We made it!

For all you worriers out there. WE MADE IT!

We got to Virginia Beach on August 15th...exactly 40 days after we left.

Sorry for not updating the blog, but our laptop is on the fritz. It has all the pictures on it and I didn't dare post without pictures. I hope you understand.

Good news is the computer is fixed and we get it back today!

We made it!

Nauvoo and Carthage

Easy day today. we got chased by a storm, got told we were not very tan. we ran into this classic guy who invited to his house to stay. (Poland Family! this is you! the bed felt GREAT!)

tomorrow, Nauvoo, then Carthage, then who knows?

Nauvoo to Table Grove, IA

popped two tires with little sharp rocks.

super huge thunderstorm. Thanks again to the Poland family for letting us hang out at their house all morning. very slow day, we only made it sixty miles

Got to see the Nauvoo Temple and went to Carthage Jail

Amish

August 2nd

It is amazing how little you can have and still be very happy.

Today I was sitting by my bicycle, and our little tent. I looked at all the stuff we brought on the trip: three pairs of biking clothes, one other outfit, some sandals, toiletries, a camera, laptop, patch kit, waterbottles...and a few other items. Not a whole lot. It all fits on our bikes and we carry it around with us everywhere.

It is amazing how little you can have and still be very happy. I am so happy...we are having so much fun everyday! I love Bill!

August 3rd. Moravia IA to Nauvoo IL

it is amazing how much stuff I need to be happy. today we saw a whole bunch of Amish people. I think they are called a "solemn" of amish. they wear "Plain" clothes. they drive "Plain" little buggies. they kind of look plain. Steph and I did some research on the Amish by reading about them on our iphones. There is an ap for that. Here are some facts about the Amish.

1. "Beachy" amish drive black cars. they are like the wild Amish. they have telephones in thier places of work. the other Amish do not speak to them or allow thier children to marry them.

2. the average Amish has as many years of education as they have children in thier family (6.8)

3. Amish people grow beards when they get married. the men too.

4. Amish get hung up on stuff like how many straps thier suspenders have, how many pleats there are in thier caps and what color of dresses the women wear. if you wear suspenders that have too many straps you could get "shunned" until you confess your sin and repent publicly.

5. when we walked into an Amish shop there was a sign that said :

"This shop is the Lord's shop. stealing from here is like stealing from the Lord. Our price is much easier to pay than His."

Steph and I bought some of the Lord's chips and left.

Iowa is so hilly!

August 1.

the day was tough again. lots of hills, although the road that we were on was much less busy. (the championship Knocks again! thanks for the suggestion!)

we called up the branch president out in Centerville, Iowa and he invited us over to spend the night. James Rodebush and his lovely, wonderful and talented wife, Joyce gave us a great bed to sleep in and a delicious dinner the next day. we will be heading to Nauvoo on Monday!

oh, and we saw some bison today!

Welcome to IOWA

July 30th

we left late this morning. Pam made us a delicious breakfast (Ham! Eggs! Pancakes!) then showed us the way to her friend Tod's house in Council Bluffs. It was only 65 miles away, so Steph and I did not feel bad about leaving at 10 in the morning. Thanks Tod for the bed, dinner and breakfast!

July 31st.

Very tough day today.

We started on US 34 and it was a mess. the shoulder dissapeared and there were tons of trucks. When we got to Red Oak and decided to take county roads. The county roads were incredibly hilly. In some ways it was more difficult than the Rocky Mountains. Just as much climbing, but instead of getting it all done in ten miles or so it is stretched out over sixty miles of hills. About the time that Steph and I started getting tired we turned off of the paved road and on to some gravel. For the next thirty miles.

We never would have made it, but with ten miles to go a little puppy dog started following us. It would run ahead of our bikes, check out some sweet smells and then catch back up to us. It ran with us for TEN MILES! finally we got to a paved road again and Steph and I decided to outrun it. We were trucking at twenty miles per hour and this dog was keeping pace! we named the dog racer and it did not get hit by a car.

We pulled into town just as the sun was setting. The town pool was open, (the owner of the local bank was having a party) and we were invited to:

1. a dip in the pool

2. a shower

3. an apartment for the night

4. breakfast in the morning.

Carl and Jan Knock, you guys are awesome!

July 29th

I was hit by a truck today...I mean I was hit by Bill today. We were pulling into a gas station to fill up on water. There were multiple places to pull into the gas station. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Bill was already in the turn lane, so I got into it as well, thinking we were going to turn right away. Bill was thinking we were not turning right away so he was still cruising pretty fast. At that moment, a car was coming out of the gas station. I thought this would be the prefect opportunity to turn into the station. So I turned...exactly at the moment that Bill was going to pass me. It was a spectacular crash! It ended with both Bill and I on the ground and my front wheel "taco-ed".

That happened in the first 15 miles of the day. A very nice man stopped to give us a lift into town where there was a bike shop. We bought a new wheel and set out for 100 more miles. It was a very long day, but the warmshower we got to was AWESOME!

We got into Lincoln a little late. Pam knew we were coming and had made us salad, bread, and lasagna with zucchini. After dinner she served us ice-cream and blueberries. Everything was so delicious. Where is this lady from??? She is amazing! To top it off, we slept in a wonderful bed and she was making ham, eggs, pancakes, and protein smoothies when we woke up. Do we have to leave?

ps. Pam, I love the glasses!

Gibbon, Nebraska

July 28th

130 miles today. extremely windy when we started out. it got windier. by two o clock we had only gone 55 miles, which was a bad sign. then the wind died down a bit and we were able to start moving. We put on another 80 miles before nine o clock that night.

It was dark and we smelled bad. As we got into Gibbon we found an old folks home called "the good samaritan"... a sign! They let us take showers... thanks! Now we are camped in a park.

Tomorrow we hope to pull to Lincoln. another heroic day. Nebraska is corn, trains and smelly trucks.

Pictures

Cool Pictures from Sterling Colorado to Lincoln Nebraska

Black IceCream!

July 25^th

Long and pretty much flat road today. We cruised for 103 miles of generally uphill against the wind sort of stuff. Steph was a champ and had some inspirational pulls.

In New Ramer we saw a rodeo in action. They had calf roping and barrel racing among other things - all we saw was the barrel racing (girls) some of those girls could MOVE!

When we made it into sterling, CO, we met up with the Speight family. Mark, his wife and daughter welcomed us into thier house. great day! We ate black icecream! It was not the most delicious icecream we have eaten...but it did amazing things...like turn everything it touches black! Amazing. We had another great laugh!

Thank you Speights! You guys are great!

The French Man!

Fort Collins to Sterling, CO

The French Man!

After today, both Bill and I wish we knew how to speak French. As we were riding toward Sterling, CO we saw another cyclist coming towards us on the opposite side. We rode to the other side of the street to greet him and find out where he was headed and where he came from. Once we said "hello" we knew that all of our effort might be in vain. He told us he did not speak english. That part we got. And then he started speaking French! We understood that he was going from New York City to San Francisco and that he was from France. And that is all. We then were able to use a little sign language to figure out that he needed water, and wanted to know where he could get a hotel.

We showed him where to get water and where the closest hotel and camp ground was. We also filled up one of his water bottles. I asked if he needed food, and he showed me his chapstick...indicating he had plenty of chapstick. He did have very chapped lips though. Then we all just stood around and smiled...nothing else to say because we didn't know how to say it. We both said goodbye and went our ways.

Moments later Bill and I decided that we should have just given him some of our food....or at least pulled it out. Bill turned around and chased him down. He gave the French man a whole bag of Fig Bars. He said thank-you, and then kept riding.

can you imagine what that frenchman must have thought? "Wow, those fat americans! always keep cookies in thier bags!" we had a good laugh.

Bike Co-op

In other news, when we got into town we found the “bike co-op”. We rolled up and asked for a tube to buy. They said, “we do not sell tubes, but if you would like a tube, we can give one to you.”

This place fixes and refurbishes used bicycles and then gives them to people who need them. The cost of a cheap bike is about twenty hours of community service. The cost of a nicer bike is forty hours or so. If you wanted to fix your bike they would show you how to do it, free of charge.

Amazing place. Inspirational. Steph and I have yet to build our garage, but when we do... It will become a bike co-op.

Ohh SHIFT!

July 24^th - Gould to Ft Collins

Today we had a 52 mile descent. It was spectacular, except that Steph got a flat halfway down the hill, which I patched poorly, because the patch failed. So I patched it again one mile later. One mile after that the patch failed again. So steph patched it. Steph’s patch held for about seven miles before we had to pump it up again. So for about thirty miles we pumped the tire up every six or seven miles. Whew!

When we got into town we found a wonderful family to spend the night with. Rita and Tom Brown work for the forest service and have a wonderful house and spectacular garden. (steph and I are inspired again!)

We spent the whole night talking and laughing with the family. Such great people! The "Oh Shift" sign was in their kitchen...left over from when they were cheering on some cyclists at a race.

Cold morning

It was so cold this morning waking up that I ate my breakfast in my sleeping bag. It was about 40 degrees outside...brrrrr.

Camping in the Woods

Steamboat was a very cute town...I would like to visit there again. Or maybe even buy a ranch close by. Today we had some of the most scenic riding so far. We climbed up Rabbit Ears pass (9420 feet) and there were huge meadows of wild flowers and bubbling streams everywhere. Pine trees, Aspen trees, cool air...wonderful.

Gould is a tiny town that apparently survives on campers. The KOA campsite cost 32 dollars per night. another campsite cost 24. all we really wanted to do was pitch a small tent. we need about ten square feet of flat surface for 7 hours or so. not that hard.

so Steph and I trucked toward a possible campsite 10 miles (and ten thousand feet!) up the road. but the sun was going down, so we decided to pitch a tent by the side of the road.

lots and lots of mosquitoes. twenty for every square inch of your body.

Steph got another flat. The tubes with the long stems do not hold up well against a hand pump. the valve ends up breaking off.

pray for no bears.

July 22 Massadona to Steamboat springs

we met some riders along the road. we asked them how the terrain was out to steamboat springs (110 miles away!) and they said that it was pretty flat out there, but that the climb out of steamboat was rediculously hard. I quote: "You will only get 15 miles in that day" apparently it is tough.

once we got to steamboat springs we went to Andy's house. he was signed up for warmshowers, however he was on a bike hike himself that day. He left his house open for us to use. what a champ! showers at last!

July 21 Duchesne to Massadona

Great library visit in Vernal.

out of Vernal we met a grasshopper named sage. He hopped on my bag and rode for about eight miles into Dinosaur Colorado. Friendly little guy. I did not kill him with my spokes.

We passed blue mountain. (hangliders) we did not see any, but they can fly from there 100 miles.

We rode the last twenty miles as the sun was setting. right over the border between Utah and Colorado there are very colorful cliff faces and rocks. gorgeous. Also, there is a much better highway in Colorado than in Utah.

We had milkshakes in dinosaur, they were delicous, and helped us get that last twenty miles. they were worth the ten bucks we paid for them, although just barely.

Now we are at a sucky campsite. the portopotty has been tipped over and not cleaned out afterwards. maybe tipping it over is how they clean it out? ten wasted bucks.

But the campsite has water, and a moderately flat spot. also, no rattlesnakes. and no sprinklers. Worth ten bucks.

Strawberry Reservoir

July 20th

Today was windy and fast. we started out at the Glassford's house through Provo canyon and up a horrendous hill to Strawberry Reservoir. After Strawberry is was windy and fast downhill the whole way to Duchesne. We finished up 107 miles in record time.

Grasshoppers eat dead grasshoppers. Along the road you will see three or four grasshoppers munching on the carcass of their earstwhile brother. Then I will come along and skoosh them all. I imagine that later ten or twelve grasshoppers will discover the smorgasbord that I have left and thank me.

Butterflies are also attracted to us. perhaps becuase we wear brightly colored spandex the butterflies think that we are friends. we are not friends. The butterflies flit and flutter hopefully around our bicycles and then decide to take a chance at befriending our spokes. so sad.

We went to a pool after we got into Duchesne. The pool felt great, the shower felt better. now we are camped at a park and we are going to bed.

Visiting the Family

July 18th

Hung out with the family in Provo. Had a picnic at the park. Went in the provo river. The day was hot but the water was freezing cold. Bill, Christine and Steph all dunked their heads in. Told stories. Eric and Robin are rediculously cute. Dave is amazing. Jen and Michelle look great. Christine and Steve look happy together. Mom and Dad are living the dream. We love them!

Sunday. Watched the tour de france. Go Lance! Cheryl made us a delicious dinner. Church was great fun.

Brigham City to Highland, UT

July 17th. Brigham city to Highland.

Easy day, all downhill. Bad drivers. A car cut Bill off in Salt Lake City...he ended up hitting the back of the car...it was a pretty beat-up car anyways. Heavy trucks over point of the mountain ran Bill off the road. Lots of honking. Not everyone in Utah is a bad driver, but Utah really does have horrible drivers. Went to the Salt Lake City Bike Company...awesome bike shop! It is owned by Brent...great guy! Steph knew him in Boise when he was a rep for Idaho Mountain Touuring.

The Heat and Rockets

July 16th

Malta, Idaho to Brigham City, UT.

Long, hot day. 100 degrees! Hottest day so far. We were in the middle of the dessert and saw a rocket factory. There was an explosion in the hills...they must have been testing something big! They had green grass and the only tree for 60 miles...so we did what anyone would do...we took a nap outside the rocket factory and dreamed of colorful airplanes in a yellow sky.

Camped behind a church in Brigham City. Bill slept with his clothes on because he was sure someone was going to come tell us to leave in the middle of the night.

Shower, Sprinklers, and the Milky Way

July 15th. Hagerman to Malta.
We rode another 100 miles today because we are trying to get to Provo by Friday. We show up to Malta, ID and have not showered in two days and don't know where to camp either. We saw an LDS church that had cars parked out front. Turns out there were young women there for their Wednesday Night activity. We basically snuck in (so not to disturb them) and found a shower in the Men's restroom. Score!

Someone told us there was a park nearby, so we camped there.
It was a great park, but as we were setting up the tent, the sprinklers came on. Great! Now what?
Well the park actually had a fire pit off to the side of the grass that was surrounded by gravel. We figured that was a safe spot because they wouldn't sprinkler the fire pit and gravel.

Turns out they do sprinkler the fire pit and gravel...right about 2:00 in the morning. We were sleeping peacefully (with the rainfly off of course) when we were violently awaken by industrial power sprinklers. Talk about panic. It felt like a horrible movie!

So we got a little wet and had a hard time sleeping the rest of the night. One good thing came of it though. It was so dark out there that we looked up at the sky and saw the Milky way. Absolutely breathtaking!

Riding the Freeway!

July 14th
Boise to Hagerman. Today we rode on the freeway (I-84). This is a picture of us fixing a flat at a rest stop. We got a lot of weird looks, and it was as scary as all get out. Don't worry Mom, we didn't have to ride on it for very long. And we were protected by the rumble-strip "forcefield" the whole way!

When we made it to our destination... Hagerman, ID...we stopped at this little trailer called Righteous Ray's barbecue. There was the girl that worked there, and her friend. We ate barbecue sandwiches and chatted with them for a while.

The friend told us she saw some crazy cyclists on the freeway in the morning, near Boise. One with a purple shirt and one with a white shirt...just like us. Turns out is was us!

Slept in the city park tonight.

Quick Update

We are currently in Fort Collins, CO. Headed east towards Nebraska. We have fallen behind on posting due to the lack of internet. Don't worry, we have been writing great blogs and taking amazing pictures. (oh yeah, we lost our camera usb cord...but we are getting a new one tonight).

Here are just a few photos to keep you occupied.

Bill snoozing after lunch somewhere in Idaho.
Steph in the road. Real safe...I know.

We hate when this happens.

July 14th

Brogan to Boise.

Today was great becuase Boise Idaho, "Heaven on Earth" was so close. we flew, and cruised into Idaho Mountain Touring to visit with some pals. (GREAT NEW STORE! AMAZING!) Then we chilled in the classic Egyptian movie theater and saw the new terminator movie. the theater was great.

we stayed up too late though. tomorrow will be rough.

Left John Day and headed to Brogan, OR. It was a great downhill ride today, but the tremendous head wind slowed us down big time. We got into Brogan and could really find anything to eat but Oreos and Milk. Delicious...we ate the whole bag! Slept in the city park...it was great.

rest day

We spent this day with Mike and Sophie Cosgrove. Mike was the gentleman who helped us fix the spoke. He is very proud of his tiny town and wanted to show us some things.

we saw:

1. the painted hills. spectacular hills in blue, red and white. Mike knew the ranger that ran the park and so we got a personal tour of some of the cool areas of the park where they were thinking about building trails.

2. Chum Long How museum. this was amazing. crazy curses abounded. we have proof.

3. elvis presley as a native american. (steph and I danced in front of an audience and got a resounding applause.)

4. a great shower and a great bed.

Mike and Sophie are wonderful. thanks for the memories!

The Cosgroves!

I popped a spoke about five miles into the ride today. We pulled the spoke out, but there was no way to put the other spoke back in without taking off the rear cassette, and we did not have the tools. So we kept on riding. about ten miles later I had a brilliant realization

1. If I broke another spoke we would not be able to continue riding and...

2. we would have to hitch a ride to the nearest bike shop (70 miles away)

I immediately began bouncing up and down on my seat to try and pop another spoke. no such luck. 70 miles later Steph and I pulled into the bustling metropolis that is John Day, OR. (a stoplight! hooray!) Only to find that the bike shop was closed. everyone I asked about the bike shop said that there used to be one, but that it had shut up shop a long time ago.

Out of options Steph and I did the only reasonable thing;

1. got footlong subs and blizzards

2. tried to find a movie theater.

as we were searching for a great movie to watch we passed by where the bike shop had been AND THE DOOR WAS OPEN! Mike Cosgrove was inside working on a bike (he fixes bikes as a charity... there is a special place in heaven for him) I stepped inside and before long Steph and I were pulling apart my rear wheel and replacing the spoke. Neither steph nor I had ever trued a wheel, but we learned tonight! It was fantastic! we finally finished up around nine at night and Mike invited us to his house to spend the night. WHOAH!

Here are some observations:

1. John Day is an incredibly friendly town

2. truing a wheel is easier than it seems at first

3. Heaven is a bed and a shower.

Good old spray!

Another heroic day! Steph and I pulled one hundred and then miles with three 5 mile climbs! We climbed out of Deschutes, then saw these awesome windmills. then, while we were distracted we climbed another two file-mile climbs. Beyond tired.

we took showers in Spray, and (sort of) washed our clothes. Good people in spray. all three of them.

I threw in this picture because it is hilarious. got to love google maps.

Tough Day

Tough day. About fourteen miles into the day Steph and I took a wrong turn. twenty miles later we figured it out and had to backtrack. we ended up on this gravel road that wound its way through the mountains above the columbia river. astonishing views but slow and tough. when we finally made it back down we had only gone another fifteen miles towards our destination. we ended up getting thirty miles in for the price of sixty. ouch. We had a stellar campsite right by the Deschutes river. Dinner was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, just like breakfast, just like lunch. delicious.

105 miles and a tail wind!

We left Skapoosse, Oregon and decided to ride on the Washington side to the Columbia River today. It was breathtaking and beautiful. The first half was a lot of climbing, but the second half of the day just flew by....literally. The wind from the Columbia gorge was very strong. We loved it...especially in the tunnels. Since we made 50 miles in record time, we had a little time to goof around, and we are headed to a further camp ground back in Oregon.