Summer 2009 Adventures

Biking, Day 33: August 20, 2009

2009-08-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

Day 33: Gore, VA to Washington, DC
Distance: 85 miles
Route: 50East to Ballston, bike trail into the city
Lodging: Friend's house, followed by my home

Sorry for the delay in this post. it's been an adjustment being back on solid ground, not biking all day, not sweating all day, not being able to eat non stop without feeling full, drinking alcohol, hanging out with people who I know, etc.

I woke up at around 5 because I wanted to get on the road early. The motel didn't have coffee, nor did I have cell service or internet. I knew my mom would be freaking out, so I wanted to get within cell phone range as soon as possible.

I started riding around 6am and hit Winchester, VA around 7am. I stopped and had coffee. I met some locals who were having their coffee, too. They told me 50 was a good route to take, but that I would have to go over Paris Mountain, which they said was pretty high. I had hit a ton of mountains the day before, and I was hoping they were done, but one wasn't horrible.

I got back on the road around 8 or so, but then got lost trying to find 50 East again, got all turned around in Winchester, which is a lovely town, filled with people who have no idea where 50 east is.
I finally found 50East and saw a sign for DC: 70 miles. God bless.

I rode a while and then stopped about 15 miles in, right before what looked like Paris Mountain. I just sat, had a muffin, and then started riding again. No second cup of coffee.

I rode and hit Paris Mountain. It was really really hot, but the mountain was pretty nominal. I wasn't really fazed by it, and then I rode back down. I took a mental note of how lovely some of the little towns were and how adorable some of the inns and restaurants were for visits later with other people.

I rode on and got more and more hot. The terrain was fine, it was just hot. I stopped in Middleburg, about 35 miles from DC and had coffee. I had visited Middleburg years ago with my ex slash friend, who has relatives who live there. I remember we went to a little country store and they sold milk in glass bottles. I found that so incredibly charming. I stopped there for coffee. Fresh cream = delicious.

I continued on and knew that soon 50 would turn into more of a highway and that drivers would start being jerks and that strip malls would soon replace the farms. It was lovely until then. Really, when you get 30 miles outside DC, it's gorgeous. I'm planning lots of fall trips to pick apples, do winery tours, and pack up my bike for some beautiful riding.

About 10 miles past Middleburg, 50 opened up. There were 4-6 BIG lanes. Drivers started honking more frequently at me. They were driving faster. There were huge developments with ostentatious fountains, stores that sold discount furniture, and lots of traffic lights.

I rode on. I forgot how hideous the suburbs of Virginia are. I'm sorry, but they are. As I approached Fairfax, I decided I would take a break there. I stopped at a McDonalds for a pop. The riding wasn't very fun in the outskirts of DC. There are tons of trails, and a friend tried to tip me off on the W&OD trail, but that one went out to Vienna, off route 7.

I rode very uncomfortably from Fairfax to where my friend works, in Ballston. We met downstairs and had a snack. It was so good to see her. A familiar face, and of someone who I know well and care about. It was lovely. We talked about my day's ride, the trail into the city and to her house, and her stocked fridge of fixings for mojitos and other various snacks unavailable to the cross country biker. I felt like a princess.

I got back on the road and to the trail. I rode into the city on the Curtis trail, then cut over the bridge to the Kennedy Center, then cut down to Rock Creek parkway. It was a gorgeous ride, minus a few times getting lost.

As I pulled over the bridge into DC, I felt a little emotional. When I pulled into my friend's building, I was even more emotional. This journey has been incredibly challenging, my life for 33 days. I was overcome with emotion - pride for finishing it, sad it was over, overwhelmed by how far I had ridden. I will post more about the 'summary' when i have a chance to digest it. For now, it was a moment.

I got off my bike, went upstairs, took a shower, and made two mojitos for when my friend came home from work. When she came home, we had our mojitos and ordered dinner. It hurts me to admit that i was pretty drunk from that one delicious mojito. So it goes. It was a great way to end the day, as my mother said, the most well-deserved mojito ever. God bless.

Biking, Day 32: August 19, 2009

2009-08-20T17:54:00.001-07:00

Day 32: Chalk Hill, PA to Gore, VA
Distance: 115 miles
Route: National Pike/40E/Alt 40 to about 5 miles before Cumberland, right at MD Route 53, continue on 220, then to 963, then to WV 28 to Romney, WV, left at Route 50E into Virginia
Lodging: Hayworth Motel, Gore, VA, $42, no cell service, no internet, no phone, completely out of necessity – sun was setting and I was dying.

Today was probably one of my hardest days – physically, mentally, emotionally. I woke up around 6:15 and got ready to go. I went to the Lodge at the Chalk Hill resort and got online to post my blog and check my route. I also got my free coffee and enjoyed some early morning Saved By the Bell, one of my favorite shows of all time. It was a summer recap show, where Zach Morris recalls the summer working at the resort. Zach is pretty dreamy, plus, he got into Yale with his 1502 SAT score, so he's really the whole package.

I left the lodge around 8am and started on the National Pike. The girl at Subway yesterday told me that I had pretty much hit the summit the day before. As I started, I realized that there were many more mountains to go. About 10 miles in, I hit a summit where I had to push my bike. I felt totally beaten. I didn't want to bike anymore. It was humid, I was completely drenched in sweat, and with only ten gears on my bike, I couldn't pedal up these hills.

I said this yesterday – but in the West they fundamentally understand the need for switchbacks. In the east, the hills are so steep that I can't pedal up some of them. When you hit the top of a summit, there are often signs for truckers saying what percent grade the hill is. I saw 13 aand 14% grades today. In the west, I don't remember seeing any steeper than 10%.

It took me about 3 hours to get to my first break, which was about 20 miles before Frosburg. I took a break and asked the guy working at the 7-11 about the terrain. He said it was mountainous through Frostburg, but then it pretty much went down hill after Big Savage Summit. I took that to heart, I had had a rough morning, but I was ready to get through the mountains. Plus, I had crossed into Maryland. Crossing state lines is the bomb. Oh, and I saw the Mason-Dixon line, yo.

I forged on. The terrain was indeed challenging. The peaks weren't huge, but they were steep. I didn't go above 3000 Feet, which would be a joke in the west, but it wasn't up the mountain and then down. It was up then down then up then down. I stopped taking pictures of the altitude signs at the summit peaks after a while.

I rode through to Frostburg and took a break at a Sheetz. It was around 2pm and I figured I would ride until 5:30 and then figure out where I wanted to stop. My directions had me taking back roads to Winchester, VA. I thought that was a bit aggressive, so I thought I would cut down a bit further to Route 50, which I assumed would have more cities and stops.

I left Frostburg around 2:30. I went a few miles on National Pike, then cut south on Maryland 53. Then I took Route 220 to another road, which led me back into West Virginia. For some reason, West Virginia makes me nervous. It's not just the fact that the slogan is 'Wild and Wonderful' (the 'wild' being mysteriously vague and undefined), but the very evident poverty and poor roads.

I cut down WV-28 to Springfield, WV and decided to stay on WV-28 to Romney, WV, where I would get on Route 50E. On WV-28, not one, not two, not three, but five times a truck passed me and a man leaned out the passenger window to look back at me. I did not find this flattering, I found it creepy. Also, the mountains hadn't ended in Frostburg. Sure, the biggest peak was Big Savage at around 3000 Feet, but climbing 1000 feet is hard regardless of whether you start at 2000 Feet or 0 Feet.

I got to Romney and took another break at a Sheetz. It was about 5pm and I had a few more miles in me. I looked at a map and looked up motels and saw that there were a few motels along the route. I figured I would go to Augusta, ten miles away, and stay there. That would be about 105 miles from DC, which I could easily do in a day. I was able to pick up a wireless signal on my phone, but I couldn't make any calls to make reservations. I figured I would just stop at the motel.

The mountainous road continued. I made the ten miles to Augusta and the motel was out of business. There was nothing else. I forged on just assuming that I would hit a hotel. I went through some 'towns' that lookoed more significant on the map. I still had no cell service. Finally, I hit a more significant town and stopped to ask about motels. There were none in that town, but she said there was one in Gore, VA about 10 more miles.

It was 7pm. I wasn't sure how much more sun I had, but I figured I could make it to Gore. I went about 5 miles, through mountains, and hit the Virginia line. I entered Gore and saw the first sign I have seen for Washington – 85 miles. The motel that she told me about was shut down. I hit a low. It was about 14 miles to Winchester, VA, where there would undoubtedly be motels, but it was 7:45PM. I had no idea when the sun would set. I usually was at my motel by 6pm, even in the west when there were more mountains.

I just kept riding. I was going a bit slower even though I was trying to go fast. For the first time, I really was worried about getting caught in the dark. Route 50 has no lights. I have a headlamp somewhere, courtesy of my Kilimanjaro climb, and a flashing red light on the back of my bike, but I really didn't want to ride on a 55MPH road in the dark.

I went about 5 miles and then saw a motel on the left. The Hayworth motel. I pulled up. There were some gentleman sitting outside, they had a lot of tattoos and I said hello. I went to the 'office', which was someone's grandma's living room. Tragically, they didn't take credit card or checks. I only had $15 in cash. It felt dire for a moment, then I remembered that negotiating is actually something I'm quite good at.

I offered to go with the owner to an ATM or to write a check. She opted for the check. I wrote the check and she helped me into my room. I was visibly weak. It was a long day, after all. She gave me the number of a pizza place that delivered. The rooms have no phones, but she could see my cell phone.

I went in, showered, washed my clothes, and went to call for pizza, but I still had no cell service. And clearly there was no wireless. I just decided to eat my snackks for dinner. What really upset me, though, was that I couldn't email or text my parents. This has been less than fun for them and I try to call/email/text each night. There was no option to do that tonight. Not even a pay phone. It's actually a good night to be out of touch since my parents are en route to Paris, but when they land around 3am my time, they won't have a message.

I will get up super early and go to Winchester, VA for my coffee.

Tomorrow is my last day in this journey. Barring any unforseen challenges, I hope to be having a mojito during happy hour. Today was hard, but every day is hard. I'm ready to be done, mainly because I miss people, but, as a wise friend told me today, I will miss it when I'm not doing it. This is one of the hardest things I have ever done.

Biking, Day 31: August 18, 2009

2009-08-19T03:58:00.000-07:00

Day 31: Wheeling, WV to Chalk Hill, PA
Distance: 75 miles
Route: 40E/National Road
Lodging: The Lodge at Chalk Hill, $70, very nice, no internet

I really thought I was done with big mountains after the rockies. Apparently, there's some mountains called the Appalacians. The mountains out west were rough, but at least the people who built roads understood the necessity for switchbacks. Maybe it's because I'm riding on the National Road, which was built in the 1800s. It was the hightway when there was no interstate. Point is, it's historic. And by 'historic', I mean old.

I got up today around 615 and got my 'free' breakfast at the Super 8. I really do wonder why they use such small cups for coffee. I just end up using two small cups, which I'm sure cost more than one big cup would. I mean, its not like the actual brewed coffee costs a lot. Lord knows they make it weak.

I got on the road around 7:35 and started riding down 40 East. It's a beautiful region, but poor. Very, very poor. There were a lot of trailers and rusted out cars. Even the road was poorly maintained.

It was ridiculously humid today. And the road was hilly. Like, really hilly. I was sweating more than I have ever sweat before. Ok, that's kind of a bold statement. I was sweating a lot. I continued and took my morning stop in Washington, PA. There was no sign entering PA, but I noticed pretty soon that the road got better maintained.

I had only gone like 25 miles, but the going was slow. With the humidity and the mountainous road, I wasn't making very good time. I do love the region, though. I remember driving through Washington, PA many times in my life. It's a valley and a meeting of many highways.

I took off again down 40E/National Road from Washington, PA. The hills were pretty bad, and there were menacing clouds stirring up some pretty serious winds. About 15 miles from Washington, PA I got a slow leak in my tire. I stopped and patched the tire and filled it. I got some good pressure in my tire, which is rare for me with my hand pump. I realized that I finally really learned how to use the pump. I feel sort of victorious about that.

I got back on and rode the bike until Uniontown, PA. I took another break at the Sheetz. I don't know if people are familiar with Sheetz, but it's basically the best gas station ever. I have felt this way for a long time, and openly expressed this view. My passion for Sheetz is not a secret. I first discovered Sheetz when I drove to my friend, Shannon's, summer house in Maryland back in college. I stopped at a sheetz. I didn't see Sheetz on the east coast, but when I moved to DC, Sheetz were again back in my life.

Sheetz are amazing because not only do they have good gas prices, but they have stores that have good snacks, clean bathrooms, and fresh baked goods. In any case, I took my break at Sheetz. For the first time this adventure, when I came back outside, the bike had been knocked over. I had left one of th pouches of my panniers open and a few items had fallen out., including my sports bra. Awesome to come outside with my bra on the ground.

I checked out hotels to see where I wanted to stay. I figured I could ride for another 2-3 hours so I looked out 25-35 miles. My dad had found an adorable motel in Grantsville, MD and my mom checked for availability. It would be cool to hit 3 states in one day. I got back on the bike.

The wind was pretty serious and Route 40 split going into Uniontown, PA. I wasn't sure whether to take the business route or the bypass. I took the bypass. In retrospect, this was dumb. It added on about 5 miles and it was basically an interstate. I was riding on the wake-up bumps on the side of the highway, which was really uncomfortable.

I decided to get off the highway and try to find a parallel road. I wasted about 45 minutes trying to find a parallel road and my googlemaps took me to a road that didn't exist. I backtracked and got back on 40East, the interstate version.

Soon after, it turned back into less of an interstate. Instead, it was climbing a mountain. Seriously, it was pretty intense. It took me about an hour to summit. And it also started raining. Finally, I got to the top and started the downhill. Unfortunately, the road was so poorly maintained, that I had to go very slowly in the berm. After about 3 minutes, the road started going up hill again! I was pissed. But it was a small hill, then I went down into Chalk Hill, PA. I stopped to get out of the rain.

It was after 5pm so I started looking for a place to stop and sleep. Chalk Hill, PA was a cute little town and there was a lodge that looked out of my price range, but I figured I would check prices. The lodge didnt have any single rooms, only double rooms. The price was high, but he offered me the AAA rate of $74. I managed to negotiate him down even further to $70. At that point, raining, not any other places to stay in the area, so I decided to do it.

One thing I haven't mentioned is the tingly feeling in my hands. I lean on my hands all day. My fingertips have been tingling since I started this. I wake up, they are tingling. Even when I took off 2 days at my parents, they were still tingling. I do hope that they stop once I stop biking.

I'm about 200 miles from DC.

Biking, Day 30: August 17, 2009

2009-08-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Day 30: Outside Columbus, OH to Wheeling, WV
Distance: 110 miles
Route: 40 E/National Road
Lodging: Super 8, $70, smoking room, yuck

I got back on the saddle today after the weekend with my parents. I hadn't taken any days off, so having the weekend off was almost strange. I don't think my body knew what to do with the lack of sweating, gluttony, and excessive sunscreen. It was great to see my parents, and my grandparents, who came up from Tiffin, OH to Columbus.

I started my ride around 8am after my parents drove me outside Columbus to avoid the highways. Despite the 2 days off, parts of my body were still sore and tired. The one part of my body that felt very healed was the seat region.

It was a hot day. I rode about 25 miles and stopped in New Concord, OH for a break. For the first time during this trip, I went into a gas station convenience store and was told they didn't have a public restroom. I was sort of pissed. I told her it was the first time in 2,800 miles that there wasn't a public restroom. She directed me to the City Hall. City Hall! I decided to go to the next town, 8 miles away. For the record, the Circle K in New Concord, OH does NOT have a public restroom.

I went on to Cambridge, OH and stopped at a gas station. Again, no public restrooms! She directed me across the street to the Rite Aid. Since when does a rite aid have a public restroom, but a gas station doesn't. Is this some weird Ohio thing? I went to the Rite Aid, then I had a coffee at the gas station. I felt like I shouldn't give them business since they didn't give *me* a bathroom, but I wanted coffee. In retrospect,maybe it is an Ohio thing - my first bathroom stop, there was a sign on the bathroom door that said 'out of order'. When I walked in, the guy asked me what I needed and I said the restroom. he pointed at the door. I said 'isn't it out of order?' and he replied "no". So, the lack of bathroom or the out of order sign on the bathroom is the lazy man's way of running a gas station. I don't know whether to be offended or to commend the cost cutting.

I forged on. I took another break in St. Clair, OH. There, I tried to get a reservation for the night. I wanted to go a bit beyond Wheeling, so I checked a few places. Wheeling and beyond was shockingly expensive. I decided to check out a motel in Triadelphia, about 7 miles east of Wheeling.

I got on the bike and started riding. Heading into Wheeling was beautiful. It's really a gorgeous city. I've always loved the area. My parents took me and my brother to Oglbey Park one year. We also went to Salt Fork, a nearby state park. Also, when I've driven to and from Columbus from DC, I always go through Wheeling and am shocked at how beautiful it is.

I got to the motel and decided to stay. There was no internet, but I figured I could do stuff on my phone. I went to the room and realized I had no cell service in there. I told the guy that I couldn't stay because of that. He got mad at me. No, really. He was mad because he now had to 'clean the room' because I walked in there. It was ridiculous. anyway, he left me no choice but to go to another motel.

I rode over to the Super 8 and got a room. I got my dinner and went into my smoking room.

In other news, i love the TV show 'Shark Tank' and i have decided I cannot comment on the Healthcare Bill until i read it, all 1000 pages of it. I'm on page 105.

I started planning my day for tomorrow. Only like 300 miles left!

Biking, Day 29: August 14, 2009

2009-08-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Day 29: Rochester, IN to Columbus, OH
Distance: 115 on the bike, a few via parent's car
Route: Indiana Route 14E to 114E to IN Route 5 to IN Route 224 to Route 33 to mistakingly taking Route 27 to 124E back over to Route 33 to the parents
Lodging: 1933 Lake Shore Drive, home of Nancy and Jim Petro, price: appeasing nervousness, overeating, downloading religious podcasts.

(Note: Day 30 will start after 2 days in Ohio with family on August 17)

I woke up today in my super crappy motel in Rochester, IN. I set my clock ahead to EST because I know Ohio is EST and Indiana always confuses me with its time zone. For those who don't know this, Indiana has historically rebelled against Daylight Savings Time due to farmers and has switched between Central and Eastern Time Zone. It's actually an interesting debate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Indiana
and has remained in my arsenal of random facts since I spent my summers in Indiana and had friends who lived in the state that boasts being home to Dan Quayle.
Point is, I came into Indiana from Illinois, Central time, and I was leaving to Ohio the next day. To make it easy on myself and not start a debate with Indiana folk, I lived in Central Time yesterday, set my clock to Eastern before I went to bed, and lived via EST today.

I left around 7:30am without coffee because my motel didn't have any for me. I figured I would stop about 10 miles out for my morning coffee. Riding 10 miles without coffee is hard. It was probably the hardest 10 miles of my day.

I got to Akron, IN where I had my coffee. The ride was gorgeous - the sun rising over the farms (which made me think this part of Indiana was probably Central Time Zone) and the fog. I didn't take any pictures because I had my eyes on the prize: my coffee in Akron.

After Akron, I headed back on the road. I was tired today. 29 days without a break on the bike is hard. No weekends, no breaks, everyday the same thing - up at 6, coffee, on the road. I'm glad I did it this way because I'm alone and I have no idea what I would do in some random town by myself, but it has definitely taken its toll on my body.

I got to North Manchester, another 20 miles or so, and decided to take another break. I usually take breaks in the am about 30 miles in, so this made sense. I had more coffee. Today felt tiring. I texted a friend: "I don't feel like biking today. There. I said it." People talk to me a lot about how amazing this is, about how they are jealous, about how fun it sounds. It is fun, but it's also really, really hard. I know I've said it before, and I don't mean to over emphasize the hard or downplay the fun, it's got both. Dramatic ups and downs each day, is how I describe it. Literally, points of euphoria and points of deep, seemingly bottomless pits of despair. On a daily basis.

I talked to an amish woman for a minute as she asked about my journey, then got back on the bike. My seat area was hurting again today after almost a week of pretty minimal pain. Not sure why some days are worse than others with that. It was hot today. I rode for a while then pulled into Huntington, IN. I went a little bit out of the way for some sight-seeing. Huntington, IN is the home of Dan Quayle and the Dan Quayle Museum. That's right, Dan Quayle has a museum in his namesake. Apologies to any Dan Quayle groupies out there, but I'm curious as to what the Dan Quayle museum has to offer besides hilarious misquotes and abnormally boyish good looks. The museum was closed, but, for the record, it does exist.

I continued on through the farms of Indiana. I finally started seeing roadside vegetable stands. I love roadside vegetable stands. I also saw, in the middle of nowhere, a bilboard for a Michael Bolton concert. I knew he still had a following.

I got to the intersection of Route 224 and Route 33 in Decatur, IN, where I decided to take a break. In a few miles, I would cross over the Indiana/Ohio line and shortly thereafter, meet up with my parents. The sun was hot. I got a coke and a milkshake.

Back on the road, I took a wrong turn. Route 33 and Route 27 are one in the same, then Route 33 veers off. I accidentally stayed on Route 27, which goes due South through Indiana. Route 33 goes a bit more east heading into Ohio. When I realized my error, I cut over on Route 124 to connect with Route 33. Route 124 was full of Amish people. It was lovely.

I rode Route 33 and hit Ohio. As I left Indiana, I looked back and saw the Welcome to Indiana sign. About 200 meters later, I hit the Welcome to Ohio sign. A few observations: first, there was quite a delay between the signs. I wonder if the 200 meters in between is some safe haven between states. Second, the Indiana sign was far more robust than the Ohio sign. For a state that has a higher income tax rate, I expected a better sign. I wonder if there's someone I can call about that.

I rode on, after the requisite picture of the state sign. Finally, I met up with my parents. They wanted to drive me into Columbus, which I agreed to. They have been very helpful throughout this journey, but also very nervous. Sometimes I think I should tailor more what I tell them - ignorance is bliss, after all.

We drove into Columbus and had dinner. I was exhausted and ate way too much. I decided to stay the weekend before heading to DC. It's 400 miles from Columbus to DC, so four more days.

I can't believe the journey is almost over, and I don't really want to start processing that until it's actually over. I won't blog Saturday and Sunday, since time with my parents is not very entertaining. I expect to hit DC on Thursday, August 20. I also expect to have a cocktail waiting.

"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is." -Dan Quayle

Biking, Day 28: August 13, 2009

2009-08-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

Day 28: Tinley Park, IL to Rochester, IN
Distance: 115 miles
Route: Through Tinley Park to link up with Route 30E. 30 E to route 17 into Culver, IN. Route 117 around Lake Maxinkukee, Route 110 E to Route 31 South to Rochester, IN
Lodging: Rochester Motel, $40, sh*tbox.

I woke up around 6am today and chatted with Melissa for a bit. She showered to head to work, and I made the most of the free breakfast provided by La Quinta. There is nothing I love more than filling three of the excessively small cups with coffee and making my own waffle to start my day with just the right amount of caffeine and sugar. I've always been a coffee person - it's what makes me a morning person. The promise of coffee literally gets me excited when I go to bed at night. Breakfast has never been a big thing for me, but a free make-my-own waffle? Sign me up.

I started riding out of the suburbs of Chicago around 7:30. About 5 miles into my route, the road was closed. The cop let me go through since I was only on a bike. I told him I was biking across the country. I feel like I'm telling everyone now - just mentioning it in passing. you know, no big thang.

I got on Route 30E, which would be the road I would be on for the vast majority of the day. The suburbs of Chicago just kept going and going. It got a little dodgy right before Indiana, bu I really expected to hit cornfields sooner. Tinley Park is not exactly downtown Chicago, either. I know I mentioned it yesterday, but the suburbs of Chicago just go and go and go.

I crossed into Indiana and rode for a bit before taking my morning break about 10 miles before Vallparaiso, IN. I got a message from a friend about some REALLY good job news, so I called her to congratulate her (yay, you know who you are!!!).

I got back on the road and hit strip mall after strip mall after strip mall. Seriously, Route 30E, you are very ugly. I hit Valparaiso, which is practically a suburb of Chicago, and the strip malls continued. Finally, about 50 miles outside Tinley Park, where I started, there started to be some farms.

It was a hot and dry day and the scenery wasn't fantastic. Neither was the road. But I had good podcasts and new music that a friend sent (thanks, you know who you are!!).

I took another break about 15 miles from Culver, IN, a sight-seeing stop and the reason for my route. I talked with a friend who's going through a rough time (you rock, you know who you are!!!).

I got back on the road and got excited to see Culver. I spent 5 summers at Culver Military Academy. Three were spent as a camper in upper camps, two as a counselor. Culver, in many ways, shaped my leadership and what athletics I chose to compete in. The experience had a profound influence on my life and who I am as a person. When i attended the summer program, the military aspect really jived with me. I had started going down the 'wrong path' (which, admittedly, in Rocky River, Ohio really isn't that bad), but Culver really made me reassess how I wanted to live my life.

Needless to say, I have many, many fond memories of Culver, both from my days as a camper and my days as a counselor. Also, it's a gorgeous campus. I fully expect to send my kids there for the summer program.

I pulled into Culver around 3:45PM. It was as beautiful as ever. Campers were, for the most part, gone, so it was a pretty quiet campus. The lake looked great, all the buildings and fields were fantastic. I rode through, took some pictures, walked around a bit, and then decided to head out. I would have loved to have seen the campers marching around, but graduation was last weekend.

Culver doesn't have an abundance of lodging (read: none), so I decided to spend the night in Rochester, IN, about 25 miles southeast of Culver.

I rode around Lake Maxinkukee and then through the cornfields to Rte 31, which led into Rochester (and eventually Indianapolis).

During this time, my phone died. I have no idea how it went through all its juice in 12 hours, but it did. My blackberry was also doing that thing where it deletes texts before you can read them. I hate that. So, my phone shut itself off and I had to go by memory into Rochester as opposed to the googlemaps on my phone. I stopped right before Rochester and got a Big Red pop, which, if you're from Indiana, you know it is totally the bomb. As I was leaving the truck stop, I found $20. Nice.

I had booked myself at the Rochester motel, which got moderately good reviews and was cheap. I got into Rochester, went to a grocery store to get some actual fresh food and then planned to go to my motel. I asked at the kroger where the Rochester Motel was and the girl knew, which was great. The checkout girl also told me that Obama was no longer going to let women induce labor. Thats right - only c-sections and regular births from now on. I have no idea what inspired her to tell me this, but she did. She also let me use her Kroger card to get the sale prices on several items. Really, she was a gem.

I came to my hotel and the parking lot was pretty much empty. I went into the office, which seemed a bit trashed. Still, I figured one night, whatever. I rang the bell and was greeted by a woman who barely spoke english. i asked about internet, she said they had it, and then she couldn't figure out the credit card so she just gave me the key and said her son would come by to charge me later.

I went to my room, and wasn't very impressed. I think they had just re-opened the room or something. Among my list of complaints: not very clean, trash behind furniture, no soap, no towels, pop machine not working, everything in the room unplugged, TV cable not working, no extra toilet paper, internet passcode not given clearly, poor color choices, credit card receipt illegible.

I know, I should have just left. But after riding 115 miles a bed and a shower are really all you can think about. I got a little bitchy with them about some of the issues, even though, as my dad said, for $40, what do you expect? Agreed, but my expectations have always been too high for my own good.

I finally settled into my room after getting a little snarky with the owners.

It was great to see friends the past 2 days. I have been doing this bike thing for the past 4 weeks. I can't believe that I only have 5 more days of biking. That's right. Five more days of biking. I expect to get to DC on Wednesday. From Ohio, where I go tomorrow, it's only 400 miles to DC. Hard to believe.

Oh, and happy birthday, you know who you are!!!

Biking, Day 27: August 12, 2009

2009-08-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

Day 27: Hoffman Estates, IL to Tinley Park, IL
Distance: 30 miles
Route: One that my mother wouldn't approve of
Lodging: La Quinta, $50, Priceline

Today was scheduled to be my quick jaunt from Hoffman Estates, where I visited Shri, to Westmont, IL to visit my friend, Melissa. Shri and I said our goodbyes this morning. Staying with her was lovely. It was great to see a familiar face after being on the road for so long without seeing anyone I knew.

I left Shri's around 9AM to go first to a bicycle store. I had no more bike tubes and my patch kit is out of commission. I got there before it opened, so I went across the street and had a coffee. I met a guy there who asked me about my ride. We ended up talking about cars, like you do. I've been really into Mercedes lately, he has a thing for Corvettes. We lamented the death of manual transmission, particularly with the Mercedes SL class. So it goes.

I went to the bike store and got 2 tubes and a patch kit. I also had them fill my tire to get some pressure. They asked about my trip, we chatted, and I went on my way.

I rode through the suburbs to get to my friend's office - Hanover Park, Addison, Elmhurst. I got to the office and locked up my bike. I threw on some normal shorts over my padded biking shorts and a jacket because Melissa wanted to introduce me to her office.

Melissa works for Recycled Energy Development. RED works in energy development, particularly in developing energy solutions with industrial clients and developing biomass and other alternative energy plants. They do both operations and efficiency improvements and M and A activity.

It was an interesting office - relaxed, but with intensity. I got to meet the CEO, CFO, lobbyist, policy folks and others. Melissa explained the business to me later at dinner.

After the intros, Melissa and I decided to go spend the rest of the day catching up. We got a hotel out in the suburbs since I wanted to start my ride tomorrow from outside Chicago and because her apartment in Chicago is less than visitor-friendly.

We checked into our hotel and then went out for dinner. The suburbs of Chicago are sprawling masses of two lane highways and strip malls. It seems to go on forever. it's like no city I have ever seen. I have no idea how far we are from the actual center of Chicago.

Dinner was lovely. We went to a restaurant called 'Cooper's Hawk', which fancied itself both a restaurant AND a winery. It was actually quite nice. All of the wines are made by the restaurant. I had my first glass (I had half the glass) of wine in weeks. It was a white wine. And yes, a half glass was about all I could handle. Note to potential suitors: I am now a cheap date.

Melissa and I caught up about everything. She is one of those friends who I feel comfortable talking to about life, goals, love, etc - I'm honest with her in a way that is rare, putting my ego and self-consciousness aside. I know she doesn't judge and I know she gives good advice.

We enjoyed dinner and went back to the hotel. I planned my route for tomorrow - I will be going to Culver, IN, where I spend 5 summers of my life at Culver Military Academy. Culver always brings back positive memories and it's a gorgeous campus.

Today was my shortest day. It felt good to rest my legs, but strange. My ridiculous hunger hasn't subsided, which reminds me of a funny story from today. I keep snacks in my panniers. I like keeping lots of snacks. You know, in case I get caught in the middle of nowhere, cant move, and need snacks to survive. Anyway, when I came out from Melissa's office, someone had BROKEN INTO my bike panniers, in particular, the snack compartment. They had rifled through my snacks eating anything they could find. The culprit lacked the civility to open my pannier with the zipper, instead choosing to CHEW through my bag and pull my snacks through the hole that he or she had created. The whole thing was very bizarre, but certainly commonplace for such an unsavoury location as Westmont, IL.

Biking, Day 26: August 11, 2009

2009-08-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

Day 26: Madison, WI to Hoffman Estates, IL
Distance: 110 miles
Route: 14E to Walworth, WI then to a whole bunch of back roads, then back on 14 to Route 61 to encountering the worst riding conditions I've encountered yet to dealing with a flat tire to more back roads to the Candlewood Suites
Lodging: with my friend, Shri, who is interning at Sears and who lives in a hotel (Candlewood Suites), $0, total bargain

I woke up around 6am and had my coffee. I planned my route, which took a while. It was a bit complicated getting out of Madison and I kept getting different routes when I used googlemaps, mapquest, etc. I try not to make the directions too complicated by staying on the same roads, but I also can't go on highways.

I started riding around 8am. I rode down to lake Mendota and rode the bike path past the park where I used to run. I literally used to run where I rode every morning. The little set of woods that I used to run in was, interestingly, also a cruising park. I found that out after I moved. I rode out of town and it was a gorgeous morning.

I finally got to County Road MM which led me to Route 14E. Traffic was limited, which was nice. I took a break at Evansville, WI. I talked to a few people at the gas station who were interested in my ride. The woman who ran the gas station was interested and wanted me to be safe.

I continued riding. I have to be honest, I was rocking out. I mean, we're talking 18-20MPH. I was making great time and feeling really good. I got to Walworth, WI and decided to take another break. I took a break and mapped out my route but decided to take the back roads instead of 14 for the rest of the ride.

I rode through the end of Wisconsin, where I saw some signs talking negatively about 'Obama-care' and then crossed the line into Illinois. I took another break with around 18 miles left. When I got back on the road, people started being jerks (and by jerks, I mean something less delicately worded). People would cruise past me, didn't swerve around me at all, and the traffic was pretty heavy. I hit Route 61 and it was a horrible road. Barely any berm, cars going 55 MPH on the single lane. I felt unsafe for one of the first times this trip. I hate to admit this on here because I know my mother will worry. But, in the Land of Lincoln, I cannot tell a lie (nor in VA).

As I was approaching the turn where I would get off the worst highway ever, I got a flat. I was about 5 miles from my destination. 105 miles down, and I got a flat.

I had to walk my bike almost a mile to find a place where I could change the tube. I pulled off and started doing my handiwork in someone's front yard. And yes, they came out of the driveway while I was fixing my tire. They didn't stop.

I took my bag off my bike, flipped it over and took off the back tire. I quickly found the puncture. It was a huge staple/nail/metal hook hooked into my tire. I had to get tools out to pull it out. It punctured my very high quality Bontrager tire.

I got out my spare tube and threaded it into the tire. This is not an easy process. It took me about 20 minutes to get the tire and tube back on the wheel. It was hot, I was sweating. I started filling the tube and heard a leak. My good spare tube had a hole in it. WTF.

I took the tube and tire back off the wheel and tried to figure out what to do. I texted my friend, Shri and told her I might be screwed. good thing I was close, theoretically, I could take a taxi or something. I decided to try to patch the tube. I got out my patch kit and started the process.

Right when I was about to put on the patch, I realized my glue had dried out. Can't patch a tube without glue. I fell into a pit of despair.

I went out to the road and tried to find a biker or motorcyclist. The man who stopped was on a motorcycle, and he was lovely. He helped me patch my tube with his patch kit and helped me thread the tire back on the wheel (although, two people, when one is even more confused than the other about fixing a bike tire, is not necessarily better than one).

We got the tire on and I thanked him profusely. He mumbled something about how I looked like I knew what I was doing but he needed to help a 'damsel in distress'. For the record, I have never once thought of myself as a damsel. Maybe a lass, never a damsel. I pumped up my tire, put all my gear back on, and hit the road for the final five miles.

I got to my friend's place, The Candlewood Suites, around 6pm. Of course Shri lives in a hotel. She is a bit like a Tenenbaum (her nickname: The Empress). She was already in her pajamas. God bless a 9-5. I got a quasi-hug because of my sweaty-ness.

I showered, did laundry, and gossiped with Shri. It was good to be with a friend. We ordered Indian and watched liberal political shows on MSNBC. It was lovely.

Tomorrow I meet up with my friend, Melissa. I'm excited because I get to meet some of her co-workers at Recycled Energy Development and then catch up with her. it will be a short day from one part of outside Chicago to the other - 30 miles. I don't think I will be venturing into Chicago this trip, especially after seeing how the folks in the suburbs drive. I can't even imagine the inner city drivers.

Biking, Day 25: August 10, 2009

2009-08-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Day 25: La Crosse, WI to Madison, WI
Distance: 125 miles
Route: 14East
Lodging: Concourse Hotel, downtown Madison, $50 via priceline. Awesome hotel.

I woke up at 6am and went to the motel lobby. The owner of the motel, who utilized my services to bike to Walmart to get him a new router, agreed to let me come in and make coffee at 6am as opposed to the 7:30 that he usually comes out to make it. I started making coffee and he came out to chat with me. We talked a bit about owning a motel. He seemed about my age and hadn't owned the motel long. He thinks it's a pretty great business in a nice city - he plans on staying for his entire life. Basically, he bought the motel and got a residential mortgage because there is a house attached and he lives there. He draws a salary and uses revenues to pay the salary and the mortgage. he cleans all the rooms. That's it. He thinks it's such a great deal because the motel will eventually be paid off and then he will sell it or just run the business.

He was a nice guy. He failed somewhat miserably in setting up the internet last night, but he tried his best. Before I left, he was excited to tell me about his moon flowers - they come out at night, then they go away during the day. Interesting.

I started my ride around 7:30am. It was humid. Wisconsin is really quite beautiful. About 5 miles into the ride I hit a huge hill. I mean, it was like a mountain. I thought I was done with mountains. I rode up that mountain and it took forever. I was exhausted. What goes up, must come down. Then, another mountain. WTF. After that mountain, which dropped me in Coon Valley, there weren't any mountains as big as the first two.

I forged on. I was really tired. It was hot and humid and I had ridden really far yesterday. I stopped in Varoqua, WI and had another coffee. When I started again, I felt more motivated. I had also popped three advil.

Wisconsin is really beautiful. It's extremely green, lush, and there are little mountains. I like that there are more cities than in the cities in the mountain region. As the day progressed, it got hotter and hotter. I couldn't wear my sunglasses for a while because they steamed up so much from the sweat and heat. It was brutal.

I stopped again for another break about 45 miles from Madison in Lone Rock, WI. 125 miles is a long day. I've started listening only to podcasts, I don't really even listen to music anymore. I usually download all the daily podcasts from MSNBC: Rachel Maddow, nightly News, Morning news, Hardball and Countdown. once a week I get Meet the Press and some NPR shows like Wait, Wait Don't tell me. Today I got Meet the Press and my NPR shows. It made for a pleasant ride. Drivers must think I'm crazy when they pass and I'm laughing.

which brings me to what I've learned during this ride - to not care at all what people think. I mean, of course I care what people think, but I just randomly start conversations, ask for strange things, am not embarassed that i smell or am sweating profusely, go into wherever to use the bathroom, etc. I ask for what I want without shying away at all.

I got to Madison around 6pm. I checked into my awesome hotel and showered. Then i went out to see the city I lived in when I was 22. i walked over to my old apartment. i remembered the life I lived there. I walked all the way down State street. I got mexican food. I also got some cheese curds. Because I'm in Wisconsin.

I came back and planned tomorrow - Chicago. I stay with Shri tomorrow in Hoffman Estates. It's another long day, but on Wednesday I take a short day to hang out with my friend, melissa, in another part of Chicago 30 miles from Shri.

Biking, Day 24: August 9, 2009

2009-08-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

Day 24: Owatonna, MN to La Crosse, WI
Distance: 130 Miles
Route: 14East, then cut over on County Road 25, to County Road 12, to County Road 11, to County Road 8, to County Road 5, to County Road 6, back onto 14E into La Crosse.
Lodging: Welch Motel, $40, clean

Today I said hello to tailwind and goodbye to Minnesota. Clouds were menacing today and storms were promised throughout the area I was riding.

I got on the road around 7:45 am. After a few wrong turns, I got going and found Route 14. The headphones I got at Walmart solved my iPod issue, which was a step in the right direction to get me out of the Dark Period.

I have to admit, I was rocking out today. Finally, a little tailwind. Not a ton, about 6MPH according to the weather channel, but it felt so drastically different than the headwind. And going fast makes me push harder. I was knocking out 15-20MPH. So I kept going. Right through Rochester without a break. Finally, I rolled through St. Charles, MN, the 'Gateway to Whitewater'. I was going to go through St. Charles until I saw in a distance a coffee shop. Not a gas station, not an A&W Rootbeer stand, but a real coffee shop. It looked like Caribou Coffee. I stopped. I got real coffee. I sat on the faux front porch and I watched as a storm started rolling in.

After about a half hour, I realized that storm wasn't going away. I decided to leave and try to outrun it. I made small talk with an older guy who was polishing his bike (an older bicycle, but VERY shiny) and then hit the road again.

I went on 14E for a while and then I decided to venture off my main route and take some back roads. I'm glad I did. There was nominal traffic on County Routes 25/12/11/8/5 and 6 and I got to see some beautiful parts of Minnesota.

I finally got to La Crescent, MN, the last city in MN and known for their apples. I had an apple. I rested before venturing into La Crosse, the first city in Wisconsin. I have been to La Crosse before, when i lived in Madison for my first job after college. A friend had a friend who went to University of Wisconsin, La Crosse and we came down for a night. I don't remember anything about La Crosse. Probably because it was 8 years ago. Probably because it was dark. Probably because I was intoxicated. I certainly didn't remember that La Crosse is actually quite lovely, on a river. Nor did I remember the statue of the King of Beer. Nor do I remember the Largest Six Pack in the World.

I got to my motel and checked in. Then I was told that the internet didn't work. It was the router - it blew when there was a big storm last night. He said he would run to Walmart to get a new router and set it up. Instead of leaving this to chance, I offered to go to Walmart for him to get the router. He was thrilled. I went to Walmart, got the router, and got my dinner.

I had a great ride today. I'm hoping I'm through the Dark Period. This ride has left me with a lot of time with my thoughts - life, goals, future, love. It reminds me of the last time in my life when I was so solitary - when I lived in Madison, WI.

I moved to Madison for my first job after college with Epic Systems doing Healthcare IT and Consulting. I didn't know a soul in Madison. I started my job September 4, 2001. Exactly one week into my career, September 11 happened and I knew I wanted to move back east. Unfortunately, companies weren't jumping at hiring new college grads in Wisconsin. I spent nine more months in Madison in what was the coldest, most solitary, and most self-reflecting period in my life.

I moved from Madison, but I left one day before I had intended. My uncle died, so I had to rush back to Ohio. I packed up my things in haste, left the day before my last day at work, and didn't say a lot of goodbyes. I haven't been back to Madison since.

Biking, Day 23: August 8, 2009

2009-08-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

Day 23: New Ulm, MN to Owatonna, MN
Distance: 75 miles
Route: 14E
Lodging: Budget Host, $45 plus photos taken with motel-owners

A dear and wise friend told me today that this was the Dark Period. Like in a marathon, that point around 18-20 miles where you've finished more than half, but you can't quite see the finish. This isn't to say that Minnesota isn't lovely - it is - or that I'm not enjoying this anymore - I am - but the last few days have been particularly hard.

First, the weather has been crappy. Not crappy enough to warrant a day off, which I probably should have taken, but uncomfortable. Yesterday, it was periodic driving rain and 15-20MPH head and cross winds. Today, it was a heat advisory and 20MPH head wind with menacing clouds threatening (and eventually delivering) thunderstorms. I fell short both yesterday and today which, for anyone who knows me, is enough to lock the day in the 'crappy' column. Yesterday, I had hoped to make it 100 miles to Mankato. I went 65 to New Ulm (which, having now seen Mankato, was a MUCH better choice). Today, I had hoped to make it the 115 miles to Rochester, MN. When I was faced with thunder and lightening at 4pm in Owatonna with 40 more miles to Rochester and no cities with lodging in between, I chose to stay in Owatonna.

The wind has been particularly frustrating. I specifically flew out to Seattle to bike West to East with the hopes of some solid tailwinds. So far I have had exactly ONE day of tailwinds, the rest have been headwinds, crosswinds (which can sometimes be worse), and no wind. The winds today were so intense that some gusts were so strong that i was convinced I had blown a tire since I came to an abrupt almost-stop. I was barely breaking 10MPH today. It was frustrating.

To add to the dark period today, my iPod Shuffle died. Not only did it die, but it died mid-Maddow. I download Rachel Maddow every day (every week day) and save it for particularly challenging parts of my ride. She makes me laugh, and cringe sometimes, but mostly laugh. When I dug deep to deploy the Maddow today, my shuffle died. Sink deeper into Dark Period.

The other thing that I feel I should mention that has become a bit of an issue, and I know I've mentioned this before, but it's the lack of human contact. I wasn't fully prepared for this to be a challenge. The reality is that I haven't hugged a person in 24 days. It may not sound like a big deal, but I can't think of the last time in my life, if ever, that I haven't had moderately intimate contact with another human being. Hell, I can't remember the last time I haven't had moderately romantic contact (commence eye roll) with another human being for a period of 3 weeks. I can't even fathom solitary confinement.

Thinking ahead, I'm excited about the next two weeks. Things are starting to get familiar. But back to today. I woke up at 630, had my coffee and breakfast and tried to figure out where I wanted to go. I was tired, I sort of wanted to take a break, but the weather was good and I decided to ride. There were storms in the area, but it looked like I could ride until at least late afternoon without much trouble. Optimistically, I could possibly reach Rochester, MN - 115 miles or stop along the way in Mankato, Janesville, Waseca, or Owatonna, each about 15 miles apart.

When I started riding, it was incredibly humid and insanely windy. The wind was pretty miserable. I pushed through and took a break when I got to Mankato, about 30 miles into my ride. I got a drink, talked to my parents about motel options, and made small talk with an adorable boy with a 'Minnesota State Wrestling' t-shirt on who was filling the tires of his trailer with air. My mom made a reservation for me in Owatonna, 45 or so more miles. My mother has been awesome throughout this adventure in being my ever-available conversation partner, constant pressure-er to take a break, and overzealous travel agent.

I forged on. Route 14 around Mankato sucked. It had become more of an interstate and the lane where I ride was littered with rocks, glass, and other tire-threats. I rode past Janesville, where my mom had initially wanted to make a reservation. The wind was rough, but the heat started getting really intense. I pulled into Waseca for another break.

Waseca was a cute town, really gorgeous houses, and the best Kwik Mart I have encountered in my 2000+ miles. Clean bathrooms, fountain pop with the option to add flavors like vanilla, lime and cherry (vanilla, obvi), a bakery with the most beautiful cinnamon roll I have seen in weeks, and fresh fruit. I utilized all of the aforementioned.

I talked to my mom and we determined there wasn't anything between Owatonna, where I had a reservation, and Rochester, my lofty goal. Owatonna felt too short - I actually felt really good, despite the Dark Period and the wind and heat. But it was 3PM and pushing to Rochester felt risky considering the time and the weather report calling for storms. I decided to go and reassess in Owatonna.

I rode on, and felt great. Waseca is beautiful - a big lake, pretty houses, etc. I rode the 15 miles and got to Owatonna. When I got into town, I made the executive decision to stay. It was 3:55PM and I had to call before 4PM to tell the motel owners if I was coming. The owner, a gentleman with a strong Indian accent, gave me a $5 discount because he had never met anyone who was biking across the country. This was going to be fun.

In the distance, I saw a strip mall. Oh, middle America. I saw no strip malls in the west, I saw a mini one yesterday, but this one was worthy of the Virginia suburbs. Loews, Super Walmart, McDonalds, and even a Culver's, a sure sign of the midwest (and a personal favorite). I needed to go to Walmart to get some new headphones, since I was hoping the iPod Shuffle issue was maybe my headphones.

Walmart turned out to be more of an adventure than I had planned. I finally got that protein powder MC had encouraged me to buy (but I couldn't find electrolytes). I got vitamins. I got fresh fruit (strawberries!!) and vegetables to make a salad. There had been a period of several days where I had eaten primarily from convenience stores (read: high carb, sugar, delicious pastries, etc) and i was super excited to have some fresh food.

When I finished up at Walmart, I started riding toward the motel. I got a little lost so I called and re-asked directions. He helped me out.

About ten minutes later, when I arrived at the motel, the owner and his son were waiting outside. They cheered for me when I was pulling in. I'm not joking, they were cheering. He was REALLY excited. I greeted them, he said how amazing this was. He then asked if he could take a picture. Of course. He was a middle aged man, about 5'4", indian, bald, and a little overweight. He was wearing track pants. He then asked his son/relative to take a picture of us. oh! but before he took the picture, he needed to put on his bike helmet. Oh yes, he went inside the motel and emerged wearing a bicycle helmet. He admitted to never riding a bike, but said someone had once left a bike helmet. Clearly a perfect prop for our photo.

I indulged the owner and his son and checked into the motel. He offered to make me breakfast earlier than 6am, but I said 6am was fine. It's like I was an olympic athlete. I enjoyed the special treatment.

I showered, had dinner, and talked on the phone with some friends. I started mapping out the next few days. Tomorrow, I would like to make it to La Crosse, WI, an aggressive 120 miles. Then, Madison, WI (where I lived for a year), Hoffman Estates, Il (to see Shri), Westmont, Il (to see Melissa), Culver, IN (where I spent 5 summers growing up), then into Ohio to see my parents.

I can see an end to the Dark Period.

Biking, Day 22: August 7, 2009

2009-08-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

Day 22: Tracy, MN to New Ulm, MN
Distance: 65 miles
Route: 14East
Lodging: Microtel Inn and Suites, $59, Free breakfast, actually a hotel, not a motel, nice for a change

I have met a lot of interesting people on this trip. One group of people who I've met are railroaders. These are typically guys in their 40s who work on the railroad in a bunch of different capacities - fixing track, being an engineer, conductor, etc. They travel away from their families and stay at the same types of random motels in the middle of nowhere. They are friendly and macho - there's something I appreciate about a man whose hands are rough from hard labor. There aren't many guys like that on the east coast.

I woke up this morning and went to get my coffee and met a few more railroaders. It was rainy out and I was trying to figure out how far I would go and trying to determine whether the weather would cooperate with me. These guys were from South Dakota, staying in Tracy, MN because of their work on the railroad. One was a conductor and I told him to always wave and toot his horn at bikers. They were impressed with my bike ride, though they conceded that they preferred to travel by pickup truck.

I'm going to be honest - today was hell. I wanted to make it to Mankato, MN - about 100 miles - but I failed miserably. There were storms, 20MPH headwind, driving rain. I could barely break 10MPH. I hit each city and thought about staying, then pushed a little farther. First in Lamberton, MN, then in Springfield, then in Sleepy Eye, MN. I wanted to stay in Sleepy Eye solely for the name, but was convinced by a guy to push 15 more miles to New Ulm.

I got to New Ulm and it was cute. There was also a Walgreens. I stopped. It has been like 10 days since I've seen a modern drug store. I got shampoo because, well, I've washed my hair with bar soap for 5 days. That's gross, I know. I also decided it might be time for some leg-shaving. Indeed, I'm moving into more populated areas and it's time to stop being a mountain woman.

I passed the motel I had booked but it looked like it had been the site of several violent and non-violent crimes, so I decided to splurge on the Microtel down the road. I checked in and was exhausted. I took a bath, and was too tired to go out to get dinner. I ate some of my snacks and went to bed at like 9PM. Bed at 9PM on a Friday. Awesome.

My body is breaking down a bit and I may need a day off. Tomorrow I will either stay, go to Mankato, 30 miles away, or continue to push and go to Rochester, 110 miles.

Biking, Day 21: August 6, 2009

2009-08-07T05:19:00.000-07:00

Day 21: De Smet, SD to Tracy, MN
Distance: 100 Miles (vast majority on the bike)
Route: 14East
Lodging: Wilder Inn, $42.89, Cute family-run place with internet and laundry (score!), and an amazing sign that boasts 'New!' and "(very nice)"

Today's a big day. I get to stop in the Sioux River Bicycles and Fitness store in Brookings to have my bike checked out. I haven't stopped at a bike stop in about 1500 miles, since I went to Fitness Fanatics in Spokane. My back tire is almost worn through, so this little visit is definitely necessary. I have heard good things about the Sioux River Bike store since Midland, SD where they advised I go through Pierre without stopping at the Pedal and Paddle store there and wait until I hit Brookings, SD.

I left De Smet, SD around 8-8:30am, which seems to be protocol these days. As I've moved into different time zones, I haven't fully adjusted. I used to start around 6:30am back in the Pacific Time Zone, but now I'm starting around 8:30. Also, weather has been questionable the past few days, which has given me pause before I start.

I immediately hit construction as I left DeSmet. For the first time the entire trip, I was told that I shouldn't ride through. Instead, I tossed my bike in the back of the 'Pilot car' and got a ride the 1.5 miles through construction. The kid who drove me through was super nice - from Brookings, curious about my ride, just a really nice and friendly person.

I got out and continued my ride. I hit a few more spots of construction, but rode through on my own. I hit Arlington, 20 miles out, and had some coffee. 20 more miles and I would hit Brookings.

I got to Brookings around 12:15 and went right to the bike store on Main Street. I entered, introduced myself to the guy behind the counter, Robb and told him I wanted a tune up, a back tire, and anything else necessary. Robb, the owner, stepped up and started checking out my bike.

Robb started telling me about the bike store. He bought the place in 1977. His business, like many small businesses, is struggling. He revamped the store a few years ago and the loan payments are making it hard for him. For the record, the store is beautiful. It's large and has tons of bikes, bike parts, accessories, etc. This was great for me, because I had options on tires, chains, and anything else I wanted, but I was probably a pretty rare case.

I let it slip that I just got my MBA and Robb got out his files and business plan. A relative had been looking through his finances and I agreed to give it a look, too. The problem seems to be inventory and working capital - Robb likes to have the best, newest, most awesome bikes in stock, but the market he's in (Brookings, SD, college town, not many super serious bikers) doesn't really demand it. And worse, the Walmart and Dunham's sports have started cutting into his business. We talked about a couple of ideas and I asked Robb to send me the more detailed files.

The Sioux River Bicycle and Fitness store is a classic case of a small business started by someone who was passionate about something, in Robb's case, biking. Our country used to have tons of small businesses that made enough money to sustain the owners, and employ a few others. Most small businesses aren't looking to make millions and millions of dollars, they're looking to make a living. But with businesses that compete that ARE trying to make millions, their ability to get huge volume discounts, secure low interest loans, and carry more inventory have made it hard for small businesses to achieve their less lofty goals.

Robb's case, and many others, I hope to learn more about and help this fall on the Senate Committee.

Sorry for the rant. Back to the ride. Robb and I had been chatting so much that my bike repairs took longer than expected. There was a storm coming and I wanted to make it at least 30 more miles. Robb finished up with my tire, chain, and getting it tuned up and I got ready to hit the road again. Robb was awesome and gave me a great deal. I hope that things work out for Robb - his new ideas on selling to students, the grant that is supposed to be spent on bike lanes in Brookings, and hopefully a better interest loan.

I rode fast to the next town 30 miles away - Lake Benton, the first little town in Minnesota. Goodbye, South Dakota, it's been a lovely 4 days. I had researched a motel there, but couldn't find it and couldn't get cell service. This is getting to be common. I got a drink at the gas station in town and decided to just go the 9 more miles to Tyler.

I got to Tyler and saw my motel options. I wasn't impressed, but the storm had arrived and it was almost 6pm. While I was getting a coffee at the gas station, a kid I met back in Robb's bike store in Brookings came in. He had an awesome lime racing bike - we had both been checking out each others' bikes. He asked to take a picture of me. I agreed, then asked where he was going. He agreed to take me a few miles down the road to the next town so I didn't have to stay in Tyler.

Hunter, a 20 year old student and the University of SD, was pretty awesome. We talked about biking, graphic design (his major), and business. I appreciated the ride, the weather sucked, and so did Tyler, MN.

I got to my motel - the Wilder Inn in Tracy, MN and Hunter and I said our farewells. I checked into my motel, which was actually quite nice. I did laundry. It was awesome.

I planned my next day, hopefully, I would make it to Mankato, MN, depending on weather.

Biking, Day 20: August 5, 2009

2009-08-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

Day 20: Highmore, SD to De Smet, SD
Distance: 100 miles
Route: 14East
Lodging: Cottage Inn, $40, lovely motel

Laura Ingalls Wilder. She wrote about her adult life living in De Smet, SD in the Little House on the Prairie books. I was never a big reader of these books, but De Smet present day is just lovely.. There is an adorable downtown area, gorgeous fields, and a ridiculous amount of references to Laura Ingalls Wilder and tours including any part of the town that may have been touched by her. According to my motel owner, 60,000 people pass though De Smet in the summer to tour all of the Little House on the Prairie memorabilia. Tourism is amazing.

I woke up this morning in Highmore, SD. I was tired. I got some coffee and breakfast and bummed around my motel room for a bit. I watched the news, and watched the story of the two news women who were held in North Korea and then rescued by President Clinton. I can't imagine something like that - the fear, uncertainty, being without my family. A similar story, about the three hikers that accidentally crossed the Iranian border, is a reminder that our government really isn't so bad.

I hit the road around 8:30am. The wind was a headwind again, which was making the ride slower than I wanted. I decided to take a lot of breaks during the day to make it easier. My first stop was Miller. I got coffee and remembered it was Beth's birthday (her last name is Miller). I forged on. It was getting hot, but the South Dakota scenery was gorgeous. A lot of people don't like farms and flat lands, but I do. South Dakota has a lot of corn and soybeans.

Next, I stopped in Wessington. I love these small towns. I remember one sign: "Friendly town with room to grow". I got a drink and a snack in Wessington. The other thing that I love about these towns is that I don't lock my bike every time. Sometimes I lock my bike up, but when I feel safe, I just leave it. People leave their cars running when they go into convenience stores (C-Stores, in SD terminology).

Next, I went into Huron, SD, which was probably the biggest city I have hit in SD since Rapid City. I thought about stopping for the day. But, to be honest, Huron wasn't that great. Maybe I just hit the outside part and not the charming center city, but Huron, known for having the largest Pheasant, was not as alluring as I had hoped. I decided to push on 30 more miles to De Smet, of Little House on the Prairie fame.

I hit about 10 miles to De Smet and I was officially on the Laura Ingalls Wilder historic highway. The scenery around De Smet was beautiful. Finally, I pulled into De Smet. I went down into town to get some dinner before I checked into my motel - the Cottage Inn. I knew I was too tired to go out after I had checked in.

I got dinner and checked in to the Cottage inn, which advertises on its road sign - "Service with Style and a Smile" and welcomed Laura fans. I talked with the woman for a while. She told me about all of the places to see in SD - Watertown, the Laura Ingalls Wilder tour, and that SD has more natural lakes than any other state. We talked about the midwest, and she said she could tell I wasn't from the east coast because i actually talked to her. She gave me a room that she gives to her friend when her friend arrives, and only charged me $40, not the $50 her husband had quoted me on the phone. Pays to be nice, literally. She was wonderful.

I went to my room and planned the next day - weather could be an issue. I plan to stop in Brookings at the bike store there because I'm almost worn through my back tire, then I can go to Lake Benton, the first city in MN, Tyler, or Tracy, MN depending on the weather.

Biking, Day 19: August 4, 2009

2009-08-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

Day 19: Midland, SD to Highmore, SD
Distance: 112 miles
Route: 14E
Lodging: Prairie View Motel, $36

There is something that just doesn't get old - having a train conductor wave at you, waving back, and having him toot the horn. There's a sense of friendliness on the road in the West, and so far, the Midwest that reminds me that people are good intentioned and friendly. Truckers wave, motorcycle riders throw peace signs, people are just friendly. I forget that on the east coast a lot - people are not as friendly, and I think I've become that way. Taking an extra minute to wave, or to stop, or to engage someone is worth it.

I started today in Midland. My ride was long - 110-115 miles and I was losing an hour due to the time change. There wasn't much between Midland and the next big city - Pierre, the state capitol. And by not much, I mean nothing. Not a convenient store. Not a restaurant. Not a bathroom. 62 miles. Nothing.

The wind was in my face today. About 8-10MPH winds. They were slowing me down, which was annoying because I had so far to go. About 30 miles in, I hit construction. The road would be fine, then the pavement would go. All in all, it took me almost six hours to make it the 62 miles to Pierre. That's too long.

I got to Pierre and wasn't that impressed. The city had some pretty elements - the river, bridge, capitol building, etc, but also some not-so-pretty elements, like the rude people honking at me. I got a drink at a gas station and got into a conversation with the woman who worked there. Her husband's name is Corbin!!!

I forged on. The wind was less intense the rest of the ride. I hit Blunt, SD and took another break, then kept going.

Finally, I made it to Highmore. Highmore consists of two motels, two gas stations, and two convenience stores. God bless competition. Oh yes, and a Frosty Freez, where it was overpriced (no competition) and where I got my dinner. I have been desperate for a vegetable, any vegetable, so I ordered a taco salad, without meat. The pimple-faced boy laughed at me, but said he could make it without meat. He still charged me the $5.75 for what ended up being a bowl of shredded lettuce and a few tomatoes. Oh well. I also got tator tots and a blizzard. There, I said it.

As an aside, I haven't had a sip of alcohol in almost 4 weeks. That's a long time. I'm starting to miss people - like, human touch. sure, I meet lots of people, but it's surface conversations. My body is also hurting. Not horribly, but just tired. I can't seem to eat enough. I'm not losing a ton of weight or anything, I'm just having a hard time keeping fueled up. I should take a day off, but I keep thinking I will run into bad weather and then be forced to take a day off. It's hard to take a day off when it's gorgeous out.

Tomorrow the weather looks touch and go, so i will decide in the AM how far I want to go.

Biking, Day 18: August 3, 2009

2009-08-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

Day 18: Wasta, SD to Midland, SD
Distance: 75 miles
Route: I-90E, exit at WALL DRUG, spend 2.5 hours being completely smitten and in awe at the kitch for sale while being fueled by 5 cent coffee, I-90E to Route 14E to Midland, SD
Lodging: Stroppel Inn, Midland, SD, $26, shared bathroom, use of 'spa' which was an interesting mineral bath thing. Basically, the Inn was a house, the owners were super nice.

I started the day by leaving the super crappy motel I was in in Wasta and hopping on I-90 for the 13 mile ride to Wall Drug. I was really excited to go to Wall Drug. I know this makes me a gullible fool affected by overzealous advertising. This may be true. However, additionally, Wall Drug has always been a mystery to me. My running coach in college, Mark Young, had a bumper sticker on his car that said 'Wall Drug'. Everyone on the team was always wondering WTF Wall Drug was, including me. So there's that. Plus, Wall Drug literally advertises hundreds of miles out. It preys entirely on tourists, but it has somehow worked. I mean, it's a fantastic case in Marketing. This tourist trap and roadside store managed to survive through the great depression.
The story is actually an interesting one. The founder started a drug store in Wall,SD, which was a small town. Business was slow. Finally, his wife suggested they offer 'free ice water'. They put up signs, and people traveling through the hot prairie stopped for the water.

So, I rode on I-90 and got off at Wall, SD. Wall Drug was hilarious. It looked and felt like Disney World – fake people, overpriced souveniers, photo booths, dinosaurs, and lots of kitch. I loved it. First, I wanted to score myself a cup of the 5 cent coffee that Wall Drug had been advertising on the highway. Scratch that, 6 cups. Lovely.

I basically just walked around Wall Drug trying to find gifts for friends and just taking it all in. I was inspired to buy spurs for my cowboy boots, a button down shirt with snaps, a big belt buckle, and stickers from different states. I did not buy any of it, though. I did buy a few things, which shall remain nameless.

I spent 2.5 hours at Wall Drug. I'm not sure exactly what I did. I drank a lot of coffee, I talked to a lot of bikers, I took a few pictures. I was awe-struck. There, I said it.

I decided to go to Midland, SD, a total of 75 miles instead of pushing it to Pierre, SD, which would have been 136. My time at Wall Drug would have made Pierre really hard to pull off. Plus, it was hot.

I took off and rode quickly on I-90 and then on 14E. I will be riding on Route 14 until I hit Madison,WI. It's a nice road – single lane, decent brim, minimal traffic.

I passed through some small towns, but there wasn't really much going on. Cottonwood, with a population of 12, for example. Finally, I hit Midland. Also quite small. I followed my directions to my motel – the Stroppel Inn and Spa.

The Stroppel Inn and Spa looks like a house. There are a few rooms and two spa baths. They have constant hot running water in an enclosed room. I have never been to a spa like this. I went in the spa, but It's like a big cement pit filled with really hot water. There's nothing like this on the east coast. I'm unclear of whether it is sanitary. I seem fine so far.

My room was like a room at my grandma's house. I used a bathroom in the hall. I had a TV. I had internet. I paid $26.

I planned my next day – I would ride through Pierre, the state capitol, to Highmore, SD.

Biking, Day 17: August 2, 2009

2009-08-03T16:59:00.000-07:00

Day 17: Newcastle, WY to Wasta, SD
Distance: 130 miles
Route: 16East to I-90E to Old highway 1416 to the dead end of Old highway 1416 3 miles before Wasta to I-90 to exit 98 - Wasta, SD
Lodging: Red Motel, $98 total rip-off, preying on the bike rally

I woke up today knowing I had a long ride in front of me. The bike rally made it impossible to get lodging in any of the bigger cities - Rapid City, even New Underwood. So, I was booked at a total crappy motel in Wasta, SD for probably about three times what they normally charge.

I headed out on Route 16 out of Newcastle. It was a beautiful morning. The ride was slow for some reason. I knew my first big stop would be Custer, SD, about 40 miles. I just wasn't feeling very fast. I hit a lot of hills, too. I thought SD was going to be flat, but alas, I hit the Black Hills and it was, well, hilly. One of the first big hills I hit was too steep for my bike to climb, so I walked. I went in and out of the valleys of the Black Hills. A lot of bikers passed me, which made sense since they had totally taken over the region.

I finally came out of the Black Hills and hit a long downhill into Custer. Custer was filled with bikers from the Sturgis Bike Rally. I got a coffee and rested for a bit.

When I started up again, I saw that I had 20 miles to Rushmore and 40 miles to Rapid City. Riding out of Custer was all up-hill until I hit Crazy Horse. I decided not to go check out Crazy Horse since my ride was so long for the day. I forged on.

I got to the intersection for Rushmore and started the hilly ride to the monument. On the way, I was passed by *tons* of bikers. Like, a ton. A lot. So loud. After about 8 miles I pulled off where I saw about 100 motorcycle riders pulled off. You could see part of the monument. I took a picture of the monument, and the riders. They were taking pictures of me. hmph.

Finally, I got to the front of Rushmore. It's amazing. I almost didnt come to see it, but I'm so glad I did. It's truly magnificent. I took a few pictures and headed out.

When I got to the bottom of the hill I was greeted by Keystone, SD. keystone is basically a city that survives on tourism brought in by Rushmore. There are fake 'western' little cities, lots of bars, fudge shops, etc. It is the epitome of a tourist trap. It's actually a little like the fake cities at Disney World. And today, it was filled with bikers, which isn't very Disney-like.

They were drinking, hanging out, and then getting on their motorcycles to ride in the 20 MPH cross winds next to me on the highway. Awesome!

I rode out of Keystone up a huge hill on 16A and connected with 16. The cross winds were pretty intense, but I was thankful they weren't headwinds. 20 miles in, I hit Rapid City.

I got a drink at Rapid City and sat outside. A woman came up and started asking me about my ride. She told me how awesome I was and asked me my name so she could watch for me on the news. Ha. she also offered to let me stay at her house, which was very nice. The people who I have met in the Western US have been super nice. I thanked her, but said I had a motel in Wasta.

I got back on 16 and my directions told me I had to get on I-90 briefly to switch off to old highway 1416, which would take me into Wasta. The ride on I-90 was more like 8 miles. An unpleasant 8 miles. Lots of motorcycles whizzing past (probably just a post-beer cruise), trucks, etc. I hit the exit and got on Old Highway 1416 which *was* the highway before the advent of interstates. It was a decent road, rolling hills, through farm country.

It was *hot*. I couldn't drink enough water. After about 20 miles I hit New Underwood. I stopped for a cold beverage. I sat outside and made small talk with the motorcycle riders. one was bitching about how hard it was to ride with headwind and cross wind. i demasculinized him by suggesting that maybe it was harder to pedal through the wind and actually use your muscles. he concurred.

I checked and saw I had about 20 more miles to go. It was about 530. I started riding. I rode down Old highway 1416 and was making good time. With about 5 miles left, I hit an intersection and there was a sign that said 'no outlet'. I rechecked my directions and they said I was supposed to take Old highway 1416 the entire way, so i continued.

The road was starting to get more rough - like almost gravel. About 2 miles in, 3 from the motel according to the directions, a motorcycle came up beside me. I took off my headphones and stopped. The guy told me that the road ended in about a mile. I told him where I wanted to go and he said I had to get on I-90. I was pissed. I thought I was almost done! The mental affects of setbacks like this are hard to describe. After a long day, I just want to get there. To make things worse, it was another 9 miles when I hit 90 because the Old Highway route that googlemaps had given me was more direct.

i backtracked to the intersection that warned me of the 'no outlet'. I turned toward I-90 and got on the highway.

I rode the 9 miles, which really weren't that bad because it was mostly downhill. Finally, I got to Wasta. I pulled off the highway and saw my super crappy motel. I decided to get some food before I checked in because I knew I would collapse upon entering my room.

I went to the only restaurant - Dixie something - and tried to order something. He informed me that they were *out of food*. Like, they sell food, but they RAN OUT. Who runs out of food? And it's not like this place was selling organic produce that goes bad. it was frozen stuff - chicken patties, burgers, etc. I pressed him on the 'running out of food' thing. He scrounged up 5 cheese sticks for me. Fine, that will do.

I took my five cheese sticks and checked into my super crappy motel. Outside was a couple, probably in their 60s, driving from Carmel, CA to VT. They refused to pay the rate the woman was charging. It was completely criminal what she was charging for her rooms, but as a newly-minted MBA I understand her opportunism. She has one week a year to completely rip people off and probably pay most of the year's mortgage. Wasta is totally off the beaten path, twelve miles from Wall, 38 to Rapid City. It had one restaurant which was known for its inability to property order food quantities and a gas station. I understood her blatant abuse of the bike rally.

I talked to the couple for a while - they were really into biking, their son works for Trek. Then I went to my motel room, showered, and got ready for bed and to wake up and go to Wall Drug. I have been seeing signs for Wall Drug for days now. And my running coach in college, Mark Young, had a Wall Drug sticker on his car. Clearly, I was excited. Plus, with 5 cent coffee, it was bound to be a good time.

Biking, Day 16: August 1, 2009

2009-08-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

Day 16: Gillette, WY to Newcastle, WY
Distance: 77 miles
Route: 14/16E
Lodging: Roadside Motel, $36, and actually not too bad

I woke up around 730 or so and wasn't sure where I would head. I initially wanted to go to Custer, but everything was sold out there because of the Sturgis Bike Rally. I found a cheap motel in Newcastle and decided to book that.

The wind was behind me today and the ride was pretty uneventful. I rode at like 20-25MPH most of the time and got to my hotel around 230 after taking several breaks. It was a good ride - the road was right along I-90, and there were plenty of signs telling me how far I had to go and where I was going.

I stopped in Moorcroft for a coffee and snack and met a few bikers. They are starting to be everywhere now. Every city has signs that say 'Bikers Welcome',typically sponsored by a beer. The Sturgis Bike Rally starts on Monday in Sturgis and I'm not entirely sure what it entails, but bikers from across the country come. There are a lot of sponsors and vendors. I'm not sure if there's an actual rally.
Here's what the Sturgis Bike Rally means for me: for the past 4+ days there has been an exponential increase in the amount of motorcycles on the road. As I move into SD, hotels have become scarce and extremely expensive. I mentioned to one biker that they were making it hard for me to get hotels and he said oh yeah, if you didn't book anything yet, you're screwed. That has tended to be the mentality. People book a year in advance. And, call me lucky, but this is the 69th year of the rally. I got pretty lucky with my motel in Newcastle, considering all that I've learned about the rally. Sturgis is north of Newcastle, more near the top of the Black Hills. But the riders clear out hotels west, east, north, and south of the rally.

I will say that motorcycle riders are a friendly bunch and they always ask me 'how many miles you do a day?' When I say 100 they act impressed, which I like. They usually wave or throw a peace sign at me when they pass, as if I'm a brethren, two wheels and all. En masse, the engines are loud and jarring, but I enjoy chatting with them at gas stations. As I've gotten closer to the rally, there have been more interesting characters and costumes.

Newcastle is a cute little town. Small, not much to it. There's a refinery. There are two competing grocery stores next to one another. There's a coffee shop. A few motels. I primarily prepped for the next day, made use of the *free* wifi, as advertised on the white board outside the Roadside Motel (creativity not their strong suit).

Tomorrow I go through Custer, Rushmore, Rapid City, and end in Wasta, which was the only place I could get a motel.

Biking, Day 15: July 31, 2009

2009-08-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Day 15: Sheridan, WY to Gillette, WY
Distance: 110 miles
Route: 14E, which is 30 miles more than taking 90E and has no discernible hotels/motelss along the way
Lodging: Motel 6, Gillette, WY, $69

I woke up today and it was cloudy out. I looked at the weather and it looked like rain and very heavy winds, but that it would come later on in the day where I was biking to and the wind looked like it would be coming to my side, sometimes behind me, but at least not headwind. I had really bad cramps when I woke up, but decided to forge on to Gillette. I knew there wasn't much on route 14E to Gillette, except a town or two where I could hopefully stop if the weather got bad.

I got a few things from my 'free' breakfast and hit the road. It was sunny, but cool out. I rode right through the center of Sheridan. Sheridan is actually totally cute. Center of town has cute little restauurants, and lots of western themed places to buy clothing and have a beer. As I routed out of town, I stopped by Walmart to get some lady-products and to try to get some mace to appease my mother. Walmart had an abundance of lady-products, but nothing to keep said lady safe (except guns and large knives).

I rode on and started down 14E. There were clouds around me and the wind was kicking up, but it looked like I was biking away from the storm. Also, the wind seemed to be helping me a bit, which was nice. The wind was fierce, though, and I had to be careful that it didnt knock me over. It was 30 miles to the first city on the map and I figured I would stop there.

As I hit that 'city' of Ucross, there was nothing. Like, nothing. Sometimes I don't understand why they tell you the mileage to some location 50 miles out and then you get there and there's nothing. It's such a tease.

I started riding to the next 'city', which my mother researched and promised had something – even, gasp, a motel. It was ten miles away according to the road signage. About 2 miles in, the wind started really stepping up. I almost got blown into the road ditch. About 3 miles in, it started raining. The wind was so intense it was raining sideways onto me. It was pretty crappy. And cold. The only thing good was the fact that I was listening to Rachel Maddow on my Ipod.

I kept going and looking for some sort of shelter. My speed was slow, I was incredibly uncomfortable. There weren't even trees to take shelter under.

It took me about 30 minutes to do the 5 miles to the next town. The library was closed. The post office was closed. The gas station that advertised ten miles out as a 'travel center', was open. It was a small mini mart and one gas pump.
I went in and got coffee and waited. I had no cell service, but I did have intense cramps. The weather was up and down. I wanted to stay in thhe city, but the rumor of a motel was a farce. There was nothing. And apparently nothing until my initial destination, so I had to be careful about whether I wanted to forge on. I could probably ask someone for a ride, but there weren't any people I trusted coming in.
I called my mom on the gas station phone and we discussed options. She looked up motels, there weren't any. She looked up weather. It looked promising, but weather in WY, MT, etc is constantly changing.

Finally, after about an hour and a half at the gas station, I decided to go for it. I didn't have many options.

The ride wasn't horrible. The wind was intense, but it wasn't headwind. The crosswinds were a little hard to manage, but otherwise, it wasn't bad. I actually was moving very quickly. I went through Leiter, which was another 'town' that didn't have anything. Then, 30 miles into it, I hit Spotted Horse.

Spotted Horse, WY has a populatinon of 2, as indicated on the sign when you enter the town. The town consists of a bar. Apparently the bar opens and closes randomly. It was open. Sitting outside were two guys with bikes. I went over and talked to them. They were also biking across the country! Starting in Cincinnati, they were ending in Seattle. They were camping along the way and looked very crunchy – dreads, lots of facial hair, etc. But they were cute – and brothers! I stopped and talked with them, then the bartender came out and said 'another crazy person!'. I ordered a diet coke and called my parents from the bar phone to alleviate their concerns about me.
I hung out there for a bit. A few motorcycle riders came through, too. They were going to the Sturgis Bike Rally – one of the biggest bike rallies in the country, located in Sturgis, SD and starting August 2. I just started feeling the effects of this rally – jacked up motel prices, sold out hotels, bikers passing me on the road non-stop. Figured that they were totally on my timeline.

Finally, after hanging out enough I rode off. My biker friends stayed – they had the wind as headwind and were frustrated by it. The one wanted to hitch hike, the other refused to 'cheat'. So they continued to sit at the Best. Bar. Ever. Seriously, the Standard in Spotted Horse, WY is awesome. It has everything. From really crass signs, make your own nachos (you push the button and the cheez comes out), to fried food, to cheap drinks, to pool. Amazing.

I made great time riding the 38 miles to Gillette. The wind was in my favor. I did the 38 miles in a little over 2 hours.

I checked into my motel 6 and ordered chinese food. I was tired. Exhausted. I tried to map out my ride for the next day, which was difficult with horrible internet and the Sturgis Bike Rally in my way.

Biking, Day 14: July 30, 2009

2009-07-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

Day 14: Greybull, WY to Sheridan, WY
Distance: 97 miles
Route: Route 14E through the Big Horn Mountains
Lodging: Sundown Motel, $55

Today I started my ride around 8am. I had to schedule around a phone call I had at 10am about my fall externship. I knew I wouldn't have service in the mountains, so I found the last place to stop before hitting the Big Horns and decided to take the call there. The last stop was Dirty Annie's, 17 miles from my hotel in Greybull.
I got to Dirty Annie's at 9:15am and realized I had no cell service, go figure. I decided to kill some time by having a good, healthy breakfast. Also, I hadn't had coffee yet. Again, criminal.

I had coffee, a waffle, and a cinnamon roll (or frosting of a cinnamon roll - we all have our weaknesses). After I ordered, I realized I could have had some protein - something I'm having a hard time getting enough of on this ride. I instinctively order things that I can drench in syrup, which I should alter for the sake of my health. Anyway.

Around 9:50 I went outside to try to figure out how I was going to negotiate this call. Phone was still a no-go (and they were supposed to call me), so i called them on a pay phone and gave them that number to call me. Ten minutes later I realized the phone doesn't take incoming calls. I called them back and just sat on hold until they were ready for me.
I finished the call, tried to get mace inside Dirty Annie's to appease my mother, got some advil for what had been promised to me as a very difficult ride, and got scared even more by a girl who worked there and called me crazy.

I started the ride a little before 11am. I passed the sign that gave mileage to the peak (or close to): 31 miles and to my destination, Sheridan: 81 miles. About 3 miles in, the climb began. It was somewhat gradual, but steep enough that I had my bike on its lowest gear. I was pushing hard and barely surpassing 4-5MPH. I got into a rhythm and just pushed.
The switchbacks were intense. There was no letting up. There were maybe 2 flat periods the entire climb. I was sweating, drenched, but I just focused on getting up the mountain. I didn't want to stop, but my tire lost a lot of air, so I stopped once to fill it.
Finally, I turned a corner and saw an elevation sign. Typically that means you're at the top. Granite Pass - 9033 Ft. I started around 3000FT. Brutal. It was like 2 or 2:30. Three to 3.5 hours of uphill biking.
It was there that I realized it was FREEZING. Once i had stopped, my sweaty shirt felt really cold. I put on my jacket and started biking again. it was all downhill. I was kicking ass. But it was freezing and soon I couldn't feel my hands or my feet.

I stopped at a lake to have a snack, then kept going. THEN, there was construction on the road. I felt like this wasn't really fair. I worked SO HARD getting up and now i couldn't cruise the down part. Doesn't that seem unfair? I was pissed. The pavement would go out, I would ride, then hear a large vehicle behind me, unclip, and pull over. It was annoying. Finally, I hit the bottom. I was in Dayton, WY

I had a drink at a gas station and called my parents. I tried to decide if I could make it the 20 more miles to Sheridan. I felt emboldened by my diet coke rush, so I decided to go for it. I made a quick reservation at the cheapest motel i could find and took off.

I rode on route 14E and then it turned into I-90. I rode on I-90 for 12 miles. I guess people ride their bikes on the interstate out here, but I hate it. I did it, but I hate it. There's something unsettling about having a huge truck wiz past you.

Finally, I got to Sheridan. I pulled into my awesome motel and talked to the owner. He gave me some advice - like to check out Devil's Tower (may not logistically work). He asked me how old I was, I made him guess, he guessed 22-23. He is my new best friend.

I ordered a sandwich from Dominos (shockingly good toasted sandwiches). I may or may not have also ordered Cinna-sticks - a fantastic use of pizza dough, covered in cinnamon and sugar and served with a tub of icing.

Tomorrow, I go to Gillette via 14E, which takes you 30 miles out of the way in comparison to I-90. Again, seems unfair.

Biking, Day 13: 7/29/2009

2009-07-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

Day 13: Wapiti, WY to Greybull, WY
Distance: 75 miles
Route: Rte 14/16/20E to Cody, WY continue Rte 14E to Greybull, WY
Lodging: The Antler Motel, the 'Rustic Cabin', $40, bathroom outside my adorable cabin

I woke up today in Wapiti and it was cold and rainy. I decided to ride to Cody and see if the weather got any better. The ride to Cody was about 25 miles. It took a long time. There was significant headwind and I only survived because the ride is somewhat downhill.
I got to Cody and started looking for a place for coffee (I had had a mere dixie cup worth before I left). I saw the Sierra Trading Post, which was recommended by Bex, so I decided to stop and warm up, get some gloves, and extra socks. Seriously, it was really, really cold. I bought the needed stuff and then got back on the bike and headed into the town of Cody.
Cody is really adorable. There's lots of Buffalo Bill stuff, including the museum which was highly recommended to me by MC. I did not go to the museum. My need for coffee surpassed any desire to educate the self.
I went to an adorable coffee shop, called Rawhide Coffee, to figure out my next move. I got coffee (very good coffee) and sat on an awesome leather couch whilst using the free wifi. The weather looked like it was going to warm up a bit , stay windy, and then the rain would come around 4PM. I made the executive decision to forge on to Greybull - 53 miles away.
The ride actually went really quickly. I had my fastest pace so far. The wind was bad, but it was primarily sidewind, which meant that I just had to be careful going downhill too quickly.
When I got to Greybull, I went to the hotel that I had a reservation at and there was a sign on the office door that said "I'm not around, but I will be back in a while. Give me a call if you want a room or something. 307-xxx-xxxx. - Tom" I decided to go across the street to the better looking motel, the Antler motel. I got a little cabin there for $40. It was actually quite cute. The only negative was that the bathroom was across the parking lot. I figured it wouldn't be so bad.
I showered, biked into town to see what it was like (Western, sparsely populated, quiet). I went to the bank. I got some groceries. I came back to my mini-cabin and started planning my next day. I had initially planned to take 16, cut through Basin and Hyattville, then go through the Big horn Mountains and stay in Buffalo. 116 miles. I had to arrange it around a call for my fall externship which was scheduled for 10am. I did some updating to facebook/blog and went to bed.
In the middle of the night, I got up. I don't know why. I tried to find any info on the two different roads that go through the Big Horn Mountains - 14 and 16. Everyone who blogged about it said they were both killer passes. I decided maybe doing 116 was aggressive, especially with my 10am call. I decided to do Route 14, ending in Sheridan, 96 miles.

Biking, Day 12: 7/28/2009

2009-07-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Day 12: Gardiner, MT to Wapiti, WY
Distance: 113 miles
Route: Through Yellowstone - down to Norris, then Canyon Village, then Fisherman Village, then out the East Entrance onto 14/16/20 East
Lodging: Green Creek Inn and RV Park, $90, good clean lodging, a little over priced, owner super nice

I started the day around 6:30am WITHOUT coffee. My crappy motel, the Westernaire, doesn't even have coffee for their guests. Personally, I think this is criminal. I headed into the little town of Gardiner, hoping to get some coffee before I hit the park, but nothing was open. With no other option, I headed into I headed into Yellowstone. I used the pass that I got with the Jenni's the day before. Here's the deal with passes into Yellowstone: $25 for a car, good for one week, but you can't exit the park. $12 for bikes. So, I said they were still in the park and I had just left to get my bike. The woman was confused, but I talked my way out of it. Saving $12 = a good thing. I mean, I get charging cars (although, I think $25 is a bit high), but bikes?
My goal was to get to Mammoth Springs - about 6 miles - sans coffee, have my coffee there, then proceed. The ride to Mammoth was HARD. not only was it super cold, being 730am and all, but it was all uphill. I increased my altitude about 1500 Feet. It took almost an hour to get to Mammoth. I was rewarded with overpriced, very poor coffee. I sat for about 30 minutes, removed my layers and started riding again.
The ride was gorgeous. I went south from Mammoth Falls to Norris, where I had gone the day before with the jenni's. The first part was super hard - huge inclines. I had to stop a few times to get my seat position right. From Norris I went East to Canyon City, then to Fisherman Village. At Fisherman Village, I took a break, got a water and a snack. When I was sitting there, a guy started talking to me. He was from Buffalo, WY, east of the park, so I asked him advice on routes (since I'm heading east). He's also a biker (more of a weekend warrior) and advised going to Greybull, then heading to Buffalo via route 16. At Greybull, the route I was going to take - 14/16/20 - splits. 14 goes north to Sheridan and 16 goes south. He gave me some advice on roads off 16. I appreciated his advice. As I was leaving, he came over, gave me his card and said if i did end up in Buffalo, I should give him a call to 'grab a beer or something'.
I continued on. The next 27 miles out of the park were gorgeous, but hilly. I went to a top altitude of 8500 feet.
The last 5 miles were all downhill. I stopped at the first place after the exit for a drink. There, another guy started talking to me. he also advised me to go to Greybull. he said if I went north to Sheridan, do NOT go through Lovell because there's a huge hill/mountain I would have to summit. Good advice to have. He was not a biker, just a local. he also said that the badlands were TOTALLY worth going through, as is Wall Drug.

I continued on. The last 25-30 miles to Wapiti were hell. It should have been an easy ride, but the headwind was intense. I could barely keep my bike upright. I thought the whole point of going West to East was the wind! I don't understand why the wind keeps being so bothersome.
Finally, I rolled up to my motel - the Green Creek Inn and RV Park. it was much nicer than I expected! (but not worth the $90). I got in between 6PM and 7pm. A long day, but I had covered 115 miles or so of pretty mountainous terrain.
The owner of the motel/RV park was pretty cool. When I asked where to get food, he offered to make me a pizza. I accepted. I did laundry. In a real washer and dryer. I updated the blog, found my route, and wrote to MC (but the email bounced back! not sure how to remedy that).

Tomorrow, I head to Greybull.

Biking, Day 11: 7/27/2009

2009-07-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

Day 11: Pray, MT to Gardiner, MT
Distance: 35 miles (via subaru)
Route: 89 South the entire way
Lodging: Westernaire Motel, $90/night, total rip off

Today I woke up,looked out thewindow, and was sort of excited it was raining. I had done 10 days straight, 900 miles or more (plus a lot of mountain climbing whilst pushing a bike) and was ready for a rest day. It's hard for me to take a rest day, but my body really needed it. I was having a hard time walking, was just exhausted. 100 miles a day is a lot, for anyone. I went downstairs, got coffee, and told them I wanted the room for another night. Well, the lady informed me, there were no rooms available. Bullocks. I asked the possibility of a cancellation and she told me the policy – 48 hours advance. Hmm. She suggested I hang out until 11am or so to see if there were cancellations.
I went to my room to map out routes. I came downstairs about every hour to check on cancellations (I went down at 7am the first time). At ten, I decided it was time to face reality and get moving. I could go to Gardiner, MT, 35 miles down the road at the entrance to Yellowstone. I looked for places to stay there and, with mother's help, found an over-priced motel. I packed up, went downstairs, and started getting on my bike gear.
As I was getting ready to get on and ride, a mid to late-30s, athletic-looking woman came over and asked how my ride was going so far. I said good, that I was making good progress, but that I really had wanted to take today off, but the hotel was sold out. She said that she had also wanted to stay another night and was told the same thing – that the hotel was sold out. She mentioned that she used to ride bikes professionally, and now coached. She had lots of friends who toured, but had never done any touring herself. As we talked, she then offered to take me down the road to the next town. I accepted.
We loaded up MC (Mary Catherine)'s, Subaru, threw the bike on top, got some snacks for her two girls, Ruby (age 5) and Ellie (age 7) and started down the road.
MC was super cool – grew up in Missoula, went to college in Colorado, traveled the world leading expeditions, teaching ESL to Japanese, etc. She married Tom, who she had known much of her life, and who is a fly fisherman and owns his own outfitter. He was out fly fishing, which is why he wasn't with them for the day and why the golden seat in the Subaru was available for me. MC had done a variety of jobs from leading expeditions, to teaching, to now coaching biking, being a trainer, and being a life coach. She mentioned that 100 miles a day was pretty far. I concurred.
When we got down to the next town, MC offered to let me hang out with them and to show me yellowstone. Since I had decided to take the day and rest, I was totally down for a guided tour of Yellowstone by a very cool woman and two very adorable and well-behaved girls.
The tour was awesome – we saw Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris and the Steamboat Geyser, and a few other stops along the way. The way MC taught her children is the way I would want to teach mine – they saw, asked questions, and she explained things. I actually learned a ton. Yellowstone is a huge volcano! You can fall through the surface and boil (and people have)! There used to be way more surface water at Mammoth! Even cooler was stepping into their life for a brief moment. For the first time in a long time (maybe ever), I could see myself having kids – granted,these kids were very tolerable and cute – but watching how a cool, smart, athletic mother, well, mothers, was very neat. Also, hearing about MC's life was interesting – she got into bike racing while getting her master's degree, she got her MA degree in Reno, NV, had her first kid when she was 37 (which makes her 44 – she doesn't look a day over 36), built her own house with her husband, and has managed to find new, interesting ways to make a living. The fact that they took me, a complete stranger, in for the day is telling on how they live life. It was refreshing.
Additionally, she gave me tips on biking (protein, electrolytes), told me about how horrible gluten is, and promised to introduce me to her friend who tours and told me about a ride I should do that goes from DC to NYC – www.climateride.com

Beyond spending the day learning about Geysers and the Jenni family, that was pretty much it. I decided I would head through the park by bike tomorrow and go through the east exit toward Cody, WY. I won't make it to Cody – 131 miles – so I booked a place in Wapiti – 115 miles.

Biking, Day 10: 7/26/2009

2009-07-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

Day 10: Bozeman, MT to Pray, MT
Distance: 55 miles (should have been 45)
Route: Rte 86 to the back roads of MT to Trail Creek Road to Route 89 to Mill Creek to East River Dr
Lodging: Chico Hot Springs Resort and Day Spa, $49 in main lodge with shared bathroom, http://www.chicohotsprings.com/

I slept in until 7:15 today. i got my free breakfast - coffee, an incredibly large, incredibly soaked-in-syrup waffle, and some cereal. I was hungry, and I never eat breakfast. I went online to figure out where i wanted to end up - in Gardiner (90 miles), Livingston (30 miles), or somewhere in between. In my research, I discovered the Chico Hot Springs Resort and Day Spa. Smack dab in the middle of Livingston and Gardiner. I called, they had a single room for the bargain price of $49. I booked it. I took my time getting ready and digesting my mammoth waffle, got my directions and went on my way. I left around 10:15am.
I left my hotel and biked slowly. My body was really tired and I just wanted to take it easy, get to the spa, and chillax. The first 8 miles of the ride were beautiful. The back part of Bozeman where rich people come and build stunning vacation or retirement homes. I continued on the route that googlemaps gave me and the scenery couldn't have been better. it was hot, though, and hilly, so i took it easy.
After 16 miles or so, my road turned to dirt. But I looked at my directions and I was only supposed to be on it for 2 miles, so i forged on. As I went over a hill, three dogs appeared. They looked fierce. They had no discernible owner. They started after me. I rode and got away from them, but then I realized I was a bit lost. Or was I? I didn't know if I had taken the correct turn, but clearly I couldn't go back. I could see I-90 from where i was, so I wasn't too concerned, but I felt lost. Again.
I went up another dirt road and saw a paved road parallel to it through some brush. I backtracked and found the road that met up with the paved one. My directions said i was supposed to take Trail Creek Road for 17 miles. This road looked significant. According to the map, it was perpendicular to I-90, which seemed right. Also,on I-90 I saw a sign that said 'Trail Creek Road'. I hoped that I was on it.
I rode on this road for a few miles searching for any signage or indication that this was the correct road. Finally, after 3 miles, there was a sign that said Trail Creek Road. Fantastic! At least I was on the right road. 17 miles on this, then another road, then the hotel. About 25 miles left.
In another 2 miles, the road turned to gravel. Ok, seriously. This was a VERY well-developed road. Painted lines, decent traffic, even an exit off the highway. And now it was gravel. I walked my bike for a bit then flagged down a car. I asked the guy how long it was gravel and if this road met up with 89. It was gravel for the duration. it hit 89, but not for a while, he said. Indeed, my directions said about 13 more miles. He suggestedthat I cut off 5 miles of Trail Creek by taking a left on Divide Road in about 8 miles, then this road cut to 89.
I continued on Trail Creek, probably completely ruining my bike. The views were incredible, but it was starting to get hot. Plus, riding on gravel with my little tires was not easy.
I turned on Divide and rode it to 89. It was a long road. I wondered if it really cut off anything. When I finally hit 89, I was more north than I expected. I added like 10 miles to my ride.

Ahead of me, a fierce storm was a brewing. I continued to ride, there was no where to find shelter. Finally, I came upon an art gallery of sorts.

I pulled into the parking lot and asked the guy working there if he had water. I bought some water and asked him if I could stay under the porch until the storm passed. He agreed. His name was Tom. He got up and fed trail mix to a bunch of goats.They were adorable! He told me he had bottle fed them and they were his pets. We sat on the porch and talked. Saphire, one of the goats, sat on my lap.
Tom grew up in SD, did a lot of manual labor jobs and came to MT to live on the land, get away from people, and create his art. He actually does really cool art – www.tommosher.com. He works with steel and whatever the land provides.He often does stuff with dead animals - furs, skulls, etc but he doesn't kill them 'he has no desire'. Tom was interesting, and very nice to let me seek shelter under his porch. He also fancied himself a ladies man. He said he was the best looking guy in the valley (Paradise Valley, MT). When I finally decided it was safe to go off and ride, and Tom and I parted ways, he gave me his card.He also mentioned that maybe he would come to Chico for dinner.

I rode off and went the 7 miles or so to the Chico Resort and Day Spa. It was pretty gorgeous. I checked in, went to my room, and showered. I went down to the 'Saloon' for dinner - salad and nachos. The resort was packed. Lots of families, young people, etc. It would be awesome to come back here and really explore the spa or hang out with friends. Alone, when i could barely walk and I could barely keep my eyes open, it was less fun.

I decided I would take the next day off if it was bad weather. I prayed for bad weather.

Biking, Day 9: 7/25/2009

2009-07-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

Day 9: Helena, MT to Bozeman, MT
Distance: 110 miles (should have been 94)
Route: MT Route 12/287, continue on 287, cut down Frontage Road East to Bozeman (missed that turn...)
Lodging: Fairfield Inn and Suites, $45/night via Priceline

I let myself sleep in until 6am today. I know, decadent. I had a hard time sleeping last night, woke up a bunch of times and even stayed up and did some mapping on my computer.
I got on my bike around 7am and realized it was a Saturday morning - not much traffic. I was tired, sore. Decided to take it easy today. After all, 94 miles should feel easier than the 125 of yesterday.
The morning was beautiful again and I rode out of Helena on Route 12E/287S. The first 30 miles were pretty easy. I stopped once to stretch and got to Townsend, MT for my morning coffee break around 945am. I had coffee and a snack and talked to mom on the phone. There was some headwind, so the ride wasn't going too quickly.
After my break in Townsend, I continued on 287S toward Three Forks. It started getting ridiculously hot. This is why I start biking at 6am. The weather has been in the mid-90s during the peak heat of the day. The view of the mountains was gorgeous, though.
I got to Three Forks and stopped for some water and a snack. I looked at my phone GPS and realized I had missed my turnoff to Bozeman. Bullocks. I asked the woman who worked at the gas station how to get to Frontage Road. She told me and I headed out.
I followed the woman's directions and was about ten miles outside of town when I looked at my GPS and realized I had turned the wrong direction. She had given me the correct directions to Frontage Road, but I failed to tell her I wanted to go toward Bozeman. So, instead of 20 miles left, I had 40. I was exhausted. I can't fully articulate how hard mentally it is to ride so far and realize a mistake like this.
I passed another biker and asked him if I was now going the right way. he was riding around looking for the course for a Tri he was doing the following day. He pointed me in the right direction and showed me a little shortcut. I was hot, tired, and irritated. I told him if his short cut was wrong, I would come find him. Probably not the best representation of Western Hospitality.
I rode on and got to the road I had been looking for - frontage road. I road for a few miles then stopped to fill my tires with air. It was so hot, I can't even explain. I was so mad at myself for taking the wrong turn. My body is really starting to break down a bit.
Which brings me to some commentary on this adventure. I have had a lot of people tell me they wish they were joining me, wish I had told them I was doing this, etc. I am definitely having a great adventure, but it is full of ups and downs. Riding 100+ miles a day is not easy. Navigating parts of the country that you have never been is not easy. Dealing with being outside all day in the heat and not knowing when there will be a little convenient store is not easy. This is truly not for everyone. My body is in a lot of pain from the muscle aches, to pure exhaustion, to sunburn, to chaffing in unfortunate places. I have kept my cool most of the time, but have had huge moments of frustration. And no one to share them with. Doing this alone, navigating, being fully responsible whether you get lost, can't change a tire, etc is tiring. Mentally, i have had a lot of ups and downs. While this is an adventure, it is also a challenge. And something really isnt a challenge unless it is hard. This is hard. Some parts of days I feel like I just can't make my bike go anymore. But I have to because I don't have a back up plan for the day - there's no vehicle following me, usually no little towns in between destinations with motels, etc. Ok, enough of that.
I rode through a few little towns in the last 30 miles to Bozeman - Manhattan, MT, where I procured a diet coke from a pop machine, another stop for water. Finally, I started pulling into Bozeman. Just as I was rolling in, so was a ridiculous hail storm. I took a picture and when i started riding again the wind had gotten so intense that I could barely pedal anymore, I was almost getting knocked off my bike. Luckily, my hotel was like a mile away.
I got to my hotel, checked in, ordered Mexican, talked to the parents, and went to bed. I decided I would take the next day, Sunday, easy - either go to Livingston, MT about 30 miles away from Bozeman or go to somewhere in between Gardiner, at the north entrance to Yellowstone, and Livingston.

Biking, Day 8: 7/24/2009

2009-07-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Day 8: Missoula, MT to Helena, MT
Distance: 125 miles
Route: MT Route 200 to MT 141 to MT 12
Lodging: Shilo Inn, $40/night via Priceline

I woke up at 5am to get on the road by 6am. I was nervous about making it to Helena. I had been doing 100 miles or so a day, which is quite a bit.Ｉ mentioned in my last post that biking is a bit slower than I had initially thought. The panniers weigh down the bike and my tires are wider than I am used to, so the overall speed is slower. I forgot to take into consideration things like heat, bad weather, wind, getting lost, my 'seat area', my hands, etc. The first day, my shoulder burned so badly that it blistered 3 days later. I have worn a tshirt the past 2 days so as not to expose my shoulder to the sun anymore. My seat area has been a constant issue with chaffing, soreness, etc. I have worn BOTH pairs of my padded shorts the past two days. The seat I got at Fitness Fanatics in Spokane has helped, too.
I headed out of town on Route 200. It was a beautiful morning. I had looked at the weather, though, and knew I would have bad headwind during the day. Less in the beginning, more later. Also, I saw that there was scattered thunderstorms in the area. I was unsure if I would be affected by those.
I decided I would try to space out my breaks a bit more. The first part of the ride was really hard. It was very hilly and windy. I wasn't making great time, but tried not to panic too much about making it to Helena. I decided to stop every 3 hours or so.
I stopped around 915am and had ridden 40 miles. I stopped at the first gas station i saw, which had a large cow in the front, got a coffee and sat for a bit. I got on the road again around 9:35. Today was the most beautiful day yet. The scenery was ridiculous. Rivers, trees, mountains.
During this middle part, I rode until around 1PM. i turned onto MT 141 from MT 200. I wanted to stop, but it looked like the first town would be 33 miles. That was very unfortunate.
I rode and was making great time. Then, the wind started up. I was about 10 miles from Avon, where the next turn would be, and I was hurting. The sun started getting really hot, too. I knew there would not likely be any place to stop, so I started rationing my water. It's amazing in MT how there can be stretches of road - 50 miles long or more - with nowhere to stop. I'm always shocked that there aren't more people who simply run out of gas. I guess Montanans know better.
I was tired. It was hot. I was thirsty. There were storm clouds rolling around.
Finally, I pulled into Avon, MT. I looked around - nothing. I had drank almost all my water. Then
I saw a little sign that pointed down a road indicating a store. I went down the road and found the most adorable store ever. I walked in, got some snacks, and the woman told me I a) needed more carbs and b) needed to sit to wait out the storm. Agreed.
I sat with the woman, her dog, Chloe, the guy who runs the post office, and a few other locals for a little bit as the storm passed through.
Avon is a really small town, like, population of 125 or something. I wondered how this store stayed in business. The woman, originally from Texas, told me the history of the store. In summary, the store has been around for like 15-20 years. Some guy owned it for the first ten, had it for sale for four years, and finally someone bought it. He had had it as a very general store. The next owner made it 'cute' and started selling crafty type things in there. But people liked having a place to go and buy their milk, etc. So another woman bought it and just ran herself into the ground with it - she had four kids, yet was the only person who ran the store. She had it open from 6am to 6pm, for some reason. Her husband worked in Alaska 3 weeks on/2 weeks off and when he would come home, he had nothing to do. Finally, he was like this is not what I signed up for. So, she sold it to this woman and a few friends. The store is a general store, for bread, milk, etc. It's mainly locals who come in, sometimes road traffic in the summers.
To get a sense of the place, while we were sitting there, a woman walked in 'hey, do you have any coconut?' Nope, but you're the second person to ask in 6 months, so I will order some. 'Great. How about cool whip?' Yep, there's one container in the freezer, I will order another when you take that one.
So, basically, I have no idea how she makes any money.
The storm passed through and I hit the road. It was 33 more miles to Helena. I started riding and ran into serious headwind. I literally couldn't go more than 6 miles/hr. It was horrible. After about 10 miles, I hit the hill that I had heard so much about. They were right - this hill was serious. I was exhausted, the hill was steep and long, I had 22 miles to go and had no idea if I could make it in this headwind before sunset.
I pushed my bike. For the first time on actual roads, I couldn't ride. I pushed, then would ride, pushed then would ride. it took me an hour to get up that hill. When i hit the top, there was a Lewis and Clark sign indicating the altitude - 6000+ feet. It was high. Damnned lewis and Clark.
But, what goes up, must come down. I rode downhill for about 8 miles. I even pulled off and took a few pictures - it was that pretty. Also, my back tire needed air. Going downhill is not as easy as it seems. I try not to go too fast because the bike is harder to control with the gear on the back. Plus, constantly having the brakes on is hard work!
I finally hit Helena just as it started raining. I saw a sign for my hotel, the Shilo Inn, and saw it was at the opposite end of town. I rode through, saw the capital, and went to my hotel. As with every hotel person, the manager was excited about my bike ride. When I tell people my zip code, they keep asking 'what brings you to Montana?' When i say i'm biking back, they are usually very confused. She was also interested in telling me about some relative who was born in Bethesda, a suburb of DC. So it goes.
I went to my room, it was after 7pm. A long, long day. I ordered pizza. I showered, I shouldn't admit this here, but I was too tired to wash my stuff. I wrote a little, and then I went to bed. I decided to let myself sleep in until 6am and hit the road at 7am.
Some thoughts: 125 miles was super hard today. The middle part wasn't so bad, when I got in my groove. But I realize that so much of whether a day is hard or not depends on wind, terrain, and amount of time I have to sit on my seat. 10 hours is a lot of time, but not horrible. 12-13 starts getting unbearable. So, if I have tail wind, no hills, etc and can bust out 15-18MPH, I can easily do 125-150 a day. so, perhaps in the heartland.

Tomorrow will be less mileage, to Bozeman.

Biking, Day 7: 7/23/2009

2009-07-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

Day 7: Thompson Falls, MT to Missoula, MT
Distance: 101 miles
Route: MT Route 200 the entire way (merges with 93/W Broadway)
Lodging: Holiday Inn Express, 1021 East Broadway, Missoula. $50/night via Priceline

I woke up at 5am* and got on the road by 6am. Thompson Falls was gorgeous in the morning. The thing about Thompson Falls is that there are NO FALLS. Let me repeat: there are no waterfalls in Thompson Falls. When the hostess slash owner of my motel told me to take a nice walk 'down where the falls used to be', I was a bit take aback. I did some research and Thompson Falls was founded by an explorer with the last name Thompson. Back then, there were waterfalls. It was considered a hot spot because Coeur D'Alene had struck gold. So the folks who lived in Thompson Falls went up and over the same pass that I did.
Anyway, the waterfalls were covered by a power dam. Of course, no one thought to change the name. Bastards.
I started my ride and decided to take route 200 the entire way. My directions had a slightly shorter route, but they were complicated and I could see from my paper map that 200 went to Missoula.
It was a lovely morning, but my seat was giving my pain again. I stopped to readjust a few times. Around 8:30 I rolled into Plains, MT. A man asked to join me, i told him to hop on. Oh Western hospitality. When riding through, I saw a bank clock that said 9:30. It struck me then that I was on Mountain time. Duh. I was an hour off. Bullocks.
I stopped for coffee at a gas station that had coffee, hot dogs, and a casino, all prominently advertised. I drank my coffee on a picnic bench, looked at my map, and fixed up my bike. An elderly couple drove up and started chatting with me. They asked where I was from (I just said Boston). The old guy told a cute story about how he once had a friend from Newton and his friend's father was a real estate developer and had a lot of money. He took him to a hockey game, which he said 'changed his life, Boston was so eye-opening' for a 17 year old Iowa farm boy. The man and woman had grown up in Iowa, but settled in Montana. He told me to be careful - it will suck you in.
Indeed, Montana has been absolutely gorgeous.
I continued on and it started getting ridiculously hot. I stopped a few times for short stops to readjust my seat, but kept going. I usually take one break in the am (around 30 miles), then another when I have 20-30 miles left and when it's super hot out.
I pulled into my afternoon stop at a gas station slash grocery store and got some water, pop, and a snack. A woman asked where I was from, I told her, and she welcomed me to God's country: isn't it great without all the people around? Indeed. Later she told me she would be praying for me. God bless.
At the stop, i called my mom. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
When I left the gas station, I started back on 93/200 to Missoula. only, there was some significant road construction. For 13 miles. The last thing you want when you have 25 miles to your destination is to have to stop and walk every few miles, which I did. The road was being ripped up, there was no lane for bikes and it was a rough road.
Finally, I got through and continued on. It was hot. I went down a big big hill, then back up, then down into Missoula. it seems to be a theme in MT that all big cities are in a valley, and there's a big mountain to climb ahead of time. Noted.
There's really no way to accurately describe what it feels like to roll into your destination after an entire day biking. It's sort of like relief combined with high fiving yourself combined with anticipation of getting off the bike seat (ouch). It felt good today. It was a long day.
Missoula is a cute college town. It's hip and there's a lot of fast food, young people, and bikers. I got to my hotel, the Holiday Inn Express, at the eastern end of town and checked in.
I have been pretty tired after my long days of biking and today was no exception. I decided to splurge and order food for delivery. I figured a college town would have plenty of that.
I wrote the blog, uploaded pictures, washed my clothes, showered, and went to bed. I set my alarm for 5am (mountain time) for my long day tomorrow - 125 miles to Helena. After today, I was nervous. I was at exhaustion when I got to Missoula. Could I have done another 25 miles? Riding with bigger tires, through mountains, and with panniers is harder than I expected. I bike 15-20 MPH with a road bike and no gear. On my trip, I have been biking more like 10-15MPH. I had expected to be able to go a bit faster. It makes for long days. perhaps when I hit the flatter part of the country, if I have some tailwind, I will go faster.
My sunburn is getting better. Yay.

Biking, Day 6: 7/22/2009

2009-07-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

Day 6: Mullan, ID to Thompson Falls, MT
Distance: 45 miles
Route: Take the Coeur D'Alene Trail back to Wallace, have coffee at the Red Light Garage, head out of Wallace on Idaho Rte 4 to a road that was supposed to be paved (NFD 7623), to Prospect Creek into Thompson Falls. Idaho Rte 4 was 10 miles, uphill. Then I hit the dirt road, also up hill.
Lodging: Falls Motel, Thompson Falls, MT: http://www.thompsonfallslodging.com/

I started the day early by waking up at 4:45am. I wanted to get biking by 5:30. I had high hopes of possibly making it to Missoula, which would be a long day. I got out the door of my motel in Mullan by 5:30 and took the Coeur D'Alene Trail back to Wallace. The map showed a route up and over Thompson Pass to Thompson Falls from Wallace. There didn't appear to be a route from Mullan. My map wasn't great, though, and I had no internet. There looked like there was a decent road from Wallace over the pass to Thompson Falls.
Basically, Idaho and Montana have this main highway: I-90. Then they have a lot of random roads and dirt roads. It has been hard to figure out how to get from one place to another without going on I-90. Obviously,Ｉrode on I-90 yesterday, but it's not something I wanted to do again. I had heard rumors of a Hewata trail that led down to another road that would take me to Missoula, but the trail is 'multi use', which I knew would be dirt/rocks．Plus, I didn't have a map and my phone wasn't working. No cell service between the mountains.
So, I sucked it up and went back to Wallace. Dios mio! It was COLD. I put on a jacket, but by the time I got to Wallace, I couldn't feel my hands. I got a cup of coffee at a gas station, which was the only place open at 610am. Then, in the distance, I saw the Red Light Garage. I saw movement. They were open.
The Red Light Garage was quite possibly the most adorable coffee shop slash diner slash mexican taco stand slash kitch factory I have ever seen. I walked in and ordered coffee. I pet a dog with three legs. I was greeted by the locals. I was given a map. I ordered a Cinnamon Bun.
I used WiFi on my phone, but the 'RedLight' Wifi network was password protected. Using my skills to break the code, I tried 'Redlight'. Success. I had cracked the wifi code. I used my phone to check internet, call my mom, and check my voicemail (SAGE had called! She was in Wallace! EEK!)
I got my fill at The Red Light Garage and decided to hit the road.
I left Wallace and went out Rte 4. Route 4 went on for 11 miles. It was up hill. Not like up a mountain uphill, but like riding in lowest gear uphill. Hard, but not exhausting or impossible. Soon, I saw the sign that Rte 4 was ending. 3 miles later, I hit an electric grid station in the city of Burke (I had gone through other cities, like Yellow Dog). The road then split into 3 dirt roads. I decided to ask one of the electric men which one to Thompson Falls. They pointed to the road and said it was 'rough', though. I refused to go back down the 11 miles I just went up, so started up the dirt/gravel road.
They were right. It was rough. I tried to ride, but mainly pushed my bike with all the gear on the back. I stopped. I took off my biking shoes and put on my running kicks. It was 9am. I promised myself I would keep going until noon. Then, I would possibly retreat.
I can't really explain how hard this was. I watched the speedometer on my bike slowly tick. Pushing my bike, sweating profusely, too steep and too rocky to ride my bike. I stopped. I was frustrated. I had some anger about everything: carrying too much gear. Idaho for failing to provide decent roads. Thompson Pass for being so high. My dad for suggesting this route. My bike for having only 10 gears.
After about 1.5 hours,I was still pushing my bike up the mountain. I was getting exhausted, my legs shaking. A car passed me and a man yelled out 'you are one brave soul!' and I snapped 'not intentionally'.
I finally reached the top. I took a picture. It was 5800 Feet. There was a very unhelpful sign warning of the road conditions. I started going down the hill.
Now, one might think that going down is easy. incorrect. My hands still hurt from holding onto my brakes. Not to mention that my bike is not meant for this terrain. I was very convinced that my bike was going to break. I stopped a lot to take pictures and shake out my hands.
Finally, I got to the bottom. It was 5 miles up, 5 miles down.
I stopped, changed back into my shoes, put on more sunscreen, and started peddling toward Thompson Falls.
The road to Thompson Falls was 15 miles. Not horrible, but it was HOT. At this point, it was noon.
I got to Thompson Falls at around 1:15PM. I stopped at the post office and mailed Atlas Shrugged, my seat, my fork, Kristy's Tshirt, and an extra shirt of mine to Kristy's house. Streamlining this operation, yo.
I went into town and went to the River Fellowship Cafe. I went because it advertised free wifi. I had an awesome frozen drink and putzed online. I decided to stay in Thompson Falls and plan my next few days. I had only gone 45 miles, which was disconcerting and frustrating, but I had been out for 8 hours. The heat was too much - I could have rested until 5pm or so and then ridden on, but the towns in between Thompson Falls and Missoula were small, so I just decided to stay.

I booked a room at the Holiday Inn in Missoula, then the Shilo Inn in Helena. Both through Priceline ($50 and $40!!)

Biking, Day 5: 7/21/2009

2009-07-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Day 5: Coeur D'Alene, ID to Thompson Falls, MT. No, scratch that, to Mullan, ID
Distance: 90 miles
Route: Take 1: Leave Coeur D'Alene via the Centennial Trail, go up Sunset Rd, go to Yellowstone Trail, link up with 97... I'll stop there. Made it 5 miles down Sunset until it turned into gravel. Continued for 3 miles, hit Yellowstone Trail. Yellowstone trail turned to gravel slash underconstruction/road closed. I asked some workmen how to get back to major roads. I returned to the Centennial Trail via a road that took me up then down a mountain. 25 miles into the day and I was nowhere. And Sage had caught up with me. We asked directions at the Centennial trail and were basically told that we could ride on I-90, but that was really the only paved road east. I curse Idaho for having only interstate and gravel roads. Take 2: Centennial trail back to Coeur D'Alene, I-90E for 20 miles to exit 34. At exit 34, I saw a sign for the Trail of Coeur D'Alenes. I had read about this and knew it ran for a total of 72 miles east. I decided to go for it.
Lodging: Lookout Motel, Mullan, ID, $24. Smoking room, no AC, worst hotel I have ever been at ever ever ever.

So, today was full of frustration. Coeur D'Alene is impossible to get out of via non-interstate roads. I discovered this through running into several shut down and gravel slash sand roads. My bike has little tires, this was no good. After fucking around Coeur D'Alene for 25 miles I finally decided to suck it up and get on the interstate.
I took I-90 20 miles to exit 34. It was up a mountain, down a mountain, up a mountain, then back down. Riding on an interstate is not something I recommend. Nor is it something I ever want to do again. There was plenty of room on the side of the highway, but it had lots of glass, debris, etc. And there is really no way to explain the sound of trucks coming behind you and passing you. The signs on the side of the road that warned of blown out brakes did not help.
Finally, I got to exit 34. I pulled off and saw a sign for the Trail of Coeur D'Alenes. Score! I decided to be a good person and wait for a while for Sage. I went to the gas station, got a snack and sat and waited. I met some cool hispanic guys who were traveling to Poison, MT. And the kids were so into my shoes and bike. I sat for like an hour. No sage. I decided to forge on.
I rode up the road where the arrow pointed me to the trail. I asked a road maintenance guy how far and he said 2 miles. I went through the hot tar he was putting on the road and went two miles and found the trail. As I rode up to the trail, I noticed my tire in the back was getting a little low. I got to the trailhead and filled my tire with air.
I started at mile marker 30 and wanted to go to Mullan which was at mile marker 72. I figured I wouldn't make it to Thompson Falls. My phone wasn't working and my directions that I had printed were pretty useless at this point. I rode for about 3 miles and my tire was flat again. I filled it up again. After another 3 miles it was flat. It was a slow leak, but it wasn't going to work.
I stopped and decided to change the tube. I have never changed a tube before. I took my panniers off, flipped my bike and took the wheel off. I used the tire levers, which I have never used before, to pry off the tire. I got out a spare tube and tried to figure out how to put it all back together. This is not as easy as it sounds. Getting the tire back on is like threading it, but it's too small for the wheel. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to do this. But I did it. I filled it with air. I forged on.
I rode along the trail with a few stops. I stopped in Kellogg, ID where I tried to steal internet from a hotel. I was successful until their internet went down. I wrote mom an email telling her I wasn't dead that didn't send, I used my GPS to map directions to a motel I looked up, but it didn't finish the directions. I did find a motel in mullan, which is the last stop in the trail. I figured I should go as far as it would take me.
After Kellogg, I went through Wallace, ID. An ADORABLE town. I thought about stopping and staying, but decided to continue to Mullan. Finally, I got to Mullan.
I noticed that my skin on my shoulder where I had burned pretty badly my first day on the road was blistering. Ew.
I checked the trail map and didn't see any continuation. I looked over and saw the motel that I had found when I had internet for 3.4 seconds. It was pretty shitty. A couple offered to take me back to Wallace, but I decided to just stay. I went up and asked if they had any rooms. Yes, one. It has two beds, no AC, and is a smoking room. Ok, fine, how much. He's let me have it for $24. well, a bargain at least.

The room was smelly and crappy, but whatever. I called my parents from a pay phone since my cell had no service. My dad encouraged me to go BACK to wallace because it's the only way to get up to Thompson falls, and Thompson falls is the only way to Missoula not on I-90. They checked hotels, but I decided just to stay.
I went out on my bike and found a little store. A little store with EVERYTHING. No, really. It was like a gas station shop, but it had bizarre things. Like, vast quantities of soup. Ice cream sandwiches in bulk. British candies. Lunchables.
I got a map of Mt, WY, and ID. All in one! It was all they had. I also got a lunchables for dinner. It had chips, cheez whiz, and salsa. And a newspaper.
After I got back to the motel I looked at the map. It didn't have the detail to map small roads from Mullan. So, plan as of now is to go BACK to Wallace, then to Thompson Falls. Then use the internet. Then figure out if I want to go all the way to Missoula or take a day.

Biking, Day 4: 7/20/2009

2009-07-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

Day 4: Wilbur, WA to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho
Distance: 100 miles
Route: Rte 2 to Spokane, then through the back side of Spokane, following Sunset Hwy, then linking to 290/East Trent/Spokane Falls Blvd, then to the Centennial Trail all the way to Coeur D'Alene
Lodging: Shilo Inn and Suites, courtesy of Priceline.
Shout out: Fitness Fanatics in East Spokane, WA where I got a new bike seat, tube, and shorts. This was probably the best bike store I have ever been to. They were helpful (and it's owned by a woman) and had awesome bicycles. Ever in Spokane, you must go: http://www.fitfanatics.com/

I started riding at 6;10am. It was a beautiful morning, I was a little tired, but not horrible. My main issue was my seat again. The discomfort is hard to describe. It's not just pain, like muscle soreness, there's chaffing in multiple locations. And it gets raw.
I rode about 30 miles to Davenport, then continued to Spokane.
Once I rolled through Spokane and got my new seat, I got on the Centennial Trail. I took the trail through to Idaho – yay! When I crossed into Idaho, a woman with her bike packed down with panniers asked me (as I was taking a picture of the Welcome to Idaho sign) whether I knew where there was camping. I said no, but that I was going to Coeur D'Alene, about 12 miles, and there might be something there. She responded that no, there was no camping there. But where was I staying? I told her I was staying at a hotel and she said 'how much?' and I told her and she said 'I'll split it with you'. I was so thrown off by this. I have never been approached like this before. I stumbled, said eh, ok, I mean, I've never done that before. And she said well, if you're not comfortable... Then she said we should just start riding and talking. Fine.

We started riding. She was a LOT slower than me. Some information on the woman:
Name: Sage (not sure if this is a given name, gang name, porn name. It's the name of a spice, after all)
From: Alaska, but now lives in Boston because going to BU for some policy degree. Lives in JP.
Age: 52
Sexuality: Straight, not attached, no children
Bike: Mountain, but decorated with various stickers including: “Alaska Spirit”and “Coexist”
Touring experience: Asia, India
Religion/culture: Jewish
Ultimate destination: Helena, MT to meet others to do mountain biking
Occupation: teacher

We rode along the trail and got to know each other. Sage was moderately interesting, but very slow. My ass was in a considerable amount of pain still, so the moseying pace was not the best for me. I really just wanted to get off the seat. She decided she was hungry and stopped. She ate an apple. I waited. We forged on. Sage thought her breaks were rubbing. We stopped.. she took off all her panniers. Fixed something. We forged on.
Around 7 or 8 miles into it, I got a sinking feeling that she thought she was staying at my hotel with me. She had already said she wanted to bike with me tomorrow, which I agreed to against my better judgment. Finally, I said so, are you going to camp tonight and then we can meet up tomorrow? To which she responded “I'll split a hotel with you”. I stumbled and said that I wasn't really comfortable since we just met, my parents would kill me, etc. She said 'even though I'm a woman?'. Yes, I said. 'Even though I'm a teacher?' Yes,I said, it's more about respect with my parents – I know they are worrying, this would make them worry more. Then she said 'why don't you call them?' and I said 'I've been texting with them'. What did you say to them? Well, I said I met a woman who is also touring and who wants to stay with me. She kept probing on the exact text conversation I had with my parents. Finally, I just said, well, if you want to bike with me I can give you my number. She said well, I doubt I will because I will have to pack tent, etc and I won't be ready early enough. It was so awkward. Nonetheless, I avoided an unwanted guest and carried on to my hotel.

My hotel was an actual hotel, not stellar, but not bad. I ordered apizza and salad. It was delicious.
I got a call from Sage around 830PM. She DID want to ride with me the next day. She wanted to meet on the trail.She had lucked out and met a couple who invited her to sleep in their RV with them. Such luck! I told her we should do 630 because my hotel has free breakfast. Well, she would just meet me for the free breakfast and eat it! Fantastico.

I went to bed after talking to my parents. Dad had looked up a map and wanted me to go to Thompson Falls. I looked it up and it was adorable. Great.

Biking, Day 3: 7/19/2009

2009-07-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Twisp, WA to Wilbur, WA
Distance: 122 miles (should have been 95)
Route: Rte 20E to Rte 153. First attempt: Benson Road to NFD 4150, note to self: NFD=National Forest Drive and is all sand. After 3 miles, retreated and went back to Rte 153. Time lost: 2 hours. Went Rte 153 to Route 173 to Route 17 to Route 174 into Grand Coulee Dam, then 174 to Wilbur, WA.
Lodging: Willows Motel, Wilbur, WA (www.willowswilburmotel.com)

Today was frustrating. From the start, things did not go well. I left at 6am and 3 miles in took a left onto Benson Rd, which is what Googlemaps 'walking' told me to do. I hit a hill that I literally could not climb on my bike. I walked my bike up the hill. About 3 miles down Benson, the road changed to sand. I figured eh, a few miles on sand, I can do that. About 3 miles in I looked at my directions and i was supposed to stay on this 'road' for 11 miles. I didn't want to do that. I turned back. I used googlemaps driving to get me back on track. The route was now 110 miles, not the original 95 (which included some serious bush-wacking), not including the 15 or so lost in the woods and on the road leading to the woods. But I figured I could stay in Grand Coulee, WA, which is like 20 miles before Wilbur if I got desperate. I got back on Route 153 at around 8am.
I was frustrated because I get up at 5am so I can hit the road early. It gets hot and the morning is when i really want to log most of my miles. In my head, I had hoped to get to Wilbur by 1 or 2pm. That was not to happen.
Back on the road I was still having some serious seat issues. I'm not sure how I'm going to remedy this. I know that the muscle soreness gets better over time. But the skin irritation I'm not so sure about. I readjusted the seat a few times - I would stop every 20 miles or so to shift the seat so I wasn't hitting the same spots. It helped, I think, but it still hurt a lot.
Because of the mental challenge of the morning and my seat issues, I decided I would take the day in chunks. Not too fast and stopping every 15-20 miles. I still wasn't sure whether I would stay in Grand Coulee or Wilbur.
Things were fine until it heated up. Days are HOT. I went through two small cities. In the second city, Bridgeport, I got some water. From Bridgeport to Grand Coulee it was going to be about 40 miles. There was a road change about halfway and I figured I would be able to stop there to get water. WhenＩgot to the road change, there was nothing but road. I kept riding. It was windy and hot. I would drink water and 3 seconds later be ridiculously thirsty.
I kept going down the road and was thinking about the cold beverages I would have in Grand Coulee. Oh, I was so, so thirsty. A car with a young couple passed and offered me water. I declined. Then, I cursed myself for 10 miles for refusing water. I was rationing mine. Go a few kilometers, drink water. It was hilly. Finally, I hit the top of a hill and saw to the left a huge dam. The Grand Coulee Dam! I'm not sure where I heard of this dam, but there it was.
I rolled into town and went to a grocery store. I got lemonade, an apple, a cherry coke zero, a water, and a chocolate bar. I sat outside and tried to find a motel. But my phone wasn't working. I tried to get someone to find a motel for me, but to no avail. after about an hour, I decided to just forge on to Wilbur. I knew once I was out of Grand Coulee (low lying area), I would have cell service.
I left and headed out route 174 East toward Wilbur. After about 10 minutes,Ｉwanted to die. It was straight up. Like a huge hill. This went on for, oh, I don't know, like 5-7 miles? it was ridiculous. I really wanted to cry.
Finally, I hit the top and it was pretty flat (well, rolling) from then on.
I got to Wilbur around 6pm. My motel was lovely. The guy running it was great. As I left the little office, a guy started talking to me. Just an innocent older guy looking to make conversation. He rides railway cars. Like, leases rail time and then rides these rail cars. He was very passionate about it. I was very dirty, very hot, and very hungry. He was also drinking scotch. He invited me to come out so he could show me the best way for my next day of riding. And he wanted to grill for me. I enthusiastically agreed to join him and his group of people. I went into my room and never came back out.
I slept wonderfully.

Biking, Day 2: 7/18/2009

2009-07-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

Day 2: Rockport, WA to Twisp, WA
Distance: 98 miles
Route: Rte 20E/(North Cascades Highway until Mazama, WA) the entire way. Through the North Cascades, significant 'hills' – about 6 climbs of 5000 feet. It was hard. And slow.
Lodging: The Sportsman Motel, 1010 Rte20 E, Twisp, WA; $47/night. Run by an adorable older couple. Seems to be a motel primarily for bikers. Like, motorcycles.

Last night some guy told me that my ride today was going to be hard and include a lot of difficult climbs. Apparently, his son rode through on his bike a few years ago. So, I was nervous about making it through. The North Cascades Highway is 70 miles. Well, 70 miles from where I started – Rockport, WA to the end in Mazama, WA. My bike is great, but it doesn't down shift very low – it only has 10 speeds, since it's made for Cyclo Cross. So, I went to bed around 9:30 and got up at 5am, hoping to leave by 6am.

I left on my ride at 6:02am. It was awesome to be out on the road so early. The morning was gorgeous. I was having second thoughts about the route, but the morning was totally worth it.
The first 20 miles or so weren't horrible. The views were amazing. Then I hit Diablo, where there is the Diablo pass. This was the first climb. I think it was around 4500 to 5000 feet.
After Diablo, there were about 5 other climbs. I started stopping every 10 miles to rest, stretch, and have a snack. When going up the hills, which were like 4-5 miles long each one, I was only going at a pace of 8-10KM/hr, which is like 5-6miles/hr. When I'm biking normally, I go about 15-20 MPH. So, it was very strenuous.
Around noon, it started getting really hot. Going up the hills, I was sweating a ton.
Finally, I hit Washington Pass, the highest point in the North Cascades. It was at milepost 164 (I started at milepost 103). From there, it was all downhill. Like, really steep. I literally went downhill for 10 miles. When I reached the end of the North Cascades Highway, I had been biking for almost 8 hours. It had gotten really hot and I was super thirsty. I went into Mazama, WA to get a drink and snack.

In Mazama, I looked up motels in Twisp. Winthrop, WA is about 8 miles before Twisp, but I felt like I could go the extra 8 miles to Twisp. I called a cheap motel, The Sportsman Motel, and they had just had a cancellation. Yay! I booked the room and started riding again.

The last 25 miles or so into Winthrop, then to Twisp were pretty exhausting. It was 99 degrees out. I couldn't drink enough water. My seat area was starting to really get irritated. And I was worried about my sunburn on my right shoulder. I had covered the shoulder with cloth so it wasn't exposed all day, but it was starting to hurt anyway.
I went through Winthrop and it was adorable. It looks like an old western town, like from the 1920s. Super cute. I sort of wisshed I was staying there, but it also looked really touristy (I had been told that it was touristy, too). I continued on to Twisp, WA.

I got to my motel in Twisp around 4PM. I had been biking for the better part of 10 hours. I showered, washed my clothes in the sink, went out and got some dinner at the local grocery store (and snacks for tomorrow) and went back to the motel.

I made nachos! They were tasty. Again, no internet at this motel, but I used my blackberry to map out tomorrow.　

Biking, Day 1: 7/17/2009

2009-07-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

Day 1: Seattle, WA to Rockport WA

Distance: 95 miles

Route: Left Seattle via 15^th St, continued to Everett via rte 99, got a little lost, took a few back roads to get back to 99, met up with 530 NE, continued on 530 NE for about 50 miles, took route 20 E (North Cascades highway) into Rockport/Marblemount

Obvious Route Question: Why am I going north when I ultimately will be going South and East? Good question! Initially, I knew I wanted to go through the north cascades because they are famous for their beauty, not to mention that Tim and Rebecca said I should definitely explore it. Then I booked a hotel. Then I started really questioning why I was voluntarily going into mountains, with lots of ups and downs. I almost changed my route, but decided what the hell, this trip is supposed to be fun, not just getting across the country as quickly as possible.

Lodging: Skagit River Resort, (www.northcascades.com), $79 for the night (realized whenI started trying to make a reservation that it was the day before, I wanted to stay on a Friday in a gorgeous mountain town. This was the only place I could find with availability.

I woke up around 5:45am today to, shockingly, a pretty busy house. Rebecca has to leave the house at 6:30 to get to the hospital, Tim was away because he had an overnight shift, and Tim's mom, Mary, is yoga woman extraordinaire, so wakes up super early. Rebecca left, I made some coffee for Mary and I, and started packing up my bike. This took me longer than I had expected. I wanted to leave the house by 6:45am to return my rental car to the rental car place, which opens up at 7am, and take off from there. I didn't leave the house until 7:15 or so, which was starting to make me stressed out. When I loaded up my bike, it was a lot heavier than I thought it would be. I had never ridden with panniers and I was surprised my bike was so heavy. I decided to leave some of the bars that I bought the day before at Trader Joe's. For the record, here is what I'm carrying on my bike:

Running shoes

Flip Flops
2 t shirts
pair of running/hang out shorts
Pajama shorts
Pair of jeans
Polo shirt
Casual shirt I can wear in public
2 spare pairs of underwear
1 spare sports bra
1 spare pair of socks
My mini laptop
Camera
Various chargers: blackberry, camera, ipod
Bike lock (not a super heavy one, but sort of heavy)
Toiletries: contact stuff, glasses, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, advil/meds
Jacket
Fleece
Long underwear
Snacks: one of every variety of bar from Trader Joe's
Copy of Atlas Shrugged that I stole from Kristys bookshelf before I left
Bike stuff: 2 spare bike tubes, bike tools, grease, tire patch kit

Stuff on my bike/on me:
Biking shorts (the hott kind with the ass pads)
Biking jersey
Helmet
Biking shoes
Air pump
2 water bottles
Cycling gloves
Speedometer
GPS

Cell phone

So, I guess looking at it now it looks like quite a bit. I guess I could have done without the jeans and shirts I can wear in public, but I felt like I might want to head into town somewhere in something other than athletic gear. Atlas Shrugged seems clearly like a packing error, I may ship it from somewhere. Otherwise, the rest of it is pretty necessary.

Back to the ride. Getting out of Seattle/Everett was a pain in the ass. Lots of turns, very up and down hilly, lots of lights and stop/go, lots of cars. It took longer to get to open road than I thought – like 35-40 miles. A big chunk was on one of those almost-highways with crappy strip malls. The one gem I took away was the brilliant business idea of: Bikini Barristas. That's right. You go to a little hut, you order your latte, and the two girls inside are wearing Bikinis. I thought it was a one-off shop, but I saw several. Someone is taking Hooters to the coffee market. I like it.

It finally got pretty whenI hit 530NE. The scenery was stunning – ice-capped mountains, open fields, streams. Around 50-60 miles in, I decided to take a break. There was a river and a little road that went down to it. I pulled off , unclipped my left food, and immediately fell over. It hurt. I mean, I wasn't moving, but my bike is all heavy and I wasn't used to it. I recovered quickly and walked down the path that was littered with signs that said 'No trespassing' and 'Private Property'. Eh, whatever.

I took a rest in the shade and put on sunscreen – something I forgot to do in the morning. That was really, really stupid. By mid-day the sun was hot and bright and killing my arms and shoulders. I sat by the river for a bit – it was gorgeous. I had a snack.

The next 25 miles were gorgeous. I took a few pictures, but mainly stayed on the road. The road was pretty smooth, lots of ups and downs. I felt pretty good, but the sun started hurting my shoulders and my ass was starting to hurt. I took another break in Darrington, got some water, a diet coke, and some string cheese. I met a woman who was on a bike ride and talked to her. My phone had lost signal.

The rest of the ride just got more and more gorgeous, and my ass was hurting more and more. And my shoulders, too. I rolled into Rockport and got to my little motel around 4PM. With my 1 hour break, getting lost, and my ass, I made pretty good time.

Showered, washed my clothes, and went to the restaurant at the RV/campground I am staying at. I had a salad and a veggie burger. It was like 5:30 when I ate dinner. I talked to some guy and he said that the road through the park to my next destination is pretty hilly, so I figured I should start early. Plus, the heat won't be as bad then. I'm hoping to start riding around 6am. Sun rises here at likd 4:30 and sets at like 10PM. It's crazy since it's so North.

At dinner, I grabbed some maps since there is no internet or cell service for me to map tomorrow. It was weird to sit in a restaurant and eat alone. I know the roads I'm going on, but I'm a little nervous that I don't have a place to stay. I'm assuming I will be able to find one in either Winthrop or Twisp, WA. Twisp is about 10 miles farther, so if I feel good, I will shoot to make it there. I'm not sure how I will feel or how hard the inclines will be.

Some thoughts on day 1: not wearing sunscreen is stupid. I need to make sure I have enough water – I went through 3 bottles and I'm still drinking. I'm hardly peeing at all. Breaks are good to take. I need to figure out a way to make my ass hurt less. Staying somewhere without internet sucks. I can't download more NPR podcasts, can't map the next day, can't get a hotel for the next day, etc. I should snack more during the ride. I still need to figure out how to work my handheld GPS.

End of Kili/London - 6/20-6/22

2009-07-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

The hike down the last day was pretty uneventful. We woke up, had our ritual hot drink in the tent, breakfast, and then delivered the tips to everyone. It was a really fun ceremony. 26 staff in all helped us up the mountain: 3 guides, one cook, assistant cook, and then 21 various porters in charge of carrying our stuff, setting up the toilet tent, setting up our living tents, etc. We called their names individually and then gave them their individual tips. After, they sang and danced for us, we packed up, and hiked down the rest of the mountain.

The four hours or so we hiked down the mountain was really pleasant. We quickly moved into the rainforest eco system, which is gorgeous. I got to talk to Lenore a lot, which was nice. The strenuous days were fun, but it was hard to really talk to people that much.

We finished up, took some pictures, had a beer and lunch, and headed back to the hotel.

That night, we had dinner at the hotel after we all took very long and much needed showers. 6 days without showering may be a record for me. The shower felt awesome. I think we all felt very pretty after getting clean. We also had our 'Certificates' delivered. Apparently, a certificate saying that you summited Kilimanjaro is very important to prove that you actually did it. Whenever we told people that we summited, the locals would ask 'did you get your certificate?' Thank god, we did.

The next day, Kim and I slept in, Bea went to fly to Spain, and the rest of the group went off on their Safari. Kim and I just relaxed in Arusha, caught up with email, and got ready for our long journey the next day.

6/22

Kim and I woke up at around 6:30am for our bus ride from Arusha to Nairobi. I will keep details minimal for this long day of travel. It went something like this:

8am-3PM LONG bus ride from Arusha to Nairobi. Dirty, bumpy, uncomfortable, hot.

3PM-10PM: layover in Nairobi for flight to London

10PM-5AM: Flight from Nairobi to Paris

5AM-10AM: Layover in Paris

10AM-10:15AM (time change): Flight to London

When I got to London I said farewell to Kim (and happy birthday!) since she still had to go from London to Chicago, then from Chicago to Texas. I took the train in to London, met Karen at her work for lunch, then went to her house in Greenwich.

My time in London was lovely. I hung out, got some sleep, ran, tried to make some calls, and went out with Zlatin. It was good to relax before heading to Mykonos....

Day 5: Post-Summit

2009-06-24T03:27:00.000-07:00

Day 5, Part 2:

I was passed out in my tent for a few hours, grunting at people when they came to say hi to me. My head was in so much pain. I tried to sip water, but didn't get very far without feeling more sick. I really just wanted to sleep there until the next morning. And it wasn't even noon.

MK tried to help by bringing me some water with rehydration salts or something fancy like that. Meant for severe dehydration, which I figured I probably had or was pretty close to. I took a sip of that disgusting elixir and was immediately dragging myself to the entrance to the tent to throw up more. One of the porters came over when he saw me vomiting outside the tent (all water at this point). He wanted to bring me tea. I wanted to die.

I curled back up in my tent for a while longer and MK came over with special orders for me. I was getting up, taking my things, Peter was going to start walking me down the mountain, and she would finish packing my things. Shockingly, I responded to her instructions by following them.

Peter and I started hiking down the mountain. Before we left camp, I was stopped by 3 forty-something gentlemen who were going to summit the following day. "Did you just summit?" why yes, several hours ago. They asked if I had done so in my shorts and running shoes. Oh, they were woefully unprepared for what was ahead of them. It's freezing on that mountain at night. They were leaving at midnight, like we had, and were starting to get nervous. I fueled their paranoia by telling them about my vomiting, hallucinating, etc. They looked concerned.

Peter and I started the hike and soon Godbless joined us. We made small talk - mainly about hiking, biking, traveling, Africa, etc. We stopped at about 4000M at a camp site and I bought Godbless, Peter and myself cokes. I managed to scrape together enough money - a dollar, some Tanzanian shillings, Kenyan shillings, and a pound. Cokes are highly overpriced at 13,000 feet. Some boys who we had met a few days earlier asked where my crew was. I told them that they let me go early since I couldn't stop throwing up. The coke was amazing. It killed my headache (probably the caffeine - I hadn't had my coffee). Peter and I left Godbless, who decided to wait for the rest, and continued hiking.

Peter and I got to camp around 5PM, so the hike down took us like 4 hours. I felt so much better at 3000M. It was really amazing how the altitude affected me and then decreasing altitude made me feeling immediately better.
About an hour after I made it to camp, MK showed up. She had ditched the group because she was feeling ill from the sun. About an hour after MK showed up, the rest of the group rolled in. Alannah was still hurting - her back injury kept her pace a little slower. Lenore and Kim had felt nauseous on the way down the mountain. Julia was feeling better in the lower altitude. I greeted them - they were pleased to have me acting like a human being again.

We had our tea, peanuts, and popcorn and started figuring out what we were going to tip our crew. Tipping is customary for the trip and it's done in a public ceremony of sorts the final morning. We wanted to make sure we recognized the crew, especially those who had personal impact on us. MK wanted to give extra to the chef for dealing with her Gluten issue. We all had strong connections to the guides and to the porters who set up our tents. So we used the guide that Duma Explorer gave us and tried to allocate tips to all 26 people.

We had our last dinner, which was followed by a "special treat" that was brought up to congratulate us for making the summit. Cake and wine! But the best part was the song that they sang when they presented the cake and wine. 'Cakey-o, cakey-o, cakey-o'. It was probably the funniest thing I had ever heard. It was also surprisingly delicious.

We had cake, wine, and went to bed. I felt so dramatically different than earlier in the day. It was awesome.

Day 5: The Summit

2009-06-23T01:56:00.000-07:00

Day 5

A note about altitude sickness

For the uninitiated, a quick note about altitude sickness. Altitude sickness is when people get sick when they increase altitude. Sickness can range from a mild headache to vomiting and blurred vision to as serious as Pulmonary Edema and Cerebral Edema. The final two are very serious and can lead to death. The thing about altitude sickness that's strange is that it affects people wildly differently and there is no way to tell how you will respond to altitude. It has nothing to do with your fitness level, overall health, or any other measures that are controllable. Often, it affects extremely fit people more severely than overweight, lethargic folks. For more on altitude sickness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness

As none of us had been much above 12,000 ft (except Lenore, who summited Cotopaxi last year), none of us had any idea how the altitude would affect us.

We were woken at 10:30PM and beckoned to the meal tent for tea, snacks, and to do final preparations for the climb. We all bundled up, but it wasn't that cold. I had a little water and a bit of a biscuit, but was feeling a little nauseous.

Around 11:30 we started assembling to leave. Godbless gave us a pep talk and we were introduced to two other guides who would be joining us for the summit. Between the 8 of us, we were carrying 6 bags. We decided to consolidate our stuff into 6 bags so help one another along when people started feeling sick. Also, three of the bags (MK, Bea, and mine) lacked waist straps so were much more difficult to carry. MK and Bea started without bags.

We all had our headlamps on and started walking, very slowly. Pole, pole. Godbless told us it would take 6 hours to reach the first peak, then another 2 hours to reach the summit, Uhuru peak. Many people stop at the first peak as it is almost as high as Uhuru Peak and when you get there, most people are pretty exhausted. I wasn't feeling 100% so I tried to get myself into a rhythm to pass the time - no one was really talking. The air is so thin that people were breathing heavily with our extremely slow pace. I started counting my footsteps - every hundred steps I would take a sip of water.

Everyone seemed to be doing ok after about 2 hours. We stopped for a break about once an hour, which was good to break things up. I was starting to feel more and more nauseous, to the point where I felt like I really needed to vomit. Julia was starting to feel a bit ill - her heartrate was very fast and she was concerned about it. She relinquished her bag and we all continued.

Over the next hour, I started to feel more and more nauseous. The rest of the group started feeling tired, too, and we started taking more breaks. We took a break and I finally threw up. All my energy gels and advil. Bummer. I kept my bag a bit longer, but was starting to feel really horrible. Everyone was trying to be supportive of one another, but I really couldn't talk. At the next break, i gave up my bag, and threw up more. I wanted to have control of my water, which is why I hadn't given up my bag, but I was starting to feel delirious.

Other people started feeling some pain. Alannah, who was the only one not on Diamox, hurt her back and was keeping a slower pace than the rest of us. Julia had a headache. Others had mild headaches. The altitude was clearly hitting me the hardest. I don't think people fully recognized how varied the responses to the altitude were. MK didn't feel a thing - she yelled some words of encouragement to all of us, trying to sych us up for the rest of the climb. Normally, that would have been great support for me. Since my head was about to explode, any noise just hurt.

We continued up the mountain moving slowly. I was behind Godbless since he was worried about my health. Lenore or Kim (not sure which one) asked me a question and I just said 'No talking'. I was hurting really badly. When we came to resting points, my eyes would close and I wanted to sleep.

While we were walking, my eyes started rolling back into my head. Godlbess was feeling the altitude, too, I think. He was swaying a bit in his footsteps and when we would come to resting points, he would almost collapse. After about four to five hours, we were nearing the first peak. Godbless said it would be about another hour. I threw up. Godbless told me we would only go to the first peak. I figured he would send me back at that point. I wasn't making much sense to him and I think I didn't look very good. I walked behind him and started seeing things. There was confetti coming off of his bag. How fun!

We continued with our slow walking. At one break, Lenore tried to feed me water. I took one of our coveted bottles of water from her and thought I was holding it, but then dropped it. I felt horrible. I was losing control of my normal body functions and dropped an entire Nalgene of water. Since some of the water sources had frozen, this was not good.

While we were walking, I tried to just get into my own zone. I counted my footsteps, focusing on just puting one foot in front of the other. It seemed like the hardest thing I had ever done. My head felt like it was going to explode. My arms were tingling. My eyes were rolling back into my head. I couldn't seem to stop vomiting. My vision was blurred, but when it wasn't, I started seeing things. As the sun rose and we were approaching the first peak, I started really hallucinating. There were cartoon rabbits and turtles. They were both green. They were very happy. The more the sun came up, the more certain rocks started glowing neon. I tried to avoid stepping on the neon rocks. I'm not sure why.

We got to the first peak and rested. We had made it to where most people turn back. We rested and Alannah showed up. At that point, I thought she had turned back. She hadn't - rockstar. I wasn't sure I could keep going. I asked Godbless how much further and he said a forty five minutes to an hour. Maybe I could do that. For some reason, I got up and just started walking. I guess others did soon after, because Godbless was soon with me. He wasn't walking in front of me anymore, he was beside me. We passed people as they were coming down from Uhuru Peak. Many in our group offered words of encouragement, I just stared blankly. Probably a little creepily, to be honest. I was staring a lot. I asked Godbless how much longer. He always said ten minutes.

Finally, I reached the summit. I was in an incredible amount of pain. I took out my camera and turned in a circle taking a picture of every angle from where I was standing.

The shadow of the mountain:

The glacier:

The sign:

I then decided I needed to get the hell off that mountain. Immediately, if not sooner. Lenore, Kim and two others had waited for Alannah so they could summit with her. I saw them approaching and took a picture. They looked like they were marching to war. Lenore came up and I told her I was getting off the mountain. She told me I had to stay for one group picture. I begrudgingly agreed.

After that, I just started walking off the mountain. And by walking, I mean a slow almost-run. Lenore sent Msuri after me. I was chasing the dream of feeling like a human being again. I was heavily incentivized.

I went as quickly as I could down that mountain, vomiting along the way. Toward the end, I was so weak I could barely walk. I couldn't believe how horrible I felt. I started getting nervous about permanent brain issues from my stupid decision to continue summiting.

I finally got to my tent at 4600M and passed out.

Day 4: Barranco to Barafu Camp, 6/17/2009

2009-06-23T01:45:00.000-07:00

Day 4

We woke up to morning coffee, sun, and cold. We wanted to leave by 8am as opposed to 8:30am, like we had the prior days, since our hike would be pretty considerable. Breakfast was the same, although, as we were preparing to leave by 8am, I left after porridge thinking that was it for the morning. I didn’t want to hold anyone up. I missed the eggs! Noting that I was gone, Bea made me a safety sandwich. Awesome. Bea is totally a team player.

It was warm again, so I stuck to my shorts and running shoes. I really thought that by day 4 I would be into the hiking boots and pants, but it didn’t seem necessary. Still, Godbless wanted to carry my pants and ski jacket just in case. So it goes. The challenge to Day 4 is the first part – the rock wall. It’s a scramble up terrain that requires using your hands to pull you up in some spots. It was fun, though, and we all managed the climb pretty easily.

After about an hour, we reached the top. The views were amazing. We took a few group shots and then, out of nowhere, a rainbow appeared. MK, still obsessed with her new camera, wanted to get a few shots of herself in front of the rainbow. I posed, too, for a rainbow shot. We all had some snacks (mainly chocolate), and hit the trail again.

It was a long hike to our lunch spot. We kept a good pace, but the terrain was up and down and rocky. Godbless and Peter kept telling us to sippy, sippy, so we did. At this point, we had become pretty close to the guys. We tried our best to learn some Swahili phrases – Asante (thank you), Karibu (you’re welcome). And we taught Peter ‘peanut’ in Spanish – Cacahuate. In our silliness, we would yell ‘Cacahuate!’ to be followed by ‘Paracheechee’ (avocado). It was entertaining at the time.

We finally got to our lunch spot and had our packed lunch. A few of our porters and our cook was there because they wanted to serve us soup. We had our lunch before heading to Barafu Camp. At lunch, we were told that it was the last water stop. At Barafu, the final camp before ascending Kilimanjaro, there is no water. We filled our water bottles to carry and the porters would carry as much as they could. We had become accustomed to pretty much as much water as we wanted, and were spoiled by hot water bottles at night that we used to keep us warm, the previous two nights.

The rest of the hike was exhausting. Day 4 seemed really long considering that we would be waking up at 10:30PM to start trying to summit at 11:30PM. We finally got to camp and I was exhausted.

Tea was served around 5PM, shortly after we arrived. I didn’t think we were being served dinner since we had to get up at 10:30PM and might want to sleep, but was told that dinner would be around 6PM. I was starting to feel a little nauseous and felt like sleep was more important than dinner, so I decided to pass on dinner. I went to sleep around 6PM and felt nervous about the challenge that was before us in just a few hours.

The success rate for people hiking Kilimanjaro on the 6-day route is around 60%, so, in a group of 8, it was normal to assume that 2-3 of us wouldn’t make it. It seemed like most of us were dealing with the altitude ok, but clearly I was nauseous enough to skip dinner after a day of 10 hours of activity. The other effect that I felt was that my personality seemed to be muted. I’m typically pretty excitable, hyper, energetic. I was a bit more moody, tired, and quiet. I noticed it in myself – I put my headphones on a few times during the hikes, which was rare for me.

The rest of the group had dinner, I went to bed to try to get some sleep before the big summit.

Day 3: Shira Camp to Lava Tower to Barranca Camp - 6/16/2009

2009-06-20T05:36:00.001-07:00

Day 3

We woke at 6:30am to the wake up call of Benson, the waiter who brings our morning beverage. It was cold, but the sun was out and I was excited to hike. My stomach hurt when I woke up. It iddn’t feel like anything new – ie, probably not altitude, but just normal indigestion. Day 3 would be an acclimation day – lots of up and down. We would go as high as 4630M at the Lava tower, but then descend to our camp at 3900M. The hike today would be long (about 15KM), have lots of ups and downs, and we would get a hot lunch.

Breakfast was the same as the day before – porridge (mainly water), eggs, sausage, bread, and some fruits. When we left breakfast, it was warm again, so I ditched the pants and stuck to my shorts. Godbless questioned this decision, so I let him carry my pants for me. Also, three of us were carrying bags without waist straps. MK had been given advice by someone who had hiked the entire Appalacian Trail and approved her bag. The bag was way too small and didn’t have a waist strap, so that advice was not very good for our purposes. As such, the guides took some of the stuff from the three of us (me, MK, and Bea) who had no waist straps on our bags. The weight without the waist strap was felt entirely on our backs, which was starting to hurt.

We headed out of camp and up a dry path toward the mountain. The incline was moderate, and we kept a slow pace. Peter led us keeping the pace slow. They kept telling us ‘Pole Pole’ (slowly, slowly). Increasing altitude too quickly is not good, so whenever we went up, we kept the pace slow. After the first day, I followed the pace of the guide. I knew the altitude on the first day was altitude that I had run at before. After 3000M, it was a level that I had never been to before. I had read about altitude sickness before the hike, so I respected the severity of the challenges, danger, and randomness of altitude sickness. I had no idea how my body would react to altitude. I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, but altitude sickness is completely random. I knew cold would be an issue for me, I knew my lungs are strong so can handle oxygen deprivation, but other than that, I had no idea how my body would respond.

After a few hours, we reached our hot lunch. My stomach was still hurting me. I had packed a ‘safety sandwich’ in the morning when I wasn’t able to eat much, but I hadn’t touched it. The lunch was a curried vegetable and some soup (also curry). I didn’t think it was a good idea to put that stuff in my already troubled stomach, so I stuck to my safety sandwich – a less risky peanut butter and honey. No one was feeling too horrible due to the altitude yet, which is pretty good. Some of us had mild headaches (mine came in the morning), but we were all popping advil about twice a day as a preventative measure. Also, all of us, minus Alannah, who is allergic to sulfur, were on Diamox, a drug that helps with altitude. It’s unclear how diamox helps – apparently it just increases your threshold a bit. You can’t completely erase the effects of altitude, so diamox just helps you to handle a bit more than your body would normally be able to handle.

After lunch, we continued the hike. After about an hour, we hit the Lava Tower, our highest point thusfar at 4600M. It was cold there. I finally succumbed and asked Godbless for my Gortex pants. I hated the Goretex pants. First, I like having my legs free. Second, I had let someone borrow my Goretex pants and when I came to get them back for the hike, she mistakenly gave me her Goretex pants. These just didn’t fit me right. Too short, fell off me, they were just not comfortable. Anyway, we took some pictures at the Lava Tower, met some other hikers who were staying there to acclimate for a night, and went on with our hike.
We hiked another 2 hours, mainly downhill into the valley, with great views of the rock walls. We were all getting pretty tired by the end of this hike. It was a long day. About halfway in, I shed the Goretex pants, which made me way more comfortable. We finally reached our camp around 4:30PM and settled into our tents.

We had the same nightly routine – tea, break, dinner, and then shivering cold, we went to bed. A day full of hiking was making us all tired so going to bed at 9:30 seemed totally normal.

Day 2: Machame to Shira Camp - 6/15/2009

2009-06-20T05:28:00.000-07:00

Day 2

We woke up at 6am to a porter at our tent door bringing us our morning beverage (for me, coffee, obvi). For the record, before we left Arusha, I insisted to Stacy that she make sure they pack equipment for making real coffee, not the instant kind. Having your coffee brought to your tent is sort of awesome. I was excited to start the day. I got up, went to the bathroom, and saw that we had a great view of the mountain (the day before it was too cloudy from the rain to see the mountain). It was incredible. It seemed so far from where we were. I couldn’t believe that we would be going up to the top of it.

After we had our coffee in our tents, we got dressed and went out for breakfast. Breakfast was porridge, eggs, sausage, and bread. And, of course, more hot beverages. When we went into the tent for breakfast, it was still cold. By the time we had eaten, the sun was out and the day was warming up. I stripped down a layer to my shorts and running shoes for the hike.

The start of the hike was gorgeous. The weather was warm and sunny, we all were enjoying the warmth and the view. After about 2 hours of hiking, we stopped to take some pictures of the view. A few model shots on the rocks, Kim falling off the mountain (posed), and some scenery shots. As with the day before, our porters passed us soon after we started hiking. They were quick and wanted to get to the next camp to set up for us.

After a few hours, the sun faded quickly to fog and misty rain. We arrived at our lunch site and sat for lunch. We had carried our packed lunch with us – fried chicken, a hard boiled egg, a chocolate bar, orange, and sandwich. The birds circled around us hoping to get some food, so we kept all of our trash in our lunch sacks. After lunch, we started hiking again. It was considerably colder than when we started and my hands were freezing. I have a somewhat common ailment – Raynaud’s disease, where my hands and feet (fingers and toes) freeze quickly due to poor circulation and have a hard time warming up(http://sclero.org/medical/symptoms/raynauds/a-to-z.html) As such, my hands had frozen during the short break and I started running around to get some circulation to them. I threw on my headphones and gloves and jogged while we started hiking. It’s frustrating and the cold was something I feared coming onto the mountain. When I lose feeling in my hands, it’s frustrating and hard to reverse.

After about 45 minutes, my hands had feeling again. The hike was foggy and misty, the terrain had changed from the day before. No longer were we in the rainforest, we were in the moorland, much drier, less green and lush. The hike was over moderate inclines, not too exhausting. After about 2-3 more hours, we arrived at our camp. It was about 2:30PM. Pretty early, and many of us still had energy and wanted to look around more. The mist and fog had cleared away and it was finally sunny and warm. We all tried to jaunt off for a hike, but they wanted to serve us tea. Bea and I broke away and started hiking, but eventually one of the porters came to ‘help’ us, since we had wandered into the swamp. I was frustrated because I just wanted to explore a little, but the guides and porters didn’t want to leave us alone. We succumbed and came back for the tea.

After tea, we took naps, got into warmer clothes, and got ready for dinner. Again, the temperature got super cold once the sun started going down. At 3900M, the camp was colder than the night before. Dinner was similar to the night before – soup, rice, vegetables, bread, and pepper steak. After dinner, we had more warm beverages. Liquids are a huge part of surviving the altitude increases, so they try to inundate us with fluids all the time. While we hike, Peter is constantly saying ‘Sippy, Sippy’, encouraging us to drink our water.

Exhausted from the day, we all went to our tents to go to sleep around 9:30PM.

Day 1: Drive to Machame gate, hike to 3000M - 6/14/2009

2009-06-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Day 1

Today we started our Kilimanjaro climb. We were picked up at our hotel at 9am for the drive from Arusha to Kilimanjaro. We had two jeeps for the eight of us. On the drive, we stopped at what looked like a normal mini mart, but also doubled as a strip joint (or some derivation of one). We all got snacks and last purchases before we wouldn’t be able to get anything for six days. The drive took about an hour, then we turned down a dirt road that led to the Machame route (or Whiskey Route, which apparently references the views – ie. You feel drunk from the beauty, or something like that).

We got to Machame gate and met our third guide, Peter. Peter is the step brother of Stacey, who owns/runs the company that we used for our trip, Duma Explorer (www.dumaexplorer.com) . She is American and met her husband, who is Tanzanian, here about 9 years ago when she was here doing an HIV project (her first job). Peter is adorable and very western-looking, as are our other two guides, Godbless and Msuri. I didn’t believe Godbless’s name when Msuri first told us his name. Godbless? Really? Apparently, he goes by God for short, no joke. He doesn’t like that, so clearly I only called him ‘God’. As I told him, Godbless? Your parents must have had high hopes.

It’s raining and we all sign the book at the Machame gate with our names, ages, where we live, who our guides are, etc. Apparently, it’s illegal to go up without a guide, and permits to hike are extremely expensive. We all get our lunches, take a few snapshots, and start hiking. Today’s hike is supposed to be about 6 hours, through the rainforest, from 1250M to 3000M (times 3.3 to get to feet). We all start and the pace is very slow. Clearly I can’t handle the slow pace, so MK and I go a little faster (but not fast at all). Despite protests from our guides, we finally break away from the group. I hadn’t run in like 2 days, so I needed to burn some energy.

MK and I continue up through the rainforest and our porters pass us one by one. For our group of 8, we had a total of 26 staff with us. Our head guide, Msuri; our guide, Godbless; Assistant Guide, Peter; Cook, assistant cook, and a slew of porters to carry our stuff, set up our tents, etc. We thought the number of porters seemed high, but it’s really necessary for all of the stuff we need, including all food for the 6 days. MK and I stopped every 45 minutes for 15 minutes to let the group catch up, but we had made too much ground. Soon, Godbless caught up with us and made us slow down.

After about 3-4 hours, we made it to camp. There were a few other hikers in the midst, including a couple from the UK. Our porters greeted us enthusiastically, which was adorable. Our camp had 4 tents, 2 people each, a tent for the porters, one for the guides, a ‘toilet tent’ (basically a patio chair with a hole in it and a bag to catch the goods – amazing), and our dining tent. It was really a lot nicer than I had expected. MK and I took a tent together, since we were the first to arrive, did some nominal washing in the warm water they gave us, and waited for the others. Everyone else arrived about 45 minutes later. As the sun started going down, it started getting really cold, but the rain stopped.

Shortly after the rest of the group arrived, it was time for tea. We went into the dining tent and had tea, hot chocolate, and popcorn. It was great. We soon discovered that they wanted to feed us liquids as often as possible. After tea, it was soon time for dinner. Dinner was soup, rice, vegetables, and tilapia. Since I don’t eat fish, I just had the rest. MK, who doesn’t eat gluten, was given a bunch of separate stuff. They were great about accommodating her allergy. Kim, who doesn’t eat anything but meat, filled up on the Tilapia.

After dinner, more tea and hot chocolate, then we all went to bed. It was freezing. It really gets cold on the mountain at night, but we curled up into our sleeping bags. We would get up the next morning at 6am.

The filthy busride from Nairobi to Arusha - 6/13/2009

2009-06-20T04:55:00.001-07:00

6/13/2009
We left the Fairview hotel in Nairobi today at 7:30am for our trip to Arusha, where we would stay the night before starting our climb. The Fairview hotel was a wonderful hotel – Kim and I even got room service when we got there late in the night. The bus was pretty nice – nicer than we expected. Then again, we thought we had the whole bus to ourselves, and we were wrong. We drove into town where we picked up about 10 other Americans and they moved all the luggage to the roof. The drive was long – there was road construction on about 30% of the roads we drove on, so we couldn’t get going very quickly. It wasn’t air conditioned, so we kept the windows open, but then when we went through the construction parts, the dirt was blinding.
Once we hit Tanzania, we had to get out to get our passports stamped for leaving Kenya, then we had to purchase a Tanzanian Visa. You walk about 200 meters from one post to another. In that time, we were harassed a bit and one guy managed to almost steal my Ipod. Alannah caught him, I had absolutely no clue.
When we got to the Visa area, it was completely jammed with people. It must be the time of day when all the tour buses from Nairobi that leave at 8am hit there, it was clearly the once-a-day rush. We waited in line for about an hour, then paid $100 for our Visa, showed them our Yellow Fever card, and then they took our passports. We waited about 15 minutes as they disappeared with our passports. When they returned they just yelled ‘Americans?’ we rushed over, took our passports and headed out. The hour + process resulted in the most ghetto Visa I have ever seen – a stamp, with ‘$100 paid USD Visa Multiple entry’ written next to it. Like, just writing was the Visa.

The rest of the ride was pretty uncomfortable. The roads were under construction and dirty – when we finally got to Arusha (around 3pm), we could wipe the filth off every part of our bodies.
Once in Arusha, we proceeded to our hotel, the Jacaramba, got our rooms, and then met our guide and assistant guide for a debrief. He went over the daily itinerary, what we still needed in terms of equipment and gear, and what to expect. They were very by the book. I had read that I could just hike in my running shoes up until it got really cold (like the 4th day), but they insisted I had to hike in my hiking shoes. I resisted a little and everyone knew I would do what I wanted anyway. Then, Stacy, the owner of Duma, the venture company, came and talked to us. She was a white woman, probably mid to late 30s, who started Duma Explorer 9 years ago with her husband, who’s Tanzanian. She’s originally from Texas, but clearly fell in love with a man and decided to make a life here. I asked her the same question about my running shoes and she said I could totally wear my shoes up until the summit day (which is what she does). Yes!
After the debrief, the assistant guide came and checked my gear. I was all good. He was concerned about my hiking boots, though, since they weren’t really boots. But they should be fine. I wanted to wear my running shoes for the first few days, but the guides said that was a no-go. When Stacy arrived, she said that was totally fine. I pretty much want to wear running shoes and shorts for as much of the hike as possible. I realized that I may or may not have sent Stacy my information card (unclear). She only seemed moderately aware that I was a vegetarian, and I clearly was not listed for any rentals (definitely need the sleeping bag and poles). We scheduled to meet in the morning at 9am. Bea was still waiting for her bag to arrive. Through “networking” she managed to get two girls who did the leadership venture to leave her a bag of their hiking stuff so she didn’t have to bring anything (I think she was already traveling when she decided to join us). Amazing.
We had dinner at the hotel in different shifts . As I was eating my salad, I was reminded that the vegetables are washed with the water and that I would probably get sick. Awesome!
I’m excited to get this started. Tomorrow, we hike 18 KM and increase our elevation from 1,250M to 3,000M.

London to Nairobi, 6/12/2009

2009-06-20T04:33:00.000-07:00

6/12/2009
Kim and I flew from London to Nairobi today, with a stopover in Paris. I left Karen’s place in Greenwich at 3am, got to the airport at about 4am, and our flight was at 7:30am. I left so early because of the Tube strike, since it took me seven hours to get from the airport to Karen’s house when I landed.
The flight from London to Paris was uneventful, the flight from Paris to Nairobi was actually fantastic because it was basically me, Kim and 70 members of a non-denominational church in South Carolina. They were coming to help build a school (and spread the word). Upon landing in Nairobi, we had to fill out a health information sheet, a Visa application, and a landing card. The Visa was $25 for single entry (although, we thought we were buying multiple entry). The entire process took about an hour, but only because of inefficiency. You can expedite the process by getting the Visa ahead of time, but we didn’t do that.
Once we got our bags, we left the baggage area and found our driver, who was waiting with a sign with our names on it. He drove us to the Fairview Hotel, which was quaint, but nice. We basically got in, ordered room service, called our friends, who had arrived at about 3am, did some emailing, then went to bed. We set the alarm for 6am for our 7:30am departure time.

Wine Wharf, London

2009-06-11T03:04:00.000-07:00

We went to the Wine Wharf (http://www.winewharf.co.uk/) last night to meet up with some of MK and my friends in the London area. I didn't sleep on the flight and only got in about an hour nap, so I was pretty tired. My cure: wine. Obviously. I indulged in a white wine flight, which was basically my version of perfection.

For those who are interested (read: Neil), the details of the wines are listed to the left. The Chilean Sauvignon Blanc was fantastic, as to be expected. I feel like I've been leaning toward Chilean Sauvignon Blancs lately, when a reasonable New Zealand Sauv Blanc isn't available. I had a wonderful one in Boston with Katyhat. In addition to the wine, we had cheese, olives, nuts, and salad. It was amazing. I got to meet MK's friends from Hong Kong - a wonderful group of badass, irreverant women in finance. We're staying with her friend, Karen, in Greenwich, who works in derivatives at HSBC, does triathlons, and ran to work yesterday. Awesome.

After the Wine Wharf, we took the ferry home, which was wonderful.

MK leaves today for Africa, I leave VERY early tomorrow morning. Until then, I rest, get over jet lag, and eat fantastic british chocolates.

London Town

2009-06-10T06:33:00.000-07:00

I left Boston yesterday at 2:34PM, was delayed at Dulles by 2 hours, and finally got off the ground to London around 8PM. I didn't sleep at all on the flight, despite the free cocktail all passengers received for the delay. However, I did watch two movies: He's Just Not that Into You (for the second time, sucker for romantic comedies) and The Reader (twisted, sad, hot).
I arrived in London at 7:30AM to the Tube strike. I had prepared (read: MK had set up my travel arrangements to be prepared), so I was scheduled on a bus to Canary Wharf, where I would grab the Docklands Light Rail to Greenwich, where MK's friend lives. Due to the strike and the rain, traffic was ridic. It took me about the exact amount of time it took me to fly to London from Dulles to get from Heathrow to Greenwich. I made some friends, including the driver, who is an avid runner and former inhabitant of New Zealand, and the two other passengers who spoke English (a woman from Chicago who works for Northern Trust, and a British bloke who works for a Med Device company). Regardless, the whole ordeal was exhausting.
In Greenwich with MK, her friend's house is adorable, I need a nap very badly, and we are meeting people for cocktails at 6:30PM. Back on the horse. I remember that I love London - charming, character-filled, cute accents. I'm deciding what to do from the 22nd to the 25th and London is starting to look more appealing. I will take pictures tonight. Until then, I'm safe in London and looking forward to 2 days of rest before heading to Nairobi on Friday.

T-24 Hours

2009-06-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

I created this 'blog' to document my travels for the Summer after graduating from Wharton with my MBA, the summer of 2009. My travel schedule is as follows:

Jun 9-June 12: London, UK
June 12-June 14: Nairobi, Kenya
June 14-June 21: Climb Kilimanjaro
June 21-June 22: Nairobi, Kenya
June 22-June 25: TBD
June 25-July 1: Mykonos Island, Greece
July 1-July 13: Boston, DC, Philadelphia, NYC (downtime)
July 13-July 18: Seattle, WA
July 18-August 31: Bike across the country - Seattle to DC

I felt like posting all of my updates on Facebook was too imposing on others, so to fuel my self-importance (and document this once-in-a-lifetime summer), I decided to just do it all in one place. I will likely include daily random thoughts, pictures, advice, etc.

CP