Final Thoughts

We made it home safely from Albany, NY after driving straight through. We are still pretty tired, but we are starting to feel as if things are getting back to normal. I still find it fun to ride in a car. The 17 hour drive didn't bother me at all. I felt like doing one final post to give a brief overview of the whole trip.

We started off with good attitudes, but after the 95-105 degree average temperature the first couple days, we knew we were in for it. During the second day as we battled a 15 mph headwind, it crept up to 95 degrees by 10:00 am. I remember thinking to myself, "what am I doing out here?" I never quite figured that one out. In fact, the heat was so bad this day that the manager at our hotel gave us a free room because she felt so bad for us.

We learned that taking an unsupported trip means you will have to be willing to hitchhike, and we ended up accepting 7 rides (8 for dad) totaling 160 miles when there was extreme weather, impassable roads and bike breakdowns. A huge thanks goes out to Richard and Mark, Fran,Whitney, New Mexico Tom, Scott, Don and Sherry, Missouri Tom and Donny. We could not have made it if it wasn't for all of you guys. We greatly appreciate everything you all did for us. And Ben, thanks again for picking us up at the airport...that was awesome.

We also found that near the end of the trip, the less humorous we were. Getting up every morning at 6:00 and eating the same continental breakfasts followed by 100 miles or more of biking was quite the physical and mental strain. Our mood could go from good to bad with as little as a rude comment by a person out the window of a car, or a honk. We would also get on each others nerves from time to time. I found out that the best way to deal with this was to not be the first person to break the silence after we got mad. At one point, we didn't say a word for a good 90 minutes. I had to relieve myself 30 minutes into this 90 minutes, but I would have rather soiled myself than break the silence. I'm not sure if I could have made it much past that hour and a half. Thankfully Dad said something, and I immediately said I needed to hit the weeds.

All in all, we are happy this insane ride is over. We are glad we did it, even though we were sick of it by day two. Actually, it isn't quite over for me yet. I have a 15 hour drive back to Colorado Springs tomorrow...joy. Dad says he won't be thinking of doing another one anytime soon, but yeah right, that's what he said four years ago, and he's done two more since then. I politely told him next time he has the notion to not even ask me, because even though I would know better, I would probably end up saying yes.

Alright...that's all, folks. Thanks for tuning in to read about our adventures. We are in the process of getting the pictures on the computer. If anyone would like to see them after they're uploaded send an e-mail to my mom at handersn@hbci.com and she'll send them to you via Kodak Gallery. I am going to load up the car and go to bed. Goodnight.

Blake

Saturday, May 23, 2009

The four of us left our hotel in Albany, NY at 9:00 this morning. I'm typing this in the car at 8:45 p.m. We're about 50 miles from Chicago. After a pretty good night's sleep Phil and Blake felt sufficiently rested and they have been doing all the driving today. We should be rolling into Winona around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m.

Blake said he'd blog tomorrow sometime. Time to get a little sleep here in the backseat...

Hope

Keene, NH to Salisbury Beach, MA - 118 Miles

They arrived at Salisbury Beach, MA this afternoon at 5:55 p.m! Day 32 of bicycling. Maisi, Jordan and I were there to cheer them on and we took lots of pictures.

We just arrived at our hotel in Albany, NY (midnight) after driving a few hours and eating supper...more later.

Hope

Amsterdam, NY to Keene, NH - 122 Miles

Blake said they didn't eat real well today...and not enough. There was no breakfast at their hotel so they went down the road to--you guessed it--a Dunkin' Donuts, where they each ate three and had some coffee. At about 10:00 they stopped at a McDonald's for something...I'm not sure what. Then, at 1:00 p.m. they stopped at a convenience type store and got a 5" sub. That was at the 56 mile mark. From mile 56 to mile 122 all they ate was a bag of M & M's. Good thing they're almost finished with this ride. I don't think their bodies could take much more of that good 'nutrition'.

It was pretty warm today. They got rid of their jackets within ten miles of starting out. They stopped at a bike shop in Brattleboro, Vermont and now Blake can finally shift his bike into first gear (for the first time in 1.5 weeks).

Maisi arrived around 4:00 p.m. today. The three of us went into town, walked around a bit and ate supper at The Bell in Hand Tavern which is billed as "the oldest tavern in the United States". Good food.

We're looking forward to meeting the guys tomorrow afternoon...ONE DAY LEFT!

Hope

Syracuse, NY to Amsterdam, NY - 120 Miles

TWO DAYS TO GO!

No stories to tell about today...120 miles. Just glad to complete the ride. They probably burned off their Dunkin' Donut binge from yesterday.

Nothing to report from the guys so I'll tell you what Jordan and I did today in Boston. We went on a Whale Watch cruise (in connection with the Aquarium) and did we ever see a show! The guide told us we were fortunate to see three different kinds of whales...fin whales, Minke whales and humpbacks. The fin whales were 75 feet long. We also saw a mother humpback and her calf. The mother was teaching her calf how to slap his tail (fluke) on the water and how to dive. We must've seen that mother's tail come out of the water 35 times, and she was quite close to our catamaran. After the cruise we took a long walk downtown. It was a gorgeous evening. As we took the subway back to the hotel we made one more stop at Cambridge and walked through the campus of Harvard. Beautiful buildings!

Maisi is driving up tomorrow from Baltimore, hopefully to arrive mid-afternoon. We'll have a night together before driving north to Amesbury, MA to meet Phil and Blake on Friday.

Good night.
Hope

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday - May 17, 18, 19

THREE DAYS LEFT!!

I think the fatigue, both physical and mental, are taking a toll on our favorite blogger. Blake and Phil have managed to finish the last three days without incident. I think they were rained on and wind-blown, but no bike breakdowns or other problems.

Sunday (May 17) - Niles, OH to Dunkirk, NY - 145 Miles
Monday (May 18) - Dunkirk, NY to Batavia, NY - 84 Miles
Tuesday (May 19) - Batavia, NY to Syracuse, NY - 121 Miles

The only story to relay from today's ride is this: They are so sick of the same hotel continental breakfast every single morning that they hardly ate any of it this morning. By 10:00 they were hungry so they stopped at Dunkin' Donuts, bought a dozen and finished 'em all off at once. Then they started calculating all the calories they had just consumed and realized they had LOTS of work to do to burn them all off again.

Jordan and I are in Boston tonight and will find some fun things to do tomorrow and Thursday morning, then we'll meet up with Maisi (who will be driving up from Baltimore). We're looking forward to that and are for sure looking forward to seeing Phil and Blake on Friday!

Good night.
Hope

the past three days

Greenfield, IN to Marysville, OH 165 miles

This morning, we had great winds on our back to make up the mileage we got rained out on the night before. We made the first 55 miles into Richmond, IN where we were supposed to stay. Even though we said "never again," we found ourselves at the good old Pizza Hut lunch buffet. After lunch, we went through town which was about seven miles to finish up with what we should have finished the night before. By the time we got to the hotel we were supposed to stay at the night before, it was already 1:00 pm. Only 106 miles to go! If it weren't for the tailwind, we would have been hosed. We made it to town and immediately went to Applebee's. After dinner, we went to the Holiday Inn Express, and got a great room that we had no time to enjoy, because we didn't get there until 9:00...bummer. The only entertainment we had all day was making fun of the "Free Credit Report.com" commercials, and making up different lyrics, like we normally do. That was it for that night.

Marysville, OH to Wooster, OH 95 miles

Today started off like any other normal day. After about 15 miles, we stopped at a decent sized town to see if they had a bike shop. We got directions, and we ended up at a bike shop that looked great with a knowledgeable staff. We felt comfortable enough leaving our bikes there while I went across the street to play some guitar, and dad went next door to get a haircut. By the looks of it, I can understand why they had walk-in appointments available. Anyway, whatever the guys at the shop did to my bike, they somehow made it worse. Five miles up the road, we figured it couldn't get much worse, and we started messing around with turning some knobs and such. It works great now! I still can't get into first gear, but it is way better than after we left the shop. Then, we thought we had it made after 53 miles. When we got to Fredrickstown, we went to a gas station where there were a bunch a friendly people working. We were told that highway 95 would bring us right into Wooster, and it "is no further than 25 miles," according to one guy. We thought this was sweet, because our maps had us going another 50 miles. So, the 25 miles was easily 40, if not more. To add to the pain of it all, the last 20 miles of it were up and down on very steep hills. It was no fun. The pavement was very sub par, and I'm not sure if they have done maintenance on it...ever. The roads about rattled our teeth out. When we got into town, we went to this great Greek restaurant, and it couldn't have been better. With the exception of a lady with a very annoying laugh, and a two year old who I thought might end up throwing a fork into my eyeball, the experience and food were perfect. We got a kick out of watching the owner railroad his waitstaff for not being attentive enough. He runs a tight ship, let me tell you. We finally made it to the Best Western and called it a night.

Today, Wooster, OH to Niles, OH 95 miles

We had some great tailwinds today, but we went 70 miles before we had our first stop. 30 miles into the day, we were in the Akron area, but our maps took us around the city. Before we knew it, we were in the middle of nowhere. Dad asked a guy by the side of the road if there was anything to eat around the area when we were 50 miles in. He called it "the dead zone." We'd have to travel 20 miles before we would reach a golf course. We went into the club house and each ate a brat, some pretzels, and a snickers. After we left, we pedaled the last 25 miles into town. With about six miles to go, it started to downpour on us, but luckily we came by a pavilion in which we went under for a good ten minutes. It was right next to a church, and there was a sign out front that said, "Treasure and Trash Sale." With all the different stuff under there, it was 100% trash. We got into town and went to the Holiday Inn Express, where they wanted $119 for a smoking room king bed and a roll away. So, we called up the Fairfield across the street, and got a room for $60 instead. Not bad for a Saturday night, huh? Well, the reason we got the great rate was because the room has no TV. No biggie, we just chilled with the front desk manager, Earl, and watched the Preakness Stakes on the plasma screen in the breakfast room. We had dinner at the Outback steakhouse, and while we were waiting for the table, we got a kick out of a group of what we think were Amish 20 somethings all outside huffing down cigarettes. What was even funnier was that we think they were making fun of our outfits. I can't blame them...I haven't seen anyone brave enough to wear neon green jackets since I was about nine years old. And of course, we are still rocking the $1 flip-flops. So yeah, pretty uneventful days, but we have 138 miles tomorrow, and that will bring us to New York state. Goodnight.

Blake

Marysville, OH to Wooster, OH 105 Miles

I talked with both Phil and Blake tonight. They made it to Wooster, OH by about 8:00 p.m. eastern time. I guess we started talking about other things and I didn't really find out much about how the day went. Anyway, I just checked the blog (11:00 p.m.) and there was nothing there so thought I should at least let you know they got to their destination. Tomorrow should take them to Warren, Ohio...95 miles.

Tomorrow morning Jordan and I will start driving east. We are going to find some fun things to do between now and Friday, May 22 when we'll meet Phil and Blake at the Atlantic Ocean. Maisi may be able to come from Baltimore as well. I hope Blake is able to keep us posted each day--only seven to go--but if not, Jordan and I will try to keep it going from our hotel.

Good night,
Hope

Greenfield, IN - Marysville, OH 155 Miles

They rode the 50 miles they were short yesterday plus the 105 scheduled for today for a total of 155 miles. (Although I thought they told me they went 165 miles). Either way it was a big day. Phil said the wind was on their backs about 85% of the time. Blake's tire was beginning to go flat toward the end of the day so they'll have to change that before they leave in the morning.

They arrived at an Applebee's at 8:30 tonight before they found a motel, so stopped for supper. When they finally sat down to eat they discovered just how tired they were. Too tired to blog...

Good night.
Hope

Tuscola, IL to Greenfield, IN, 170ish miles (over two days)

Yesterday and today are combined into one post, because they will stick out as two of the most memorable days of the trip. Memorable? That must be a typo...I meant miserable. It was almost, but not quite as miserable as the stench I am dealing with right now...there is a microwave in the computer room, and the manager just finished nuking a dish that I can only assume is native to Bangalore, India. I am seriously breathing through my mouth right now...ah... I can almost taste it... Anyway, yesterday we had a great temperature of about 70 degrees all day. It was the only thing that kept us going. The wind was absolutely brutal, and I believe it was about 15-20 mph right in our face all day. During our first stop 30 miles down the road, there was a 12" wrench connected to the bathroom key. So, Dad entertained himself by quoting Rip Torn from the blockbuster movie, Dodgeball..."If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!" For the last 90 miles, I could hear him talking to himself, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. Once we finally got to the room approximately nine hours later, I could hear him talking to himself in the shower. By this point, I figure he only has a few non-dormant brain cells left battling it out inside his head, but I asked him what he had been saying under his breath all day. With a belly laugh, he said, "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!" Well, we stayed at a Super 8, and it wasn't that Super. The morning breakfast consisted of bagels, cereal, the same waffles we have been eating the whole trip, and some of those chocolate covered hostess donettes that were about as old as Mother Teresa. That was it.

We got started this morning from Lebanon, IN, and there were thunderstorms and 20 to 30 mph headwinds in the forecast. Not too ideal. We made it 20 or so miles down the road, and we went into a Starbucks just as it began to downpour. We each ordered a regular, black coffee (which still gets me sideways looks from Starbucks employees) and began to wait out the rain. The people working were great, and one of the guys checked the forecast for us, and it looked like the rain might let up. So after about two hours, we made a break for it. Yeah...the rain never let up. It only got worse. In fact, it turned into a regular monsoon. We started to head out of the Indianapolis suburbs on a side road when we said enough was enough. After about two miles, there was no one that had passed us. We honestly thought we both might get hypothermia and perish in the middle of nowhere. After about ten minutes, we flagged down the one and only vehicle that we had seen on this particular road up to this point. Luckily it was Donny, and he brought us to the Cracker Barrel right on I-70. By this point, we only had 50 miles to go, but the rain was only getting worse, and so was the lightning and thunder. After we ate, we went and checked into the Comfort Inn right next door. As of this morning, the winds are supposed to be on our backs at 15-20 mph tomorrow. If this is the case, we should be able to do the 50 miles of make-up as well as the 105 originally scheduled for tomorrow. But, it's all about the wind. So, pray for tailwinds... I am going to bed. Goodnight.

Blake

P.S. Dad is getting pretty random with his speech by now. Yesterday, I told him we had gone ten miles instead of the seven he thought we had gone. He informed me that I "was full of yams."

Tuscola, IL to Lebanon, IN 121 Miles

I spoke with Phil briefly tonight...8:30 central time, 9:30 eastern time. They made it to Lebanon, Indiana but the headwinds were pretty bad. He said they had a real wind whipping. "It was brutal and there was nothing funny about it." I think Phil said today was one of the top two most difficult days of their trip. Anyway, they were pretty beat when they arrived at their hotel so Blake wasn't going to blog tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow will go better.

Hope

Springfield, IL to Tuscola, IL 80 miles

This was one of our extremely short days, but it was an interesting one. We left town about 7:00 and were on the country roads by about 8:00. We battled a very slight headwind all day, but it wasn't too bad. We both feel that we are now in good enough shape to handle most conditions. About 20 miles into the ride, I noticed a very annoying clicking noise going on in the axle that connects the pedals, which I believe is called the lower bracket (I know as much about bikes as Terrell Owens knows about humility, so I am probably wrong on what it is called). Anyway, we saw two ladies out cycling after about 35 miles, and we stopped them to ask if they knew where a good bike shop was. Teresa ended up taking us five miles into Decatur to a place called Spin City Bikes. The guys in there were very friendly and helpful. It was a one of a kind shop, let me tell you. When was the last time you went into a bike shop at 10:30 a.m. on a Monday and were offered a beer on tap? We decided to go with the coffee instead. While we waited for my bike to get fixed, we walked over to Jimmy Johns and ate sandwiches, and we both agreed we could eat those everyday for the rest of the trip, since we are both ruined on Pizza Hut for life. After the bike was up and running, we headed back towards our route in which we backtracked at least three unnecessary miles, making it a little longer than the expected 77 mile day. If it were over 100 miles for the day, we would have been mad about a three mile detour. The last 40 miles into town were spent going down back, back, country roads, and I wasn't even sure if we were on the right route. However, we were, and we made it into town at about 3:00. We came to the Holiday Inn Express, and Dad had a great comeback. He barely had to lift a finger for this deal, but got us a great room for $60. Then, one lady came in about five minutes later, and paid $95...sucker! PHIL'S BACK!!! But his brain is nowhere to be found. He was showing me his impression of the "moon walk" when we were in the room, which was basically an awkward strut walking straight forward. I wouldn't even go so far as to call it a "reverse moon walk." Well, we have 121 miles tomorrow. Goodnight.

Blake

P.S. I forgot to mention that at one point in trying to scare cattle yesterday, I'm pretty sure Dad barked like a dog. However, I wasn't certain if that was the tactic he was going for, nor did I ask...the world may never know.

Quincy, IL to Springfield, IL, 107 miles

Yep, today was just another average, dull day. We did not go for the continental breakfast this morning. Instead, we pedaled 14 miles outside of town to Liberty, IL to eat at a local place called Mike's. It had a great country feel to it, and we had a great breakfast. After we left there, we made it quite easily the next 50 miles into Jacksonville where we ate lunch. We finally had to break the pizza mold, because we do not want to ruin ourselves on Pizza Hut for life. Ironically, we ended up at a pizza place, but we both ordered gyros from our great waitress, and they were very tasty. After lunch, we only had 40 miles to ride, and I am pretty sure the wind was right on our backs. Once we got into Springfield, Dad struck out. Yep... Strike 1: Normally a pro at room price negotiations, we went to three different places, and they all stuck their ground on the price. One kid said "that price is out of the question" with a very rude tone...no time for Phil humor. We found it funny that each of these places had about four cars total in their parking lots, and that they wouldn't sell a room for a lower price when they are that empty. So...here we are at Microtel. Strike 2: Our waitress that had the personality of a robot at Carlos O Kelly's tonight carded dad when he went to pay with his credit card. He was visibly upset, and I told him not to take it personally. When you think about it, he hasn't combed his hair in three weeks, he hasn't done much shaving, he had a green coat on that he looked like he picked up from the Salvation Army, and again, the $1 flip-flops came back to haunt him. Also, the tan lines from his helmet also kinda make him look like those not-so-human-wrinkly-foreheaded dudes from Startrek. Strike 3: We got back from dinner, and Dad gave it his best effort to help himself to whatever he could find in the cupboards underneath the breakfast bar. He couldn't find any hot chocolate, so he asked the front desk guy if he had any. To obtain the hot chocolate would have meant he would have had to walk across the street to the IHOP. He wasn't about to pay for any... However, he did come back up to the room to offer me some peanut butter that he found. I asked him what he planned to put it on just as he was downing the first packet straight out of the container... he has most definitely gone bonkers. So yeah, the most action of the day happened when we were riding through a neighborhood with businesses that were predominately beauty shops and liquor stores, and about three miles from our hotel, a lady yelled "get on the sidewalk" to Dad. The sidewalks were about as clean as the Missouri shoulders. We didn't listen to her at all. That is all for tonight...I've checked the map for tomorrow 100 times, but it still says we only have a 77 mile day. We can't believe it. Goodnight.

Blake

The past two days

Yesterday, Cameron, MO to Kirksville, MO 110 miles

Well, today was the first morning that I realized I am completely sick of the same continental breakfast every morning. Even when it is different, it is the same (somehow). The biscuits and gravy I had this morning nauseated me, but I ate them anyway. When we left the hotel, it was raining pretty hard. I was a bit nervous about the start of the day, because about two miles into it, there was a huge bolt of lightning right in front of us. Luckily, it was the only one we saw all morning. After about ten miles, we hooked up with the route that we were supposed to be on for the long 145 mile day we cut short by 30 miles the night before. It was highway 6, and it was rougher than a celebrity mug shot. There were pot holes and minimal shoulders all day. We stopped for our Pizza Hut fix in the town of Trenton after we almost got lost by going the wrong direction in town. When we arrived at Pizza Hut, there was a newlywed couple that showed up right as we were getting there. According to the graffiti all over his truck windows, it informed the world that he "Got-R-Done," and that it was now, "Beer 30." I wish them the best of luck. Before we left town, Dad insisted that we hose down our bikes. As a result, we power washed all the grease off our bikes and they were making more noise than a group of middle school girls at an 'N SYNC concert. About 30 miles outside of Kirksville, we stopped at an auto shop and the friendly guys that worked there let us use some of their WD 40. About three miles outside of town, the shoulders were not rideable. They seemed like they were gravel, and that the road crew just put some tar over it and called it a day. It wasn't even that hot out, but the tar ended up clogging up my cleats. Dad suggested that we thumb it the last three miles into town. Not more than five minutes later, Don and Sherry picked us up and brought us to the Comfort Inn. They were nice enough to wait around to see if we could get a room. It turned out that Truman State was having their graduation this weekend, and there were no rooms available. Don and Sherry then brought us down to the Super 8, and we are very grateful, because it was rush hour traffic, and we would not have made it. Well, Super 8 only had one room with one bed, so we called the Days Inn, and they had one smoking room available with two beds. We decided on that one. Before we made it over to the Days Inn, we stopped for a buffet at the Ponderosa Steak House. It was seafood night...not too delicious, but it got the job done. I need to rewind a bit and inform you of our dinner two nights ago. We ordered in Chinese, and Dad was brave and went with the sweet and sour shrimp. He woke up during the night debating whether or not he should have visited the toilet. I wouldn't have had time to make that trip after eating some shrimp at Ponderosa...I am still amazed as to how I kept it down.

Today, Kirksville, MO to Quincy, IL, 97 miles

Who would have thought a day that was so great could have started out so horrific. About 1/2 mile into the day while Dad was making up lyrics to a song he didn't know the words to and laughing to himself about it, he ran over a huge, rusty nail that was about 1 1/2 inches long. It was the first tire blowout of the trip, and it kind of sounded like a gunshot to me. After we changed the tire and had a nutritious McDonalds breakfast, our luck changed. We had great winds on our backs for the whole rest of the day. We flew for our fist 25 miles, and we came up to a cafe in a town of abut 200 people. You know those times in movies where someone walks into a public place and it falls dead silent? Well, that is exactly what happened when we walked into that cafe. After the initial shock to the town folk, we were wondering how the 14 year old kid was doing outside with the lawn mower that looked like it was ready to explode when we rode up... I think we distracted him when he saw us, because he ended up grinding up a bunch of rocks that produced a gigantic tornado of smoke. It was actually quite hilarious, if you ask me. Yep...we made a real impression. Once we started talking to everyone, it was back to normal in the cafe, and we ordered scrambled eggs and toast. After about 20 minutes, we still didn't have our order, and a table next to us said they had waited 1 1/4 hours for their order. We checked with the kitchen, and they said they hadn't started our eggs and toast yet. We scratched our order and had the All American breakfast instead...coffee, Nacho Cheese Doritos and a Snickers bar. That held us until...you guessed it...Pizza Hut after another 45 miles. Once we finished there, we took the one mile ride down to the ferry that was to take us across the river into Illinois. Yep... it is definitely closed down on the weekends...bummer. So, we had to take the Missouri side down to the interstate bridge that took us straight into Quincy. We avoided getting on highway 61 until three miles before the bridge. Once we realized there was no other way to get to the bridge except the shoulders of highway 61 (which were in worse shape than the tar covered ones from yesterday), we threw up the old thumb. No more than two minutes later, Tom pulled over and picked us up. He was a pretty funny guy, and it turns out he attended my Alma Mater of UW-Stout. Small world! We briefly exchanged Stout stories, and he enlightened us as to the time him and one of his buddies rented out a tandem bicycle from the field house, and promptly took it off a sweet jump directly into lake Menomin... my kinda guy. Well, he brought us right into the bike shop in Quincy, and it was great luck, because we made it about 30 seconds before they were supposed to close. Ryan and Greg were extremely helpful, and they fitted us with new tires and a few minor adjustments all in 30 minutes. We met a gentleman from London that was doing a solo cross country ride from L.A. to Boston as well. It's always great to meet other riders! After we left the bike shop, we went to find a hotel. So, here we are at the Holiday Inn. When we got here, Dad gave his usual opening speech to work a great deal. It was really funny, because the kid working asked if he had a government issued I.D. to get a better rate (military, etc.). Without hesitation and a big laugh, Dad busts out his government issued Minnesota drivers license. Very matter-of-fact, the kid said, "No one has ever tried that one on me before." Dad and I found it hilarious. Well, our room is great, and I am going to bed. Goodnight.

Blake

P.S. We managed to stir up a couple good cattle stampedes today. Entertainment at its finest...

Cameron, MO to Kirksville, MO

I talked with Phil at 7:00 tonight. They had already eaten and Blake was in their room cleaning up. They rode through the rain for at least a few hours this morning. Other than that I'm not sure anything out of the ordinary happened...oh, I guess they hooked a ride for the last three miles of the day...something about tar on the shoulders of the road?? I'm sure Blake will fill us in--hopefully tomorrow night. They'll be in Illinois tomorrow!

Hope

The past two days

Today Topeka, KS to Cameron, MO 120 miles

Nothing much happened today. We woke up this morning, and it was pouring rain. We checked the forecast, and we found out that the rain was supposed to be done around 9:00. We went back to bed after a little breakfast until about 8:30. When Dad woke up, he was bragging about how it only took ten minutes for him to get ready. I asked for his autograph...he didn't give it to me. We had an uneventful ride all day, and after our Pizza Hut lunch, we got a little crazy. We ventured off our map route and took a different highway. It worked out well, and the shoulders on the way to St. Josephs, MO were great. St. Josephs was supposed to be our stop tonight to make it an 89 mile day. However, tomorrow was supposed to be a 145 mile day, so we decided to see if we could extend today's ride by about 30 miles or so. We did it, and we ended up here in Cameron. There is a tornado watch for the area approximately 25 miles northeast from here, and the sky is pretty dark. Oh yeah, and Dad's bike can shift now, and he was bragging about it all day. I asked for his autograph again with about 15 miles to go, and he said to wait until we got to the hotel...I still haven't gotten it.

Yesterday, Abilene, KS to Topeka, KS 109 miles

This day started off a little crazy. We got all set to go, and we went down to eat some breakfast. There was this weirdo girl working the breakfast that kept talking to herself, and Dad thought it was pretty funny. I found it funny that Dad was doing the same exact thing, except he was laughing at his own jokes. So...about ten miles into the day, we had to cross some railroad tracks. No biggie, right? That's what we thought. Let me just tell you, if synchronized bike falling were to become an olympic sport, Dad and I would be gold medalists. Yep...we both went down hard at the exact same time without running into each other. I can just hear the commentary now..."Well, Bob, the Anderson family is coming up to the tracks today doing about ten mph, and I must say, they look quite impressive in their matching outfits! Yes, Dick, I was noticing the same thing, but enough about that, they are approching the rail...well, they both jumped the left one, and here comes the right...Wow, Bob, amazing! They opted for the "digger to the right with their foots still clipped into the pedal!" Amazing! The right wheel is stuck in perfect sync, and with the gracefulness of two sumo wrestlers trying to figure skate, they hit the pavement hard! Wow, Dick, they gotta be happy with that one! Let's see what the judges say...perfect ten, and they are bringing home the gold!" Yep...that was about it. When we hit the ground, I started laughing immediately. It's not everyday that you get to see someone fall on a bike, let alone your Dad...let alone a mirror image of yourself falling perfectly in unison. It was priceless, folks...I seriously wish we could have gotten it on camera. I would have watched it over 100 times by now for sure. Well, enough about that. We ate lunch in this cafe in a town called Elksridge with a bunch of super weird people, but the food was good. When we finally made it to Topeka, we went to this interesting bike shop. It was called Jerry's, and Jerry sure has a story. The bike shop is placed right in the middle of a bunch of apartments, because he refused to sell his property to the private developer. He has been fighting this for five years, and he is on his 8th lawyer. He is now dealing with a big lawsuit from the private developer (who told Jerry he "has no principles") for "being a hassle." He has no restroom or heat, because his gas and water lines were damaged during the building process. As a result, he has a wood stove and a porto-potty outside his place. Jerry, I wish you the best of luck, and I hope everything will work out ok for you. Anyway, Jerry knows more about bikes than all the people put together that we have visited on this trip. Dad's gears are finally shifting, and he is pretty pumped up about that. And seriously you guys...we need something to do out on the road. We have stooped to the level of trying to scare herds of cattle that we pass on the side of the road. Every once in awhile you will get a bunch of them spooked out and running the other way...great fun (Dad has even suggested that we stop and get some fireworks to do some real damage to their minds). Ok...bedtime. Goodnight.

Blake

Abilene, KS to Topeka, KS 109 Miles

Hi, everyone -

The guys reached Topeka about 5:00 this afternoon, I think, and found themselves in another bike shop. I'll let Blake tell the story tomorrow night. (There is no computer for public use in their hotel tonight). He said quite a lot happened today. I didn't hear about much of it, though, because when we spoke he was tired and ready for bed.

I do know that according to the original plan, tomorrow was to be a rest day. But since they broke one of their 146 mile days into two days they won't be doing any resting. They start out for St. Joseph, MO tomorrow and may try to go a little further (since it's a shorter 87 mile day).

Good night.
Hope

Great Bend, KS to Abilene, KS 129 miles

It seems as if once we arrived in Kansas, this trip has become quite uneventful. It barely felt like we even got in a ride today even though it was a relatively long day (129 miles). We rolled out of bed at 5:30 to be down at breakfast by 6:00. We left the hotel at about 6:30 after we visited with a Topeka fireman who asked if we were biking cross country. When we told him we were, he kinda of looked at us like we were crazy, and he was just making a joke. We had some strong side winds for the first 70 miles and made it to McPherson where we stopped to eat a Pizza Hut lunch buffet. We have discovered that a pizza lunch gives us the fuel we need to finish out the day strong. Neither of us were even that hungry when we got to the hotel tonight. While we were in Pizza Hut, we felt as though everyone was staring at us. They must have thought it was strange for two dudes to be in their Menonite community wearing spandex. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that all of the ladies spent the rest of the day praying after they intentionally or not checked out Dad's thunder thighs. Anyway, we left Pizza Hut and made our turn north after 11 miles. We stopped in a gas station to get a candy bar. We asked the girl working if there were any stops on the way to Abilene. She told us there "aint nothin' til Salina." I could retire if I were given a nickle for every time we have heard "aint nothin" on this trip. We have been entertaining ourselves by using bad grammar when we talk on the road...if anyone else has any creative ways for us to try and maintain what little sanity we have left (like we had any in the first place), we are gladly open to suggestions...please. Well, I got a flat tire about 40 miles outside of town, and we finally changed my whole tire rather than just the tube. We spent a good ten minutes talking with a local who pulled over to see if everything was ok. He was pretty proud of the fact that he found himself a sugar mamma that makes $30 an hour and he barely has to work...he was a pretty funny guy. About five miles later, we passed the official halfway point of the America By Bicycle route, so that means we are closer to the Atlantic, baby! WHOOHOO!!!!!!!! We can smell it now!!! Not really...still just the cow pies. Yep...so that's it...109 tomorrow to Topeka. Goodnight.

Blake

P.S. Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

the past two days

Today, Dodge City, KS to Great Bend, KS 86 miles
Today was another very short day. We almost forgot what tailwinds felt like until today. We left around 8:00 this morning to some rough looking skies and isolated t-storms in the forecast. However, we stayed dry all day and had some great winds on our back. We made the last 50 miles after lunch fairly quickly because of the tailwinds. I noticed about halfway through the day that my front bracket is all lopsided and bent. I must rewind to something I failed to mention the other night. In the town of Hooker (seriously), Oklahoma, my cleats were so muddy that I was having trouble getting in and out of them two days ago. When I was trying to get out of them at a stop, it never happened. I went down hard (most likely to the amusement of anyone who was watching) after keeping my balance while completely still for about five seconds. I think that might be why I bent some stuff on my bike. Anyway, I think I can make it to Topeka in a few days to get it looked at. Some things we have noticed is that there are towns with a gas station every ten miles or so (as opposed to 50 miles in New Mexico) which is nice. Also, there is an abundance of the aroma known as cow dung in the air, and it...is...AWESOME! I never thought I would welcome that smell, but I am so glad to see things that look and smell familiar that I don't even care. So yeah...pretty uneventful day.
Yesterday, Liberal, KS to Dodge City, KS 83 miles
Today was a short day that was very welcome. We were battling a 3-5 mph headwinds all day, but other than that, everything was ok. As mom posted last night, it was a very uneventful day. At one point, we stopped in the town of Meade to eat at a Pizza Hut for lunch. It was pretty funny, because when we got there, there were these two "real" bikers. Dad, of course, went over and fired up a conversation immediately with them, and the result was pretty funny. They were from Detroit, and one of them said, "Man, these people in Kansas are weird! It's like they're looking at you, (then using his best Gilbert Godfry squint)but they're not really looking at you." He thought they were standoffish with them, and I'm sure Dad was the only person in the whole state that talked to them (I'm assuming the sticker on his helmet that claimed he was a lesbian trapped in a man's body didn't help the situation much). I can just imagine the locals in this town of about 500 people when the saw these rough guys..."Millie, go corral up the cattle, and hide the chickens! I'm gonna go see if I can figure out how to lock the car doors!" Right before they left, they came over and gave us handshakes and we told each other to be safe on the road. Pretty nice guys, if you ask me. Well, when we got to Dodge, dad worked a great deal at the best hotel in town, and it was a great room. The guy at the front desk thought it was crazy that we walked 1/2 mile to the Applebee's for dinner. What I found crazy is that we did it in these weak $1 flip-flops that dad got at the dollar store the night before we left that he insists are made for males...I disagree. They are XL's, yet our heels are practically off the back whenever we walk. Ok, we are going to get something to eat. Goodnight.

Blake

Liberal, KS to Dodge City, KS

Blake called at 10:00 tonight (they’re on Central Time now) to tell me they had just gotten back from eating supper. Someone was using the computer in the hotel lobby and he was tired so he was going to bed.

Their 83 mile day was uneventful—so uneventful in fact, that they didn’t even take one picture. It was 83 miles of farmland. The good news was that it didn’t rain. (Thunderstorms had been in the forecast).

I think tomorrow is another relatively short day of approximately 85 miles. They’re hoping they get a tailwind one of these days.

Hope

Dalhart, TX to Liberal, KS 113 miles

You guys...we really knew that things were looking up today because of some great things that happened right away in the morning. First of all, I realized I had a flat tire right after we left the hotel, so we had the luxury of changing that in the lobby of our hotel rather than outside. Great luck! Then, the next best thing happened. We did not have to use sunblock all day, because it was 45 degrees and raining! Also, the 10 mph wind that was supposed to be in our face all day ended up only being about 5-8 mph. We were just thanking our lucky stars all day. What will tomorrow bring? Who knows, but with this awesome stroke of luck we are very optimistic. But seriously, one great thing we did notice is that there were no mile markers on the highway all day, so we did not have to count every miserable freezing cold mile along the way. It was so cold that we used trash bags as ponchos under our rain jackets, and we used plastic bags over our socks for some added warmth. They worked pretty well.
We tried to keep a positive attitude all day, and at one point dad was telling me that the wind was dying down...he was hallucinating. Dad, I know those magic markers smell great, but try to resist the urge to sniff them. Seriously, you're 56...grow up already! Yeah, the wind didn't give up all day. Had we not had to deal with the conditions of yesterday, today would have been a real downer. All we could do was keep pounding it, and it wasn't too bad.
Haha, there was this really weird girl working at this burger joint about 40 miles outside of Liberal, and she told us that Liberal had a population of about 50,000 people, and we should avoid staying on the south end of town. Try about 5,000 people, and there are no sides of town. If she thinks the south end is bad here, I wonder what she would do if we dropped her off in the part of Memphis we went through four years ago... wow.
Well, that is about it...not too much happened today. I would try to type more, but game 7 of the Bulls and Celtics is on right now, and this girl behind the front desk is watching MTV (which has completely ruined mainstream music) right next to my face at an absurd volume. Goodnight.

Blake

P.S. Happy birthday to Mom AND Eric!!! See you guys soon, and I hope you had a great day.

today and missed days

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The above pictures were taken outside Yarnell, AZ by Michael McClure. Michael, his wife and two sons were on their way from L.A. to Prescott, AZ for a 50 mile mountain bike race when he took these pictures at a small convenience store in the middle of nowhere. Michael's son, Willie, is only 13 years old and he was the youngest of the riders in the 800 person field with the next youngest being 16. It's always great to meet other bikers out on the road and to swap stories. Thanks for the pics, Michael!



Today, Tucumcari NM to Dalhart TX, 96 miles



Just when we thought we were going to have our first easy day, mother nature throws another curveball at us. 96 miles is by far the fewest miles we had to travel today, and we left the hotel in high spirits after some guy we were talking to said we would have winds on our back the whole day. He must have been a T.V. weather man, because he was dead wrong. We had 20 mph winds in our face all day. We had a weak breakfast that consisted of mutilated waffles that did not come off the iron well and some nasty fruit, but we were going to have tailwinds all day, so it didn't matter. Anyway, we got to the next town after the first 25 miles and we got a gatorade and I had a baby ruth. Dad didn't get anything, because he was just going to wait until the next town 25 miles down the road. When we got there, it was a total ghost town with no stores at all....sweet. So, we had 45 miles to go with 1 1/2 bottles of water each, no food, 20 mph headwinds, and the complete opposite of a Richard Simmons attitude. About 25 miles outside of town, we were starting to get very hungry and decided to throw up a thumb. About 45 minutes later, Scott picked us up and brought us into Dalhart, and by this time it was no warmer than 50 degrees with the same 20 mph winds. We thought we wern't going to make it today, and it wasn't even hot. I directed all of my anger towards scenarios in my head of what I would do to someone if they so much as looked at me sideways...trust me...don't look at me sideways, ever, because I might have a flashback of today. Well, we got into town and devoured a $5 footlong and are now at the Days Inn, and it is pretty nice. Tomorrow we will have only 10 mph headwinds and scattered T storms...oh joy...



Wednesday, Albuquerque, NM to Las Vegas, NM, 135 miles



We left our trashy Ramada Inn in the morning and hit Highway 14 north to Santa Fe. It was the first time since L.A. that we had seen some decent vegetation, which was very nice. We had some tough climbs for about the first 35 miles, and then we stopped to eat lunch in a hippie town called Madrid. We stopped for lunch at this weird bar with an even weirder waitstaff. There was one lady behind the bar that dad and I both agreed we would never try to pick a fight with, because we would get destroyed. We also agreed that our waitress was a bit crazy. She took our order, and about 30 minutes later (when we still did not have our food nor had heard from her at all even though we were about the only people in there), we see her over in the corner getting all Miss Cleo mind reader with another waitress. She had her hands on the other girls head and they each has their eyes closed for a good three minutes. I was waiting (and kind of hoping) she would suddenly exclaim, "You sittin' here lookin' like a pauper while ya boyfriend runnin' around lookin' all GQ!" Anyway, after about 45 minutes we finally got our burgers, ate quickly and left.



This day was a great day for me to get a breakdown, because if I had broken down 30 miles up the road, we would have either had to backtrack to Santa Fe, or hitchhike to the next town with a bike shop, and that may have been Topeka. Anyway, I busted some spokes about 5 miles outside of Santa Fe, and Tom picked us up and hauled us into town to a bike shop. About two hours later, I was up and running with two brand new wheels with an adequate amount of spokes for a cross country ride. What was unfortunate was that it was now 4:00 pm, and we had 60 miles left to Las Vegas. We pounded it pretty hard and got off the interstate just as it was getting pitch black outside. We made it to our hotel at 8:45 pm, and had to order Pizza Hut for the second time in three nights because everything else was closed. That was about it for that day.



Tuesday, Grants NM to Albuquerque, NM 80ish miles



This day could not have started out much better. We had relatively decent tailwinds for about the first 50 miles, and nothing much happened. When we got about 20 miles outside of town, we stopped at a diner right next to a casino and had a big lunch. We then had one of the most deceiving climbs of the whole trip. It didn't look that bad to begin with, but five miles later, we finally made it to the top of the hill we could see from the bottom. We then had to bike through Albuquerque for about 10 miles, and from what I saw, Maisi, I am glad you did not choose to go to school there. I'm sure there are some nice parts, but all of the 10 miles we saw were not. We got to our hotel, and dad called a bike shop to get some spare tubes. He talked a guy into coming to our hotel with the tubes after the shop closed. The dude showed up with these thorn-resistant tubes that seriously weighed about 20 times the amount of a regular innertube. Dad said they wouldn't work because they were too bulky, and the kid tried to say that he could not return them to the store that he worked at, and we had to take them. He insisted that we would get so many flats due to the excessive amount of thorns that would be on the road throughout the entire state. We all know dad, and after about 30 seconds, the dude was leaving with all four of his tubes he showed up with. So, for the rest of the time spent making it through this state, we had a recurring joke, "watch out for the thorns, they're everywhere." It turns out there were no thorns, and neither of us got even one flat in all of New Mexico. Punks with frohawks trying to trick cross country guys from Minnesota...not on Phil's watch...



Monday, Gallup NM to Grants, NM, 60ish miles



Dad woke up in the morning, and he looked like death warmed over. He looked as if you threw the Grim Reaper in the microwave for a few minutes and he came out looking like Uncle Fester from the Aadams family. We were supposed to spin 145 miles straight into Albuquerque today, but I finally convinced dad to get his antibiotics and to break this trip up into two days. He agreed, and I was very surprised. He said in the middle of the night he woke up and both sides of his pillow were soaking wet with sweat. Personally, I think he was just crying all night. We slept until about 10:00, went to Walmart for his Rx, and were on the road by about 12:00 noon. Let me tell you, this day was about as much fun as spending five minutes making two delicious strawberry hand-dipped milkshakes at a Perkins restaurant in Menomonie, WI, stepping out into the dining room, going down hard as a result of a freshly mopped floor, acting like it's no big deal, and then finally having to remake the milkshakes(hypothetical...i wish)...not fun. We had 35 tough miles on the interstate up to the Continental Divide, and then another 30 miles or so downhill with a lot of wind in our faces which made it seem flat. The country we went through was also very depressing. We spent the last 30 miles on old Route 66, and we can only wonder what that stretch of road was like 50 years ago. There are so many motels that have been vacant for years, it makes you wonder how much of a hotspot it really was back in its heyday. We had a really nice room this night, and it got us rested up for the next day. This was an average pound-it-out day...nothing really happened.

Goodnight.



Blake



P.S. Yesterday, after three days of antibiotics, dad said, "I'M BACK!!!" Personally, I'm finally glad he decided to show up in the first place...