Thursday, July 24, 2008
Done!!!
We made it. We finished up on Saturday afternoon, 7/19, at Yorktown, VA. I've been chillin in Baltimore since then and have been a little too relaxed to finish the updates. It was amazing and surreal to be swimming in the water. Realizing that we didn't have to put on our bike shorts again was pretty amazing too.
I was a little worried that Yorktown wouldn't be the ocean since it was located a little bit inside the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay but the water was salty and it sure looked ocean-like.
The hard part about finishing early was trying to surprise my mom. Her birthday was on the 22nd of July so I was going to be home before then but I wanted to surprise her. I called her the night before we finished and told her that we were in Charlottesville, VA and that we'd finish on Monday or Tuesday. Then I enlisted the help of my Aunt Betty. She was able to get my mom thinking that the two of them were going out to dinner on Sunday night around 7pm. My dad picked my up and we showed up at 6:45 and completely surprised her. It was awesome. She had no idea.
The last couple of days were pretty nice. We stopped in Charlottesville, VA and ate at Little John's Deli. I had been talking about the Five Easy Pieces, my favorite sandwich, since somewhere in Western Oregon. The consensus was that the sandwich warranted the hype. For those of you unfamiliar with the Five Easy, it is a sandwich on pumpernickel with ham, turkey, munster, bacon, cole slaw and herb mayo that's grilled and then served with chips and a pickle. Charlottesville is also the home of the University of Virginia, my alma matter. It was great to be home. I almost crossed paths with Dean but we missed each other by a day or so.
West Virginia was tough because there were almost no flat stretches of road in the entire state. It was all either up or down. But the hills that were there weren't too bad. The longest was a 2.5 mile section of 9% grade but even that wasn't too bad. There were a lot of big trucks to contend with including 120,000 lb coal trucks and a bunch of dump trucks. Most of the drivers were nice though.
We did have one stretch of double miles because we missed a turn and had to back track. It turned out that a street sign was missing so we ended up going about 5 miles in the wrong direction. We figured it out because the road kept getting smaller and smaller until it ended at a river.
I'd like to thank everyone for reading and for following our trip. Good luck to you!
Thanks,
Chris
Monday, July 14, 2008
Yes Virginia, Rednecks are Real
The last few days have been pretty interesting. We made great time across the flat lands, knocking off 1200 miles in 12 days. We've crossed through Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and now we're in West Virginia.
We've also met some really nice folks. The mayor of Waverly, KS and his wife allowed us to camp in the city park when they heard we were stuck in the rain. A nice, elderly couple in Madison bought us a round of ice creams at the county fair. There was the single mom taking her kids camping for the first time.
Then there were the goons. We met two families who made me think everyone on the Jerry Springer Show is real. The first family sped passed us on a backroad in Illinois. All three passengers hurled obscenities at us as they told us to get off the road. Fortunately, we were haulin' butt and they stopped for gas a couple miles up. I cruised by the car to size up the group and I did a double take when I saw the driver was a 50 year old mom. We had some choice words with the son inside the station conveinece store. As he came out, the mom drove over to get him. She got out of the car and the son told her to "get the F&*% back in the car." As she started to drive away the mom says to us "y'all look sexy in your tight shorts .... you f*gg0ts!!!" What a role model...
This is a video of the tractor pull. Turn up your speakers and you can hear the track announcer call it. Also notice the diesel exhaust plume. It was badass!
Monday, July 7, 2008
I had my first real equipment failure of the trip. We were 15 miles out of St. Joseph, MO when my rear hub siezed up. I got incredibly lucky because we stayed the previous with the nicest guy that we've met so far. Shawn runs a the only real bike shop in St. Joseph which is the only real bike shop in about a 200 mile radius from the town. We stopped in to have some work done on Saturday and he offered to let us camp in his backyard. It was great. We helped him move a little furniture and he treated us to an amazing cookout. I think I had two burgers, two brats, a hotdog and a rootbeer float.
The next morning we were able to track down his cell phone number and he just happened to be in town. We told him what was up and he said he'd drive out to try to repack the hub. It turned out the insides of the hub were totally trashed so I was screwed. He drove me back to the shop to check out my options. I ended up getting a pair of Mavic Ksyrium Elites as they were the only ones he had that looked like they could hold the wieght of me and all my gear. The wheels, a new tire, tax and gas money set me back $670. It was a dagger but Shawn was really appreciative of the business and my options were limited. After the fix, Shawn drove me back out to meet Andy and Jake. I only missed out on 20 miles so it wasn't too bad.
Alright...til next time...
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Part Man...Part Kato...All Mankato!
Ok everyone, have a great 4th of July and be safe! I think we're going to be in Seneca, KS. I'm hoping for a rodeo and food on a stick but we'll see what we get.
See ya later.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Halfway...at least in spirit...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
It's been a little while
I'm in Dillon, Montana right now at a library. We had a rest day in Baker City where we met
Gary and Lucas - they're in the dinner picture, Gary is the older guy - again. We couldn't believe they caught us but they're beasts.
Some of the towns that we're passing thorugh in Montana are tiny. Wisdom has 50 people. Jackson, where we spent last night has 38. It's pretty amazing that they survive. Many of these towns are places where Lewis and Clark stopped on their trips west and then back east.
The hospitality has been great. The one picture is of us camping on the front porch of a store because it was 45 degF and rainy at the end of a 90 mile day. Normally it's sunny and 100 degF there. The shopkeeper was going to let us use her truck to run errands but we thought that was over the top.We took Monday off in Salmon, ID to go whitewater rafting. It was awesome. Andy's brother, Matt, is a guide on the Salmon. I had a bit of a rought time as I almost got swept away. I jumped from a rock into the current but missed the eddy just after the rock and started heading for the next rapid set. I couldn't swim out of the current and I started flailing until Nate showed up with his kayak and pulled me to shore. I stayed in the boat after that.
Ok. Gotta run. I'm 1259 miles from Seattle as of this morning. We should make West Yellowstone, MT late tomorrow or early Friday. Then we're spending a day in the park as tourists. After that it's onto Boulder via Trail Ridge Road, the highest road in the USA.
Chris.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Rest Day in Baker CIty
Whew...today is a much needed rest day. We've gone over 550 miles since picking up Andy in Astoria and over 700 since starting in Seattle. The last couple of days have been tough too. I already wrote about Santiam Pass. We did 50 the day after that. Then we had our first 100 mile day. It included two mountain passes. Yesterday was 63 miles with three mountain passes, all over 5000 ft. The weather has been good to us. Lots of sun and blue skies and favorable tailwinds. All of the uphill has come with lots of awesome downhill too. My top speed is 43.1 mph. Jake bested my by a half mph @ 43.6.
The eastern half of Oregon is amazing country. It's considered a "high desert" and resembles a lot of what I thought rural Utah would look like. Rolling through these landscapes has been amazing. Every time we crest a mountain range there is something new on the other side. I actually saw my first real cowboys in Dayville, OR. Never would've thought it either, but they climbed out of their F-350 and had big 'ol hats, bandanas around their necks. and spurs on their boots.
I think I've really settled into the trip. I have no idea what day of the week it is. I'm not really sure of the date either. The weather forecast for tomorrow isn't really relevant since we're still going to have to ride through it. Basically...it feels great to just have to focus on pedaling. I'm attaching a bunch of random photos from the past couple of days since our internet access has been sparse. Jake's computer is busted. I guess macs don't handle bumps and rain too well. Other than that, we're just rolling on. We should hit Idaho tomorrow and be in Montana a few days after that. Missoula, MT is about 400 miles from here.