coast to coast on two wheels

final thoughts

2008-08-04T07:50:00.004-06:00

I finally added up the totals of our ride. We biked 3872 miles in 278 hours at an average speed of 13.9 mph. We averaged 77 miles a day, and rode for an average of 5 1/2 hours each day. Here is a histogram of how long we rode each day:

miles	#days
110+	1
100-110	2
90-100	8
80-90	9
70-80	16
60-70	4
50-60	7
40-50	1
30-40	1

I had 5 flat tires on the trip, and my dad had 1. I ate about 100 Clif Bars, 100 bananas, and about 150 granola bars. I ruined 1 tire (pinched in the van door) in Nevada, and wore out the spare by the end of Kansas (it was a cheap tire). My dad wore out his back tire somewhere in Missouri, I think. It has now been almost two weeks since we reached the East Coast, and I still have the last signs of the permanent helmet-hair I was sporting the entire trip. One of my favorite memories will be that almost every night, after we had recovered a bit from the day's ride, I would say to my dad 'So, do you want to go on a bike ride tomorrow?' and he would say 'that sounds like a good idea. Let's do it.'

It was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad I was able to do it. I'm especially glad I could do it with my dad.

day 50

2008-07-26T13:44:00.001-06:00

22 July 2008

50 riding days, and we made it! We rode the last 59 miles, past Jamestown, through Williamsburg, and finally to Yorktown.

Benji, a friend of mine since we were tiny, was able to come down from D.C. and ride with us for the last day. I talked to him yesterday, and he said he wasn't going to be able to miss any more work. But this morning early he called and said he was on his way. It was great to have him along. This trip has been something that both of us have wanted to do for a long time. When I planned this trip, I was really torn because I knew he wouldn't be able to do it with me. So I'm really glad he could make it for the last day.

Starting in Jamestown, we got on the Colonial Parkway, which goes from there to Williamsburg and then Yorktown. It was this incredibly bumpy rock and cement road, which I'm sure the Jamestown settlers would have been very appreciative of, but was very hard to ride on :)

It feels great to have done it. I still can't believe we've ridden from the Pacific to the Atlantic. What an amazing ride it has been.

day 49

2008-07-26T13:43:00.000-06:00

21 July 2008

The weather forcast said it was going to be 97 degrees today, with lots of sun. So we decided to go very early to try to beat the heat a bit (I think it was only supposed to get down to 75 or so for the low, so we figured it would heat up pretty quickly). We got up at 4 am and got on the trail as quickly as we could, which was around 5:30 (we had to drive about an hour to get from the hotel back to where we left off).

We picked up the pace a bit, but still didn't finish until about 1. We stopped at one of the Civil War battlefield sites, which was pretty amazing. There are still embankments all over from the trenches they dug. The battle was called the battle of Cold Harbor, I think. The Union troops charged the well entrenched Confederate troops, and 7000 Union troops were basically mowed down. Most of the killing took only 30 seconds. It's crazy to think about how many people died in that war.

We rode 84 miles, and ended a little past Glendale, which is a little way East of Richmond.

family photos - week 8

2008-07-20T15:38:00.001-06:00

day 48

2008-07-20T15:25:00.001-06:00

19 July 2008

I think today was the hottest day we have ridden in so far. The hills have really flattened out. I think we are out of the mountains, and the rest of the ride to the coast should be easier as far as hills go. The weather, however, looks like it will just get hotter and hotter.

We rode 79 miles and ended in Mineral, VA. We couldn't find a hotel to stay at there, so we drove on to Richmond. We'll stay here for the rest of the time. Mondays ride ends very close by, and then Tuesday we'll reach the coast! (assuming all goes well) I can't believe how close we are. I'm getting very excited!

day 47

2008-07-20T15:24:00.001-06:00

18 July 2008

Today we rode about 27 miles along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Park that is pretty much just the road and a few overlooks. It runs along the ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains all through Virginia and North Carolina. At the visitor center they said it's the most visited National Park in the country.

To get up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, we had a 4 mile climb that was super steep. It was definitely one of the toughest climbs we've done. The Parkway was very pretty, and we got some great downhills at the end.

In Afton, right after the Parkway, we stopped and visited "The Cookie Lady". She's had bikers staying at her "Bike House" for years, and the house is chuck full of memorabilia left by bikers. She's famous among TransAm bikers, and everyone told us we should stay there. We didn't end up staying there because we have the van and trailer, and didn't really want to impose, but my dad and I visited with her for a while. She has had a stroke a little while ago, and a fall just barely, and is reaching the point where she probably won't be able to keep housing bikers much longer. I think she said she's 83 or so. She has had over 14000 bikers stay there, and has binder after binder of photos to prove it. It really was quite the place, and she is an amazingly nice lady.

We rode 70 miles today, and stopped at a campground near Greenwood, VA.

day 46

2008-07-20T15:23:00.000-06:00

17 July 2008

We rode 73 miles to Natural Bridge, VA. We followed the freeway pretty closely again today.

After we got in to the campground, we went to see the natural bridge that the town is named after. It was purchased from Britain by Thomas Jefferson for 20 shillings in 1774. Unfortunately it's privately owned, and they charge more than they should to get to it, but I'm glad we got to see it. It is very impressive. Legend says that George Washington carved his initials in the rock. And they have a highway that goes over the bridge, just to give an idea of the size. They say it is taller than Niagara Falls.

day 45

2008-07-20T15:21:00.001-06:00

16 July 2008

We rode 73 miles today, to Christiansburg. We basically just followed next to the freeway, although the roads we were on had a lot more hills than the freeway :) So far it doesn't seem to be as humid as I had expected it to be, but it's getting fairly hot.

day 44

2008-07-20T15:17:00.000-06:00

15 July 2008

Today we rode 78 miles to Rural Retreat Lake. We rode through some really pretty canyons today. We rode next to a river for a long time that was lined with these bushes that had big bunches of white flowers, and leaves that looked like magnolia leaves. I'm not sure what they were, but they were very pretty hanging out over the river and lining the road.

We are staying in a campground next to Rural Retreat Lake. It has been fairly hot today. There is a pool here, and while we were getting ready to go swim, the ice cream truck came by! So we had ice cream and swam in the pool.

day 43

2008-07-20T15:03:00.001-06:00

14 July 2008

8 down, 1 to go! We made it through Kentucky, and into Virginia. On the border we went through Breaks Interstate Park. They call the area the Grand Canyon of the South. It was a very pretty ride.

We rode 63 miles to Rosedale, Virginia. We are staying at the Elk Garden United Methodist Church. Nobody is here, but we talked to a guy who told us that bikers have been staying at the church since 1976 when the trail first started. We stayed in our tent trailer in the parking lot, but bikers can sleep inside and there is a full kitchen with stocked cupboards and everything. It's a great place to stay.

family photos - week 7

2008-07-13T20:03:00.000-06:00

day 42

2008-07-13T19:57:00.000-06:00

12 July 2008

We rode 70 miles, to Lookout, Kentucky. We are just a few miles from the Virgina border, so we'll cross it on Monday. We rode over a few mountains today. We ride these tiny back roads, and they are STEEP!

As we've talked to other bikers along the way, many have mentioned that Eastern Kentucky is the worst place for dogs. So we've been on our guard. We've been chased by dogs off and on since Missouri, actually. Kentucky has a lot more mean dogs, but so far the really mean ones have been chained up. So the number of dogs that have actually come after us is about the same as Missouri was. And I'm hoping we're through the worst.

We drove up North a ways to stay in Pikeville for the weekend. Some of the famous Hatfield McCoy Feud events happened in Pikeville. Also, Pikeville is the location of the second biggest engineering project in the world - second to the Panama Canal. They made this huge cut through a mountain to re-route the river that flowed through the town.

day 41

2008-07-13T19:56:00.000-06:00

11 July 2008

The Kentucky mountains are these beautiful steep hills covered in trees. It reminds me of West Virginia. We rode 102 miles to a hotel just north of Hazard. The ride was really enjoyable, until the end. We had to ride this busy highway that felt like a freeway. The shoulder was covered in gravel, with rumble strips, so it was not a pleasant ride. We rode as fast as we could to get through it, and really wore ourselves out. We have about 6 more miles on the same busy road tomorrow, so hopefully it will be better early in the morning.

day 40

2008-07-13T19:55:00.000-06:00

10 July 2008

We rode 82 miles to Berea. We rode against headwinds most of the day. It was very tiring. We rode mostly through rolling hills. Supposedly tomorrow is when the mountains start.

day 39

2008-07-13T19:54:00.001-06:00

9 July 2008

I forgot my camera today, so I am putting up some pictures that Mary took. We got to see the places were Abraham Lincoln was born, and where he lived as a boy. Where he was born they have a memorial that is older than the Lincoln Memorial. I guess it was originally going to be the only Lincoln Memorial, but then they decided they needed one in D.C.

We rode 75 miles today. We are staying in a parking lot in Lincoln Homestead State Park, which is where Lincoln's father was raised.

day 38

2008-07-13T19:53:00.000-06:00

8 July 2008

We did a short ride today of 45 miles to Sonora, KY, then met up with the family and drove down to Mammoth Cave National Park. I had no idea how big the cave is. There are over 360 miles of cave that they know about. We went on the New Entrance Tour. Mammoth cave is mostly undecorated (no formations like stalactites, etc.), because it's under a layer of sandstone, which prevents water from seeping into the cave. The New Entrance Tour goes past some of the decorated sections of the cave. The whole thing is fascinating, and the kids loved it, of course.

day 37

2008-07-13T19:51:00.001-06:00

7 July 2008

Today we rode a bunch of extra miles so that tomorrow we could make it a short day and go see Mammoth Cave. We rode 116 miles, and rode for a little over 8 hours. It was very tiring, but I was happy to see that my legs were able to keep going that long. I don't think we'll try another day like it, though.

We rode to Rough River Dam State Park. It started out looking like a very hot day, but some clouds rolled in and cooled things off a bit. We didn't get rained on at all, but the roads were wet for much of the ride, so we must have just missed the rain. Kentucky grows a lot of corn, and is very pretty and green, like Missouri and Illinois were.

family photos - week 6

2008-07-06T15:40:00.001-06:00

day 36

2008-07-06T15:23:00.000-06:00

5 July 2008

We made it to Kentucky today! We woke up to lots of fog at the campground, but it cleared up soon after we started riding, and it was sunny and hot the rest of the day. Our ride took us on lots of fun back roads through the rest of Illinois. We crossed the Ohio River in a ferry over to Kentucky. The Ohio river didn't seem to be higher than normal. I thought that was interesting, since the Mississippi was so high.

We rode to Marion, Kentucky, but drove off route to Princeton, so we could stay in a hotel and be close to a church. We rode 71 miles.

day 35

2008-07-06T15:22:00.000-06:00

4 July 2008

It was raining quite a bit this morning, so we took it easy and had a big breakfast and waited for the rain let up a bit. Illinois is very pretty, and more so because of the rain. We rode past farmland, forests, and lakes. It was an especially pretty ride today. We rode 78 miles.

We are staying in Goreville tonight, in a State Park. We went out for pizza, and saw the fireworks show in town, to celebrate the 4th.

day 34

2008-07-06T15:21:00.000-06:00

3 July 2008

It rained most of the night last night. It rained on us for the first part of our ride, too. We drove back to were we left off and started from there. A little before we got back to where we stayed last night, we hit a really busy section of highway. Tons of semis were flying past both ways, it was raining, and the shoulder was very torn up and basically unrideable. My dad tried to go up onto the road, off the shoulder, to miss a torn up spot, and there was a lip between the road and the shoulder, and he went down. He skinned his elbow up pretty bad, and got some road rash on his leg. Since we hadn't reached where we camped yet, we were able to stop off and get him patched up. Fortunately he didn't get hurt too bad, and was fine to keep riding.

We crossed the Mississipi River today! It is very high. There were some flooded roads down next to the river. I can't tell how much higher the river s than normal, but my guess is at least 6 feet. Now we're in Illinois. We're staying in Chester, which is the birthplace of the guy who created Popeye! We rode 84 miles. We are camping in the city park here. We talked to the Sheriff and the police about staying here, but two cops still showed up and wanted us to leave. We had to explain things, and then they let us stay.

day 33

2008-07-06T15:19:00.002-06:00

2 July 2008

Today we rode through the Ozark Mountains, which was interesting. We started in what they call the Missouri Highlands, which were at around 1500 feet. Then we went DOWN a ways to the "mountains", which were essentially a ton of killer hills to ride, but mostly lower than where we were riding before we reached them. All that Kansas riding seems to have made my legs forget how to ride hills. I got really worn out today. The Ozarks are very pretty, though. I am amazed at how dense and green everything is here.

We stopped at a campground along the road, just after Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park (which was closed for renovation, or we would have stayed there). But the campground we had planned to stay at turned out not to be a great spot. So we ended up driving further, to St. Joe State Park. I'm glad we did, it is much nicer. Mary will just drive us back in the morning to start off where we stopped. We rode 77 miles.

day 32

2008-07-06T15:17:00.001-06:00

1 July 2008

We rode through an area with lot of Amish people today. They had signs up warning of carriages. We passed one going the other way but I wasn't able to get a picture until it was way down the road. It was a very hot day.

Dallin and Haley have been really excited to ride with us, so we tried to make it happen today. The roads for the last couple days have been narrow, with no shoulder, and lots of cars. So we tried to pick a spot that was ok for them to ride. In the end we met up with them in one of the towns on the route and they rode on the sidewalk next to the road for a bit.

We've seen armadillos killed on the road the last few days. I had no idea they were in this area. We talked to someone who said that they have only come into this area in the last few years. She also said there's not much hope of seeing one during the day, because they only come out at night.

We are staying at a Family Youth Center, in Summersville, MO. It has a roller rink, and horses, and a playground and grass area. It is very neat. The owner runs it mainly off donations, I guess, and charges next to nothing for kids to come use it. We took the kids over to rollerskate for a bit. They had a lot of fun.

We rode 89 miles.

day 31

2008-07-06T15:14:00.001-06:00

30 June 2008

We rode 85 miles to Marshfield, MO. Missouri has lots of hills! Lots of areas have signs that say 'impassable during high water', so I'm sure glad they aren't experiencing high water, or we wouldn't be getting very far :)

In Marshfield we are staying at the city park. They have a rodeo arena, or whatever you call it, here that they are getting ready for the 4th. We talked to a nice lady that got the showers opened up for us, and showed us where to set up. She said that they have the longest running 4th of July celebration West of the Mississipi, and that George Bush (not W) attended the 4th of July celebrations there once while he was president.

family photos - week 5

2008-06-29T21:05:00.001-06:00

day 30

2008-06-29T20:52:00.000-06:00

28 June 2008

We made it to Missouri today! It rained again last night, but not nearly as much as the night before, and then drizzled and rained on us for most of the ride.

About five miles into our ride I got a flat tire. I've had a spare tire on the back wheel of my bike since just before we got to Utah. It was a cheap tire, and it was basically worn out. That was why I got a flat. So we patched it and put the new spare tire on. It's a much better tire, and won't wear out.

We had a little shorter than normal ride today. We went 68 miles. And we had a tail-wind for much of the ride, so it was a fairly easy day. We rode to Golden City, MO, but we're staying in Lamar, because it's bigger, and has a church.

day 29

2008-06-29T20:51:00.000-06:00

27 June 2008

Last night it rained like crazy. The playground at the park was a lake, the ball park was completely flooded, as well as all the streams we saw along the way. We passed a farm where the lane to the road was completely covered in water. We also saw a bunch of cows that were stranded on an island surrounded by flood waters. At a couple of different places on the route the water was just inches below the level of the road. We were very fortunate that none of our roads were flooded.

We though it might rain on us while we were riding, but it cleared up. We rode 89 miles to Walnut. The city park in Walnut had no water (it had restrooms, but the water was shut off). We had to drive off route to Crawford State Park. We are staying next to a reservoir. It's really a nice camp site. And it has showers! The weather says we may get another big storm tonight.

day 28

2008-06-29T20:50:00.000-06:00

26 June 2008

We rode 73 miles to Eureka, Kansas today. The wind was straight from the South, so one section of South that we had went pretty slow. We are staying at the city park in Eureka. There are 5 other bikers staying here. A group of 3 going West together, 1 going West by himself, and 1 going East like us.

day 27

2008-06-29T20:49:00.000-06:00

25 June 2008

Yesterday really wore us out, so we planned a short day for today. We rode 52 miles to Newton. We left early so we could go see some sites in Wichita with the family. The city park had no showers, and we decided to stay in a motel for a break. We drove down to Wichita and went to the Exploration Place, which was kind of a big kids museum. The kids really liked it.

day 26

2008-06-29T20:48:00.000-06:00

24 June 2008

We left fairly early today, but the winds started even earlier. It was mostly a cross-wind, but for some reason even a wind from the side is tiring. We stopped at Fort Larned for a bit and walked through some of the buildings. We spent about 7 hours on our bikes today. That's possibly the longest time on the bike so far. We rode 95 miles, and we are staying at a city park in Nickerson. Kansas doesn't have many camping areas, so city parks are often the only option. They haven't been too bad, but don't have showers.

day 25

2008-06-29T20:46:00.001-06:00

23 June 2008

Today's ride went smoothly. We reached our planned stop early, so we decided to ride further. We rode to La Crosse, which was a few miles off the route, but had a nice park to stay at. We rode 92 miles.

La Crosse also claims to be the barbed wire capitol of the world! They have a barbed wire museum which has, among other things, rows and rows of display cases showing hundreds of different types of barbed wire that have been invented.

Next to the barbed wire museum was the Post Rock Museum. When Kansas was first being settled, there were not enough trees around to make fence posts out of, so they dug down to the rock layer (limestone, I think), and made fence posts out of stone. We actually saw quite a few fences along the ride today with rock fence posts. I thought that was very interesting.

Tonight, for the first time on the trip, we saw fireflies. There were hundreds out over the grass in the park. The kids have never seen fireflies before, so they really loved it. And Dallin caught a toad.

family photos - week 4

2008-06-22T15:52:00.001-06:00

day 24

2008-06-22T15:38:00.001-06:00

21 June 2008

We finished off Colorado today, and entered Kansas! As we were riding through the super-flat, super-dry plains of Eastern Colorado, we passed a couple riding the TransAmerica the other way. We asked if this was what Kansas is like, and the lady said 'No, Kansas is flat.' :)

We rode 103 miles, from Eads, CO to Scott City, Kansas. And yes, Kansas is flat! Fortunately we had a tail-wind most of the day, so even though it was our longest ride, it wasn't our hardest. I really enjoyed riding through all the corn fields. Every town that comes up has a grain elevator (I think that's what they are called), and you can see the next one from the previous town. So you can always see the next town, even if it's an hour's ride away!

day 23

2008-06-22T15:37:00.000-06:00

20 June 2008

We rode against a bit of a headwind today, also, but not nearly as bad as the day before. The wind really does seem to pick up around noon. We rode 60 miles to Eads, CO. Another storm rolled in after we got there, and the wind was really blowing. We turned on the radio weather alerts, and there was a thunderstorm warning in our area, and a tornado warning 10 or 20 miles to the South-East of us. Another place a little further away was getting golfball size hailstones. So we took the tent trailer down and went to a motel :)

day 22

2008-06-22T15:36:00.000-06:00

19 June 2008

Today we rode from Pueblo to Ordway, CO. We decided we wanted to take a bit of a break, and planned a shorter ride than normal. We went to the Pueblo Zoo in the morning, and left for our ride after lunch. That ended up being a bad idea, because right as we were leaving a storm came up, and the wind blew against us the entire ride. We got rained and hailed on a bit, but mostly we just fought the wind. So our easy day turned into a hard day. We're leaving early tomorrow. No more afternoon rides for us :) We rode 59 miles.

day 21

2008-06-22T15:33:00.001-06:00

18 June 2008

We finished off the last of the Rockies today. It was a very hot day. We stopped with the family around lunch time and took a detour to see the Bishop Castle. It's this castle that a guy is building by himself as a hobby, I guess. It was this huge rock castle that you could walk through on these scary metal walkways that hung out over the sides.

We ended up in Pueblo, which finishes off the Western Express section of our ride. Now we'll be starting on the TransAmerica trail. We rode 74 miles, and stayed by a reservoir just outside of Pueblo. The Rockies sure ended quickly. Everything is very flat already.

day 20

2008-06-22T15:13:00.000-06:00

17 June 2008

It's Haley's birthday! We climbed Monarch Pass today - 11,312 feet. That's the highest we get on our ride. We were basically up at the tree line, and the views were amazing. We rode a little gondola ride up to the peak next to the pass. We could see for over 100 miles in every direction, pretty much. We rode 91 miles and ended up in Cotopaxi, CO.

day 19

2008-06-22T14:39:00.001-06:00

16 June 2008

Today we were basically riding between the two major passes through the Rockies. We did Lizard Head Pass on Saturday, and we'll do Monarch Pass tomorrow, and today's ride was basically a flat spot in between. We went over two smaller passes and ended in Gunnison. For a lot of the ride we were next to Blue Mesa Reservoir, which I think is the largest body of water in Colorado. Dad and I actually beat the van to the camp spot today, since they had to do some shopping and things. We rode 90 miles.

family photos - week 3

2008-06-15T17:40:00.001-06:00

day 18

2008-06-14T23:44:00.001-06:00

14 June 2008

As much as I like the Utah mountains, I have to say that the Colorado Rockies are amazing. We rode from Dolores to Ridgway, over Lizard Head Pass (10200 feet). The mountains were unbelievable. There were 3 peaks over 14000 feet, as well as Lizard Head Peak, which was 13113. We followed the Dolores river up to the pass, then down the other side past Telluride. We rode 94 miles today.

day 17

2008-06-14T23:42:00.000-06:00

13 June 2008

Today we rode through a lot of farmland, and rolling hills. We seem to be in a bit of a flat section before we hit the Rockies. We crossed the Utah/Colorado border a little outside of Monticello. 3 states down, 6 to go. The area of Colorado we rode through claims to be the pinto bean capitol of the world! So that was pretty exciting, as you can imagine.

We saw a mountain lion cross the road about 100 yeards in front of us. That was a first for me.

We rode from Blanding to Dolores, CO. Total milage was 89.

day 16

2008-06-14T22:34:00.000-06:00

12 June 2008

The road went South quite a bit again, today, so we make another early start to try to beat any winds. Again we were very fortunate, and had winds at our backs for much of the time. The scenery was amazing yet again.

We rode from Lake Powell (Hite) to Blanding, UT. We met up with the family about half-way through the ride and went in to Natural Bridges National Monument, where they have 3 spectacular natural bridges. That was fun, and a nice break. We rode 75 miles.

day 15

2008-06-14T22:32:00.001-06:00

11 June 2008

We had a lot of South to ride today, and the winds have been from the South a lot, so we were worried about having a tough ride and left very early in the morning to try to get some miles under us before the winds picked up. We went East over to Hanksville, and then South to Hite, at Lake Powell.

We were very fortunate to have winds from the North, so most of the ride was better than anticipated. The worst part was just getting to Hite. The rode had to go on this huge detour to get to good spots to cross the Green and Colorado rivers that feed Lake Powell. And Hite was not a pleasant place to camp. We ended up camping in a parking lot. And the water was so dirty and full of debris that we didn't get to go swimming.

But as always, the scenery was super. Today we rode 91 miles.

day 14

2008-06-14T22:24:00.000-06:00

10 June 2008

We rode some crazy ups and downs today. Some of the ride looked a lot like Slickrock. It made me want to have my mountain bike. Again, the scenery was amazing. We rode over a section of road called the Hogsback that seemed like it was up on top of the world.

We rode over Boulder Mountain, and ended up in Fruita, UT, which is in Capitol Reef National Park. The total miles for today was 77.

day 13

2008-06-14T22:21:00.001-06:00

9 June 2008

My mom rode with us part of the time today. She rode through Red Canyon, which had some amazing Bryce Canyon style rock formations. At the very end of our last climb for the day, we went up this switchback section that must have been the steepest section of road we've ridden yet. From the bottom you could see it going almost all of the way up. I tried to get a picture of it, I'm not sure how well you can see it, though.

We rode 68 miles today, from Panguitch to Escalante.

family photos - week 2

2008-06-08T17:56:00.001-06:00

Some more family photos from the week:

day 12

2008-06-07T22:18:00.001-06:00

7 June 2008

The scenery was amazing today. We rode from Cedar City up to Cedar Breaks, and then down into Panguitch. We climbed about 4500 feet, to 10500 or so. The only disappointing thing of the day was that there was no summit sign to take a picture of :) There was a summit at 9900 or so, with a sign, but nothing at the very top. We rode 59 miles today.

day 11

2008-06-07T22:14:00.001-06:00

6 June 2008

Our ride today was supposed to be an easy 54 miles into Cedar City. The wind decided to make things difficult. It was blowing against us at about 20 MPH the whole day. So the downhill felt like uphill, and the uphill felt like uphill, too :) I'm beat. We rode 56 miles today.

day 10

2008-06-06T08:30:00.000-06:00

5 June 2008

Today was a bit longer ride than average. We crossed the Nevada/Utah border a few miles out of Baker. We rode in to Milford, UT. The ride was very similar to what we've been riding through in Nevada - long straight roads across wide valleys, with summit passes in between. We've crossed a lot of passes. Our favorite part is seeing those green summit signs, because then we know we're almost over :)

Today was pretty tiring, and the wind blew at us quite a bit, especially during the last downhill into Milford. We had to pedal downhill :( We rode 82 miles today.

day 9

2008-06-06T08:27:00.001-06:00

4 June 2008

We rode to Baker, NV today. Baker is right next to Lehman Caves, and we wanted to go take a tour, so we started earlier than normal so we could get there in time. The weather forcast said it might rain, so we took all our rain gear, and it was a good thing. Going up the last pass we were racing the storm. The wind was at our backs, which was good, but the storm caught us right after we started downhill. We started getting hailed on, and the van was close, so we had them pull over and we got inside for a bit to see if the hail would stop. I leaned my bike against the van and crawled inside. Either it shifted, or I just set it too close to the door, but when I shut the door it hit my back tire and knocked my bike over. When we started out after the hail turned back into rain, my back tire went flat. I had somehow gotten a large slice through my tire, probably from the van door hitting it. So we had to change the tire and the tube. I was glad we could change it in the van for warmth. We rode the rest of the way in to town in the pouring rain. My toes and fingers were freezing.

It was snowing hard, with an inch of snow on the ground when we got into the campground. We left the trailer in the snow and went to the caves. The cave tour was awesome. I took my camera, but got so caught up that I forgot to take any pictures inside. So I snapped one of the family at the visitor center.

We rode 59 miles today.

day 8

2008-06-03T20:24:00.002-06:00

3 June 2008

We rode from Eureka to Ely, NV. We rode 80 miles. But the real news is that this morning, probably as my dad and I were going over Pancake Summit, both Haley and Dallin learned to ride their bikes without their training wheels!! The biking future of our family is looking bright! They are riding around like pros.

day 7

2008-06-03T20:12:00.003-06:00

2 June 2008

Today we rode from Austin, to Eureka, NV. I didn't take many pictures today. Both Austin and Eureka are pretty cool towns. Every town we have been through came into being because of some gold or silver rush. Many are now a fraction of their former size, but all of them have fun old buildings. We also occasionally see old mines and random partial rock walls from old houses or who knows what. The history here is very fun. We rode 71 miles.

some family photos

2008-06-01T22:04:00.002-06:00

Here are a few family photos from the past week.

day 6

2008-06-01T17:40:00.002-06:00

31 May 2008

Today was our first real century! My trip meter reads 100.07 miles. We rode from a little outside Fallon, to Austin, NV. We rode a part of what is called 'The Loneliest Road'. There were huge sections of long flag straight road, with little passes in between. We were very fortunate to have a slight tail-wind most of the time, so we averaged just over 16 miles per hour.

day 5

2008-06-01T17:35:00.002-06:00

30 May 2008

We got off pretty early this morning, which was nice. We rode from Carson City to Fallon, NV. Mary and the rest of the family weren't there yet, so after checking out the campground we rode a bit further to get a head start on tomorrow. They came and picked us up about 10 or 12 miles out of Fallon. We rode 77 miles today.

day 4

2008-06-01T16:21:00.002-06:00

29 May 2008

We did a lot of downhill today. We finished the last of the climb up to Carson Pass, and then down the other side. We stopped in Carson City. We had hoped to go further into Dayton, but we were pretty tired and the wind was blowing us all over the road. At one point we just stopped and hid behind a sign for 15 minutes or so to let the storm pass a bit. We rode 58 miles.

day 3

2008-06-01T16:11:00.005-06:00

28 May 2008

This will probably be one of the best days of the whole trip. Since the campground we stayed at was so far off the trail, we decided to try a shortcut on a road called the Mormon Emmigrant Drive. Not only did it cut some miles off, it avoided a big downhill section (which would have meant more uphill for the day). The Mormon Emigrant Trail was 25 miles of straight up, but was an amazingly pretty ride. The mossy trees and snow were beautiful. The weather was pretty stormy, but we seemed to follow a lull in the storm the entire way, and didn't get very wet at all. All in all a super day.

We rode 32 miles, and climbed from 3500 to 8000 feet, and then back down a bit to 7300.

day 2

2008-06-01T16:11:00.004-06:00

27 May 2008

The first half of todays ride was awesome. There is a bike trail following the river all the way through Sacramento. It was very nice to be away from traffic on a bike route. We rode somewhere around 25 miles on bike trails getting through Sacramento.

After that we had a horrible map day. The directions were very confusing, and we had to backtrack multiple times. The road were busy and the shoulder non-existent, too. When we finally got into Placerville, we were very frustrated and tired. We talked to a really nice guy, Jeff, at Pizza Pro, and he recommended a different route for us. Our campground was quite a ways off the trail, and Jeff said we could take a bike trail and then another road that would take us to the campground and would be shorter. I was sick of the maps by that time, so we decided to try it out. The bike trail was super ... until it turned to dirt. After that we tried to use the GPS to figure out how to get the rest of the way there. Before we could figure it out the batteries died. We were fairly frustrated by then, so we just got on the freeway and rode it because we knew it would get us there. It started pouring on us just as we got to the campground.

So our day started great, and ended not great. We rode 79 miles and climbed to 3500 feet.

day 1

2008-06-01T15:51:00.003-06:00

26 May 2008

Today we biked from San Francisco to West Sacramento. We dipped our back tires in the Pacific (the bay, really), and then we took a ferry from San Francisco to Vallejo and headed out from there.

We only took one wrong turn :) which added 16 miles to our total for the day. We ended up going 98 miles.

in san francisco

2008-05-25T21:13:00.003-06:00

We're in San Francisco, and we start riding tomorrow. Today we drove down Lombard Street, checked out our starting point near the Golden Gate Bridge, and visited the Oakland Temple.

a nice saturday ride

2008-05-12T09:59:00.002-06:00

My dad and I went for about 40 miles Saturday morning. We went to the top of Traverse Ridge Road. This time we cut over to it on Mike Wier Dr. (we got off Highland Dr. onto Rambling Road, a little after going under the train tracks). I really like that way better. It misses a section of Traverse Ridge Road that has a very thin shoulder.

My dad brought his GPS, just for fun. I was interesting to see the different elevation gains. My dad has been comparing rides that we are familiar with, with climbs that we'll be doing on the trip. It's nice to be able to put some of the sections of the map into terms we can understand. 'On that day, we'll be doing two Millcreek Canyons.' It actually makes me feel better to think of it that way. :)

biking to work

2008-05-09T07:04:00.003-06:00

My commute to work is about 30 miles, so it's not something I can do every day, but I wanted to bike to work at least once before the trip. I finally was able to on Tues. April 29th. I got off at about 6:30, and arrived at work a little after 9. Total riding time was 1 hour 22 minutes, and the distance was a little over 31 miles. I went slower than I had hoped, but the wind wasn't in my favor :)

I chose to ride over the Traverse Mountain road, to get from Salt Lake Valley to Utah Valley. The photo is one that I snapped at the top.

I felt really good on the ride there. By the time I got back home I was pretty tired, but I didn't get sore at all, so that is a good sign! :)

the new seat

2008-04-01T20:28:00.002-06:00

I have been using my new WTB Rocket V saddle for a little while now, and I think that I will really like it. It's relatively comfortable (it's hard to call any bike seat comfortable, really). I'm glad I made the purchase.

On a slightly related note, the weather and my schedule have aligned a few times now and I've been able to go on a few outdoor rides during my lunch breaks. It's been very nice to ride on the road (riding the trainer is so boring), but I've noticed that there is a big difference in how quickly my seat starts hurting, riding on the road versus riding the trainer. The road vibration makes it a lot worse. I thought that was somewhat interesting.

new seat

2008-03-01T16:54:00.002-07:00

I just ordered a new seat today. The one that came with my bike wasn't too bad, but I'm used to having a cutaway seat (that is what my mtn bike has), and it has been a bit uncomfortable during my training so far.

I ordered the WTB Rocket V. The guy at the shop has one and recommended it. It comes in Thursday. It's amazing the difference in price between chromoly rails and titanium. I got the cheaper chromoly rails. The weight difference didn't justify double the price, for me (about 20 grams difference, or 10%).

towns and cities

2008-02-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of all the states and cities/towns I will be going through:

California:

San Francisco
Vallejo
Fairfield
Davis
Sacramento
Folson
Placerville
Kirkwood
Woodfords

Nevada:

Carson City
Dayton
Fallon
Middlegate
Austin
Eureka
Ely
Majors Junction
Baker

Utah:

Garrison
Milford
Minersville
Cedar City
Panguitch
Henrieville
Escalante
Boulder
Grover
Caineville
Hanksville
Blanding
Monticello

Colorado:

Dove Creek
Dolores
Rico
Placerville
Ridgeway
Montrose
Sapinero
Gunnison
Sargents
Poncha Springs
Cotopaxi
Westcliffe
Wetmore
Pueblo
Ordway
Eads
Sheridan Lake

Kansas:

Tribune
Scott City
Dighton
Alexander
Larned
Nickerson
Newton
Rosalia
Toronto
Chanute
Girard

Missouri:

Golden City
Walnut Grove
Marshfield
Houston
Summersville
Centerville
Farmington

Illinois:

Chester
Murphysboro
Goreville
Elizabethtown

Kentucky:

Marion
Dixon
Utica
Whitesville
McDaniels
Sonora
Springfield
Harrodsburg
Berea
Booneville
Hindman
Elkhorn City

Virginia:

Haysi
Honaker
Damascus
Troutdale
Wytheville
Radford
Christiansburg
Troutville
Buchanan
Lexington
Waynesboro
Charlottesville
Palmyra
Mineral
Ashland
Charles City
Williamsburg
Yorktown

the maps

2008-02-03T20:46:00.001-07:00

I got the route maps from Adventure Cycling Association. There are 10 maps in all - 4 for the Western Express route, and 6 for the TransAmerica route from Pueblo, CO to Yorktown, VA.

I'm very impressed with the maps so far. Each map is really a bunch of small maps detailing each section of the route (about 25 miles on each small map). It has an overview of the major places of interest along that section of the trail, and notes on riding conditions and climate. There are graphs showing average temperatures and rainfall at various points along the way. Most of the maps include an elevation profile that is scary to look at :) but will be very helpful when planning how far we hope to ride each day.

Each small map section includes turn-by-turn instructions for riding in each direction. And for each city or town that the trail passes through, there are phone numbers and addresses for: Emergency, Bike shops, Motels/Hotels, Hostels, Camping, Libraries, and Service Stops.

I believe the web site claims they update the maps every 2 years. Between updates, they keep addenda for each map. They sent print-outs of all the addenda along with my maps, and they can always be printed out from the web site, so I can check for updates right before we leave. Most of my maps say they were last updated May 2006, one June 2006, and one January 2007.

I'm sure these maps will be well worth the money. I can't imagine trying to do all the research to come up with all of the same information for a route that I put together myself. The maps have gotten me even more excited for this ride.

the route

2008-01-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

By far, the greatest resource I've found for planning our ride route is adventurecycling.org. They have route maps and a ride registry where past riders report on how long they took, best and worst parts of the ride, etc.

It seems that the most popular route is the TransAmerica trail, beginning in Astoria, OR, and ending up in Yorktown, VA. I really liked the idea of riding that whole route, but it's 4247 miles, and would take a bit longer than the amount of time I have.

Fortunately there is another option. The Western Express trail starts in San Francisco, and meets up with the TransAmerica trail in Pueblo, CO. It cuts over 400 miles off the total trip.

So we are going to take the Western Express trail to Pueblo, and the TransAmerica trail the rest of the way. In total, it will be 3776 miles, according to the web site. I ordered the maps today! I'll report back on what they are like when I get them.

I think using these maps will save a LOT of planning time. I've spent some time trying to see if I could plan my own route, using Google Maps, and it's very time consuming. And really there's no way of knowing what the road conditions will be like, etc. By using these maps, I at least know that the roads are ridable. At least that's the hope.

LeMond Sarthe

2007-11-11T14:14:00.001-07:00

I did it. I bought that 2007 Sarthe that I was looking at. Here's the low-down on the bike.

I'm very excited about it.

There was something wrong with the front brake, so they swapped my Shimano 105 brakes out for Cane Creek SCR-3 brakes. The shop claimed they are comparable, so hopefully that is true. I think the black looks a bit better than the silver, anyway.

I also looked at the Alpe D'Huez, also a LeMond bike, with a carbon fiber 'spine' and the rest aluminum. It was the same price, and also a very smooth ride, but most of the components were a step lower (I guess because the carbon fiber is more expensive). I'm glad to have Ultegra on the rear derailleur.

I think this is the perfect bike for me. I'm not too concerned about steel being a bit heavier and not as stiff. Those are things that would be nice if I thought I was going to race. But since I'm buying a bike for distance riding, I'm happy to give up the stiffness and weight for a more comfortable ride.

Plus it's a sweet classic looking bike. I like the 2007 better than the new blue 2008 style, too.

Time to get in shape!

back in business

2007-09-11T20:50:00.000-06:00

I was starting to think I might have to push back my plans for the cross-country ride, but after talking to my friend last weekend, I am much more excited about making it happen.

I finally found a place close by that carries the LeMond Sarthe. I talked to one of the guys there over the phone and he rode one all last year. My real question for him was how big of a difference there is between steel and aluminum bikes. He said it's noticeable. I've heard opinions both ways, but I trust this guy's opinion the most because I know he rode a steel bike.

So the plan is to go give the bike a spin and see how it feels. They might have a 2007 model that is my size and is on clearance for $1400 (I think).

my dad's bike

2007-05-21T21:16:00.000-06:00

My dad ended up buying the Raleigh Supercourse 2007, which is a full-carbon frame. I checked it out, and was tempted to get the same, but I think I'm still leaning toward the LeMond Sarthe.

I read in a review that the Supercourse was a very stiff ride, which was surprising to me, since I thought carbon was supposed to be the most forgiving frame (for absorbing road vibration). So I read up a little on carbon frames in general, and it seems that carbon fiber frames can be made to be as stiff or flexible as the manufacturer wants. So a carbon fiber frame doesn't necessarily mean that the ride will be smooth or rough.

So with that, I decided to keep looking. I just need to find some time to actually make it to a store, and not just look online..

aluminum vs. steel

2007-04-17T21:36:00.000-06:00

I'm now leaning more towards the LeMond Sarthe. I've heard enough people say to stay away from aluminum for long trips, and there aren't many steel frames around anymore, it seems. I'm not sure why I haven't been very interested in carbon; I guess I'm too old-school.

bikes

2007-04-13T20:00:00.000-06:00

I am in the process of buying a bike. I am a mountain biker, and have never owned a road bike, so I'm starting from scratch. At REI I've been looking at the Cannondale Synapse.

It seems that if you talk to 5 different people about what bike to get, you will get 5 completely different opinions. One guy is saying the Synapse is the best bike for me, but the next guy (same store) says to stay away from aluminum and get a carbon or steel frame, for shock absorption. Some people say to get a touring bike, and stay away from the 'racing' bikes. I get all kinds of opinions.

I've heard that LeMond has good bikes. Maybe I'll try out the Sarthe.

I'll have to test ride a bunch of different bikes, and hope one stands out.

why

2007-04-13T07:57:00.000-06:00

I remember starting a blog back when they were relatively new, and it went nowhere. Why am I starting again? Simply because I hope to use this to document my goal/dream of cycling across the US, from the West coast to the East. I've wanted to do it since High School, and it's starting to appear slightly achievable for the first time. So here goes...