesota and rode into North Dakota. For most of the day we cruised along with a nice tailwind behind us. Though leaving a little later than usual we made great time along the remaining rolling hills of Minnesota. We came across a couple on a tandem heading east (battling our nice wind), and another guy they had met recently, so we stopped to chat, compare routes, and give advice about what lies ahead for one another. By lunch time we were more than half way, having ridden a pretty easy 36 miles. The Mainline Bar and Grille appeared in the middle of nowhere just in time for lunch and was about the only place we saw for food within 40 miles. It seemed like we finally had a near perfect day, but with about 10 miles to go things started to fall apart. A road detour slowed us down a little and Dad discovered two broken spokes on his wobbly rear wheel. While we stopped to check out the area and find a hotel, Jake managed to get a small rock in his eye. Dad came to the rescue by dumping saline solution all over him, and the rock was eventually removed. But…then Jake’s nose started bleeding. I told you everything fell apart all at once. When we were finally ready to get going, and head to the the bike store, another biker (Zach) came along and asked if we needed a bike shop. We told him where we were headed and it turned out to be the same store where he works and was headed himself. So, he led us to the store just a few miles away. Thanks Zach! The Island Park Bike Shop is really cool, and very classy. They are located in a big old train station and have a very unique store. They even have a 5 person bike hanging on the wall…not sure we could handle that. Dad and Jake headed to the workshop to get their wheels looked at and the rest of us checked out the store, enjoyed some gelato at the nice in store eatery, and chatted with a few other bikers, some of them heading east. It’s funny how the locals talk about having to drive at least an hour to ride some decent hills…I guess it really is flat out here. We are going to leave all the bikes there overnight to get a final tune up before we head out for the second half of the trip, where shops will become far less available. A few of us transported the gear to the hotel and headed for dinner, while Jake and Dad went in search of Jake’s phone (thought to be left on the side of the road…during the eye/nose incident). The phone was never found, but thanks to insurance another one will be here tomorrow. We spent about an hour after dinner running around the hotel testing the rooms, until we finally found one with the wi-fi promised by the hotel. Understandably, we are all very tired after such an eventful day…its crazy how quickly things can change. We are planning to take tomorrow off (our first full rest day) to get some much needed rest, do some laundry, and make sure we are all ready to tackle the plains. Thanks to Larry and the guys at the shop for showing us how to repair the spokes and for getting the bikes ready to go!

Maggie

July 7

Day 30:

A favorable wind out of the east and flat deserted highways early in the day resulted in a record day for pre-lunch mileage. The day started out well with a dry night of “free” (Dad was happy!) … camping in the city park although we were all sure based on the noise that we must have been on the train tracks when in the middle of the night a freight train went through town. Just how many times does a train need to blow its whistle when you can hear it for miles!

We probably passed by at least half of the 10,000 lakes in Minnesota as we continued our travels through the beautiful northwestern part of the state. We rode on mostly deserted country roads in good to great condition. However, consistent with many prior days the day ended with numerous hills but even so Mom did a great job finishing off the 68 miles.

Dad’s “mooing” does not seem to impress the Minnesota cows nearly as much as it did the Wisconsin cows. Could it be the accent? Speaking of which, it is interesting that “soda” is now once again referred to as “pop” and there is a definite Canadian ring to the word “about”.

We are spending our last night in Minnesota in “Pelican Rapids”. St. Paul’s mascot would feel right at home here; there are pelicans – large and small – all around town. It is not at all inappropriate that we are spending tonight at the Pelican Motel. The boys are happy and as rain is expected overnight we will at least be dry to start the day tomorrow as we head to North Dakota.

PS To answer Mr. Rymes’s question…. The muffins did not make it to breakfast.

Brian

July 6

Day 29:

Waking up wet was not at all what I expected. The forecast had said zero percent chance of rain and the sky was clear, so we left the door to our tent open to let some air in. Well, I woke up to the sound of rain, and shortly thereafter, wet feet from the water coming in. But by the time we got out of the tents, the sun was shining and it looked like another gorgeous day. We climbed the hill out of the campground (though it was a nice end to yesterday, we all commented about how we were not looking forward to going back up the hill in the morning) and rode about 5 miles to town for breakfast. From there we continued on the county roads for about 25 miles until lunch at Granny’s Café in Swanville, MN. We are happy to be off the highway and on the back roads again, away from all the traffic. It was a very hot day here in Minnesota (I can feel the sunburn on my back right now) and the thought of 47 miles after lunch seemed very daunting to Mom especially. While stopping in Long Prairie for ice cream, we debated whether or not we should stop there or finish the last 33 miles. The boys were pushing for the Super 8 next door, but with Mom’s support we headed out towards our original destination. After a long 75 miles, and a beautiful day for riding, we arrived in Parker’s Prairie, MN for the night. It was certainly a long day for all, and an even longer day for Mom. 75 miles on her second full day, she’s a champ! The only motel, with just 4 rooms, was full so we are camping in the city park (right across the street from the motel of course…the boys are not happy about that), free of charge. After a quick dip in the pool and luke warm showers we headed down the street for dinner and ice cream (again!). We quickly set up our tents, just as it began to get dark and the mosquitoes started to come out. We three kids are still getting used to being crammed in this small tent (Jake joined Zach and I now that Mom is here) …hopefully waking up tomorrow will be a little less eventful – this morning was hilarious. Jake was very unhappy about the rain, and it didn’t look like he was even going to get out of the tent. But even with the slow start, we managed to log some big miles. Therefore, the next few days will be shorter, and if all goes well we are hoping to make it to North Dakota Wednesday night…

Maggie

July 5

Day 28:

Nothing says welcome to the bike trip like a flat tire, and after only 5 miles Mom experienced just that. We were able to quickly repair the rear tire and get back on the road, but everyone made sure to point out that I have been the lucky one, with no major bike problems so far. They better not have jinxed me!! From there we continued on, down highway 10, a fairly busy road. We rode on that same road all day, the entire 58 miles…that must be our record so far. Having stopped to fix Mom’s tire, and of course Jake’s wheel a few times, we had not gone very far before our first snack break. Even when we stopped for lunch we had logged just 20 miles. We debated getting off the main drag after lunch because of the traffic volume and the dirty shoulder; though nice and wide, the shoulder was covered in rocks and other debris waiting to cause a flat. It cleared up as the day went on, and the traffic wasn’t too bad heading west so we decided to stick with the most direct route. As usual we managed to cram most of our miles in during the afternoon part of the ride, stopping only a few times for drinks/ice cream. During our ice cream break, we decided our destination would be Royalton, MN. We continued until we found dinner at the Country Creamery (Rice, MN), and then got back on our bikes for the final 5 miles to the campground. We arrived at the Two River’s Campground, a gorgeous spot along the Mississippi River. With a full moon above, our tents lie right along the river…an incredible spot to camp. On the site next to ours, we met John who is Kayaking down the Mississippi River…very cool! After warm showers, and a little relaxing by the fire we are headed for bed. Mom’s first real day went well, and she is doing great! We figure by now, after 4 weeks and roughly 1600 miles, we are half way done! Tomorrow we are back on our Adventure Cycling route, after the slight detour to pick up mom, and will be heading across Minnesota for the next few days.

Maggie

July 4

Day 27:

In honor of my first day with the gang, they decided that I should write the blog tonight. Here goes. Happy 4th of July everyone! We had a peaceful night at the airport Hilton and everyone slept in a bit (although Jake and Zach say 8:30 does not constitute “sleeping in”. However, we needed to get up and over to Varsity Bike & Transit to meet Sam who was opening up the shop just for us – they were closed for the holiday. A huge thank you to Sam for all the work he did getting the bikes repaired and my bike assembled. He also gave us some valuable info on routes to take out of the city of Minneapolis.

Being the holiday, the city was fairly quiet and we set out to put a few miles behind us and get to the suburbs. We stopped in Crystal, Minnesota, a suburb and had lunch at Perkins, a great restaurant similar to Friendly’s. The food was great and James, our waiter, was very interested in our adventure. When he told his boss about the trip, his boss sent him out to our table with a dozen beautiful muffins to have for breakfast tomorrow. They look yummy and we can’t wait to dig in. Thanks a bunch James and all the people at Perkins.

After waiting out a small rain storm at Perkins, we headed back out but did not get far before trouble started. Even after the wheel replacement, Jake’s wheel started wobbling once again after just 15 miles…very frustrating. We adjusted what we could, rode the last 11 miles, and landed at the Elk River AmericInn where we are now munching on some Dominos that was just delivered. Leave some for me kids. So, a total of 35 miles for the day, an easy one for everyone else but a good breaking in day for me. Hope to get more miles in tomorrow so we can get back to the 70 plus that they were logging before I joined the tour. Hoping for more flat roads and good weather tomorrow.

Carolyn

July 3

Day 26:

We were up early for breakfast and anxious to go pick up mom. The sun was shining as we left Baldwin and headed for the Twin cities. Following more county roads we logged our fastest 20 miles thus far – a great ride!. Having the slight tailwind was a nice change as well and we cruised through the remaining miles of Wisconsin. Around 10 o’clock, just before leaving the state, we stopped at a grocery store for snacks…even though the boys were ready for lunch. From there we got on a bike trail in Hudson that took us right alongside the rushing interstate traffic, and into Minnesota. We followed a bike route into the city, but it was slow going finding our way around the city streets. Finally we arrived at the Varsity Bike shop downtown. With our new wheels waiting, we unloaded the bikes and left them there for the night to be repaired/tuned – thanks Sam, we really appreciate the extra effort the get them done for tomorrow!! We headed next door for lunch at FOUR O’CLOCK…we were starving!! Getting to Mom’s hotel was a little bit tricky. We took a bus to the light rail station, and then the light rail to the airport. When we got the airport we found the hotel shuttle and finally arrived at the Hilton to see mom. It was great to see her, and we all make her look soo pale! The team is finally complete!!! After a quick soak in the hot tub we were ready for dinner. A nice dinner at the hotel got us all caught up and looking forward to an easy day tomorrow, and a great second half with the whole family!!

July 2

Day 25:

Well the bike repairs/cleaning we said we were doing last night didn’t actually happen until this morning…so we were on the road a little later than we had planned. We left the motel and headed west on the deserted highways, knowing that we had a full day ahead of us if we wanted to stick to our plan and have a short ride to Minneapolis tomorrow. We didn’t make it far before Jake’s rear wheel started acting up…again. Hopefully this will all be fixed when we get to the shop tomorrow. Even with the multiple interruptions we managed to make decent time, arriving in Chippewa Falls for lunch after about 30 miles. From there we picked up county roads just as the sun began to shine and we followed the rolling hills throughout the afternoon. Passing by more farms we stopped and took our picture with the famous Wisconsin cows ” Dad “Moos” at the cows until they stare and start to run along the fence! Stopping for snacks after 60 plus miles we found a motel for the night…18 miles away. When asked where we were coming from at the gas station we replied “NH” and the guy thought we were lying..haha! By now it was getting late, and we cranked out the last 18 to our destination as the sun was beginning to go down. We arrived at the AmericInn in Baldwin, WI after 83 miles and headed right for the Hot Tub. Tomorrow we will be up early to ride 50 miles and meet up with Mom in Minneapolis!!

July 1

Day 24:

Another chilly day in Wisconsin today. We were up early for breakfast and after a few quick repairs we were on the road. The rain held off all day and the wind is beginning to slow down. We were making pretty good time throughout the day…even with the persisting rear wheel problem. Wisconsin certainly has more hills than expected, but after 3 weeks we are cruising up them. We rode by farm after farm for 30 miles until our first opportunity for lunch at a small bar/restaurant (we were the only ones there) in Dorchester, WI. We continued on the rural roads throughout the afternoon, passing through multiple Amish communities, and sharing the road with horse drawn buggies. We decided to follow a dirt road in order to take the most direct route and save ourselves a few miles. It worked out well and we were back on the paved roads in no time. We made it to Stanley, WI and stopped for dinner on our way to the motel. We met Terry and Debbie, a very friendly couple. Terry helped with directions and Debbie offered us coffee in the morning. Thanks! We headed next door to the Super 8 for the night after 72 miles. Now it’s time to tune the bikes and grab dessert. Long day tomorrow. Mom flies out tomorrow morning and we will meet her friday afternoon in Minneapolis if all goes well.

Happy Canada Day!

June 30

Day 23:

Somedays the pedaling is effortless, the miles fly by, and everything goes as planned. Unfortunately, today was not one of those days. We left the lodge anticipating another 80 mile day, but after such a long day yesterday, today ended up being “just one of those days.” Starting on the sandy Mountain Bay trail got us off to a very slow start. While it was the most direct route, riding on that surface proved to be slow going and hard on the legs. We decided to get off the trail, have lunch, and continue on the main roads in the afternoon. The riding was easier, but the headwind was still making things difficult and we encountered more hills than expected in Wisconsin. As the afternoon wore on, it got colder, and we grew tired quickly. The problem with the rear wheels became frustrating on the big hills and we managed only 40 miles by 4 o’clock. We made it to Wasau where we stopped in the bike store for directions regarding the next few days. When we were leaving the store we ran into a local police officer who offered his assistance. He actually called a good friend of his to get better advice about getting to Minneapolis – his friend (Bill) even offered to host us at his house! Thank you Andrew – It was great talking with you. We had hopped to get in another 20 miles before we called it quits, but there was nowhere to stay within 40 plus miles so we decided to call it a day and check in to the Hampton Inn. As soon as we did the skies opened up and poured, good timing I guess. Though we only logged 45 miles today, it felt like a long day and we are very ready for bed. We will be up early tomorrow to hopefully log some big miles and still get to Minneapolis by Friday.

Happy 18th Kelly! Thanks for looking after Tracker too!

June 29

Day 22:

We were surprised and thrilled to wake up to a dry morning at the campground since the forecast had called for rain and thunderstorms through the night and into today. We said goodbye to Steve and finished packing up, but we ran into him again after our 7-mile ride to breakfast; he was leaving town and we were headed for Rico’s Family Restaurant where we enjoyed a great breakfast – banana nut caramel pancakes!! From there we headed out with the wind in our faces once again. We took advantage of our drafting techniques to make riding easier. 30 miles of rolling hills got us to Shiocton for a Subway lunch. Even with the wind we had made pretty good time; we hoped to take advantage of our early start and have a high mileage day. After lunch we took off for Shawano, another 25 miles away. It only rained a few times during the afternoon ride, and we lucked out weather wise today. But it was hard to keep the right gear on because it would down pour for 10 minutes and then the sun would come right back out and we would start sweating in our rain gear, and then back to rain. With a brief snack stop we made it to town around 4 o’clock but had to stop and repair a flat tire on Zach’s bike. We stopped by Joe BikeLer’s shop in town to have yet another spoke on Jake’s rear wheel replaced. Their service was great! Jim fixed Jake’s wheel, while Seth pumped our tires and gave us dinner recommendations, and Stana helped us find a place to stay at our destination and gave us some free snack samples! Once again, we are very impressed by the friendly people who are so eager to help. We headed downtown for dinner and decided to knock out the last 20 miles after dinner. With the sun setting we took off in our “sunset sprint” down the Mountain Bay Bike Trail towards Bowler. It was a pretty smooth ride once we got on the trail, and we were happy to be somewhat sheltered from the wind. The deer were in abundance and we must have seen at least a dozen run right in front of us or along side us during our ride. We were making good time and it looked like we would make it before dark, but when we reached town it appeared we had gone too far. Uneasy about trusting the GPS again, we were forced to turn on our lights and ride an additional 5 miles in the dark. Finally, after 84 miles, we arrived at the Konkapot Lodge in Bowler, WI. Showered and settled into bed after a long day, we are getting anxious about making it to Minneapolis and meeting up with Mom – We can’t wait!

June 28

Day 22:
After waking up early, the crew enjoyed a light breakfast at our motel. Unfortunately this was the last thing we ate for a while. We loaded the bikes and headed out around 9 AM. We reached the first set of lights and came upon a man pedaling alone and heading in the same direction as us, even to the same campground. His name is Steve and he ended up joining us for the day. Steve, who is familiar with the Minneapolis, MN area, was able to shed some light on the safest and most efficient way to meet up with Mom later this week. He even offered to let us use his house/car while in the city. Thank you Steve, it was great meeting you! Immediately Wisconsin blessed us with 25+ mph headwinds from the West, and we were forced to ride right into the wind. As we rode by farm after farm, we could see the wheat blowing in the exact opposite direction we were headed. This made it very hard to keep a good pace and it felt as if we were going up hill the entire time. Pedaling very hard and making little distance can be quite discouraging. Aside from the wind the weather today was perfect, great temperatures and sunny skies all day….if only the wind was blowing the other direction! Our maps had told us that Potter, WI (25 miles from our motel) has somewhere to eat. If it did, we certainly couldn’t find it. By that point, we were all very hungry and more than ready for a break from the wind. With the help of a few locals we were able to change our route slightly and navigate Hilbert, where we found lunch at Kraggy’s Family Restaurant. A good meal, friendly staff, and delicious ice cream got us ready for the afternoon. Considering the 30 miles under our belt and the fact that we were pretty exhausted from the high winds, we decided that our destination would be the Apple Creek Campground in Freedom, WI. While still encountering high winds we managed to push our way through the last 22 miles and arrive at the campground around 3:30. We enjoyed a swim and reasonably priced showers (unlike Temple, MI). Right now it is approaching 7pm CST and we once again hungry. Time for dinner….

All in all not a bad day, considering we logged 52 miles straight into the wind (our first real struggle with the headwind) and finished reasonably early. It was nice to have some new company and such a gorgeous day for ridding. We can only hope for more of the same tomorrow …minus the wind of course!

June 27

Day 21:

Although the idea of sleeping in appealed to almost all of us, the 93 mile ride the day before still did not stop us from getting up around 5:30 am and heading out soon after towards the S.S. Badger. As we arrived at the S.S Badger we met up with Mike, a man who was taking the same route as us but was stopping in Milwaukee. It was great to chat with him throughout the ride and we were very impressed by his lack of gear and stealth camping techniques! After we left our bikes down in the hull of the ship, we headed to the main deck where we looked forward to a much needed breakfast and four hour nap. Within minutes Jake was fast asleep, followed soon after by Dad. Jake was sound alseep on top of the maps Dad had been looking at. No one cares about Maggie and Zach. The rest of the group relaxed on the bow of the ship, laying in the sun for the majority of the ride across Lake Michigan. Jake joined them after waking up the first time but fell asleep once again. Four hours later we arrived in Wisconsin, even though Jake felt as if he had just fallen asleep. Watching Jake wake up to the ferry’s blasting horn was very entertaining for the others. Getting off the ferry we headed towards “The Bicycle and Fitness Co.” to get some much needed repairs on our bikes, the rear wheels once again. Mike accompanied us to the store but said goodbye shorty after. It was great to meet you…good luck! Jeremy did a great job truing the wheels and Jake gave us great advice on places to stay and roads to travel on, thanks! With our bikes all fixed we headed to Warren’s Diner for some lunch. We were in contact with the guys at Dover Cyclery and they got a hold of the Fuji dealer who is sending some new wheels to Minneapolis for us – Thanks for the great service! Once our stomachs were full we decided to take the rest of the day off by finding a nice Comfort Inn to relax and unwind in. Earlier today we had decided that it was time to take our first real rest day. But we still covered some distance on the ferry (if that counts) and once we arrived in town. Juging by the uncontrolable laughter at dinner everyone is in need of a good night’s sleep. We are hoping to get plenty of rest tonight and are looking forward to biking through Wisconsin tomorrow.

June 26

Day 20:

93 miles! A very long day for sure, and certainly not what we had planned. For the first time we woke up to a sunny and completely dry morning in our tents, a great start to the day. We got an early start and found breakfast after a quick 5 miles. From there we headed down a hilly route for 20 miles until we arrived in Le Roy for drinks and snacks at the general store. While there we took a closer look at our route and realized that instead of the 66 miles we had expected, it would actually be more like 90 miles until we reached the ferry. Having planned to board the ferry for its second crossing at 8 PM and arrive in Wisconsin around midnight, we had to readjust. We doubted that we would make the evening ferry, but knew that we still needed to make it to Ludington so we could at least catch it in the morning. Another quick 20 miles got us to Luther for lunch at Loggers Landing. We were making good time and there was still a possibility of making the ferry. We cruised through the first 15 miles until a decision to rely on the GPS caused us some problems – that’s the last time we do that!. One dirt road led to another and we found ourselves in the middle of the woods on a very sandy trail. After a few wipeouts walking the bikes became necessary and we confirmed that our bikes are not made for off road terrain, they certainly are not mountain bikes! We pushed the heavy bikes through the sandy dunes until we finally arrived back on the main road. It seemed that we were most definitely not going to make it in time. Despite making great time through the next 15 miles we eventually ran into the wind. We decided to call and make reservations for the night in Ludington and then get the ferry in the morning. Good thing we did because a few wrong turns set us back once again. Everyone was getting tired and we were happy to finally arrive at the Shoreline Inn right on Lake Michigan after 93 miles (our longest day yet!). Maggie and Dad took advantage of the pool and spa as we awaited our pizza delivery. Tomorrow morning we will be up early to catch the 8 AM ferry to Wisconsin. Unless of course we sleep in and take the evening ferry later on…

June 25

Day 19:

After a great breakfast we left the comforts of the Hampton Inn with clean clothes and ice-cold water bottles – thanks again Sue! It was shaping up to be another hot day, despite the early raindrops. Luckily the rain held off, the forecasted thundershowers were nonexistent, and the sun was shining all day. We stopped by Ray’s bike shop before leaving town to get Jake’s pesky rear wheel looked at once more. Another broken spoke seemed to be the problem. With that fixed, our tires pumped, and a new supply of tubes, we headed down the Pere Marquette Rail Trail. We cruised along the nicely paved, and flat, trail for about 18 miles until we stopped for cold Gatorade and snacks. After refueling we continued to follow the trail until it ended in Clare at mile 33. We found lunch in town at a Chinese restaurant and firmed up our plans for the remainder of the day. We struggled in the wind for a few miles on a busy road, but after stopping for ice cream and more cold drinks things got a bit easier. The afternoon brought back some hills we haven’t seen in a while. But even in the heat, the hills were a nice change in terrain. After working on the uphills, there is a rewarding breeze on the speedy downhill stretches. We followed the rolling hills around multiple lakes until we arrived in Lake George, bypassing one campground and sticking to our original plan. We called to make sure there were sites at the campground in Temple (that certainly wasn’t a problem, we are one of 2 groups here tonight!) and completed the remaining 9 miles. Once in town, we got directions to the only restaurant and headed that way. We arrived at Club 61, a run down bar where our interesting stay in Temple began. Stepping in the door, everyone in the pub stopped and stared at us until we sat down – I guess we were a little out of place! We quickly ordered burgers, but had plenty of time to take in our surroundings as we waited about 45 minutes for food. A rough crowd in the restaurant, fixated on beer, cigarettes, and Keno made for some very entertaining people watching. Leaving the restaurant we found the campground just down the road. The park was closed for the night so we started towards the tenting site area, but found a deserted campground and another mosquito invasion. So we headed back to the main campground, climbed under the gates, and set up on a slightly more inviting site. With the exception of a group of women a few sites over, we are the only ones in the whole campground. That explains why only the women’s bathroom is unlocked. We bought some shower tokens from them since the store was closed when we arrived. Each token costs 75 cents and is worth just TWO MINUTES of shower time. We ended up with 3 tokens, a total of 6 minutes for 4 people! Dad decided to take one for the team and forgo the shower tonight, though I am not sure if he is the only one sacrificing – Jake shares his tent! The three of us, in the women’s bathroom, rushed through our super short showers and headed back to camp. We started a fire to keep the bugs off and called home. Tomorrow we hope to make it to Ludington, ready to cross Lake Michigan. It seems that everyone else is fast asleep and I am almost there myself. Glad I brought the earplugs!

June 24

Day 18:

Another very, very hot day in Michigan today, definitely the hottest we have experienced so far. Leaving the cool motel room for breakfast we felt the heat right away. A few wrong turns at the beginning forced us to backtrack a few miles, but we had a pretty easy ride throughout the rest of the morning. Finally after 13 miles, we arrived at a small gas station for cold drinks (water doesn’t stay cold long in this heat) and a short break. From there we began the 25 miles through more farmland and very little shade until we reached Bay City. We stopped and asked a local biker for a place to eat lunch and he quickly pointed us towards the Stock Pot Diner just a few blocks away. Lunch was great, and the staff was wonderful. Thank you Michelle, Vince, Cindy, and Joy! They were genuinely interested in our trip and we enjoyed our extended lunch break in the cool restaurant to chat with them. While at lunch we made reservations to stay in Midland…first priority being a hotel with a pool. After a good meal, ice filled water bottles, and pictures with the friendly staff (see photos) we set our sites on a hotel in Midland. The afternoon heat was brutal and we stopped often for short breaks in the shade (under bridges, beneath trees, and behind buildings). With about 5 miles to go, we experienced our second flat tire. This time a thumb tack was lodged in Dad’s front wheel. Stuck on the side of the highway, unshielded from the heat, we replaced the tube in less than 10 minutes. Shortly thereafter, we arrived at the Hampton Inn in Midland. The staff was awesome! We quickly guzzled the ice water in the lobby and they offered to put some cold water pitchers in the room, an offer we could not refuse. Storage for the bikes, dinner coupons, and a dryer for our laundry were added bonuses. As soon as we unloaded the bikes, we headed for the pool. After a refreshing swim, and lounge outside, we showered and headed next-door for dinner at Damon’s. We are once again tired and ready for bed early. We will finish up laundry tonight and plan tomorrow’s route – we need to get to a bike store in the morning and stock up on spare tubes. Even after today’s struggle in the heat, we all agree that the heat is much more preferable to the wind and the rain.

June 23

Day 17:

On days like today it is hard to believe we are lugging around the weight of warm clothes. Today was HOT! After a humid night sleeping in our tents we woke up to a dry, sunny morning! We left the Emmett KOA campground and found breakfast in the next town after 6 easy miles. Brief stops for cold drinks became routine today. We managed to get in 30 miles before lunch, but the heat was getting to us. Hitting 90 F we were happy to sit at a nice air conditioned Subway for lunch, even if it meant the same thing two days in a row. After lunch we stocked up on cold water/gatorade and headed to our final destination, Caro. Even with the heat, we made good time in the afternoon. With about 6 miles to go we were forced to take a detour down a pot hole ridden dirt road, which just about did us all in. Soon after, we arrived at our motel having completed 70 miles today. The air conditioning was already cranked for us when we walked in! We quickly showered and walked our sore bodies over to the Dairy Queen for burgers and ice cream! It was delicious. After that, Dad and Maggie walked next door to WalMart to replace Maggie’s Camera (victim to a swim in the washing machine the day before we left NH). Back in the room everyone is fading fast. It’s 9:30 and Dad has begun snoring away already (I could easily join him) but we woke him up when we called Mom 🙂 WE MISS YOU MOM! We also miss Tracker (our blind yellow lab) and hear that he has been showing signs of loneliness around the house.

Bed is crying my name so I’ll end tonight’s post.

More to come as another scorching day across the Michigan blacktop awaits us….