Gear

Here it is, the much anticipated gear review. One crucial piece of advice is to pack light. Luxuries aren’t luxuries on a hill. You need very little to be comfortable and happy. I had too much stuff, sent home a box, sent stuff home with David, and STILL had too much. Think long and hard about what you really NEED, because if you don’t NEED something you won’t want anything to do with it.

Bike: Novara Randonee (The Flying Dutchman)

This bad boy withstood my abuse, so I can’t complain. I need to get the wheels trued and replace the chain, but other that that no issues. Solid shifting and drivetrain, and strong frame. The saddle is finally broken in too! My only weariness is related to the rack. It failed David in San Francisco, and me on the way into Hite. Tighten it regularly and you wont have issues, but you gotta stay on top of it.

Panniers: Ortlieb Classic

They are waterproof, which is important. They are heavy, which is less important. The spacers were easy to use so I ended up duct taping them to my rack. This worked well. They were a bit inconvenient because there aren’t any external pockets, but that wasn’t really an issue. Would recommend.

Tent: Rei Half Dome 2+

Heavy. It wasn’t too bad, but it sure isn’t light. Also wasn’t that convenient. We took great lengths to avoid using it (barns, bridges, dugouts, porches, pavilions). I hope to return it because it’s not any good for backpacking. And a plastic part of the structure thingy broke. Probably used it about 10 times after David flew home.

Sleeping Bag: Slumberjack Latitude 20

I don’t know how I ended up with a right zip bag, but I did. I’m convinced I was born a lefty so maybe thats why… Anyways, the zipper broke about 20 days in, but I still never got too cold or uncomfortable. It got really cold some nights, this guy took it like a champ. Maybe I’m a hot sleeper, but a warmer bag would’ve been overkill. And I fixed the zipper in about 2 seconds now that I’m home and googled broken zipper. This bag is old, but reluctant to fail me. It is synthetic, but compresses pretty well. it weighs 3.9 lbs so is comparable to a brick, but I see no reason to spend hundreds of dollars to replace it with a good down bag. I’ll use it until it dies.

Sleeping Pad: Thermarest Ridgerest

The undisputed champ of sleeping pads. It’s full of scars from branches on backpacking trips, and now it has some nice road rash, but it still works. The foam is compressed and no longer provides padding, but it still insulates well. Who needs padding anyways, I’m only 20. Only downside is its large packing size.

Pump:

Portable pumps suck. It’s a fact. Frame pumps wreak havoc on valves. The tiny pump I carried could barely get hit 80 psi and took about an hour to do that. We saw some folks carrying a full floor pump. The best pump I used was a cheap Schwinn portable mini floor pump from Walmart. Josh had this and it was a Godsend when we had some flats. Worth the investment. Heres a link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schwinn-Frame-to-Floor-Pump/23816275

Stove: MSR Windpro II

6.6 oz is not terribly light, but this stove was super efficient with fuel. I’d use this again, but probably not for backpacking. Matt had a beer can stove which is super light, cheap, and effective. Better when every ounce counts. This stove was a fuel sipper though, and i used less than 24 ounces of fuel the whole trip. Not bad! Would take again for any trip where I planned on cooking with the stove (not open fires) a lot.

Cooking Things:

I had much more that 1 pot and 1 spoon. All I used was 1 pot and 1 spoon. Would consider a small, light skillet for future trips (eggs!). Everything else was dead weight. If you use more you have to clean more dishes. That is motivation to keep it simple. One exception: Sriracha. That stuff makes even the worst food tolerable. And spicy!

Tires:

I endured all sorts of chaos when it came to tires and flats. If that isn’t your cup of tea get Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. The consensus amongst tourists is that anything else is a waste of time. ‘Nuff said. http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/marathon_plus

Clothing:

This all boils down to what kind of sanitary conditions you’re comfortable with. I personally am a vile creature, so could do with very little. I wore one Jersey the entire way. And one pair of bike shorts almost the entire way. And 2 pairs of socks most of the way. Heres what I’d bring for summer touring:

1 Bike Jersey

1 Bike Shorts (dont mess around with bibs for touring)

1 Buff (almost unlimited uses)

1 Off bike shirt

1 zip off pants

1 underwear

1 long sleeve shirt

2 pairs cycling socks

bike shoes (i recommend mtb or touring shoes for off bike mobility)

light, soft off bike shoes (i brought crocs)

remember: cotton kills. in addition to that bring what ever you might need for rain (you dont need anything) and cold weather (ship home cold weather stuff after the mountains). For the cold I’d say: tights, fleece, warm socks, and gloves.

Hydration:

Bring cycling type bottles that you can fit on your frame. Probably 3 bottles. Don’t mess around with insulation, it doesn’t work and adds weight. Get used to warm/hot water. For places where you need extra capacity save bottles from milk, oj or whatever you like to drink. Recycle them when you no longer need them. I lugged around empty nalgenes for most of the country. As far as filtration or treatment it is totally unnecessary. America is full of potable water.

Maintenance/Repair:

Use what you’re familiar with. Know how to care for your bike. I brought tire levers, a multi tool, an old rag, and lube. I tried to have at least 2 spare tubes on me at all times. Thats all I ever needed. You can endure pretty awful noises to the next bike shop for most issues that would arise. Keep your drivetrain clean.

Emergency:

Bring a cell phone, bandaids, polysporin, some gauze, duct tape, and a will to survive. Flag down a car and go to a hospital. This would be different if you weren’t on roads, but more is overkill for this kind of trip through a country like this. After trimming weight this is pretty much all I had. And a spot, but you don’t need that when you’re on roads (its pretty small though, so I suppose it may be worth it for peace of mind).

Entertainment:

If you get bored go ride your bike. But actually there is almost no time for leisurely activities, so don’t waste your energy carrying stuff.

Thats all I can think of for gear. If I’m forgetting something important let me know. Remember that packing light means you can ride more comfortably. Comfort means more time in the saddle. More time in the saddle means more miles. Using simple ‘rithmetic we can conclude that miles = smiles. Therefore if you pack less you will be happier.

This is likely my last post ever. When I do other interesting things I probably won’t blog them, because this blog was more of a chore than anything else. I think that to some degree it took away from the experience. I think that is because I’m not really a sharer. I tell stories to certain people when I am comfortable telling them stories. I don’t like the idea of everyone being able to keep tabs on me. Regardless, I hope it was enjoyable enough for those of you who have been reading.

✌

Home Sweet Home

Okay, fine, it’s not that sweet. It has been less than a week and I’m getting organised, but also going a little stir crazy. It was(is) nice to see the family and relax, but nothing compares to a good journey.

There wasn’t much excitement getting from Gettysburg to the City. Other than the fact that we finally slept under a bridge. We had wanted to do that for a while. We’ve slept pretty much everywhere there is to sleep. Oh, and riding through Newark was one of the most unpleasant things I’ve ever done. 

It was awesome to be greeted by family on the bridge, especially those who surprised me by coming down from the great white north. 

If you want to see some cool pictures from the trip check out what Matt has uploaded to facebook. His stuff is public so you don’t need an account to see the photos, and he took some total gems. Most are in his Trans-Am album, but a lot are in his timeline photos. Poke around and you’ll see all sorts of fun stuff. https://www.facebook.com/1992MG

Next on my list is Ironman 70.3 Muskoka. I know other people doing it so can’t be too slow, but i don’t remember how to swim, and I went for one run a few days ago and am still sore. Maybe I’ll wear shoes next time (probably not). Regardless its gonna be a fun time before going back to school. 

After that is the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Flat, Fast & Festive. This will be my second go round and I’m hoping to go sub 2:45. I think running on roads is overrated, but I’ll get over it.

That’s all thats on short term agenda.

A lot of my time has been spent researching everything a fella needs to know about thru hiking. We’ll see where life takes me, but I’m probably going to take a few left turns for adventure, and may as well know what that entails. If people were meant to lead cookie cutter lives we would probably be cookies. Don’t take my word for it, but I don’t think we’re cookies…

I’ll post a gear review in a matter of hours.

 

The East

First, I apologize for the delay. I hoped to make a post a week, but the trip got in the way. I guess there wouldn’t be a lot to write about if all I did was write, right?

That said, we have been breezing through the country. Last post was in Missouri. We’re now in Gettysburg, PA. Pretty wild.

It got super hot during Illinois and Indiana (the heat wave thing) so we engaged operation night stalker, and rode through the night from Greenup, IL to Springfield, Ohio. That was 4 nights I believe. This was great for a change of routine and helped beat the heat, but it was hard to get a good days sleep. We barely got any time horizontal, and were asked to leave a McDonald’s with exceptional benches. One solid four hour chunk of rest came in Knightstown, IN in a semi-abandoned livestock auction house. Other than the smell it was just about perfect. Those days were high mileage but very uneventful and we didn’t run into any other tourists.

We arrived in Springfield on Saturday morning after a 100 mile night, exhausted and with no place to go. After asking a bunch of places for some air conditioned ground without success we unlimately ended up with the Mulberry Community. This was a group of awesome people in Springfield living in a few houses. We showered, ate, and stayed up late playing cards over a few Coronas (yellow money). This was the perfect break from the exile of night riding. We had a blast, and the weather broke so we were able to switch back to day existence. The next day we stayed with them all day most notably playing volleyball and swimming in a nearby resivoir. It was a superb weekend, and it was almost a shame to leave them. However, we did.

Back on a day schedule the heat was gone, but it was now time to get wet. He had a tonne (not a ton) of rain in Ohio. We rode along 40 most of the way, but there was a short stretch where it joined 70. The only alternative sucked, so we figured we would give it a shot. We got on the interstate in the torrential rain and put the hammer down. Unfortunately we only made it about halfway before a state trooper cut us off and got out of the car with a “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” We got off at the next exit and he, a lot nicer under the shelter of a bridge, helped point us in what appeared to be a direction. There weren’t really any roads around. We took cover, wound a way to a not so close store (the only thong around) and rode there. We slept on a king fella’s side porch, and got going on our detour the next day. It seemed simple enough to follow Google’s directions, but they took us on terrible gravel roads, and ultimately to a dead end at a fracking rig. One man absolutely didn’t beleive that we had ridden from San Francisco, while another exclaimed “What in the hell” as we rode by towards a dead end. Anyways, after an interesting morning going places no bike had ever before gone we finally ended up back on 40. A road that was paved was a sweet thing.and we were able to zip on through WV into Pennsylvania. 

We ended up on the Great Allegheny Passage, which is a rail trail from Pittsburgh to DC. It is flat. Pennsylvania is mountainous. Somehow we ended up in Maryland. We rode with Josh (from our 120 day ride in Kansas, who appeared out of nowhere) and Diane, who we met in Connelsville. We had a great night around the fire with Liz who had just started her trip headed west,and some wobbly pop to celebrate Josh’s last night as a 45 year old. We stayed up way last our bed time, so it was hard to get up at Josh’s standard 6 to beat the impending rain. We did get up, but didn’t beat the rain.

Now we are back in PA, spending the night in historic Gettysburg. We passed the Appalachian trail and got a picture with the sign. I’ll say it now so I can be held accountable: I’ll return to that sign as part of a ~2200 mile journey. Hopefully sooner than later.

I’ll be home in less than a week, and I suppose I’ll do some gear review type thing when I’m home. It definitely would have be helpful for me. Our initial pack job can only be described as horrendous.

My phones camera is wonky so there aren’t many worthwhile photos, but here they are.

“Road impassable during high water”

Land of Lincoln

Springfield cat

Rainbow

Lost

Camoflaged bikes

Liz and Charlie in Rockwood.

Eastern Continental Divide

Old school odometer

That’s all for now. And probably until I’m home…

Kansas and Katy

Another fast week! Before we know it we might be home. Hopefully not too soon though…

We did a half day into Lindsborg, a nice Swedish town. At the pool we met Josh, a New Yorker headed to Delaware. He started after us and is planning on finishing before us. This is made possible due to his early mornings and long lays. He is doing things “right”. However, we are doing things carefree, and late starts are a small price to pay for a good sleep.

Anyways we planned on riding with him the next day, so after doing some chatting with a local who was interested in some touring (we think we convinced her) we got to sleep.

Josh woke us up before the sun, and after a few early morning flats(Fun!) we got on the road. It was a long day, but the rolling hills weren’t hard, and kept us engaged. There wasn’t much wind, and we made good time. With appropriate breaks and absurd caloric intake we were able to make it 120 miles to Osage City, where we ate a fantastic meal at a Chinese restaurant. Here’s my one photo of from the day, of Josh in front of the Sheriff’s car in one if the small counties.

Also notable is that we drafted a large tractor at about 27 miles an hour for about a mile. Agricultural equipment is big and fun when it’s new to you.

We slept in and the next day hit Missouri. We had one last hurrah in a Kansas pool(Aquatic Center to be precise) in Louisburg before rolling across the state line. We knocked on a door on the border and Rick, the friendly owner let us camp on his lawn, swim in his lake, and he even fed us breakfast.

The next day we got to Windsor, where we would stay the night before getting on the Katy Trail. The day of riding was easy enough other than some punchy hills, but there was some excitement. One irate motorist pulled a gun on us, and one clobbered a dog and zipped away. Other than them the traffic was great though, giving us tons of room.

We weren’t able to get a larger sample of Missouri driving because we got on the Katy Trail. It’s an old railroad line converted to a recreational trail that goes just about all the way across the state. The crushed limestone was smooth enough, and riding on it was mindless(in a good way). The only negative was the dust, which was plentiful. The bikes did get pretty dirty. By which I mean filthy. We spent one night in Rocheport and one in Portland, both along the Missouri, both small towns. We ran into some fun characters along the way, including drunk locals, and this guy, who was walking across America. Not sure if you can see, but he’s wearing Keen shoes. He can’t be totally crazy if he’s wearing the right footwear! The trailer is wild though.

Here’s what the Katy looked like.

Were now in O’Fallon staying with a family friend of Matt’s. Their hospitality has been wonderful, as we are well fed, well rested, clean, and best of all: our bikes look like new. Their garage has the capabilities of a full service bike shop with better service. They were also great company, as cyclists, triathletes (the iron kind) and generally nice people.

Tomorrow we will ride into Illinois. Things are flying by, even as we take everything in.

The Plains

This post was intended for Sunday, but I didn’t have service to make a post then. Anyways:

It’s been an unbelievably fast week. There won’t be a day off this Sunday since we took a break on the 4th of July. Anywus, last Sunday we did very little, but managed to spend a decent amount of time with Dave from Lancaster Pa. He was headed in the opposite direction and also taking a day off so we had plenty of to.e to swap stories. We invited him to spend the night at the church with us, which he accepted. Little did he know what the church had in store.

At 3:40ish we woke the a barrage of high pressure water. Panic ensued as we relocated ourselves to a dry area of the lawn. After minimizing the amount of moisture our bags retained we settled in for a damp slumber. But not for long. At 5 the other sprinklers came on and blasted us again. This time we gave up. Hung our stuff to dry, and went to a 24 hour Mexican restaurant for breakfast. Dave probably wishes he hadn’t accepted our offer.

Monday we hit the road, tired, after a stop at a bike shop for use of a floor pump. Now we were on the Trans-American, having completed the Western Express. The amount of cyclists we have come across has been significantly higher on this route. It started with a British couple, whose names I can’t recall, and the handlebarbarians. We took over a small town with our bikes.

Also cows.

We made it as far as Haswell, 90 miles down the road before we calld it quits. Camped with two other cyclists there.

The next day we got to Kansas, a wonderful state. City parks are free camping and often have pools. If the riding weren’t fairly repetitive, hot, and very windy things couldn’t get much better. It was an uneveltful 80 miles to Tribune where we again camped with a group of cyclists. These things are everywhere. Along the way we stopped at a high class place, still in Colorado.

Kansas!

From tribune we went to Scott City for the 4th and a day off. On the way I rode over a Western Massagua on my bike. That’s a type of rattlesnake. We had a good Independence day. Relaxed, had some barbecue, and set off the first fireworks of the Scott City show. That’s right, riding your bike through small town America makes you a minor celebrity, so we were invited so set off some major explosives as a patriotic act. That was pretty cool.

We woke up super early on the 5th to… Sprinklers! Lush grass seems like a great place to sleep until the water that makes it lush shows up to ruin the fun.

We pu in a 90 mile day to rush center. I felt sluggish, and goats heads gave me three flats. Not terrible, but not one of th days where you feel really satisfied going to sleep. A clear night was forecasted, so shelter was skipped. Until the thunderstorms came. Another interrupted sleep as we packed things up and made makeshift shelter under picnic tables with our waterproof rain flies. This was after attempting to seek refuge under a large tree. We slept in and got a late start, which means a hot start. Today hit 97 and the next 3 days say 101. We rode to Hoisington where we stopped at the pool and lounged in the shade for a few hours. I took a nap. We finally got motivated to get on the road again, but only came 15 more miles to Claflin. Here we will remain, after a 50 mile day.

Here’s a view of a field with some hay. Didn’t come out very well.

Also on the way into town we ignored a detour and had to cross a treacherous river when we discoverd the road was closed because they were working on a bridge.

That’s the week! Uneventful other than the fireworks, but things are good, and were making progress. Were now off th trans-am and will be blazing our own trail through Kansas. In Missouri we’re going to take the Katy trail. Then all we have to do is get from St. Louis to Wheeling, WV and were in the clear.

Colorful Colorado

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.   –Ernest Hemingway

I came across this and figured I’d start things off with a quote.

Colorado has been fantastic. Best place so far. The roads have been good, and the people have humbled us. We have met all sorts of folks all up to all kinds of shenanigans.

But back to Blanding Utah, where we left off. Our zero mile day ended up being a bit more than zero miles, since Bob, who we met at church, invited us to ride his recumbent bike. We did of course, just for grins.

After our zero mile day we boogeyed into Colorado, and camped a few miles outside of Dolores. About an 80 mile day.

On Tuesday we conquered Lizard’s Head Pass, our first Rocky Mountain exposure. Suffice it to say it was a breeze. Super well graded over 50 miles so it wasn’t tough at all.

On the way we stopped in Rico, which was one of the nicer towns so far. We then descended into Telluride to meet up with some fellow tourists who offered us a spot in their campsite. Unfortunately since we dawdled in Rico we descended at night, having a near miss with some elk. Animals seem to take over the roads come dusk.

Well we made it into Telluride, but couldn’t find our friends in the dark. We did find Kiersten’s trailer though, so we had a place to crash for the night in their campsite. The next morning we had a small and overpriced breakfast in Telluride and headed past Montrose for the night. A relatively flat day for the mountains, and we were able to stock up on well priced meals at Wal-Mart.

Then it was off to the base of Monarch Pass, and the Continental Divide. We logged a big day to get as close to the climb as possible. On the way we met Nivit who was loaded with all kinds of gear on his way to San Diego.

We stopped at the Blue Mesa Reservoir for a break, a swim, and some cleaning. We later discovered that the water is usually too cold for swimming, but it was warm enough for us.

After Gunnison we hit some smoke from the forest fires that have been around, which wasn’t great for breathing, but made for a sunset.

We set up camp in mosquitoville and were lucky to make it to the morning without going insane. Still scratching.

Then it was to the top. A 10 mile climb of 3000ish feet. It wasn’t that bad, at around 6% most of the way up. We relaxed at the top of the climb, talked to some guys hiking the Continental Divide, and enjoyed celebratory cigars.

After a long break at Monarch Pass, we rolled into Salida. We blended in really well with the Tour of Colorado riders, so were able to camp and shower for free in Salida.

The tour seemed to be a big deal, with a lot of cyclists out having a good time. In Salida we also met some folks taking on the Tour Divide, a 2700ish mile mountain bike race along the Great Divide Trail. They were averaging almost 120 miles a day, off road, entirely self supported, with a ton of elevation. The entire route climbs the equivalent of Mt. Everest 7 times if I recall correctly. These individuals were very impressive.

After an early start courtesy of the other riders making noises, we got on the road to Pueblo. After a short day yesterday we planned on bagging our first century of the trip. The first 60 miles to Cañon City were fast, as we stuck with the tour and got a nice draft. It took us off route, but not drastically, and it was totally worth it to interact with the other riders and let them break the wind for us. They ended there, and after hanging out for a bit we got going for Pueblo again.

We went past a skydiving place and decided to check it out. After watching a few jumps and chatting with everyone there I decided to do a tandem jump before we left. I got a great view of the mountains and plains from the plane, saw a forest fore starting up, and got to feel a bit of rain on the jump since a storm was slowly rolling in. It was a really cool experience and the view was spectacular.

We were invited to spend the night there, but figured it was best to press on to Pueblo for our rest day. We hit 104 miles by the time we got to the church for the night. This week was about 490 miles through the mountains. It’s likely that were gonna have some big weeks through the plains if the wind cooperates. Today is our day off and we’ll be on our way to Kansas before we know it.

Life is good. Until next time.

Parks Galore

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but there hasn’t been  a lot of service and our choices of camping locations is keeping my battery levels low (total camping cost for the week so far is 6 bucks a person). I assure you I’m doing my best to keep you folks up to date. At the very worst I should be able to post once a week on rest days.

That said, since leaving Cedar City things have been great.

Monday morning we went to Cedar Cycles to get the horses all tuned up. There we met a fellow tourist named Rick, who was on his way to San Diego. He was a lot of fun to chat with and he shared some of his experience with us rookies. This is Rick.

We then started the 20 mile climb which ended at Cedar Breaks, which was stunning. We could also see Zion in the distance from the climb up. The road to get there had heavy traffic and no shoulder, but we managed to arrive in one piece.

A quick disclaimer: Pictures, especially phone pictures, don’t even begin to do these places justice. If you really want to see what the south of Utah is like you’re gonna have to come here yourself. I recommend cycling. The scale of things is what’s most impressive, along with the vivid colors and shadows. None of which I can share via this blog. That is probably a good thing, because if you could experience a cycling trip like this on the internet there wouldn’t be much sense in riding. I just wan’t everyone to know that you’re missing out. Sleeping under the stars on the side of dirt roads, meeting people from all walks of life from all over the world, and spinning your legs all day long is what this is all about. The experience cannot be understood second hand. You also don’t get to read the historical markers along all of the roads.  Anyways…

From Cedar Breaks we had a chilly descent into Panguitch lake for the night. Apparently elevation makes nights cold.

Tuesday’s highlight was Bryce Canyon, but Red Canyon on the way was also pretty spectacular. The fee was 12 dollars a cyclist to see Bryce, but 25 dollars a car regardless of how many people crammed inside. We tried to logic that out with the man in charge, but there was no logic to be found. Especially when you consider that it’s “public” land. Bryce was really cool, but the heavy tourist population spoiled the atmosphere a bit. We did a quick hike into the canyon which did a good job of showing us the scale of things.

Red Canyon:

Bryce:

Matt on a crazy piano:

We spent the night outside of Tropic. From there we rode to Boulder via the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. That was cool. So many years of the earths history for you to see. The rock is layered like an ogre or parfait. Also, that is a nice rock. Shreck has somehow entered my thoughts as I write this. We met a group on a guided cycle tour, most of whom were from South America, and chatted with them over lunch. One man, from NY was the first and only person so far who knows Queen’s exists. He said “Oh yeah, near Toronto, they have a good business school don’t they?” Made me feel all warm inside.

We also had some 14% grade to ascend, and we rode the hogback, a 3ish mile stretch with cliffs on either side and no guardrails. This whole area of Utah was the last explored and mapped area of the 48 states. The canyons made things fatal for many who came to explore. It’s also some of the most recently paved roads. I must say the CCC didn’t do a bad job. A big shout out to FDR.

Oh, and we hit 1000 miles. Photos:

Hanksville was our next stop. This town felt like it was straight out of the movie Cars. On the way we rode through Capitol Reef National Park. Yet another stunning location. You folks really have to see this stuff for yourselves.

That was an 84 mile day, followed by a long feeling 50 to Hite. We hoped to swim in Lake Powell, but there was no lake this far up after a few dry years. A bummer, but we met Margaret, who was riding to Seattle-ish via San Francisco with a Ukulele in an impressive handmade case. She had been night riding via the moonlight and crashing during the day. Smart since it has been really hot here. Tougher to see the sights though. I helped her with some bike maintenance since her front derailleur was wonky and we saw her off at around 8. We had our first dust free night on the concrete behind the ranger station. We were still excessively dusty and dirty though, after 6 days without showers.

Yesterday was a long gradual 50 mile climb, a steep descent, and then a steep climb into Blanding for an almost 80 mile day. Were here now, enjoying the edge of Utah. We are clean, resting, and only slightly sunburned. Hopefully there’s a buffet in town.

Fun fact: I’ve had 4 flats mostly because of one pesky tire. Gonna have to replace it.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

Day 14 and Cedar City

We’ve made it to Cedar City, which is the biggest city since Sacramento. What should have been an easy 56 mile ride to get here turned out to be pretty rough. The first half of the day was a long gradual climb, but it definitely wasn’t easy. The scenery is changing very slowly. The basin, range, fault pattern of Nevada is not quite as drastic anymore. This is a shot from along the climb.

Then what should have been coasting into Cedar City ended up being a showdown against some killer wind. It was unexpected and demoralizing, and there were some frustrating mechanical issues along the way (a flat I refused to acknowledge). This was the fastest wind we’ve seen so far, and we were heading straight into it fir most if the day. There was also dust. Here is Matt leading the way into a cloud.

Today we’re hanging out, getting groceries, and we completely demolished a Chinese buffet for lunch. From here there are ~20 miles of steep climbing out of Cedar City, and into the national park bonanza that is southern Utah. We will have to earn the elevation to fully realize the “Life Elevated” that Utah claims to offer.

Life Elevated

We’re in Utah!

It was sad to see David go back in Ely. He has been missed the last two days and will be missed the rest of the trip. Here’s a photo of him, gear and all, before he left.

Now for those of you who don’t know, Shasta Cola is both amazing any hard to find in New Jersey. That is not the case out west.

Anyways, pedalling out if Nevada was a great feeling. Day 12 took us to Preuss Lake in Utah after a nice afternoon in Baker Nevada. Along the way we got over the aptly named Connors Pass, as well as a few other climbs. The elevation hasn’t been bad recently, but we had to fight some wind on Day 12.

We came across a fellow rider, Kiersten Downs. She is a veteran and is riding to support the Student Veterans if America. She has a great cause and has gained some major national media traction. You can find out more about her at news.usf.edu or at http://www.bikingusa.com

Day 13 might have been out most exciting day yet. Mountain time us treating us well, and we’ve seen many antelope, a golden eagle, some snakes, and more prarie dogs than you can count. Unfortunately I’m a lackluster photographer, so have nothing to show for it.

We had a  great adventure today after a chilly, windy, and particularly dusty night out under the stars. In the San Francisco Mountains we rode to Frisco Summit, before realising there was the Frisco Mine just begging to be explored. The area used to be bustling, but quickly died down into nothing but what appear to be ruins.

Here’s a photo of the sign, as well as some shots of the mine.

That’s all for now. Goodnight!

The Loneliest Highway in America

Day 6:

We left the trailer park and headed out to Fallen We stopped at a Walmart along the way to pick up some food and fruit. We left our bikes right inside the door and nobody touched them. On the way to Fallen the temperature steadily increased to the high 90’s low 100’s. so our gameplan was to stop at a reservoir along the way. Well we kept thinkin that we would see it but it actually was just a mirage that we were seeing. That is when jall the seeing things that weren’t really there started. We finally found the reservoir and the water wasn’t too clean. Connor and Matt(another cyclist who has been riding with us) went in for a swim while david didn’t go in to far( he didn’t want radioactive poisoning). We eventually made it to Fallon later that night after a pretty hot afternoon. In Fallon we saw another Walmart, and of course…we stopped. We bought more food, some chocolate milk(1200+ calories), and seat cushions for our bicycles since our butts are hurting a bit from all the riding.

We then headed to the county fair grounds where the horses race and camped with the horses and there owners. Next door to the fairgrounds was the high school graduation ceremony. It was pretty cool to be camping and hear all the cheers from the graduation.

Day 7:

The next morning we woke up around 5:45 to try and beat the heat. We rolled out of camp around 7:15 and headed down the road to the local jack in the box where connor ate 24 mini pancakes and David ate 16 of them.

We then started our journey on highway 50 which is considered the loneliest highway in America. It’s straight and there is nothing to see other than dirt, sand, and the very few cars that pass by. A little into the journey we met up with two other cyclists Jon and Ethan who we rode the rest of the day with.

We rode most of the day till Middletown, the first town on the road since Fallon and we arrived around 12:30. The town has a population of 17 people

The place we ate lunch was built in 1837 during the pony express and I would bet that they didn’t do much to it since then.

The place was interesting to be in but we wouldn’t want to stay there to see the nighttime activities, and we will leave it at that.

We both ate a veggie burger with French fries and then order fish and chips to top it off.
We stayed at the bar till around 5:30 and wanted to hit the road again to get some more mileage under our belts

The ride was about 17 miles and mainly uphill. At around 8:30 we were still a mile or so from the summit and we were running out of light. So we switched on our headlamps and front lights. We were told there would be a creek/stream at the top so we were pushing to reach that….but no such luck. We reached the summit at 9 and there was no water to be found.

So we decided to descend the mountain so we could be a few miles closer for our next days ride and to also be on flat ground. As we started to descend under the dark of night with a million Star above, connor slams on his breaks. Thankfully he did cause there were two cows in the road that connor almost smacked into. We went around them and rode another mile until we saw 10 more cows just trotting down the road. We got close to try to push them faster down the road but the biggest cattle of all would turn around and state at us and his eyes would reflect really well due to our headlights. After about 30-45 minutes of following them they finally trotted far enough ahead and we were able to set up camp for the night. We chose a patch of dirt on the side of the road and just quickly put our tents up and got to sleep. At this point it was 10:15pm and we had been up since about 5:45.

Day 8
We woke up again early(5:45) to try to bet the heat. We put our bikes in the road and started to pack and actually ate breakfast sitting in the middle of the road since absolutely no cars were coming.

We packed up camp and road till around 12 to the big town of Austin( population 192) where we each ate a medium sized pizza and a milkshake. Wasn’t even close to New York pizza but it did the job of getting us calories.

We then biked at around 2pm a little up the hill to the place where we are camping. It should be a good amount of time to fully rest the legs.

Day 9.
We planned on getting another early start, but the long days were catching up to us and he heat wave had broken, so we ended up leaving around 7. We rode for a few hours in the direction of eureka before Jon and Ethan caught up to us. Here was a decent wind, but it was mostly in our favor. The day was a pretty easy 60 miles followed by almost ten slow miles uphill and into the wind. We were all sufficiently tired, and enjoyed a nice meal with Jon, ethan, and Ethan’s parents, who were waiting in eureka. This was the last day of Jon’s ride, and Ethan’s dad, Richard would be riding to Ely wih us the next day.

Day 10
Today Richard replaced John and we rolled out late after a good nights sleep. David’s knee had been really hurting him, and he hoped a day off would make the difference. He rode in the car with Ethan’s mom. There were 4 climbs, but whoever built the roads in nevada had cyclists in mind, because the climbs were long and gradual. After a few breaks and a almond butter and jelly sandwiches we were in the biggest town in the county, Ely. We’re taking a rest day tomorrow, and can’t wait for a night of sleep on he soft grass at the KOA campsite.

Day 11

Rest day. We slept in, went to an all you can eat china buffet an and hit he local bike shop for some maintenance an repairs.

And now for some bad news. It turns out that David’s knee pain was more than just an inconvenience. After speaking to a specialist from back home he was faced with a difficult choice: end the trip early, or risk permanent damage resulting in surgery. As a rational individual david made the tough call to end his journey here in ely. We’re all sad to see him go, and wish him a speedy and complete recovery.

From here on Connor will ride with matt, the gentleman mentioned earlier. Matt is from NJ as well and is headed in the same direction. They are happy to travel together, but will miss David’s company along the way.

Tomorrow Connor and Matt head to baker, just outside of Utah, as david flies home to rest, recovery, and physical therapy.

From the desert sands of Nevada
Connor & David.

The Hospitality has been AMAZING

Day 3:

We rode about 44 miles to Sly Park Lake. It was some crazy climbing with about 4000ft in elevation gain. During lunch people just kept giving us small donations and before we knew it we had $17

After lunch we were in the middle of the climb and hurting a bit so we were taking a break on the side of the road. Just then a man peered over the fence and asked if we were cyclists, we said “YES”. He then told us there was a cold water spigot at the end of his driveway about 15meters more up the road! It was some of the best cold water we have ever drinken!!

We then climbed more and finally made it to Sly Park Lake. At the convenience store another awesome local, Gus and his wife, placed a six pack of Sierra pale ale next to our bicycles while we were inside buying some food. After we came out we spoke with them for awhile about the local area.

For dinner we are Cheddar and Broccoli Rice with beans with some crushed red pepper and Parmesan cheese packets.

Day 4

Lots of climbing had to be done and there was no water from our starting point to our campsite for the night. We had to go 30.6 miles with an elevation gain of 6300+ feet.

Though it was a lot of work the road was so peaceful and quite. We sometimes wouldn’t see any cars for 30 minutes or so. But when we did see a car they either stopped to see if we were okay, would move over a lane, or would roll down their windows and cheer us on.

Here is David resting in a ditch on the side of the road

We then stopped for lunch about 13.5 miles into the climb and each had 4 open faced peanut butter sandwiches with wild caught salmon! During lunch we took the time to dry out some gear and charge our Goal Zero Solar Panel

We finally finished climbing made it to the campground. But to our amazement the place looked closed. We were told there would be food…but no food was to be found. We cycled around for a bit and met Phil and Jenny And their dog Tesa. They live there during the summer months in their trailer but the resort would be open for 2 more weeks. Well Phil and Jenny were more than generous and made us a feast! A caramelized onion, cucumber and avocado salad. Linguini with salmon, onions, and crab. Pickled Vegetables, Various cheeses, Crab Legs, mini shrimp cocktails, offered us wine(we declined), and to top it peanut M&M’s

We then set up our tent for the night and after a quick rinse in the lake went to sleep.

Day 5: 60.5 miles
We finally summited Carson Pass!!

At around 5:30pm we arrived in Genoa, where we were greeted by a man named Dick who said he passed us on the road and wanted to buy us all beers in the oldest saloon in all of Nevada. We gratefully declined since we still had about 8.5 miles to camp for the night. While talking to him and his wife we talked to four other individuals who were extremely interested about our trip and we showed them our route and talked over some equipment. After speaking with them for about 10 minutes we ended up with 3 separate families donating a substantial amount of money to our cause.

As we left from Genoa we met up with a cyclist with whom we had talked to during our snack break a few miles back. He told us he would hopefully catch up with us…and he did!! He rode with us from Genoa to our campsite for the night. Talked with us about races he has ridden, ultra-marathons he has run, and things about the area.

When we arrived at the RV park we were greeted by a few workers and the owner(Jay). We told them what we were doing and Jay comped our stay for us including showers, bathrooms, swimming pool, and a hot tub.

For dinner tonight we had chili with a can of peas, a can of corn, bag of macorini and a large bag of chips. We also each had a bar of ice cream from the store.

From the old western Nevada

– Connor and David.

Arrived in Folsom.

Awesome first two days on the road. In San Francisco we arrived at the local REI and all the staff was awesome! Everyone was helping us pack our bags and figuring out what extra gear we needed and what we could get rid of. Naseme, one of the many workers who helped us out, hooked us up with REI tshirts, Chapstick, and stickers.

After we left the REI we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge and on the way so many different people stopped to ask where we were heading. One coach bus driver even opened his door in the middle of the road to speak with us as we ascended a small climb.

We met up with a few cyclists who spoke with us and guided us to the bridge.

We then dipped our rear tires in the ocean and unfortunately as we did so, our shoes got a little wet as well…whoopsie. As tradition states, you dip your rear tire in the body of water where you start and the front tire where you finish.

We then rode to the ferry and took the ferry about 25 miles or so to Vallejo, CA. The views from the ferry were magnificent and the crossing was pretty calm

After the ferry crossing we rode to Pleasants Valley Road Campsite just outside of Winters, CA. When we arrived we were amazed to see peacocks just roaming the campground.

We were on the road again the next morning a little after 8:20 and did about 40 miles before lunch in Old Town Sacramento. We had fish and chips by the river.

After lunch we then rode to Folsom, CA which was 33 more miles. For the last hour or so, I was dry heaving and puking as I rode. It was difficult to try to maintain pace, get up hills, and stay somewhat hydrated during it all.

We eventually made it to camp which had a 2.5mile climb to our campsite and now we are resting and relaxing with another cross country cyclist, Matt, from New Jersey.

Tomorrow we have a 3000-4000ft climb ahead of us and the day after we have another 4000-5000ft climb

From the woods of California.
-David

Travel & organizing

Today has been a long day so far. Waking up at 4am, arriving at REI San Francisco at 1pm (California time) and then eventually leaving there around 6pm and getting to our hotel for the night.

The packing of everything has proven to be extremely difficult so we decided with the help of many AWESOME REI employees that we should attach panniers to the front of our bicycles as well as the back.

Its getting late but we are still packing an organizing and hope to have everything ready very soon for our early morning start over the Golden Gate Bridge

Less than 20 days till the big day! We are finishing up our list of any last minute products we need. Hardest part of the purchasing process is trying to buy the best products for the lowest cost  and the lightest weight to ensure that our bicycles are not too heavily weighed down.

Currently looking for a lightweight sleeping bag for under 1 lb  If you have any suggestions let us know!

Route Maps

The maps for our route have just been ordered. We keep getting closer and closer to the start….only 26 days

The Route

The route should be finalized soon, but we wanted to give you a little preview into a few places we will be stopping at along the way.

Golden Gate Bridge
Grand Canyon
Petrified Forest
Four Corners
Taos Pueblo
Tall-grass Prairie National Preserve
Monroe Elementary School, Topeka, Kansas
Gateway arch
Indy motor speedway
Gettysburg
George Washington Bridge

Here is a little insight into how we will be carrying all of our gear on the trip

Some of you have asked how long it will take to finish the ride…We aren’t sure since we want to enjoy the country and all it has to offer as we go.

But, check out this race in which the winner finished the ride in:
8 days 8 hours 6 minutes

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/sports/cycling/in-cycling-race-across-america-sleep-is-shunned.html?_r=0

Welcome to Bridge to Bridge 2013

Connor Matheson and David Engle are cycling from the Golden Gate Bridge on June 1st to the George Washington Bridge whenever we arrive.

Two Bicycles, One Trailer, One Tent, A journey of a lifetime