[Note at end of ride: My odometer for the entire ride showed3561 miles.] You can view our itinerary and the description of this ride at http://www.americabybicycle.com/Fast/ (Itinerary is found by clicking on a link near bottom of the page.) You should also read our tour leader's account of this ride, as he also wrote a daily update as we went (far more extensive than mine), and included lots of photos: http://www.bamacyclist.com/Journal2007/Fast07/07fast.htm If you wish to e-mail me a comment or question: KCMerc@yahoo.com  My bike equipment that was critical for this kind of ride:  Make of bike - Scattante.  Model - CFR (carbon). Saddle - Terry Fly. Wheels - Neuvation 28sl. Tires - Specialized Armadillo Elite. Day 0  Costa Mesa (Newport Beach) They tried to scare us today! We checked in and had a two-hour orientation by the tour leader and support staff. Hearing the "horror stories" from past rides -- when riders got lost or injured because they did dumb things, or didn't communicate hazards when riding in a paceline, made all of us sit up and take note that we have lots to learn about what can happen out on the roads of America. Nevertheless, I'm anxious to get started tomorrow morning at 5 am, leave here at 7 am. Annette drove me down here, and my brother Rick also came by to see me off. This photo was taken in the motel room. My roommate, at least for the first night, is a firefighter from Windsor, Canada, Bob Papineau. I think my roommates will change for the first few days, and then they'll stay the same the rest of the way across the country.  If you want to "meet the riders", go see the tour leader's webpage which I've given near the top of this page. I've created a link directly to his. Here we go! Day 1 - Newport Beach to Thousand Palms (just past Palm Springs)  Data: 122 miles in 7:03 riding time (17.3 mph avg) Today was FABULOUS! Great weather, scenery, no flat tires, and a strong tailwind over the final 30 miles. Everyone's nice and interesting. Only bad thing was that my camera stopped working at mile 61. The error message said I need to take it in to a dealer, so I won't be taking any more photos for a while. But you can check the tour leader's site, because he took hundreds of photos today, and that's likely to continue. A friend from the Carnation Research Lab days, Ginny Tadjalli, was there to cheer us on as we dipped our rear wheels in the Pacific. Then we had a leisurely ride up the Santa Ana River bike trail. I kept stopping to take photos, and here's one when there still was water in the river:   We then headed east out by Lake Matthews and Lake Perris. Other riders seemed interested when I explained that Lake Mattthews was the terminus of the Colorado River Aqueduct, and it then disperses into several water lines to various locations. Not too many hills today. However, for my roommate from Windsor, they were the first hills he'd ever climbed on a bike, ever. He said it was a new experience, and pretty tough (he's also never drafted before -- he took up cycling only two yrs ago, and has trained by himself). I felt good and in shape today. We continued east to Hwy 79, passing lots of dairy farms. We then headed north to Beaumont. If my camera had been working then, I would have gotten a shot of the Beaumont City Hall, since it had an old, real midwestern look. We then turned east again, at which point we had a strong tailwind, and at times I was going 38 mph on relatively level ground (a little downhill).  Had a big dinner, and now I need to hit the hay. Tomorrow is mostly on Hwy 10 to Blythe. It's still blowing REALLY hard out there, and we hope there'll still be remnants of this wind tomorrow! Day 2  Thousand Palms to Blythe Data: 119.7 miles  Riding time 6:35  (18.1 mph avg) Another great day! Since we were on Interstate 10 so much of the time, the real highlight was a 20-mile ride up Box Canyon from just north of Salton Sea up to Hwy 10. My map even designates it as a "scenic route", and it was! The rock formations were incredible. I'm sure the tour leader's website will have photos of this area (he promised his site would be updated tonight -- he did his writing for yesterday, but couldn't upload it). Box Canyon was the only uphill today, although the entire 20 miles was uphill -- just not too steep (in my opinion. Some thought it was). But the rest of it was riding with a cross wind or tailwind, gradually downhill to the Colorado River here, so we went fast. Seeing the desert scenery was not too special for me since I've seen it my entire life, but I took a fresh appreciation when the riders from Germany and Netherlands and UK all remarked how spectacular it was. At the Chiriaco Summitt on Interstate 10 there was a General George Patton Museum. Nothing around there except this museum, with a huge statue of him and about 10 WWII tanks outside. It turns out he trained his Army Tank Corp nearby there in 1942 prior to going to North Africa. The leader warned us about all the tire-puncture hazards when riding on the interstate (like the steel wire fragments from blown steel-belted tires), so it'll be interesting to see tomorrow morning how many flat we had today (knock on wood, I still didn't get one). This morning, we took a count and 8 people had flats yesterday, and one guy had four! I decided not to draft while riding on the interstate, so I could have clear sight in front of me. It actually was not as bad out there as he said. Speaking of drafting, so far I haven't drafted much -- maybe 40 miles of the 240 we've done. I just feel more comfortable riding alone or pulling others. That could change, though! Here's a photo I got from Geoff of Jerry and me riding along the shoulder of Hwy 10. I hope I sleep better tonight. Sunday night and last night I just kept waking up and not being able to go back to sleep. I think I know the answer though: beer. I went without for the previous two days, and I'm not used to that. I remedied that tonight! As you can see in the photo above, Jerry's jersey today was Leinenkugel Beer, and another rider's jersey (Logan's) had a picture of a cold glass of beer and it said "It's why I ride".  Then it hit me what's been wrong with me. My coach and the tour leaders always warn us to eat and drink what we're familiar with, and nothing new!!   I've still had Bob Papineau as my roommate, and only him. What I mean by that is that he and I both signed up for triples, and we're eventually supposed to get two different roommates each, but for the third night it's just the two of us! We hope it continues!

 
Day 3  Blythe to Wickenburg, AZ

Data:  115.4 miles   Riding time 6:34  (17.5 mph avg)

What can I say? Another great day! It was relatively flat (though some long gradual grades uphill), so we all seemed to be "recovering" (riding a little slower) because tomorrow is supposed to have tons of hills (11,000 ft of total uphill). By the way, my solution to sleeping better seemed to have worked, so I repeated with my beer this evening.

It was nice and toasty as we left Blythe at 7 am (70 degrees), so no need to wear any sort of cold-weather clothing (we wore some stuff on the other mornings that we then took off early in the day). As soon as we crossed the Colorado River at mile 5, the terrain got much more interesting. The hills were those kinds that you see near the Grand Canyon -- mesas rising right out of the desert. And, no Seguro cacti on the California side, but immediately in AZ, they were everywhere. It looked like a Disney set.

Eventually we passed out of this really pretty area, and it began to look more like yesterday when we crossed the CA desert. Except this time, there were "settlements", like RV parks, old desert homes, junk yards, Twilight Zone motels, "old west" saloons, 1940s cars buried in sand drifts, and cow skulls as ornaments.  All this was really spread out. It also got into the 90s, but being from So CA, it didn't seem too hot. Those from colder climates kept commenting about the temperature.

At the final rest stop, we had a real treat!  A guy who went on this ride a few years ago and now lives in Phoenix, about an hour away, drove to this small town along our way and brought us some foods and drinks that he knows riders love but that the tour company doesn't provide -- fresh melons and mango, fresh strawberries, shrimp, soda pop, donuts, and choc chip cookies. I doubt we'll ever see that again. What we normally get is still pretty good - bananas, oranges, granola bars, peanuts, raisins, pretzels - I forget what else. At the lunch stop they have stuff to make sandwiches or bean burritos.

Wickenburg is a real Arizona western town. Again, it looks like a Disney set for the old west. For the first time tomorrow morning, we don't eat at Denny's. Our motel has a loud peacock. He likes to make himself heard. I now have my two permanent roommates! One is Kasper from Holland, and the other is Phil from MN. You can now go to the tour leader's "Meet the Riders" section. Casper is a very fast rider, that's for sure.

This morning, our tour leader had days 0 and 1 uploaded, so there is something there to go see. We all can't wait to see what he says each day (and see if we get made fun of).

Day 4  Wickenburg to Cottonwood

Data: 104.5 miles  Riding time 6:50  (15.3 mph)

Today was beautiful scenery, and lots of climbing to look back down at the views of the valleys below. At the top of the final climb, our view looked like we could see the Grand Canyon in the distance, but of course what we saw wasn't the Grand Canyon. I sure wished I had a working camera about 20 times today.

So, we did the 11,000 feet of climbing! This infamous day is behind us, and now we all know we can complete this ride successfully. My Santa Monica Mountain training paid off, as the climbing didn't seem too bad. We left 30 minutes earlier than usual, and had the lunch stop at 43 miles, so I was done with lunch by 10:15. We later rode through Prescott, which was another historic western town (1864) with a quaint downtown full of old saloons, hotels, statues, and hitching posts. Near the very end of the ride, we went into Jerome, the old copper mining town that became a ghost town when the mine shut down in 1953. Then it made a comeback, and now it's an artsy village (on the side of a hill), but still looks like an old mining town. About 20 of us stopped at the Haunted Burger to have an early dinner, and it looked so funny to have 20 bikes lined up outside on this narrow street, extending about 50 ft on either side of the restaurant. They sat four of us outside with a view of the valley below, so the day was enjoyable all the way around. Here's a photo Dave Roark took of Rob, me, and Judd eating, with the great view:



Today was my first day to do laundry. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Day 5  Cottonwood to Winslow

Data: 119.5 miles  Riding time - 7:22  (16.3 mph avg)

I caused a cattle "stampede"! On today's ride, I took a detour off of Interstate 40, east of Flagstaff, to go view the Meteor Crater. It's a mile wide, in a perfect circle, 550 ft deep, and was caused by a meteor that was only 150 feet in diameter.  On the way back to Interstate 40, about 150 range cows were grazing right by the road. As I rode by, most of them gave the "bovine stare", and I said in a normal voice, "Hello cows". They immediately turned and "stampeded" off in the other direction.  Pretty funny.

Sedona to Flagstaff was very scenic, maybe the most we'll have on the entire trip. It was like riding in the Grand Canyon for part of it. Flagstaff to Winslow was on Hwy 40, but I made it more interesting by taking the detour to the Meteor Crater. We saw this on one of our family vacations in the mid 60s, but I was probably reading a comic book. The tour leader said he could have saved me from riding those extra 12 miles, as he made a little hole in the ground with his hand and said it looks just like that only bigger.

Prior to diverting to the crater, we had a paceline going on Hwy 40 and someone got a flat, so we all stopped. I looked down and I was completely covered with little bugs. They were all stuck to my skin because of the sun-block lotion. At least they brushed off easily, but...

Anyway, it was a super day. I got in pretty late because of the detour, plus a few of us rode over to the "corner in Winslow Arizona", made famous by the Eagles song "Take it Easy." They've made a particular corner into a tourist area based on that line in the song. A friend took my photo and will send it to me. They have Eagles songs playing into the intersection, and a statue of the hitchhiker. I had to sing the pertinent parts of the song to Kasper, my Dutch roommate, because he didn't know what all the fuss whas about.

There were a lot of gripes about our motel, because the air conditioning in the entire place was out, and it was pretty hot. Plus, electronic keys didn't work, they phoned people for the wake-up calls at wrong times (one guy in room 201 got his call at 2:01 am), and in my case, their mix-up allowed me to have my own room. They hadn't put the rollaway bed in for the third person, so they said one of us could have another room, and my roommates insisited I take it. It was nice not having to keep my things organized in my corner of the room.

The weather so far has been great. No need for jackets or leg warmers, no rain, not too hot. And still no flat tires. About 8 of us have still been blessed, but our time is sure to come.

Day 6  Winslow to Gallup, New Mexico

Data:  132 miles   Riding time 7:41  (17.1 mph avg)

This was a trying day on the highway. Almost the entire ride was on Interstate 40, and there were side winds and head winds for much of it, although there were tailwinds in the morning. I was in a drafting group for the first 40 miles, but then I decided to do another "detour" to the Painted Desert National Monument (the colors, from old mineral-laden seas, were pretty). The rest of the way to Gallup, I was alone to face the winds.

More later... Gotta go to our talk regarding tomorrow's 146 miles into Albuquerque.

We rode a fair amount on old route 66, which was Arizona Hwy 118. I laughed that it was Hwy 118, since that's the number of the California hwy that comes right through Simi Valley and out many miles west, where I did so much of my training. When this bike ride was finally here, I thought I was through, finally, with riding Hwy 118 every day, but at least it was a different one.

Now that it's a day later when I'm writing this, I'm having trouble differentiating yesterday from today (day 7). 

Day 7  Gallup to Albuquerque

Data:  136.5 mi  Riding time 7:32 (18.1 mph avg)

We got our kicks on Route 66 today. Some was still on Interstate 40, but most was on 66, where there was mile after mile of the "casualties" of putting in Hwy 40 to bypass Old 66.  That is, there were crumbling old motels, skeletons of homes and even settlements, and thousands of old rusty car hulks and parts of cars, many looking like they've been there since the 30s, as if they never quite made it from the Dust Bowl states on their journeys to California.  The businesses still open capitalized as best they could (such as their names) of being on Old Hwy 66, to attract toursits, I suppose. Also, we crossed through numerous Native American Reservations today, so lots of "Indian" stuff and art. (The Canadian term, which I like, is First Nation.)

I should note that riding on 66 is MUCH preferred to Hwy 40, as 66 has hardly any traffic and the road is smooth with no debris. On the shoulder of the interstate, we are always dodging debris that can flat a tire. When you're in a drafting group of six, it's kind of funny to hear the communication going through the pack, as each person shouts the warning to the person behind, and points where it is: "SAND, sand, sand, sand, sand,", "HOLE, hole, hole, hole", "WIRE, wire, wire, wire", "ROADKILL", ""bungie cord", "gator" (meaning a huge piece of truck tire extending almost across the entire shoulder, "glass", or "mine field" (meaning so much stuff that we have to split up and weave through with full view as opposed to just following the rider in front of you).

This was another successful day! No flats, no injuries, no bad weather. Our first rest stop was at the Continental Divide. However, at this southern location, it wasn't too interesting since everything out there looked the same. Since it was a long day, and into a headwind much of the way, I stuck with a drafting group of six riders for the entire distance. Near the end, we had strong side winds but with just enough of it coming from behind to make it a tailwind, and we flew effortlessly for the final 20 miles or so. Speaking of flats, and knock on wood, but I think there are only four of us who haven't flatted yet. Today, there was a bike shop nearby, and about 10 people bought the kind of tires I'm using to replace what they started with.

Today's photo (from Dave. R): I cannot let it pass that I should include a photo of what we encounter every day out on these western highways:



I will not be able to say, technically, that I will have ridden the entire way across the country because they had to shuttle us for 9 miles due to construction on Interstate 40. The cars were diverted onto the shoulder, where we ride. So, they put 7 of us at a time in the van, our bikes on top, and took us around this section. I jokingly made this statement about not riding all the way across the country to both Annette and the tour leader, and they both said "nonsense, you're still riding all the way!" I got a good laugh out of it both times.

The past two day have had changing periods of cloud cover and sun, so I have been constantly putting on and taking off my clip-on sunglasses. Today we had a few drops of rain as we were near the end, but luckily it didn't develop into anything steady or long.

Well, we finished Week One! Everything's fabulous.

Day 8  Albuquerque to Las Vegas, New Mexico

Data: 136 miles  Riding time 8:52  (15.3 mph avg)

Today was a LONG ride! I recommend you read the tour leader's website to get a description of it. The wildest place we went was Madrid, and he does a great job of describing what it was like.  We had good weather today - AGAIN. Can't believe our good luck so far. In fact, I've needed to wear my jacket and leg warmers on only one day, and even then I shed them at the first rest stop, tossing them into the bin on the van. Today was overcast, so no need for sunglasses.

The ride north to Santa Fe, on the Turquoise Trail, was scenic with long climbs and rolling hills. There were homes scattered across the landscape, and they blended well into the scenery. Later, however, riding on Interstate 25 for 70 miles, was not so great. But the good news is, NO MORE INTERSTATES for the rest of the trip! Today I rode more slowly to rest up, but the long hours on the bike still has made me pretty pooped out tonight.  At least I still avoided a flat tire. Knock on wood, I'm one of only two or three now.

One spot we passed as we were on the interstate was an "amateur" memorial to The Gettysburg of the West. It described the Battle of Glorieta Pass, in March, 1862, between New Mexico troops and the Confederate Army. Here's a photo (with Jerry):



I did laundry again this evening, but not at the hotel. I had to get back on the bike and ride about 1 1/2 miles to a laundramat, with all the clothes in my backpack.

We've had some injuries lately, unfortunately. Knees, achilles, tiredness. More people are riding in the van for all day or segments. One fellow, John Goodman, had chest pains two days ago and had to go to the hospital for tests and observation. They haven't found anything wrong yet, so there is a chance he'll rejoin us.

Day 9  Las Vegas to Tucumcari, NM

Data: 109 miles  Riding time 6:30  (16.6 mph avg)  (44 mph maximum speed going down a steep hill)

I rode hard today, and got in pretty early with two other riders. The first thing we did was go to the A&W for root beer floats. Yum.

The scenery was not too dramatic on our road to Tucumcari. We spent the entire day on a single hwy (104), and there were no towns -- not one. There was, however, a lonely little post office out in the middle of nowhere (the Galita Post Office). I needed stamps, so I decided to stop in. My two riding mates said they'd go on slowly, and I could catch back up. Well, the woman could not find 24-cent post card stamps, and kept saying she'd find them. She finally did, but by the time I got back out on the road, my mates were way ahead. I did my best imitation of a time trial and finally caught them. I also rode real hard at the beginning of the day, for about 20 miles, to catch them since they left the breakfast much earlier than I. I felt like I was racing today! 

The best scenery was a vast view of countryside just before a screaming descent, and you can see the hills we descended in the back of the photo above. It seemed like we were leaving the mountains behind and looking out at the plains we would be facing for the next segment of our trip. Sure enough, we did rolling hills the rest of the way, into a head wind most of the time. Having a drafting group of three helped (Jerry, Geoff, and I). At one point we came across an official yellow highway sign that said "Watch for Water."  At the first rest stop, we had just passed our 1000-mile point, so we got this photo. The handwritten board says "1000 miles - 8 1/3 days". That is my bike on the right:



Later in the ride, we encountered Badger Pass, but which our tour leader called "The Wall". It was only 0.7 miles long, but was very steep. The funny thing was, the comments he painted onto the road two years ago, when he last led this tour, were still there, and made it an enjoyable refrain. He wrote things like "Here it comes", "Take a deep breath", "You can do it", "Don't stop pedaling", "It's not far now", and "You've conquered it", and "U R Awesome". My two riding mates and I were the first ones up it, and we all waited at the top for each to arrive. Just before we got going again, the support van arrived to take photos of each rider nearing the top. So, I rode down a couple hundred yards and redid the top portion so I could get my photo:



The wildflowers are out. The cacti had yellow flowers, plus there were other yellows, purples and white ones along our route.

We had our first crash today, but the fellow is okay. On the screaming descent, his front wheel went into some rut and he went over the handlebars. They took him to a hospital once they got to Tucumcari, and he got stitches in his face, plus many bandages. He still plans to ride tomorrow!  John Goodman had to stop the ride; two days ago he complained of shortness of breath, and the local hospital in Gallup wanted to keep him for tests. They did find a problem with his heart, so he could not continue. We all signed a card for him.

Since I got in early and didn't need to do laundry, I got back on the bike and rode around the old downtown. People saw me coming and going, and later confirmed my "reputation" for doing extra things on the bike. I think they think I'm nuts.

Day 10  Tucumcari to Dahlhart, Texas

Data:  95 miles  Riding time 5:23 (17.6 mph avg)

Just a measly 95 miles...no sweat!  Ha!

The big story for today was the rain. It was raining when we started, it got stronger, then it stopped, then it came back, and eventually got real hard for the final 20 miles. I had never ridden in that kind of steady, hard rain before, for that long. But no problem. I was dressed for it since I bought rain gear last December in anticipation of having days like this, and it all paid off. I added shoe covers, a helmet cover, the new yellow jacket, full-fingered rain gloves, a "fender" off the rear (quick release attached to the seat post), and a mud guard behind the front wheel (attached to the down tube on the frame). And my helmet visor kept the rain off my glasses and face real well.

So, it was an enjoyable ride. Well, not much scenery, however. The main sights were the HUGE cattle feed lots and all the trains passing next to us all day, who sounded their horns to say hi to us. The feed lots were similar to the one just north of Harris Ranch in Central California, if you've seen that. The smell is usually terrible, but today, the rain, and little wind, made it not so bad. I've heard that if the winds are bad, and when it's hot, it can get all over you and your water bottles, such that you can't even drink out of them.

We also had nice wild flowers growing along the highway. (I'm trying to think of good things about today's scenery, which was really just flat nothing out there.) Knock on wood, but I'm now the only one left who has not yet had a flat tire. I really hoped today, in the rain, would not be my first.

Tonight I have my original roommate, Bob P., from Windsor, Canada, because this motel did not have rollaway beds. It's nice to visit with him again. He's gotten a lot better during these 10 days, especially since he'd never ridden any hills before, much less long mountain climbs.

I should take this opportunity to mention more about my permanent roommates. Kasper from Holland has a 9-yr-old son, and speaks to his family every day about noon our time (8 pm Netherlands time). He even talks on his cell phone while riding! It's cool to hear him speaking Dutch. He also is fluent in Italian, French, German, and of course English. He's a favorite of everyone's here, so I'm lucky to have him as a roommate. He is funny too. The other morning he started playing "soccer" with the plastic light cover that had fallen off in the middle of the night (which was a strange occurrance, let me tell you!). When I put on my Bianchi jersey, he rattled off a whole bunch of Italian for me. He's a bike racer, as was his father.

Phil from Winona, MN is a financial advisor, and spends about 30-45 minutes each evening speaking to some of his 700 clients. He's funny too; he says he much prefers golf to riding a bike. One morning, he had set the alarm for 5:00 since it had been necessary for the previous three days. He jumped out of bed and immediately put on his riding clothes to get his usual early start, and then we mentioned that everything was set for 30 minutes later this morning. He quickly reset the alarm for 5:35, and got in bed with his cycling clothes on, turned out the lights, and went back to sleep.  Tonight we had a good laugh at his expense, because 10 of us ate dinner and we had all agreed to split the bill evenly. When the bill came, he asked the waiter to please calculate what each of our portions was because the waiter could use a calculator. We had to remind Phil that there were 10 of us, so a financial advisor surely could figure that one out without using a calculator.

Each evening, we need to rearrange the motel furniture to accomodate the rollaway bed, our three bikes, and our two pieces of luggage each (and water bottles, helmets, cycling shoes, and other junk). But so far, it's been no problem and we get along great. Phil uses ear plugs, and can fall asleep even if Kasper and I are still typing into our computers.

Tomorrow is 113 miles, but there are no hills, we drop 1200 feet of elevation, and we're supposed to have a tail wind. So, should be a good day.

Day 11 Dahlhart, TX to Liberal, KS (passing through the Oklahoma panhandle)

Data:  113 miles    Riding time: 6:10  (18.4 mph avg)

Like a fool, I accepted an invitation at breakfast from the "Hammers" (the fast guys) to attempt to ride 100 miles in 4 hours. I should have known I never could keep up a 25 mph pace for four hours, even if I was in a paceline and there was a tailwind, which it turned out there wasn't. After a 7-mile warm up, when I already was riding at about my best pace, the six people in the paceline blasted away, each person assigned to pull for 0.5 mile, then drop to the back to "rest" in the draft. I did one pull at the front, going about 23 mph, and I was wiped out and immediatley fell off the back and was out. I learned later that after about 10 miles, they one by one fell off the pace until there were two, and soon they had to give up.

The rest of the ride I rode either alone or next to people to chat, and I still managed a pretty fast pace of 18.4 mph, even with a minor headwind.

Not much scenery today -- mostly the huge grain silos, and huge watering devices for the wheat fields that go in a big circle from the water source at the center. It was overcast all day, and pretty cool, so I wore my yellow jacket, leg warmers, and mittens most of the day. In fact, the misty morning had me wiping my glasses with my finger about every 20 seconds so I could see. We passed by our first (maybe only) armadillo roadkill on the shoulder where we cycle. Still no flat tires!

After riding into Oklahoma a little ways, I started singing out loud the lines from the Rogers and Hammerstein song Oklahoma. Then a bug flew into my mouth, so I guess I wasn't on pitch.

For the first time, we ate at an all-you-can-eat place -- Chinese. About 17 of us had the same idea. I don't think they made money on us; we each went back about 6 times for full plates heaped high.

There was a town in Oklahoma called Hooker, and their softball team's name was the Horney Toads. I learned that Kasper, my Dutch roommate, and his three riding partners went to the Chamber of Commerce to see what they might find (that they could take a photo of), and their Chamber was in session and they got invited in to describe our bike trip.

Apparently, Liberal, KS, which got its name because an early rancher was liberal with his well water for other ranchers, has decided it is where Dorothy Gale, Auntie Em, and Uncle Henry lived (Toto too!).  So, they've got a replica of Dorothy's house before it got swept away to Oz, with the stormcellar door next to it, and little statue-like figures of the Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow. It was a tad amateurish, but fun. The feed store next door had a sign saying that Toto ate Purina Dog Chow. 

Day 12  Liberal to Dodge City, KS

Data: 83 miles  Riding time 4:31  (18.4 mph avg)

We were done at 11:55! We had the whole afternoon to explore Boot Hill and the other sights of this old cow town. I think everyone had a nice day.

The riding was in a fog for the first two hours, and I had to wipe my glasses constantly to be able to see. Yesterday, wiping with my bare finger worked pretty well, but today I had on my mittens and wiping with them did not work well at all. Oh well, I survived.  The lunch stop was at the Dalton Gang's hideout in Meade. They had dug an underground tunnel connecting a barn to a house, so they could hide or escape if needed. We got there so early, I didn't even feel ready to eat a lunch, so I just ate a few snacks and we got going again.

The scenery was flat and green. An occasional farmhouse. The distant grain towers looked as if we were approaching skyscrapers of a large city. Instead of an armadillo, we passed by a little 4-inch turtle headed toward the highway. We doubted he would live long.

With only 20 miles to go to Dodge City, we turned north and had a strong tailwind. The group was still fresh, so we flew along the flat country road at about 29 mph, with a high of 33 mph.

As we entered Dodge, there was this statue of a longhorn cow, commemorating the cattle drives here from Texas in the 1880s. I got the photo from Geoff, on the left, who is from Seattle. Jerry, on the right, is from Eau Claire, WI.



After this photo, we rode to the motel, took quick showers, and then walked back to the Boot Hill Museum. We saw the real thing - The original Boot Hill Cemetary, where many were buried with their boots on. They had a 13-minute video about how the town came to be to deal with buffalo hunters, and, once the buffalo were wiped out, the town served the cowboys on their drives to the railroads here. They have reconstructed what Front St looked like in the 1880s, including the Longbranch Saloon, where we had a beer. Besides Geoff and Jerry is David, a Canadian retired now in Florida.



We had lunch at the CowTown Grill, walked around a bit more, then I had a nap, a soak in the hot tub, and dinner at a Thai restaurant. So, these shorter days have advantages.

Note: I have added in photos on previous days, which I received from Geoff.

Day 13  Dodge City to Great Bend, KS

Note: Our tour leader has solved his computer problem and his website is up to date. Also, I bought a new camera! There's a WalMart next door, and they had a camera very similar to the one I had, so I don't need to learn how to work it. I would include some new photos, except see the story below.

Data:  85 miles   Riding time 4:58  (17.1 mph avg)

Today's story is not our bike ride, but the weather. Right now I am writing this in our evacuation area of the hotel in Great Bend, due to a tornado warning. I could bring along the computer, but not all the stuff to move photos from the camera to the computer. We can hear the rain POURING hard on the roof, and see the lightning and hear the thunder, continuously.  Last night a tornado hit a town not far from Dodge City and 9 people died. It was the top of the national news and certainly all local news.  This is the second time we have been here in the evacuation area of the hotel this evening. The storm followed exactly our bike route today, but lucky for us, it was about six hours behind us.

Here is a photo of a lot of motel guests crowded into the "safe zone" during the tornado threat.



We had side winds all day, at about "2 o'clock" for the first half (therefore a headwind), and at about "4 o'clock" for the second half (so, a tailwind). I was WAY overdressed this morning, thinking we'd have rain. I dressed in my full rain regalia, but it turned out to be very warm and the wind played havoc with my open jacket and my helmet cover. I finally stopped to remove the helmet cover, but waited until the 36-mile rest stop to remove the jacket, shoe covers, leg warmers, and full gloves. I felt so much better after that.

In Garfield, Andrew (from England) and I arrived in town JUST as their Santa Fe Trail Days parade was to begin, so we were re-routed around the main street. Others in our group arrived earlier and later, in both cases getting to ride right down the main street in front of all the spectators and wave to them as if they were celebrities.

The scenery today was flat and green, with a few more ranch homes (with big front porches) to view compared to previous days. The first rest stop was at a big sign noting that it was exactly the midpoint between New York City and San Francisco (the tour leader's website has a photo of me and four others in front of the sign). Coming into Great Bend, only 0.5 miles from the hotel, my roommate Phil and I passed an ice cream shop and decided to have a sundae. Yum. We learned later that virtually everyone did the same thing. 

As for tomorrow, we're going to play it by ear. The tour leader said we would just wait here until he'd release us to ride, based on the weather forecasts. It could be that we won't ride tomorrow. It's supposed to be 129 miles, about 75 eastward into a strong headwind, and then 55 miles north with a strong tailwind.

Day 14  Great Bend to Abilene, KS

Data: 128 miles  Riding time 8:03  (15.9 mph avg)  No photos today; I didn't take the camera due to our projected storms.

Note: The tour leader's account of today on his website is excellent, describing our dicey situation much better than I could since several riders behind me had to seek shelter in the morning. You can access his website at the top of this page.

What an adventurous day! We have to pay tribute to the tour staff for getting us here safely into Abilene. Three times they held us to let dangerous weather pass by. They sought new routes to avoid flooded areas. 

I arrived in Abilene very late (about 7 pm), but I'm grateful I got to ride all the way here since there were so many threats that we would need to be shuttled in the van.  The only disappointment is that David D. from Lansing, MI, got nailed by a huge German Shepherd just two miles from finishing, and had to go to the hospital in an ambulance (he's the same one who fell several days ago and got stitches in his face, but he gamely has continued to ride). I witnessed this accident since we and my roommate Phil had ridden together for the previous 8 miles. I have never before seen a dog charge right into a bike like that at full speed. David fell hard onto the street, and didn't move. The owners, who were relaxing on their porch with the dog, called 911. We think Dave's okay, but no word at this time from the hospital.

Yes, the weather has been unbelievable. Our hearts go out to those Kansans who have suffered through these disasters. Our bike tour has been lucky that we have been able to get around it, again with the help from the staff. Twice today the rain was coming down so hard, I don't think I've ever seen it that hard except for one time on a family vacation in 1967 and we were somewhere around Billings, Montana when we couldn't see more than a few feet and Dad had to pull the car to the side of the road.  The first of these came while we were under cover at the lunch break, and the second occurred only about 10 minutes after I arrived here at the motel. I rode through some significant rain just before the lunch, but I was dressed for it, so no problem.  Along the way, we saw lots of flooded areas and the rivers were completely full and rushing.

Today, riders had lots of flats -- I'm not sure why. I'm almost feeling guilty for not yet having one, but only "almost".

We started late - 8 am - because the tour leader wanted to assess the weather situation. A large group of us rode fast to "beat" the bad weather following us. They held the lunch stop early (at 61 miles) due to increasingly heavy rain, and it turned out to be a good move. We stayed there about an hour until a lightning storm passed over, and then they let us go again with a changed route to avoid flooded areas. They later held us at a convenience store at mile 75 for about 90 minutes. I took a nap, and I was told that about 10 people took my picture.

When they let us go, it was a mass start and everyone charged out of there up the road, but flat tires kept felling groups. We went through a tiny town called Gypsum, and the sign entering town noted that it was the home of Steve Fritz, 1976 Olympic decathlete who placed 4th (the year Bruce Jenner won in Montreal). A little farther, I saw a small gas station with Bill Fritz noted as the owner, presumably his father.

At mile 115, Phil and I finally came to a little city that we had been looking forward to, since we hadn't eaten much since lunch at 61 miles. Unfortunately, the only store had just closed 15 minutes earlier. Phil asked a young man if there were any other stores open, and he directed us a couple miles north (but we were going east). Phil said he couldn't make it, and offered him money if he could get him a Coke. The kid went into his house, and he and his mother and brother came out with candies (she worked for Russell Stover candy company), bananas, and carrots. What friendly people! Those treats really hit the spot, as we were "out of gas". Dave D. rode up to join us in this "feast". That helped us face the final 8 miles into a strong headwind into Abilene. The tour leader's site has a photo of this "feast in the street".

Abilene has so many beautiful homes. If this hadn't been such a trying and late day, I would have ridden around to look at them, including President Eisenhower's home. I saw three stately homes that had tours. Abilene is also the Greyhound Dog capital; entering town we passed a huge greyhound kennel, then saw the Greyhound Association of America, and in town they have the Greyhound Hall of Fame.

It's 11 pm, so I need to hit the hay. Tomorrow is supposed to be headwinds for all 109 eastward miles in Topeka.

Day 15   Abilene to Topeka, KS

Data:  108.5 miles  Riding time 6:20  (17.1 mph avg)

Today was my favorite bike ride on the tour! Weather was finally perfect (overcast and warm), the rural road was rolling hills, it was green like Ireland, full of neat farms, and it was little traveled by cars (it paralleled Hwy 70 to the south). The road was called "the native stone scenic byway" because many of the homes and walls, and especially the chimneys, used stones taken from the hillsides. 

We all celebrated when we arrived in Topeka because we completed the first half of the tour. Ten of us took two taxis to an Italian restaurant and fortunately, on Mondays they have an "all you can eat" special. The waiter couldn't believe all these skinny guys were eating so much.

When many people would imagine what it would be like to "ride a bike across the country", they would picture the idyllic ride we had today. I always pictured Kansas as what we had in the western part of the state. But eastern Kansas is rolling hills, green as far as the eye can see, and the farms and ranches are clean and sharp, with no longer the old rusting cars and trucks we've seen up to now. It reminded me of what I've seen on the country roads in Wisconsin. Since it has rained so much recently, all the little creeks were rushing torrents, and most fields were muddy or temporary lakes. It had been predicted to have strong headwinds today, but they were minor from the south, so they weren't a factor.



David, who was knocked off his bike by the dog, is okay and rode the entire distance today. However, he has no memory of lying on the street for those 30 minutes, and, his helmet was cracked in five places. So, it was a close call.  The dog, we heard, got a ticket (i.e., the owners were cited).

The scenery was so nice, I decided to take it easy and enjoy it, stopping often to take photos. I rode with Shane, one of the staff, early in the morning, but let him go. The rest of the day I was pretty much by myself, occasionally catching or getting caught by others for some visiting. After the final rest stop, I rode a little with the tour leader, but we kept playing leapfrog along the road as we stopped to take photos in different places. Here's a photo of a strange piece of folk art - a dragon or monster eating a bicycle!! It was just alongside the road suddenly, next to a farmhouse:



Tormorrow we're looking forward to our only rest day.

Day 16  Day off in Topeka

Data:  21 miles   Riding time 1:45 (12.0 mph)

I woke up late. Did laundry. I added photos to yesterday's update (at 10 am). Then I rode to the bike shop 6 miles away to get my pedals greased, then did some sightseeing at the State Capitol.

New entry at 9:45 pm: We had a wonderful day today. We could sure see that there had been flooding; I rode through mud that got all over my bike that I had to clean off later. We rode around the Capitol, where we got this photo:



We then stopped to eat at a small BBQ joint that turned out to be very famous; my friend Jerry and I were celebrities there with our bikes and biking outfits. It was called Lane's, and was owned by descendants of a famous James Lane who was instrumental in Kansas politics prior to and after the Civil War. The restaurant itself was a museum, with historical documents and photos all over the place, plus old farming implements, old TVs, old radios, old advertisements (Babe Ruth pushing Chesterfield cigarettes), etc. The old man behind the counter was about 85, and he turned out to be the owner (named Lane), and his son was there who is currently the state Representative for that district. They were celebrities, we were celebrities (we brought our bikes right into the place), and we were each asking each other all sorts of questions. 

We rode through beautiful neighborhoods and parks on the return ride, and later rode to the Kansas History Museum. Their special exhibit was on sports stars from KS, so I saw Jim Ryun's track shoes that were EXACTLY like the ones I wore in high school. They also featured Al Oerter, Wilt Chamberlain, Wes Santee, and Glenn Cunningham, and they had a continuous showing of when Kansas won the NCAA basketball championship about 10 years ago. Later I took a whirlpool to massage my legs, and played on the indoor water slide.

I decided NOT to leave well enough alone, and actually changed my rear tire. I had a brand new one with me anyway, so I decided to make a preventive move to retain my "no flat tire" status.

Day 17  Topeka to St. Joseph

Data:  87.6 miles   Riding time 5:06  (17.2 avg)

It's funny, but 89 miles now seems pretty easy -- at least today's 89 miles.  We had good weather, and it was green and scenic. Not as scenic as Abilene to Topeka because we were mostly on a busier highway versus the back roads last Monday, but still rolling hills and a great bike ride. A highlight was crossing the Missouri River, which was at flood level and was rushing so fast. The level below a railroad bridge was just a foot or two, with a huge log/debris back-up behind the footing.



I took the above and below shots from the Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge, in Atchison (her birthplace). This photo shows how high the water level is at the banks:



Just a quarter mile or so on the other side of this bridge was the "Welcome to Missouri" sign. A whole bunch of us stopped there for photos (the tour leader's site has a photo of us, and I'm on the right side). A couple fellows took the opportunity to take a pee, which happens a lot along the sides of our roads. However, at this spot, since we had just entered the "Show Me" state, they got a ton of razzing from the group.

The Missouri side of the river got less interesting and flat. However, the closer we got to St Joe, the more beautiful it got, with incredible homes. Going through the town, we got to ride on a parkway, so that was a treat.

After my shower, I met up with Barbara Ball, a friend from the Carnation Research Lab days. She had transferred to the Nestle R&D Center here, and retired about 4 yrs ago. We had a nice lunch, and then went to the Pony Express Museum, since this was the Eastern terminus. (Interesting note: The pony express lasted all of 18 months before the telegraph made it obsolete.)

Tomorrow is a long day. It is listed as 153 miles, but I found out it's "only" 145. It will be rolling hills all the way, such that total uphill is about 7200 feet. I need to hit the hay. P.S. On the tour leader's website for last Monday, he has a photo of me from behind, riding down the road. I have a yellow thing hanging out one of the jersey pockets.

Day 18  St Joe to Kirksville, MO

Data: 151.6 miles   Riding time  9:10  (16.6 mph avg)

I didn't realize there was an Amish area in northern Missouri. There I was riding along alone near Jamesport, and coming toward me on the shoulder of the highway (on the other side of the road) was a horse-drawn buggy. A woman was driving, and her two children were behind her. I stopped and got my camera out, but it wouldn't come on. Then I saw the battery compartment open and the batteries had fallen out (but into the pouch, so I just needed to put them back into the camera). I thought it was like when people see the Loch Ness monster but their camera doesn't work. I still waved at the kids as the buggy went by, and they waved back. The mother kept her eyes straight ahead. I then continued down the road and came up on another buggy going my direction, this one with two horses and driven by a young fellow. I rode up behind as closely as I dared and took this photo:



Later, at a shopping center parking lot in Trenton, I saw a parked buggy, and the family was eating some food in it. Just after I saw the moving buggy near Jamesport, I saw a highway sign showing a horse and buggy.

Today was long, as you can see by my riding time of 9:10. I was out there a total of 10 hrs. But it was a perfect day! Weather and scenery again were fabulous. The country homes along the back road we used were neat and cozy-looking. Many of them had what appeared to be working water pumps just off to the sides of their porches. Lots of goats, pigs, horses, and cows along the way. Here was a funny sign I saw:



There also were two major flooded rivers we crossed over, one right near St Joe, and the other aptly named the Grand River. There were newly formed lakes on both sides of where the river course was supposed to be.

Today was rolling hills the entire way. I like this kind of terrain. I cruised along on my own up to the lunch stop in Trenton, at mile 77, and my avg speed was 18.4. Trenton happens to be an old Carnation town, since it has the factory that makes our Chefmate #10 can foodservice products (like chili beans, corned beef hash, and cheeses sauces). It was recently sold to Con Agra, but they still make our products for us. I decided to ride up for a visit (in my Nestle jersey) since I'd never been there before. I went in and talked to a couple people, but the tech person I knew best wasn't in since her home was isolated by flood waters about 20 miles to the south. It was fun seeing this plant that was/is so important to Carnation/Nestle.

At about mile 90 I hooked up with Dan, the new guy who is doing only the second half of the ride. This was only his second day, so he was getting pretty pooped out. I slowed down and rode with him the rest of the day. He wanted to rest to let his muscle cramping go away, and I took another side tour to a lake about 3 miles away. I stopped to take a photo of a wood-carved family sign, which have been common all across Missouri:
 


When we were almost to the motel, we saw an A&W and decided to get root beer floats (which we also had done in Tucumcari).



Day 19  Kirksville, MO to Quincy, IL

Data:  97.4 miles   Riding time  5:15 (18.6 mph avg)  (Note: the tour leader's website has two photos of me for yesterday -- coming and going)

We crossed the Mighty Mississippi River! On a ferry! On the ferry that's the longest continuously operating ferry on the Mississippi (1853)! Hard to believe we're already in Illinois. This bike trip continues to be fabulous.



(Note: Just above-river you can see Lock and Dam #20. A tug pushing 15 barges tied together locked through while were there.)

The lunch stop was my favorite so far -- under huge shade trees right on the Mississippi. It was at mile 71, and I was roaring along to that point with an avg speed of 19 mph. I think my legs may have felt better than most since I had taken it kind of easy for the final 55 miles yesterday. It was still rolling hills with beautiful homes and farms. I feel kind of guilty for not taking photos of all the picturesque homes - so many of them I think are worthy of a photo, but I'd be stopping every 30 seconds. We passed sheep and goat farms, and my "bahhing" got one or two responses.

While still in Missouri, we came across another Amish buggy riding along in our direction. We were told they do not particularly like having their photos taken, so instead of pulling in front and taking an oncoming photo, I took it again from behind him. I did look back and nod a hello to him as I passed, and he was very traditional with the black clothes, hat, and long beard. In the photo, you can see Steve passing him:



Once in Illinois, it became completely flat. What a change! We went eastward a few miles, then south to Quincy. Kasper took this photo of me:



As we neared Quincy, the road came back alongside the river, and it was interesting to see that the homes built along the shoreline were on stilts about 25-feet high. They had to climb ladders to get to their homes. It showed us just how high the river can get at flood levels. (The tour leader's site has two photos of this.)

Quincy is pretty big town. The Mormons settled near here when they were kicked out of Missouri in 1839. The bike route took us down a tree-lined boulevard with the most amazing homes. Again, I wished I could photo every one of them. It was like Beverly Hills. Oh, and the suspension bridge crossing the river between Hannibal and Quincy was brand new, huge, and quite a wonder to behold.

Once here, Brian (who also went to Ohio State) and I walked to a Steak and Shake and had large milk shakes. It's become the thing to do after a ride now, to seek out milkshakes or ice cream. A bunch of them try hard to find Dairy Queens.

Day 20  Quincy to Springfield, IL

Data:  107 miles   16.4 mph avg

Nice Saturday bike ride today. It was into a head wind much of the way, but we had four of us in a paceline to help minimize the wind's effects. The terrain was mostly flat, but we had a few spots that reminded us of Missouri. The miles and miles of corn fields weren't "showing off" yet, as the plants are still only about 6 inches to a foot tall.

Our group of four decided not to have the breakfast at mile 14. We had already eaten at the motel, but they offered a full breakfast at a place in Liberty, 14 miles from the start. Since we kept right on going, it meant we were ahead of the support vans for the breaks and lunch, so we had to stop ourselves for more water and food. But it also meant that we were ahead of the worst of the afternoon headwinds, so we think we made a good decision.

Two big events for me today were 1) going over the Illinois River, and 2) right past the Nestle factory in Jacksonville where they make Coffeemate.

Someday I hope to be cruising down this very spot on the Illinois River. That's a huge starch factory on the east bank:



Barbara Munk, our tour "mom", said she'd driven past this Nestle plant many times, but never noticed it until this year because I keep talking about Nestle all the time, and of course wear my Nestle jersey every few days:



Our route took us in front of the state Capitol, but the motel was another 5 miles headed out of town. So, we got this photo, but didn't really get to tour it or the Lincoln Museum.  The other two in the photo you may remember from the Longbranch Bar photo in Dodge City: David and Geoff. Jerry is taking the photo.



We beat the luggage van to the motel by about two hours, so we had milkshakes at Steak and Shake across the street, and then brought Quizno subs back to the motel to eat, just as Jerry's son and daughter-in-law arrived from Wisconsin -- with a very special treat! After looking at Jerry's Leinenkugel Beer jersey all day long, we got to sample the real thing. They had brought a couple cases from Wisconsin.



Late this afternoon I did laundry, but had to carry it to a laundramat down the street. Actually, it gave me a chance to make lots of phone calls to family. For the second dinner, we went back to Steak and Shake. I may become addicted to milk shakes.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms tomorrow. Annette's sister, Yvonne, and her husband Joe and son Nick are driving down from Naperville to visit tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

Day 21  Springfield to Tuscola, IL  (May 13)

Data:  97.4 miles  Riding time 4:58 (15.6 mph avg)

A visit from Joe, Yvonne, and Nick Buckley, the T-shirt exchange, and a late breakfast were the hightlights for today.

The ride was 97 miles into a significant headwind, and it was completely flat, and we were surrounded by soon-to-be cornfields for as far as we could see. I vote it the least interesting ride so far. At least the weather was great, and I didn't get a flat tire. We also passed another horse-pulled cart, this one a Mennonite. Here is what the scenery looked like today:



Since the ride was "short", the tour leader didn't want us to leave until 9 am, giving us a forced rest. We walked about 0.8 miles to an International House of Pancakes for breakfast, and as we left, the families for Mother's Day were arriving. Along the way today, we passed a Mennonite church. There were horse buggies behind it, and later we passed one going down our road.  Here's the church:



About 20 of us arrived in Tuscola at the same time. 17 of them went directly to the Dairy Queen across the street for a milkshake. I was one of the three who went to the motel, to see if the Buckleys had arrived yet. They hadn't, but they did just about 10 minutes later, after I put my bike in the room. They drove me to the DQ as the riders were leaving, and they treated me to a large cherry shake. Yum!

We then went swimming in the pool, and Joe and Yvonne got  to meet and talk with some of the other riders. Later, they came to my room to see my bike and how I load it and my jersey each day. We later had our "Rap" (the discussion of tomorrow's ride), and the Buckleys attended. We had a t-shirt exchange, and I got the one I wanted; it has a glass of beer and says "It's 5 o'clock somewhere".



The Buckleys took me to dinner, and I got carbo-loaded-up for tomorrow's ride. It was so nice of them to come visit me.

Day 22  Tuscola, IL to Lebanon, IN

Data: 123 miles   Riding time 6:30  (18.9 mph avg)

Why were there only two of us eating breakfast at Denny's this morning? And why was the other one Dave Roark, the racer?  This caused me to have a wild and crazy beginning to the ride today.

They gave us the choice of eating the motel's free breakfast, or going to the Denny's. Usually, the two choices at Denny's have been the Grand Slam or oatmeal. This time, they also offered the veggie omelet. I wanted to have that. Apparently no one else did, except Dave. So, that meant everyone else took off by 6:30, just as Dave and I were going into Denny's. We enjoyed our omelets, but then were 30 minutes behind. Shane joined us (staff always leaves last), and paid the bill. So off the three of us went, and after about two miles, the route turned north, with a brisk tailwind. Well, Shane and Dave were in a racing mood, and took off at 28 to 31 mph for the next 15 miles. I hung on for dear life, but at least I hung on. I never once took a turn pulling at the front. Finally, once we'd caught and passed several groups, I said thank you, and dropped off and rode at a more sensible pace -- an enjoyable pace -- with Phil, Bob Papineau, and Scott. When we got to the first rest stop at mile 45, my avg speed was still 21 mph even though I'd cooled it off for some time.

Up to the first rest stop, the scenery was similar to yesterday; we were on country roads between corn fields. The occasional farm house and dogs were the only sights to break it up. After that, though, we were on traveled roads that went through little towns every 10 miles or so, and this was quite scenic. We crossed the Wabash River, a wide and beautiful one. Right on the other side, in Covington, we stopped for drinks at a gas station, but I had a Nestle Crunch Ice Cream bar:



The weather today was super -- again. It helped make it a great day for a bike ride. I rode with so many different people, which is fun. Our lunch stop was in Hillsboro, and here's the sign as we entered town:



Hillsboro had an old-fashioned soda fountain shop, and many of the riders went in for some ice cream or a milkshake. The outside had old bicycles as decoration, plus there was an old clock on the corner.

As usual, we had our milkshakes when the ride was finished, too, at a Steak n Shake right near the motel. There's also a White Castle directly across the street, so I had five of those as a snack after the dinner.

Today when we crossed into Indiana, we entered the Eastern time zone. Hard to believe. Here's the photo at the state line, with Phil, Bob P, me, and Scott. As soon as this photo was taken, the other three turned around over by the pole and answered the call of nature. I have a photo of that too, but I'll spare you:





Day 23  Lebanon to Richmond, Indiana   The Day I Got My First Flat Tire




Data:  107.3 miles   Riding time 6:11 (17.4 mph avg)

Yes, I finally got a flat tire, and it seemed to be the big news of the day for everyone on the ride. Word spread quickly, and rider after rider offered their condolences as I encountered them later. It came after 2425 miles. Lucky for me, the van pulled up almost immediately, so I didn't even have to change it myself (Shane did). I was with five others when it happened, and all of them wanted to stop and "be part of this event." The funniest thing was that the two horses across the highway kept doing a horse laugh, so my buddies teased me that the horses found it funny too. Of course, I also got the jokes that my buddies had let the air out of my tires at the lunch stop, or that they had driven in a wire and it finally punctured the tube.  It actually was just a tiny thin wire that had gone straight through the tread.

This happened out on National Hwy 40, which is also called Old National Road. The original road was from 1806, and was the first road funded by the young national government, with the hope of helping the population head west and settle new land.

The ride today was another beauty. We got started late (9 am) because we had an early-morning visit to a bicycle-making company about 30 minutes away by car. The tour leader's site has more on this, since he owns this kind of bike and loves to talk about it.

Today's route was, in large part, an upscale area just north of Indianapolis, featuring huge estates with big fancy homes, and many horse properties like those I see in Thousand Oaks back home. The lawns were massive, and we made jokes about how they have to start mowing again as soon as they're done. Here's one example of these huge estates:



Our route later was along pretty country roads, through small-town-America villages, with some buildings dating from as early as 1834. I saw roads with huge trees on both sides, making the road look like a tunnel. Lots of tree-lined rivers too, each one making me think I could have fun rafting around on them as we did on the South Fork of the American River on Hwy 50 when we were kids.  I wanted to take so many pictures of everything, that I took none; how can you choose just one?

Luckily I don't need to buy a third camera, after mine flew out of its holder in my pouch when I hit a bad bump. The camera hit the ground, but it still works! Each day out here in middle America, we have smooth roads at times, and bumpy roads at other times. We all verbalize an "ahhhhh" when we move from bumpy to smooth; it also translates into an instant increase in speed of about 2 mph.

As opposed to the previous two days, we had a tailwind much of today, explaining why I had an avg speed of 17.4 even though we took it easy. In general, it seemed people were tired from the days of side- and headwinds.

Only 9 more days of this fabulous ride. We really have been lucky with the weather, even when there were tornados and lightning storms in Kansas, since we were able to make it through even those days. Tonight it's supposed to rain, and tomorrow will be cooler. Also, tomorrow I will be visiting my friends at the Nestle R&D center in Marysville, and Brian will drive out from Columbus to have dinner with me.

Day 24  Richmond, IN to Marysville, Ohio

Data:  106 miles  Riding time 5:56  (17.8 mph avg)

Brian came for dinner, and I visited several old friends at the Nestle R&D center! The ride was one of the best so far, so this was a great day.

Ever since my last visit to the R&D Center as an employee last June, I told these guys that I would be riding up to their front door on May 16. It came to pass! In fact, our route went right by the front door. I had great visits with many old friends - the Einersons (Mark retires in just 32 days), Antonio, Kyle, Ken, Johan, Pu-Sheng, Bob, Lynn, and others.  Here's one of Mark and Mary Beth Einerson, who started at the Carnation Research Lab in the late 70s.



Brian and I went to dinner at a National Historic Place, which was recently converted into a restaurant. It was the home of Doctor Henderson, who lived there over 100 yrs ago. Here's a picture of us -- before I found the fly in my wine glass and they gave us a complimentary second bottle of the wine:



The ride today was a real beaut. It had rained overnight, so everything was fresh and wet. We rode on scenic country backroads, over gently rolling hills. It reminded me of driving in Germany. We passed little farms with pigs lying in the fresh mud, goats on a steep hillside, chickens pecking all over the front yard, and even a farm with a few of all the animals including two llamas. The farm homes, with their big front porches with couches and swings, were a little different than in the previous few states; they were narrower and taller, and many times had posts that were big and round, and carved. 

We left early today -- at 6:30 -- and, coupled with a good tailwind, helped get us done with the ride quite early. It was so early, in fact, that I stayed at the lunch after everyone else left, just so I wouldn't get to the R&D Center too early. I finally decided I'd better get going in case it rained, so I got to the Center at 1:20, and I originally had predicted 3 pm.  The lunch stop was at a small church and cemetary in Concord dating to 1824, so I looked at gravestones.  We also passed a spot in Fort Jefferson with a sign saying that a fort was first built there in 1791.

The final point I'll mention is the marker in St. Paris, shown below, for Lincoln's funeral train. I thought that was pretty interesting.



So far, Ohio has been a super place for a bike ride, and we're told it will continue on tomorrow's 105-mile ride.  Only 8 days to go.

Day 25   Marysville to Wooster, Ohio

Data:  107.3 miles  Riding time 7:00  (15.4 mph avg)

I wrote a journal entry for Day 25 last night, as usual, but it wouldn't save, so I lost the entire thing. I spent a lot of time on it because the ride (yesterday's) was super. There's no way I can rewrite it as I did last night (one can't recreate a masterpiece - haha). But, I'll try to summarize.

The roads on which they have us riding through Ohio are absolutely fabulous. Most of it has been on what they call the Cardinal Trail, so it's been laid out as a bike route. The scenery and terrain are so varied -- rolling hills, steep hills, forest, farmland. You can change types of terrain in an instant. One time it reminded me of when, in the Wizard of Oz, they leave the dense forest and Emerald City is suddenly in front of them on a flat plain. Another thing I remember commenting on was how most of the homes have those inviting big front porches, with stuffed chairs and wooden swinging chairs.

The day started out with rain, and stayed cold the whole day. After the first break, I rode alone and therefore stopped to take lots of photos. Here's one of a carving out of a tree trunk. I've seen several, and most have been of eagles. I liked this one for a change:



I came across three silos for storing feed corn that I thought was interesting:



The tour leader kept talking about how much we were going to like Road 603. I thought he meant the scenery, but it turned out to be extremely hilly. Here's a photo at the top of one of the hills looking back at other riders. The man in the photo came down to talk to me. He's retired, and a runner and biker, and will compete in the Senior Olympics in June, just like Dad always did. He had been working in his flower and vegetable gardens most of the day.



This photo is of alpacas. We've seen them several times, and I guess they're popular for their wool. On one of my rides from Simi Valley, I pass two alpaca farms:



When we got to Wooster, a group of us had dinner at an Italian restaurant called El Rancho Grande. Sounds Mexican, doesn't it? They served no alcohol, so Kasper got on his bike and rode a couple blocks and bought a bottle of wine and a corkscrew and rode them back for us. Here we are, with Kasper, Pam, Brian, Brian's sister Elizabeth, and Greg:



P.S.  I seem to have lost my cellphone while taking Brian out to dinner in Marysville. Neither the restaurant nor Brian had it, so it's a mystery.

Day 26  Wooster to Niles, OH

Shock of shocks! As I pulled into the motel in Niles, there was Cathy Rykwalder (my sister-in-law) sitting there on the grass! I absolutely could not believe she was here. She drove 7 hours from Falls Church, VA to see me, and brought homemade goodies and five 12-packs of soft drinks for the riders. She had planned this visit for a long time, but kept it a secret.



We went out right away for a milkshake, since I'd missed having one the previous two days. She went to the "Rap" for tomorrow's ride, and we gave out two of the four bags of homemade cookies and brownies. Everyone loved them. Then we went out to dinner, and I also showed her every photo I've taken so far. She sure went far beyond the "call" to drive clear out here and to bring all those goodies. We'll all be enjoying the cookies, brownies, and sodas at tomorrow's rest stops and lunch.

As far as the ride, it was again fantastic. The scenery here is incredible on the country roads. We take a magazine called "Country", and I feel as though I'm riding through the pages of the magazine, as it's full of photos that depict what I've been seeing in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and eastern Kansas.  I rode alone the entire day because I feel more "free" to sightsee and stop for photos. Here's another carved tree trunk. The woman living there invited me to come up close for a photo, and mentioned that the tree was 200 yrs old:



President McKinley was born in Niles, so they had a monument to him here that seemed patterned after the monuments in Washington, D.C. It must have been "Ohio Lawnmowing Day", in that I saw about 25 people riding their lawnmowers. Since it was a weekday, they were all elderly folks, and just as many women as men. In one spot, three consecutive lawns were being mowed as I rode by. Also, I spotted a DeLorean car sitting under a tree in Canal Fulton, a very picturesque village along the way. We made some jokes about Marty and Doc Brown.  Tomorrow we'll pass through Pennsylvania and ride along Lake Erie. Can't wait!

Day 27  Niles, OH to Dunkirk, NY

Data: 147.5 miles   Riding time 8:15  (17.8 mph avg)

Covered bridges, root beer floats, Erie, Pennsylvania homes and harbor, Lake Erie shoreline, and big tailwinds for half the ride. It was yet another unforgetable bike ride. The published distance today was 138 miles, so I see I "detoured" a total of 9.5 miles to sightsee. The last few days I've mostly ridden alone, which I have found I prefer on these beautiful country roads with little car traffic. It's just so peaceful and I can get lost in my thoughts as I observe all the minutia around me, like landscaping, flowers, people working, animals, whatever.

The early part of today's ride was not too different from yesterday, which was still really beautiful. Note: Many huge corn fields in Ohio have had single oil wells right out in the middle, pumping away all by themselves. ??? 

Once we turned north along a particular road that paralleled the Pennsylvania border, I saw different sorts of farms and dwellings than we'd seen in Ohio up to now. Interspersed with the "nicer" homes and farms were many older, run-down homes, trailers, old trailers, groups of old trailers, non-similar trailers combined together to make a larger trailer, and old shacks.  Many had lots of old, broken-down cars on their lots, and other "antiques" lying all over the place. Goats and chickens were roaming. I'm sure these scenes are all over, but we just never came across them until today. Also interspersed along this road were Amish farms; an interesting note: I saw an Amish woman in her full black dress mowing her lawn with a push mower. Quite a difference from all the riding mowers I've been seeing. Actually, it's not uncommon at all to see women doing hard physical farm work, like cutting logs with a chain saw, that I would normally associate with men's work.

Another note from all of Ohio: lots of flag poles to show patriotism, and most had a secondary flag for their favorite sports team - Ohio State, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, and other colleges besides OSU.

The road north also had three covered bridges I could see off to the east a couple hundred yards. I rode up to one and got this photo:



Once we got almost to Lake Erie, we turned east toward the Penn. border. but before we got there, we came to an old fashioned root beer stand that the tour leader had said was a "must stop". Sure enough, our group was sitting at every stool ordering floats and hot dogs. I had a float. Kasper kept feeding quarters into the juke box in front of him, playing old 60s songs:



Being a Saturday, we saw, for the first time on this trip, other groups of bikers on rides. Some were doing a regular ride along Lake Erie, while another group was doing the "Underground Railroad" course from Alabama to a spot in central Ontario. They were camping, so they were really loaded down, as shown here in my photo of Alvin. I felt lucky that we could ride unencumbered.



In Erie, which has one of the few natural harbors along the southern Lake Erie coastline, I diverted from our route to ride a bike path through the harbor area and downtown. It was scenic, but so were the beautiful homes along 6th street. They reminded me of the homes in Quincy, IL.  The rest of the ride to Dunkirk was along the coast, about a quarter-mile inland from the shoreline. It reminded me of riding along the ocean since all you can see is water to the north (no northern shoreline - too far away). I was surprised to see so many vineyards; it turns out this has been a wine region for over 100 yrs. Some of the riders went in for some tasting at the Penn Shore Winery.

When we were getting close to Dunkirk, I went into a marina where there was a restoration-in-process of a late-16th-century sailing ship. It was built as an authentic replica in 1985, but it sank in 1999, and they raised it but need to finish restoring it.

I later diverted to ride around Erie Lake State Park, and in the end, I was the last rider in. But what a fabulous day. We had a yummy dinner in the hotel restaurant that overlooked the harbor. Guiness in the bottle, and Yingling on tap, were tonight's beer choices.

Day 28  Dunkirk to Batavia, NY

Data:  94.3 miles   Riding time  5:31  (17.1 mph avg)

Note:  My computer was really slow last night, so I couldn't post anything. I'll do my best to remember yesterday's ride.

The highlight of the day was touring the bicycle museum in Orchard Park, 40 miles into the ride. The owner gave us a tour and explanation of the history of the bicycle and how it altered society (e.g., leading to the automobile and their rules of the road). The guy personally has collected all the old bikes and mementos on display. There were many examples of the "ordinary", the ones with the huge front wheel and tiny rear wheel. The examples ended with the mid-50s Schwinns and Murrays.  The photo is a "radio" bike from 1955:



The ride to the museum was nice - more vineyards, rolling hills, views of Lake Erie, small quaint villages. Much of it was on a highway with cars, so not as peaceful as the back roads of Ohio; plus it was cold and threatening rain. I took a picture of the Catteraugus River because the gorge was so spectacular:



When we left the bike museum, it was raining pretty hard. I was the last to leave, and almost immediately made a wrong turn. It didn't seem right that I should be going west, so I stopped in a guy's open garage to pull out the route sheet to check on directions. Before I could, however, the America By Bike van went by in the same direction I'd been going, and it always follows the route. Right. So I kept going. After 4 miles, I just knew it couldn't be right, so I checked again, and had to backtrack those four miles -- in the pouring rain. Since I was WAY last now, I decided to "hammer" to catch up. Eventually it stopped raining, so it made it easier to ride fast. I skipped the Millard Fillmore House in East Aurora, but later joked with people that I was late because I spent the afternoon touring it (of course it was a believable tale, because that fits my reputation on this ride). (Due to the rain, my speedy effort, and the busy highway we were on, I took no photos after the bike museum.)

I eventually caught several people, even riding with AJ while he told me two jokes (he loves to tell jokes -- long, drawn-out ones). I even "saved" Berkeley Bill: I was climbing a hill and saw the ABB van coming behind me. Just before it reached me, I crossed a street and noticed a rider going up that street instead of straight. I flagged down the van and they headed up after the rider. I learned later it indeed was one of ours, and he had gone the wrong way and was almost out of sight. It also was another case of my always looking at all possible scenery in all directions, instead of just watching the road or wheel in front of me. This is why I've seen so much of America along our way.

When I got in, I joined the many riders cleaning their bikes, which is necessary after it rains. We use a hose, raqgs, and brushes for the gears. And we need to clean and dry our outer clothing, and eat, and go to Rap, and get everything out for tomorrow, and check e-mails, and ...

Day 29  Batavia to Syracuse, NY

Data:  128 miles   Riding time  7:30 (17.1 mph avg)

Today's beautiful route took us through small hamlets all settled in 1789, through the birthplace of Jello, past one of the finger lakes (Lake Seneca), through Waterloo - where Memorial Day got started, along rolling hills on a lonely country road, over the Erie Canal, and along Lake Onondaga next to Syracuse. Clear sunny skies all day - a great bike ride. Our actual town tonight is Liverpool, a suburb of Syracuse. So, tomorrow we're going from Liverpool to Amsterdam!

Only 11 miles out we passed this sign, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who saw it:



It was 7 am, so I couldn't explore the Jello Gallery I saw. Remember all I've said about milkshakes? Well, we passed this sign in front of a fast-food place that explains everything. It said "May is Milkshake Month."

The hamlets along our Hwy 20 reminded me of New England. Village greens, taverns, and tall-steepled churches. I saw a marker for Barney's Tavern, 1789.  Eventually we got to different scenery -- newer cities, and Lake Seneca, then Seneca Falls where there are canals linking Erie to the finger lakes.

Passing through Waterloo gave us the sign in the photo below. They had a Memorial Day Museum, but I didn't go in. It started on May 5, 1866 to honor Civil War veterans.  Since this weekend is Memorial Day, the whole city was abuzz with getting ready for festivities. Flags were everywhere, and on every home. I rode off the course through some neighborhoods and flags and banners were on just about every home and building.



Flat tire #2. After lunch, I sped along to catch up (since my explore of Waterloo got me way behind again), and I finally caught my morning riding buddies Dave T. and Jerry at about 100 miles. While riding behind them on a highway, I went over something big, and got a flat on the rear tire. However, my wheel also was out of true, so I thought I'd broken a spoke. It was worse; the wheel was seriously cracked at about 6 of the spoke entries. The wheel was no good. Just then, the ABB van pulled up behind me.

I can't believe my luck -- when I had my first flat, Shane immediately pulled up to fix it for me, and now on my second flat and broken wheel, he immediately pulled up again. He gave me a loaner wheel, and had to move my gear cluster to the loaner. Then my luck continued, because I came up on Judd and Dave R. who were just about to head off course to a bike shop. I could buy a new wheel, although I didn't know how I'd carry it the final 8 miles to the motel. They said we'd figure something out. As luck would have it, in the bike store we got to talking about our adventure with various people, and a woman who lived only a block from our motel (on Buckley Road!) said she'd bring it here for me!  I was all set with a minimum of hassle.

I passed over two Erie Canals. The first was the original, man-made dug canal with a tow path on one side. It was now an historic section maintained for public use. I learned that the original canal went rigtht through what is now downtown Syracuse. The other "Erie Canal" I went over is actually called the New York Waterway System, or something like that. I combines the original, where still needed, with a system of natural rivers and lakes. It was actually the Seneca River we went over, and there were several boats out there. Here's a photo of the former, original canal:

 

I should note that for the past three nights, only Phil and I have been in the motel room instead of three of us. Another guy's roommate decided to get a room for himself, and the guy asked Kasper if he'd join him. So, I paid only for a triple, but on nine nights on this trip I've been in a double occupancy.  Phil keeps saying "we beat the system."

Another note: The tour leader's computer broke, and only tonight did he come in with a new one he just bought. So, not sure if and when he'll be able to get up and running again for his site.

Day 30  Syracuse to Amsterdam, NY

Data:  122 miles  Riding time 7:15 (16.6 mph avg)

Another perfect day, including warm weather, and we got to ride along the Erie Canal most of the way! I hope to be going the other direction along the canal in a boat in a year or two, so it was special to see it.

After 25 miles, we got to a long section of the original canal (see yesterday's addition and new photo I added tonight on this topic). Here is a photo from there:



Much of the first 60 miles today were on country roads with the familar rolling hills that I enjoy.  Then we came upon something that you'd only discover on a bike ride across the U.S. -- "The World's Smallest Church". As you can see, it was right in the middle of a pond, and a scummy one at that! There was a little power boat at the side to take you out, unless you want to get married in winter and you can just walk out there yourself. Stuff like this cracks me up:



Eventually we got back out on Hwy 5, the one we've been on for much of NY State. The highway normally isn't as scenic as country roads, but today we were along the canal. It mostly looked like a river. It wasn't until we got to Amsterdam that I found a lock, and it had just let two boats through (locking up). I took this photo from the Amsterdam Train Station after the boats were back on their merry way.



I then went right up to the actual lock and spoke with the lock master about how it all works. While I was speaking to him, he got a call from a boat about a mile away, saying he'd be there soon. The lockmaster then turned a valve and the water started rushing out of the lock. When it had all gone out and was level with the downstream river, the boat came into view and he opened the gates to prepare for its arrival. I didn't wait for it to arrive, but the whole thing was interesting. The photo here shows the lock with the water emptied and ready to open the gates for the oncoming boat. You also can see the dam in the background (the river locks are associated with dams to maintain deep warer levels where rapids or falls would normally be).



Along the road today, we came upon another Amish area. This time, a young man was "riding" a small wooden wagon down the shoulder of the highway (pushing with one leg). As before, I felt I should take the photo from my bike from behind. When I then passed him, he gave me a hearty "How are you doing?" He had a full red beard, glasses, and had a pipe in his mouth! Whether he was actually smoking the pipe I don't know, but I sure wish I could have taken a picture of him instead of this one from behind:



I've passed numerous historical markers over the past few days, far too many to stop at each one. Most are about a tavern or home (or other building) that was originally on a site, or an event from the Revolutionary War days. Luckily, most were short and in large type, so I could slow down and read the whole thing as I passed by. I stopped three times at historic museum sites, but all were closed today. Every village sign says when it was settled, and the oldest today was 1723, older than yesterday's 1789 towns. As we get farther east, the dates on the markers get older, as you'd expect.

I'm pretty tired tonight because three times today I "hammered" for many miles, usually to catch up to groups way ahead of me. While doing this I usually average about 21 mph.

Since Kasper is from Amsterdam in Holland, we've all been making jokes about his being in his hometown tonight. He was particularly wanting to "win the sprint" to the Amsterdam city sign, but his riding buddies ganged up on him and he was beaten. This requires a little background: Ever since about day 7, his little group of 6 has fun seeing who can be the first person to a city sign. It's similar to intermediate sprints (for points) they do in famous stage races like the Tour de France. Today, Logan started his effort a full mile from the city sign. Kasper finally decided he'd better chase him down, but Brian and Bill Phillipi went right behind him, getting his draft. When Kasper caught Logan, Brian then broke away and Kasper had to chase him down, with Bill in tow. That finally allowed Bill to be fresh enough to win the final sprint! They all got a huge laugh out of it. They then had to turn around and ride back to the city sign for photos with Kasper.

Gosh, only two rides left. They should be very scenic. I'm a little sad it'll be over. However, I'll be glad to see Annette again in just two days!

Day 31  Amsterdam, NY to Keene, New Hampshire

Data:  129 miles   Riding time 8:10  (15.9 mph avg)

Another perfect bike ride! They just keep getting better, it seems. The Vermont and New Hampshire countrysides are forested, green, and hilly, with rivers, streams, lakes, and gorgeous mountain views.

It took me about 15 miles to "get my legs" this morning after yesterday's hard day. I think I was the last rider after 15 miles, but then I felt stronger and caught up.  We went northeast away from the Erie Canal, and the highway was less scenic than usual until we got to Mechanicville. We then crossed the Hudson River (exciting for me!) and began beautiful hilly country roads, including along the scenic Tomhannock Lake. When we got to Vermont, we took "Scenic Hwy 7" all the way across the state. It runs through the Green Mtn National Forest, and also crosses the Appalachian Trail. So you can imagine the beauty!  While still in NY, we passed the Hoosic River Falls, and here's a photo:



I left my riding buddies in Bennington to visit its Battlefield Memorial, a tall obelisk we could see for miles as we decended into the town. It commemorates an Aug 16, 1777 defeat of the British by the local militia.  Here's a photo:



Once I stopped for sightseeing, I was on my own, which means more stopping for photos. On many of the long hills we climbed and descended, we were right next to a rushing river, making it special and pretty. Here's an example:



I hate to admit this, but I was by myself and made a wrong turn onto Interstate 91 as I was coming into Brattleboro, VT. Our route sheet said to turn left at "Hwy 9 E/ 5 N".  Well, I saw a sign saying that, so I turned. However, I missed the fact that this was the interstate onramp, and the sign was simply pointing out that Interstate 91 led to 9E and 5N also. Anyway, as I was merging onto the freeway, I realized my mistake, but before I could even think what to do next, a state trooper stopped in front of me on the side of the hwy. He got out and sternly said: "You're not allowed to ride here. Turn around and walk your bike back off this onramp right now." Okay, I did! Once I got back to the original road, I went another half mile and got to my left turn, which of course also said "9E/5N".

As you'd expect, I passed many maple syrup stores and even a maple syrup museum. I finally crossed the beautiful Connecticut River and was in New Hampshire (our third three-state day on this bike trip). We traveled on Hwy 9, another designated scenic road, and went up and down hill after hill until reaching Keene. One descent was particularly steep -- Logan got up to 55.9 mph (I got to 46 mph, an all-time record for me).

I had a special treat for dinner: Charles and Martha Martin, the parents of a good friend in Simi, Bob Martin, live 23 miles from here, and took me out to dinner at the down-home Family Ties Restaurant. It turns out tomorrow's route goes within three miles of their home northeast of here, and our official rest stop is right there! So, they said they'd come on down and cheer us on. It was so nice to meet them and for them to take me out.

Tomorrow's the final day, and we'll dip our front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean!  My friend James Keast, who used to live in Santa Clarita but moved to Massachusetts, will meet us at Salisbury Beach for the ceremony (and then drive me to Amesbury and the car-rental). Annette will get there in time for the final banquet tomorrow night. I probably won't have time tomorrow night to write my update, so you'll need to wait two or three days for an account of tomorrow. 

Day 32  Keene, NH to Salisbury Beach, MA

Data:  124 miles  Riding time 8:09  (15.2 mph avg)

They saved one of the best bike rides for the last day! At least up to the lunch stop in Manchester, at mile 77, the mountain scenery and back country roads made it a true highlight of this trip. We had super-steep hills during the first 20 miles, then "regular-steep" hills for the rest of the mountains to Manchester (it was the third-most climbing of any day on this trip). A highlight was having Chuck and Martha Martin at the 28-mile rest stop to cheer us on.  Martha brought homemade brownies for us, which she made after our dinner last night. They were yummy!

We again had rivers running next to our roads much of the time, with waterfalls and lakes and pretty springtime flowers. It truly was one of my favorite rides I've ever had. There were "Moose Crossing" signs, so I kept looking for them and twice ran off the side of the pavement to my right, in front of the Hammers and Karen, whom I was riding with at the time. How embarrassing.

I commented on this to other riders -- how each of the little "villages" we passed through on these country roads were tiny little towns, yet had about five or six beautiful churches. And many had the exact same statue out in front of a Civil War soldier, to honor their locals lost in that war. Here's one of these chruches in Antrim:



After the lunch break, I rode with Pam most of the rest of the way. We got to ride along a huge, beautiful lake, with no one water skiing on it -- can you believe it? The scenery along the various roads was nice, but the road had a fair amount of car/truck traffic, and also was newly paved; the little "asphalt pebbles" pinging around the bike was kind of strange.

As we got closer to the end, we just wanted to reach the staging area a few miles from the beach, where we agreed to wait until all riders were in so that we could ride to the ocean together. Pam and I got there long after others, but I still had time to eat two ice cream treats from the convenience store. It was actually pretty hot. People were already congratulating each other, and some were getting emotional. The tour leader had written "Smell the ocean" in the bike lane just before this stop, and it got us finally considering our accomplishment.

Finally AJ and Dave arrived, and we all proceeded the final few miles, lined up in our matching America By Bicycle jerseys. We looked pretty cool, and passers-by randomly cheered for us. There was no talking, as I think we were all lost in our emotions. Along the way, we couldn't actually see the ocean due to the rise of the sand between us and the beach. We finally made the turn, saw the ocean, and a big crowd of friends and relatives cheered wildly for us. It's hard to describe right now the emotion I felt, but it was one of those special moments I'll not forget.

James Keast was there to help me celebrate. Here are some photos he and I took. As you can see, the mood changed to festive, and Pam and Vic even went completely into the surf. Eventually, they put my bike on the van to take to a bike shop to ship home, and James drove me to the car rental place 30 minutes away, toward Boston. Annette flew in and took a taxi and met me there. We zoomed back to the motel, hurried a shower and went to the banquet that already had started. It was a nice evening, as we said our goodbyes and congratulations. We received certificates of completion, and then said a few words. I feel a sense of accomplishment, but also I can just say I had 32 fabulous bike rides with the support of the staff to make them great.



This is James Keast:








I am just to the left of center in the back row. I'm getting emotional again just looking at this photo...