Wild West Tour ll

The Next Day

2011-09-14T10:08:00.003-04:00

Wednesday 14 Sept 2011.
Daily report from the Team Eliminator Roving reporter on the scene.

Day 54 Randle, WA to Seattle, WA

2011-09-13T09:50:00.006-04:00

Tuesday 13 Sept 2011 5'th day of the 8'th week. Day 51 on the Road. 3 days in the pits..

When we left in the morning we knew only 100 miles separated us from our destination of Seattle Washington and the end of our tour. It felt good to know we were going soon to accomplish our task but the task was what it was all about. After our last cross country trip in 2008 we all suffered from PTBS better known as Post Traumatic Bike Syndrome.

Your body and mind has been focused on only one thing, a daily chore of pedaling and pushing forward. I guess you could call it a routine of sort. But this routine is unlike the normal daily routine we all have at home. Pedaling a bicycle to places you never heard of and on roads you know nothing about is an adventurous routine that has your attention all the time. Around the next bend in the road could be a long flat straight road or a monster hill to climb. Any hard exercise, including cycling, is 50% physical strength and 50% mental strength. Because of this you cannot let your mind talk your body off the bike. You need to keep your mind in check at all times or you are finished. If the wind is blowing 40 mph in your face you can easily become mentally defeated well before your muscles give up.

Your body is also constantly talking to you as you ride. It is always worried about keeping hydrated and fueled and will not let you forget. Just getting low on water becomes stressful when you are a long distance from the next watering hole. You legs are always asking for a rest they cannot have. It may be a routine but not a normal routine.

Today’s ride would end with a thirty plus mile ride on a Rails to Trails bike path that will keep us off the busy streets of Seattle. This is called the Interurban Trail.

All along todays route, instead of apples and pears we rode alongside wild blackberry bushes that would continue even onto the Interurban Trail. Miles of the ripe and delicious berries were everywhere. We stopped and munched on them every once and a while. It was incredible the amount of berries we passed. It seemed like someone could start a blackberry pie and jam company just picking from one section of the wild crop.

One of the signs we would see during the day is not one you will find back home in Connecticut but is important here.

Some of the areas we rode through were buried under feet of ash after Mount St Helens exploded. It was hard to imagine what it would have been like living through that terrible mess. We were choked by a little dust and smoke on our journey west. What would the air be like after that explosion happened? Not just when it happened but for week and months. Every puff of wind must have stirred the ashes into the air again. How do you ever clean up after a mess like that? Where do you put all the ash? I am glad we missed that one.

Someone asked us which cross country trip was better. Well they were both better if that makes any sense. Each was different and unique. We had more of the unknown on the first trip because we had less experience. The added miles and days of WWTII made for a longer workout and that was better. Both tours were fantastic and gave us a feeling of accomplishment. Now being in the somewhat small group of people that can say they have crossed the USA by bicycle TWICE is a cool thing too.

We covered over 4560 miles with bicycles weighing nearly 80 pounds. The team lugged these heavy bicycles over countless hills and mountain ranges with over 188,000 feet of total climbing. That would be like scaling Mount Everest from “sea level” more than 7 times! Over 1/3 of our cycling days were “Century Days” that is a day of 100 miles or more. Even figuring in the 6 “easy days” we had (65 miles or less) we still averaged over 88 miles a day.

Our bodies feel strong and not worn out after this journey. All of us could easily continue riding another 4500 miles if we had to.

This whole excursion could never have happened without the most important thing of all.

Something we did not mention on the web or in the blog. This was not because we forgot, but because this was so important we wanted to save it for the end. We did not want the most important thing to get lost in our daily adventure stories.

This cross country cycling trip would not have happened if we did not have the full support of our families. We all fully realize how lucky we are to have families that understand and were willing to do without as we rode our bikes. Lucky is the wrong word I guess, because there is no luck involved. We have great families backing us up. How many wives in the USA would let their husbands take off for nearly two months to ride a bicycle?? Well we only know a few and we are married to them. Anyone got a few names to add to that list…..I did not think so. Let’s not forget our kids that also had to do without as we rode. Thanks everyone! Hopefully somehow we can repay everyone for their sacrifice.

Also let’s not forget our friends that helped us train and also supported us. We would not have a website or blog if we did not get help and our lawns would be 4’ high. We always knew if one of our families needed something we could count on them to be there. That made our ride less stressful. Thanks guys.
Without all of these people and more behind them this this ride would just not have happened. Because of them all we had to do was the easy part ….pedal our bikes.

100 Miles
3074 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 55 - 80 degrees

The Wild West Tour II “The Northern Tier”
TOTAL DISTANCE 4559.7 miles
TOTAL CLIMBING 188,030 Feet

Niantic to Seattle

Day 53 Yakima, WA -> Randle, WA

2011-09-12T10:46:00.004-04:00

Monday 12 Sept 2011 4'th day of the 8'th week. Day 50 on the Road

We got underway early knowing we had to clear "White Pass" which is at 4500 feet above sea level. It is a long steady 55 mile climb to reach the pass. After clearing the summit we will be treated to a near 45 mile downhill run returning back to 900 foot elevation.

Yakama’s forecast was for record heat approaching 100 degrees again today. We would be high in the Cascade Mountains where it was cooler by the time the heat was turned up.

The ride up to the pass has, for a few days, because of traffic concerns on RT12 been worrying the Team. RT12 is the only road going over the pass. We have been told it can be dangerous and potenially loaded with tandem semis hauling apples. The crew was mentally prepared for some white knuckle riding. In Maine it is logging trucks, in Washington it is Apple trucks.

But to our surprise RT 12 was nearly traffic free! After all the horror stories we were riding on an empty road. We had a few things going for us that we were unaware of. First the apples are about a week from harvest. All the empty apple crates have already been delivered to the orchards eliminating that traffic. Since the apples are still on the trees the trucks that haul the fruit are parked waiting.

And now the big thing that helped us, there is a road construction project going on near the summit. They can make traffic wait as long as 45 minutes to get through. All the locals and trucking companies know this so for now they are avoiding this route. PERFECT! We did have to wait a few times and once for over 30 minutes but it was worth it.

It was midday with bright sunshine when we reached the summit at White Pass.

All they way up we kept looking for Mt Rainier. Where is that big bump in the earth anyway? The road we were riding is buried in between mountain peaks so we could not see anything. As we headed on our 45 mile ride down the mountain we came around a bend and BOOM, there it was - Mt. Rainer. A monster of a mountain completely covered in snow. In fact we had planned to ride the access road to Paradise on Mt Rainer but the road has been closed since September 6th. They still have four feet of snow up there.

The wagon train rolled into the tiny town of Randle where we planned to spend the night at another B&B. Finding motels in these small towns can be impossible. The Hilton is not planning on building a motel in Randle population 350 or so for a while I guess. First order of business after we arrive in town was dinner. Randle had two small eating establishments if you do not count the gas station that had snacks. We sat at our table looking at the menu when one of the locals asked us about our trip. When we roll in with our loaded bikes all wearing the same jerseys it makes people curious. They all have the same question where are you going, where did you come from, is it for a cause, how many miles do you ride a day ect.

They offered us congratulations when we said tomorrow will be our last day on the road. We ate our fill and when it was time to pay the owner of the restraunt told us the people in the booth who congratulated us had already paid our tab! They slipped out before we could even thank them. How cool is that? Another great example of good people doing good things for people they do not even know. We were flabbergasted.

Tomorrow if everything goes as planned we should reach our final destination Seattle.

93 Miles
4816 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 65 - 90 degrees
4581 overall
86.4 MPD ave

Day 52 Grandview. WA -> Yakima, WA

2011-09-11T07:11:00.009-04:00

Sunday 11 Sept 2011 3'rd day of the 8'th week. Day 49 on the Road

Lucky for us today will be another very short mileage day do to availability of motel rooms tomorrow. First we all got to sleep a bit late because the B&B we are staying at is not going to feed us until 8AM. I guess most people that stay at a B&B are not in any rush to get going in the morning. We basically had an entire house again not just one room to sleep in. We had a full working kitchen two bedrooms and even a hot tub we did not use on the deck. The beds were comfy and the place was spotlessly clean.

For the past couple nights we have been looking at return flight information. Like everything else the prices have increased quite a bit since we first looked at them over a year ago during the planning stages of this journey. We also need a flight that will get us home at a reasonable hour so we can get a volunteer to pick us up at the airport. Having to go to the airport is bad enough, doing it at midnight is terrible. That is when Ken’s uncle had to pick us up last time. We want to avoid that this time.

As you can see from today’s profile we were on a steady uphill trend for almost 30 miles. The climb was not difficult but it lasted for a few hours. Tomorrow will be the big climb over Whites Pass and the last range of mountains separating us from the coast. Then we should have a great downhill to the long Interurban Rails to Trails bicycle patch that will take us into Seattle.

Just after we left the B&B we started going past miles of tall aromatic vines hanging from strings tied to cables high above.

The air was filled with a perfume type sent. The tall green vines are one of the main ingredients in beer, hops. We pulled into one of the farms for a quick look when one of the family owners, Stacy Puterbaugh came up to us.

Ken asked a few questions and the next thing we knew Stacy was taking us on a personal guided tour of the family operation.

It was an amazing site of farmer’s ingenuity in action. Custom made machinery, tunnels and conveyor belts stripped the precocious hops off the vine and sent them to a drying area.

The naked vines entered a shredder before they were dumped into a pile outside to spread on the fields for fertilizer.

Because of the lack of available motels we are only traveled 51 miles today. It was great actually, to be honest. Riding only 50 to 60 miles a day would give you the time to enjoy a few minutes looking at a working farm or some other point of interest. It was a pleasant break in our normally rushed days.
Along our route today we passed other crops of apples, peaches, pears and grapes. They were all soon to be harvested. Ken snagged a few pears and peaches all were good but just not quite ready yet but still tasty though.

We passed a sign that looked interesting. Possibly a new business one of our followers or team members may be interested in starting on the east coast. Pooper Patrol. Oh yea, own your own business and become rich and famous. Any takers??

Tomorrow will not be as easy as today was on us. We will have to cover twice the mileage and four times the climbing to go over a mountain range separating us from the west coast .Early to bed and an early wake up will be the order of business. Whites Pass Washington ………….Team Eliminator is heading your way.

51 Easy Miles
1648 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 65 - 100 degrees

Day 51 Walla Walla, WA -> Grandview, WA

2011-09-10T07:05:00.007-04:00

Saturday 10 Sept 2011 2'nd day of the 8'th week. Day 48 on the Road

We woke to the unmistakable sound of a high horsepower engine rumbling outside our room at the Best Western. Looking out the window we could see overnight a fleet of muscle cars and street rods had arrived. Who knew Walla Walla hosts a huge hot rod show on Main Street just a couple blocks from our motel. Some of the participants had stayed here overnight and already were leaving to secure a good spot at the show.

Some of the stunning machines were definitely magazine quality with perfect paint jobs and enormous engines loaded with chrome. By 7:30 AM they had all left and already were lined up on Main Street.

First order of business after hitting the road was to take a quick look at all the cars downtown. It would have been nice to spend a couple hours checking them all out but we had a 100 mile day ahead of us so a “quick look” down the street is all they got.

Today’s route is completely new and not part of our original planned cross country route. The reason for the change is the availability of places to sleep for the next couple days. Even being that is know considered “off season” in this area all the rooms are booked along our original route. If fact we actually started to veer off our route yesterday afternoon. We will be staying at a B&B in Grandview tonight.

After only spending 15 minutes to look at 200 cars we headed west to get back on route. Up ahead we could see a huge fog bank had settled onto the roadway. The fog was so thick the cars vanished almost like magic as they entered it. We pulled off the road and turned on our lights before we entered the foggy area. That is when we noticed the smell of smoke. Looking again at the fog just ahead we resized that it was not fog but smoke from a distant wildfire. Lucky for us we only had to endure the choking smoke for a couple miles as our route turned upwind to the cloud.

It did not take too long for another sticker to find one of our tires and pop a hole in the tube. Tim called out on the radio the dreaded word “Flat”. We still have not procured any new tubes except the one we got from the two cyclists yesterday so the situation is still critical. Even if the towns we arrive in at night had a bike shop it would most likely be closed when we roll in at 6 or 7 PM. Hopefully that was our last flat.

During our travels today we spotted a new mower that Team Rider and landscaper Al Nebelung may find handy. He can get his lawns cut and a ride in at the same time. We got the guys phone number and he said he will ship it to ya.

This part of Washington is dotted with vineyards and wineries. The climate and soil here supports the growth of wine quality grapes. I have been told most of the wineries in this area only sell within the state of Washington. The wineries we saw are on perfectly manicured estates. With well maintained buildings. It appears they must do well producing wine.

The now ripe grapes fill the air with their aroma as you ride by. It was impossible to continue to pedal by row after row of bright purple grapes without stopping to sample the fruit. Tim leaned his bicycle against a utility pole and ran to one of the vines and took a small bunch off to sample. Oh were they sweet a simply delicious. We could have eaten a huge bowl full of them but we knew better than to tamper with the vines anymore. Just a taste for the traveling road crew.

Ken has been snagging apples off of trees since the trip started over 50 days ago. We have passed quite a few apple trees along the roadway with ripe fruit. He hardly misses any of them either. Hells Canyon road for example was loaded with wild fruit trees at the lower elevations there for the taking.

Washington is apple country. The apples trees we are looking at now are not on public land though. Apples were everywhere you looked. Billions of them. Bright red and begging to be tasted. Hey didn’t that get Adam and Eve in a jam?? Like the grapes grabbing an apple off one of these trees is stealing. But they are so close to the road and we only need 3 of them. Our mouths are dry from the heat and one of those tasty treats would hit the spot. Joe held Ken’s bike as he ran to pluck three of the forbidden fruit from one of the roadside trees. After quickly eating the evidence we were happy to see our bikes did not turn into pumpkins and no lightning bolts came out of the sky at us so maybe it was not all that bad of a thing to do. Anyway they sure tasted good.

As you can see from today’s profile the route was a little choppy with plenty of small hills. We did get as low as 300 feet above sea level today before climbing back up to only 800 feet. In the back of our minds we all know we have one more mountain range separating us from the Pacific Ocean and the end of our journey. That means we will have to climb to near 6000 feet in the next couple days.

If all goes according to plan the Wild West Tour riders will arrive in Seattle on Tuesday.

101 Miles

2459 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 65 - 95 degrees

Team Eliminator Roving Reporter Video report fot Saturday Sept 10.

A short film on tire maintenance..

Day 50 Enterprise, OR to Walla Walla, WA

2011-09-09T06:18:00.034-04:00

Friday 9 Sept 2011 1'st day of the 8'th week.
Day 47 on the Road.

We woke to perfect cycling conditions the sun was shining and it was warm. First order of business will be to find a tube repair kit or even better a bike shop and some new tubes. The problem is finding a bike shop may be nearly impossible. In the past 4000+ miles we have only seen 4 shops and only 2 that were open. Today we had a 100 plus mile day planned with a couple of big climbs.

The crew is nervous because we do not have any new tubes on board. We were able to patch a couple tubes with our repair kit before we left the motel though. At least we have something should we have a problem. Most of the time you can get away with a patched tube but not always. New is always better but when you have nothing a patched tube is great as long as they hold.

Should we have another one of those freak days with 6 flats we will be out of business. Actually we don’t need a freak day just a couple flats and we will be walking the bikes to Seattle.

The towns we passed through are so small the City Hall the Town Library and the Fire Department are all in the same building.

Most towns we go through do not even have a single gas station or even a stop sign. Take Cottonwood for an example. For sure they do not have a Starbucks, or a Macy’s. And you can also bet they do not have a pro bicycle shop with the tubes we need.

As we were riding through one of these towns a car pulled up alongside Ken and Joe and asked where we came from and we were headed. The car had a couple of road bikes on the roof. Cyclist! Ken told them we came from Connecticut and were heading ro Seattle. He then asked them if they knew where the nearest bike shop was. They pulled over and said Walla Walla had a bike shop but that was 50 miles away. When they found out we needed tubes they opened their bicycles tool bag and pulled one out for us.

Perrrrfect as long as we have one new tube we most likely NOT get a flat. If we had no tubes you can be 100% sure we would get a flat. The cause of these flats is a small thorn that in the southwest they call “stickers” and here they call ”goat heads”. They are a cyclist nightmare

Check out this clip on You Tube

We made it through the day without a flat and entered the final state of our tour around 5PM Pacific Standard time. Washington!
108 Miles
5077 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 55 - 95 degrees

Day 49 Oxbow, OR (Hells Canyon) to Enterprise, OR

2011-09-08T06:14:00.010-04:00

Thursday 8 Sept 2011 Day "7" of week "7" Day 46 on the Road.

The climb out of Hells Canyon was simply beautiful. We passed huge mountain lakes and many fast moving streams. It seems so odd to be in such an amazing place of beauty and have no cars on the road. We had the road to ourselves almost all day long.

Normally solitude on the road while cycling is just a dream. Here it is not a dream it is reality. For nearly 50 miles no cars, no people and….. no water. By midday the big climbs had started and temperature had reached the mid 90’s. The super low humidity dries your throat quickly as you are gasping for air making the 8 to 12 mile climbs. Soon we were all critical on water and nobody had enough to get out of the canyon.

You really get nervous when you are exerting a lot of energy in high heat and have no water. We decided to pull off the road and wait for a rolling convenience store to come by. In such a beautiful place one has to go by soon. They always have all you need.

You never heard of a rolling convenience store? Well let me clue you in should you ever find yourself in the same pickle we are in. A convenience store is an RV. Oh yea! They always have water and other goodies.

We waited on the side of the road for a while and then there it was. A big Chevy pickup truck pulling a tandem wheeled camping trailer.

Ken tilted his head back and acted like he was drinking water without a glass. The driver spotted the universal “I need water” sign and pulled over immediately. Remember 99.9 % of all Americans are good people and here was another example. He was happy to pass out some bottles of water to the dehydrated crew.

78 Miles

6634 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 42 - 95 degrees

Day 48 McCall, ID to Oxbow, OR (Hells Canyon)

2011-09-07T06:52:00.013-04:00

Wednesday 7 Sept 2011 The 6'th day of the 7'th week. Day 45 on the road.

Well out in the outer boonies of the outback you will not find any WiFi. Don’t look for a Verizon store because you will not find one. I did not see any “texters” tapping their phones while walking down the road. With no cell phone towers out here they do not have a need for a fancy iPhone and iPoneys. You will not find anyone who is hopelessly addicted to their Blackberry. Maybe that is a good thing too. Remember when we survived without these items? Now we are all like puppets waiting for someone to pull one of our electronic strings. Because of this the team has been incommunicado.

The morning when we left the mountains surrounding McCall Idaho it was a nippy 42 degrees. The mornings in the higher elevations always start off cold then quickly change to hot. Nothing in between. We start off with every piece of clothing we have on and 5 miles down the road we start peeling it all off. This is the scenario we have been playing out for a couple weeks now. By 10PM it is near 80 and by noon in the 90’s sucking every drop of moisture out of us.

Out of McCall we started another one of our long downhill trends. Other than a few “spikes” we went downhill for over 45 miles. We wondered “how low can we go” as we went deeper into the canyon towards Oxbow which is just over the border in Oregon. When we reached the river we were just below 1500 above sea level. We have not been there since we were east if the Mississippi! We all would rather stay up high in the hills because no matter what we will have to pay back the “loan” of the downhill with big payments of “uphill”. Just like at a bank if you borrow some elevation you will have to pay it back with interest.

Repayment of the downhill came via some serious installment payments as we entered Hell Canyon National Park. As you can see from the day’s profile.

Near the end of the day we entered the next to the last state of the tour Oregon. Now let’s pronounce the state correctly or the locals will jump on your chit quickly. it is NOT pronounced Or-e-gone it is Or-e-gin.

Idaho is a beautiful state with unbelievable sites but after 9 days we were ready to move on. Wyoming lumped us up with wind, Idaho tried to poison us with food. Oregon will love us….. ahhhhh nope. Oregon must have seen the WANTED posters the other states posted for the Notorious Spandex Biker Gang. Just after snapping a photo at the state line Tim’s front tire went flat. He changed out the tube rolled a few feet down the road and his rear tire went down. A couple miles further down the road Joe’s front tire went flat and Ken had a tire getting soft.

On the way to the motel we stopped for dinner. After we finished eating and returned to the bikes you will never guess what….yep Tim had a flat!!!

In the morning when we woke up we had another two more flat tires on our bikes! What is going on here anyway? Now we are out of tubes and that could be a major problem with forward progress if we get another flat.

106 Miles

4445 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 42 - 90 degrees

No word from the team. I suspect they are again on the edge of no where with no connection. News as it comes.

Day 47 Crouch, ID -> McCall, ID

2011-09-06T14:58:00.003-04:00

Tuesday 6 Sept 2011 The 5'th day of the 7'th week. Day 44 on the road

Today was payback day for yesterdays freewheeling 50 mile downhill run. We opened up the morning with a 30 miles of uphill then we reached a high plain where the sun was blazing.

As we did yesterday our route followed a leg of the Payette River. They difference is yesterday we were riding down the mountain in the direction of the rivers flow. Today we were riding against the flow and up the mountain. After careful examination we came to the conclusion "going" with the flow is much easier.

The road up to McCall was busier than what we have been used to lately. For thousands of miles we have been spoiled with traffic fee roads. Now even having a few cars go by seems like a lot to us. The roads shoulder was a little small but adequate. The sights were not as picturesque as yesterday so you had more time to focus on the fact that you were climbing. It is better when you can focus on something else.

We did come upon a group of people who were jumping into the icey cold rapids and floating towards a calm pool that they “must” swim into or they would be going for one hell of a ride that may not be as fun.

Sadly an uneventful day makes for an uneventful blog post.
77 Miles
3506 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 47 - 85 degrees

Day 46 Stanley, ID -> Crouch, ID

2011-09-05T07:11:00.008-04:00

Monday 5 Sept 2011 The 4'th day of the 7'th week. Day 43 on the road

We are close to the time zone change and because of that it stays dark until 7AM.
Today it was only 34 degrees as we got underway and we were cold. Remember we are cyclists and do not have much on for winter clothes when we leave.
How would you like to hop on a bike with not much more than a pair of ladies nylons on and a colorful shirt when it just above freezing?

Before we left we had breakfast at the motel with a couple of young elderlys.
Young Elderlys is a new term for old people that live like they are young…. I want to do that.

Our trip through the Idaho wilderness today was what the ride is all about.
We followed the Payette River all day and the views were spectacular.
The road has been cut into the side of a mountain with the river below. To add to our enjoyment we had a 50 mile downhill run at the end of the day.
You read that correctly 50 miles of downhill.
I do not think we have ever had a downhill that long before.
Of course in the back of our minds as we enjoyed the effortless riding was “what goes down must come up….”

Still we did not let that take away from the fun.

Around midday we stopped for a photo and Joe spotted a bear coming down a hill nearby.
The bear was going down a very steep grade. “Bear people” will tell you if yu ever need to escape a bear go downhill because they are the slowest in that direction.
Well as far as I could see that bear could easily out run anyone of us downhill.
The temperature rose steadily as the sun climbed higher in the sky.
By 2pm it was a hot windless 85 degrees in the mountains.
The crystal clear river looked even more inviting than ever.
Tim decided a refreshing dip would really feel good so we stopped. He donned a swimsuit and headed down the bank of the river.
Ken was looking for his suit when Tim yelled back his estimate of the water temperature.
Now Tim, Ken and team member Herb had water-skied YEAR ROUND in the northeast for over 6 years in a row a few years back.
All of us are very good at estimating water temperature.
When Tim said the waster was in the 40’s Ken put his suit back in his saddlebag. In the end Tim was satisfied with just getting his knees wet.

We rolled into Crouch, ID a tiny town of less than 200 people but with a nice clean chalet style motel for us to stay.
Just down the road was the Longhorn Restaurant where we ate dinner with another group of Young Elderys.
These people were touring with motorcycles and enjoying life. More good people.

89 Miles
3125 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 34-85 degrees

Day 45 Sun Valley, ID -> Stanley, ID

2011-09-04T07:23:00.008-04:00

Sunday 4 Sept. 2011 The 3'rd day of the 7'th week. Day 42 on the road.

Today we continued north, deeper into the Sawtooth Mountain Range of Idaho after leaving Sun Valley. As you can see from the profile it was basically one climb up to Galena Pass then a long downhill to Stanley.

This part of the state has big temperature extremes this time of year. It was a COLD 37 degrees when we left Ketchum. As soon as that sun cleared the peaks it warmed to 80 in no time.

We came upon the birth place of the Salmon River just past the summit at Galena. This river flows more than 420 miles in Idaho before tying into the Snake River and heading to the Pacific. The salmon that come to these head waters to spawn travel over 900 miles upstream against the current and over 10 dams. You realize what an amazing feat of nature this is when you look at the stream it happens in.

Once off the summit the river crossed the road a few times. We stopped to look into the crystal clear waters to see if we could spot any fish. It did not take long to see the huge trout and salmon in the shallow water, We saw one bright red salmon go down river and many, what we think were trout, lingering behind cover. Some of the fish we estimated to be at least 24 inches long were in water so shallow the top portion of their bodies were out of the water.

All around us were towering mountains with the jagged peaks that give them their name. Idaho is truly a beautiful state and a place we would all like to come back to.

63 Miles

3220 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 39-80 degrees

Day 44 Twin Falls, ID -> Sun Valley, ID

2011-09-03T06:13:00.006-04:00

Saturday 3 September 2011 The 2'nd day of the 7'th week. Day 41 on the road.

The crew was on the road by 7:30AM and headed north for Sun Valley. It was a chilly 50 degree morning but sunny and without wind.
As we came up on the bridge over the Snake River Canyon we spotted a couple of base jumpers getting ready to leap off the edge. These guys either are CRAZY or have balls the size of watermelons!!! It was real cool to watch them climb over the rail and take the plunge into the deep canyon.

It was soon obvious by our pace on the windless flat plain that we were all still weak from the past few days of illness.
It was almost impossible to get the bikes up to what would have been considered a reasonable speed for the conditions. But at least we were riding and making forward progress.
We made a stop for a needed rest after only 30 miles and wondered how long it would take our bodies to get back the horsepower we had 5 days ago.
It always goes away much faster than it comes back when you get out of bike shape.

The flat plains turned into a steady gradual uphill towards Sun Valley. We were told as we head north we will be in “rich man’s country”.
When rode past the Hailey airport there were more private jets parked on the tarmac then cars in a Super Stop & Shop parking lot. Hailey only has a population of 6000 people too. It looked like almost every family had a jet or private plane parked on the tarmac. Actors like Bruce Willis and others own land in the valley we were told.

By afternoon it felt like the power was coming back to our legs once again and the pace picked up.
We will need all the power we had back for tomorrows climb to Galena Pass at almost 9000 feet! Ouch!

We were lucky enough to come across a great Rails to Trails bike path called "The Wood River Trail" that took us the last 12 miles of today’s trip.

It was loaded with cyclists and more like a bicycle superhighway than a trail.

We stopped at a nice picnic table by a trout stream to rest when a fisherman walked up to us.
He quickly corrected Ken when Ken called what he had in his hand a fishing pole.
It is a “fly rod” not a “pole”. He had a beautiful saying we cannot remember when he corrected Ken.
If your reading this blog let’s hear it again….text us.
A great guy and a serious fisherman who even offered us all a place to sleep at his house if we wanted. How cool is that?

When we arrived in Sun Valley a staged Wild West shootout was happening on Main Street for us to watch.

Dinner was real tasty and after a few days of not eating we filled our faces. Ken had native trout, Joe elk and Tim salmon. All the meals were delicious.

The forecast at this elevation is for sun but only 39 degrees in the morning. That is going to be a nasty way to start the day.
80 Miles
3210 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 50-80 degrees

Day 43 Twin Falls, ID still

2011-09-02T06:59:00.007-04:00

Friday 2 September 2011 The 1'st day of the 7'th week. Day 40 41 40 on the road. Day 3 off the road.

Knowing Tim would still be very weak from the same uncontrolled vomiting and diarrhea that plagued Ken the decision was made the 100 mile trip to Nevada would not be possible.

We hate to not tag the state as planned but Ken and Tim’s bodies have taken a beating with this mysterious sickness. Ken is feeling better and even for Ken who has had an extra day to recover the 100 mile journey would be difficult.

Time and money are running out so Nevada is now off the list of states we will ride to. We all miss home and have commitments to families and work that have to be considered. Both riders are still dehydrated and have lost weight from the ordeal and are having trouble eating. Again plans and routing had to be changed. This is the Labor Day weekend so booking a motel is not easy.

We decided to only ride 50 miles Friday and then tie back into our original route. At least we would be making forward progress to complete our tour. The rerouting took a couple hours and a room was booked. While this was going on. Joe who had felt fine for the past three days ran to the bathroom and vomited. He blamed the salad he had the night before and assured the others he felt better after throwing up and was ready to ride.

We packed all the bikes and prepared to get on the road when Joe said maybe he was not feeling as good as he thought earlier. It did not take long to see he was going downhill quickly. Ken reminded him once we leave he is committed and if he is sick it would be an ugly ride. Unlike the northeast there are no trees to hide behind if Mother Nature calls. You will be taking a crap in the wide open spaces or puking with an audience of holiday passerby’s.

Everyone was dressed and ready to go as Joe pondered his fate. He decided to go and take a test ride on the bike to see how he felt. Tim and Ken stayed in the room and only had to wait a few minutes for his return. Joe returned and said he was feeling too crummy to ride even 50 miles. Again we would be sidelined and condemned to the motel room for at least another day. Tim was happy because even 50 miles would have been difficult for him.

Joe was spared the constant uncontrolled vomiting as it seemed the illness was not taking aim on him as hard as it did for Ken and Tim. Regardless we were shutdown for another day in Idaho.

Even though Joe was spared the worse of the sickness by midday he was still feeling weak and in bed. We had made the right decision because it was clear he would not have been able to ride 50 miles in his condition.

By the end of the day Froday both Tim and Ken were able to eat small amounts of food and it seemed to make them feel better. Joe sipped Gatorade and ate some yogurt. We will try again Saturday morning to leave Twin Falls.
0 Miles
0 Feet of Climbing
Temperature was easily controlled by the room’s thermostat again.

Team Recovery in progress.

~~11:45 AM EST Breaking News!~~

~~The team is on the road headed slowly north! Nevada will be for another day.~~

"Houston, is it a GO?"

7:00 AM here, 5:00 AM there, should know shortly, could probably gage it by the room's H2O usage..

"Cape Canaveral, looks like we have another "BUG" Hold" "Stand By"

10:00 AM here 7:00 AM there (maybe 8 not sure) looks like we have another new stricken team member..

Day 42 Twin Falls, ID Forever??

2011-09-01T06:42:00.007-04:00

Thursday 1 September 2011 The 7'th day of the 6'th week. Day 40 on the road. Day 2 off the road.

And another one bites the dust! Wild West Tour rider Tim Picard succumbed to the dreaded 24 hour grip that took out fellow rider Ken Silvestri the day before. Uncontrolled vomiting and the Hershey Squirts have sidelined the crew for another day in Twin Falls Idaho. Our bid to add Nevada onto our list of conquered states has been put on hold once again.

Because this is the holiday weekend it is imperative that we find book our rooms in advance which we did. When Ken fell ill all our plans and booked rooms had to be changed. Joe handled the 2 hour process of rerouting and rebooking accommodations for the crew. Now that Tim has gone down the plan has to be changed again. Joe and Ken spent time in the lobby reviewing the route options and motel availability.

Yesterday (Wednesday) while Ken was held up in the motel room recovering Tim and Joe went to the site where Evil Kinevel made his failed attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon. On the way to the memorial launch site Tim’s mirror clipped a traffic cone and before he knew what happened he had crashed hard onto the ground. His road rash will heal but the bent front rim will not recover so easily. Ken and Joe took the twisted rim to a local bike shop Cycle Therapy for repairs. A great bike shop with all good people saved the wheel.
“IF” rider Tim recovers by morning and “IF” rider Joe does not fall ill we should be able to reach Nevada by noon on Friday starting the final leg of our long journey.
0 Miles
0 Feet of Climbing
223 Trips to bathroom
Temperature Perfect…..once again inside the motel with A/C

Just received word that the Team is back on the road with the required accommodations!
Go Team Go!!!..I mean - Ride Team Ride!

Day 41 Twin Falls, ID to Twin Falls, ID

2011-08-31T15:34:00.003-04:00

Wednesday 31 August 2011 The 6'th day of the 6'th week. We stay at Day 40 on the road. Day 1 off the road.
The wagon train was shut down today as one of the riders picked up a food borne ailment. Team rider Ken went down hard and fast after eating a delicious dinner at a local restaurant. It could have been an apple or some other tainted fruit he ate earlier in the day as the other riders were fine.
This was a VERY ugly situation that came on around 7:30 PM just as they were getting ready to retire for the night.
The team had planned the Twin Falls to Jackpot NV run scheduled for the morning.

Ken's New Best Friend

It was serious enough that Ken was considering a trip o the local medical clinic if there was any way to get there. One thing Ken figured out as an experienced and well trained plumber is that you cannot puke and (excuse my French) shit at the same time on a toilet. It will only accept one nasty thing at a time. So when bent over the bowl to vomit you are in serious trouble if your rumpus cannot hold back the brown tide. No need to get into the fine details I am sure you can figure out the rest. Unlike at home when he can yell “Debbie” for help calling for the other bikers to cleanup would be a waste of time.

Still weak almost 24 hours later he is improving and should be able to ride in the morning.

The riders are still concerned about the situation of no power and roads shut down at home. It is the main topic of conversation all the time. What is hard for us is we cannot do anything to help and that is difficult for us to deal with. Hopefully the next storm will stay out at sea where it belongs. You know it is bad when the National Guard is on the town streets helping with clean up. Our Families did what they had to do and did it well.

Now if everything goes as planned we will be in Nevada by noon Thursday and finished with the tour 10 days after. Our bicycle boxes are being readied for shipping. Capt. Joe at All Quality Spares will help us with that issue. Thanks Joe!

0 Miles

0 Feet of Climbing

Temperature Perfect…..inside motel with AC

Day 40 Arco, ID to Twin Falls, ID

2011-08-31T14:27:00.019-04:00

Tuesday 30 August 2011 Day 5 of the 6'th week. Day 40 on the road

We were up and out the door early to try and beat the afternoon winds.
The forecast for the Arco area ( Atomic City) was for 25-30 mph winds while Twin Falls was only 10mph.

If we could get 50 or 60 miles south before noon the heavy winds may be avoided. Well the plan worked and we covered today’s 112 miles quickly.

We passed a place that is called Craters of the Moon National Monument. It is a huge expanse of cooled lava flows that looks like the surface of the moon.

When we arrived in twin falls we crossed the Snake River Canyon not far from where Evil Kanevil made his failed jump. The canyon is absolutely beautiful and deep.
Once on the other side Joe spotted a guy folding what looked like a parachute. We walked up to him and found out he was a base jumper. We had just missed his jump off the Snake River Bridge.
Here in Twin Falls it is legal to base jump off the bridge or any of the cliffs. According to the jumper people come here from al over the word to make the leap into the canyon.

To all of us it looked truly insane to jump off that bridge. Imagine driving up in a car not knowing you have entered the base jumping capitol and see a person leap off the bridge hand rail!

Tomorrow we will make a round trip run from Twin Falls to Nevada and back. This will add the 1th state to the tour. A suggestion was made that we could strip the bikes of our heavy wind catching saddlebags to make this 100 mile blast to Nevada. We have trained and rode for over 3 months with a heavy bike. Pull off the bags and for a few days we will be Super Riders on light weight machines. We could blast off the run to Nevada in record time. It would be great!! BUT it would also be “cheating”. The decision was made quickly. We will ride to Nevada fully loaded.

112 Miles

2246 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 85-95 degrees

Day 39 Rexburg ID to Arco ID

2011-08-29T11:40:00.005-04:00

Monday 29 August 2011 Day 4 of the 6'th week. Day 39 on the road

I have said it before, and I will say it again…Wind is a 4 letter word. And it is a dirty four letter word to a cyclist.
We were fooled early in the morning when the sun was shining and the wind was light. It sure looked like a nice easy day was in store for us. By noontime the fantasy was over as the wind turned on like a light switch. A steady 20 to 25mph wind became a 40mph wind in your face torture session by 2pm. This kind of riding really sucks and is no fun at all for any of us.

Giving it all you had on the flats would only develop 7mph against the wind. It was a battle just to keep our bikes on the road as higher gusts blasted in making you wobble into the soft shoulder.

Days like this make you wonder who’s idea was it to ride across the country anyway??!!

The Idaho we entered in the mountains was beautiful. Trees, rivers and beautiful scenery. The Idaho we rode today in the plains was terrible. The plains in any state are not made for cyclists. We are back to the same old view of scrub brush, weeds and unrelenting wind. No place to get away from the sun or howling wind. Give us the mountains any day no matter what the climb.

As we did for most of this journey the roads we picked were nearly traffic free and that was a positive on a negative day for us.

To add to our enjoyment, huge dust storms were forming all around us. Some of these were miles long and miles wide. Passing through one of these dirty brown clouds will suck the breath right out of you right after it coats your eyeballs with dust blinding you.

Arco, ID is a tiny town that has some history. It was the first US city to be illuminated by nuclear power. It was also the area where the first “meltdown” of a nuclear reactor took place. I is also the only place in the US where people died from a meltdown. Team rider Herb Petersen may know more about this as he is in that field.

The first thing you notice when entering town is the conning tower of a submarine!! Just outside of town is where the reactors for all our modern warships was developed. They still have an 850 square mile top secret site here with Homeland Security making their presence everywhere.

Tomorrow will be another day in the plains and of course that means another day with the wind.
Our plan is to get out early and log in as many miles a we can before noon. The locals say the wind always picks up around noon and blows until dark. The trip between Arco and Twin Falls is over 110 miles. This will stage us for our out and back trip on Wednesday to Nevada to tag the state.

Once we leave Twin Falls and start heading north we should be protected from the wind by the mountains. We will not complain that for the next three days we will be regaining all the elevation we gave up when we left Yellowstone. Like I said give us the hills any day over the wind.

87 Miles

3212 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 85-95 degrees

I was able to fire up the generator to crank up the DSL modem to let all know the team is well and puttin' down the miles.
They are in the good stuff now.

Day 38 West Yellowstone to Rexburg, ID

2011-08-28T05:41:00.006-04:00

Sunday 28 August 2011 Day 3 of the 6'th week. Day 38 on the road

Knowing everyone is safe and damage is minimal was a big relief to all the riders. Being 3000+ miles from home knowing we could do nothing to help was hard for us to deal with. In our minds we fabricated all types of scenarios of what we could do if disaster struck. None of the options we had were very good or productive. We had to rely on our family and friends to do what we should have been doing. Lucky for us all these people handled the situation very well and bailed us out. THANKS!!!!

Today we crossed into Idaho the 17th of the 20 states we will enter during this tour. The weather out here sunny and high 80’s was much better than what was still happing in New England.
Not soon after crossing the border we started on a long steady downhill was fun going down but we all know the old bicycle saying…. “what goes down must go up”. We will give up even more elevation as we head due south towards Twin Falls Idaho just 50 miles north of Nevada.
In our quest to “tag” as many states as possible on this tour we need to get our wheels into the state of Nevada. This little deviation will cost us almost 300 miles and thousands of feet in elevation which we will have to regain.
Tomorrow we will ride to Arco the first city to ever be illuminated by nuclear power.
86 Miles
2212 Feet of Climbing We lost almost 4000”!
Temperature 70-85 degrees

Day 37 Moran, WY to West Yellowstone

2011-08-27T06:06:00.002-04:00

Saturday 27 August 2011 Day 2 of the 6'th week. Day 37 on the road
We should be enjoying the journey through the Tetons and Yellowstone but instead we are all concerned about the Hurricane that has its crosshairs on our hometowns.
We crossed the Continental Divide a few times and entered Montana.
117 Miles
6314 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 40-70 degrees

Day 36 Moran, WY -> West YellowStone

2011-08-26T09:24:00.003-04:00

Friday 26 August 2011 Day 1 of the 6'th week. Day 36 on the road
We should be enjoying the journey through the Tetons and Yellowstone but instead we are all concerned about the Hurricane that has its crosshairs on our hometowns.
We crossed the Continental Divide a few times and entered Montana.
117 Miles
6314 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 40-70 degrees

Only this was received...hmm

Be Beary Aware..

Day 35 Dubois, WY -> Moran, WY

2011-08-25T13:29:00.006-04:00

Thursday 25 August 2011 Day 7 of the 5'th week. Day 35 on the road

Today should be the shortest travel day we will or have had on the tour.
The availability of motels in the Yellowstone area is the reason for our short day. Knowing we had less than 50 miles to ride we did not get moving too quickly in the morning.
We still woke by 6AM but did not rush to get out the door as usual. And once on the road we did not push.

A couple miles out of town we ran into a cyclist with a fully loaded mountain bike with knobby tires.
His name was Mike and he lives in New Zealand.
He traveled here to ride the Great Divide off-road route from Canada all the way to Mexico!
Only 10% of this 2500 mile route is on a paved road. This was one tough dude.

A few more miles down the road we stopped at a store for some water and met three motocross riders that were doing the same 2500 miles off-road trip by motorcycle.
What a pounding that has to be - day after day.
They carried extra fuel and supplies on their bikes. The incredible part is that two of the riders are over 60 years old and the other is over 50!
More tough dudes.

The skies threatened to rain on us for awhile in the morning but it never happened. The wind was not a big factor today as we were in the mountains.
We had basically one big climb to a little over 9500’ that took a few hours to complete.
You begin to notice the tinner air as you cross over the 8500’ mark.
Not bad but noticeable.

48 Miles
3351 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 75-85 degrees
3216 overall
91.88 MPD ave

Could be spotty cell coverage today as the team heads up the hill into Grand Teton National Park.

Day 34 Riverton, WY - Dubois, WY

2011-08-24T08:41:00.009-04:00

Wednesday 24 August 2011 Day 6 of the 5'th week. Day 34 on the road

Today’s riding conditions were truly spectacular. The temperature was reasonable and the wind was nowhere to be found. Yesterday we were wondering why were even doing this bike insanity and today we glad to be riding. What a difference a day can make.

Instead of creeping along at 8mph suffering we were able to travel at 15-18mph with ease. It is how it is supposed to be. The bleak landscape was replaced with mountains striped with layers of reds and browns.

About 55 miles outside of Dubois, WY we came upon a cyclist pulling a loaded “bob”. A bob is a small trailer you pull behind your bike with your gear instead of the panniers that we use. Each method of hauling has it’s pros and cons. We choose to use the saddlebags.
His name is Dave and he was a cool dude to talk to. If you think we are crazy for riding cross country this guy has been riding for over a year and has covered 9000 miles so far. Retired from the Air Force he swapped airplanes for a bike. He uploads his journey to YouTube daily and has a big following. He pulled out his HD video camera and asked us a few questions about our trip for upload to his site.

His site is on You Tube and is called Three Wheel Journey.

At a small store we ran into a FEMA employee, Mark who was helping with the rebuilding of roads washed away when the Wind River overflowed its banks on the local Indian Reservation. The conversation started as he asked us about our cross country adventure. When we told him we started in Connecticut he asked if we lived near New London where he spent time as a cadet at the Coast Guard Academy. He knew a good friend of Ken’s also. It is a small world.

Just as were enjoying the sunny windless day a thunderstorm rolled in over the mountains and with it winds gusting up to 40 mph. That is enough to blow us right off the shoulder of the road and it did! We could not believe the perfect day was now going to be spoiled by wind and rain. Well it did not rain on us and after about a couple hours of strong winds and dark skies it disappeared. This was Mother Nature reminding us not to take her for granted.

While we were battling the wind a motor home pulled off the road in front of us. It was a couple touring the country with their two dogs. They stopped to see if we needed any cold water to drink or anything else they had onboard. Once again good people doing good things for others.

They have a blog of their journey as seen through their two dogs Daisy and Gabby’s eyes.
http://www.daisyngabby.blogspot.com/ Check out the site.
Our day ended in a western style town called Dubois. A real interesting little town with good food and nice places to stay. We secured a nice little cabin for $105.

The waitress at the restaurant got a chuckle when we placed our order. First it was tacos for an appetizer. Followed by three dinners and salads and along with our dinners and extra dinner to split. After polishing that off we ordered deserts with extra ice cream. It is nice to be able to eat all that food and know you will burn it off the next day.

Mountains for breakfast tomorrow.

79 Miles
4332Feet of Climbing
Temperature 85 - 90 degrees
3168 overall
93.1 MPD ave

"Manuvering, Ahead full.."
The plan is to make the town of Dubois tonight. About 85 miles out.
Should be Hot, Dusty, Dry and barren today. Perfect day to spin the pedals..

Day 33 Casper, WY -> Riverton, WY

2011-08-23T09:07:00.005-04:00

Tuesday 23 August 2011 Day 5 of the 5'th week. Day 33 on the road.

And now "The Rest of the Story" - Wyoming handed out another severe beating to the Outlaw Spandex Gang once again. A sustained, unrelenting torturous 20 to 35+mph head wind punished us from the moment we hit the road.

Our bikes were loaded down with extra liquids due to the distances between watering holes. We were told not to expect any services for almost 100 miles. The extra weight made the wind barrage that much more enjoyable as we climbed the hills against it. As we tried to pedal up the hill the wind kept trying to shove us back down.

Even with the extra water the heat and hot wind blowing on us made us consume much more water than we expected. Our skin was sandy feeling with salt from our sweat. When we rolled through the town Power River Ken stopped at a house to ask for water.

Like the other two towns we went through today there are no stores, gas stations or stop signs.

So far we are not impressed with the scenery in the state of Wyoming. All we have seen is grasslands and weeds. Nothing else.
I hope it will improve because the locals say the stiff winds are here to stay.

Put today on the top of the same list of crummy days as that yesterday is on. We were on the bikes just under 14 hours arriving at our motel at 10:30PM after some fine dining at Wendy’s Hamburger.

What we thought was low clouds on the horizon was actually smoke from large brush fires in burning in Dubois and Jackson Wyoming. The setting sun was partially obscured by the low smoke.

Our wagon train is headed for both of these cities and road closing could be a concern.

123 Wind Blown Miles

3780 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 85 - 95 degree

3089
93.6

Riverton, WY is the destination for the day. More than 120 mile day. The team is underway on Pedal Power this morning. Makin miles. They each have about 2 gallons of water onboard. Lets see. 2 gallons X 8 pounds = 16 pounds. 50 pounds of "stuff", 20 pounds of bicycle, 180 pounds of human = about 275 pounds into a 25 MPH wind for 10 hours. Now that should burn some calories..
And there are some of those "Lumps" to contend with towards the end of the day. Nice when you can get bonus points for windy miles...

Day 32 Lusk, WY -> Casper, WY

2011-08-22T09:42:00.010-04:00

Monday 22 August 2011 Day 4 of week 5. Day 32 on the road, Pedals Down...

It was a tough day for the riders of the Wild West Tour. Maybe Wyoming does not like the three urban cowboys dressed in their tight spandex shorts and fancy shirts riding into town on their metal ponies. Whatever the reason we received a beating during our 12 hours in the saddle. The hot sun was blaring down on us and the wind blowing hard in our faces.

This peculiar part of Wyoming looks like a barren wasteland of dried grasses and weeds. Other than a few prong horn antelope there is really nothing interesting to look at as the wind pushes you backwards. Even the antelope are not that exciting anymore because they seem to be everywhere. All you really want on a day like this is for the day to end and get off the bike.

Late in the afternoon we came upon a huge wind generator farm. We would have enjoyed the giant turbines a lot more if we had approached them with the wind at our backs pushing us swiftly by. Instead it seemed to take forever to finally reach the 400’ tall spinning pinwheels as we crept up the ridge at 8mph.

Looks like we can expect more wind and heat tomorrow according to the latest weather forecast. Like I have said before what determines the distance traveled each day is the availability of a place to sleep. Today the space was 113 miles. Tomorrow it looks like it will be over 120 miles. Hopefully it will be more enjoyable.

One other thing. We see some “bumps” off on the horizon….. does anyone know what these bumps might be??

113 Miles

3980 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 85 - 98 degrees

Day 31 Somewhere in Nebraska -> Lusk, WY

2011-08-21T06:20:00.006-04:00

Sunday 21 August 2011 Day 3 week 5

Today our little wagon train entered the least populated state per square mile in the continental USA, Wyoming. Only Alaska has less people per square mile. Back home in Connecticut the population density is over 738 people per square mile, Wyoming less than 6.

We do not expect to find a Starbucks on every corner out here. We may not even find any corners!
Because of the limited population we need to be sure we have plenty of water between cities.
The day was actually uneventful and somewhat short, only covering 76 miles. We did have to negotiate 12 miles of unpaved roadway in the morning leaving the High Plains Ranch.
The 45 miles of off-road riding we have done in the past 2 days has made a mess of our bikes. The chains, sprockets and frames all had a coat of Nebraska dirt covering them. When we arrived in Lusk, WY we stopped at the local coin operated car wash and gave our machines baths.
Tomorrow we have a 110+ mile day planned and with plenty of climbing.

76 Miles
3358 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 70 -95 degrees

Day 30 Hot Springs, SD -> Somewhere in Nebraska

2011-08-20T07:17:00.007-04:00

Saturday 20 August 2011 Day 2 week 5!
Saturday was our 30'th day on the road!

We entered Nebraska
We do see some interesting sights but we can barely stop to enjoy them. You have to remember, if you want to call this a “vacation” it would have to be called a “working vacation”.On the average we are only off the bikes for around 90 minutes each day.
During that 90 minute period we have to:
- Restock our bikes with fluids
- Find FOOD
- Make a few stops to water the plants on the side of the road
Basically we are "On The Bike" riding for 8 to 10 hours a day. When we do stop someone is watching the clock knowing the longer we linger the less time at night we will have to sleep.
No days off so far.When we arrive at the motel at night we all have work to do. Unpack the bikes, shower and of course again find FOOD within walking distance of the motel.
After we are fed there is laundry to do and mapping. We need to look days ahead so we can be sure we have a place to sleep at the end of the day.
The few hours between stopping for the day and finally going to sleep are short.
Unlike in a car having to ride an additional 20 miles out of our way on a bike is a big deal. If we go 20 miles off course to find a sleep spot that means the next day we need another 20 miles to get back on course.
That is 40 miles and in the hills or heat that is huge. Another thing on the daily to do list is to gather all our photos and prepare our daily report for the website. After that work is done uploading the pictures and movies with very slow internet connections can be agonizing slow. We are lucky to have Kelley, one of the team riders standing by to receive the data and turn it into our daily blog that you are reading now.

When our alarm goes off at 5:30 AM it is always to early and the process starts again.

Today our route took us over some difficult terrain. The road into Nebraska was unpaved loose gravel for 15 miles.
With our narrow tires and heavy bikes this made for some slow going. Once in Nebraska our road turned back to blacktop and our speed increased.

We passed our first official “ghost town” of the trip. It is almost like being in an episode of the Twilight Zone when you ride through one of these places.

The only place we could find to spend the night was a place called "The High Plains Homestead".
We were not sure what this place was like but we knew it was 18 miles off the paved road and the only thing available.
So again we found ourselves on loose gravel. This road was would not have been too bad in a pick-up but on bikes it was terrible.
It took well over two hours to complete the ride to the Homestead. This place is so far out in no-man’s land you may as well be on the moon.

Once there, we were very surprised and pleased. This was one of the coolest places yet.

The owners had bought old buildings from ghost towns and other places, disassembled them and reassembled each building creating a little "Ghost" town.
The land surrounding this little village is in the middle of nowhere and the view is spectacular.
They told us this is the Badlands of Nebraska.

They are open most of the warmer months and serve dinners cooked over a fire pit.

When we arrived there were 15-20 people sitting at tables outside waiting for dinner which is served between 6 and 7pm.
Some had driven over an hour just for dinner and had no plans to spend the night as we were.
Only one other couple was spending the night here as far as we knew.
This couple had lived and worked in Connecticut for a short time at Pfizers so they knew our home turf.

The food they cooked was fantastic and we could hardly stop filling our faces. After eating our dinners we had them grill up an additional steak so we could split it up. We are true “chow-hounds”.
Our room had a bunk bed and two other beds and was very comfortable.
The only thing you cannot do here is drink the water. It has an unbelievably high sulfur content.
All you have to do is open the tap and it will stink up a room with the smell of rotten eggs - it is that bad. We have found just about everywhere you go in these parts the water has a very high mineral content. Something we are not use to and reminds us we take our great tasting water back home for granted.
The rough ride in on the gravel road was worth the effort. This place was unique.
75 Miles
3450 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 50 - 84 degrees

Day 29 Rapid City, SD -> Hot Springs, SD

2011-08-19T08:41:00.007-04:00

Friday 19 August 2011 Day 1 week 5

Today we rode the Black Hills of South Dakota past Mount Rushmore and through Custer State Park. Back home we would call the Black Hills the Black Mountains! Those little hills had over 7000 feet of climbing in 76 miles. Those are some fairly “lumpy” hills in my book.

While in Custer we saw buffalo and other wildlife roaming the park freely. One of the bison was right on the side of the road grazing as we rode by. They almost look tame and friendly but signs along the roadway remind you they are not. We cut the huge animal a wide berth while riding by.

At the top of one of the “hills” we were at almost 6000 feet above sea level and it was a chilly 59 degrees.
After the weeks of riding in 90+ degree heat anything under 75 feels cold to us.
For the downhill runs all of us had long sleeves or jackets on.
Higher elevations and colder temperatures are coming quick I think they call them the Rockies.

Again the location of a place to sleep dictated the days mileage. We always shoot for 100 miles but sometimes it does not happen.

76 Miles
7026 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 59- 74 degrees

Underway from Rapid City today. Headed for Hot Springs, SD
The Daily report from the Team Eliminator Roving Reporter on Site at Grants Pass South Dakota. And now:

And a bonus photo! Mt Rushmore

Day 28 Interior, SD -> Rapid City, SD

2011-08-18T11:24:00.016-04:00

Thursday 18 August 2011, Last day Week 4
Today we "Rode" the ~~steel~~ titanium and aluminium horse(s) into Rapid City, South Dakota and stayed in town.

Our stay at the Circle View Guest Ranch last night on Wednesday night was great and deserves a story.
The ranch sits high up on a plateau outside the Badlands and covers 2000 acres.
The views were spectacular. Sitting on the patio overlooking the range, sipping coffee early in the morning - Very Nice.
Too bad after one cup it was time to eat breakfast and get the metal ponies ready to ride.
Speaking of breakfast it was delicious!
We had a nice selection of food including wheat pancakes that were made from the wheat grown and ground right on the ranch.

South Dakota is plagued with grasshoppers at the moment.
At first we did not think anything of them, but after a while we began to understand why the locals hate them so much.
They actually are disgusting little creatures.
First of all - you have to understand that there are bazillions of them all over the place. (bazillion is a zillion cazillion)
When you are riding they are bouncing off of us like ping pong balls. They land on you or ricochet off the bikes. There so many of them on the road our tires rolling over them sounds like a popcorn machine working. The dead grasshoppers litter the road and the other hoppers are cannibalizing the carcasses. It is really sickening.

The ride today seemed uneventful compared to yesterday’s trip through the majestic Badlands.
The first leg of our route was without any services for over 50 miles.

When I say no services I mean NOTHING. No stores, houses, farms, people or stop signs. Just miles and miles of rolling hills of grass and bright sunshine to suck all the moisture out of us.

We spotted a rattle snake on the road not long after we left. Be nice little snake...no biting. (whose toe is that in the picture?)
We don't have cell service and if we did who would we call for help? Buffalo Bill?

Snakes are plentiful in this part of the state along with deer, prong horn and prairie dogs.

Our day ended in Rapid City staging us for tomorrows ride through Custer State park and by Mount Rushmore on our way to Nebraska and Wyoming.

76 Miles

2160 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 80-93 degrees

Today is more tour through the Badlands and then pedal to Rapid City for the night.
Updates as they come

Day 27 Pierre, SD - > Interior, SD

2011-08-17T09:42:00.003-04:00

Wednesday 17 August 2011, Day 6 Week 4

Today we rode through the Badlands.
It is one of those places that is hard to describe with words and photos do not do justice.
But they do say a picture is worth a thousand words.
So instead of me babbling on about the Badlands I will let the pictures do the talking.
Badlands Pictures
And again photos do not do the place justice.
It is just beautiful.
67 Scenic Slow Miles
2910 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 80-95 degrees

Day 26 Pierre, SD - > Philip, SD

2011-08-16T09:39:00.008-04:00

Tuesday 16 August 2011, Day 5 Week 4

It was already blowing 25 mph at 7AM and we knew it was not going to be an easy day. Our plan were to make the Triangle Ranch, a Bed and Breakfast INN outside Philip, SD over 100 miles away.

A few miles out of town we spotted a sign that said “Next Services 66 Miles”.
Well now I can tell you for certain that they are not kidding when they say no services. For the first 35 miles we did not even see a farm house, just rolling hills of sunflowers and grass. A simply beautiful landscape as long as you do not break down and your water holds out.

The wind picked up quickly and soon a 30 to 35mph wind was beating us up badly. Our average speed was down to just 8.5 mph! Do the math, the trip to the ranch would take us over 12 hours! That would not work for us because the owners of the ranch were going to make us dinner. We could not be rolling in at 9 pm and expect to have dinner waiting for us.

After a few hours of severe punishment our route changed direction for 28 miles.
Now for the first time we had the wind at our backs!
FANTASTIC!
It did not take long to see why 95% of the cyclists ride west to east. With the assist from the wind we could move our heavy bikes down the road at 18-20 miles per hour even UP the hills.
It was almost like having a motor on the bikes!
This 28 mile run pumped up our average and our spirits.
When the route turned back into the wind it seemed like it may have fallen off a bit. This is very unusual for the Midwest. On our last trip, as on this one, we found the wind normally peaks in speed from 3pm until just before dark.
It looked like we would not be that late for dinner after all. The thought of no dinner terrified us and who would want to miss some home cooking after 25 days on the road eating garbage.

Another break came our way when Joe looked at his cell phone and realized we had crossed into Mountain time! We picked up another hour!!!!
Soooo nice!
We definitely won’t be late for dinner now.

The Triangle Ranch is part of what was once an 8000 acre family spread that is well out of town.
You have to ride down a well maintained gravel road for 8 miles to reach the ranch.
Once at the Ranch Ken and Lyndy made us feel right at home. Lyndy cooked us a fantastic chicken dinner which we complemented with a bottle of wine. The dinner was followed by coffee, apple crisp and ice cream. We all sat around after dinner and talked until it was way too late.
Breakfast was at 7AM and again spectacular.
We ate until we could eat no more then headed out to tour the Badlands.

106 Miles
4951 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 70- 80 degrees

Mid Day Report:

Seen leaving Pierre, SD, the capital of South Dakota..

A supporter!

Day 25 Miller, SD -> Pierre, SD

2011-08-15T08:26:00.004-04:00

Monday 15 August 2011, Day 4 Week 4

The Midwestern cyclist poem……

“When the wind blows and nothing is higher than wheat

You’re going to get beat”

Not much of a poem but you get the idea, we got beat and beat badly today.

At 7:30 AM, just before we departed the wind speed was already at 20mph according to the weather channel. Not a good way to start the day but we expected this in South Dakota. We accepted the punishment and pushed forward.

We have started seeing the exodus of bikers from the Sturgis Rally. Sturgis is a small town above Rapid City, SD that attracts over 500,000 people. We planned our journey to just miss this major motorcycle event. We did not want to have to compete with a half million people for hotel rooms, restaurants or roadway. Imagine cruising down a peaceful back road then have 100 roaring motorcycles pass by over and over. It may be cool to see a couple times but it does gets old after a while.

Around mid-day we spotted an airplane hangar and a few crop dusting planes that were getting refueled. We just had to stop and ask questions. The hangers and surrounding area was spotlessly clean and set up nicely. The specially designed aircraft cost over a million dollars each. The small planes have over 1000 horsepower and can each carry 500 gallons of chemical. This particular operation sprays over a half million acres within a 40 mile radius. The owner offered some cold drinks and was happy to talk about his business. He said crop dusting pilots have to be the best of the best. About 20 minutes after we left the owner of the air spraying business made a low fly-by and dipped his wings at us as he headed off to spray. Real cool!

The flat landscape we have seen for the past few hundred miles changed to again to rolling hills as we approached the Missouri River and today’s destination, Pierre.

The Missouri river was still badly swollen from weeks of rain last month. Thousands of sand bags had been placed along the banks and around buildings in the area and were still in place.

Tomorrow we will be staying at a cabin that is in the middle of no-man’s land out in the Badlands. There is no place for us to get food so we made arrangements for the owners to make us dinner and breakfast. I hope they know how much we can eat after 100 miles… we are impressive.

78 Miles

2735 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 68- 80 degrees

Daily average miles so far 95 per day

20 miles outside of Pierre South Dakota:

Day 24 Aberdeen, SD -> Miller, SD

2011-08-14T08:17:00.005-04:00

Sunday 14 August 2011. Day 3 Week 4

When the wind turns on in the Midwest it stays on. And today the wind was "ON" and on in a big way.
A steady unrelenting 20-25 mile per hour blast in your face punished us all day long. Of course we had a few higher gusts tossed in to liven things up a bit.
There were times on flat ground when our top speed was less than 10 mph with us pushing hard.
Today riding was like a climbing a hill for 8-1/2 hours straight due to the wind. It was a beating.

I guess we should not complain the wind is getting our legs ready for some of the big climbs we have coming in the Rockies.
Speaking of big climbs, Ken’s wife called and read an article to him about Mt. Rainier.
This winter Mt. Rainer had a record snowfall total of over 900 inches!
Normally in August the wild flowers are in full bloom and the mountain green with vegetation. But as of last week more than 4 feet of snow is still remains on the ground!
Some of the roads are still closed to traffic. We will have to monitor this situation and may have to alter our plans to make that climb.

The great traffic free roads we have been traveling on in this state are thanks to Fred Deutsch a fellow cyclist. Fred took the time to help us plot the route we are using.
Another example of good people doing good things. Thanks Fred we owe ya big time.

Instead of only seeing miles of corn and soy beans we were again treated to hundreds of acres of sunflowers to look at.

Our day ended late in a small farming town Miller South Dakota.
Sadly for us the only food available was the Dairy Queen for a “grill and chill” as it says on the sign.
Gosh, was that a nasty greasy meal. This DQ was a dump inside with more flies than patrons. Actually the flies were patrons they were whole families of them at every table.
If you got up off the table to get a drink refill you had to cover your food with a paper napkin to keep them from carting it away. It was that bad.
We were even limited of what we had to choose from for ice cream. The hot fudge machine was broken and when Tim ordered a waffle bowl ice cream they told him they did not have what they needed to make it.
Just not the way to end a hard day of riding.
We will give ya the miles and put out the effort. Just feed us something decent when it is over. Dinner is what we work for.
It is the highlight of our day.
It could have been worse so let’s not complain too much.
About a hour after we arrived the dark clouds rolled in and the sky opened up flooding the streets. We were inside nice and dry…..this time.

Tomorrow we will make Pierre, South Dakota and this helps stage us for a ride through the Badlands. We have a very limited selection of places to sleep in this part of the state.

94Miles

2525 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 60 - 70 degrees

Should be rollin smooth on the new rubber!
Daily Report,,, WEindy

Day 23 Sisseton, SD -> Aberdeen, SD

2011-08-14T08:09:00.003-04:00

Saturday 13 August 2011. Second Day Week 4

It was a gloomy start with the wind blowing hard in our face and the skies heavily overcast. We are so sun baked the 59 degree air felt cold to us.

A few miles out of town we came upon a tall observation tower that claimed you could see three states from the top so we climbed it. The view was spectacular even with the overcast skies and fog that blanked the area.

This may not be the “Land of 10,000 Lakes" anymore but let me tell you there are plenty of lakes and ponds in South Dakota. Some of the ponds have washed over the roads from the heavy rains and flooding a couple weeks ago. A while later we came across an impassable condition. It looked like a large portion of the road had been under water but was now clear.

But a few hundred yards further we reached an impassable point. The bridge was under and who knew how deep the water was. We turned around and re-routed.

The rolling hills are filled with farms (ranches?) of free range cattle. The looked like happy cows with plenty of grasses to graze on and hundreds of acres to roam. Many seemed to hang out near the roadway to look at who passed by. A few time the herd would run along the fence line in pace with us. It was like they were enjoying the activity. You have to understand VERY few cars pass them by. These roads are almost completely void of traffic so we are something to break up there day I guess.

We stopped at a little store for some cold drinks. We never pass a store because you may not see another for 50 miles. When at the store a couple pulled in and asked where we were going. After we explained our journey they told us they have en trying to circumnavigate the USA by bike. They have been doing small sections at a time and almost have completed their task.
Well Carl and Lynn get your rumps on those bakes and Git er Done!

We had plenty to do after we arrived at our motel. A package mailed by Debbie (Ken’s wife) was waiting for us. Inside was new tires, tubes and other needed supplies. Scott. team rider and owner of the "Village Bake House" had added some super cookies to the box. Ken’s wife had stuffed a few boxes of Lindt Chocolates in there too. Carol had dropped off a tub of endurance mix to add to our water and some energy chews too. Perfect.
We changed tires and then showered and filled our bellies with a great dinner. A good day.
103 Miles
2609 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 60 - 75 degrees

Day 22 Barrett, MN -> Sisseton, SD via North Dakota

2011-08-12T10:37:00.016-04:00

Friday 12 August 2011. First Day Week 4
It would have been easy to stay another day at “Pearls Place” in Barrett, MN but we have to move on. Today we will add two new states to our quiver.
The weather radar showed two nasty storms systems moving east. One was just below our route the other a little above it. Could we be so lucky that the 30 mile corridor we are riding will be rain free?? Well we were. No rain, no hail or wind just over cast sky’s and moderate temperatures.

Ten miles out of town an older well dressed women passed us in her car and stopped. She wanted to know where we were going and where we came from. She told us she used to have a restaurant and would give free breakfasts to cross country cyclist. Another good person doing good things for others, this country is full of them.

Sometimes when you enter a new state on a remote back road there is no sign or even a marker identifying the border crossing. We try and get a photo next to each states “Welcome” sign whenever possible. When our GPS said we entered North Dakota there was no “welcome sign” to be found. We knew this would be the case from looking at that location with Google Earth. We knew the only available welcome sign is on the highway.

We rode our bikes past the Dakota Magic Casino on the border to the on ramp of the freeway up to the sign. For some reason that lane of the freeway was closed to traffic so it was done easily and safely.

Some photos are just harder to get.

As we crossed the Bois de Sioux River into South Dakota we could see some people fishing below the bridge.

The river was flowing swiftly over a spillway. In the water were a few Pelicans working. It seemed a bit odd to see a bird like this in the Midwest! Last time I saw a Pelican I was in Florida! The river was beautiful and full of fish. We could see them jumping up out of the water and returning with a splash. Most fish looked to be about 16 to 18” long. The Pelicans would try and gobble up any fish that jumped too close.

Not far from the river you could see a change in the landscape. It looked like we may see some more varied vegetation when we saw a field of beets growing and a curving road. But this soon gave way to straight flat riding.

A while later we crossed the north/south Continental Divide.

We see less corn and more wheat and hay being harvested. But there is still plenty of corn to look at. It is incredible the amount of corn we have seen so far beyond what anyone could imagine without seeing it.
We ended our day in Sisseton, SD. A small town in the middle of a soybean field.

Tomorrow if all goes as planned we will rendezvous with the package that was shipped to us on Monday from Connecticut. Inside the box we have new tires tubes and some other needed supplies, maybe some goodies from the bakery?.

89 Miles

1566 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 60 - 75 degrees

And now today's report from the WWTII reporter on the road

2:30 PM EST. North Dakota complete. Looks flat
11:18 AM CST (12:18 PM EST) The team reports crossing the border into South Dakota from Minnesota. Headed for North Dakota to check in and then head South West into SD to land in Sisseton.
Updates as they are available

On the road to North Dakota.

Day 21 Albany, MN -Barrett, MN

2011-08-11T08:34:00.020-04:00

Thursday 11 August 2011. Last Day Week 3

The night before each day of riding we go over our route looking at the elevation profile and decide how many miles we will travel. When we go to bed we know all the work is done for the next day and all we have to do is ride.

After eating the free breakfast at the motel Ken was returning to the room when he ran into another two cyclists coming out of their room. The couple, a retired school teacher and his wife were riding from North Dakota to Chicago. They told Ken of a Rails to Trails route they were riding that may cross our route. They handed Ken a map to keep and look over.

If you do not know what a Rails to Trails route is I will explain. It is where an old unused railroad track has been removed and replaced with pavement for people to walk or ride bicycles on. This peculiar trail is closed to all motorized vehicles….except snowmobiles in the winter.

This trail is called the Wobegon trail and is over 100 miles long. About 45 miles of it somewhat paralleled our route so in a mad panic we changed all our lodging plans and route to utilize as much of this trail as we could. The only available lodging we could find was Pearls Place in Barrett, MN. We had no idea what it even looked like. When we called a nice women answered the phone and was happy to answer any questions we had. She said for $99 we could rent an entire 3 bedroom two bath house. Ken asked her a few times “is it clean” because we have had some real dumps in the past. She assured him it was nice and clean so we booked it.

The bicycle trail was fantastic. No cars and well maintained the 12 foot wide asphalt roadway made for some great cycling. You did not have to worry about traffic or any other road hazards. It was beautiful. We even came across a bicycle shop on the trail. Only the third we have seen and the only one that was open so we went in. Tim bought tubes and some new bar tape. Ken bought a new water bottle and a few other items. We borrowed their grease gun to lubricate our peals and we were off.

Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes and they are not kidding either.There are lakes everywhere. Next to one of these lakes is Barrertt where we will be staying. We pulled into the tiny town and saw three young kids tossing apples into the road for the occasional car to run over. The apples looked good so Tim and Ken went over to grab a couple to eat. The young kids thought the “big kids” may yell at them for tossing apples into the road so they stopped. One boy offered to scale the tree and get Tim and Ken a nice red apple from up high. You could see they were a bit nervous about all the apples in the road and tried to act like they knew nothing of it. Ken sensed their uneasiness and said hey if the apples are on the ground it is alright to toss them onto the roadway. Immediately the apple tossing continued as Tim and Ken filed their pockets with the tasty apples.

Just a little further down the road we found “Pearls Place”. It was a beautiful little house with flowers and a perfectly manicured lawn. Once inside we found a fully furnished home neat as a pin and spotlessly clean. All this for $99! The women on the phone was right.

Across the street was a little restaurant/bar/liquor store called the Barrett Inn. At first we were a bit nervous of the combination. But once inside we could see this was going to be good home cooking and it was. It was an all you can eat fried chicken with all the fixings and a salad bar. Great food, good people and super service for $7.50 each how can you beat it. We took 3 slices of the homemade pie back to our little pad for an after dinner snack.

Outside the restaurant we met the “coolest dude in town” Jared Lock, A young boy on BMX bike who lives next to our rented house. We hope to hear from him on our blog….Jared??

We only covered 73 miles today because of availability of a place to sleep. Remember our sleep spots determine our daily mileage. On the east coast we have many motels and other places to choose from. But out here in the boonies it is a bit different. There is nearly nothing to choose from. Tonight though we did good in that department with Pearls Place.

With our bellies full we retried to our little house for a good nights sleep.

73 Miles

1675 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 60 - 75 degrees

The "View" from the WoBeGon trail..


Tunnel

Update from the trail:

Bike Path Albany to Alexandria 45 miles along the highway.

Bike Path

Day 20 Princeton, MN -> Albany, MN

2011-08-10T08:10:00.006-04:00

Wednesday 10 August 2011. Day 6 Week 3

Easy day of riding and an even easier day of blog reporting.

75 Miles

2311 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 60 - 75 degrees

Day 19 Hudson, WI to Princeton, MN

2011-08-09T10:11:00.008-04:00

Tuesday 9 August 2011. Day 5 Week 3

Most people think climbing the hills or mountains is the hardest part of riding a bicycle across the country. It is not. The hardest part is overcoming the weather conditions Mother Nature tosses at you.
Today the wind was the big player for us. A steady sustained 20+ mph wind blew in our faces most of the day.

It is like climbing a never ending hill that wants to howl in your ears all day. At least when you are climbing a hill you see a reason for the effort you are giving up. But when you are on flat ground and have to push to go nowhere it gets frustrating. The panniers on our bikes act like parachutes slowing us down even more.

Our route took us north along the banks of the St Croix river before turning west at the end of the day. We left Wisconsin and returned into Minnesota and are now heading west towards the border between North and South Dakota.
We have had tires and supplies shipped from Connecticut to Aberdeen, SD. The plan is to restock our bikes and change tires for the next leg. We have to stay on schedule to pick up our package.

91 Miles
3051 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 70-78 degrees

Noon Report. Just talked to the team and they say it is quite windy, From Ken the WWTII reporter on the Scene himself,.

Morning news:
Looks like another good weather day for the team in and around Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota:
Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. Northwest wind between 14 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

Day 18 Winona, MN -> Hudson, Wi

2011-08-08T08:43:00.012-04:00

Monday 8 August 2011. Day 4 Week 3

Once again Mother Nature threatened to rain us out but did not deliver the goods.
Instead we had cool weather with mostly cloudy skies to push our heavy bikes down the road. Just perfect.

With the cool weather we were able to maintain a reasonable 13.5 MPH pace. It my seem slow but when you are running a bicycle that is loaded like a semi, 13.5 MPH is moving right along.
Early in the day we crossed into our 11th state of the tour, Wisconsin. This part of Wisconsin reminds me of Vermont with its small roads and dairy farms. Just like Vermont, Wisconsin is famous for cheese.

All the towns we passed today were very small. Most with populations of under 500 people. We did come across a town with a porta-potty that seemed to have it all, including an ATM. How convenient.
Just like on most of this trip all our roads today were scenic and nearly traffic free.

104 Miles

4226 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 75-80 degrees

Forecast for Winona:
Today: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Widespread fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph

Looks like the team is ready to cross the Mississippi again into Wisconsin. There are some hills along the river, look for the "climbing" number to be a little higher today.

Day 17 Ion, Iowa -> Winona, Minnesota

2011-08-07T06:10:00.005-04:00

Sunday 7 August 2011. Day 3 Week 3.

Moments after the alarm went off in our cabin at 5:30 AM we heard the rumble of thunder and saw the flashes of lighting. It was dark in the cabin and each lightning bolt lit the room for a moment like a flash bulb going off.
As the storm approached the wind picked up to the point where it was blowing and swirling like a hurricane. Next an incredible downpour of rain began.
Instead of getting out of bed each rider just laid there listening to what could be the beginning of a real bad day. Our cabin did not have a TV so we were unable to look at the weather forecast. In the back of everyone’s mind was “I am not going out in that stuff” it was raining that hard. Hopping on a bike in a storm like that would not only be miserable beyond words but also unsafe. The problem is we need to ride every day to stay on schedule and within our budget. Everyone knows Time=Money.
Just as quickly as the storm appeared it vanished. The wind stopped and so did the rain. Looking out the window we could see the ponds of water the downpour had created in just a few minutes.

We saddled up the metal ponies and after saying good-by to our friendly hosts at the Natural Gait we hit the road. That would be all Mother Nature would throw at us today.

The rest of the day was mostly cloudy and the temperature very comfortable in the low 80’s.

Our route went North and followed the Mississippi River. A few hours after leaving the cabin we entered the 10th state of the tour Minnesota.

We are seeing less corn and more trees and hills. Much better scenery for riding today’s 95 miles.

The once novel sighting of a crop dusting aircraft is now becoming the norm. Even we are getting use to seeing the dive bombing planes now.

95 Miles

4408 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 75-85 degrees

Team crossed into Minnesota about lunch time.

Day 16 Dyersville Iowa -> Ion, Iowa

2011-08-06T06:36:00.012-04:00

Saturday 6 August 2011. Second day of week 3.

Today we continue north in Iowa paralleling the Mississippi River on our way to Wisconsin. Weather conditions were beautiful in the mid 80’s and although humid, very tolerable.

At the crest of a hill the crew stopped for some water when a lone cyclist was spotted moving strongly up the hill towards us with saddle bags on. Once at the summit he rode over and introduced himself as Hugo from Austria. He was on a long journey from Canada to Tampa Florida! This guy was amazing. He was 64 years old and looked 50. He was traveling alone in a country he does not know winging it with a combination of Adventure Cycling maps and some paper maps from a gas station. He was camping almost every night and said he eats bananas and sour cream most of the time! Wow…..

Now that dude is one tough character. He is a retired school teacher and his wife is waiting for his return.

Later in the day a line of antique tractors came towards us. There must have been nearly 30 of them rolling down the road. They must have been going to or from a tractor show somewhere.

We still see corn all day but the rolling hills make it more enjoyable. Most roads are still traffic free. And when you do encounter a car or truck they cut you a huge path in the road. It is truly amazing the difference between the way drivers treat cyclists in Connecticut and here in the Midwest.

Today our mileage was cut short by the lack of available places to sleep. The crew only covered 73 miles on gently rolling hills. The next available sleep spot would have been 50 miles further. We decided a light day was due to us at this near 1/3 point in our journey. It actually worked out in our favor as we stayed in a real nice cabin at The Natural Gait in Ion Iowa.

Chow Down!

The cabin is out in the middle of nowhere on an unpaved road bordering the Yellow River. Tim and Joe cooked pasta, beans and corn that had been picked up in town 12 miles away. Also on the menu, tossed salad, a couple of tubs of macaroni salad and another tub of potato salad.

Now remember we have to load these supplies on our bikes for the 12 mile trip to the cabin. We also needed breakfast items and fluids to start the day. So lets add the rest of the new load to the bikes. A gallon and a half of water, oatmeal, powerbars and celebrate the 1/3 point a bottle of wine and 3 beers to have with dinner. Now you have some loaded down bikes to travel with. In the chow down photo inside the cabin take a look at Ken’s tan line…dude think you need to work on that!

73 Miles

3161 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 80-85 degrees

The weekend is here! Team has a short ride today north through Iowa.

Forecast for Dyersville:

Today: Scattered showers, mainly before 7am. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 84. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Day 15 Muscatine, IA to Dyersville IA

2011-08-05T09:29:00.005-04:00

Friday 5 August 2011. First day of week 3

Today was another cool, slightly overcast day which is perfect for cycling. We are still in the Corn Belt but vistas of the rolling hills and curving roads make it look different. Some of the farms we passed today were immense the biggest we have seen yet. Each with thousands of acres of corn covering the hills.

We came upon another crop dusting plane working the corn fields. They seem so unique and unusual to us but must be just a normal site for the locals. Two crop dusting helicopters landed in the grass strip right next to the motel after we arrived. The chopper landed no more than 40 yards from our room’s window. They were spraying the corn fields all day and the pilots and crew will spend the night at the motel before returning to work in the morning. Ken went over to one of the pilots and asked him some questions after they landed. Each chopper can hold 80 gallons of chemical which will treat about 40 acres of field. After 80 gallons / 40 acres the chopper lands and a pumper truck reloads their tank. They repeat the sequence for days until all the field is treated.

The roads were nearly traffic free again today. Early in the day a huge John Deere crop sprayer drove past us on the road. So big it nearly took up both sides of the road as it passed. The sprayer looked like some kind of Star Wars alien machine coming at us. It must have been 18’ tall and just as wide. The high pressure hydraulics that make it run squeal like some monster yelling at you as it whizzes by.

Finding places to sleep along our route is getting more difficult. Remember if you are in your car and you need to drive 30 miles to the next town for a motel it is no big deal. On a bike it can be a big deal. Especially if you already have 100 miles in the saddle already. The distance between sleep spots determines our daily mileage.

Because of this tomorrow (Saturday) will be a “short” day of about 60 miles. It was either 60 or 140 miles. We took the 60. A little break in mileage is good once and a while.

92 Miles

3649 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 75– 85 Degrees

Team is headed for Dyersville, Iowa. Just west of Dubuque.
Looks like good weather today. Today's updates as they come in.
And Now Ken Silvestri, Team Eliminator Roving Reporter

Day 14 Kewanee, Ill - Muscatine, IA

2011-08-04T10:00:00.007-04:00

Thursday 4 August 2011 Last day of week 2

Another day of cooler weather made for some very enjoyable riding. The terrain continues to improve with some rolling hills instead of the flat roads we have been on for the past 500 miles. We are faster in the hills.

Imagine looking up at the road ahead then looking down for 20 minutes then look up and the view is the same. That is what is what we see on those straight corn lined roads. Boring.

Traffic is non-existent on the roads we travel. The only thing we may see is a weird looking farm vehicle. When we do see a car they will go off into the grass when passing giving us the entire road. Unlike in Connecticut where the cars take the entire road and shove you into the grass.

Around mid-day we came upon a five mile stretch of milled asphalt. You know what I mean, that is when they grind grooves into the blacktop prior to paving. For us it was like riding on a rumble strip for 5 miles. I thought my eye balls were going to rattle out of my head. That lumpy stuff beat the crap out of us.

We only rode 80 miles today so it was an easy day. Remember our mileage is determined on where we will sleep that night. We shoot for 100 miles but it does not always happen. We have another "easy" day on Saturday. We will be limited to 65 miles due to lodging constraints.

We crossed the mighty Mississippi today. On the other side of the river we entered a new state Iowa.

80 Easy Miles

2639 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 75– 85 Degrees

Updates as they come in. Quiet so far. Team is on the road. Muscatine Iowa is the goal for today.
Forecast for Kewanee Ill for Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. East wind around 5 mph.
Winds from the East, however slight would be a huge advantage. Looks like a cooling trend is setting in across the Mid West that will help also.

3:45 PM the team reports they made good time today and just crossed into Iowa. Only a couple of miles to touch down for the day.

And Now the Noon report:

And a word from Joe and Tim:

Day 13 Pontiac Illinois to Kewanee Illinois

2011-08-03T08:15:00.006-04:00

Wednesday 3 August 2011 week 2

Mother Nature must have felt sorry for our little wagon train moving west and eased up a bit on the heat. It was still in the mid 90’s but some passing clouds made our existence on the road little easier today.

The Crew loaded up the bikes with extra water and food knowing how remote the route has become. We learned our lesson on that issue few hundred miles back. But even with the extra water on board we still got a little nervous during one long stretch between services.

At any temperatures over 90 degrees we need at least one bottle of water an hour to be somewhat comfortable. Don’t get me wrong anyone of us would love twice that much but it becomes too much to carry. You have to resist the urge to guzzle he bottle and just settle for a sip every few minutes.

It still amazes us the amount of corn and soybeans we have passed. Hundreds and hundreds of miles of fields reaching back as far as you can see with row after row of corn. We asked a farmer how many corn stalks are planted on each acre. He told us it was around 40,000!

He also told us the hybrid seeds they use cost about $250 for 80,000 seeds. It seemed a reasonable price until you do the math on planning one 1500 acre field. Just the seed would cost $187,500! Toss in some fertilizer and a couple crop dustings and you wonder how they make money. Don’t forget a combine to harvest the corn is another 300K!

We passed a John Deere dealer and he had a fleet of those $300,000 combines lined up like pickup trucks on a car lot. Amazing to see such an inventory but this is Americas Corn Belt.

Along our travels today we passed through Gotham City and spotted the Batmobile parked and ready to respond to any emergency. Batman and Robin were nowhere to be found.

Another thing we noticed is that absolute lack of any litter. No beer cans or McDonalds bags blowing along the road. But then, corn does not drink beer or eat at Mickey D’s. And since no cars travel on these roads there is no humans to litter. Besides you would have to travel 50 miles to even find a Mickey D’s. It sure is nice to see the clean roads though.

Is this the "Hill" he is referring to?

The terrain has started to make a change ear the end of our day. The arrow straight flat roads are slowly turning into gently rolling hills and curves. There was less corn fields and a few more trees. It would be nice to see something other than corn and beans for a while.

Hands and feet are improving but still a little tender. You grab the handlebars in 1000 different ways during the day trying not the beat the same spot on your palm over and over again. Ken moved the cleats on his cycling shoes so he would be pressing on a new part of his foot for a change. May as well make the whole foot tender instead of just one spot right?

93 Miles

2811 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 75-95 Degrees

Kens road report 2:30 PM EST

Tim confirming the Heat..

Team is up and on the road. The plan is to get in 100 miles which will take them just over the border (the Mississippi) into Muscatine, Iowa where the road turns north..

There are more photos then what are posted on the blog. Click on the Galleries link on the
Team Eliminator Web Site and select the All WWTII Photos album.

Pontiac forecast for today, WOW what a surprise...Wind...!!!!
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. North northwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

As the team heads West North West around Chicago headed for Iowa it puts their front pannier's (sails) right in the wind.
News as it comes.

Day 12 Remington, IN -> Pontiac, Illinois

2011-08-02T05:51:00.009-04:00

Tuesday 2 August 2011 week 2

More heat was on the menu for us this morning. It was already warm and muggy as we started out at 7:20 AM. A SW breeze had already started forming. This breeze would increase into a 20-25 MPH head wind. Now don’t think this wind blowing in your face helps cool you down, it does not. It feels more like a blow torch shoved in your face.

We are still on the remotest of farm roads with huge multi-thousand acre farms lining the roads on both sides with corn and soybeans. You are more likely to see a piece of farm equipment go by than a car or pick-up truck.

We pulled off the side of the road to take a couple sips of water when a truck pulled up and asked us where we were going. We told him of our journey and he told us his 85 year old father was the town Mayor. He then told us our route went right by his house and to stop by for some cold water. In near 100 degree heat we do not turn down any offers of cold liquids.

When we reached his house he was outside to greet us. Ken started asking him 1001 questions about the corn fields and the soybeans. After a few minutes Ken asked him if the people around here eat corn after seeing so much of it. “Of course we do, we have the best sweet corn you can find” he said. With that said he offered to cook some up for us to prove his point. Well we were not going to turn down an offer like that so inside is air conditioned house we went. The corn was spectacular especially salted and drenched in butter. More good people doing good things for others. Small town America at its best.

We entered the Central Time Zone today and crossed the border into Illinois.

98 Very HOT Miles

2515 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 78 - 99 degrees

What the Team did for Lunch: CHOW!!!!

See the GIANT tractors, FAST ones too....

Only miles from the State line we get a picture of the great downtown area of Sheldon, ILL
Joe is leading me to believe there are no cars, only lawn mowers and Farm tractors..

11:00 AM EST The team reports the Illinois state line is behind them. Headed for the GREAT state of Iowa.

Day 11 Wabash, IN -> Remington, IN

2011-08-01T10:14:00.007-04:00

Monday 1 August 2011 week 2

The heat continues and there is no relief in the short term forecast as far as we can see. Riding any bike in near 100 degree heat is a chore, toss on 75 pounds of gear and it becomes a full time job. The sun and radiating heat off the asphalt cooks us all day.

We have little shade and almost no services where we are riding. Ther reason for this is our mapping plan was to fined remote roads with little traffic. Well we are batting 1000 because we have no cars, no people and no services. Nothing is to be found but corn and soybeans.

With so few people living in the area stores are nonexistent. Gas stations are 20 o 30 miles apart. If you need gas for your car or mower it is a 45 minute trip. Not like Connecticut where there is a gas station on every corner. Here you have absolutely nothing.

The people here are so nice you swear they are trying to scam you but they are not. They are just good people. Good American people. One question people ask us all the time is do we “pack any heat” on these tours. In layman’s terms that means are we armed to protect ourselves. Well actually we should be packin’. Packing a box of “Thank You” cards that is. That way we can had them out whenever someone does something for us.

Our legs are getting used to the 100 miles a day but other body parts have some lingering difficulties. Our calloused palms are still tender from the relentless pounding the road gives us. Every crack or bump in the road pounds our already softened palms even more. Feet and of course the all important Rumpaurus take a beating all day. Remember we are on the bikes for 8 to 10 hours.

We spotted a crop duster working a field and had to stop and watch the duster in action. Dive bombing the fields and pulling up just in time not the hit power lines or trees. Theses pilots are wacky.

We logged another state into our quiver today Indiana.

108 Miles

2471 feet of Climbing

Temperature 75 -98 degrees

Long day in the saddle for Team Eliminator. Planned hotel was not acceptable, had to go another 17 miles to Remington instead of staying in Rensselaer. Mickey D's for supper. Yummm

110 mile day.

Forecast for Wabash Indiana, todays start point:
Today: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 91. Heat index values as high as 97. West wind around 10 mph.

I will be posting news from the road as it is available today.

The team just reported they were taking a break while Tim changed out a failed tire..

3:48 PM update. The team is on the road. Pushin' hard. The goal today is Rensselaer, Indiana. A small town just short (by car..) of the Illinois border.

Day 10 Defiance, OH to Wabash, IN

2011-08-01T08:40:00.007-04:00

Sunday 31 July 2011 Week 2


The only Shade all day

It was a real scorcher today with temperatures again reaching over 95 degrees. The sun was bright and hot on our already burnt skin. We all have developed the odd looking tan lines of a cyclist. The four white paws from having gloves and socks, raccoon eyes from sunglasses and Y shaped lines on the side of our face from the helmet strap.

Even with sun block on you can feel your skin sizzling away.

We are almost completely exposed with very few trees for shade. You may ride 10 or 20 miles before you can get a little speck of shade from a small roadside tree. All the trees have been cut down long ago for the planting of corn, soy and other crops.

Staying hydrated today was a serious problem. The remoteness of our route has us nowhere near any stores or sources of water. Between us we were carrying 13 water bottles and that was not enough. We ran out around 4PM and knew we would not see a store for at least 30 miles. Already somewhat dehydrated 30 more miles in the heat without water would have been very uncomfortable.

Ken spotted some people outside a house and pulled in to ask for water. They were happy to let us fill our water bottles. It seemed great at first but as soon as you raised the bottle to drink you could smell it. Sulfur. Oh it was nasty. I do not know how the people around here can drink the stuff. It stunk so bad we were worried the smell would not wash out of our bottles. But when you are as thirsty as we were you drink it.

Cold the water was tolerable but after the sun warmed it up it really became repulsive. Again if you are thirsty you will drink it, and we did.

It is obvious to us now we will need to get more water on board soon. The “real” remote sections of this journey are coming up! We may not have the house to ask for water in South Dakota or Wyoming. There is not convenience store on every corner. In fact there are not even any CORNERS! All we have is miles of straight roads and corn. Water is heavy to carry at 8.33 pounds a gallon but without it you will get in trouble quick.

We crossed into Indiana around 1PM the 7th state of our tour. A few miles into the state we came upon a crop duster working a cornfield. We had to stop and watch the action as it dive bombed the fields then pulled up before hitting the power lines. These pilots are insane.

Even the late afternoon sun was still hot and bright. We are so close to the change in time zone it does not get dark until well after 9PM even this time of year.

111 Miles

2204’ of Climbing

Temperature 85 – 95 degrees

Day 9 Fremont, OH to Defiance, OH via Michigan

2011-08-01T08:30:00.003-04:00

Saturday 30 July 2011 week 2


Mission Accomplished

Today was “Mission Michigan”. The goal was to roll our wheels into that state and snap a photo of proof in front of the welcome sign.

The weatherman said it was going to be a beautiful day and he was right. We were treated to plenty of bright sun and temperatures in the low 90’s. Way better than yesterdays rain.

This part of Ohio is very flat sparsely populated farmland. We rode by thousands of acres of corn and soybeans for as far as the eye can see. It is an amazing site for anyone who has not seen it before. The roads were pool table flat, straight as an arrow and traffic non-existent.

Around mid-day we ran into a couple of older cyclist on recumbent bicycles. We stopped and talked for a while. The two were brothers 82 and 85 years old. I hope I am riding at 85.

In Grand Rapids we spotted an ice cream parlor and pulled in for some cones. Ice cream is hard to resist when you are overheated and hungry on a bike. We promised the young girl who waited on us we would make her famous on the internet. American Idol… I know you are reading our blog….. Hers she is the next Carrie Underwood.

131 Miles

2250 Feet of Climbing

85-95 Degrees

Average over the past 9 days 103 miles a day!

Day 8 Seville, OH to Fremont, OH

2011-07-31T05:16:00.010-04:00

Friday 29 July 2011 Begin week 2

Ten minutes after departing this morning the heavily overcast sky opened up. Within a minute we were completely soaked. The rain stopped quickly and the sun started to make a comeback. It was like having Mother Nature dump a 5 gallon bucket of water on you. Splash ….. then say, “Have nice ride boys”….

Other then the early morning soaking the day went great. The hours spent researching the route is now paying off with beautiful cycling roads. You can ride down the center of the country road without worrying about traffic. There is none, this here is farm country. Well you do have to watch for the occasional 4 wheeler and Large Farm implements...

We rode by well kept farms and mile upon mile of corn and soybeans. An Amish farmer went by in his buggy to our surprise. We did not realize the Amish had farms in Ohio also. Out on one of the remote farm roads we came upon a couple of cyclists riding. Out here we have actually seen very few other riders and no bike shops at all. We stopped for a while and chatted. Ken gave the riders our web address we hope to hear from them.

After a few hours we came upon a small town. You always have to grab water whenever you have a chance because you may not see another store for a long time. This store was very unique to us. It was a drive through convenience store! You drive in one end and out the other, As you pass through two fast moving girls grab whatever you want from a grinder to a six pack of beer. You stay in your car and pay at the end.

It was an easy 87 mile day with a lot less climbing than the past few days have dished out. Saturday will be a different story though. We need to cover about 125 miles to each our next sleep spot.

The last part of our day was spent on a 7 mile “rails to trails” bike path. It was a freshly paved two lane path that was about 10’ wide.

Our bodies feel good and our legs are strong. Next stop Michigan.

87 Miles

2756 feet of Climbing

Temperature 75-85 degrees

Friday News from the road

2011-07-29T10:54:00.003-04:00

Just talked with the team. Friday started out with walking out of the Hotel in Seville and seeing the rain clouds.. Rain stopped about 10:00 AM and it is turning into a nice day to be on the bike!

See Ken racing across the wet Ohio roads.

1:00 PM EST. Looks pretty wet in north Ohio. Another day in the saddle.

Panoramic view of Ohio

Day 7 Poland, OH to Seville, OH

2011-07-29T08:57:00.011-04:00

Thursday 28 July 2011 End of week 1

We are a week into our tour and out of the major hills for a while. Our bodies have accepted the fact that they need to deliver us a full day of cycling without complaining. The tender hands feet and the all important rump pains are subsiding.

Our mileage is always determined by where we can find a place to sleep that night.

A cheerleading competition in Ohio this week has sucked up many of the hotel rooms along our route. We had to schedule a couple of shorter mileage days followed by a 125 miler to make things work. Nobody is complaining about the two short days. The longet day, well lets just call it "training".

Tim who was having some morning fueling problems at first has been able to eat more during the day. You have to keep the engine fueled to get in the miles. He is powering up to his normal strong pace. It will take us 10 days to get into the groove.

The morning forecast really looked terrible for us. Radar showed bands of heavy rain moving west to east along our route. We left the motel with all our rain gear in place. The skies were dark and it was already sprinkling. It really sucks to spend the day on a bike with rain falling on you.

Just a few miles down the road the rain stopped. All morning the sky looked like it could open up at any moment but the roads stayed dry. By midday the sun came out and the temperature peaked at 96 degrees. We were happy not to have rain in our face and our butts wet.

It was nice to have some relatively flat riding after the PA hills. Hopefully the west to east prevailing winds will stay under 20 mph as we enjoy the flat riding for a couple days. We have climbed almost 46,000 feet in the past 7 days!

A software crash has taken Ken’s GPS out for the last couple days. A call to Garmin was made and the decision that a reload of the mapping software will be needed. The large file took nearly two hours to download over the internet. It appears that his GPS is back in business.

Nice room tonight

Lotsa of good Food!

84 Miles

4056 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 75-96 degrees

Day 6 Brookville, PA to Poland, OH

2011-07-28T09:28:00.004-04:00

27 July Wednesday Week 1


Tooling through Western PA

Today’s cycling weather was perfect. Mid 80’s with no humidity and clear skies. Our goal was to reach Ohio and leave hilly Pennsylvania behind. A beautiful state but nothing but one hill after another. If you like hills you will love PA! With bikes running a 70+ pound load we lost our love of the hills on the third day.

We all woke with tender contact points. The palms being the worst for Ken and Tim. Our experience has told us day 4 and 5 are the worst. You need to get your body in the rhythm of turning out 100 miles a day. By day 10 normally you are in that rhythm. That makes days one through 9 just a bit tough..

Around 11AM while slowly climbing a hill (as opposed to climbing it FAST..) Ken’s cycling shoe pushed his fender into the front wheel. (wobbling..?) The fender folded, hitting the barely rotating front tire causing it to stop rotate entirely! Guess what happened next?

The front wheel stopped and over goes the bicycle. crash. It was a slow speed event but any fall stinks.

Tim and Joe came to his aid and quickly and assessed his bike was ok without any damage. After they were both sure the bike was intact they asked Ken if he was all right. He said he was OK. Does it seem a little odd they were more concerned with the bike then Ken. Well it is not odd. Any rider will tell you, “you can ride a bike with some road rash but not with a broken wheel”.

To ad insult to injury a little while later climbing another hill a bee stung Ken in the leg.

The crew was still feeling the disappointment of not having a good dinner on Tuesday night. We do not mind giving up the energy to push those overstuffed bikes up and down the mountains but at least feed us when the day is over. Feeding time is a significant part of the reward for putting in the miles and to get cheated of it hurt. The missed meal was made up for tonight though. We had a delicious pasta dinner at a local restaurant followed by some homemade ice cream. Yummy. Food is important!

The climbing should start to slow down as we work our way through Ohio on our way to Michigan.

There was another odd sighting by one of the riders. It was not big foot this time.

104 Miles

7808 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 75-85 degrees

Day 5 Lamar PA to Brookville PA

2011-07-27T06:04:00.007-04:00

26 July Tuesday Week 1
We have made contact. Team Eliminator is up and on the road. Distinct in the background was the sound of the wind already blowing at 8:30 AM. Team Eliminator reported Tuesday was another tough day in the saddle.

The Pennsylvania hills are living up to their reputation. Hill after hill with one notable climb that was over an hour. Good exercise. Difficult to do on twigs and berries..After a few hours with twigs and berries as fuel the gage starts dropping to 0. Then Boink..Good food on the road is always a challenge. Even in a car it is tough and at 8:30 PM in the evening in the middle of rural PA on a bicycle the choices narrow quickly. The team was stuck with a Burger King last night. Always A last choice.

Good temperatures on Tuesday, 75-85 but the treat was the WIND!! I suspect it (the WIND) will be a recurring topic of discussion as the days and weeks go by. Team has had almost everything now:

heat and rain and now the wind. We can add the last weather variable, snow to the list later in the ride..

All in all it was another day in PA.

Body contact spots are tender for all. To be expected on day 5.

8146 climbing

109 miles

75-85 temperature and the road was climbing all day. No downhill, what an odd road :-)

Day 4 Hazelton, PA to Lamar, PA

2011-07-26T06:21:00.002-04:00

25 July Monday Week 1
The weather for the fourth day in a row proved to be a problem for us. For the first three days it was heat and humidity beating on us, today it was rain and plenty of it. A string of large thunderstorms passed through Pennsylvania around the I-80 corridor which happens to be the area of our route. The heavy downpours turned both sides of the road into raging rivers at times. Just as it appeared that the sun was going to reappear another thunderstorm would roll through.

Our cycling shoes fill up with water giving each of us a pair of personal wading pools for our feet. Even though the rain was bad it was actually better than the torturous unrelenting heat and humidity we had the first 3 days.

Our rolling route took us past perfectly manicured Amish farms with very little traffic. The excellent cycling roads made the rain much easier to handle.

One of the riders says he thinks he saw Sasquatch running in a field and snapped a photo. Could it have been the mysterious creature?

102 Moist Miles

5287 Feet of Climbing

Temperature 75-85 degrees

Day 3 Mt. Olive, NJ to Hazelton, PA

2011-07-25T05:59:00.009-04:00

24 July Sunday Week 1
Today was overcast but still hot with most of the day lingering around 90 degrees with oppressive humidity. Whenever we stopped our bikes it felt like our bodies were melting with sweat. At least when we are moving you get some air conditioning. The air was so thick it almost would not fit in our nostrils.

We crossed the Delaware River into PA on a foot bridge and started riding what is known as Bicycle Route V. We were treated to some absolutely beautiful riding conditions. Scenic back country roads with almost no traffic. We will stay mostly on this route while in bicycling through PA.

Joe managed to snag a piece of metal that was on the road and we experienced the first flat of the trip just as it started to sprinkle. For the next couple of hours we dodged the rain drops.


WET

As we got deeper into Pennsylvania the hills started coming on. PA is a hilly state and we are expecting more of the same tomorrow. Our biggest climb of the day was up Jonas Mountain. With the heavy bikes it took 40 minutes to make the 3 mile climb to the top.

Normally we have found day 4 is when you start finding body parts that are not as enthused with the bicycle as you are. Tim is complaining of sore feet and a slight case of diaper rash. Kens ripped up rump has improved greatly and that was replaced with sore blistered palms. By day 7or 8 we should all feel fine as we get into the routine of riding.


Wet in PA

103 Miles

7646’ of Climbing

Temperature 85-90 HUMID (the perfect HHH day)

Day 2 Danbury, CT to Mt Olive NJ

2011-07-24T06:12:00.005-04:00

23 July Saturday week 1
The alarm seemed to come earlier than the 5:30 AM it was set for after getting to bed after midnight. A late arrival at our motel and the need to change our route took gobs of time.

We hit the road after a not so tasty motel continental breakfast and crossed into NY State.

First order of business after we hit the road was to find a pharmacy for Ken. He needed some diaper rash ointments badly. Playing in the Fire Departments water spray then riding with wet shorts yesterday was a bad idea. Lose your rumpus on a bike and you are finished.

The approach to Bear Mountain bridge over the Hudson was loaded with summer traffic. Crazy New York and Jersey drivers made for a little white knuckle riding. Once over the bridge the traffic eased.

We ran into a couple from the Netherlands on their bikes touring America. This was their second trip to the US to tour by bicycle. We offered them some routing information and then parted ways.

The next part of the days ride was on some beautiful roads that a fellow rider Art from New Your had plotted for us. They were great roads with almost no traffic.

The temperature was already in the low 90’s by 11AM. A layer of clouds blocked the sun making the high temperature much more bearable thane yesterdays roasting.

We crossed into New Jersey just as the air started heating up a little more. Everyone took in plenty of salt today and the cramping from the day before was gone. Our day ended at Mt Olive New Jersey,

100.2 Miles

6903 Feet of Climbing

Mix of Clouds and sun 95 degrees