Biking For a Cure

Trip Journal:

June 6, 2005

We have completed the prelude and are now ready to tackle the US. We arrived without a hitch and had a wonderful time in Seattle - thank you again to Jill and Sarah for hosting us. Got a room at a skeevy hostel in Vancouver and spend most of our day biking around the seawall - a biking/walking trail that follows the whole coast of downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park - Dad you would have used a whole roll of film! Stanley Park was incredible. Due to ferry issues, the one we needed was closed for repair, we needed to bike around the Saanich Peninsula causing us to spend another day and 50 extra miles on Vancouver Island - which was not as flat as I had thought. VI is beautiful though and we are glad we got some coastline biking (gonna be a very long time till we see it again...) Looking forward to starting the US leg.

June 7, 2005

Washington is an incredibly beautiful state - yesterday's ride really made the whole idea of biking across country make sense. We followed Rt. 20 through a valley bordered by towering green mountains. The road was pretty flat and meandered its way through ranches and fields. Had dinner at a cafe in a really small town - Dollar Burger night! - we lucked out and ate 5 (not each...) Headed into the Cascades tomorrow - hoping the rain will calm down a bit. Tomorrow we have our first huge climb over Washington Pass. So far we are enjoying each other's company. Cold and rainy.

June 8, 2005

Freezing. Raining. Cloudy. Miserable. 30 mile climb straight up to 5,477 ft. Really cold when you go downhill soaked to the bone at 30 mph without a windshield...

June 12, 2005

Well, we made it through our first week of biking. Mountains are HELL! - in the past four days we crossed 4: 5, 477 ft, 4,020 ft, 4,310 ft, and 5,575 ft. If you cannot imagine biking up a mountain - think of the steepest thing you have ever driven. Now change your speed from 40 mph to 5 mph toss in burning muscles and if you want our Washington experience toss in a hailstorm, a thunderstorm and shivering so hard from the downhill (soaking wet from the thunderstorm) that you almost fall off the bike. Taking a day off in Colville, WA to let our legs recover and to spend ONE day out of the rain.

June 15, 2005

Best night of the trip. We had to make some changes in our route due to storms and the fact that we were behind schedule from the ferry the first day and the fact that yours truely did not schedule any days off. So we decided not to try to bike Glacier (which might be closed due to snow) but that we would go hike it another time when we could do more than just rush through it. So we decided to go south and head towards Missoula. Staying at Trout Creek. Absolutely the best night we have had. For the first day since our first we have had no rain. 9 out of 10 days in Washington were wet. Today it is perfectly blue and warm. The place we are staying is right on the lake and has showers and gas grills. Sausage and Beer. We also spent a good amount of time with Marla and Al in their restaurant "The Huckleberry Thicket." Make sure if you go cross country or through Montana you stop there. Not only are Marla and Al the most friendly people we have met yet - but their pie is AMAZING!

June 17, 2005

Missoula, MT. Staying with the SAE chapter at the University of Montana. Taking another day off. Missoula is the first real town we have been in and we are really enjoying not only the college crowd but biking around and seeing something other than ranches. We took Andrew's bike to get repaired (2 broken spokes) and went to see Batman Begins (AMAZING!! I give it ****) We have done a lot of walking since the bus system out here is not as comprehensive as back east (it stops at 5:30 pm - we got stranded at the movie theater...). Have been having a great time with the guys and many thanks to Brad and all the other SAEs for their hospitality.

June 20, 2005

We have crossed the continental divide. We crossed at MacDonald pass just outside of Helena, MT. Honestly it was our easiest pass yet. The first rise in elevation in Washington was soooo grueling since we were going from sea level, but we have spend the past couple days gaining so much elevation that we both were able to bike over the pass without stopping and when we reached the top were pretty impressed that we were over. After looking at the snowcapped crags in the distance for the past 3 days we thought we were dead, but the one we went over was the easiest pass the Rockies had to offer. From what we hear is is "all downhill from here."

June 22, 2005

Bozeman, MT. Visiting Cortland Barnes and Sarah Myers in Bozeman and taking another day off. While the roads have not been as rough on this side there are still some hills but the wind is killing us. The past two days we have had AWFUL headwinds that have made downhills feel like uphills. It is 93 degrees and with the wind we are losing tons of energy. Very happy for the day off and to catch up with some friends. Bozeman is a really cute city and I like it more than Missoula - maybe that is my east coast talking again, but it feels more like a town and not part of the University. Had great ribs at The Garage and went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith - good acting, fun movie, plot seems to be a bit stretched - lots of pacing issues. But fun - still cannot get used to walking out of a movie theater and seeing mountains - snowcapped mountains - all around. Many thanks to Cort, Sarah and to Marty for the hospitality and help. We are taking the Interstate to shave some time off the trip (you can bike on the Interstate out here!). One pass left: Bozeman Pass and we should be free of mountains.

June 25, 2005

We are really good at timing things. We are at the Little Bighorn Battlefield site and just on the right weekend for the re-enactments. If it were not raining we might have gotten to see something. Here are a couple things we learned while biking through Eastern Montana: 1) Biking on the Interstate - while much quicker is awful - 5 flat tires and no scenery 2) storms come up very quick and there is not much place to hide while out in a field 3) Indian reservations are full of hills 4) Do not camp in a city - you will not sleep well 5) WIND IS AWFUL! WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO PREVAILING WINDS GOING EAST. Every day we have wind in our face.

June 28, 2005

Devil's Tower, WY: Probably one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. Of course we are in hills again - the people who said that it was flat and downhill from the divide obviously have never biked the other side of the Rockies. Make sure you look at the picture of Devil's Tower in the photo album! We arrived around 7 pm after a really long day of biking 87 miles in hills, headwinds and rain and quickly ditched our bikes and ran up to see sunset from the base. It was simply amazing!!! Can't really put it into words. Just come visit here some day.

July 2, 2005

Taking a day off in Rapid City, SD. We are really hoping that we are done with the hills for now. The Black Hills were named wrong - true I may be an Eastern boy, but in my world a "hill" is something you go sledding on in the winter - NOT a 5,000 ft mountain. Those are simply called Mountains. Well - the Black Hills took us a little off guard (as they have most - why there are there is a good question) and we took a solid beating riding them - but we did get to see Jewel Cave, Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore. Mt. Rushmore is at the top of a 5,000ft Mt. Was not expecting to climb all that way - thought it was the mountain. Worth going to see though. Must admit: it is much more spectacular when you bike all the way up to it. Would not have been as excited driving up there. Enjoying our day off. Went to see "Bewitched" (the least of the 3 movies we have seen so far - good Will Farrell moments, but a WEAK script...) and hung out in Borders for a bit. Also happen to be in Rapid City for the Heritage Festival - GOOD food, live music and fireworks. We hit another day right on the nose.

July 4, 2005

Many thanks to the Knispel Family for making this July 4th memorable. The biking in SoDak has been AWFUL! Headwinds all the time and miserable heat. Andrew and I were in really low spirits when we stopped at to get some cold water, but the hospitality (not to mention the lemonade and coconut bars) were an amazing lift. Invited to go with the family to see the fireworks at the Rosebud Casino. An Indian Reservation Fourth was like no other that I have ever experienced. It was chaos and no where like the overly patriotic Boston or DC that I am used to. We bought some fireworks and had our own little celebration back at the tent. Snicker's Ice Cream bars really helped that one!

July 7, 2005

A couple quick thank-you's: Firstly to DZ Ironwing and his family for taking us in and for a wonderful night and wonderful conversation and secondly to the SAE guys in Vermillion. The riding in South Dakota was really hard, but you made the state so much better by giving us nights of good sleep, showers and good companionship and company. Thank you. Also - passed to cross country walkers. Check out their site: www.RunAcrosstheUSA.com

July 8, 2005

Hello and greetings from South Sioux City Nebraska. Our parents flew out to meet us and my Dad is going biking with us tomorrow. Will be taking a day off in Omaha. We need it - South Dakota was really rough. We have had headwinds the whole way - kinda like swimming with a bucket tied to your back. Happy to be out, but have been facing the same winds in Nebraska. Do you know what causes these winds? Storm systems - so we bike into the wind all day and then get hit by a storm. Love the Midwest. It is great to spend time with our parents though. Many more updates tomorrow!

July 10, 2005

Omaha, NE: Firstly, I would like to thank my parents for flying out to visit and for treating us to such a wonderful time out here in Omaha. The rest was really needed and I know that we will be able to push on much better after the food and sleep - plus it was great to see you both! So far most of my day has been spent getting this site up and running and despite the 30 miles Andrew and I biked this morning we have been doing very little. Andrew and I will prob go see the Fantastic Four this evening and then tomorrow we will be headed into Iowa and towards the Katy Trail in MO. I will do the best I can to keep the site updated from the road so please check in often!!!

July 12, 2005

Four states left to go! We are taking a lunch break in Maryville, MO after leaving Iowa this morning. The day off in Omaha was wonderful - while Fantastic Four was not a spectacular movie, it was much more enjoyable than biking into the wind. Had a great dinner at a local brewpub and lots of ice cream. The day following had some complications, but it was a very good day over all. Leading up to Omaha we needed some bike repairs: Andrew had broken enough spokes to warrant a new wheel and I had worn all the tread off my rear tire. While changing my tire, I must have pinched the tube and as soon as we checked out of the hotel I noticed I had a flat. Great way to start the day. Then we had a really rough time trying to find a way out of the city as our trail map did not seem to show trails that did not exist. We finally made it across the Missouri and into Iowa and ended up taking the Wabash Trace Trail. It was wonderful to be out of the wind and the sun and off the road. Great day of riding, but the crushed limestone did slow us down a bit and Andrew had a problem where his rear bag jumped off the rack and wedged itself into the wheel. Really frightening for a bit as he skidded down the trail. The brand new wheel is still in one piece but needed some work. Really frustrating. We spent the night in Shenandoah, IA and many thanks to Paul Berning for taking us in and giving us a nice cool basement to sleep in. Watch Bobby Abreu kick some major butt in the Home Run Derby (YEA Phils!) and had a good night. Iowa is easily our fav state so far. Shame we were only in it for 24 hours. Missouri is really hilly and the 90+ degree weather continues, but (knock on wood) the wind is not as rough. We are headed for Stanberry tonight and hoping to find a good bar where we can watch the All-Star Game. Not sure who I want to win, but it would be nice if the Red Sox had home field advantage for the Series again.

July 13, 2005

Longest day today - 104 miles. We had no idea we went that far - for one of the first times we had the wind at our back and wow! does it make a difference. Spending the night in Richmond, MO - the proclaimed Mushroom Capital of the World (little do they know that it is Kennet Square, PA). Had a wonderful day of biking today - got off to a really good start after spending a night with the Birdsell family in Stanberry - thank you so much for taking us in and for letting us watch the All-Star Game and for the wonderful breakfast that got us up and powering off this morning. We pretty much spent the whole day going South (with the wind - did I mention it was amazing!) and took a lunch break at SHATTO MILK COMPANY on Rt. 33. What a wonderful lunch break. Thanks to Robert Shatto for the chocolate milk and the tastes of the root beer and creamsicle milk. For everyone else reading - the best chocolate milk you will EVER get - 9406 North Hwy 22 Osborn, MO 64474. So far our stomachs have been forgiving for drinking it in 97 degree heat. To make the rest of this update a little shorter - we biked to Richmond, took a swim in the city pool (which felt great and got rid of the salt layer that we acquired during the day of grinding up hills in the heat.) While trying to find a place to camp we met Coach Simmons who invited us to come stay with him and here we are enjoying another wonderful night with spectacular company. The best part of this trip is the people that you meet along the way. No one stops to talk to drivers and it is a shame since they miss out on the best part of the country - the residents. It really amazes me how many people will go out of their way to ask questions about where we have biked from and what we are doing and we learn so much from talking to them. Thanks to the Simmons family for a wonderful night and for taking us in. Tomorrow we will hopefully make the Katy Trail - a biking trail that will take us across Missouri (flat, no traffic, shade - sigh....) and to St. Louis. Hopefully we will be to the other side of the state by Sat night and looking at a good 2 day break. Till then.

July 15, 2005

Two very long days of riding - looking forward to our upcoming break in St. Louis. After leaving Richmond, MO (after a great breakfast and newspaper interview) we worked our way towards the Katy Trail. The Katy (M-K-T Missouri-Kansas-Texas) Rail line was converted into a recreation trail connecting Clinton and St. Charles, Missouri. It is 225 miles long and nice and flat. We would be hopefully meeting up with this trail at the end of the day and get out of the rolling hills and make some good speed. The day turned into a really long day of biking and due to the locations of the towns we ended up taking a really late break in the cute, newly-restored Black Water, MO - about 15 miles from where we would pick up the trail. While trying to find some Gatorade (we pretty much live on PB&J, granola bars and Gatorade), we ended up talking to some locals and to the city council about our trip. The Mayor offered us a night in the Iron Horse Hotela beautiful historic hotel. We had a wonderful night and were treated to a wonderful dinner. The town of Black Water is a quaint, newly-restored old rail town. If you are ever in central Missouri make sure you stop there. Not only are the citizens incredibly friendly, helpful and generous - but the food at the Iron Horse is amazing (I recommend the Monte Cristo). After a great night's sleep we biked to the Katy Trail and started our path across the second half of Missouri. At first the trail was great and we were really excited to be off the roads, but biking on crushed limestone is much tougher than biking on pavement and we started to lose steam very quickly. We ended up pushing very hard and long (95 mile day) to get to the town of Portland. Highlight of the evening was setting op our tent right next to the Missouri River and taking a late night swim. The water was so warm and felt great after a long hot day and getting coated with a ton of trail dust.


July 18, 2005

We worked hard enough that we could take two days off. What a beautiful thought to wake up to on Saturday morning. Actually waking on Sat was incredible - there was an incredible mist on the river and surrounding our tent. It was like sleeping in a cloud. It was also the first time we slept without the fly on and pretty incredible to wake up to mist in the tent. We spent most of the day switching off between the trail and Rt. 94, which paralleled it but was paved and made for faster biking. Due to a map reading fault (my mistake) we ended up getting a little far away from the trail and doing 12 miles of really grueling hills. We are not looking forward to the Appalachians. We finally arrived in St. Louis around 7 Sat night, very happy to be off the Katy Trail (everything we were carrying was coated in dust) and at our break. We have spent the past two days staying with the Powells (many thanks for having us and for your generous hospitality) and spending some time catching up with Bailey. Our time in St. Louis was spent visiting with Abby Drevs (thanks for flying down!!!) and Katherine Fleming as well as taking in many sites and eating a ton. We have pretty much eaten at every ice cream place in the city. We also saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (****), Jesus Christ Superstar at the MUNY (the Municipal Opera - a really cool outdoor concert space in Forest Park), a Cardinals game, the City Museum and other St. Louis sites like the Gateway Arch. It has been a wonderful break and thank you Bailey for driving us around and keeping us entertained for the past two days. Our bodies have really enjoyed the rest, although we have not yet gotten used to the idea of eating without the biking and have spend most of the trip here very full. 3 states left!!!!

July 28, 2005

Wow - it has been a really long time since we have been able to update and we have done a lot in the past ten days. Here comes the long entry: We left St. Louis and headed south along the Mississippi River crossing into Illinois at Chester (home of Popeye) and made our way across. The weather was HOT!!!! 98 degrees with a heat index of 115. We were told that the news was telling people to "stay inside" and "only go out if you need to" - of course we go and bike 90 miles. After a quick one night stay in IL we hit Kentucky. With the promise of a nice place to crash indoors in Seebree (a church hosted bikers) we pushed really hard to get there. The next nights were we not as lucky with the AC we got in Seebree, but we did get to go swimming in Rough River Lake and managed to find places to shower ever night (even though we still had awful heat in the tent while sleeping). Our pushing to get to places to get out of the heat actually put us ahead of schedule and we were able to spend some time in Bardsville, KY checking out "My Old Kentucky Home" and the Bourbon heritage museum. We met up with the SAE Kentucky Delta chapter in Richmond at EKU (thank you very much to everyone for hosting and housing us) and took a day off leaning how to play "Corn Hole" - pretty much horseshoes with sacks of corn and went to see "Wedding Crashers" - funny movie - well done! Eager to get out of Kentucky due to bad weather (RAIN again - comes with the mountains I suppose) - we altered our route and headed directly south towards the Cumberland Gap. Today we crossed into Tennessee and into VIRGINIA! Last state!!!! VERY VERY VERY excited! the end is near. All we have to do is get over the mountains that are looming in front of us. Hopefully then the rumor that it is "all downhill" will come true. Tonight we have had the wonderful fortune of being hosted by the Cridlins in Jonesville, VA. Thank you very much for your incredible hospitality, for taking us in out of the rain, feeding us and making us feel very welcome and comfortable.

August 2, 2005

Appomattox, VA - We can smell the end. Hopefully we will be looking at the Atlantic Ocean in 4 days. Very eager to see the water again, since it has been almost 2 months now since we have seen such a body of water. Here's what's happened in the past couple of days: We had a little trouble after leaving Jonesville. I ended up with a flat tire coming down one of the mountain passes (actually our first one...) and it was one I could not patch so I had to get a ride. The real problem came when replacing the tube, the spare broke leaving us stranded and me without a rear tire. Luckily, Andrew befriended a nice couple of ladies who gave us a ride to Kingsport, TN and took us to a bike shop and out to lunch. (Thank you!) We got the bike repaired and headed off into the mountains. We altered our route a deal so that we would not be going through all the windy backloads of the mountains but following the ridgelines and trying to stay away from really nasty climbs. While this was a good idea, it also caused us to zigzag all over southwest Virginia. While this did not make us feel like we were making much progress, staying on the ridgelines allowed us to make really good time (80+ mile days?!?!) and looking back at the map we did a lot better than expected. We are actually pretty much right on schedule and may even get to the beach a little early. The best riding we had was along the Blue Ridge Parkway. While it was a lot of ups and downs, the road is beautiful and has incredible views and woods. Andrew and I both felt it was the "Appalachian Trail of Biking." The best part of the Parkway was stumbling across "FloydFest", pretty much the Woodstock of Virginia, which happened to be right next to two vineyards. So - we went wine sampling and then went to hear some music. We were allowed into the last night of the festival and also to camp on the grounds. I will try to sum up the night with one moment: It was pouring rain and the mountain we were on had turned into a giant fog bank. From the stage Ani Difranco was giving a fueled performance due to the tons of people dancing in the rain and the mud. People were crowded into vendors tents and glimpses out into the rain provided views of tye-dye swirling around in the mist. It was an amazing evening and one of the wonderful experiences that makes our trip wonderful.

August 4, 2005

Well we have officially been on the road for a month now. We are within 80 miles of VA Beach, but have taken an early day and are spending the night in Waverly. Since we want to have a welcoming party, we have been postponing our arrival so that we will arrive on Saturday afternoon (and meet up with our parents). Last night we stayed in the town of McKenny out in back of the fire department (thank you very much to the volunteers at the station for taking us in and showing us around - thank you also to Frank at the Drugstore for the milkshakes! They were wonderful!!!) and today we have not yet found a place to stay, but have been taken in for the day at least by the Waverly Rescue Squad. The riding in VA has become very easy - the floodplain area is quite flat and the peddling goes really smoothly. Of course, going 40 mile days instead of 80 also really helps. The people in the town of Waverly have been incredibly friendly and helpful and we are glad that we have this opportunity to spend some more time off our bikes and meeting people and spreading a little more information about what we are doing. Thanks so much to the workers at the drugstore, the staff at the First Baptist Church (thank you very much for the subs - they were delicious) and to the Rescue Squad, particularly Dave and Shara, for all of your kindness and help. I have also added an update in the EQUIPMENT section of the TRIP DETAILS that will tell you a little more of the ups and downs of our equipment.

August 5, 2005

After writing the update yesterday, Andrew and I were hosted by Rev. Joy and Tom Heaton. They provided us with a wonderful place to stay, a great meal and a wonderful time relaxing and watching some great Seinfeld and Harvey Birdman episodes. We were also treated to a wonderful breakfast of blueberry waffles. Thank you very much to Joy and Tom for their hospitality. The day was a pretty short one. We biked a little over 40 miles to the town of Suffolk. The road was terrible with traffic, but luckily we made it nice and early before the heat and traffic combo was upon us. Dave, from the Waverly Rescue Squd, had arranged for us to get a free night at the Suffolk Hilton Gardens and Andrew and I started to feel that the end of the journey was near. Andrew's girlfriend, Amanda, came down to visit and for the rest of the day we enjoyed the town of Suffolk, the pool, and the live band and happy hour wing specials that were a Friday night standard at the hotel. It was a great night that put us in a wonderful mood to finish.

August 6, 2005

We made it!!! Final count 3,917 miles. In just about 2 months, Andrew and I completed our biking journey and dove into the Atlantic Ocean. The ride from Suffolk was actually one of the most challenging rides we had the whole trip. The reason was twofold: 1) Beach Traffic. After having spend two months peddling the back roads of America the swarm of insane shore traffic was hard to deal with. Firstly, the roads around the VA Beach area are not the most condusive to bikers and with all of the strip malls and extra lanes and crazy-u-turn-making drivers, we were both really happy to be done with the trip. 2) Mental. The traffic also affected our parent's trip down from Philly to meet us and led to us having to take a couple of "breaks". We spend some time at the mall and some bookstores. While we were really happy to have the reception party on the beach while we arrived, the waiting did not gel too well with the traffic. Ah well - all the griping aside - it did heighten anticipation and we arrived on 31st street to my parents and Aunt (who came from GA to see us! THANKS!!!) and Andrew and I took our bikes and ran down onto the beach and dipped our front tires in the ocean and then ran out and dove into the water. It was such a thrilling end to the trip. After months of mountains and fields to look out at a plane of water extending out to the horizon. Thank you all very much for following along with out journey and for all of the letters and e-mails you have written showing your support. The trip was a wonderful experience and a great success and we could not have made it so without all of the support we have had the whole way through. Thank you especially to our parents for letting us go and for consenting to let both your boys head out into the wilderness; thank you also for all of your support and encouragement along the way. Thank you to the Alzheimer's Association and to Kathryn DiSalvo for their sponsorship and support. And thank you to all of the people who we met along the way who helped us with directions, found us places to stay, hosted us, provided us with meals, told great stories, and cheered us on. We could not have made it without you. To all our friends and supporters and all those who have come to this website to check in on us - without you to talk to and to turn to on the trip we would not have made it. Thank you all and now - time for the beach!!!!