More Pictures!

Liz has sent in more pictures from her trip! Click on the photo below to view.

Day 34 – Pizza delivery woman.

Morris, Illinois to Valparaiso, Indiana

Man-oh-man we had a noisy night. Our campground was a public campground complete with car campers looking for a good place to drink alcohol around a smoky campfire with music blaring. I was just waiting for one of our riders to go over there, but I guess no one was up for the confrontation. Fortunately someone had the responsible idea of calling the police, and they were shushed up before midnight. The four of us decided to have a slumber party in Sean’s huge Taj Majal of a tent last night, with huge screened panels that allowed us all to “sleep under the stars” in a bug-free zone. It was great. When we woke up, people in our group had vowed to be as loud and obnoxious as our neighbors had been the previous night. They got a grand 5:30 a.m. wake-up call of cheering Big Riders. An unnamed Big Rider even rode his bike through the neighbor’s area with his alarm ringing, and we sang loud rowdy Christmas songs as we rode out of camp. It was great, I thought us kiddos were supposed to be the immature ones :)

We actually had a dry day today, no rain although it looked probably all morning. By the time that we got to the first waterstop, it was apparent that it was going to be a chug-chug-along day. Riding 13 out of 14 days in a row, including 600 miles in the past week, can make a person a little tired. The thing is, my body and my muscles are totally capable and trained by now to do it. But I sure don’t have the spring in my pedaling like I did earlier in the week. This rest day will be good for us.

MacDonalds was our coffee stop today, along with hashbrowns and other such breakfast goodies for the others. I talked to Pollie a little bit tonight about how everyone’s riding styles and perspectives have changed so noticeably since the first couple of weeks, and stops like these are indicative of how ours has evolved. We still ride at a pretty good pace, but we stop long and often. There’s really not a whole lot that’s going on at the campsite, so we figure we might as well enjoy the stops along the way. Sit for some coffee. Talk with some locals. Smell the flowers. Take some pictures. As ride director, Pollie gets to observe everyone at a little distance from being an actual rider, and she told me that even the speedsters in our group have evolved to the point that it’s not really about the cycling anymore. It’s hard to put into words or to convey to those outside of the ride, but it’s a humbling thing this community and this journey.

As we boxed around the Chicago area we found ourselves in more populated areas with busier traffic and bumpy bumpy roads. There was no Indiana sign to mark our next state line, so we used Ane’s arm instead. Let me tell you, Indian sure has some potholes. By the time we got to Kathy’s stop we were hungry, and she had boxes and boxes of leftover pizza from last night’s dinner. Ben and Sean had the brilliant idea of bringing some on the road with us, and replaced Ane’s rack pack with pizza boxes, ducted taped on for security. Ane’s Pizza Delivery, delivering pizza across the country within 48 days. We got some good pictures, and we snacked all of the way into camp from her bike.

Around mile seventy today we were warmly greeted by yet another Rider’s family waterstop. David Lambert’s parents and sisters had a tent with food and drinks set up for us, which was such a nice break. No one wanted our pizza though. The rest of the ride was going smoothly until the cable for my back gears broke and I was stuck with just my hardest gear in back. So I had two gears: hard and harder. With only seven or so miles left to go, it wasn’t too bad. And I was honored that Ben and Sean decided to shoot their knees with me by riding in the same high gears up hill and down. We got to the dorms in Valparaiso and Dave was able to just replace my cable.

I actually got ice cream tonight at the Dairy Queen tonight, which ruined my appetite for the cafeteria dinner, for shame. It was a totally tranquil night night for me, which is exactly what I needed. Ane and I played Sweet Honey in the Rock in our room for Jody to listen to, and we just surrounded ourselves in rest and relaxation. I’m ready for a recharging rest day, and then a short four day week next week. I can’t believe that this is all passing by so quickly. Everyday feel long and full and satisfying, but all of the sudden there are 34 of those days behind us and not enough in front of us.

Day 33 – Porpoise pod.

Belvidere, Illinois to Morris, Illinois

Last night us four kiddos decided to set up beds a little further away at a smaller picnic table shelter away from the main group; we were not about being woken up to everyone else’s alarms and zippers at 4:30 a.m. again. Privacy and sleeping in was priority. Unfortunately, we got a little rain last night and our smaller picnic shelter was not quite as protected, but we got enough sleep. Today’s ride was a million turns again, and it doesn’t feel like you’re actually getting anywhere but in a circle, except that you are and before you know it you’ve gone 108 miles. It was another rainy morning, and it was warm enough that I just rode without a coat and just got wet.

Jody rode with us for a long time today, which was really nice. Naturally we stopped for some classy gas station coffee, and down the road we met up with Kelly. That strong woman rides everyday on an arm-cranked bike, and it’s so fun to see her out on the road. Jody had done some “off-route” riding with Kelly earlier in the trip, and when we caught up with her today, Jody encouraged us all to ride at least five miles with her at her pace. It was so wonderful. We all formed a little tunnel around her to serve as a wind guard, and it worked so well that her average speed of 11.5 mph was bumped up by 3 mph. And it was so fun, singing songs and talking with her. Jody told us about how porpoises form pods around birthing mothers to protect her and the newborn, and how we were Kelly’s porpoise pod. It was so inspiring. Even more inspiring: Kelly made the whole century today. Her first century. What a beautiful day. I tried her bike out this evening, and it was fun, but I couldn’t even fathom riding 100+ miles in a day.

About ¾ into the ride today we decided to stop at the subway, and after a little chat with the manager, were given free meals again. Subway sure has been good to us, three out of four times we’ve asked we’ve been given free meals. We were sitting there for a long time, when we noticed Bob ride by us, and when he saw all of our bikes lined up outside he did a lightning fast U-turn. He gave each of us hugs when he came in, he was so happy to come upon fellow riders after doing 20+ bonus miles from getting lost. Poor guy, on a century day as it were already. Bob rode the rest of the day with us, and we were definitely the last ones into camp with Floyd after our ride with Kelly and long rest at Subway. But we got to usher the pizza delivery men in for dinner.

Day 32 – Singin’ in the rain.

Madison, Wisconsin to Belvidere, Illinois

This was one of the first mornings in a while where I woke up right away to my alarm, and I suppose that means that I was exhausted enough to sleep soundly through the night. After a typical truck breakfast (cereal, oatmeal, etc.), we were given our cue sheets which was two pages of a million turns. Our longest stretch on one road was about nine miles. What a change from out west. I truly loved Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakoa, where you could go all day and not pass a single town: being in the middle of open range, having the road almost to ourselves, feeling a part of the land around us. Now we are strong into more developed land, where we have half a dozen or more cities in one day, and I love this too. That’s what’s cool about this ride, and about riding your bike across the country, that the route is continually changing and each change allows you appreciate different parts of America. So far we’ve had mountains, dessert, open range, small towns, larger towns, farmland, and everything in between. I could say that I miss the mountains, but every day in the moment is my favorite scenery.

All morning it was hazy and grey. We were winding right and left through a grid of Wisconsin coutry roads. Not once, but twice we stopped for coffee at gas stations. It sounds a little silly, but sitting on the curb outside of the gas station drinking coffee was just perfect. Today was just a contentful day—not the funnest, not the most beautiful, but contentful (yes I know that’s not a word). For once it was nice not to have the sun beating down, and not to be slathered in sunscreen.

Our checkpoint today was in Beloit, WI immediately before South Beloit, IL. We walked across the street to the McDonalds where we sat for a long time for a little more coffee and some food. As planned, of course, we sat there until it started to rain outside, and as we started out it began to absolutely pour on us. Thank goodness we only go as fast as we do because I was having enough trouble seeing things as it was. It was cold. And it was fun. I was drinking the tire spit from the bike in front of me, my whole body was covered in goose bumps at different points, and every inch of my clothes were soaking, but it was fun. We were singing Christmas songs in celebration of yesterday’s half-Christmas on the 25th, I was busting out with some Jewel and Jack Johnson, and we were all having a good time in the rain. It felt like we were in a Nike commercial or somthing, and it lasted for a good 25 miles.

We rolled into camp today at a campground called Outdoor World outside of Belvedere, IL. This place has the most massive picnic shelter that I’ve ever seen, and we’re all set up for the night underneath it. Pollie broke out some chips and salsa for us, and the showers were really good (it’s always nice not to have “gang” showers). There must have been a miscommunication while planning the catering tonight, because the kitchen women were really trying, but most of the group was left hungry and had to be remedied with ordered pizza. This is a nice campground though, with a pool, laundry facilities, and a TV for Tour de France viewing pleasure.

Day 31 – A whole ‘nother place.

Viroqua, Wisconsin to Madison, Wisconsin

It was great sleeping under the stars last night. I woke up with a damp sleeping bag from the dew, but it was totally worth it. We had another typical truck breakfasts, and was off with the anticipation of our second longest day yet: 108 miles. I was feeling good, I didn’t get out too late, I was excited to get some miles in while it was cool still in the early morning, and then—my chain broke. It had already fallen off twice climbing some short hills, and then it totally broke. It was a brand new chain that I had put on yesterday with more than a little help from Sean, and there had been a stiff link that we thought we had worked out, but I guess not. So I got some help and advice from Andy and other such generous riders who had stopped, and then waved everyone goodbye as I waited for Dave the Mechanic to come to my rescue. I was definitely bummed out that here was a big day and not three miles out on the road I had such a major set back. But Ane was with me. Thank God. What would I do without that girl. We’re such a necessary balance.

As it turned out, that broken link was a blessing in disguise. Dave had no problem fixing it, and we started out again as the very tail end of the group. What a morning. It was beautiful. Being in the rear with Ane, we took our time instead of just riding to get some morning miles in. The landscape was literally breathtaking. I have driven through Wisconsin so many times I couldn’t even try to count them, but you really don’t see anything on the interstate. I was absolutely in awe of how beautiful this part of Wisconsin was, who knew? Rolling, rolling hills and valleys covered in farmland and dotted with trees, the roads lined with all different kinds of wildflowers, rustic farms and friendly farmers and locals of small towns to wave at. Glorious. We came upon an unexpected steep descent the wound us through fog and mist as a flock of birds flew across the country road right before us. I’ll pay the price for sounding cheesy, because anyone there would avow for how almost magical it felt. When we got to the waterstop later, and tried to convey it to Pollie and Andy, we were teased with inquiries of Angels ascending and fairies sitting on the side of the road with us too, but hell, we couldn’t help it. We reached the bottom of that hill, glided into a tiny little gas station and talked to some locals about how they lived in one of the most beautiful counties we’d ever been in.

When we finally reached the first waterstop, we were surprised to find Speedy Gonzales Andy there. He had had a terrible morning, and decided he wanted to ride with us and be a part of our magical morning. We had a good ride through the next stretch of miles as the terrain flattened out and the farmland petered into more towns. Kathy’s waterstop today was at a cute little farmer’s market type stand, with a petting zoo! I swear it was so bizarre, with little goats, a zebra, and even a camel. Poor things aren’t meant to live in little pens in rural Wisconsin, but it sure was an interesting sight. We feasted on fresh cantaloupe and tomatoes with hearty whole grained bread. Mmm mmm.

The next twenty miles flew by across flat roads while Ane and I digested all of the food we had just eaten. Eating on the road is a tricky balance because had we not eaten that lunch, with sixty miles left to go still, we would have totally bonked in the last quarter of the ride. You get to points where you don’t want to eat anything, you’re sick of all of the food you’ve been eating for the past month, but you know you have to and you know by now what works and what doesn’t.

The last thirty miles or so went by a little more slowly today, but it was so nice to ride with Ane and just Ane, we haven’t had much chance to do that on this trip. As we entered the Madison area, the directions got a little tricky, but more or less it just got a little long because you know you’re in the destination city but the campsite is still twenty miles away. At the very end, we somehow missed the turn into the campground, and when we were about to turn around a quarter of a mile away, Ane got a flat. Goodness gracious. It was only fair that if my chain got us off to a slow start, Ane would get a flat to delay our finish. When we finally rolled into camp (with almost 110 miles on the computer) we were warmly greeted by Bob Dumke’s and Dan Scott’s family with smiles, tables of food, and coolers of drinks. It was such a nice reward to the day. And boy did these Wisconsinites know how to provide a meal: salad, potato salad, fruit, squeaky cheese curds, grilled burgers and hot dogs, and most importantly, really good veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs. It was so wonderful.

As if the day couldn’t have gotten any more full, my good friend Emma met me at the campground. She goes to school and has an apartment in Madison, and since we were a ten minute drive out of the city, it was so fun to be able to go into town with her. Emma took me to the Union where we ate ice cream from the campus creamery and sat on the lakefront terrace for a long time chatting until the sun started to set.

Day 30 – Do the hoooookey pokey!

Winona, Minnesota to Viroqua, Wisconsin

I slept well today for the first time in a couple of nights, on a real mattress on a real (bunk) bed. It was lovely. Though I must say that my alarm went off and I looked out the window to see people already loading up the truck. Honestly, we must have some real morning people in this group. Our breakfast was a little shotty today at the cafeteria, but we had an exciting announcement that we had a new crew member joining us: her father Mark! (We lost a crew member a couple of days ago for a personal crisis.)

This whole day was absolutely gorgeous as we traveled through and finally climbed out of the Mississippi River valley. I have driven through the area many, many times, but never have I experienced it as I did today on the bike. The first twenty miles led us from Winona to Dakota, MN. The entire route was along the river, and we even travelled a couple of miles on an intimate little bike path through the trees and parallel to the bank. Perfect slow, pokey, lazy, content riding. Ben was our little gentleman this morning, reaching down on the bike and picking wildflowers from the side of the road for us. He even wore some in his helmut and Sean had a whole garden stuck into his handlebar bag.

Eventually we turned back onto hwy 14 and then exited towards Dakato. Here we were greeted so warmly by the Meyer family, and I was grateful that I hadn’t had much of a breakfast at the cafeteria because they had loads of yummy yummy food for us. It was so fantastic, this family has hosted this Minnesotan breakfast for the Big Riders for years now. They had signed posters up from previous years and photo albums of previous riders. They even had pictures already printed off of us, and asked for our autographs! How cool. One of the girls conducted an interview with us, and in exchange we were given hand-made bracelets to keep with us. Truly I cherish mine, what a good memory. As one of the former riders wrote on her poster, they truly made us feel at home. These are the people who are inspiring.

We moved on down to La Crescent and across the bridge to La Crosse. Right beforehand I watched as a car immediately in front of us came to a quick and random complete stop, and then watched as Sean slammed right into the back of it. He fell, rolled, and sprang up just like a bouncey ball. He was totally fine, as was the car and the bike, but it certainly woke us up. The bridge across the Mississippi was huge, and we soon found ourselves taking pictures of the sign for state number five: Wisconsin. Ben was even bold enough to lay right in the flowerbed under the sign.

Once in La Crosse, the traffic was a little hectic through the downtown area. We were even witness to a fender-bender accident ahead of us (thank goodness it had nothing to do with us). On our left we watched the world’s larges six pack approach at the city brewery. Of course we were with Micheal Yee and Helen who convinced us to stop at the gift shop and visitor’s center.

The mighty Mississippi remained on our righthand side for a while longer, and I took so many pictures. It was so beautiful with the bluffs on our left, the train tracks immediately on our right, the shoreline after that, followed by green algae and lily pads speckled with bright yellow flowers, fishermen mingling in the shallow waters, and the river’s expanse topped off with the western bluffs on the far shore. I’ve never appreciated the river as much as I did today.

Slowly we turned east again and began to climb out of the valley. The whole experience was breathtaking, absolute picturesque landscape. I couldn’t believe it. Steep rolling, rolling hills on a small rural road surrounded with fields of corn and hay dotted with trees and bluffs. It was Amish country as well, and I spotted long black clothes on clothes lines, waved to a family in a horse and buggy crossing our path, and admired and awed the neatly piled bunches of hand-bundled hay. It was incredible. The scenery was too overwhelming to photograph even.

We had a super steep 1.5 mile climb at one point, as well as a super steep descent that was curvy, and thrilling. I was having so much fun, and really had no idea how fast I was going until afterwards my jaw dropped at my computer’s max speed of 47.1 mph. Sean and I tried to convince Kathy to drive us back up to the top to do it again, but she wasn’t biting at the idea.

Viroqua was our destination today, a cute little town of 4,300 people. It was a short day about 67 miles, but we took our time so much at the Meyers and through the terrain that we got into camp pretty late. It was blissful to just lay around, even before showering, and just hanging out. Sean helped me change my chain, and it was a very educational experience. Ane and I ate dinner at the Viroqua co-op store, and I seriously felt like I was in heaven. I ate piles of organ salad with everything on it I could have dreamt up, and then enjoyed some soy ice cream treats. This little town sure knows how to build and stock a co-op, it was like a mini Whole Foods!

Tonight I plan on sleeping out under the stars again, we have a fairly quiet piece of land at the fair grounds with plenty of nice green grass.

Day 29 – Home sweet home.

Owatonna, Minnesota to Winona, Minnesota

Today was a wonderful day, and a wonderful day of ironies. Last night we slept under the stars in a little row of four sleeping bags. Ane got fed up with the flood lights of the recreation center next door, and moved into the Beer Garden building where everyone else was sleeping. That’s right, the Beer Garden building. The remaining three of us finally fell asleep under the stars to passing lightning in distance. About three o’clock in the morning I woke up to a few sprinkles on my face. Deciding not to take my chances, I instigated a move to the Beer Garden, and just as we approached the door it began to pour outside. Not exactly a great night’s sleep, but an adventure nonetheless.

After a truck breakfast in the Beer Garden, we were off to an on-again-off-again rainy morning. The sunrise was gorgeous with the intense color around the clouds that washed out to either side into to the horizon. Beautiful. We sure knew how to make that first twenty miles last: 3 flats and one punctured tire. So the one morning we had somewhere we wanted to get to fast, we were almost the very last ones to Rochester. All we could do was laugh. What a sign was this? At least there was a great rainbow by the last flat we were fixing.

Finally, finally, we made it to Rochester. As we came down the hill on Country Club Dr., I saw my grandmother’s assisted living home, and across from it some yellow tents with people milling around—our welcoming committee! Ane’s family and mine were there with muffins, strawberry rhubarb pie and crisp, lots of fruit, cake, gatorade, and water. What a treat. It was so wonderful, and it was apparent by the empty trays that everyone else before us enjoyed it as well. Not to mention my generous father greeted the four of us with espresso drink orders, what else could we have wanted? It was so much fun. I went up to see my grandma and my aunt Kady for a little while as well, which was so nice.

After a long period of eating and socializing we moved on to ride through downtown Rochester, and Ane and I were tour guides for Ben and Sean pointing out St. Mary’s, the Mayo building, where I bought my sunglasses, where we used to get our hair cut, where I once saw an accident, and other such obviously important landmarks. And then I got another flat tire. Another! That brought our total of the day up to four flat tubes and two replaced tires for the four of us, and a grand total of four flats for me so far this trip.

The rest of our day was blissful. I can’t say enough times how much I love Minnesota. We were definitely among the last handful of people in the group on the route today, but it didn’t bother me at all because it was all totally worth it. We didn’t have the best shoulders today, but we spent most of the day riding two abreast talking and enjoying ourselves, stopping often to eat and use “the facilities.” It was fun to arrive at each rest stop throughout the day to see smiling familiar faces of friends and family. And it was beautiful. Of course.

Camp tonight is in the dorm rooms of Winona State University, where we got to do laundry! Washing things in the sink can be so inconvenient. Both my family and Ane’s family met us in Winona and we all went out to the Acoustic Cafe for dinner. Holy yumminess. Just what I wanted and way better than the cafeteria food we heard was served to the group. The Cafe’s atmosphere was so chill and comfortable, just what we needed, and we were so fortunate to be surrounded by both our families. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Day 28 – American pie and the Beer Garden.

New Ulm, Minnesota to Owatonna, Minnesota

Last night was a restless night for some reason, and I heard Ane thrashing around on her mattress all night as well. Breakfast was in the cafeteria this morning, and I had some Life cereal with the yummy blueberries that my parents bought for me. Perfect. I had a pretty good day today, and thoroughly enjoy the southern Minnesotan terrain, small towns, and of course people as we approach my hometown. It was cloudy all day, sometimes with a headwind and often with a strong crosswind. Ane and I feel right at home in the rolling farmland, and today we passed field after field of corn and soybeans. I love the soybeans: they look like seas of sequins or velour with their shiny texture.

Not too much exciting happened today, it was a pretty short day at 72 miles. I had a flat at mile 57 at the rest stop, which was not a problem to fix. We hung out there at Kathy’s stop for a long, long time eating donuts and cookies. It was nice. When we rolled into Owatonna this afternoon we were greeted by a Vern fan club (this is his hometown) and were served pie by his wife—what a treat! Camp is at the Owatonna fairgrounds, and tonight’s $10 night was spent at a Mexican Restaurant across the street. So I’m full and content now just to lay here in the breeze on my thermarest, anticipating a fun day tomorrow going through Rochester.

Day 27 – Root beer tasting.

New Ulm, Minnesota

I had such a nice rest day. Sean and Ben and I rode our bikes into town for some breakfast at a small local diner called Ulmer’s. We ended up sitting there for a long time with our bottomless cups of coffee enjoying the morning and the company. When we came back to the dorms we cleaned our bikes outside and then sat around outside on the grass in the breeze. Totally relaxing.

My parents came to New Ulm by about 4:30, and it was so nice to see them and be able to give them hugs and talk face-to-face instead of briefly on the cell phones. After a grocery store stop we went over to Schell’s brewery for a tour, and coincidently met Sean and Ben there as well. The tour was a little too detailed with the history, and a little lacking in actual brewery showing, but it was still nice. My parents pretty much had six bottles of beer sat in front of just them for the tasting, and us youngsters were give large glasses of 1919 rootbeer. After a dinner at the Lamplighter restaurant (nice but not vegetarian friendly), and some really expensive but delicious homemade ice cream, I hugged my parents goodbye until two days from now when I ride through Rochester.

We’re all preparing for a stretch of seven days on the bike ahead of us, and Ane and I are more than excited to see our hometown the day after tomorrow.

Day 26 – The inconvenient route.

Tyler, Minnesota to New Ulm, Minnesota

Tuphat Girls catered both our dinner last night and our breakfast this morning, and it was all good food with lots of fresh fruit and veggies. That always scores with me. Pollie, our ride director, told a good story last night when she made her evening announcements. She said that a week or two ago, she had a dream that there was a beautifully paved bike path that stretched from Seattle, WA to Washington D.C. This was our route, with perfect little turnouts for waterstops, with these great huge oak trees all around for “facilities.” Then Pollie talked about a new husband who died two weeks after his wedding from lung cancer, and about how many stories we’ve heard and people we know who are suffering from lung. This ride is not about the convenient route. What fun would it be if we never had headwinds like we’ve had all week, if we never had mountains to climb or poor roads to navigate? That’s not what this ride is about; it’s all about the inconvenient route.

This morning was a chilly morning, and it was so cozy to wake up to the brisk air, all cuddled up in my warm sleeping bag. Getting out of that sleeping bag was another story. After a great breakfast and some good Minnesotan rolling hills, I warmed up soon enough. Even though Minnesota is giving us the same South Dakotan headwind, at least she’s giving us much cooler temperatures. Another beautiful morning, we enjoyed the green and the rolling hills with small farming towns that are becoming more and more frequent. We’re going through more Laure Ingalls Wilder territory, riding over Plum Creek and by the sod houses on the prairie.

By the afternoon we were enjoying a SE wind, which meant a crossheadwind, but felt awesome. I lead our group of five for probably twenty miles, just because it was the first time in days that I felt somewhat “on.” Being in front, seeing the whole road ahead of me, through the familiar terrain of Minnesota, was definitely the highlight of my day.

Coming into New Ulm was a strange feeling because those roads could have so easily been Rochester roads. New Ulm’s a cute little town as well, and it was a good feeling coming in knowing that we were finally getting our rest day again. Everything was going great until the very last 0.2 miles to the college we were slammed with a HUGE hill before us, with a massive gradient, leading up to the college. Awesome. All we could do was laugh.

We’re just relaxing tonight. Sitting outside the Martin Luther College dormitory enjoying the cool night breeze.

Day 25 – God’s country.

DeSmet, South Dakota to Tyler, Minnesota

Welcome to Minnesota everyone! Oh glorious state. Today was a great day, only 78 miles, and we had a lot of fun despite the ever constant headwind. It was supposed to become a tailwind immediately upon crossing the state line, but apparently the wind gods are on vacation. We had a good gas station coffee break at our eight a.m. waterstop today. Lucky for us it was a Sinclaire station with the well-known green dinosaur out front. Naturally that just begs for a photo op, and we piled on.

Eastern South Dakota, also knowing that Minnesota was coming has been a profound mood lifter. All day today we were surrounded by green: rows of corn, soy beans that to me look like fields of green sequins, even the grass was finally green. And lakes! Holy moly we saw our first real lakes since Idaho I think, and that was such a sweet sight for sore eyes. I’ve been missing water, and definitely took some pictures. Our last decent sized South Dakota town of the trip was Brookings, which was a cute little place around mile 40 and made for a lazy waterstop outside of a connected coffee shop and bike store. Oh could we have asked for anything more. Yes: free ice cream there. What a town. We stayed there for probably an hour before moving on, eating ice cream, chilling, talking to locals, enjoying the comfortable temperature.

Finally back on the road we met three people bannering a sign for Margo and offering cool powerade. They were super sweet, and so much fun to meet. The next twenty miles brought us to the state border, with a sign much more elaborate than any state marker yet, complete with a stone mounting and wooden sign. That’s Minnesota for you! Kathy had her water stop here, and we lazed around here for a while too, which was so lovely. I could have stayed there all day in the shade, enjoying the company. Yesterday we were in so early that we got so hungry before dinner, and we figured that we might as well take our time out on the road as long as the weather was cool enough. There was even a mysterious chilly breeze that we’d feel every once in a while, the weather was perfect.

Congratulations to South Dakota and Minnesota for being so energy conscious, there were many wind farms on our way through the borderland today. Those things look so cool stretched out along the fields and the sky. Alongside the road there was a little building with two of the wind turbine blades sitting out front. They were HUGE, and we stopped for pictures and flyers to learn more about them. Of course I just think they look cool and appreciate their energy consciouness, but I was riding with all engineering students who were talking watts and etc. etc. :)

The rest of the ride in was windy, but otherwise not bad. Tyler, MN is a cute little town that greeted us with delicious watermelon (which I ate seven pieces of). We’re setting up camp on some beautifully grassy and shady grounds outside of the old Folk school.

Day 24 – Christmas is coming...

Miller South Dakota, to DeSmet, South Dakota

I was beginning to think that South Dakota was the most monotonous state yet, and then today she threw a curveball in. The night was spent in the Miller High School, and about a dozen of us shared the air conditioned trophy room. I really miss the privacy and nightly debriefing with Ane in our little tent, traded for a room full of rustling and snoring, but after the previous hot night I jumped at the opportunity for air conditioning. Still, I didn’t sleep especially well, and was definitely not waking up too quickly.

The whole first thirty miles I was sleepy and my legs were just not working well for me. I was riding with Ane, Ben, and Sean again, and we decided about mile thirty that we needed a potty break at a gas station. Ane was the decision maker, and she made it a little too late and wiped out on the gravel when she turned at the last second. She’ll be bruised a little, but these silly falls happens to the best of them. Plus she had a lovely dust “racing stripe” down her side from it. Thank God we stopped here because Sean and I split a customary cup of coffee, and it made all the difference. Physically I was still a little worn out, but mentally I finally woke up. Even Ane was impressed by the turn-around. Guess I’m more addicted to coffee than I realized, and I definitely won’t be skipping it at breakfast again. So energized, I initiated a boys vs. girls friendly competition: who could get the most semi’s to blow for us. I can’t believe we lost that, honestly they were getting all pity honks.

Not five miles from the gas station we saw the flashing lights of a police car and ambulance up ahead. Now when you’re in the middle of South Dakota on a straight and flat country road, where you’re just as likely to pass one of us cyclists as you are a car, those flashing lights are a scary sight because you know that it’s one of us. As we approached the lights I felt the almost eerie unease that I used to feel on canoe trips when a plane flew overhead, in which case each canoe would stop pedaling in a dead silence to see if that plane was coming to tell us bad news from home. Bob walked out to us and explained that Dr. Hattler had fallen, no cars involved, by scraping wheels with another rider. From what we hear tonight, he’s going to be alright but it was a good fall. We cleared out of there as soon as we could so that we weren’t in the way, but it was a pretty sobering experience. He hadn’t even been in a paceline, and it was a serious reminder that despite all of the fun and games we have going everyday, we are always at risk for various hazards out there.

Around forty miles into our day today, we reached our halfway mark of the trip! After a leisurely lunch and photo op at the park, we prepared ourselves for the dark skies moving our way. Thus we’ve been 24 days and not a single stretch of real rain. That streak ran out today and then some. The lightning came first, off in the distance and heading right for us. It was spectacular, and dark skies and lightning started to envelope us. Rain began shortly thereafter, and got harder and harder until it was literally pelting. I couldn’t see any actual hail on the ground, but it sure felt like it with the wind hurling the rain at us like that. But it was thrilling. All of it. A few riders pulled over to wait it out, and that was probably the safer option, but we were having too much fun. Besides, we had rubber tires between us and the road, and Ben as our tall lightning rod if that wasn’t enough. When it finally blew over we had some fun pictures of us soaking wet at the waterstop.

The last fifteen miles weren’t so bad, but they were at a snails pace in the wind again. I was literally falling asleep. My apologies for so many comparisons with canoeing, but never imagined that I could fall half asleep pedaling just like I could on weary days paddling. Let me tell you, Ane’s bottom bracket was mesmerizing in my half-daze. Finally we arrived in De Smet, and we were so famished we headed for the nearest food place, which happened to be Subway. I asked for the manager, explained that we were 24 days into a cross country bike tour for the American Lung Association, that we rode out that huge storm, that we were soaking wet and famished, and was wondering if they’d be willing to sponsor us a meal. They were so sweet and kind, gave us all 6” meals, and it hit the spot in so many ways.

Camp was at a cute little city park. By the time I got my shower it was freezing, but if this is the first cold shower I’ve gotten yet then I feel like we’ve done well. Dinner was at a church nearby, with air conditioning cranked down to about 50 degrees I swear, and was served by the chamber of commerce. It was pretty good, with midwestern scalloped potatoes, plenty of fruit and cookies. I even stole two veggie burgers for the next day. Tom and Sean had a bratwurst war, trying to won up one another, and Sean won with a combined brat and hotdog total of seven. Gross. And hilarious.

Day 23 – Hakuna matata.

Pierre, South Dakota to Miller, South Dakota

Last night Ane and I slept in a swimming pool we were sweating so much. Goodness gracious it was so hot outside. We slept at a city park, which was really nice, and had showers at a hotel a block away. I swear the second we stepped out of that hotel we were already ripe again. Smelly that is. The first night that I was actually ready for bed at 8:30, I couldn’t sleep because it was too dang hot. Oh such is life, but I got to enjoy the company outside the tent at least.

Ane asked me three times this morning if I was sure that it was really 5:20 a.m., it was so dark outside because of the time change. We are now in central time zone! Exciting. After we dragged ourselves out of bed this morning and got some breakfast down, Ane and I headed out. Before long the boys caught up with us and we pedaled in a herd for the rest of the morning. Sean and Ben bought some $3 squirt guns and accosted people ahead and behind, and even Dave the mechanic through the SUV window. Ben and I passed the time leading a pack through the wind and singing Regina Specktor and the Lion King music.

On the hotel TV yesterday I watched the weather station, and was forewarned that the weather today was supposed to be just like yesterday: hot with headwinds. Fortunately we were able to escape some of the heat because the day was much shorter today at 73 miles, but it sure was windy. For the last 20 miles or so we had a nice paceline going, a true indication that the wind was significant since it’s been a long time since we’ve formed one of those (lately we’ve just been riding in herds on these rural roads). For a lot of the day, it was just put your head down and go. At least this is South Dakota and the landscape doesn’t have a lot of variation so you’re not missing a lot by watching the bum in front of you that you’re drafting off of, and these are the words coming from Miss Ane the picture woman. The scenery that we were missing was much like yesterday: vast, almost treeless expanses of wheat, corn, and some soybeans. There were a couple of fields of sunflowers as well, but they were still young and flowerless. I was trying to imagine what it must look like in the fall, whole fields of sunflowers spread out, all facing the sun.

Day 22 – Wind blows.

Kadoka, South Dakota to Pierre, South Dakota

Today was possibly my hardest pedaling day yet. From the very beginning, I never quite got warmed up. My legs were tight, and worse: tired. We began the day at the city park with pleasant rollers through farmland, farmland, and more farmland. It was extremely dry all day, all of the bridges we crossed today were over dried up riverbeds or otherwise a trickle or sludge of muddy water. The weather was warm right from the beginning of the day, and it only got hotter, and hotter, and hotter.

As the day heated up, the wind also picked up. And up, and up, and up. As the day wore on, the water stops couldn’t quite keep up with my personal water intake, and we stopped to buy a couple of gallons of water at a tiny little general store. Actually, it was an antique store, a grocery store, a liquor store, and oh much more. The poor woman who worked there, in the middle of this dry, dry nowhere. At least it was air conditioned. I struggle to imagine what life is like out here, so radically different than what I know. It does have its own sort of beauty though, unique thus far to South Dakota. The most striking image in my mind was this vast golden field today, with what must have been eight or nine huge combines driving through them trailed by huge swirls of dust and hay against the blue sky. As Ane said, this sure wasn’t a family farm, and I was literally blinded (and praying there wasn’t a car behind me) when we rode through the cloud of dust, but this is South Dakota.

The last twenty miles of our almost century were really tough. I was struggling for sure. We had a cross headwind, strong, and it meant that it was hard to really keep a draft on the shoulder. I was very fortunate because I was with Ben, Sean, and Andy. I couldn’t keep pace with them, my legs felt like jello, but they waited for me through the wind at the top of every single hill. Each time I would fall behind I would think, alright I guess I’m finishing this on my own. But each time they would be up there waiting for me. It made all the difference. I spoke to Andy later, and he told me that hey, we all climb at our own pace but in the end we’ve got to come in together. That’s what this ride is about.

Good thing for today: a quote passed on from Ane’s mother about the wind, “Well you are in South Dakota you know. Pretty soon you’ll be in God’s country.” Minnesota that is.

Pictures!

I am working on getting Liz's pictures posted! To see the slideshow, click on the picture below:



Due to some technical challenges, some of the pictures are in a different place as of right now. To view pictures from the earlier days of the ride, click on the picture below:



I apologize that it has taken some time getting these up. I have also posted them in Liz's posts so that they can be viewed in context with what she's written. In all cases, clicking on the pictures brings you to slideshows with more pictures.

Day 21 – Chirpin’ with the prairie dogs.

Rapid City, SD to Kadoka, SD

Today was a fun day, more fun than a century should be. It’s funny because it still feels like a century, it’s just that a century feels different now. We’ve done so many that a day shorter than 90 miles is a treat. We got out this morning to a good truck breakfast outside of the Mining school. Once out of town I remember asking Ben, are those gray clouds behind us or is that just my glasses? Well sorry Ben, they really were gray clouds! By our first waterstop at 20 miles we had picked up a pretty hefty side wind. And we could see the rain coming down to our north. Guess this taught us not to trust the weatherman. Lightning began to flash in the distance, sky to ground, and you could just feel the excitement in the air. I loved it. There’s nothing better than a good thunderstorm, and this was at a distance far enough to enjoy without danger. All that we felt was a little bit of rain and some heavy winds.

As the storm blew by us to the north, we were left with some persistently strong head and cross-headwinds. The sky was clearing up as we entered into the badlands. Prairie dogs were everywhere, standing on their hind legs and chirping at us as we invaded their grounds. It sounded like Ben’s squeaky pedal again. It was slooooow going against that wind, but I was feeling pretty good and it was good company the four of us (Sean, Ben, Ane, and I). We traveled the same road that Ane and I had been on two years earlier on the way to Colorado, and I remember it distinctly, but it was a radically different experience on the bike. Really it was amazing to experience it from the bike’s vantage point, pace, and nearness. In a car you are so clearly separated from your surroundings, I don’t care what kind of car you are in. On a bike, you’re a part of it. You feel every little bump and seam in the road, you appreciate every bend and curve, and you get to savor the view longer and it slowly transforms. I love it.

We took our time to climb up to some of the peaks for views, and took a million pictures. Not to mention of course we took a million more at the world’s largest prairie dog on the way out. The last twenty mile stretch was long but pleasant with the company. We took our time and enjoyed the scenery. I can’t emphasize enough how that makes all of the difference. And to have Ane there. What a summer.

Day 20 – Bummin’ around Rapid City.

Rapid City, SD

Ahh lovely rest day. Slept in to a whopping 7:30 a.m., had a fantastic breakfast of yogurt and fruit provided by Ane’s family (and kept cold overnight in a make-shift cooler—ice in the sink covered by a bag of clothes), and went for coffee at the gas station across the street. We walked down to the bike shop, but they didn’t have a ton of inventory of things I needed. It was already well into the 90’s by the time we walked over there, and next time I’ll remember to consider riding my bike. Spent a lot of the day relaxing, which I’ve discovered is the number one priority for me on rest days. Ane’s aunt and uncle came to take us out to lunch at Boston’s, which was perfect: huge and fresh greek salad with a spinach and basil pizza. Mmmm. They were so sweet, and even were willing to take us to Target and the sporting goods store.

We watched to Tour de France on the TV, which was very exciting to watch with the cycling experience I have now, and with the people around me who were also all very excited. Then right before I went to bed, Ane and I sat down to watch my brother’s slideshow from the very first morning of our ride. It was so pleasantly surprising how much fun it was to view all of the photos from that morning, and it brought back all of the emotions, anticipation, nerves and energy from those moments. Seeing the pictures of everyone else who at that time were total strangers to me, and there were so many of these strangers that I’d spend the next 48 days with. Remembering those first impressions, seeing us all collectively as strangers, was such a striking contrast to and realization of our now tight community, now knowing these people’s stories, having shared every good and bad day I’ve had with those people.

Day 19 – Do not approach buffalo.

Newcastle, Wyoming to Rapid City, South Dakota

Well, last night I laid outside on the grass talking until much, much too late. The trains came by at least every half an hour, and they couldn’t have been louder had we been laying right on the tracks. The street in front of the Senior Center was actually quite the hopping place at midnight, including some teens surfing on the bed of a truck. I was definitely tired today, my legs just weren’t feeling the climbing today, and it was probably because I didn’t quite the sleep that I needed. But if I’ve learned anything on this trip, it’s that you ought to take risks with opportunities that won’t come along again. I was tired today, but it was totally worth it and I’d do it again.



Today was such a strange day because there were so many different chapters to it. The staff at the senior center served us a good, hearty breakfast and then we started off on our last stretch of Wyoming. Before long we hit the South Dakota border and then had a good 1200 feet of climbing. From there we had a couple of good steep descents, always immediately followed by a good steep climb. Up and down, up and down. I swear that today was one of our biggest climbing days.



Our checkpoint today was in the town of Custer, SD, which was a cute little town. I wished that we could have stayed there at night because there was a nice stretch of small businesses and good vibes. At this point a handful of riders turned off-route for the rest of the day to see Mount Rushmore, and a handful of riders turned off-route to go see Crazy Horse. After a chai latte, I decided to just head onward because word had it that the Mount Rushmore crew were in for an extra twenty miles and a monstrous climb.



I was so glad with that decision because straight out of Custer we entered Custer State Park, which was BEAUTIFUL. Gorgeous boulders, plenty of coniferous trees, nice views, and picturesque lakes. It was fantastic. Plus, after a healthy climb again, we enjoyed a descent that was at least ten miles long. It wasn’t extremely steep, but it was long and winding at an steady average speed of 30 mph. Cars had a speed limit of 35 mph, and with the scenery, no one seemed to mind just hanging out behind us. It was possibly the most fun actual cycling experience yet on this trip. It was so beautiful and so thrilling, that I decided there was no way I wanted to stop and take pictures because I wanted to just enjoy the moment. Part of the beauty and excitement of the ride was the scenery and the riding together, seeing it flash by at that speed, feeling the wind and the curves of the road, being surrounded by the trees and the views, and I knew that I would just ruin it all by stopping and attempting to capture it.



Then to top it all off, we saw a buffalo. It was just Sean and I when all of the sudden, cruising down at that 30 mph, he slowed, stopped, and pointed. Not twenty feet from the road we had just flown by was a buffalo. We stopped and took pictures as it crossed the road and sauntered off, and we were waaaaaay too close (especially Sean:). I couldn’t help but thinking that if we had come cruising down that hill 30 seconds later, we would have T-boned a buffalo. But it was beautiful. I guess that the park recommends that you don’t get out of your car as you drive through the park because the buffalo are so dangerous when they want to be, and here we were on our bikes. It was pretty cool.



Probably no one was quite prepared for the last 20 miles of the ride. The day was so beautiful, and the scenery so enrapturing, that the last 20 miles up and down huge rollers, against a very healthy head wind took me at least off guard. But we made it. It was a good day, a hard day, and it was blissful to arrive at dorms with actual beds and nice showers knowing that we had tomorrow off.

Day 18 – Racing trains.

Gillette, Wyoming to Newcastle, Wyoming



Naturally, in a place as busy as that city park, we couldn’t get a whole night’s rest without a little turmoil. A couple of kids ran streaming through our tents hollering and calling fire, but I myself was too groggy to do much besides open my eyes and vaguely intend to check that my bike was still there. It was hard to get up this morning though. I think there have been maybe three mornings now that I’ve been sure that my alarm must be off because it has seemed impossibly too early for breakfast.

Up and out to a good start finally, my foot/ankle was giving me a lot of trouble. The first thirty miles was definitely a lesson in pain management, but I was fortunate to have Sean pull me along for a little ease until Kathy gave me some ibuprofen. The rest of the day rolled along extremely fast. It was about a 75 mile day, but it seemed like half of that distance. The terrain was certainly not flat as predicted, but the rolling hills were gradual and glided by quickly as we averaged 17.5 mph. It was a good day rounded out by some cheese and tortilla wraps provided by Lisa and some incredible trains that raced us. The trains seemingly went on forever (which I found out later was literally 1.5 miles long), there were three of them, each car was laden with coal, and they were rolling alongside us against the dark distant hills and blue skies.





Camp, dinner, showers, and breakfast is at the Newcastle Senior Center, and it is so nice to have everything right here. My legs always appreciate the opportunity to stretch out and walk around, but tonight is one of those nights that I am more than content to just sit and relax. The people here are so sweet and generous, and the food was prepared with lots of love. We even bought some freshly squeezed lemonade from a little girl across the street.

Day 17 – Riding in herds.

Sheridan, Wyoming to Gillette, Wyoming

Last night Ane and I woke up (probably by the highway which sounded like it was right next to our campsite) and both had to pee so bad. Grudgingly we slipped on or flip flops and fleeces to brave the night air, and were immediately dazzled by the stars. The spread was the best night sky that I’ve seen so far on this trip. With much less light pollution, the milky way was clearly visible. We were cold, we had to pee so badly, but all we could do was hug each other as the sky mesmerized us. It was the most worth-it bathroom trip ever.



When our alarm went off much too early this morning, it was the start to a very long day: we knew that today was going to be one of our longest mileages of the entire trip. In actuality, though, it was one of my best days. For the first half of the route, we rode in one huge herd. No real pacelines or organization, we played jute box and laughed at a surprisingly fast clip. (My generation was a little underrepresented as songs from the eighties were predominate from Tom, Allison, and Kari; us college kids have to work on that.) Ben and I shared another customary cream soda today, and before we all knew it we were at waterstop 50-something mile, then 70-something mile. Despite the mileage we were covering, it was a little disheartening to recognize that at mile 70 we still had 40 miles left.





I had a lot of fun today though, and the route was anything but flat. We had a lot of healthy climbs, and I rode with Sean, Ben, Kari, Scott, Tom, Allison, and Andy. It was fun to ride with these people because I consider them a little about my ability, but I had no problem keeping up and we had some good energy. It gave me a lot of confidence because I can notice a definite improvement with my strength and hill climbing.



We finally rolled into camp a little before 4, and headed over to Subway for a little nutrition on another $10 night. We’re staying at a city park tonight, which has showers at the community pool and is located right next to skate park. Busy place: I’m not expecting a quiet night.

Day 16 – In living color.

Hardin, Montana to Sheridan, Wyoming



This morning we were the very last ones out on the road because Ben was on breakfast/water duty, but it totally didn’t matter, and it was nice to encounter various groups of riders as we approached the middle of the group. I feel like we’re coming to a really cool point in the trip where people are comfortable knowing their riding capabilities, their own styles, fellow riders who are compatible with all of that, and then also the comfort to mix it all up. It was really fun to see riders who are normally behind to be up front, riders who are normally speedy gonzalas’s to be further back, and etc. etc.



We stopped at the Custer Museum and visitor’s center where I found some beautiful postcards. Back on the road, we passed our 1,000 mile mark and then hit the Wyoming border. Montana has been our home for a long time now, and it’s almost startling to reach a new state because it’s a milestone that reminds us how fast our time together is flying. As if I can’t write this word enough, Wyoming has be BEAUTIFUL. Today was possibly the most colorful day I can think of. So many layers of color surrounded us: the red road stretched out in front of us surrounded by bright green and gold fields, some grasses that were almost blue, dark green trees, sheets of mountains and hills far away, and the ever brilliant blue sky topping it all off. It was also a super fun day because once we made our way up in the group, I found Ane with a herd and we all got to ride together. It was a hard day for me because my stomach was upset for most of it, which let me tell you is fantastic when there are absolutely no cities in a 50 mile stretch, but the scenery and people were good distractions.





KOA campground outside of Sheridan, WY is home for us tonight. It was a $10 night again, which means that we were give a ten dollar bill to go out and find some dinner in town. We found a Country Kitchen and then walked back for a group meeeting. A group of middle schoolers read about us in their paper and came to visit us. They were planning and training for a 100 mile trip of their own for the charity Wyoming Cares in August. It was a treat to share our stories and advice with these girls, and to see their excitement and answer their questions.

Day 15 – Short and sweet.

Billings, Montana to Hardin, Montana



Today was a treat. The day was about 50 miles long only, and so we all took our time and poked around on the bike. I rode with Ane the whole day, along with a bunch of other people. It was fun just to take our time, knowing that no matter how slow we go, or how many stops we made, we’d still get in early. We played a bunch of games on the bike, attempted to unwrap starbursts with just our tongues, and Ane even did a little off-roading (a.k.a. rode into the ditch :). It was a good day, and when we got into camp we were thrilled to learn that our Hardin campsite was adjacent to a really nice community pool. After a little swimming and hot-tubbing, we wandered into town to a local diner and the grocery store.



The rest of the evening was spent being lazy and laying out on our thermarests on the grass. The local Hardin 4-H club was sweet enough to bring us ice cream and sang Happy Birthday to Dan Scott in Crow. As the sun went down, the four of us (Me, Sean, Ben and Ane) listened to music, giggled, and watched the sky paint itself.

Day 14 – It's a sign.

Billings, Montana

Our rest day today in Billings is at Montana State University, in an un-air-conditioned building which was cozy nonetheless. A bunch of us walked to Perkins this morning and had a great big yummy breakfast at Perkins, with an impressive display of food on the table. We searched for some postcards, but nothing really was open on Sunday in Billings. I guess it’s good to know that there are still some places in the U.S. who observe some day of rest. Ane and I biked down to the Albertson’s grocery store to get some granola bars, etc. I was locking up my bike, and when I didn’t have a back jersey pocket on my tank top, I set my sunglasses down on the ground. Apparently I left them there, and after shopping I spent a good stretch of time frantically searching the grocery store for my shades. I knew that they had been stolen, and I just kept thinking about how these shades had been to the arctic with me held so many memories. As Ane was watching our stuff outside, she asked a man who walked up if he had seen a pair of shades. All he said was, “Yes,” and as he pulled them out of his pocket he proclaimed, “I’m sick of stealing.” If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.

A good chunk of the afternoon I spent at a local cafe sipping iced tea, downloading pictures, and talking to Andy and Iron Mike. It was relaxing and super comfortable because it was not too different than an afternoon I would have spent in Michigan with my brother. We rode from there to a downtown restaurant where we met a large group of Big Riders and I drank some home-brewed root beer.

Day 13 – The wide Montana sky.

Harlowton, Montana to Billings, Montana

As it turned out, the youth center was a little too stuffy and a little too crowded for the relaxing night that Ane and I wanted, so we ended up setting up our tent on the football field with those brave souls. Then the wind began to blow, and blow, and blow. It was nuts. A storm was a brewin’ and we sure weren’t sleeping. We heard Michael outside struggling with his tent, and by the time we got out of ours, his tent had collapsed around him and his creaky cot. Tom’s little head was popped out of the top of his tent, Ane was running around her underwear and a make-shift skirt (a floofy little girls’ swim suit top), and Scott was up on top of the hill with his arms crossed just chuckling at the sight of us. All five of us were out there that night (minus Justine who remained in her tent so it didn’t blow away) helping Michael in the blowing wind pack up his tent. It was such a fun night, we were laughing so hard at the chaos around us that my tummy hurt, and Tom and I were snorting up a storm.



Once we got back into our tent the storm must have blown over quickly, or maybe it was just Michael’s cot keeping us up before :), but I got a great night’s sleep after that. About breakfast time we were really glad we had slept outside, because I guess some people were stirring, up and dressed by 4 a.m. Good God, breakfast wasn’t even supposed to be until 5:30. So Ane and I were grateful that we got to sleep in this morning. We got off to a nice start this morning, and made good stops through Montana at small little towns, including the home of the Testicle Festival. What a claim of fame, but unfortunately they weren’t serving the Rocky Mountain Oysters (a.k.a. bull balls) at 8 a.m. in the morning.



I was pretty tired today, for some reason, but for the most part, and for most of the riders, today was an easy 90 miles. We all got in during the early afternoon, and the terrain was pretty flat. I had two major highlights of the day: (1) Ben and I bought a cream soda around mile 50, and (2) Kelly finished the ENTIRE route today on her hand-cranked bike. Inspiring. What a strong woman.

I lied, there’s a third highlight of the day: tofu steak. Beyond Basil came to cook us our meal again tonight, and set it up around the park picnic tables. Holy moly. I can’t even begin to describe how fancy schmancy and delicious the dinner was, but for the meat eaters there was even grilled swordfish. Swordfish! Honestly.

As if it could have gotten any better, the sky just erupted at the end of dinner. A handful of us sat outside on the balcony watching it, and I swear that it was better than ANY fireworks we could have gotten at the fourth of July. It had been a long time since I’ve been able to sit and watch lightning like that, and what a show it was. Beautiful. And someone had told us that it never rained in Montana.

Day 12 – Holy hotness.

Thompson, Montana to Harlowton, Montana





It was a bit of a tense morning this morning: we had yet another century today, we were anticipating temperatures over 100 degrees, and everyone wanted to get out early to beat the heat and get some miles in. Within a couple of miles our crew smacked right into some unavoidable construction. And by construction, I mean that the road was actually just rock and sand for a couple of miles stretch. It would have been fun with a mountain bike, but I’m pretty sure that my bike isn’t made to ride that. Most of us got through alright, but we had some falls with bikes, including the tandem, and I believe that some people got driven through because of safety. Right off the bat from there, we began again with a climb that was an 11-mile climb that ascended about 1200 feet. It was long, but honestly, I loved it. It was through a beautiful forest, the gradient was shallow enough to be manageable, and it felt really good to reach the top. Not to mention there were leftover cupcakes at the top :)



From there the rest of the day was up and down, but overall a gradual decline. But it was hot, hot, hot. 105 degrees. Holy hotness. So it begins. I rode with Sean and Ben the whole day, and we were a great team. We didn’t even make a paceline today, but we were going a perfect pace that was fast enough to cover the miles without over-exerting ourselves, and at a speed where we could carry conversation and keep ourselves entertained. For the last 40 miles we played some great games that I used to play on canoe trips: Boddacheli (spelling?), the Band Game, the Number Game, etc. etc. We also got some creative brainstorming going for how we can play cards if they were sticky, how we need those velcro balls/gloves to play catch with, etc. etc.



When finally we rolled into Harlowton, my sighs sounded like hallelujahs. It was a long, hot day, but I offer so much credit and respect for those who came after me – people who are working just as hard as me on the bike but had to be out there in the heat for hours longer. It’s going to be a trying week ahead of us. Thank goodness we have a rest day in Billings after tomorrow.



We are staying in a youth center tonight, next to the high school football field where a few brave souls are setting up their tents in the heat. The rest of us will deal with each other’s coughs, sniffles, rustling, zippering, etc. etc. in the name of (hopefully) a cool night’s rest. We’re getting used to these slumber parties. Beyond Basil is a restaurant from Billings that came all the way here to feed us, and it was INCREDIBLE. Best food by far. Not only did they offer the biggest pieces of (so I was told) delicious meat to the meat-eaters, their vegetarian food was more than adequate with protein and green leafies. I can’t imagine how much that meal costs in a restaurant, but it was delicious.

Day 11 – Continental divide.

Avon, Montana to Townsend, Montana

We had royalty among us today. I woke Ane up this morning with a hug instead of an alarm, I figured that that’s how her mother would have done it on her birthday. Then I gave her her birthday beads and crowned her with her Birthday Princess crown complete with pink feathers. Don’t worry, I got a great picture of the sleepy princess. We were informed by a lot of people that they woke up to our giggling this morning, but that’s better than an alarm right?



Right away this morning we were off to a long climb right away. I started out with Ane, and then rode for a while with David, which was good conversation. When he stopped, I decided it would be a nice change to ride by myself for a while. It was an unexpectedly social solo ride; it was great because I was going my own pace up the hill, but between passing people and getting passed, I was hardly alone.



At the top of the hill we reached the continental divide, which was noted by a large wooden sign but no spectacular view or anything. After our photoshoot, and after Ane popped her gift of champaign, we embarked on the ten mile descent. We didn’t get especially speedy, I think I averaged about 35 mph, but it was long and beautiful. There’s nothing better than (a) feeling the thrill of a descent and (b) enjoying the scenery on the way down.



The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I have a feeling that much of Montana is going to look alike, which is a terrain with its own beauty, but nonetheless you become quickly accustomed to. Our riding group switched up a bunch today, and then I finished up the rest of the day with Sean. We came into Townsend around two-ish, stopped at the gas station for directions and then walked into the bakery to pick up a birthday cake for Ane. As it turns out, we were informed that her mom had already ordered five dozen cupcakes to be delivered! Clever woman. So we enjoyed a delightful dinner and spread of birthday sweets, and lights out in the gym were 7 p.m. in preparation for an early morning start.

Day 10 - Avon 4th of July.

Missoula, Montana to Avon, Montana



Second century in three days! Today we were off to a truck breakfast (French press coffee, oatmeal, etc. etc.) bright and early in the morning. I rode most of the day with Ane, which was such a treat...though maybe not so much for her :) Ane got her own personal coach with Iron Mike today, who gave her technique tips and also pushed her like our old swimming coaches used to.





The landscape changed a little today, mountains in the background and rolling hills of farmland and grazing land. We saw lots of cattle, some beautiful heron on a lake, and a whole herd of antelope. That was pretty sweet, I’ve never seen antelope before that I recall. Our day was pretty uneventful otherwise. It got pretty hot today, so it was good to get some miles in while it was cool. We stopped for while at a little creek to wade our feet in the freezing water to cool off. It was probably full of cow poop, but it felt good anyways.



The last ten miles of the day were pretty hard for me, I was just beat. But it was a good day, a long day for me, but a good day. There was a good mix of quick miles and pokey miles with conversation and sing alongs with Bob. Tonight camp is in a tiny, tiny town called Avon. It’s an actual campground here, with nice facilities, and a FANTASTIC dinner was brought to us tonight. Yes, it was spaghetti again, but the vegetarian sauce was basically a chili with beans and veggies. Then we were brought the “best pie in the country,” which was very good and very filling.

It was a bit of a long day, but it was so satisfying at night. I am continually appreciative and inspired by this group of people. I had such an inspiring conversation with Jody today, which made my day. She is possibly the most faithful person I have ever met, lives through spirit and love. I can’t help but think about how hard this trip will be to leave, and how lucky I am at this point in my life to be surrounded by such a community.

Day 9 - To the Big M.

Missoula, Montana



As if we hadn’t had enough adventure for the day, we were walking back from the University center gameroom last night when six of us decided to sleep under the stars (peer pressure can be such a good thing). There was a hill/mountain that flanked the University, with a large M in the hilltop visible from miles away. About 10:30 p.m. we hiked the many, many switchbacks up the hillside up to the M, which it turns out was cement. A little further up near the top we set up camp: thermarests and wool blankets. The view of the city at night was incredible, and the stars, excepting a little light pollution, formed a welcome canopy. It was a perfect night, but I ended up with only about two hours of sleep. The stars kept me awake, much like when you attempt to fall asleep to a TV set, I just kept watching them and wasn’t ready to close my eyes. We stayed up quietly talking, and as it became colder and colder we formed a little huddle and layered the blankets on top of us. The morning came all too soon, and at 5:00 a.m. up went Tom to scout out the sunrise. For about 45 minutes we all waited for the sun to rise, taking bets (which of course I won :) for when it would rise. After the 6:15 rise, we wandered down for breakfast, showers, laundry, and NAPS.





Ane and I decided we needed a swim, and pedaled down to the river bank under a bridge. The water was super crisp, but a quick dip was as good as any nap as far as refreshing goes. It was so lovely, and the water was actually pretty clean. We spent some glorious time in the sun on the bank before I headed back for a two hour nap.



Awake and refreshed, the rest of the evening was a little more strenuous than planned. The restaurant reccommended was quite the unexpected trek in flip flops, and dinner turned into a 3 ½ hour experience. A little crabby at first, with a little food and chocolate mints, life was better. And ice cream. That always helps. And now, bed before another century tomorrow.

Day 8 - Centurians.

Thompson Falls, Montana to Missoula, Montana

Today was an EARLY rise. We woke up at 5:15, but with the time change my alarm was still set for how our bodies really felt, in western time, which was 4:15. Good God. After a pack up, we rode down to the little Thompson Falls Elks Club for a really fantastic breakfast made by a woman who wanted to contribute (she was mother of a host to one of our riders back in Seattle). The group I was riding with determined that the most important thing of our daunting first century ride (over a hundred miles in length) was to get out early. 6:30 we were off and riding into the sunrise, with perfect weather, gorgeous scenery alongside a river (ever calling to me) and railroad track. We were flying, covering ground like it was our job, adeptly shooting photos from the bike of the mountains left and right, and were shocked to find that we were the first riders into the morning waterstop. The stop was in Paradise, MT, and we found one dollar coffees at the local cafe which we made communal because they were so huge we couldn’t finish them before we were off again.



From Paradise we had a stretch that our group joined two others to make our group Mike, Sean, Kari, Steve, and I. With a beautiful paceline going, we were cruising in the low 20’s mph. It was just fun really, to hold that speed, to look around and see the mountains, and to see the miles fly in the essential cool morning weather. The funny part was that as great as it was, each of us were thinking to ourselves, “Man, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to want to ride with these guys at this pace.” So it was probably for the best that we dropped back to eat a sandwich at mile 50.



The day became hotter and hotter, the traffic heavier and heavier, the shoulder smaller and smaller, and the trucks meaner and meaner. I can’t wait to get into Minnesota just for the kind of folk that return a friendly wave. It was near impossible at some points to enjoy the scenery because the roads required complete concentration, and this was mostly due to the returning Monday traffic coming out of Glacier Park. The rest of the ride went pretty smoothly however. Jody scared me a bit, because at our 56 mile checkpoint I was peeling a juicy delicious mango with my teeth, and she told me that 90% of people are super allergic to the skin with reactions similar to poison ivy. After rinsing my face super-well, I found no reaction and think I’ll look that up myself :)

After our 75 mile waterstop, when miraculously there were only two people ahead of me, we finished out a gradual 9 mile climb. It was hard, I was sweating bullets. After a breif stop at a gas station, where Mike and Sean devoured a couple of donuts, we came to the most rewarding moments of the entire day: the descent. Oh man. The whole damn hot day was so worth it just for this descent. Cruising down, we were so lucky that at this point we could take up most of a lane, because as I glanced down at my speedometer the numbers crept up and up. 47.1 mph was my max speed, and this was feathering the brakes a bit, and not in a total tuck. In the moment I wanted to tuck and just climb to higher speeds so bad, so it was probably for the best that I was creeping up to Sean who was creeping up to Mike.

We cruised into possibly the warmest reception yet, at the dorm rooms of the University of Montana in Missoula, in the speedy hour of 2:30-ish. At an average of about 16.9 mph, it was for certain a good 105-miler. The cafeteria food was incredible, with the largest, freshest salad bar I could have imagined.