No Chain

Final Thoughts.

2010-05-27T20:32:00.001-04:00

"Too often we are scared of what we might not be able to do. Scared of what people might think if we tried. We let fears stay in the way of our hopes. We say 'no' when we want to say 'yes'. We sit quietly when we want to scream. And we shout with the others when we should keep our mouths shut. Why? After all, we do only go around once. There's really no time to be afraid."

I don’t know if it really feels like we have just cycled across the country yet, seeing the ocean laid before us at Bethany Beach was a completely surreal event. I do know that I feel like I’ve been away from home (wherever that is right now) for a long time. My bed is in Columbus, my job is in Chicago, my family and friends are everywhere in between and it’s time for me to get off of my bike and back to the real world. It was easy to grow into the cycle of the trip: ride, eat, sleep and it will definitely be hard to leave it and be a grown up again.

Every day of the trip was its own story, I hope I even did a little bit of them justice by documenting them here. For the past 2 months we woke up and had a goal to move a few more miles across this vast country, some days we did them fast, some days we struggled to stay up right because we were pedaling along so slowly up a mountain. Some days were fun and an adventure around every turn, and some days just plain hurt; but they are all memories that I love and hopefully 10 or 20 years from now when I come back to read these entries Ill still cherish them all like I do now.

I learned a lot from this trip both from the people I was riding with and the roads themselves. I learned that some times you have to get off the interstate and enjoy the country roads of

America

, stop at scenic overlooks and eat at the place that all the locals are at. I learned that we all need to visit the National Parks more often, watch sunsets and appreciate nature for all it has to offer. I learned that everyone has a story, sometimes you just have to ask the right questions. I also learned that in life you have to take a chance, go for it. I just rode my bike across the country with 22 other people at 20 mph, through deserts, up mountains and across Texas, anything is possible if you are truly passionate about it.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog, I was a science major so hopefully my words were adequate. Thank you for those who made the donations that helped make this trip possible. Thank you for all of those that came out and met us along the way, you don’t know how much those visits meant. Thank you to all the churches, schools, community centers, hospitals, and random people that took care of us in too many ways to name along the way. Thanks to my mom and dad for all their support every single day. Thanks to Maggie, Katie and Libby and rest of the leadership team for all the time and efforts you put in to make this ride possible. Thanks to all the other riders, I loved hearing your stories, riding in your pace lines and consider you all friends and cycling teammates for the rest of my life. I'm not cool enough to have a blog in real life so this is the end for me. On to the next journey, No Chain!

Ocean to Ocean.

2010-05-27T20:07:00.004-04:00

Pacific.

Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world. Indeed, they are the only ones that ever have.

– Margaret Mead

Atlantic.

Bethany Beach, Delaware

2010-05-27T19:57:00.003-04:00

"A ship in the harbor is safe. But that is not what ships are built for."

-William Shedd

The ride to Bethany beach was more ceremonial than an actual day of riding but it was great to be together on our bikes for 3 more hours before the group all went their separate ways. After driving away out of D.C. due to traffic and over the bridge that crosses Chesapeake Bay because cyclists are not allowed on it we ended up riding about 50 miles for the day. The vans were parked a mile out from our final destination so we knew when to really begin the celebrations. Champagne was toasted, a ton of pictures were taken and we rode in together as a group of 25 right up to the boardwalk bordering the Atlantic Ocean before everyone took off on a dead sprint for the water. Jumping into the ocean with my helmet and jersey still on with all of the other riders definitely go some interesting looks from the other beachgoers but we were all having so much fun it didn’t matter. People had to start heading home for graduations, weddings, etc as soon as we finished up so the goodbyes began way too soon; I hadn’t really prepared myself for it all to come to a close so quickly. Once we got the people on the road who had to go we road the 1 mile to our accommodations for the night. We stayed at some very nice condo’s just down from the boardwalk that overlooked the ocean so after one last team dinner we spent the night down on the beach watching the sunset and telling stories from our amazing trip. I don’t think anyone really wanted to go to bed because we all knew that would signal the end but after 2 months of constant traveling and a big day of driving back to Columbus ahead of us we all hit the bed pretty early.

I plan on posting one more blog to try and put the whole trip in words, we'll see what I can come up with because it's going to be hard to cover everything that needs to be said. No Chain!

One last new state!

One last paceline.

It's probably safe to bike with champagne in your back pocket.

Slow clap at the last traffic light.

Up the boardwalk.

Pretty happy to be here.

Pure joy.

Wet.

I have one of these with the Pacific and the Atlantic. I rode my bike from picture to picture.

Dr. Money. He really is graduated and a doctor now. Scary.

Not a bad view from our condo.

Katie.

D.C. Off Day

2010-05-27T19:57:00.000-04:00

The National Capital

I covered a lot of ground in my off day in D.C. A tour of the capitol, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court and an afternoon in Georgetown barely touched all the sights that I wanted to see but I guess that will just be another reason to come back again some day. USA! No Chain!

The Freedom Statue.

The Rotunda Room

The ceiling of the rotunda room

Love the quote at the Library of Congress.

The Supreme Court

The spiral staircase at the Supreme Court

Georgetown's Medical School

Washington, D.C.

2010-05-27T07:42:00.000-04:00

"Well of course. I mean there’s nothing better than being an American…so…I mean this is the greatest feeling. If you don’t love it, leave it. U.S.A. number one!"

- Ricky Stanzi after winning the Orange Bowl for the Iowa Hawkeyes

The trip into Washington D.C. was everything I expected and built it up to be in my mind the past 3200 miles. We awoke to ominous clouds and basically a 100% chance of rain but we all were smiling as we pulled away from the last high school we would be staying at on this trip. We rode the first 30 miles as a large pack before the clouds opened up and drenched us from head to toe. We stopped at the first water break to be told by the support team of a monster climb coming up ahead on a very busy highway, the shop guys at a local bike store basically called it a “death trap for cyclists”. We broke into 3 groups each being trailed by a van to protect us from the cars and trucks that were flying by us at 70 miles per hour as we slowly trudged up the 2 mile climb into the clouds. By the top of the mountain you could barely make out the rider in front of you do the thickness of the moisture, Libby referred to it as biking through “pea soup”. After the climb it was basically downhill into the city so we rode at a pretty quick pace despite the ongoing torrential downpour. We rode from the outskirts of town on a bike trail leading straight to the heart of the city, as the density of traffic and buildings around us grew so did our pace as we all knew that around one of the next bends the Washington Monument would come into view. We crossed the Potomac and arrived at the feet of Lincoln sitting in his chair with the reflecting pool and the National Capital lying in front of us. I’ll never forget the feeling of riding my bike on to the National Mall with a pack of 10 other riders who just had the experience of a lifetime crossing the

United States

to get there. To have the history of

America

on display in front of us after seeing so much of it up close and personal on our bikes the past 7 weeks brought goose bumps, high fives and wild yells of pure joy from the entire pack. We offered each other congratulations and then raced from monument to monument and finally the White House to have our pictures taken to culminate the end this amazing trip. The reactions from all the other tourists at the monuments when we told them how far we had come; were eerily similar to the reactions we got in California and Arizona when we told them how far we had to go. We waited for the rest of the riders to arrive at the Lincoln Memorial before a group shot was taken and we headed to our destination for the evening the Presbyterian meeting house in Alexandria, Virginia. I don’t know if what we have accomplished has completely set in yet, maybe diving into the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday will help but I think mostly it hasn’t because I’m just not ready to be done cycling yet. Only 50 miles to go, No chain!

On the path into town, the first time I could take a picture all day after the rain finally stopped.

Just hitting the sidewalks of D.C.

Getting very close.

'Merica!

Check the red, white and blue arm warmer. GBA.

Shortly after taking this picture I was escorted out by security, they don't love bikes that close to their monuments.

Just rode my bike to the White House, no big deal.

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Pretty Amazing!

Front Royal, Virginia

2010-05-27T07:27:00.001-04:00

The elevation profile for our ride today. You can see how steep and how long that second climb was.

The same people who told us about the mountains between Elkins and Petersburg also said that it was all downhill to Front Royal, our next stop on this trip, I don't know what roads they were taking but they definitely weren't the ones we were on today. Another 5000 feet of climbing later (Close to 20,000 feet in 3 days) we arrived in Petersburg, Virginia, our last night before heading to D.C. in the morning. After starting out the first 20 or so miles on pretty flat territory in a pretty tight paceline with a few of the riders things went up hill quickly. Pete and I got out front of the pack on the first climb and stayed in front all day, not even seeing anyone at the lunch stop where we took about a 30 minute break which never happens. It was a lot of fun to ride for four hours with one of my best friends on this trip and personally challenge myself to stay on his wheel as he is one of the best climbers I've ever met. Their was really only 2 mountains between the two towns but one climb I'll remember forever occurred right at the border between West Virginia and Virginia. 4.5 miles, 30 minutes and a 9-10% grade the entire way had me questioning my ability to continue to move forward multiply times on the way up. I was dripping with sweat and breathing hard when I took those last few peddle strokes at the peak. We had a little celebration at the top as the support van was parked there and with the state border sign right there it was a great photo op. The descent was awesome, lasting about 5 miles with some pretty sharp turns but it started to pour as we began our way down so it felt like we were being pelted with tiny pebbles the whole way. We went through some rolling hills and fought a pretty strong head wind the last few miles into Petersburg but still managed to arrive right around 1 pm. During the afternoon we headed to yet another national park, Shenandoah National Park, home of skyline drive, a 105 mile winding road that rides the crest of the blue ridge mountains it's entire distance. Due to some pretty crappy weather we only got to experience the breath taking views to about 1900 feet before we ascended into a cloud and couldn't even see the cars in front of us on the highway. I'll definitely have to come back again some day to get the real deal because the small glimpse I got was awesome, and I can only imagine the beauty in the fall when the colors come out. We all went to dinner at an old mill in historic downtown Front Royal before calling it a night to prepare for our big ride into Washington, D.C. tomorrow. Can't wait to make it to 'Merica's national capital! No Chain!

Not a warning sign you like to see

Pete Descending

Our winding road through the valley

Not my picture, it was too cloudy, but it gives you an idea of how awesome Skyline Drive is.

My Cycling Family

2010-05-24T19:59:00.001-04:00

It’s hard to explain to people who are not apart of this trip how much the guys (and girls) I ride with mean to me as we traveled across the country. It’s difficult to explain the sense of closeness that can come with mile after mile of riding together on this trip. How you can come to quietly understand and recognize subtle shifts in each other’s cadence, posture and effort as we press against the wind, up and down mountains, through valleys and deserts. They understand and feel the same pain that I do on the hard days and we all celebrate together on the good days and when we accomplish something amazing like summiting yet another mountain. They know the roads we have traveled and the towns that we have passed through in ways that few others may ever fully appreciate. Sometimes it feels as though they pulling me along and sometimes I pull them. Some days our paces are in sync and other days I know that they are thinking I am too fast or too slow. I have watched them work hard when they are tired, even when their bodies and minds are telling them to just stop for the day and hop in the support van. I appreciate their words of encouragement as much as I appreciate the silence that often falls over the group as we work hard in the paceline to make our way through mile after mile, day after day, week after week. I’ll miss all of them when we go our separate after we dip our tires into the ocean; hopefully our paths (or bike paths) will cross again some day out on the road. Thanks for the journey of a lifetime to all of you. No chain!

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

2010-05-24T19:26:00.000-04:00

Below is a great quote from Don Miller one of my favorite authors who wrote a really good book about telling a better story with your life including his own personal account of his bike trip across the country:

“When you fly across the country in an airplane the country seems vast, but it isn’t vast. It’s all connected by roads on can ride a bike down. If you watch the news and there’s a tragedy at a house in Kansas that guy’s driveway connects with yours, and you’d be surprised how few roads it takes to get there. The trip taught us that we were all neighbors, that my life is connected to everybody else’s, that one person’s story has the power to affect millions.”

- Don Miller

I thought about this passage from the book a lot today as I was plodding up the mountains of West Virginia. How La Jolla beach on highway 1 is connected to the driveway at Joe’s house in Las Cruces, New Mexico and the parking lot of the First Baptist Church in Ranger, Texas is just a thousand miles east on those same roads. How the main street we paraded down at the Western Tennessee Strawberry Festival is connected to the roads that lead to Mammoth Cave National Park in the middle of Kentucky. How we somehow 6 weeks later through just a few turns ended up on the roads that led back home to Columbus, Ohio. In the end they will all be connected to the highway that leads Bethany beach, the end of our journey just a couple of days away for us now. It’s truly a small world connected by just a few roads, especially when you get off the interstate and enjoy the country and the people of America like we have the past 7 weeks. What an amazing, life changing experience traveling down all of them this trip has been.

Petersburg, West Virginia

2010-05-24T19:14:00.005-04:00

The pastor at the church we are staying at in Petersburg, West Virginia told us as we arrived that when people go to Elkins, where we stayed last night, they don’t pay attention to the mileage between the two towns they just count the mountains between them. "5 mountains and a bunch of hills" quickly became the description of the mileage for today’s ride by the team. It was an epic day of riding that will go down with our day into Guadalupe National Park and the Natchez trail as rides that I’ll remember forever. We pulled out of town this morning we quickly hit our first major climb that lasted about 25 minutes and summited at Cheat mountain around 2600 feet, after being a little cool when we first started it quickly became a stripping of layers at the peak from the work that took to get there. The next 30 miles were all pretty, put your head down and climb at 6 mph to a summit, have your breath taken away by a beautiful view and then plunge down the other side at 45 mph white knuckled around sharp bends only to do it all over again, it was amazing! One of the more deaf defying descents came just after the Eastern Continental Divide, it was around a 10% grade for 3 miles and featured multiple curves that had warning signs for cars to slow to 25 mph, we were taking them at 40 mph on 23 cm of rubber, I was seriously concerned about the physics of it all but was having too much fun to slow down. Jeff and Adam ended up interspersed in a pack of motorcycles on the way down; it was awesome to watch a motorized vehicle pulling off of a bike at such high speeds. We climbed half of yesterday’s total for the day in the first 18 miles alone right around 2300 feet, but even though it hurt I did it all with a smile on my face because how often do you get the opportunity to accomplish something like that during your day? The entire ride was spent in Monongahela National Forest so the scenery was unbelievable on the way up and down, many of the climbs were bordered by mountain streams and the sound of water crashing over the rocks was very peaceful as we plugged away to reach the next peak. We took a left hand turn at mile 35 when we hit Seneca Rock, a huge outcropping of stone from the side of one of the peaks and followed a white water river the final 25 miles that were relatively flat into Petersburg. I made sure to take a lot of pictures today because I knew I could never adequately describe the magnificence of our surroundings, I hope you enjoy them. No chain!

Peak #1

Unbelievable views.

Peak #2

Crazy we got up there.

Riding in the clouds.

Fast.

Whitewater.

Continental Divide #2, Peak #3

Peak #4

Hit Seneca Rocks, turn left.

The final stretch into Petersburg was mostly flat, and completely beautiful.

Libby taking a tight bend at nearly 50 mph

I took a video the last hill of the day, I almost died doing it when I hit a pothole midway down but I still think it came out pretty well.

Elkins, West Virginia

2010-05-20T21:20:00.004-04:00

"Dye mon, gen mon"

- A Haitian proverb, translated: Beyond mountains, there are mountains

Each day I try my best to explain what we accomplished, what we saw and how we got to our next stop along the way but sometimes it's hard to describe what we went through as a team over the miles and hours spent on our bikes. It's easy as I sit here and type to say that as a team we went 93 miles, climbed 6200 feet, including one hill that lasted 5 miles and now our legs hurt but that doesn't begin to express what we experienced on the roads that led to our destination and only the other 25 riders will truly know. It's just us and sometimes I think that is what brings us closer together as a group. Although we all come from different backgrounds no one else is having these experiences with us, and these experiences bind us together as a team. It truly was a scenic day of riding as the riders spent most of the day enveloped by a wall of trees, which helped keep the sun and the heat of the day off, something we haven't had to deal with for awhile as the weather has been less than ideal. After starting the morning on a busier highway on the way out of Harrisville we made a right turn onto county road 151 and got up close and personal with the back country of Appalachia, where porch sitting seems to be the main pastime. It amazes me just how out in the middle of nowhere people will live, 30 or 40 miles from any type of service but I'm sure they all find some joy in being so far off the grid or they wouldn't do it. There is really no such thing as flat lands in West Virginia, just roads that lie in the valleys separating one climb from the next. We seemed to spend most of the day either going up or coming down and for some reason it always feels like more of the prior. In the end everyone survived and we are now staying overnight in the town of Elkins where we are surrounded by mountains in every direction, it truly is a beautiful small town whose main industry is the recreation that takes place in the surrounding country. The church we are staying at is cool and dark, everyone will probably crash early as I'm sure tomorrow will continue to test the strength and stamina of our legs and minds. I cant wait to get back out there. No chain!

If you were the marble champion of USA, you would have this in your front yard too.

The sun. Holy crap.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, super creepy. Served as a sanctuary for the mentally ill during the 1800's. Housing up to 2000 patients at one point during it's prime.

Poor Katie's bike. Her derailer is broken and she can't get into her large cassette now. The guy at the bike shop told he could get a new part for her in 2 weeks. We finish next Tuesday.

Finally descending.

As we hit the outerlimits of Elkins. Beautiful.

We forgot to shut the passenger door at the bikeshop. We quickly got a new mascot.

If the insane asylum wasn't scary enough, Pete found a clown suit in the church we are staying at. I jumped.

Harrisville, West Virginia

2010-05-20T20:12:00.001-04:00

"Country roads, take me home

To the place, I be-long

West virginia, mountain momma

Take me home, country roads"

- John Denver (You're welcome Mike Kelley)

We started the day climbing and ended much the same as we have now entered into the Appalachian foothills territory. It was a long day on the road thanks to the time it takes to climb some of those hills and a few detours due to poor road conditions. One of the more interesting moments of the day happened at about mile 30 when we were descending on a country road at about 40 miles per hour that then decided to change into a gravel road about half way down, I have never gripped the handle bars so tightly and I basically held my breath the rest of the way down, praying that I would stay up right on my bike (and alive). We biked on back country roads, divided highways and a few gravel roads (at least 15 miles worth, not a lot of fun) to arrive in Harrisville, West Virginia, which is basically the definition of the middle of nowhere. Chris keeps walking around humming the theme from the movie Deliverance which really seems fitting right now as I stare out the window at the rain coming down in the dark. Wild and wonderful (state slogan) West Virginia really is beautiful country though as we are surrounded by peaks and forests in every direction and were continually today as we rode. We ended up going up 4600 feet today, the second largest climbing day of the trip and the most since Arizona. Two climbs in particular really put it to us today, one as we exited Athens which was noteworthy due its steep grade over about 3/4 of a mile and one just after we entered into West Virginia a long a busy stretch of highway 50 east that lasted nearly 2 miles and took a lot of persistence to overcome. I think we were all pretty beat towards the end but we still chose to take the hillier route into town through North Bend State park rather than stay a long the main road, it added about 1000 feet of climbing over the last 7 miles but was definitely worth the effort as the views were amazing and the steep, curvy descent was a great way to finish into town. Pete, Chris and I had ridden pretty fast all day so we knew we had some time to kill before the rest of the group arrived we stopped by an old school 5 and dime store and chatted with the owner for awhile before he recommended that we grab a bite to eat at the diner next door, Caroline's. Some cheeseburgers and milk shakes later we biked the last couple miles (luckily that were down hill) to the 4-H campground where we are staying for the night. Just another location to add to the list of places where I thought I would never spend a night but now have. Big Big climbing day tomorrow, (a common theme since we've left Columbus) can't wait for the challenge. No chain!

A happy rider even 75 miles in.

One of many climbs. I've come to learn that not being able to see the top when you start is never a good sign.

Riding partners.

Berdine's 5 & Dime (the oldest 5 & dime in the country). I swear this store had everything you could ever need in your entire life. It's been in business since 1908 so people must keep finding what they need.

The owner really liked Pete so he got the biggest jawbreaker I have ever seen for free.

Caroline and her diner. A fine dining experience.

Athens, Ohio

2010-05-19T18:57:00.002-04:00

I questioned turning my bike around and heading right back to Columbus a few times on the road out of town yesterday morning, it was hard to pull away from my bed, friends and family especially with some hard days of riding that lay ahead of us. We cruised through downtown Columbus before heading south out of the city along flat roads for the first 20 or so miles before things really got going for the day. After being off for a few days over the weekend the shock of the first couple of climbs as we neared Hocking Hills State Park was felt by everyones legs as our speeds rapidly dropped as we struggled up them in our "granny"/"bail out" gears. We spent the next 70 miles climbing, descending and then doing it all over again, it really kept things interesting to say the least. I had ridden to Athens previously with other group rides and never remembered the number or severity of the climbs we had, I think the lead van was actively searching them out or something. We ended up with right around 3600 feet of climbing for the day which isn't a huge number but was definitely enough to up the dosage of ibuprofen that night as we hammered them pretty hard overall. It was very overcast for most of our ride, we even rode through some light sprinkles for a couple of miles early on but as soon as we pulled into our destination the sky opened up and it just poured, sometimes it pays off to ride fast.

We arrived in Athens around 2 pm and our event with the med students didn't begin until 6 so we ended up killing a lot of time in the student union in the middle of campus, we checked out the cafeteria, played some pool and grabbed some quick naps. The presentation to the students went really well and was attended by a lot of people who were very receptive of our message and mission. We had home-stays arranged for our lodgings so Roshan and I got to go home after the event with one of the new faculty members at the college of medicine, she had beds for both of us which was a welcomed surprise at the end of a long day. Big day of climbing coming up, No Chain!

One of the few flat sections that allowed us to form a paceline on.

When this is located on top of a hill, you know you've climbed a lot.

Our Destination.

One More Week on this Journey

2010-05-18T21:54:00.002-04:00

"We start here, and we go there. But it's not that simple, is it? Our paths may be circuitous or direct. We may gaze excitedly ahead, or cast our eyes regretfully behind. Until we reach our destination it exists only in our minds. It is what we have imagined it to be. And yet we tend to neglect the journey, which is real, in favor of the destination, which is not.

For too long I neglected this journey. It was an obstacle to be overcome, an ordeal to be endured; for I had never chosen the journey, I had chosen the destination. But now that the journey has ended, I have discovered that here isn't so important after all. I find myself looking back with particular fondness for how I got here."

- From the book " Hot Lights, Cold Steel" by Dr. Michael J. Collins

Columbus, Ohio

2010-05-18T21:41:00.000-04:00

And if it's crowded, all the better,

because we know we're gonna be up late.

But if you're worried about the weather

then you picked the wrong place to stay.

That's how it starts.

Where are your friends tonight?

- LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

Home. After 97 miles of riding Pete and I came around a bend in the road to one of the best things I've seen this entire trip, the Columbus skyline on the horizon. 7 more miles and we were back at Katie's house the place where we had left more than 6 weeks earlier as we pulled out of town. It was a pretty easy 104 miles overall, especially with the endorphins flowing to get to our final destination. The first 70 miles were on a rail to trail path which is an awesome project that is spreading across the country where they convert old rail road tracks into bike paths, our was specifically part of the Little Miami Scenic Trail. The best part about old train is they couldn't climb hills or turn to well so our ride was very flat, smooth and fast. Once we got off the trail and back on the highways we had a great tailwind for the final 30 or so miles so it was a really quick day of riding in the end. We actually finished on roads that I used as part of my training rides so it was a lot of fun to be back riding in familiar territory with all the other cyclists. My friends (Mike, Paul and Amy) set up the final "water" stop right at mile 100 in front of their condo complex, although there wasn't any actual water provided the entire team took the time to stop and have a drink or two before peddling the last few miles.

After pulling in Friday we didn't have to pull out of Columbus until early on Tuesday morning so all of the Ohio State based riders got to enjoy 4 straight nights in our own beds, pretty amazing! You would think with 3 days in our hometown we would have had time to relax, recharge and get ready for the final week of riding but I feel like I barely got the chance to sit down. I managed to pack all the Ride for World Health events, errands, golf, some naps, a baseball game, bowling and going out with all my friends into a very short period of time.

Although we weren't biking from city to city we still had to do a lot for the Ride. Sunday was one of our bigger events of the entire trip as we a long with our awesome sponsor Roll hosted a ride around Columbus with over 130 local cyclists participating. We ran out of maps, shirts and food but I still think everyone had a good time and it was a great opportunity to spread our message to a lot of people who truly appreciated our mission and trip. Monday was Global Health day at the Ohio State's medical campus, after having a ride in to the medical school on our bikes we gave our lecture before having the chance to hear from both our beneficiaries who had people fly in to speak to us. Getting to meet the people face to face who we have been advocating, educating and fundraising for over the past 6 months was truly a moving experience and the message and thanks they shared with us will be my motivation as we push through the Appalachians and into D.C. this next week. Only one more week of riding until we hit the ocean, No Chain!

Mike wears jorts and has a puppy, he's pretty much my dad.

Ballgame.

Buzz, Buzz and Amy.

Great turnout for our solidarity ride.

I led the 20 mile loop for the group ride.

Bowling?

We can't take this guy anywhere.

Serious bowling.

Our welcoming crew, braving the rain at Global Health Day.

Tim and Adam made it to PJ's at bar close, they are basically OSU undergrads now.

Cincinatti, Ohio

2010-05-13T18:13:00.000-04:00

"So maybe tomorrow,

Ill find my way home."

- Stereophonics

We crossed into Ohio about 20 miles into our 35 mile ride today, it was pretty anticlimatic as we were on a back road with no big sign announcing our arrival. I personally didn't even realize we had done it until I started noticing all the license plates of the cars we were passing displayed the red, white and blue pattern of my current homestate. It was a pretty easy ride overall as 35 miles is not really even long enough ride for us to worry about anymore, which says a lot about the number of miles we have been packing in on this trip. We even got to sleep in till 7:30 this morning because we knew it would take less than 2 hours to arrive at our destination especially with the light tailwind that was pushing us a long highway 50 at very quick clip. We finished up a pretty decent mile long climb to reach the University of Cincinatti Medical Center which sits on a hill overlooking downtown. We were gave our presentation over lunch at the college of medicine, it was one of our best attended events yet. I just got back from running Chris to the airport as he is the first in the group to become doctor when he graduates at Boston University this weekend, which is a scary scary thought after spending a lot of time with him on this trip. Tonight we have a lot of friends and family coming into town to join us on our 110 mile trip to Columbus in the morning, I hope they have been training because that is a long ways to go and the weather is not supposed to be that great. We also have another presentation to some residents at Christ Hospital which is also located in town. Big day tomorrow both in terms of the riding and the events planned so I'm sure we'll all turn in pretty early. Can't wait to see the Columbus skyline, No chain!

Team Tango leading the way into Ohio!

Just cruising through downtown.

Aurora, Indiana

2010-05-12T22:17:00.000-04:00

"Don't, Don't you worry about the atmosphere

or any sudden pressure changes."

- A lyric by Andrew Bird

After a good night’s sleep at Chris’s friends house the riders took off pedaling hard and moving fast to stay ahead of a coming band of showers and storms that was on the horizon. Most made it about 20 miles out of town before the sky exploded and lightening lit up the sky, the support vans quickly swept up those they could while many found shelter at a gas station along the way. Luckily no one was caught out in the open for too long but everyone was pretty soaked while we patiently waited for the worst to pass. We drove ahead in the vans with everyone racked to the designated lunch stop at mile 53 where we waited for another system to clear the area before they took off again. Once the dark clouds were far enough east the weather really improved and a great afternoon of riding was possible for the last 40 miles. Signs along the highway we were riding on warned of steep descents and sharp curves and they weren’t kidding. Combined with the wet pavement the riders couldn’t really attack them like they wanted to but still had a lot of fun jetting through the back country roads that ran along a now rushing river from the heavy rains. We passed through a couple of small towns before turning onto a 4 lane highway for the last 7 miles into Aurora. After the not so great hot start I think everyone was glad we waited out the storm to finish today’s ride. The church we are staying at had a great dinner waiting for us when we pulled in which we really appreciated after such a long day in the road (especially since it meant my support team didn’t have to cook!). We gave a presentation to some of their congregation before heading to bed early to prepare for the big weekend we have coming up in Columbus! We hit the great state of Ohio tomorrow, which means two things: 1.We have come a long long ways on our bikes 2. We are almost done. I can’t wait to get back on the road tomorrow. No Chain!

Raging river from all the rainfall.

Descending on a steep wet hill. Very very carefully.

Faster than it looks.

The main pack making a sharp curve.

Roshan & Libby celebrating the end of a tough climb.

I guess the pastor's son likes listening to Andrew Bird too.

Louisville, Kentucky

2010-05-12T21:40:00.002-04:00

"how much can you know about yourself

if you've never been in a fight"

- from the movie Fight Club

I woke up in a barn in the middle of the county fairgrounds to sound of rain early in the morning and my cold hadn’t improved overnight, not a great start to the day, especially with 96 miles ahead of us. Luckily by the time we were packed up and ready to hit the road to Louisville the rain had stopped and a massive tailwind had developed. We were able to average close to 21 miles per hour before lunch even with some extremely steep climbs including one whose grade approached 20% for a time. Riding a long the Ohio River for most of the day was the culprit for the changes in elevation that played havoc on our legs and minds. It was beautiful scenery, though, especially crossing the bridge into Indiana, another new state for us. We finished riding along the river again as we pulled into town, including a final stretch with the wind at our back where we pushing 30 miles per hour for close to 5 miles. The house we were staying at for night was located on a bluff so the final 2 miles of the day were basically straight up hill, during which many of the riders contemplated their ability to go backwards on their bikes while continuing to pedal forward, it was a very tough way to end. I spent much of the day riding on my own because of the head cold I’m currently battling. Right now it’s taking a long time for me to catch my breath because I can’t breathe through my nose and my chest feels so tight, especially when I’m pushing hard. I absolutely had nothing left as we pulled into our destination, I felt like I had just gotten beat up in a fight which was evidenced by the 4 hour nap I instantly fell into. One of Chris’s college friend’s family was gracious enough to host us at their compound. I say compound because they had their own lake, forest, barns and a house large enough to accommodate 22 riders. Our hosts also prepared some amazing barbeque and a cake decorated in our honor, it was all really good! Some of the riders hit the town to explore Louisville, I went right back to bed because I knew I had another big day coming that I wanted to feel reenergized for. Just one more day in Indiana before we hit Ohio, I can’t wait! No chain!

Climbing hard.

The Ohio River from above, the source of hills.

Tim descending quickly to the bridge over the river.

Just another new state.

Perfect form into the lake.

Litchfield, Kentucky

2010-05-11T18:06:00.000-04:00

The high from the weekend with my friends in Nashville was quickly subdued when I woke up with a nasty head cold this morning. A sore throat, stuffy nose and a heavy head made for a rough start pulling out of the city, especially combined with temperatures in the 40’s and a light mist of rain. You could see in the faces of the other riders the agony of the first 30 or so miles as we hit stop light after stop light on our way out of town on day that was scheduled for 99 miles to our final destination Mammoth Cave National Park. I sat for a long time on the curb at the gas station of our first water stop questioning my motivation to continue on the ride for the day, knowing I still had 5-6 more hours on the bike in the cold and rain. Hopping back on my bike I told myself I would just make it to lunch and reevaluate there, sometimes thinking about the rides in smaller segments helps move the day along. We never truly hit a rhythm in our pace lines because of the stop and go riding and at mile 44 we paid for this. A quick cross of a wheel led to a pile up on the side of the road that resulted in one injured rider and one injured bike. In automotive terms Roshan’s bike is totaled, as his carbon fiber frame was fractured in multiple places and Pete is dealing with a sprained wrist and some sore ribs from his fall. We ended up shivering and waiting an hour on the side of the for the support van to come up from behind us to pick the riders up who couldn’t continue. By the time we got back on the road we were way behind schedule and losing 2 riders did nothing to boost the morale of the group. We crossed into Kentucky around mile 50 and stopped for lunch at mile 60, which ended up being our final stop of the day as we all racked our bikes there because of lack of time and the weather. There weren’t too many riders sad about this.

We drove 40 minutes to Mammoth Cave National Park where we spent the afternoon taking a tour of just a small section of this truly mammoth hole in the ground. The most extensive cave system on Earth and the second oldest national park in the country (Niagara Falls if you’re wondering) has over 365 miles of surveyed passageways and geologists think there could be 600 more that haven’t been discovered yet. A sandstone cap prevents the formation of stalagmites and stalactites featured in Carlsbad Caverns which we toured earlier on this trip but the shear size made these caves much more impressive. The tour was also a little more hands on than Carlsbad as there were definitely points a long the way that not everyone I know could fit through or handle the terrain. It was the highlight of our day, and another National Park that I can now recommend to all of you as a definite place to stop if you’re in the area.

I’m currently typing this laying on a lawn chair in the middle of an unheated barn in Litchfield’s fairgrounds, our sleeping arrangements for the night, not exactly ideal after the day we all had. My standards for where I sleep have definitely gone down after being on this trip for 6 weeks now but with the way my body/head/sinuses feel I would give anything to be back in my hotel room in Nashville right now. Hopefully if I take enough Sudafed the morning will come quickly, only 3 more nights until I’m in my own bed in Columbus. No chain!

Huddling to stay warm while waiting for the vans.

Just another new state.

On the way into the cave.

Our guide.

This area of the cave is known as Fat Man's Misery. It was very tight.

My sleeping arrangements for the night.

Nashville, Tennessee

2010-05-11T17:56:00.001-04:00

I know I’ve said it before but I’m sure today will not be topped as this truly was my favorite ride of the trip. We hopped on the Natchze trail 9 miles after pulling out of Holdenwald and for the next 40 or so miles experienced a piece of cycling nirvana. The Natchze trail is year in and year out ranked as one of the top cycling routes in the country because of its scenic views, quiet roads and a great mix of rolling hills, steady climbs and flats. Stretching 440 miles it commemorates an ancient trail used by animals and people that connected southern portions of the Mississippi River, through Alabama, to salt licks in today's central Tennessee. The speed limit is between 40 and 50 miles per hour the entire distance and no commercial traffic is allowed on it so because of this we passed twice as many cyclists as we did cars. All of this combined with perfect weather for riding and a group of us still managed to average greater than 20 miles per hour even with 2500 feet of elevation gain for the day. It was a lot of fun hammering on roads that deserved to be hammered on, something that we hadn’t had the opportunity to do for quite some time. We pulled into the senior home where the grandmother of one our riders lives around 11 am and that’s when the real fun for the day and weekend began. With the arrival of a significant portion of my Columbus crew to town, Nashvegas was officially warned to buckle up for the weekend. Even though some areas of the downtown area are still affected by floodwaters both the chamber of commerce and the cities business’s encouraged tourists and the cities own to come out and support the economy so we made sure to do so. We had a lot of fun touring the town, bar hopping and experiencing country music on a whole other level. Broadway Street, aka honky tonk row is a mini vegas strip of music clubs and bars and is also where we spent the bulk of our Saturday night as I don’t think I touched my bed until close to 3 am. I was nervous after being away from my friends for over a month that things might not be the same but after Ellen and Amy ended up on stage with the band that was playing within 10 minutes of walking into the first club I knew I had nothing to worry about. Saturday was spent recovering, checking out Vanderbilt’s campus and watching the Cavs/Celtics game before my friends headed out for another night on the town and I headed for bed to prepare for a big day of cycling Monday morning. Thanks to all my friends for coming down, I'm pretty sure they all had a great time and it’ll be hard to peddle away from you guys tomorrow morning but knowing I will see you on Friday definitely helps. No chain!

Our path to Nashville.

Great riding.

You could see forever at some of the lookouts.

Lenore's grandma, Mrs Post.

Receiving our blessing for the evening.

Roommates.

Chris liked my Columbus friends.

America.

Don't worry, this is normal for us.

Western Tennessee Strawberry Festival Parade

2010-05-09T11:58:00.000-04:00

After getting up early to make our final preparations for the parade we biked the 13 miles back to Humboldt, the site of the 73^rd annual Western Tennessee Strawberry Festival Parade. We decorated our bikes and support vans with balloons, streamers and chalk paint before traveling the 0.9 miles of the parade route. Thousands and thousands of people lined the road, all the schools in the area let out for the day and all of the business in town close; it was a pretty impressive turnout. I got the opportunity to meet both the Governor of Tennessee and Miss Tennessee before the real fun started. Biking slower than most of us probably thought possible we swerved back and forth, passed out candy and danced on our bikes through the throngs of people. One of our riders and best dancers, Roshan, really stole the show and had the whole crowd cheering him on as he break danced in the middle of the street to the music being played by the float in front of us. We had a lot of fun participating in and watching the rest of the parade while enjoying all of the fried fair food we could ever dream of. Our destination for the evening changed multiple times throughout the day due to flooding again so no route for the day was ever marked, still 4 of us took the time to get out on our bikes and put 30 or so miles in before being picked up in the support vans and being transported to our evening accommodations in Holenwald, Tennessee (We all refer to it as Hole-in-the-wall), it truly is a small town in the middle of the nowhere. Katie and I are currently getting our laundry done for our big weekend in Nashville, which also happens to be one of the hot spots in town on a Friday night. Can’t wait to ride out tomorrow and meet all my friends in Nashville for a great weekend. No chain!

Years of experience from the Jackson County Fair Parade.

Our van will look good like this until the first time it rains. Sorry Enterprise.

Katie was ready to do some serious candy handing out.

The oligarchy.

King and queen, although often mistaken for superheroes.

Parading.

There was a few people out. It was crazy for 9 am on a Friday morning.

Back on the road to the next town.

Milan, Tennessee

2010-05-09T11:48:00.000-04:00

After an early battle with traffic and stop lights to get out of Memphis and construction during the middle portion of the ride the cyclists finished the 93 miles for the day on a quiet section of highway as we all pulled into yet another Baptist church on the outskirts of Milan. We finally started to get back into some rolling hills after being mostly flat through Eastern Texas and Arkansas so the legs took a little while to adjust before falling back into their natural rhythm for the rest of the day. After the long mileage coming into Memphis and then the crazy day off it felt good to get back into the routine of the ride again. The heat was definitely turned up for another day, approaching 90 degrees as we hit town. The church was a surprise stop as the place we were supposed to stay in Humboldt, just 13 miles away had to cancel due to flooding issues something. Water in places it’s not supposed to be is something we have started to know notice along side the road more and more often the closer we get to Nashville which has dealt with some of the worst of it. . The church we were supposed to stay with in Humboldt still brought dinner in for us, which was just another amazing display of generosity on this trip. The rest of the evening was spent prepping for our big appearance in the Western Tennessee Strawberry Festival parade on Friday morning. No Chain!

Water where is supposed to be.

Water where it's not supposed to be.

Don't worry Katie and Jody checked the integrity of all the bridges for the other riders.

I wonder how this church really feels.

Parade prepping.

Memphis Off Day.

2010-05-07T18:11:00.001-04:00

"You can kill the dreamer, but you can't kill the dream."

- Reverand Samuel "Billy" Kyles

I hadn’t been doing separate entries for our off days but as Chris said Memphis was truly “the surprise city of the trip” so far and we did so much I thought I would share. We started the day by giving our lecture at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine that was very well attended and received by the students. We had a lot of fun speaking about our mission and our ride before sharing a great lunch with the students.

The afternoon was spent at the National Civil Rights Museum located the historic Lorraine Motel, the site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in 1968. The museum chronicles key episodes of the American civil rights movement through its collections, exhibitions and educational programs. We spent about 3 hours at the museum but could have easily spent 3 days to take it in properly due to the shear volume of information. It truly was an inspiring and moving display of the legacy of the movement as I was brought to tears several times throughout our visit. The highlights of the museum for me included the movie “The Witness” which featured the Revered Samuel Kyles who was standing next to Dr. King when he was shot and also having the opportunity to actually stand in the motel room where Dr. King was staying at the time. It was breathtaking to be so close to such an important piece of American history which has played such a huge role in shaping our nation on so many levels. If you ever find yourself in the Memphis area, I full heartedly recommend taking the time to visit this piece of history.

Our next stop was the Peabody Hotel, the grand hotel of the South as its known, to watch the world famous duck march which has taken place at 5 pm daily for the past 75 years. The Hotel was built at a cost of nearly 5 million dollars in during the 1800’s which at the time was an enormous price so you can only begin to imagine the beauty of the interior fully of dark woods and marble. The ducks spend their evenings in their penthouse accommodations so each day the Duckmaster impeccably dressed in a full red suit and golden cane arrives on the center elevator marches to the fountain located at the heart of the lobby and rolls out a red carpet for the ducks to perform on. As John Phillip Sousa played on the speakers overhead the ducks marched through the crowds of people that gather each day for the spectacle and headed directly for their waiting elevator car headed directly for their suite. It was a pretty awesome performance!

Next we headed across the street to the Kooky Canuck for “dinner”, which was bigger for some than others. The Kooky Canuck has been featured in many magazines and multiple television shows including Man vs. Food for one reason, the King Kookamonga. This “sandwich” features 6 pounds of pure beef, on a fresh baked bun, topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and pickles. It clocks in at right around 18,000 calories for the meal. 2 people have 60 minutes to finish the burger to get their picture on the wall (along side the likes of Joey Chestnutt) and a t-shirt. Our two finest eaters on the trip, Travis and Brian, made a valiant effort at completing the competition making quick work of the beef and toppings but in the end the shear amount of bun sealed their fate. We were all still pretty proud of their effort and the entire restaurant gave them a round of applause.

We capped the day by heading to Autozone Park, home of the Memphis Redbirds the AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. As a lifelong Cardinals fan it was a lot of fun to enjoy an absolutely beautiful evening watching the future of their franchise from the left field lawn. The stadium is brand new and is located in the heart of downtown and actually reminded me a lot of the new Clipper’s Stadium in Columbus. The highlight of the night was still to come though as 4 members of our group (including me) were selected to take part in the build a burger contest which took place during the middle of the 5^th inning. We were broken into 2 teams of 2 and dressed into bun costumes in the locker room area of the stadium then paraded out on to the field. Maggie and I were competing for free burgers for section 108 so we made sure to get them pumped up to cheer us on right away. After Maggie plopped down on the plate I rushed up and down the 3^rd base line to place the burger patty, lettuce and cheese on her before doing a belly flop on her to complete the burger as the other bun. We were way out in front of Jen and Heidi so I made sure to make it a close race by doing somersaults during my last trip before winning! I finished the race by grabbing Maggie’s face and planting a huge kiss on her cheek which drew an audible ahhh from the crowd. We all had a lot of fun being the stars of the show for a couple of minutes and then headed back to share our prizes with the rest of the team.

We definitely got to cover a lot of ground during our 2 days in Memphis and I think we all had a great time doing it. Thanks to the organization and planning of the Memphis Hightailers it was a lot easier than exploring on our own. It definitely was my favorite city of the trip so far which as Chris said was a complete surprise. On to Medina tomorrow, can’t wait to get back on the bike. No Chain!

Med school lecture.

Everyone from Elvis to Johnny Cash have recorded here.

The National Civil Rights Museum.

The balcony where Dr. King was shot.

There aren't any more photos from the museum because cameras weren't allowed which is good because it's definitely something everyone should experience on their own.

Duckmaster explaining the march.

Ducks marching.

One huge burger.

Unbelievable.

Tim with his own challenge.

Enjoying a beautiful night in left field.

Redbird.

Getting warmed up.

The crew before we headed out onto the field.

Pumping up the crowd.

Running the toppings.

Belly flop, pre kiss.

Victory!

Memphis, Tennessee

2010-05-07T17:37:00.001-04:00

Another 103 miles down (208 miles for the 2 day total), and another day in the heat of the south. We rode about 30 miles before crossing over into Mississippi (new state #5) by crossing the Mississippi River, the climb up and over the bridge was pretty intense due to the heavy traffic and lack of shoulder but we still managed to stop and snap a couple of pictures at the pinnacle. Shortly after crossing into Mississippi we made a left hand turn and headed north on Highway 61, a familiar road for someone who grew up in eastern Iowa. Another few hundred miles north on that highway and you could end up in my front yard but Memphis was our destination for the day so I didn’t quite make it that far. Highway 61 was a busy four lane highway and we had to ride on it for about 35 miles before turning on to a quiet winding back road which took us around the south side of Memphis. We crossed into Tennessee just as we were approaching our destination for the night, the First Baptist Church of Germantown. I think we were all glad to see the church come in to view after the incredible number of miles we had covered in the past 2 days, 2 century rides in 2 days is a cycling feat even for the best riders and our front group road them hard both days. The ride wasn’t one of my favorite because of the weather and the road conditions but we were all in a good mood because of our accomplishment. Some members of the Memphis Hightailers, the local cycling team were waiting at the church to welcome us in with waters, Gatorade and pizza. They had also gone ahead and made reservations for the entire team at one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at. The Rendezvous is located down a set of stairs in a back alley in downtown Memphis, the directions we were given weren’t even to the actual restaurant but to the hotel across the street where we were to ask for directions on how to get there. The Rendezvous is famous for ribs and everyone from professional athletes, dignitaries, and the last 5 presidents could be found pictured on their walls as patrons. President Obama personally gets them shipped in to his family. The Hightailers picked up the bar tab for the night so we had a lot of fun even before heading to Beale Street which is world famous for it’s nightlife. Beale Street is 2 blocks of bars, restaurants, and open containers reminiscent of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, we spent the night hopping from blues club to blues club sampling the local music scene before closing the night by doing some performing of our own at a dive karaoke bar.

We dipped into Mississippi for awhile.

Fancy kitchen. Amazing ribs.

Beale St. at night.

The bars were so welcoming of us.

A couple of tired cyclists.

The congregation of the church we stayed at was super serious about their pickleball. We were woken up at 630 am by a group playing and I don't think they stopped the entire day. They had multiple state champions and some had even competed at the national level. Pretty awesome.

Marvell, Arkansas

2010-05-03T21:25:00.000-04:00

Humidity + Sun + Heat + 103 miles = a long day on the bike. The ride to Marvell started out great on a beautiful bike path out of Little Rock that included crossing the longest pedestrian only bridge in the United States and great views of downtown. The next 93 miles weren't horrible in terms of road conditions but it was definitely the first time on the trip when we had to deal with true heat which approached 90 degrees by the end of the day, especially when combined with the humidity. We passed through some heavily wooded areas early but the last part of the ride was dominated by open fields. The most interesting part of the day though occurred around mile 70. A man pulled up beside us at a stop sign as we were about to make a turn on to a different highway and asked if we needed any help crossing the bridge, being a group of experienced cyclists we balked at the offer and without knowing what lay ahead said that we could handle it on our own. We made the turn on to the highway and rode about a mile before we noticed what concerned the driver, no shoulder on the busy highway for the next 6 miles on a narrow bridge that extended the entire distance. We began peddling across with caution and then realized that we weren't being passed by anyone, when we looked back over our shoulder there are driver friend was, trailing by just a few feet with his emergency flashers on protecting from traffic. The parade of cars behind him was amazing but we truly appreciated his generosity in helping us across the bridge. The rest of the ride into Marvell was pretty uneventful and we finished our 4th century ride of the trip in right around 5 hours of riding. Marvell is the second smallest town we have stayed in but the church we are staying at served us an amazing dinner and the people have been great so far. Tim gave one of our lectures at Little Rock Central High School before leaving town this morning, one of the most historic and largest high schools in the country. The high school is famous (or infamous) for the events surrounding its desegregation in 1957 when nine African-American students, known as the Little Rock Nine, were denied entrance to the school in defiance of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling ordering integration of public schools. This provoked a showdown between the Governor Fabus and President Dwight D. Eisenhower that gained international attention. We're all going to bed pretty early tomorrow as we have another 100+ mile day tomorrow into Memphis, Tennessee (Including 2 new states!). No chain!

Little Rock Central High School. A national historic monument.

It really was a big dam bridge.

the bridge.

The bike path on the way out of town.

Downtown Little Rock

Along the way.

Katie picks only the finest stops for lunch.

Little Rock, Arkansas

2010-05-02T18:06:00.001-04:00

"Ah Home, Let me go home,

Home is wherever I'm with you..."

- Lyric by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

As predicted by the local television station and the riders as we rode through thick muggy air on the way out of Hot Springs the sky was about to explode, luckily we made it into town before the real action started. As we peddled out of the church we had stayed in the night before a quick downpour got us presoaked for the 52 mile ride that laid before us. Riding with the humidity so high sort of felt like pushing through a headwind as it was difficult to maintain the speeds we had grown accustomed the past few days. Intermittent showers kept us wet throughout the morning. The roads were beautiful once again as we continued to pass through heavily forested areas and up and down rolling hills. With the short mileage we hit town right around noon which was perfect timing as the rest of my family arrived at the same time! With the day off on Sunday they though it would be a great time to come and see me as Little Rock is the closet we get to home for me along the trip. My mom and dad drove the 11 hours down from Iowa and my brother and his wife drove 6 hours over from Kansas City just to see me. I love all the other riders on the trip but sometimes with the amount of time we spend together in close quarters it's great to get away with your family, especially since I don't get to see them together very often at all. We spent the afternoon touring downtown Little Rock including a trolly tour before heading to dinner at a real authentic hole in the wall barbeque joint. That's where the real fun with the weather began, torrential downpours, high speed straight-line winds and some hail combined to make for an interesting night. A town not far from Little Rock recorded 10 inches overnight and flooding is a major issue in the area right now. Hopefully when we hit the road tomorrow there wont be any major detours as the ride is already scheduled for 100+ miles on our way to Marvell, Arkansas. On Sunday we headed as a family for Pinnacle Mountain State Park, located just outside of the metro area to spend some time together before my brother and sister had to head home. My mom and dad are spending one more night with me in Little Rock before we all head out in the morning. My legs appreciated the break but the closer we get to Columbus the more I want to just keep riding. Can't wait to get back at it in the morning, No Chain!

Good news: I hit a jackpot at the Casino across the street from where we staying.

Bad news: It was on the penny slots.

Breakfast on the way out of Hot Springs, and people wonder why I'm not losing a ton of weight.

Waiting to leave the dryness of the overhang.

On the road to Little Rock.

Pouring.

My brother and sister.

Family.

Hot Springs, Arkansas

2010-05-01T18:30:00.001-04:00

"oh let the rain fall down
and wash this world away

oh let the sky be grey

cause if its ever gonna get any better

its gotta get worse for a day"

- lyric by Bishop Allen

Wet. The only adjective needed to describe today. Sometimes we were wet by choice, but for the most part not. We started out today’s ride in sprinkles and ended it in a down pour 37 miles later in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It wasn’t a lot of fun and was also pretty scary at times even with the short distance we had to cover. Somewhere around 30 miles per hour on a bike rain stops feeling like rain when it hits you and starts to hurt, especially around the face. We also had to deal with the attack of flat tires again, including 6 tires changes going on within 30 feet of each other on the road thanks to some well placed glass. There’s also the issue of handling on wet pavement, it takes a lot of experience to feel truly comfortable riding in the rain especially along a pretty busy highway when you are relying on 23 cm of rubber to keep you up right and safe. Luckily we made it through the day with no major incidents. We all arrived completely drenched before noon at the First Baptist Church of Hot Springs where we had lunch and dried off, at least for a little bit. This afternoon we packed into the vans and hit the older downtown area where Hot Springs National Park is located, our 4^th national park of the trip. The springs are formed by rainwater that is collected through pores and fractures in rock that conduct it deep into the earth, as the water travels down increasingly warmer rock heats it. We all relaxed for a couple of hours in the thermal baths at the Quapaw House, one of the many bath houses located within the national park which have been in business since the early 1900’s. The naturally occurring pools within the house ranged in temperature from 94 – 104 degrees and were a lot of fun to hang out it in. We just finished another amazing dinner provided by the church, our first barbeque in barbeque country definitely lived up to its billing as the best in town as we all once again ate way too much. The storms are supposed to regain their power overnight, so we will all sleep with one eye on the radar as we’re supposed to travel to Little Rock tomorrow morning. No chain!

Attack of the flats. In the rain. On the side of a busy highway. Not fun.

Bryce is soggy.

Downtown Hot Springs.

Wet again.

Bathing.

Arkadelphia, Arkansas

2010-05-01T18:24:00.000-04:00

Another day of riding another 78 miles closer to the Atlantic Ocean! Perfect weather, perfect roads and a tailwind combined for a great day of cycling. We rode through forests, over creeks and bayous and actually had a couple of climbs towards the end thanks to the Sugarloaf Mountains. I think everyone enjoyed the day of riding, so we were all in a really good mood when we finished at the community recreation center in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. During the afternoon we gave a talk to the after school program and competed in the first annual Ride for World Health Olympics. The games consisted of wheel barrow races, dizzy bat, artistic creativity, water balloon toss and a pie eating contest. It was some super intense competition but in the end team Rice Water Stool won by a very close margin. My support team was in charge of dinner so to enjoy the beautiful evening we had a cookout in the nearby picnic shelter. Trying to adequately feed 22 hungry riders with a charcoal grill was interesting but I think everyone left satisfied. It was also Bryce’s birthday so we all had birthday cake before heading to bed. Only 37 miles to Hot Springs tomorrow, but the weather report isn’t great and we always seem to have the most interesting days the shorter the mileage is. No chain!

Lunch stop in the woods.

Our daily lecture. Safety first.

My cooking appliances for the evening.

Olympic competition at its finest.

Dizzy bat. Adam is a tough judge.

The winner's of the artistic creativity contest, made in 4 minutes with play dough.

Pie eating. Love Roshan's reaction.

Sarah is a champion.

A happy group of athletes, enjoying a great night for a cookout.

Magnolia, Arkansas

2010-04-29T09:09:00.001-04:00

"...cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home"

- a lyric by Matt & Kim

Yesterday it took us right around 4 hours to ride 93 miles, today it took us right around 5 hours to ride 57 miles. No it wasn't hilly. No there wasn't a tremendous head wind. Today was just a day to appreciate the sights and sounds of rural Arkansas at a little slower pace. It's funny how the personality of the ride varies from day to day, somedays for the group it's put your head down riding with all of us working hard to get to our destination for the day only stopping for the designated water stops along the way. This kind of ride usually occurs when the mileage approaches 80-100 miles. Other days, like today, we end up riding as a much larger group stopping for anything that catches one of our eyes, this usually occurs after a high mileage day like we had yesterday. Some would argue that today is how you are supposed to ride across the country but I can definitely appreciate both sides of the argument. Somehow this morning in getting out of Texarkana, Texas through back streets to avoid traffic we missed the coveted state line sign of Arkansas but there are already plans in place to get that picture when we hit Tennessee in a couple of days, even if it means a little backtracking the wrong way down the road. The roads were more quiet today and the weather was perfect for riding with the sun shining bright and temperatures in the 70's. We really have had almost no weather problems so far and we're already half way across the country, pretty amazing although there is talk of storms this weekend. We all had a lot of fun stopping in a lot of the small towns along the way getting into some pretty random stuff and even took extended breaks (approaching 45 minutes) at the water stops for some dancing and photo ops. We stayed at another church, Presbyterian this time, where once again we were served a great dinner by their wednesday night small group. After a heart felt blessing by the pastor on our journey we broke for bible study which quickly turned into the largest game of kickball I've ever been apart of and probably my first game in the past 14 years. It was a lot of fun getting to know these amazing people on another more closer level than just giving our talk and heading for the next down. The whole night/day was a a lot of fun, Magnolia will definitely go down as one of my favorite stops. Can't wait till tomorrow when we get to do it all over again with another group of people in a new city. On to Arkadelphia, No Chain!

Whoever said booties without pants doesn't make you look tough has never met Libby and me.

Maggie got a new tat to celebrate the end of Texas.

New state #5!

My friend Katie is a strong rider. Today we had to wait 30 minutes at the first rest stop for her to get there which is completely unlike her. She pulled in bright red, covered in sweat and stated, "I'm just not feeling it today, I'm pedaling as hard as I can and can't break 13 miles per hour." We all felt pretty bad and figured the miles were just adding up and taking its toll....and then we looked at her bike and realized her brakes had been rubbing and her rear wheel hadn't correctly been locked into place the first 25 mile basically the equivalent of riding with the parking brake on. Her reaction was pretty priceless, and you probably had to be there to fully appreciate it but I don't think many of us had laughed that hard for a long time. Thanks Katie!

Beautiful Arkansas roads for riding.

Pulled over for speeding.

The Red River is more brown than red.

Just another great day of riding.

Thanks for the watermelon Aunt Melody & Uncle Bob!

Bocaw Creek.

The last bridge before town.

Texarkana, TX

2010-04-28T15:57:00.000-04:00

93 miles covered in 4.5 hours of riding time, not a bad day on the bike at all. The ride was beautiful today as we rode through along country roads that were tree lined for the first time in the trip. It will probably go down as one of my favorite rides of the trip. One of the main industries in the northeast corner of Texas is logging and it was evident by the views from the bike and by the number of large trucks hauling stripped pine trees to the local mill that passed us along the way. I rode with the front pack for awhile but when I couldn’t handle their speed after the pounding my legs took yesterday I dropped back and picked up my friend Libby for the rest of the day. With the wind at our back today (finally and thankfully!) it didn’t take a lot of effort to move at a good rate so I still ended up averaging nearly 22 miles per hour for the day. The last 2 miles of the day after we hit the city limits were directly north into the wind and we were all reminded how lucky we were today with the weather as I rolled into our destination very slowly. We hit town right around 1 pm and had the rest of the afternoon to work on correcting our farmer’s tans and taking naps. We’re staying at yet another amazing youth center in a Methodist church that includes everything from a wii, multiple projection screens for tv & movies and a full length basketball court, pretty much everything a group traveling across the country needs. We had a great dinner prepared by Team strawberry and now it’s time to watch the movie “The Sandlot” on our huge screen before my 9 pm bedtime, just another day with Ride for World Health. No Chain!

Riding partner for the day.

Taking pictures while riding is dangerous. We are professionals.

Texas really grows on you after 1,000 miles.

My brother used to love horses when he was little.

Breaking the law on our lunch break.

Dinner is served.

Not the best sign to have in a place our group is staying.

Quiet

2010-04-27T17:04:00.003-04:00

In the quiet, I can hear my effort. As I peddle, I can hear the sound of my lungs forcing air out before taking new air in. I hear the wind rushing past my face with each turn of my head. I can hear the sound of my breath as I drive my legs uphill… hard…shallow… steady. I hear the whirring of the wind as it tugs at my wheel and helmet. I notice the rhythmic stroke of my feet beneath me. My heart pounds… I can almost hear it.

These are the sounds I can hear in the quiet. They remind me that I am alive, vital and strong. These are the sounds of my effort. I welcome them. They are respite from the noise of everyday life…from the demands of everyday living.

With the effort spent, the ride over, I reluctantly return to the world of noise… a world of voice mail, e-mail, snail mail, telephone calls, requests, complaints and commotion. I am again swallowed up in tasks outside of me, unaware of my breath, unaware of effort. The momentum of the noise around me takes me further and further away from the cocoon of hard physical effort. The stillness within is gone, the sense of oneness with my body vanishing…until the next ride …until the quiet again welcomes me.

-Adapted from a poem by Allison Colavecchia

Paris, Texas

2010-04-27T16:54:00.000-04:00

It’s starting to get repetitive, at least for me, to talk about the winds of Texas but once again it was what dominated the minds and legs of the team as we pulled out of Greenville this morning. Paris is located 56 miles north of Greenville, which wouldn’t be much of a test for us as we have covered many more miles than that in a day but with a wind consistently blowing 20 miles per hour directly in our face it became an absolute battle along the road this morning. After a great breakfast (including Special K!) provided by the church we stayed in last night we put our heads down and began the grind north along highway 24. As a rider having to work that hard against the wind means sitting in a high gear, pedaling at a high cadence and not a lot of breaks, a combination that can really put a damper on the mood of team which it especially seemed to today. With a couple of monster pulls on the front of the group by Pete, Chris and I following the water stop at mile 25 we still managed to pull into Paris around lunch. Once there we had a photo-op with the Eifel tower including an interview with the local news station who put together a nice piece about the ride for their nightly news. Eiffel tower, Paris? I know what you’re thinking but no we didn’t ride all the way to France this morning. Following a tradition of many of the American cities named Paris, a 65 foot replica of the Eiffel tower was constructed in 1993 including my favorite part a giant red cowboy hat on the top of the tower. With some free time in the afternoon before another great dinner provided yet again by the church we stayed at I spent some time walking around some of the neighborhoods surrounding our church before cooling my feet off in the fountain at the center of the town square. Our night was filled with the usual; updating our blogs, prepping our bikes for tomorrow’s ride and talking to friends and family on the phone. The youth center of the church we slept at had 13 couches in it which made or some great sleeping which we all needed after getting beat up and worn out by the ride there. 92 miles to Texarkana tomorrow (our last day in Texas!) hopefully the wind will be back on our side and blow us all the way there. No chain!

The wind and flags were not our friend yesterday.

Waiting for the rest of the riders to arrive.

The hardest part of the ride yesterday, after waiting for the news crew for an hour having to get back on the bike and ride the 3 miles to the church we were staying at.

The town square.

Greenville, Texas

2010-04-25T20:47:00.000-04:00

Back on the bike after a great weekend, but I think we were all ready to ride again and continue on this journey through Texas. What was supposed to be the 4^th century of the trip was cut short by some road construction but we still got nearly 80 miles in (previously a huge day of cycling prior to begining this trip) before having to rack our bikes back on the van. We fought a gusty head wind for the first 28 miles as we headed north up and around Dallas before making a right hand turn and getting a huge push in the back all the way to Greenville from the wind. We averaged nearly 30 miles per hour (which is flying on a bike) heading east over the next couple of hours which we all agreed was a lot of fun and a welcome break after fighting the wind for so long. The speed also helped as we were riding on the shoulder of a pretty busy 6 lane highway so at least we weren’t getting buzzed quite as bad as normal. As we were struggling north we passed through a whole town in Texas named after me! (Also may have had something to do with the huge Justin Boots factory just outside of the city limits but people don’t need to know about that). Tonight were staying at a Methodist church on the outskirts of Greenville, they just made a great enchilada dinner for us including a lot of fresh fruit and some amazing deserts. We have a lot of room to spread out for the night as they have opened the entire church to us and then they are making breakfast in the morning before we take off for Paris (Texas) just another incredible contribution from a group of strangers, who we all now consider friends. No Chain!

Along the way. Texas cows have a more space than California & Arizona ones.

Waiting to rack due to road construction.

Bryce was so mad we had to rack that he jumped in the lake we were waiting by.

Our welcoming hosts in their beautiful church.

Dallas/ Fort Worth

2010-04-25T20:38:00.000-04:00

I was pretty homesick by the end of last week; I think some of the small towns we had been traveling through really reminded me of home so I was missing my family and friends quite a bit as we rolled into the Dallas/Fort Worth area on Friday afternoon. Luckily the weekend would provide exactly what I needed. The ride through the country from Ranger was beautiful following a spring storm the night before and the weather was absolutely perfect for the first time all week, even the wind cooperated for the most part. We covered a lot of territory through the back highways of Texas before getting into the suburbs of the Dallas/ Fort Worth metroplex and the stop lights and traffic that come with it. Cyclists keep track of century (100 mile plus) rides like golfers keep track of holes in one and this was our second of the week, a major accomplishment for any cyclist. The group was staying in cabins at Camp Carter, a YMCA summer camp for young children, but my dad’s sister (Melody) and her husband (Bob) live just a few hours away and with the day off from riding on Saturday they took the opportunity to drive over to Fort Worth and absolutely spoil me for the weekend. I ate a lot of great food, answered a million questions about the ride and got to see quite a bit of Fort Worth. We had a great time getting caught up as I hadn’t seen them since the previous 4^th of July, we stayed at a hotel five minutes from the team and I got my own personal bed for the first time in one month, IT WAS AMAZING! It also happened to be my little cousin’s birthday weekend so we all got to be together to celebrate that as well. Fort Worth was a lot of fun, it’s a big city which has a lot of cool neighborhoods, the riders spent a lot of time in the historic stock yard district which gives you the true Texas experience, you could people (cowboy) watch for days but if you tire of that there are a lot of great restaurants and bars in the area too which were all heavily patronized by us over the weekend. Getting to spend some time with my family definitely helped me refocus for the miles to come; supposedly Wednesday we hit the half way point of the trip in terms of mileage (We’re going to have a big party!). I arrived back at camp before we left for the morning and another day cycling refreshed and ready to get back on the saddle. I can’t believe how far we have already ridden, how many adventures we have already had, how close I’ve become to these people and yet how far we still have to go as we cross the country. Another century from Fort Worth to Greenville on Sunday, just one more to add to my count! No Chain!

My super cute cousin on her 14th birthday!

On Saturday my uncle and I took the tour of the brand new Cowboy football stadium, one of the most impressive structures I have ever been in. The word big, huge, biggest and world record are used more times during the hour tour than I have ever heard before.

From all the way at the top of the stadium, to the 50 yard line.

Just hanging out in the Cowboys locker room.

I had to stand outside while my uncle got our sodas.

Some of the best mexican food I have ever had. No menus, you eat what Joe T Garcia is cooking that night...

...And you can see by the line to get in how popular that food is.

Country music with some cowboys at the White Elephant in Old Fort Worth.

Katie receives an award!

2010-04-23T21:26:00.001-04:00

My good friend Katie received a certificate of appreciation (or according to her a lifetime achievement award) from the Eastland, Texas Rotary Club today following her presentation to their group. She was pretty proud of her accomplishment and has been parading around with her plaque all afternoon. It features the following closing line which according to the club are the famous words of Carrie Latet (don't worry I have no idea either): "If you don’t take care of yourself, the undertaker will overtake the responsibility for you." With inspiration like that I'm sure it will be on her office wall of her pediatric clinic for years to come.

Maquoketa Sentinel Press Article

2010-04-22T18:41:00.005-04:00

For those of you who don't get the biweekly Maquoketa Sentinel Press newspaper (ie. most of you) they did an article on the ride. You can download and read it at the

following link (it's a small file):

Download Article Here

Ranger, Texas

2010-04-22T18:05:00.000-04:00

Chilling at the First Baptist Church of Ranger

Population 800 (may be quite a stretch) according to the owner of Fox’s Mercantile, the only business located on main street that’s still open where according to the front display sell everything from crackers to coffins and after peaking through the window I’m pretty sure its not lying. Ranger was a petroleum boom town during the 1920’s and I’m pretty sure much of the town’s buildings haven’t been touched since that time. We had one of my favorite rides of the trip covering 75 miles from Sweetwater to Ranger on beautiful rolling back country roads that were so quiet we actually rode 4-5 across at times, a much welcomed change. The head wind we had been fighting for the last few days continued to gust but today it was directly out of the south hitting us on our sides all day, during one stretch I’m pretty sure I was cycling at a 75 degree angle leaning into the wind to keep from blowing over. We rode under a thick cloud cover and a tornado watch for most of the day but at least the temperature was perfect for riding. We rolled into Ranger right around noon, thanks to the Irish Hammer (Pete) who pushed our average speed after lunch to around 23 mph and found the First Baptist Church where we will be staying for the night. The basement we are staying in has lots of wood paneling, shag carpet and smells like a little musty but we have wifi and a nice kitchen so I’m sure we will survive. We’re about to grab showers at the truck stop located along the interstate, just another new experience for me along this trip, and are hoping to find a place to watch the NFL draft and NBA playoffs tonight before another 100 mile ride into Dallas/Fort Worth Tomorrow. No Chain!

Texas country roads.

Pulling up to the first water stop. Me, Adam, Pete.

Texas Wildflowers

Drafting one of the vans, they pulled me at 40 mph for about a 1/2 mile

What a sailor.

The one and only local store.

All of Ranger from one end to the other.

Chris leading a revival at the church.

My whip.

I'm guessing most people who visit Ranger don't take this sign seriously.

Abilene, Texas

2010-04-22T15:52:00.002-04:00

Continuing the small town America theme we rolled into Abilene earlier today after a short 43 mile sprint over from Sweetwater. After the last few days on the road we have had it was a nice break for the legs. However it wasn’t all smooth sailing, we did have our first serious injury of the ride this morning and it was a pretty serious wreck for everyone involved. Unlike the first 3 states we rode through in Texas it’s illegal to ride along the interstate which has led the support team to put us on some pretty interesting roads these first few days. So this morning as we were going under a bridge on a super bumpy patch one of the riders lost control and flew over his handle bars landing on his head and shoulder. Fortunately his helmet did its job and broke into 4 pieces but his shoulder wasn’t as lucky which resulted in a trip to the emergency department in Abilene. We all took it pretty easy the rest of the morning and finished together which was still by noon with the short distance. Abilene has a quaint little historic downtown area which is really great to see after the ghosts of downtowns we’ve been through recently. It seems all too often these small towns in the southwest are dominated by a Wal-mart, McDonalds and Dairy Queen along the interstate while the core of the downtown area goes to waste (probably sounds way too familiar to), I dislike the suburbs of big cities for the same reason where strip malls, chain restaurants and cookie cutter homes rule. A small group of us spent the afternoon at the Cypress Street Station, a beautiful historic building that has been converted into a restaurant and brew pub. The conversation of our trip came up with the wait staff (which happens a lot) and soon the owner of the restaurant (who just happened to be an Ohio State Graduate and letter winner) was sitting with us, asking questions, offering a place to stay and drinks. We met his entire family and promised we’d come back later that evening to watch some basketball games and talk some more. The church community center we stayed at featured a gym, arcade games, bowling alley and skating rink, way too much fun and entertainment for a group 25 "kids". We all really enjoyed our stay in Abilene, I’d stay awhile but I can’t wait to get to Fort Worth on Friday to see my family! No Chain!

Not exactly a road bike ready road, but we had no other choice.

Man down.

So true. 4 more years ladies and this fine looking gentleman can be your Ob-gyn.

Bowling anyone.

Pete got his picture on the wall after being the top bowling performer.

One sweet skating rink, also where we slept for the night.

The Last Few Days...

2010-04-21T16:49:00.002-04:00

The ride has hit western Texas which has been a dramatic change from the first couple of weeks. We now see green and trees on the side of the road instead of brown and cacti, we see more cattle and trucks then people and cars and there definitely has been a lot less steep climbs to deal with. We’ve hit 3 pretty standard small towns the last 3 nights; Hobbs, America (as it was introduced to us by our hosts at the school although it really was on the border of New Mexico and Texas), Lamesa, Texas and Sweetwater, Texas. Sunday was supposed to be an easy 65 mile cruise with great weather into Hobbs but our first major wreck of the ride turned a great day sour quickly. Riding in groups is an advanced skill, at speeds from 18 to 50 miles per hour along twists, turns and bumps in the road it takes the utmost of concentration at all times and on Sunday a couple of the riders lost that. A rub of the wheels between a couple of the riders near the front of the line led to a massive pile up of bikes along the side of the highway, luckily there was only some road rash among the riders involved and a few of the bikes were put out of commission for the rest of the day. A local rider in Hobbs was able to repair 2 of the 3 bikes that were seriously injured which was a relief as bike repairs are just as expensive as cars most times. Our hosts at Hobbs High School prepared a great dinner and an even more amazing breakfast for us before we hit the road to Lamesa. We awoke on Monday morning to fog, cold and a headwind, not exactly great conditions to ride a bike in and none of which we were expecting in Texas. We plugged away though and averaged pretty good speeds during the morning; even with the time change into the central time zone we hit Lamesa around 12:30 pm after completing the 75 miles. Normally that would be a great time to explore the city but due to the conditions and the lack of anything in the entire town we ended up spending 3 hours in the dining room at McDonalds drinking coffee, taking naps and waiting to get into the high school where we were spending the night. Due to the lack of a kitchen we ended up cooking our dinner on a propane stove in the high schools football stadium, dinner was served on the bleachers as some of the local middle and high schoolers played 7 on 7 touch football on the field. Some cheering and possibly jeering from the stands by the riders quickly led to the involvement of Pete, Tim and I in the game and things got pretty serious quickly (probably not surprising to most people who know me and sports). I’m not sure playing full field touch football the day before a 105 mile ride was the best idea as I definitely felt the pain of using some muscles that I hadn’t touched this entire trip as I began to peddle this morning but we had a lot of fun and made some new friends. We woke up this morning to a thick fog and the temperature in the 40’s which led to some cold and wet riders over the first 60 miles of today’s ride, for the first time all trip we actually sat in the vans during lunch and blasted the heat so we could feel our fingers and toes again. The remaining 50 miles after lunch were definitely a grind but the sun finally began to peek out from the clouds just as we hit the city limits of Sweetwater which allowed us to warm up again as we laid on the front lawn of the school as we waited for the end of the classes once again. With only 40 miles to Abilene tomorrow (After days of 75,75 and 105) there’s plans to hit the town this evening. No Chain!

The greeted us with "Welcome to Hobbs, America". I knew we would be friends.

Our sleeping arrangements in Hobbs. When Ralph Tasker retired as mens varsity basketball coach he led the nation in all time wins. It was a beautiful arena for a small town in New Mexico.

Katie just getting her laps in.

Who knew Texas could be so gray and windy?

The crew warming up at McDonalds

Football with the locals.

Our cheering section.

Internets!

2010-04-18T22:52:00.000-04:00

Finally found some unlocked Wifi in a mexican restaurant 3 blocks from the high school we are staying at, it took some exploring. We may have all just ate dinner but for the chance to check our emails, fbook and update our blogs we will do just about anything as a group. A lot of new posts from the last few days of traveling and added some pictures I just found to a couple of the old ones. Check it out, No Chain!

Carlsbad, New Mexico

2010-04-18T22:36:00.001-04:00

A new ranger in town.

After the ride we had the day before we were all looking forward to a light day of cycling on the way to the Carlsbad Caverns national park just outside of Carlsbad, New Mexico. We were all woken up early in the morning by a storm that rolled through and gave our tents a test of their strength and water resistance. After a little incident with the chain and locks we had placed on our bikes overnight we hit the road to cold temperatures, blustery winds and a light rain, not exactly what we were hoping for. It was only 35 miles to the stop for the day but they felt much longer than that. We all met at the local store in Whites, New Mexico at the turn for the park to rack our bikes, we drank all the hot cocoa the store had to offer to warm ourselves as we waited for everyone to arrive before heading in to the caverns. The caverns were just as cool as white sands, being formed and transformed over the past 250 million years stretching for more than 21 miles beneath the surface of the earth. We descended into the dark to be surrounded by stalactites, stalagmites and a whole bunch of other stuff I don’t remember the name of. From the natural opening to the Big Room where we stopped for the day we descended 75 stories and nearly 2 miles over our 1.5 hour hike. The Big Room stretches 8.2 acres and felt like an amphitheatre for some of the more famous features such as the bottomless pit, Giant Dome, Rock of Ages and Painted Groto. It was breath taking in every direction and due to the free week of entrance to all the national parks was packed with tourists taking in the views. We ended the day with our first showers in 2 days at the First Baptist Church of Carlsbad where were spending the night before heading to Hobbs, New Mexico tomorrow. No Chain!

We woke up in the clouds.

Then road in the rain.

I got attacked by a bear at lunch.

The natural entrance to the caverns

Walking down 75 stories.

My camera doesn't do them justice.

My spelunking crew.

It's a 2 minute highlight video, check it out if you have time.

Guadalupe Mountain National Park

2010-04-18T22:14:00.005-04:00

The Goal.

“I was already running, even then, toward a new place within myself: Pushing the envelope into longer distances seemed to open a door, somehow, into a kind of undiscovered country of mind and body that id never known about or imagined. And as my old physical limits faded behind me, I began to wonder if the boundaries I’d perceived and believed about though and consciousness might be elastic as well. What makes a human being go? What makes a person run, climb, try hard or even get up in the morning, and what makes him stop?”

- From the book To the Edge by Kirk Johnson

This is the second mountain national park that we have stayed in which I have come to realize means one thing, there is going to be a climb up that mountain at the end of the day. We started out an hour earlier than normal because of the day that was planned, 107 miles! Google map El Paso, Texas to Guadalupe Mountain National Park, or I can just save you the time and tell you what we cycled through which was not much of anything, not a city, not a town, not a park, nothing but rolling hills and desert. I got off to a slow start because of rear wheel issues and fell about 20 minutes behind the group, which is not how you want to start such a long day in the saddle especially with the headwind we were facing. There is nothing worse in cycling than a headwind except a headwind when there is no one else around to give you a break from it by riding behind them for awhile. The wind averaged 17-20 miles the entire day and was a lot gustier the closer we got to the peak. I did this for the first 25 miles to the first water stop, at one point around mile 20 I broke down in to tears (Preface: not the only time I cry this day) because I was pedaling as hard as I could and was still only going 11 miles per hour and I could just picture the lead group pulling away from me as I struggled on my own. I came within minutes of calling the sweep van to end my day early but by some minor miracle one of the guys I ride the most with, Chris, got a flat tire while pulling into the rest stop and Pete had hung back with him, I can’t begin to tell you how happy I was to see the two of them sitting there. We hammered as a group of 3 the next 35 miles to the lunch stop catching all the way to lunch, catching all the rest of the riders in the process. We continued to fight the headwinds and hills after lunch but we got the added fun of Texan drivers who really seem to not like cyclists on their roads. We had one last rest stop at mile 80 before beginning the climb which changed a lot of people on this trip from being just bike riders to cyclists. I’ve done a lot of physically demanding things in my life but this effort shot straight to top of the list. It began slowly at around mile 94 and did not relent until our campsite at mile 107, 13 straight miles of pain. Throw in the headwind and there were multiple times where I was concerned I would fall over sideways due to the lack of forward momentum. Pete and I climbed together, side by side, not a word between us except the muffled grunts of exertion, we both knew without saying the pain each other was feeling in our thighs, calves and just about every other muscle in our bodies. It seemed for awhile that every switchback we came around the road just rose steeper in front of us. About half way up the climb I had to turn my odometer off as it was making me sick to my stomach how slowly the tenths of miles were clicking off. We ended up climbing for 1 hour and 20 minutes straight, every pedal stroke requiring maximal effort to complete just to reach our campsite for the night. The word epic got tossed around a lot as we sipped our celebratory beers as we lay on the ground in the middle of the road at the campground. That climb would have been tough in any condition but after beginning it after 94 miles and 6 hours of riding, facing that headwind and the heat of the afternoon sun, I was brought to tears for the second time of the day at what we had just accomplished. The rest of the night was spent rehashing the trials of the day, before we all crashed back into our sleeping bags shortly after sunset. Epic day, one Ill remember forever. No chain!

When I finally made it back to the group.

It haunted us all day in the distance.

This sign was not lying.

The beginning.

Working very hard, probably crying.

Steeper and more painful than it looks.

Beautiful, but they channeled the wind.

The road below winding to the top.

The view from the top.

A couple of happy guys.

Far.

White Sands National Park

2010-04-18T21:53:00.000-04:00

"Nothing is wasted
And life is worth living
Heaven is nowhere
Just look to the stars
There is a daylight
It's yours for embracing
Everything is nothing
And nothing is ours"

- Hot Chip

We had too much fun at White Sands national park on our off day, the first of 3 national parks we hit in 3 days. Before this trip I had never been to a national park before but I can tell you that it won’t be soon after it that I go to my next. National parks cost exactly $3 to enter and occasionally in the spring and fall they are free (like this entire week) and I can tell you now from experience they are worth every penny. When I think of the crap (I wanted to use another word but I don’t know who all reads this) people spend money on for entertainment I can’t believe our national parks aren’t more crowded, but maybe its better that way. White Sands national park is located at the northern end of the Chihuahua desert and lies in a mountain-ringed valley, the Tularosa basin. For 275 square miles great glistening white sand wave-like dunes can be seen in every direction. If you were blindfolded dropped down in the middle and then asked where you were it would just as easily be confused for Antarctica for how vast and white the sand is. The sand is made of gypsum, a common mineral, but it is rarely found in sand because it is soluble in water. It’s impossible to describe the texture, the 13 med students that I was with couldn’t even come up with anything but it’s somewhere between fine sugar and powder sugar and so cool to the touch even in the heat of the midday desert sun. We found the largest, steepest dune we could and spent the rest of the afternoon sledding, rolling an jumping down it. Sunset was gorgeous as the colors spread across the white sand when the sun dipped behind the mountains that surrounded the basin. We all sat in silence for awhile before we piled back into the van for the 2 hour drive back to our hotel. Totally worth the drive and the money, I hope I can come back again someday. No Chain!

The road into the park was just snowplowed

Maggie. Prepping our super sweet sled.

Race to the top.

In the bright sunlight the sand looked just like snow.

Im from Iowa, I know how to sled.

Speed demon.

Lack of sleds led to rolling.

Libby, Maggie, Me.

Ride for world health.

Jump!

Now everyone.

Sunset.

The crew on the way back to the van.

El Paso, Texas

2010-04-18T21:26:00.001-04:00

I found a little piece of heaven in El Paso, Texas. After 3 weeks of traveling across the country sleeping wrapped up in a sleeping bag on the ground of tents, school gyms, churches, synagogues and people’s homes we got to check in to the Holiday Inn! A real bed, our own showers and ESPN for 2 whole days; all thanks to the good people of the Texas Tech school of Medicine. We rode the 45 miles into the El Paso from Las Cruces rather quickly and actually finished as a group of about 20 which was a lot of fun. We had a big presentation at the med school over lunch which was well attended by a lot of prominent faculty and then had the rest of the day to “prepare” for our off day in El Paso. We hit the pool, gym and went out for dinner as a group. The group ended the night with a room party back at the Holiday Inn until hotel security shut us down around 2 am; it was a lot of fun for everyone to unwind a little bit before crashing into our glorious soft comfy beds! Our off day started off with a real Mexican breakfast including my first taste of horchata, my new favorite drink, it’s a milky looking concoction of rice, almonds, cinnamon, lime zest and sugar (since this original encounter I have searched out and successfully found more horchata every day…im drinking it right now....I may be an addict) . After our big breakfast, we got some errands done before hitting the road for 2 hours to drive to White Sands national park where we played the rest of day. We pulled back into our hotel around 11 pm as the lights of Juarez, Mexico (one the most dangerous cities in the world) lit up the night sky just across the interstate from our hotel, El Paso is truly a border town. We never seem to “rest” that much on our off days but I know this will be the last time I get to experience anything remotely like this so I figure I can just get caught up with sleep when I finish residency in 3 years. El Paso wasn’t my favorite city of the trip but it was a great break before the next push across the country. No Chain!

The road to Texas

State #4!

Sweet pic Heidi took.

Texas Tech's beautiful new medical school

Ping Pong, How we prepare for big lectures.

A well attended talk.

Preparing for our off day with a hotel room day.

Dance party at the hotel bar.

Horchata.

Las Cruces & Giving

2010-04-16T00:34:00.001-04:00

Las Cruces. The city at the bottom of the hill.

What truly allows our organization to be successful is the generosity of others. As graduating medical students 100’s of thousands of dollars in debt we can’t really afford the luxuries of most travelers every night on the road. Hotels and restaurants in every city we visit along the way would be nice but to keep overhead costs down and have the ability to donate more money to our beneficiaries we rely a lot on the communities we are passing through for assistance. We truly appreciate it all; whether the shower is hot or cold, whether the place we sleep is a gym floor or a stranger’s couch, or the dinner is another night of pasta, no contribution is too small. After cruising 65 miles into Las Cruces yesterday afternoon we had some of our most generous hosts yet and it really made all of our days. From the scheduled afternoon yoga session to relax and stretch our riders, to the dinner of pizza and ice cream, to the members of the synagogue who took us into their homes for the night it was all amazing! The group of seven riders I stayed with were hosted by a 70 year old man named Joe. Joe recently lost his wife and we were the first ones to stay in his house since her passing. He was at the synagogue at 4pm when the scheduled pickup time was 6 and after hearing about how long he had been looking forward to our stay and being told numerous times how much he enjoyed our company whether we needed Joe more for then night or he needed us is debatable. We shared stories, smoothies and one of Joe’s favorite movies before calling it a night. He choked up a little as we were taking pictures together before we pulled away in the morning and I think it reminded all of us once again what a privilege it is to be a part of something as powerful as this ride. I hope Joe knows how much his generosity was appreciated and how it will be remembered. When I look back at the this ride years from now I probably won’t recall the exact towns we rode through but it will be the people’s paths we had the opportunity to cross along the way, like Joe, that I will remember forever. No chain Joe!

M riding partner in crime for the day. Katie.

How our riding day ended. A flat tire with nothing left to pump it up.

Sitting on the corner waiting for the sweep van.

Yoga anyone?

Joe.

Deming, New Mexico

2010-04-12T21:00:00.000-04:00

Another day, another few miles east. Luckily after the adventures (or misadventures) of yesterday we had nothing but flat nicely paved roads with little of no wind for the ride. Southern New Mexico is so sparse that the next 3 night stops we make are the only cities listed on the mileage signs along the interstate so it's good to keep some other riders around you for entertainment. I can't get enough of the views down here though, so it's hard to complain about the daily ride. We crossed over the continental divide about halfway through today, just another milestone along the way! My support team (the group of 24 riders is broken into 6 groups of 4 people each) is in charge of dinner this evening, were making stir fry, so we've already hit up the local Wal-mart for supplies. We all take turns with cooking, groceries, laundry, marking the route, etc. so that the leadership team doesn't have to do everything. It's kind of scary cooking for that many people but there has definitely been a competition for who can make the best meal (Current leader is team strawberry with burritos in Dateland) so we all have fun with it. Heading to Las Cruces tomorrow hopefully the smooth roads continue, No Chain!

Chris going fast.

Team tango cookin it up!

One of the chefs has sweet tan lines.

Lordsburg, New Mexico

2010-04-12T20:53:00.000-04:00

We all had a pretty long day yesterday! It was planned as another 75 mile shot down Interstate 10 but nothing usually goes as planned with the roads in the desolate southwest. About 15 miles in the shoulder just stopped so some major detours had to be constructed on the fly. What we ended up on was described by the signs along the way as a "primitive road", which is usually not a good combination with expensive road bikes, we ended up being on it for about 8 long bumpy miles before being able to get back on the shoulder of the interstate. Due to the last second changes in the route we ended up going nearly 40 miles without a water stop which got pretty interesting in the middle of the desert, I ended up having to share with one of the other riders just to make it to the lunch stop. We hit the border of New Mexico shortly after our lunch break, as I predicted there wasn't much change in the scenery but I do really enjoy all the mountains on the horizon, its so beautiful especially early in the morning. We also had the return of the flat tires yesterday, we had 8 in the lead group of seven riders, you can pick up just about anything along the shoulder of the interstate that will blow a tube and yesterday our tires must have had magnets. Our group finally rolled into Lordsburg around 2pm, after the flat tires, bumpy roads and head wind that we fought all day all we wanted was a cold drink and someplace to watch some of the final round of the Masters golf tournament. We quickly found the only place in town that was open and got to watch the last few groups play the back nine, I'm pretty sure we were the first people ever to watch golf in the fine establishment that we ended up at but after the day we had on the road everyone was happy. Today we are heading for Deming, New Mexico, a shorter and flatter ride so hopefully everyone will get the chance to get their legs back, no chain!

Sam.

The group learning about the detour.

The warning sign for us and our bikes.

A primitive road.

New state (#3)

Attack of the flats.

New Mexico is beautiful.

Our golf headquarters.

4 Cyclists, 1 Cowboy, Tv from 1997, wood paneling, pleather.

Perfect place to watch the Masters

The Magnificent Seven

2010-04-12T20:35:00.000-04:00

One of the riders, Andy, wrote about our front pack of riders today, thought it was pretty funny so Ill share it:

"BUM BU BUMBUMBUM…

…Never before have seven physicians, public health professionals and IT specialists given up so much for those who have so little… Never before has adventure taken on such an important purpose… Never before has there been……The Magnificent Seven…!

These seven riders set the pace for the pack, moving as a coordinated, fluid unit, and giving Floyd Landis his greatest challenge. These seven will come from out of nowhere and be on your tail in a moment’s notice. They will pass you at unprecedented speeds, and be a dot on the horizon faster than you can imagine. …At least until one of them blows a tire.

The Magnificent Seven are: Sam Hartman, Justin Hepker, Chris D’Ardenne, Jeff Fujii, Tim Mitchell, Pete Croft, and Adam Koon.

These guys will kick your butt, educate you about global health disparities, and then press you for a donation to the Ride for World Health. Simply stated: they’re deadly."

Willcox, AZ

2010-04-10T22:32:00.001-04:00

Willcox Arizona is hot. Very hot. We got a late start on our day because of the ride with the University of Arizona med students this morning so by the time we hit town around 4 pm we got the opportunity to ride directly through the heat of the day. We didn't have the greatest turn out for the morning ride but we hammered (cyclist talk for fast) pretty hard and got to see all of Tucson, which I really liked as a city. It has a great mix of college town and artsy/urban area, or at least the part we spend the most time in so I think we all felt comfortable hanging out there. We then rejoined the group on the road to Willcox along Interstate 10. Interstate bike riding is interesting because it's not even legal in the states I've ever lived in., own here though there just aren't any options for back roads sometimes so the D.O.T allows it. Riding on the shoulder means you have to be locked in the entire time because there isn't a ton of room to bail out to and there is all kinds of various debris to dodge, at least when semis pass 6 feet from you at 70 miles you get a little breeze! We got back into some hills around the 50 mile mark something we hadn't had to deal with for a few days so it took our legs a few just to readjust. Between the hills, heat and pizza that I thought would be a good idea for lunch (mistake) I found myself just holding on for all I had not to get dropped by the group I was riding with. Luckily (or not) the high school we are staying at doesn't have the hot water heater on so we all got ice cold showers to rejuvenate us. Today is our last day in Arizona before hitting New Mexico tomorrow, new states are fun even though I'm pretty sure the desert will look the same even after we cross the border. No Chain!

U of A group ride

Cool overpass from the group ride, it made you feel fast.

Along the last climb to Willcox, AZ

I say cactuses, you say cacti.

If I told you what was behind this door I would probably have to kill you.

Still not sure if it was worth the dollar.

Lenore is way too good at the lunch lady thing.

Who knew there could be so many uses for bagels?

I "saw the light" at the Jewish synagogue in Tucson.

We go to bed at different times so we turn the lights down in waves, somehow the only spotlight in the entire room ended up on my sleeping bag in the middle of the room. I miss my bed.

Tucson Off Day

2010-04-10T00:51:00.001-04:00

Inspiration for the day from the dashboard of our 15 passenger van.

What a weird feeling waking up and not automatically hopping on the bike this morning. Our first day after one straight week of riding was a nice change of pace although we still ran around like crazy the entire day. We started off with a group breakfast at Einstein bagels, they are one of our main sponsors so we get hooked up whenever we are in a city with one, I'm sure I've ate more than 100 bagels in the past ten days and will probably go into bagel withdrawals once this trip is over. Then we had an event at noon at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, we had a great turnout from the med students for the lecture and some really good Thai food so it was a success all the way around. This afternoon we broke into groups to hit up some of the touristy things in Tucson, I went with the van headed to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Mueseum, it was a great chance to see some of the wildlife we had heard about in the desert but hadn't been luck enough to spot yet. Afterwards we all hit a mexican restaurant once again, I'm definitely getting my fill of chips & salsa during my time along the border. Today was also mail day! I seriously have some amazing family/friends as both mail drops so far along the way I have gotten some pretty sweet packages, it was a great little bonus at the end of a great day. Tomorrow we start off the morning with a 20 mile loop ride with some of the med students from U of A then we hit the road for Wilcox, Arizona an 86 mile jaunt, it promises to be another hot day in the desert. No Chain!

U of A Campus

Afternoon fun.

Straw hats and bandanas are now standard group attire

The view from the park.

My new mountain lion tat.

Normal shenanigans for our group.

Again, normal.

These hats wont be as cool once we hit the midwest.

Group Shot

It was Tim's "birthday" at the mexican restaurant

No bake cookies, Diet Pepsi, head lamps, photo of Nick Cage, gum, chapstick, sugar cookies with frosting. What more could a guy ask for in mail drop?

Tim enjoying the frosting that got smooshed to the tin foil. They were amazing Laur!

Ride for World Health Blog Bonus

2010-04-10T00:23:00.001-04:00

I was in charge of blogging for the main Ride for World Health Blog yesterday about the ride from Picacho Peak to Tucson, each of us are assigned 2-3 days along the ride to blog for the group. I know some of this is redundant from the blog I posted earlier but I wanted to share this here as well because the quote at the end by Bourdain is one of my favorites of all time, I hope you enjoy it as much I do:

Tuscon was just a short 45 mile ride from Picacho Peak. After some of the riders who didn’t get the opportunity to make the climb up the peak the night before made the 5 am trek to the top we hit the road to battle the heat and a headwind in to town. I think most of us agreed that the 45 miles felt a lot longer than the stated distance but we all made it town by the 1:30 pm time cutoff for showers at the local JCC even with a few added stops along the way (see Katie and Maggie’s new helmets above). Tonight were staying at a Jewish synagogue near the campus of the University of Arizona where we have an event tomorrow during our day off from riding. We all just finished an amazing brinner (breakfast for dinner) prepared by today’s support team and are now preparing to hit the town for the evening/have a movie night at the synagogue.

I think all the riders had a great time at Picacho Peak state park yesterday, sharing stories, a few drinks and smores around the campfire under the night sky full of billions and billions of stars. Sitting shoulder to shoulder in a circle around the flames made me realize just how close I had become to these random strangers in just a weeks time. For many of them I now know about their families, their passions and their goals for the futures. Hearing their tales of trips to places all over the globe continually amaze me and inspire me to extend my own reach when this journey across the nation ends. One of my favorite television shows is No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel, sitting there last night I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from the show:

“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s enlightenment enough - to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.”

A walk of inspriation...

2010-04-08T21:32:00.006-04:00

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
We meet a lot of people along the road, when we tell them what we are doing the usual response is something along the lines of "that's crazy". Yesterday on the way to Picacho Peak I met a man who made me say the same thing. George Throop was a succesful High rise investor when he quit his job this past summer and started walking across America beginning in Vancouver, Washington. George's mom passed away from bone cancer 2 days before her 34th birthday, so 2 days before his 34th birthday he began his walk of inspiration. He planned on the trip to D.C. taking 9 months, he's currently somehwere in the middle of Arizona at 6.5 months so you can do the math. He averages about 15 miles a day and sleeps along the side of the road when gets tired. So far he's gone through four pairs of tennis shoes and too many power bars to count. He's walking across America to inspire people to live a healither lifestyle by taking positive steps to personal growth in their own lives. If you have the time stop by his website: www.enjoythewalk.org and read more about his story and mission. I couldn't stop thinking about his journey the rest my ride yesterday, what an inspiration. I hope he finds everything he's been looking for out on the road and gets that final walk with President Obama. No chain George!

Picacho Peak State Park, Arizona

2010-04-08T21:23:00.005-04:00

They will see us waving from such great

Heights, 'come down now,' they'll say

But everything looks perfect from far away

'come down now,' but we'll stay...
- Ben Gibbard

We hit our highest mileage of the trip yesterday, clocking in at 93 miles. It was tough trying to get out of Phoenix, hitting stop light after stop light, we finally hit some open country road around mile 30 but because of the slow start didn't hit our destination for the night until around 3 pm. We stopped at Casa Grande national monument right around lunch, it's an ancient Sonoran desert farming community dating to the 1200's (pretty frickin old!). It was a nice mid day break before the final push for home as we were all getting pretty baked by the midday sun. Picacho Peak is located about 40 miles northwest of Tuscon and was the best camping experience I've ever had (out of 2 beating last week). A group of us decided to hike the 2 mile steep ascent to the peak of the mountain before dinner, a pretty wise decision after the day we had in the saddle but I guess you only live once right? I've never been hiking in my life so had to learn on the fly about proper footing but it was totally worth the time and burning quads for the view we got to the peak. By the time we got back down the sun was beginning to descend behind a range of hills in the distance and the colors that streamed across the desert were absolutely gorgeous. The rest of the evening was spent by the camp fire telling stories, drinking beer and roasting marshmellows for smores. Night time in the middle of the desert, miles from any town brought billions of stars out and the astronomers in the group pointed out constellation after constellation until I was more confused then when they started but I'm sure I learned something. It was much warmer camping this time so I was able to get a good nights rest before the short ride into Tuscon this morning. Were staying at Jewish Synagogue near the University of Arizona campus, where we have a big event planned tomorrow. With a day off tomorrow from riding, most of us are heading out on the town this evening to check things out, we hit the road again on Saturday morning. No chain!

The ruins are in the background.

Pete & Tim. I spend a lot of time on the road with these two buzzes.

Cruising up the final hill.

Our tent for the evening, and the peak we climbed.

The hike up the "trail"

The view from the top, you can see our campsite about mid picture.

Improving at the "outdoorsy" thing, at the top.

Cacti along the way

Sam tried to pick one up on accident, he has farther to go with the outdoorsy thing than me.

I dont know if i trust this sign.

Sunset. I'm not good enough at words to describe it.

Pete & I are prettier at sunset.

Maggie's camera does fancy stuff.

Maggie and Katie's new helmets.

Another new look for me.

Phoenix, AZ

2010-04-07T00:13:00.002-04:00

What a recovery day! After our talk at the University of Arizona we pulled into a little piece of heaven or more properly a little piece of the promised land at the Jewish Center of the Valley of the Sun. After a couple of nights in wrestling rooms and a church basement floor this place was exactly what the team needed. We all worked on our tans by the outdoor pool, hit the weights in the gym then headed for the sauna and hot tubs (aka a real "schvitz" for my Columbus crew). Tonight we went to a hole in the wall (my favorite kind of place) family run Italian joint and got all carb loaded up for our 96 mile trek to Picacho Peak state park. Can't wait to get back on the road. No Chain!

The beautiful entrance to the Jewish Center

Suns out, Guns out?

Underwater pictures, kids our age shouldn't have this much fun with a camera.

Ristorante Giuseppe's - Scottsdale AZ

Buckeye, AZ

2010-04-06T15:07:00.001-04:00

Yesterday's ride was 88 miles from Dateland to Buckeye Arizona. Buckeye was named after the number of Ohio residents that had moved to the area so it was a fitting place for us to spend the night. We started the morning by meeting the students whose gym we crashed the night before, we gave a short talk about who we were and where we were from then hit the road. A pretty substantial tail wind and pretty flat roads along interstate 8 got our average speed for the first 50 or so miles to right around 27 mph which is a lot of fun when you're in a big group. One of the best parts of the first week had been getting to watch the progression in skill and comfort level with the bike for some of the more inexperienced riders, our front group continues to grow every day and sharing the road with them has been a lot of fun. The weather has been beautiful, lots of bright sunshine and luckily we've been finishing most of our days ride before the afternoon sun really begins to beat down on the pavement. We made it in to town right around 1 pm and couldn't get into the school we were staying at in Buckeye until around 4 so we headed to the local watering hole Las Posistas for some afternoon margaritas, which quickly turned in to crashing the place all the way through the national championship game. With only a 30 mile ride from Buckeye to Phoenix today, everyone took the opportunity to have some fun and we definitely had a lot of laughs. We just arrived at the University of Arizona College of Medicine to give a lecture, its a beautiful campus right in the middle of downtown. This afternoon we are headed for the Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale, it has a pool so everyone is really excited to get there. Tomorrow its back to camping, hopefully it'll be warmer this time around. No Chain!

The students at the morning lecture

Our first rest stop at an old school gas station

The front group stopping for a flat.

I never get tired of the scenery.

Im 1/2 a Buckeye so it works.

We all celebrated with margaritas

Libby celebrated by jumping in a bush.

Dateland Dance Party

2010-04-04T22:55:00.003-04:00

Dateland community school (elementary thru high school all in one) is one of 2 buildings in Dateland Arizona, the other being the local convenience store, and were all sitting out in front of the school enjoying the beautiful evening. Another 80 miles of cycling down, the scenery improved a lot today, we passed through a lot of mountains and farms over mostly flat roads. A solid group of 10 riders led today which with everyone taking pulls on the front bumped our average speed to close to 21 miles per hour for the day putting us into this metropolis before 1:00 pm local time, giving us a lot of time to kill before bed time. So far we've had multiple games of horse on the basketball court, an easter egg hunt, and an incident with a school bus that we can't go into details about. We also all (for the most part) experienced and survived our first earthquake! It was located in Baja, California which were super close to right now and was measured at 7.2, the school we were in was definitely swaying so I ran as fast as I could to the parking lot! Overall its been the best day so far, we all needed good roads and a shorter day in the saddle after the beating we took yesterday so it's been a great recovery period (never thought I would say that about 80 miles of cycling). We figured out the sound system in the gym so were planning an Easter dance party for later. Tomorrow we head to Buckeye Arizona where were making a stop for obvious reasons and then its on to Phoenix. No Chain!

The only shade for a water break in a looooong ways.

Some of today's scenery.

Couple of the dorks on the road.

Mountains & Farms, Mountains & Farms, Repeat

Dateland is famous for Date Shakes, obv.

So of course after cycling 80 miles I had the largest one they make.

Passed so many border patrol the last couple days, had to get a photo with one.

Our new look to fit in with the locals

Kids. DO NOT get on this man's bus.

Explaing the rules of the easter egg hunt.

Just covering all of our sports.

2010-04-04T00:04:00.002-04:00

"There are clubs you can't belong to, neighborhoods you can't live in, schools you can't get into, but the roads are always open."

First few days...

2010-04-03T23:19:00.001-04:00

It's begun! 3 days of riding down covering close to 200 miles of California and Arizona so far. The climbs out of San Diego were unbelievable, on day 1 the team rose 6300 feet vertically to end the day at Lake Morena national park. We camped out on night number one, a first for me and it was definitely an experience. The thing about the desert is, it's super hot during the day and freezing at night. It dropped down to 34 degrees and no number of layers that I put on could keep the cold out, and the persistent howling of the coyotes did not help. We all woke up frozen and tired in the morning and hit the road for 76 miles heading to El Centro, California a border town. On the way to El Centro we descended down a 6% grade for 10 straight miles, it has been described by people as "being in a video game" and "riding a roller coaster", my group averaged around 36 miles per hour for the trip down the mountain, it was one of the scariest things I've ever done on 23 cm of rubber before. Last night we stayed in a Methodist church in El Centro and cooked a pasta meal as my roomate Pauly likes to call it. Today was mostly flat covering 82 miles from El Centro to Yuma, AZ (A new State!) directly through the desert, at one point we went 20 miles without evening passing another car, pretty rural! We covered the first 40 miles in about 2 hours and then the roads turned horrible, we were riding along a frontage route that followed Interstate 8 and it felt like our bikes were coming apart beneath us due to the number of bumps/pot holes. The road took a a toll on my bike shredding my front tire, so I got to spend some time a long the side of the highway in the hot sun waiting for the van to bring me my gear to change it out. Tonight we had an event at the Buffalo Wild Wings here in Yuma which really turned into us rehydrating and watching the Final 4 basketball games, the first time I had watched a tv in over a week. Tomorrow we head back out into the desert and heat for 80 miles to Dateland, AZ population 461, should be interesting. So far its been a great trip though, I never thought I would get in trouble by the border police for being too close to the fence, or climb some of the hills we hit, or even sleep in a tent with 5 random people I just met last week so even though I feel a little homesick right now I wouldn't trade this trip for anything. No Chain!

Never ending climbs.

Lunch time dance party.

The cafe we stopped at in B.F.E. it was like a museum to the 70's

Camping.

Pretty much in Mexico

Lake Morena where we camped.

The desert on day 2 = amazing farmers tan.

Sailors.

How Heidi gets up hills so fast.

Shortly after this photo was taken Border Patrol was not happy with us.

Sometimes its hard to find shade for lunch breaks when youre in the middle of the desert

First new state! Welcome to Arizona.

Saw more dune buggies on day 3 then cars.

Pacific Tire Dip

2010-03-31T20:28:00.003-04:00

We dipped our rear wheels in the pacific today and then biked about 20 miles up the coast along Highway 101. Tomorrow when we leave San Diego we are actually driving about 10 miles south of the city due to traffic/safety issues, so we made the cross country part official today. Thought this was such a great shot I wanted to get it uploaded right away, Ill put more pictures up soon!

Shortly after the group shot we got attacked by a wave.

The 3 bulls.

Our backyard for the week.

La Jolla Cove

The views on our ride up the 101

Super sexy time.