Day 6 - So I hear good things about Idaho.

Spokane, Washington to Sandpoint, Idaho

Today was a definite contender for the most beautiful scenery so far. The morning began with a fantastic meal by the Gonzaga cafeteria (where Ane stuffed a few extra pancakes in her jersey for the road) and then we rode out of down in a huge paceline with at least two dozen people, which was really fun. Of course a handful of us stopped for espresso (thank you Bob, so kind of you), and we were off to enjoy the last of Washington. I met up with Ane a couple of times today, which was so wonderful. Our lead into Idaho was extraordinary, truly. It was like the northwoods of Minnesota but on mountains.



The day FLEW by, and we covered 75 miles in about 4 ½ hours, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I also mastered the technique of shooting pictures on the bike, which I feel will be essential. We cruised into Sandpoint, ID before 1:00 and walked down into town to eat at the nice little Hydra (or Hydrant in Tom’s words) Restaurant, and then of course stopped for the town specialty: huckleberry shakes. Even I had one, and they were delicious. I feel like I’m eating so much for this ride, but the guys on this trip are seriously devouring as much as they physically can. The quote I loved after we finished lunch was, “Well we’ve got to go get those shakes because we have dinner in an hour.”

Local News Article

Liz and Ane made the front page of the sports section in the Post-Bulletin, which is Rochester, Minnesota's local Newspaper! Check out the article here.

Day 5 - Resting in Spokane.

Spokane, Washington

Lovely, lovely rest day today. I slept in to a late 6:30 this morning, after waking up at 4:30, 5:00, 5:30.... But it still felt good. We went out to breakfast at a tiny little diner with one woman of incredible talent managed the long bar table by herserlf, taking orders, making the greasy greasy eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and pancakes, taking checks, and all the while telling us about her hometown New Orleans. It was pretty impressive. After a walk to the bike shop and the local Safeway to load up on fruit, I came back to the dorms for a while to work on blogging. A professional masseuse was coming in for extremely discounted massages, and when a spot opened up, I took it. $35 for an hour, and with my mother’s encouragement had a relaxing afternoon. It was so necessary, and worked out all the muscle knots and a nerve I’d been having problems with.

I’ve definitely discovered that the best thing to do on a rest day or long evening is to walk around and stretch out the legs. After a breif thunderstorm, a bunch of us went out to a Mexican restaurant and then crashed for the night.

Day 4 - The espresso team.

Odessa, Washington to Spokane, Washington



Day 4 began with some great egg bake and fruit at the cafeteria, and we were off for a beautiful morning of riding. That’s definitely my favorite part of the day, the morning. The rolling hills we had forecasted for us were certainly rolling, up and down, up and down. We rolled into a little town called Harrington where hit up the post office and the general store for coffee and good old cream soda. Riding on we had a great paceline going at 18-20 mph until we hit Davenport. After an espresso stop we were ready for the long gradual 9 mile climb as noted on our cue sheet. As it turned out, the gradual climb was easy peasy with a tail wind at probably an average 18 mph, not to mention that the shoulder was HUGE and smooooooth and totally clean. It was fantastic.



From that point we began to hit some city traffic outside of Spokane. The directions were a little confusing, and at one point we weren’t entirely sure we were on the right road when we began a couple of mile huge descent. All I could think of was that this sure as heck better be right because there was no way I would want to go back up it. We were looking for a road called Artiole, and when we couldn’t find it we gave up and had lunch at a sub place. Turns out that Artiole wasn’t a road, but a road that kind of detours. With the help of locals we found the Gonzaga Jesuit college we were staying at, with sweet dorm rooms. It feels good to be in a real building, and not having to set-up our tents. Fantastic pizza, a glass of wine, and breaking into our own locked room late, we fell asleep on mattresses.



Tomorrow: Rest Day. Stay Tuned. Pictures coming soon. My brother freaking rocks. He made my website look great.

Day 3 - Ridin' with the boys.

Vantage, Washington to Odessa, Washington

The day began crossing that beautiful blue lake on a massive bridge and up an immediate 1.8 mile climb. I got some good pictures, and the morning was crisp and refreshing. The climb was a piece of cake, though it was immediately following the largest and greasiest breakfast we could have asked for at the restaurant, and Iron Mike gave me some good tips on my pedal stroke. By the end of the days I had sore muscles that I hadn’t used before, including my abs and sides. On the way up we took a pit-stop at the Wild Horses Monument, a striking display of bronze horse statues on a ridge with a scenic overlook to the lake and bridge beneath us. I allowed some pictures of myself this time so that people could see I was actually there. I have found it very difficult to take a lot of pictures. I wouldn’t have a problem stopping to take pictures, but I never think to do so. I guess I just get wrapped up in the ride and what I am seeing around me, and I feel like the attraction of the landscape that it is so huge and surrounds you and that a picture wouldn’t nearly capture it. When other people stop to take pictures, I take some as well, but I’m going to have to try to work on that.



Today was a more challenging day for me. Everyone told me that Day 1 would be the hardest, and Day 2 would be the second hardest, but I found Day 3 to be much harder because I was tired and sore. We stopped this morning for espresso, which was a nice treat. Our ride took us through more brownlands, and then through some farmland. It was bizarre for me to look to my right and see desert land with brush and then to look to my left and see lush green rows of farmlands. Any green I saw I knew was heavily watered and irrigated, and it blew my mind to think of how much water it took to support these communities and where it all came from. Apparently the water was all fuelled from the Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia River roughly 50 miles north of us. Unbelievable. I keep wondering what it’s like to wake up every morning to this scenery.



I think the best part of this day was that each field was clearly labeled with a green road sign as POTATOES, CARROT SEED, ASPARAGUS, etc. etc. It was great. Minnesota doesn’t have those, though they’d all be CORN, WHEAT, and SOY BEANS. It became a pretty hot day today, though I hesitate to use that label because I know it will only get hotter and more humid as we go. I was hydrated enough, but felt a little weary. We stopped again about 15 miles from the end to do a little off-roading on a gravel road to find some shade alongside a barnish building. After eating, the effect was close to immediate as far as energy went, and I’ll have to remember in the future to eat more than I think I need.

The group of people I’ve been riding with is all guys, and I think that my brother would approve of the clip we’ve maintained. We’ll ride at a good pace, and then stop when we want to for espresso or fresh fruit (though we found no peaches today at the peach farm), the energy is high, we get some good pace lines going, and we just have fun. It’s great because all of the guys I ride with are about a foot taller than me, which of course means that I make a poor wake myself but receive an awesome draft from everyone else. The great thing about the actual riding aspect of this group is that people are all over the place. Some are young, some are old, some are super speedy, some are much more relaxed, some people go and go and go, some people stop all the time, some people want good conversation, some people want a good pace, and no matter how you ride there can be people around you. Often the group I’ve been riding with are in pace lines or in a fashion where conversation is limited, but I LOVE it. I love the physical part of cycling, the feeling of the road, the feeling of the bike and my muscles. I can definitely feel my body transforming already from the cycling.

The last few miles our group rode alongside the Dimmitt’s, the married couple Greg and Trish who are riding the Crew’s only tandem this year. The poor guys can’t exactly stand up on their rig, and I can not imagine how sore they are from that. But it was really fun to talk to them, and they were good company on the hills (which I fall behind on until I reach the top where the guys are waiting for me). Finally we rolled into Odessa, WA around 2:15, a small, small town. Everyone was a little more weary than the previous afternoons, but it didn’t take too long for people to cheer up as we relaxed. We stayed at a high school athletic field, with meals catered by the cafeteria, which were surprisingly good. We found some ice cream at a local shop, and got stood up by some locals at a park for a volleyball game, though we got our fill from the park swings. It was a lovely night, with a great sunset too.

Day 2 - The WA desert.

Easton, Washington to Vantage, Washington

I had no idea that Washington was so desert-ous. The first day was what I expected: pines and snow-capped mountains. Today our landscape drastically changed. Within 20 seconds of hopping on the bike this morning my toes and fingers lost feeling, and someone later informed me that the temperature was down to 35 degrees (which I’m so glad I didn’t know at the time). It didn’t take too long to warm up, and we had a pleasant rural ride through valley ranches and the such. Tiny towns, cute, and I even saw a cowboy hat or two. I rode with a couple of different groups today, and for the first part of the day we rode on a beautiful stretch along a river ridge. Far below us, it was bittersweet for sure. The river was of decent size, with a swift current and many rapids. It was a strange feeling because I wanted to be paddling it desperately, but cycling alongside of it had its own delights.

Before long, our terrain became brown, brown, and brown. Though contrasted with the brilliant blue sky, it was an awesome contrast. All of the sudden we came upon a Best Western and every kind of fast food joint you could think of, which felt so absurd that in the middle of nowhere here this whole city can exist. About six of us walked into a Subway, and were happy to sponsor us a meal when I asked. I think that will be the key to our lunch stops: it doesn’t hurt to ask for an alternative to PB&J sandwiches.



We picked up a bit of a headwind on our way up a looooooong gradual ascent today, in the heat and sun, but we were having a good time. We kept on expecting the next turn to take us into the summit, but it just kept going and going and going. Finally when we reached the summit and the long descent, it was so anti-climactic as we still had to pedal against the wind; when we should have been flying we were averaging around 20 mph. But when it comes down to it, it didn’t really matter because we were enjoying ourselves. Our cue sheets pointed out a Petrified Forest about 2.5 miles from camp, which was “worth the look about.” So we got there, locked our bikes up, started the trek up the ridge, and came upon the first two holes in the ground with fossilized tree stumps. We had a good laugh, decided we’d had our fill, opted not for the “interpretative trail” hike, said our thanks for stretching out our legs, and hopped back on the bikes.

Camp was at Vantage Riverstone Campground with a pool, laundry, store, and cafe, in the middle of nowhere again. A river had been dammed up to form a beautiful blue lake against the brown terrain, and later, the radiant skyscape. All day today, the clouds in the sky were just gorgeous, and just got better and better as the sun went down. We got into camp around 2:30, cleaned some bikes, took some showers, ate some watermelon, played some cards, and had a dinner catered for us at the restaurant (spaghetti of course), and went to bed.

Day 1 - Out of Seattle.

Seattle, Washington to Easton, Washington

Well, well...what a day! Day One of our adventure found us milling around on a Seattle waterfront park at 7 a.m. During a brief ceremony where we handed over a check for $350,000 to the ALAW, it was a glorious cause and accomplishment, but I’m sure the majority of us were just antsy and itching to get out on the road. I was more nervous I’m sure than I was able to fully acknowledge at the time, but I was certainly was anxious. It was so nice to have my brother and father there for the whole thing, to hold our bikes, take pictures, send us off with all support and confidence. Having them and Ane there, and speaking to my mom on the phone, was grounding.

Finally we were off, and it was CRAZY. Our cue sheets with directions were 3 pages long with a million close left and right turns. It was so all over the place that I could barely glance at the sheet anyways. Fortunately there were a group of former big riders with us for the day to help guides us, which got us through the city (not without some off-roading still). There was a lot of adrenaline running through the group as we were going through the city, winding through bike paths, across the huge windy bridge, and past traffic. That was honestly the most “city riding” I’d ever done, I’ve been so spoiled with country road training around Ypsi/Ann Arbor and Rochester. It was fun though, and things started to wind down when we left the city. We had a climb to Susquihana Falls, where we all stopped for lunch and a photoshoot. From there I found myself riding with a Former Rider, Will, which was really good conversation as well as assurance as he offered me stories and advice from his own experience. Already I can tell that this experience will be flooded with inspiring people; every person I talked to today has such stories and perspectives. Honestly, what kind of person rides his/her bike across the country?

Next challenge of today’s ride was a climb up Dennis Road to beautiful pass, and then the glorious descent. The climb up was on small road through the forest, and the descent was on I-90, which I was grateful to have Will lead and point out hazards for me. Our group slashed through a field of crap on the shoulder at one point, little metal disks, which left many people with their first flat of the trip. We figured that some avenging motorist had thrown them on the road and was chuckling behind a tree as we road through one by one at 30-35 mph.





Camp was at Easton State Park, which was wonderful to stay at a real campground, what I think of as “camping” for our first night. All of our tents were nestled into the sites in the trees. A bunch of Former Riders met us there to cook-out for us, burgers and veggie burgers with salad and pasta, beer, juice and soda. We were spoiled.

Big Ride Kickoff

The Big Ride is officially underway! The group of riders met Monday morning at Stan Sayers Park in Seattle, Washington to begin their journey across the country by bike.

To see the slideshow from the event, click on the photo below. There are a lot of pictures, so you may want to speed up the show, or get comfy!



By they way, this is Alex, Liz's brother. I'll be helping her with the photographic and web publishing duties while she's on the ride.

(originally posted on June, 29, but moved for continuity)

so our journey begins.

Wow, wow, wow. Here I am in Seattle. My mother and I enjoyed a relaxing morning over coffee and conversation yesterday at Dunn Brothers (who has great coffee, but Jim there is a reason why they put all lattes in to-go cups so that you can't see the foam quality ;). We met Ane and her family at the airport, and after hugs, kisses, words of wisdom, and a few tears, we were off through security. After reminding Ane about travel-sized liquids in quart-sized bags, Miss Responsible Me gets stopped for having a swiss army knife in my carry-on. Awesome. But I certainly had my liquidss all in order.

The flight was easy and relaxing until before we knew it the pilot was announcing that already we were in Montana. Goodness gracious, wake-up call. The time it took us to reach Montana could be tracked in minutes--our way back would take us days and weeks. There were many emotions washing over me as we flew over the rolling hills as they gave way to peaking mountains: admiration, awe, nervousness, thrill, apprehension, and an already forming sense of determination. Those mountains, those roads below me, are goiing to kick my booty, challenge me, reward me, and command my respect for its terrible and beautiful terrain. Magesty. Without getting too dramatic, it was a flight unlike any I have been on. Seeing that horizon was still a fraction of the distance we'd be traveling. And every little wind in those pinprick roads, every little river and plot of land I skimmed with my eyes were the same that would take me weeks to traverse.

Our host Alicia picked us up at the airport. She, her husband, and little 11-month-old Jack were fantastic hosts. Ane and I were spoiled rotten in our little "cabana" out back, with supior home-cooked food, and a great walking tour guide of Seattle. It's easy to fall in love with the city, on the waterfront, with unique and welcoming vibes. Not to mention BEAUTIFUL. Perhaps I should keep count of how many times I use that word this summer.

After a relaxing morning, and a true Seattle latte, we made our way over to Orientation. It was intimidating to see so many people there, but very quickly was really calming to finally meet everyone and hear other people's experiences and etc.

Tomorrow's the big day...bright and early we have a big send-off and check ceremony. $350,00.00 is the amount that we're handing over to the ALAW. How cool.

Missing everyone already. Excited. Nervous. Ready.

home sweet home in beautiful Minnesota!

Goodness, I realized that here I'd directed people to my site for the summer, and it hasn't been updated in almost a month! So much has happened in the last few weeks...

Thanks to everyone's support including my friends and family, the good people of Plymouth, MI, the fantastic community in Ypsi and the support of local cyclists, I was able to meet the pledge goal that I made for June 1st! It was such a good feeling, and the pledges are still trickling in as well. I have raised $5,575 to date, and all in total the Big Ride Crew has raised $326,870!

Last Thursday I finished my last day working at the cafe, scooped my last ice cream cones and made my final lattes for a couple of months. On Friday I made the long drive back to Minnesota with my baby (a.k.a. my bike), with a broken cruise control, rocking out to my brother's iPod and admittedly subsisting on a good store of caffeine. Of course I miss my boyfriend and everyone else, but it has been so nice to be home. Going out to coffee with my parents, enjoying the "spacious" home life after apartment living, our own washer and dryer, and of course finding bliss in the beautiful Minnesotan roads and countryside has been just wonderful.

Finally, I am making some of the final preparations for my departure. Ane and I made a trip up to the Twin Cities yesterday to make some final purchases at the huge Erik's Bike Shop. I got a thorough tune-up, got all of my spare tubes and such, bought some bike shorts, more waterbottles, etc. etc. We had a pretty grand time together. Waiting for my tune-up we killed time at REI and some local coffee/bakery joints, eating and watching the stylish city folk :) I guess we can be quite the pair together, and I think that the bike shop guys got a kick out of us (we were told never had people had so much fun in the dressing room while we tried on bike shorts).