San Francisco, CA (Greenbrae, CA) to Tomales, CA
Distance: 58.92 miles
Time: 4:09:09
Max Speed: 40.3 mph
Average Speed 14.2 mph
A day like today is impossible to describe without being incredibly cliche, and even then, I do not believe that would accurately convey what an amazing ride we had today. To begin, Mike Glass got Safeway to donate all their day-old baked goods, which was enough to fill the backseat and trunk of the Matrix to the roof with bread, baguettes, muffins, cakes, an garbage bag full of assorted donuts, and other assorted baked goods and pastries. When he showed up, it was definitely a sight to be seen, everyone crowding around and stuffing their faces. We will be set for a while on all the goodies he got us, assuming they do not spoil before we can eat them all.
It was sad leaving San Francisco and our hosts. The city treated us incredibly well and the people were amazing, and I will miss it there very much. However, the ride out of the Bay Area was the most incredible, awe-inspiring ride I have ever done on a bike, mountain or road. After some riding through the suburbs of beautiful Marin County, we began to climb what seemed to be a short hill. We had been joined by many local cyclists as we approached, so we figured it was a popular route, which made us excited. Oleg and and I were riding together and there was another, older cyclist behind us on a nice old Bianchi, so Oleg and I wanted to beat him and were climbing pretty hard to stay ahead of him. Eventually, we began to run out of steam as the climb was much longer and much more challenging than we had anticipated, and the other cyclist passed us with ease, exchanging a few words as we tried to huff out a greeting.
We finally reached a flat strip, after a couple heart-racing descents, which was atop a dam over-looking a beautiful reservoir surrounded by trees. We were no more than 50 miles out of downtown San Francisco, and here we were in what seemed to be the middle of the woods. There were no cars, there was no noise; there was only us, the local cyclists, the road, and the beauty that surrounded us. Could this have been heaven? We paused here to chat with some of the local cyclists and they were all very nice and impressed by what we were doing. We caught up with the guy on the Bianchi who had passed us, and he gave us a tip for an alternative, much better route than the one we had planned. He told us there would be more climbing involved, but it was completely worth it. When we told him how amazing the ride was, he told us we hadn't reached the "fun part" yet, and that the climbing got more intense too. Oh boy!
These cyclists were certainly right. Just after the dam, we encountered an even steeper climb, with some killer switchbacks thrown in. Mike Glass was driving the trailer, and we came up to him at one point, with a flat tire, trying to pump it up with a bike pump. He did not seem too happy about that, but there was not much we could do to help, so we rode on. What we had thought would be a nice, relaxing ride along the beach had turned out to be one hell of a climb, but the scenery was almost as breath-taking as the climbing, and soon the ride would get even better.
We reached the fork in the road that we had been told about, and found out that the left fork that we had been told to take was apparently the stretch of road where the most car commercials in America have been filmed because it is a winding, hilly stretch along a hill-top ridge with a view of the ocean to the side, San Francisco to the other, and rolling hills all around. So, Oleg and I continued on with the left fork as planned. That was the best decision I have ever made. The road was incredible! It was the best experience I have ever had on a road, by any means, and will probably remain that way for a while, though who knows what this trip has in store for us ahead.
We did some more climbing, somewhat up and down for a little wide, with some incredible views where we just had to stop to take pictures and could not believe what we were seeing. The weather was gorgeous for us all day as well, right around 75-80 degrees, mostly sunny, and completely fog free. Absolutely perfect! Oleg and I could only guess that this must have been close to, if not the area where Gary Fisher and his friends basically invented the sport of mountain biking. We came to a parking lot full of cars with bike racks, which seemed to be a good sign as people probably parked at the top to ride down the descent, or somewhere around there. Needless to say, this was a bit of an ego boost as we had just climbed what many people chose to drive instead.
From there, the road hugged the hills, winding in and out, descending all the way to the little beach town of Stinson Beach, somewhat of a sleepy beach getaway on Highway 1. Oleg and I probably averaged around 38-40 mph on this stretch, as we were passing cars in turns marked 20 mph going 30-35 mph, having the time of our lives. Even on the straight stretches, the cars could not keep up with us as we had so much more speed in the corners. I was yelling at the top of my lungs with joy and excitement as if I were on the most amazing roller coaster ever. I told Oleg at one point that if I died on that road, I would be ok with that. As we pulled into town, a car pulled up next to us and exclaimed "Wow, you guys were really flying back there!" All I could do was smile because I think my face was stuck in the biggest grin ever for quite a while.
And, as if the ride was not spectacular enough already, we were rewarded at the bottom with the beach! This was really our first time on the trip to be on the beach of the Pacific Ocean (we only really saw the bay in San Fran, and the Pacific from the Golden Gate). We made it to the West Coast! We went to the first beach we saw and took off our shoes and carried our bikes through the sand trails out to the beach, lounging on the beach and putting our feet in the water for a while. After not too long, Elyse, Peyton, and Estrin found the some beach, and we were all frolicking and taking pictures on the beach together in celebration. We had not yet had a rest stop yet, and after all the climbing and playing on the beach for a while, we found we were hungry, so we headed back to town and found a little snack stand and had some burgers, clam chowder, fries, and such and laid around, debating whether or not to take a nap. We eventually decided against it and got back to riding.
The remainder of the ride was fairly uneventful, but beautiful as we rode on Highway 1, the famous Pacific Coast Highway, hugging the hills and flirting with the ocean the entire way. I am assuming this will continue for at least a week, if not two, and I could not be more excited! The weather is so much cooler here because of the ocean, and I hope we are finished with the heat for the summer. We did not have any rest stops the rest of the day as the drivers had lost track of most of the riders because everyone had gone off to do their own thing. Oleg and I began to hurt pretty bad and had to stop once or twice as we were bonking pretty hard. By the time we reached the church here in Tomales, we were completely beat. But, our hosts had a wonderful spread of food laid out for us, and lasagna was to come later. Most everyone who had beaten us there was already asleep, so Oleg and I had a snack and promptly fell asleep. It was wonderful.
Later, we enjoyed the lasagna for dinner with synthesizer-themed music selections to aid the digestion. Northern California is incredibly beautiful. I honestly do not really know where we are going for the next few days, but I do not really care. I will just follow the coastline until it stops. Hopefully traffic, and especially wind will not be too bad.
Peace and Love,
Descending Miggy
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Day 29-Three Fog Free Days in San Francisco? Unheard of!
Rest day numer dos in the Golden City
After a bit of a crazy night in Berkele, we were off to a late start this morning, waking up at 10:30, by far the latest of any day on the trip thus far. We were greeted once again by an incredible spread of homemade, mostly organic breakfast foods, including homemade granola that was to die for, and more fresh fruit than I could imagine. God, I love California. The members of the Marin Rowing Association have been absolutely incredible hosts, having us here for three nights and taking such amazing care of us has been a blessing!
We took our time getting ready for the day and figuring out what to do before finally taking the van to the north side of the Golden Gate, where we parked and walked across into the city. From there, I walked a few miles to the nearest bus station, hopped on a bus, and rode it to the nearest BART station, where I took the BART under the bay to Berkeley.
Once in Berkeley, I met up with Onita, a high school friend who now goes to school in Berkeley. We ate at a delicious restaurant named Slurp on Telegraph Avenue that my mom and I ate at during my first visit to Berkeley. They make all their own noodles and the prices are fairly cheap, though some may not agree with me on the delicious factor. Oh well. After eating, we walked around the town a bit as Onita gave me a tour and showed me where she lives before I ended up up at a coffee house to use the internet.
Afterwards, Onita's boyfriend ever so graciously gave me a ride back to the boathouse, where I am currently. As everyone has been arriving back tonight from their various adventures around San Francisco, it feels weird because we were apart for no more than 48 hours, but after being together non-stop for the past month, it feels like we were separated for a week. Everyone seems well rested, rejuvenated, and ready to get back on our bikes and back to work. I think this stop has been just what we needed.
Tomorrow we ride to Tomales, CA as we embark on what seems like a whole new leg of the trip. I had every city until San Francisco memorized for the most part, and now I do not know where we go after tomorrow even, but I am not too concerned. It truly feels like an adventure! We will be on Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) for a while beginning tomorrow, snaking along the gorgeous Northern California Coast. Then, we will ride Highway 101 along the Oregon Coast, which I know from experience, is spectacular! The next couple of weeks could be the best of the trip!
Peace and Love,
Master Miguel
After a bit of a crazy night in Berkele, we were off to a late start this morning, waking up at 10:30, by far the latest of any day on the trip thus far. We were greeted once again by an incredible spread of homemade, mostly organic breakfast foods, including homemade granola that was to die for, and more fresh fruit than I could imagine. God, I love California. The members of the Marin Rowing Association have been absolutely incredible hosts, having us here for three nights and taking such amazing care of us has been a blessing!
We took our time getting ready for the day and figuring out what to do before finally taking the van to the north side of the Golden Gate, where we parked and walked across into the city. From there, I walked a few miles to the nearest bus station, hopped on a bus, and rode it to the nearest BART station, where I took the BART under the bay to Berkeley.
Once in Berkeley, I met up with Onita, a high school friend who now goes to school in Berkeley. We ate at a delicious restaurant named Slurp on Telegraph Avenue that my mom and I ate at during my first visit to Berkeley. They make all their own noodles and the prices are fairly cheap, though some may not agree with me on the delicious factor. Oh well. After eating, we walked around the town a bit as Onita gave me a tour and showed me where she lives before I ended up up at a coffee house to use the internet.
Afterwards, Onita's boyfriend ever so graciously gave me a ride back to the boathouse, where I am currently. As everyone has been arriving back tonight from their various adventures around San Francisco, it feels weird because we were apart for no more than 48 hours, but after being together non-stop for the past month, it feels like we were separated for a week. Everyone seems well rested, rejuvenated, and ready to get back on our bikes and back to work. I think this stop has been just what we needed.
Tomorrow we ride to Tomales, CA as we embark on what seems like a whole new leg of the trip. I had every city until San Francisco memorized for the most part, and now I do not know where we go after tomorrow even, but I am not too concerned. It truly feels like an adventure! We will be on Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) for a while beginning tomorrow, snaking along the gorgeous Northern California Coast. Then, we will ride Highway 101 along the Oregon Coast, which I know from experience, is spectacular! The next couple of weeks could be the best of the trip!
Peace and Love,
Master Miguel
Day 28-A Gorgeous Day Off by the Bay (Area)
Day off numero uno in San Francisco
After running into some last-minute issues loading all the bikes into the trailer this morning, Elyse and I were off to Dublin a little later than expected. We made it though, and not too long after we had hoped. We figured out a system with the awesome staff of the Dublin Cyclery and left the trailer with them for the day. We needed to get one of our Specialized pumps fixed by an authorized Specialized dealer, and Dublin Cyclery is not one, but the owner had a friend who owned another shop not far from where we were who was in face a Specialized dealer. And, thus we were off.
We arrived at the Livermore Cyclery and looked around for a bit as we had somewhat of a shopping list given to us by other riders. Eventually, we began speaking with Mr. Chuck Richey, the Assistant Manager of the store about what we were doing. As it turns out, he was a former pro cyclist and cancer survivor himself. Unfortunately, it was cancer and the treatment to beat it that had cut his cycling career short but he was fortunate enough to come out a survivor and was very touched by what we are doing and had much that he wished to talk with us about. It was very touching to meet and speak with him and I wish I could have spent all day listening to his stories. Just meeting him was inspiring and another reminder of the fact that we are doing something important, but to make the deal even sweeter, he gave us a huge help on all the items we needed to purchase from him and saved the team a great deal of money. We had to buy things like a new helmet for Darlene, due to her mishap yesterday, a new saddle for Peyton, gloves, warmers, etc, and Mr. Richey was more help than I could have ever hoped to just "run in" to. It kind of makes you think that sometimes seemingly random events are perhaps not so random after all and were really meant to be. Either way, this trip means more to me every day.
Once we finished up our business at the bike shop, we were off for a short visit with the Hydes. It was great seeing all of them, albeit much too short of a visit. But, a short visit is better than no visit, and hopefully I will be back out this way sometime soon as I love the area and it is always great visiting with old friends. We tried to get the oil changed on the van at several places in Benicia, but everywhere we went was either closed or too busy to see us today. No bueno. We had to return to Dublin not too long after our arrival in Benicia to pick up the bikes before the shop closed, and by the time we got there Mr. Tyler and his staff had finished everything and were ready for us to check out and be on our way. What a magnificent job they did for us! Vitek had written a note on his bike that said "bike needs to be made faster" so they had strapped some sports drink mix to his handlebars and given us several cases of this Revenge Sport drink, in the flavours of Lemon Venom and Orange Oasis. So, they went well out of their way to help us!
On our way back to the boat house, we received a call from Peyton saying she and some of the teammates were in Chinatown and wanted to know if we could pick them up and give them a ride back to the boathouse. Luckily, we were right at the point where we had to either exit to go over the Oakland Bay Bridge or continue on straight to Marin County, so we headed into the city to pick them up.
Yesterday, I said I hoped I never had to maneuver the van and trailer through a city like San Francisco. Well, my worst fear came true! Driving that rig through the city was frightening and times and downright insane at others, and not one of my best decisions. Now I know why there were street signs saying no trucks/trailers... Oops... But, we made it safely, bikes, riders, and all back to the boat house! I believer we are going to a co-op party in Berkeley hosted by a friend of Shelley's tonight, though I am not sure. Tomorrow I hope to spend some time in Berkeley as I have only ever been there once but loved it and have been wanting to go back ever since. So, until, then... Toodles!
Peace and Love,
Trailer Tito
After running into some last-minute issues loading all the bikes into the trailer this morning, Elyse and I were off to Dublin a little later than expected. We made it though, and not too long after we had hoped. We figured out a system with the awesome staff of the Dublin Cyclery and left the trailer with them for the day. We needed to get one of our Specialized pumps fixed by an authorized Specialized dealer, and Dublin Cyclery is not one, but the owner had a friend who owned another shop not far from where we were who was in face a Specialized dealer. And, thus we were off.
We arrived at the Livermore Cyclery and looked around for a bit as we had somewhat of a shopping list given to us by other riders. Eventually, we began speaking with Mr. Chuck Richey, the Assistant Manager of the store about what we were doing. As it turns out, he was a former pro cyclist and cancer survivor himself. Unfortunately, it was cancer and the treatment to beat it that had cut his cycling career short but he was fortunate enough to come out a survivor and was very touched by what we are doing and had much that he wished to talk with us about. It was very touching to meet and speak with him and I wish I could have spent all day listening to his stories. Just meeting him was inspiring and another reminder of the fact that we are doing something important, but to make the deal even sweeter, he gave us a huge help on all the items we needed to purchase from him and saved the team a great deal of money. We had to buy things like a new helmet for Darlene, due to her mishap yesterday, a new saddle for Peyton, gloves, warmers, etc, and Mr. Richey was more help than I could have ever hoped to just "run in" to. It kind of makes you think that sometimes seemingly random events are perhaps not so random after all and were really meant to be. Either way, this trip means more to me every day.
Once we finished up our business at the bike shop, we were off for a short visit with the Hydes. It was great seeing all of them, albeit much too short of a visit. But, a short visit is better than no visit, and hopefully I will be back out this way sometime soon as I love the area and it is always great visiting with old friends. We tried to get the oil changed on the van at several places in Benicia, but everywhere we went was either closed or too busy to see us today. No bueno. We had to return to Dublin not too long after our arrival in Benicia to pick up the bikes before the shop closed, and by the time we got there Mr. Tyler and his staff had finished everything and were ready for us to check out and be on our way. What a magnificent job they did for us! Vitek had written a note on his bike that said "bike needs to be made faster" so they had strapped some sports drink mix to his handlebars and given us several cases of this Revenge Sport drink, in the flavours of Lemon Venom and Orange Oasis. So, they went well out of their way to help us!
On our way back to the boat house, we received a call from Peyton saying she and some of the teammates were in Chinatown and wanted to know if we could pick them up and give them a ride back to the boathouse. Luckily, we were right at the point where we had to either exit to go over the Oakland Bay Bridge or continue on straight to Marin County, so we headed into the city to pick them up.
Yesterday, I said I hoped I never had to maneuver the van and trailer through a city like San Francisco. Well, my worst fear came true! Driving that rig through the city was frightening and times and downright insane at others, and not one of my best decisions. Now I know why there were street signs saying no trucks/trailers... Oops... But, we made it safely, bikes, riders, and all back to the boat house! I believer we are going to a co-op party in Berkeley hosted by a friend of Shelley's tonight, though I am not sure. Tomorrow I hope to spend some time in Berkeley as I have only ever been there once but loved it and have been wanting to go back ever since. So, until, then... Toodles!
Peace and Love,
Trailer Tito
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Day 27-Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair
Manteca, CA to San Francisco, CA
Distance: 85.79 miles
Time: 6:51:15
Max Speed: 33.4 mph
Average Speed: 12.5 mph
There was certainly excitement in the air this morning when we awoke, knowing there was only one more day of pedaling between us and such an iconic city. I think everyone has their own reason to love San Francisco, but there is no one person on the team who dislikes the city, so far as I can tell.
It was apparent that we were approaching a large metropolitan area as we rode today. The first half of the day was spent on small, two-lane highways, snaking through endless agricultural fields that seemed as though they could feed an entire state. And there were more fields than we could even see. It is definitely a very fertile area. But, these were not like fields we have seen before on this trip, such as our last days in Texas. These fields were very neatly structured, fitting together like Tetris blocks with irrigation ditches slithering along the boundaries, leaving no earth unused. There was also moderate traffic on these roads, a considerable amount of which was 18-wheelers, so there was not much opportunity for conversation as we rode single file. One of the most peculiar sights we saw was a field bordered by several canon-like contraptions attached to propane tanks which would rotate and "fire" periodically, making a loud bang like an explosion. Vitek and I could not figure out what the purpose of these contraptions was. My only guess is that they are used to scare off birds. I suppose they would be slightly more effective than the old overalls-wearing scarecrow. At one point, we also rode by a peach orchard, at which time we stopped to sample the fruit. I have never tasted a sweeter, juicier, more delicious peach in my life. It may just have been the best piece of fruit I have ever had. Admittedly, we sampled a few, and packed our jersey pockets with a few for the road. They were so juicy, it got all over our hands, faces, and jersies, but it was definitely worth it.
We did not want to deal with the hassle of riding through the East Bay Area at rush hour to into the city itself, so we had decided last night to take the BART into the city. Our plan worked out quite well, except for an adventure that Peyton had while trying to meet us at the BART station in Walnut Creek. She had managed to get the van stuck in an apartment complex a block or two from the station and Vitek and I had to go give her a hand getting it unstuck. Otherwise, Peyton did an incredible job navigating the Bay Area and San Fran itself, which is no small feat with a 15 passenger van and trailer as large as ours. I hope I never have to do something like that, so many, many props to Peyton. In a similar situation as I was yesterday, Peyton was the only driver today going into San Francisco, which must have been one hundred times as hard as my solo drive day. My hat, or rather peanut butter hat, is off to you!
Once we got off the BART in the city itself, we rode to Fisherman's Wharf to get to a bite to eat. There was quite a large group of us, around half of the team, and we all enjoyed some delicious seafood before the rest of the team met up with us at our chosen lunch spot. The weather was absolutely perfect by the way. I was able to see both the Golden Gate and Alcatraz perfectly, neither of which I had witnessed first hand on my previous trips to San Francisco. We could not have asked for better conditions.
We split up once again, this time into smaller groups, and my group (consisting of Elyse, Vitek, Elyor, Shelley, Rambeau, and myself) went to a little beach on the north side of the city at the base of the Golden Gate to enjoy the view and take pictures. All the while, we basked in the gorgeous weather and our triumph of reaching the West Coast by bicycle! From there, we crossed the Golden Gate heading north into Marin County, which probably took us upwards of an hour due to the countless stops we made on the bridge to take pictures and enjoy the view. My greatest sense of accomplishment on the trip thus far was definitely while crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on the same bike that had carried me there all the way from the Best City in Texas. Knowing I had made it this far just felt and still does feel incredible.
On the other side of the bridge, there was much confusion as to where exactly we were supposed to go and we had to talk to about four different people, some more than once, before finding our way somewhat. Luckily, as we were trying to find our way at a corner, we met an awesome commuter cyclist who happened to live near our destination at the Marin Rowing Association Clubhouse. Thank you very, very, very much Matthew! Without your help, we may very well have still been trying to find our way!
We were greeted at the clubhouse by smiling faces and an amazing spread of delicious foods, another rockstar welcoming that felt undeserved, but ever so wonderful. As if it were not a given, our stay in San Francisco should be awesome.
When we arrived, we found out that Darlene had gotten a little to friendly with a pole in the middle of one of the bike paths we traveled en route to the Clubhouse and had cracked her helmet and ended up in the helmet. Luckily, she is alright, just a little shaken up and I think a bit embarrassed, and she is back with us at this time.
Tomorrow I will be taking all the team's bikes to a bike shop in Dublin, CA, a suburb of San Francisco, where they are ever-so-graciously doing some much needed bike maintenance for us. I also plan on visiting the Hydes out in Benicia, CA, some old family friends from El Paso who I have known since 1st grade. After that, who knows what this magical city will have in store for us!
Peace and Love,
Golden Gate Tito
Distance: 85.79 miles
Time: 6:51:15
Max Speed: 33.4 mph
Average Speed: 12.5 mph
There was certainly excitement in the air this morning when we awoke, knowing there was only one more day of pedaling between us and such an iconic city. I think everyone has their own reason to love San Francisco, but there is no one person on the team who dislikes the city, so far as I can tell.
It was apparent that we were approaching a large metropolitan area as we rode today. The first half of the day was spent on small, two-lane highways, snaking through endless agricultural fields that seemed as though they could feed an entire state. And there were more fields than we could even see. It is definitely a very fertile area. But, these were not like fields we have seen before on this trip, such as our last days in Texas. These fields were very neatly structured, fitting together like Tetris blocks with irrigation ditches slithering along the boundaries, leaving no earth unused. There was also moderate traffic on these roads, a considerable amount of which was 18-wheelers, so there was not much opportunity for conversation as we rode single file. One of the most peculiar sights we saw was a field bordered by several canon-like contraptions attached to propane tanks which would rotate and "fire" periodically, making a loud bang like an explosion. Vitek and I could not figure out what the purpose of these contraptions was. My only guess is that they are used to scare off birds. I suppose they would be slightly more effective than the old overalls-wearing scarecrow. At one point, we also rode by a peach orchard, at which time we stopped to sample the fruit. I have never tasted a sweeter, juicier, more delicious peach in my life. It may just have been the best piece of fruit I have ever had. Admittedly, we sampled a few, and packed our jersey pockets with a few for the road. They were so juicy, it got all over our hands, faces, and jersies, but it was definitely worth it.
We did not want to deal with the hassle of riding through the East Bay Area at rush hour to into the city itself, so we had decided last night to take the BART into the city. Our plan worked out quite well, except for an adventure that Peyton had while trying to meet us at the BART station in Walnut Creek. She had managed to get the van stuck in an apartment complex a block or two from the station and Vitek and I had to go give her a hand getting it unstuck. Otherwise, Peyton did an incredible job navigating the Bay Area and San Fran itself, which is no small feat with a 15 passenger van and trailer as large as ours. I hope I never have to do something like that, so many, many props to Peyton. In a similar situation as I was yesterday, Peyton was the only driver today going into San Francisco, which must have been one hundred times as hard as my solo drive day. My hat, or rather peanut butter hat, is off to you!
Once we got off the BART in the city itself, we rode to Fisherman's Wharf to get to a bite to eat. There was quite a large group of us, around half of the team, and we all enjoyed some delicious seafood before the rest of the team met up with us at our chosen lunch spot. The weather was absolutely perfect by the way. I was able to see both the Golden Gate and Alcatraz perfectly, neither of which I had witnessed first hand on my previous trips to San Francisco. We could not have asked for better conditions.
We split up once again, this time into smaller groups, and my group (consisting of Elyse, Vitek, Elyor, Shelley, Rambeau, and myself) went to a little beach on the north side of the city at the base of the Golden Gate to enjoy the view and take pictures. All the while, we basked in the gorgeous weather and our triumph of reaching the West Coast by bicycle! From there, we crossed the Golden Gate heading north into Marin County, which probably took us upwards of an hour due to the countless stops we made on the bridge to take pictures and enjoy the view. My greatest sense of accomplishment on the trip thus far was definitely while crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on the same bike that had carried me there all the way from the Best City in Texas. Knowing I had made it this far just felt and still does feel incredible.
On the other side of the bridge, there was much confusion as to where exactly we were supposed to go and we had to talk to about four different people, some more than once, before finding our way somewhat. Luckily, as we were trying to find our way at a corner, we met an awesome commuter cyclist who happened to live near our destination at the Marin Rowing Association Clubhouse. Thank you very, very, very much Matthew! Without your help, we may very well have still been trying to find our way!
We were greeted at the clubhouse by smiling faces and an amazing spread of delicious foods, another rockstar welcoming that felt undeserved, but ever so wonderful. As if it were not a given, our stay in San Francisco should be awesome.
When we arrived, we found out that Darlene had gotten a little to friendly with a pole in the middle of one of the bike paths we traveled en route to the Clubhouse and had cracked her helmet and ended up in the helmet. Luckily, she is alright, just a little shaken up and I think a bit embarrassed, and she is back with us at this time.
Tomorrow I will be taking all the team's bikes to a bike shop in Dublin, CA, a suburb of San Francisco, where they are ever-so-graciously doing some much needed bike maintenance for us. I also plan on visiting the Hydes out in Benicia, CA, some old family friends from El Paso who I have known since 1st grade. After that, who knows what this magical city will have in store for us!
Peace and Love,
Golden Gate Tito
Friday, September 28, 2007
Day 26-The Long and Winding Road
I have not had any two of my drive days be even remotely similar. But today proved to be the most hectic yet. I did the driving solo today and thus had to do all the rest stops, having to keep up with everyone. So, that became quite stressful at one point, but all's well that ends well, right? Now I am just thankful that the day has ended and can look forward to tomorrow's ride to San Francisco! We are staying at another church here in Manteca, which is the first good-sized town we have stayed in since we crossed into California. That being said, many of us enjoyed our first In-N-Out Burger of the trip. For Rambeau, it was his first ever. The burgers were quite delicious with a shake to wash it down after a hard day's drive.
The ride today looked like a good one. The day began with all downhill riding as we were still losing elevation out of Yosemite. Within the first 25 miles, there was a fairly steep, long and winding descent that made me wish I was riding so badly. At the first rest stop, everyone arrived with a smile plastered on their faces. I am not sure whether it was a result of the fun they had on the crazy descent or the wind from going so quickly blowing back their cheeks. I was quite envious. Driving the van with trailer in tow around those curves was much more stressful than it would be to fly around the curves with Vanessa. Oh well.
After the second rest stop, we passed through the town of Oakdale where many riders stopped to eat and/or get a drink, so everyone was pretty spread out the rest of the day. There was not really a third rest stop but rather I found the riders as I drove down the road and stopped to see if they needed/wanted any food or drinks.
We were treated to showers at the homes of different members of the church where we are staying, which was very generous of them and greatly appreciated. Our host also brought us KFC for dinner, along with more apricots than we can ever hope to eat before they spoil (though that won't stop me from trying). Today, the bulk of my diet has consisted of fast food: Carl's Jr., In-N-Out, and KFC. I am proud to be an American.
Tomorrow we ride into San Francisco. I am very much looking forward to our stay, and our 2 days off! We will be staying in Marin County, so I am guessing we will be very comfortable. I have been to San Francisco two or three times but have never before seen the Golden Gate Bridge. Hopefully, the weather will be more forgiving this time. Hell, I rode my bike here, so I think I deserve it. This will be the first big city we have hit on the trip and the first time to see the ocean as well. I cannot even begin to express how excited I am!I look forward to many a good time these next three days, and some much needed time away from Vanessa. It's nothing personal, I swear.
Peace and Love,
Trailer Tito
The ride today looked like a good one. The day began with all downhill riding as we were still losing elevation out of Yosemite. Within the first 25 miles, there was a fairly steep, long and winding descent that made me wish I was riding so badly. At the first rest stop, everyone arrived with a smile plastered on their faces. I am not sure whether it was a result of the fun they had on the crazy descent or the wind from going so quickly blowing back their cheeks. I was quite envious. Driving the van with trailer in tow around those curves was much more stressful than it would be to fly around the curves with Vanessa. Oh well.
After the second rest stop, we passed through the town of Oakdale where many riders stopped to eat and/or get a drink, so everyone was pretty spread out the rest of the day. There was not really a third rest stop but rather I found the riders as I drove down the road and stopped to see if they needed/wanted any food or drinks.
We were treated to showers at the homes of different members of the church where we are staying, which was very generous of them and greatly appreciated. Our host also brought us KFC for dinner, along with more apricots than we can ever hope to eat before they spoil (though that won't stop me from trying). Today, the bulk of my diet has consisted of fast food: Carl's Jr., In-N-Out, and KFC. I am proud to be an American.
Tomorrow we ride into San Francisco. I am very much looking forward to our stay, and our 2 days off! We will be staying in Marin County, so I am guessing we will be very comfortable. I have been to San Francisco two or three times but have never before seen the Golden Gate Bridge. Hopefully, the weather will be more forgiving this time. Hell, I rode my bike here, so I think I deserve it. This will be the first big city we have hit on the trip and the first time to see the ocean as well. I cannot even begin to express how excited I am!I look forward to many a good time these next three days, and some much needed time away from Vanessa. It's nothing personal, I swear.
Peace and Love,
Trailer Tito
Monday, July 23, 2007
Day 25-Talk is Cheap
Lee Vining, CA through Yosemite National Park
Distance: 75.44 miles
Time: 4:47:54
Max Speed: 43.4 mph
Average Speed: 15.7 mph
I suppose it is a good thing there was so much hype about Tioga Pass, because we were all expecting much worse than the climb turned out to be. It was a 12 mile climb from the bottom to top, about 6-8% grade for the majority of the way. About 3/4 of the way to the top, we rode by Ellery Lake, which was a beautiful, crystal clear mountain lake. It was so pristine. After the lake, the road flattened out considerably and I was able to hold 20 mph for a good stretch. In total, it took me about 1:45 to make it to the top. I was certainly expecting it to be much worse, but it was actually quite an enjoyable climb, and the scenery was gorgeous.
From the summit of Tioga Pass at 9,943 ft. we descended into Yosemite National Park. It was a beautiful, winding, fast road, some of the most fun I have ever had on a bike. We all rode as a large group, smiling from ear to ear and having the time of our lives as we entered the park as if it were our own, flying a around 35-40 mph the majority of the time. The scenery was gorgeous, the road smooth, fast, and curvy. I am not sure we could have asked for much more.
I have never been to Yosemite or not that I remember at least, but it is a beautiful park. I feel so lucky to have gone to both Yosemite and Zion on this trip. I only wish I had time to explore the park and hike around, particularly the trail up to Half Dome, which looks incredible. But, riding the trail up Half Dome, which looks incredible. But, riding a bicycle through the park was quite an experience in itself. This trip has made me want a motorcycle so bad so I can do trips like this again, only without having to pedal from place to place, especially through places like Nevada. So, Yosemite will be placed alongside Zion on the list of places to visit on a motorcycle.
The rest of the ride was awesome, despite the fact that it was the most climbing we have done in a single day yet. There were several long climbs, followed by long, curvy descents where it was possible to pass cars as we could take corners faster than them. On one of the last descent in the park, Oleg and I were riding together, holding 40+ mph for a good 5 miles or so at least. We were behind a pack of motorcycles and about halfway though the descent we caught up to the motorcycles. I pulled up next to one of the motorcyclists and he gave us a very confused/surprised/shocked look. It was awesome.
I forgot to mention that we changed our course slightly. We realized that going through Mammoth Lakes was out of our way, so instead of riding to Mammoth Lakes yesterday, we rode to Lee Vining. We were scheduled to have a rest day in Mammoth Lakes as well, but we are goin g to add a second rest day in San Francisco instead, which should be awesome and will allow us to both take care of business and have fun. Also, instead of camping in Yosemite, we are camping west of Yosemite to cut some mileage off tomorrow's ride to Manteca. Ryan found us a nice, small campground of no more than probably 12 sites and we are the only people here. We will also be able to have our first campfire of the trip tonight, which is very exciting.
As I said, tomorrow we head to Manteca, California, and the next day we will arrive in San Francisco! And, I am driving tomorrow, so I will be on fresh legs going into San Francisco. I cannot believe we are almost to the West Coast, and we made it from the heart of Texas on our bicycles! That is still awesome to me!
Peace and Love,
Manteca Miguelito
Distance: 75.44 miles
Time: 4:47:54
Max Speed: 43.4 mph
Average Speed: 15.7 mph
I suppose it is a good thing there was so much hype about Tioga Pass, because we were all expecting much worse than the climb turned out to be. It was a 12 mile climb from the bottom to top, about 6-8% grade for the majority of the way. About 3/4 of the way to the top, we rode by Ellery Lake, which was a beautiful, crystal clear mountain lake. It was so pristine. After the lake, the road flattened out considerably and I was able to hold 20 mph for a good stretch. In total, it took me about 1:45 to make it to the top. I was certainly expecting it to be much worse, but it was actually quite an enjoyable climb, and the scenery was gorgeous.
From the summit of Tioga Pass at 9,943 ft. we descended into Yosemite National Park. It was a beautiful, winding, fast road, some of the most fun I have ever had on a bike. We all rode as a large group, smiling from ear to ear and having the time of our lives as we entered the park as if it were our own, flying a around 35-40 mph the majority of the time. The scenery was gorgeous, the road smooth, fast, and curvy. I am not sure we could have asked for much more.
I have never been to Yosemite or not that I remember at least, but it is a beautiful park. I feel so lucky to have gone to both Yosemite and Zion on this trip. I only wish I had time to explore the park and hike around, particularly the trail up to Half Dome, which looks incredible. But, riding the trail up Half Dome, which looks incredible. But, riding a bicycle through the park was quite an experience in itself. This trip has made me want a motorcycle so bad so I can do trips like this again, only without having to pedal from place to place, especially through places like Nevada. So, Yosemite will be placed alongside Zion on the list of places to visit on a motorcycle.
The rest of the ride was awesome, despite the fact that it was the most climbing we have done in a single day yet. There were several long climbs, followed by long, curvy descents where it was possible to pass cars as we could take corners faster than them. On one of the last descent in the park, Oleg and I were riding together, holding 40+ mph for a good 5 miles or so at least. We were behind a pack of motorcycles and about halfway though the descent we caught up to the motorcycles. I pulled up next to one of the motorcyclists and he gave us a very confused/surprised/shocked look. It was awesome.
I forgot to mention that we changed our course slightly. We realized that going through Mammoth Lakes was out of our way, so instead of riding to Mammoth Lakes yesterday, we rode to Lee Vining. We were scheduled to have a rest day in Mammoth Lakes as well, but we are goin g to add a second rest day in San Francisco instead, which should be awesome and will allow us to both take care of business and have fun. Also, instead of camping in Yosemite, we are camping west of Yosemite to cut some mileage off tomorrow's ride to Manteca. Ryan found us a nice, small campground of no more than probably 12 sites and we are the only people here. We will also be able to have our first campfire of the trip tonight, which is very exciting.
As I said, tomorrow we head to Manteca, California, and the next day we will arrive in San Francisco! And, I am driving tomorrow, so I will be on fresh legs going into San Francisco. I cannot believe we are almost to the West Coast, and we made it from the heart of Texas on our bicycles! That is still awesome to me!
Peace and Love,
Manteca Miguelito
Day 24-Welcome to California
Benton, CA to Lee Vining, CA
Distance: 49.24 miles
Time: 4:03:10
Max Speed: 41.0 mph
Average Speed: 12.1 mph
After a relaxing evening in the hot springs waking up to the cold wind was not pleasant this morning. But, we were treated to Grandma Vitek (Vitek's alter ego) as one of the drivers for the day. She served us a wonderful breakfast before sending us off on our journey. The ride started off with a long, slow climb that was not a fun way to warm up. After that, the road turned into fun rolling hills, but the pavement had huge cracks in it all the way across the road so there was no way to avoid them. I ended up standing for most of the way to avoid hurting my butt on the cracks in the road.
At the first rest stop, Granny V treated us to some wonderful hospitality and warm withes to send us off once again. It was a very entertaining and enjoyable rest stop. The rest of the ride turned out to be rather pleasant, which was nice considering I was in such a bad mood to begin the ride. I rode with Elyse from the first rest stop for the rest of the day, which was fun. We climbed to over 8,000 ft. at one point, which is the highest elevation we have seen yet on this trip. From there, we descended almost the rest of the day into Lee Vining. At one point, we came upon a line where the desert ended and the forests began. There was literally a line where the trees began, it was crazy. From there on, we were in the forest, which made for a beautiful ride and it finally felt like we had made it to California at long last.
We arrived in Lee Vining, which is a small town at the base of the mountains, with Mono Lake on the other side of the town. It is a beautiful little woth, which they call the Gateway to Yosemite.
Tomorrow we will ride over Tioga Pass and through Yosemite. Tioga Pass is supposed to be quite a challenge with an elevation of almost 10,000 ft. We shall see what happens.
Peace and Love,
Mountain Miguelito
Distance: 49.24 miles
Time: 4:03:10
Max Speed: 41.0 mph
Average Speed: 12.1 mph
After a relaxing evening in the hot springs waking up to the cold wind was not pleasant this morning. But, we were treated to Grandma Vitek (Vitek's alter ego) as one of the drivers for the day. She served us a wonderful breakfast before sending us off on our journey. The ride started off with a long, slow climb that was not a fun way to warm up. After that, the road turned into fun rolling hills, but the pavement had huge cracks in it all the way across the road so there was no way to avoid them. I ended up standing for most of the way to avoid hurting my butt on the cracks in the road.
At the first rest stop, Granny V treated us to some wonderful hospitality and warm withes to send us off once again. It was a very entertaining and enjoyable rest stop. The rest of the ride turned out to be rather pleasant, which was nice considering I was in such a bad mood to begin the ride. I rode with Elyse from the first rest stop for the rest of the day, which was fun. We climbed to over 8,000 ft. at one point, which is the highest elevation we have seen yet on this trip. From there, we descended almost the rest of the day into Lee Vining. At one point, we came upon a line where the desert ended and the forests began. There was literally a line where the trees began, it was crazy. From there on, we were in the forest, which made for a beautiful ride and it finally felt like we had made it to California at long last.
We arrived in Lee Vining, which is a small town at the base of the mountains, with Mono Lake on the other side of the town. It is a beautiful little woth, which they call the Gateway to Yosemite.
Tomorrow we will ride over Tioga Pass and through Yosemite. Tioga Pass is supposed to be quite a challenge with an elevation of almost 10,000 ft. We shall see what happens.
Peace and Love,
Mountain Miguelito
Day 23-California Love
Tonopah, NV to Benton, CA
Distance: 85.45 miles
Time: 5:45:00
Max Speed: 33.6 mph
Average Speed: 14.8 mph
Another rough day. It started out well, as we headed downhill out of Tonopah, but that did not last too long. Actually, the day was not really very rough, except for Montgomery Pass and the last few miles into the campground where we are staying. But, we are staying in Historic Benton Hot Springs in a campground where each site has a hot tub fed by natural hot springs. Sitting in the springs after two very rough days feels amazing on the muscles. We spent at least three hours in the hot tub tonight. Delicious.
Today, we climbed Montgomery Pass without ever having heard about it. It was a beast of a climb with the summit at 7,167 ft, which took us about 13 miles to reach. Not only was the grade fairly steep, but the wind was blowing hard in our faces the entire time, robbing us of our power. Also, yesterday's ride was brutal and my knees were still hurting this morning when we began, so they were not feeling all that well during the climb. The summit was interesting though, somewhat of an abandoned tiny village. The descent was awesome, with a rest stop about halfway down the descent.
From the rest stop, we were not far from the California border, so we put together a small peloton for a border race. It was pretty awesome as we took up a whole lane, flying down the hill. Jordon won the race, with Elyor coming in second and me third. Haase and I were pulling to catch Jordan when all of a sudden Elyor sprinted past us, causing Jordan to take off sprinting and leaving us in the dust. Crossing the border into California was awesome, such a cool feeling. It is finally starting to hit me that we are riding our bikes from Austin to Alaska.
The last four miles of the ride we experienced some of the worst headwind I have ever seen. It absolutely killed at the end of a day's ride. But we won't talk about that. Tomorrow we ride to Lee Vining at the base of Tioga Pass, which leads into Yosemite. It should hopefully be a good ride. For now, I am going to enjoy the hot springs once again.
Peace and Love,
Miggy Stardust
Distance: 85.45 miles
Time: 5:45:00
Max Speed: 33.6 mph
Average Speed: 14.8 mph
Another rough day. It started out well, as we headed downhill out of Tonopah, but that did not last too long. Actually, the day was not really very rough, except for Montgomery Pass and the last few miles into the campground where we are staying. But, we are staying in Historic Benton Hot Springs in a campground where each site has a hot tub fed by natural hot springs. Sitting in the springs after two very rough days feels amazing on the muscles. We spent at least three hours in the hot tub tonight. Delicious.
Today, we climbed Montgomery Pass without ever having heard about it. It was a beast of a climb with the summit at 7,167 ft, which took us about 13 miles to reach. Not only was the grade fairly steep, but the wind was blowing hard in our faces the entire time, robbing us of our power. Also, yesterday's ride was brutal and my knees were still hurting this morning when we began, so they were not feeling all that well during the climb. The summit was interesting though, somewhat of an abandoned tiny village. The descent was awesome, with a rest stop about halfway down the descent.
From the rest stop, we were not far from the California border, so we put together a small peloton for a border race. It was pretty awesome as we took up a whole lane, flying down the hill. Jordon won the race, with Elyor coming in second and me third. Haase and I were pulling to catch Jordan when all of a sudden Elyor sprinted past us, causing Jordan to take off sprinting and leaving us in the dust. Crossing the border into California was awesome, such a cool feeling. It is finally starting to hit me that we are riding our bikes from Austin to Alaska.
The last four miles of the ride we experienced some of the worst headwind I have ever seen. It absolutely killed at the end of a day's ride. But we won't talk about that. Tomorrow we ride to Lee Vining at the base of Tioga Pass, which leads into Yosemite. It should hopefully be a good ride. For now, I am going to enjoy the hot springs once again.
Peace and Love,
Miggy Stardust
Day 22-A Long, Long Challenging Day
Rachel, NV to Tonopah, NV
Distance: 109.24 miles
Time: 8:25:48
Max Speed: 30.9 mph
Average Speed: 12.9 mph
Yesterday, I mentioned something about today's ride being one of the hardest/worst rides of our trip and I did not know how correct I would be. The day started off well with a long flat section leading to a bit of a climb, followed by a nice flat section for a while. From the looks of it, I thought it would be an easy day. And it was until the end.
I rode with Elyse for most of the ride. We had good time chatting and what not. It's always nice to have someone to keep you company while riding. We rode through what was supposed to be the town of Warm Springs but was really a handful of abandoned buildings. However, there was a warm spring that fed into a pool, which had also been abandoned and had a fence around it with a No Trespassing sign. We found a hole in the fence and a few people dipped their legs in the water. Mike Glass went for a swim and said he quite enjoyed it. We spent some time resting at the springs before a couple dust devils blew through and blew my helmet and sunglasses into the water, which were fun to fish out.
Following the warm springs, we got to climb a nice big hill which set the tone for the rest of the ride.
For the last 30 miles or so, the ride was pretty much up and down the whole way. It was more of the long, winding climbs for which Nevada is notorious in my mind. By the end of the ride, my knees were really beginning to hurt. The last stretch into town was a long, steady climb about 10 miles or so, which was the worst possible way to end the day's ride.
Tonight we are staying at the Ramada Inn here in Tonopah. For dinner, we had McDonald's, which is not going to be good for recovery after today's grueling ride. I have a feeling that is going to bite me in the butt. But honestly, I do not know of anywhere nearby to eat and am much to exhausted to go anywhere anyway. Let's just hope tomorrow's ride is better than today's and the McDonald's doesn't kill me between now and then.
Tomorrow we ride to Bendon, CA! I can't believe we are almost in California, much less that we rode our bikes here. It is such an awesome feeling. The border will be awesome. I think we have to go over a pass right next to the highest point in Nevada tomorrow just before the border, so I am looking forward to that...
Peace and Love,
Motel Miggy
Distance: 109.24 miles
Time: 8:25:48
Max Speed: 30.9 mph
Average Speed: 12.9 mph
Yesterday, I mentioned something about today's ride being one of the hardest/worst rides of our trip and I did not know how correct I would be. The day started off well with a long flat section leading to a bit of a climb, followed by a nice flat section for a while. From the looks of it, I thought it would be an easy day. And it was until the end.
I rode with Elyse for most of the ride. We had good time chatting and what not. It's always nice to have someone to keep you company while riding. We rode through what was supposed to be the town of Warm Springs but was really a handful of abandoned buildings. However, there was a warm spring that fed into a pool, which had also been abandoned and had a fence around it with a No Trespassing sign. We found a hole in the fence and a few people dipped their legs in the water. Mike Glass went for a swim and said he quite enjoyed it. We spent some time resting at the springs before a couple dust devils blew through and blew my helmet and sunglasses into the water, which were fun to fish out.
Following the warm springs, we got to climb a nice big hill which set the tone for the rest of the ride.
For the last 30 miles or so, the ride was pretty much up and down the whole way. It was more of the long, winding climbs for which Nevada is notorious in my mind. By the end of the ride, my knees were really beginning to hurt. The last stretch into town was a long, steady climb about 10 miles or so, which was the worst possible way to end the day's ride.
Tonight we are staying at the Ramada Inn here in Tonopah. For dinner, we had McDonald's, which is not going to be good for recovery after today's grueling ride. I have a feeling that is going to bite me in the butt. But honestly, I do not know of anywhere nearby to eat and am much to exhausted to go anywhere anyway. Let's just hope tomorrow's ride is better than today's and the McDonald's doesn't kill me between now and then.
Tomorrow we ride to Bendon, CA! I can't believe we are almost in California, much less that we rode our bikes here. It is such an awesome feeling. The border will be awesome. I think we have to go over a pass right next to the highest point in Nevada tomorrow just before the border, so I am looking forward to that...
Peace and Love,
Motel Miggy
Day 21-Space Oddity
Caliente, NV to Rachel, NV
Distance: 83.28 miles
Time: 5:43:31
Max Speed: 37.2 mph
Average Speed: 14.5 mph
Nevada has to be some of the most boring terrain we have encountered yet. The rides prove to be challenging, but there is really nothing to look at, save the road. The climbs are slightly ridiculous as they wind up through each mountain and there is no way to tell what is around the next corner or when the climb ends. The green summit signs at the top of each climb are always exciting to see. Following each climb is a nice descent, followed by a long stretch of flat land before the next climb. It is so flat that you can see 20+ miles down the road and you are staring at the same thing down the road for an hour or two. A bit monotonous, no?
Aside from the land, it was a decent ride today. It was Rachael's drive day, and we rode to Rachel, so many jokes were made out of that as the day progressed. We had Popsicles at one of the rest stops, which was a lovely treat and surprise. I can barely even remember the ride, it was that uneventful. The day was another hot one, so we spent lost of time at rest stops re-hydrating and hanging out.
Tonight we are staying in a mobile home at the Little A'Le'Inn. Rachel is a town of some 60 people. When we approached the town, I thought that we still had a ways to go because there was nothing that looked like a town. But sure enough, here we are in Rachel, NV. The people are awesome and very interested in what we are doing. We had a delicious dinner that filled me up completely. I love going to sleep on a full stomach. Thought I know I will be starving again in the morning. We all have crazy metabolisms now, it is great. I heard we can expect another good meal in the morning, so I can only hope this much is true.
I think we are going to watch The Fugitive before bed tonight, enjoying our mobile home experience. Tomorrow is another century into Tonopah, NV. This could be one of the longest/worst days of our ride.
I almost forgot to mention the wild morning we have. Our drivers for the day dressed up creatively with clothes they found in the church we were staying in and cooked/served breakfast for us. And, as Vitek was sweeping the floor, he found two hand puppets which he kept on his hands while sweeping and made the puppets fight. The heat is definitely getting to us.
Peace and Love,
Terrestrial Tito
Distance: 83.28 miles
Time: 5:43:31
Max Speed: 37.2 mph
Average Speed: 14.5 mph
Nevada has to be some of the most boring terrain we have encountered yet. The rides prove to be challenging, but there is really nothing to look at, save the road. The climbs are slightly ridiculous as they wind up through each mountain and there is no way to tell what is around the next corner or when the climb ends. The green summit signs at the top of each climb are always exciting to see. Following each climb is a nice descent, followed by a long stretch of flat land before the next climb. It is so flat that you can see 20+ miles down the road and you are staring at the same thing down the road for an hour or two. A bit monotonous, no?
Aside from the land, it was a decent ride today. It was Rachael's drive day, and we rode to Rachel, so many jokes were made out of that as the day progressed. We had Popsicles at one of the rest stops, which was a lovely treat and surprise. I can barely even remember the ride, it was that uneventful. The day was another hot one, so we spent lost of time at rest stops re-hydrating and hanging out.
Tonight we are staying in a mobile home at the Little A'Le'Inn. Rachel is a town of some 60 people. When we approached the town, I thought that we still had a ways to go because there was nothing that looked like a town. But sure enough, here we are in Rachel, NV. The people are awesome and very interested in what we are doing. We had a delicious dinner that filled me up completely. I love going to sleep on a full stomach. Thought I know I will be starving again in the morning. We all have crazy metabolisms now, it is great. I heard we can expect another good meal in the morning, so I can only hope this much is true.
I think we are going to watch The Fugitive before bed tonight, enjoying our mobile home experience. Tomorrow is another century into Tonopah, NV. This could be one of the longest/worst days of our ride.
I almost forgot to mention the wild morning we have. Our drivers for the day dressed up creatively with clothes they found in the church we were staying in and cooked/served breakfast for us. And, as Vitek was sweeping the floor, he found two hand puppets which he kept on his hands while sweeping and made the puppets fight. The heat is definitely getting to us.
Peace and Love,
Terrestrial Tito
Day 20-Muy Caliente!
Dammeron Valley, UT to Caliente, NV
Distance: 94.84 miles
Time: 5:55:01
Max Speed: 41.7 mph
Average Speed: 16 mph
Whoever named the town of Caliente hit the nail on the head. It is "muy caliente," as Oleg has been saying all day with a sultry Latin accent. Originally, we were supposed to be camping outside a church, but we got lucky and are staying inside the church with very cold air conditioning, which is a nice treat. We were also treated to a wonderful gospel performance, courtesy of Jordan and Co. Slowly, the entire team is going mad, or perhaps the heat and being together 24 hours a day for 20 days has something to do with it.
The day was indeed a hot one. Though, this dry heat is a million times better than the humidity of Austin. I do miss El Paso for the dry heat. You can be sweating buckets, but if you spray water on yourself or go swimming, you are instantly cooled when the dry air hits you. It feels so good. Reaching the Nevada border was our least climactic border yet. I think everyone knows of the long, hot days that await us in Nevada. A century through the desert does not sound like my type of fun. But California awaits us on the other side, so we are focused on the destination, not the journey for now.
There is not much to be said about today's ride. It was hot, somewhat long, and fairly boring. The most exciting happening of the ride was towards the end as we were about 5 miles outside Caliente. Elyor got a flat tire in what we dubbed the Valley of the Cows. We were in somewhat of a valley between two mountains, and there were cow pastures at the base of the mountains. But, due to the acoustics of the surrounding mountains, whenever the cows mood, it echoed throughout the valley very eerily. Had it been dark, it would have been a very creepy experience.
For the most part, we have settled into a daily routine, so there is not too much exciting news to report today. We wake up, ride, hang out at rest stops, usually take a nap towards the end of a long ride in the heat of the day, and then set up camp and eat wherever we are staying the night. Tomorrow we continue to Rachel, NV where we will be staying at the "Little A'Le'Inn." Sounds strangely interesting.
Peace and Love,
Moo Miggy
Distance: 94.84 miles
Time: 5:55:01
Max Speed: 41.7 mph
Average Speed: 16 mph
Whoever named the town of Caliente hit the nail on the head. It is "muy caliente," as Oleg has been saying all day with a sultry Latin accent. Originally, we were supposed to be camping outside a church, but we got lucky and are staying inside the church with very cold air conditioning, which is a nice treat. We were also treated to a wonderful gospel performance, courtesy of Jordan and Co. Slowly, the entire team is going mad, or perhaps the heat and being together 24 hours a day for 20 days has something to do with it.
The day was indeed a hot one. Though, this dry heat is a million times better than the humidity of Austin. I do miss El Paso for the dry heat. You can be sweating buckets, but if you spray water on yourself or go swimming, you are instantly cooled when the dry air hits you. It feels so good. Reaching the Nevada border was our least climactic border yet. I think everyone knows of the long, hot days that await us in Nevada. A century through the desert does not sound like my type of fun. But California awaits us on the other side, so we are focused on the destination, not the journey for now.
There is not much to be said about today's ride. It was hot, somewhat long, and fairly boring. The most exciting happening of the ride was towards the end as we were about 5 miles outside Caliente. Elyor got a flat tire in what we dubbed the Valley of the Cows. We were in somewhat of a valley between two mountains, and there were cow pastures at the base of the mountains. But, due to the acoustics of the surrounding mountains, whenever the cows mood, it echoed throughout the valley very eerily. Had it been dark, it would have been a very creepy experience.
For the most part, we have settled into a daily routine, so there is not too much exciting news to report today. We wake up, ride, hang out at rest stops, usually take a nap towards the end of a long ride in the heat of the day, and then set up camp and eat wherever we are staying the night. Tomorrow we continue to Rachel, NV where we will be staying at the "Little A'Le'Inn." Sounds strangely interesting.
Peace and Love,
Moo Miggy
Day 19-So Long Zion
Zion National Park to Dammeron Valley, UT
Distance: 58.50 miles
Time: 3:46:34
Max Speed: 42 mph
Average Speed: 15.5 mph
The website and all of our information said we would be going to Veyo, UT today. I still have not been to that town. Our final destination was the Dammeron Valley Volunteer Fire Station, and now I am actually at an amazing host house in Diamond Valley, which is back down the road we took into town a little ways. There are several volcanic domes surrounding the neighborhood where we are staying and there is one large, dormant volcano behind all the homes, not too far away. It is rather strange being so close to a volcano, but I suppose people would not live here if it were not safe.
Today's ride went well. We had to change the directions slightly to avoid riding on the interstate, but otherwise the ride went fairly smoothly. It was a nice descent out of Zion, which made it easier to leave as I wanted to stay there another week. It was mostly rolling hills the rest of the trip, until a few pretty good climbs at the end into Dammeron Valley. We hung out at the fire department for a while, all got to take showers, and got some tips on giving a massage from Jody, our registered masseuse. And, the best part of the day, Rachael trimmed my mohawk and gave me some sweet flames in the sides of my hair. It is pretty awesome, I must say. I love it. We told Rachael she should take pictures of all the haircuts she has done on this trip and she will have a nice portfolio if she ever wants to become a hairdresser.
After a very refreshing shower, we were treated to an amazing meal in the driveway of the fire station by members of the local community. There were many, many people there to meet us and listen to our presentation, which went quite well by the way. Many props to Elyse for the excellent job organizing the presentation and to everyone who presented it; it was a great improvement from our first presentation! The dinner was incredible, I stuffed myself silly, and the people were very friendly and interested in what we are doing. It was a very warm welcome into the community of Dammeron Valley.
After dinner, we were split up to go to our host family houses. Once again, Rambeau, Mike Glass, and I got the best host family of all. This time, we were joined by John instead of Oleg. Our family has a gorgeous house with a large, beautiful guest house with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, and laundry facilities. It is incredible. We were treated to snacks and a case of water bottles in the fridge as well. And, best of all, they have a jacuzzi in their backyard! I went in the jacuzzi twice, which was absolutely heavenly on my legs. I am going to sleep so well tonight.
Tomorrow we head into Nevada for a stay in Caliente. Judging by the name, it should be a warm day tomorrow. We shall see though. For tonight, I am simply going to enjoy the effects of the hot tub as my legs feel as good as they have the entire trip.
Peace and Love,
Tubbin' Tito
Distance: 58.50 miles
Time: 3:46:34
Max Speed: 42 mph
Average Speed: 15.5 mph
The website and all of our information said we would be going to Veyo, UT today. I still have not been to that town. Our final destination was the Dammeron Valley Volunteer Fire Station, and now I am actually at an amazing host house in Diamond Valley, which is back down the road we took into town a little ways. There are several volcanic domes surrounding the neighborhood where we are staying and there is one large, dormant volcano behind all the homes, not too far away. It is rather strange being so close to a volcano, but I suppose people would not live here if it were not safe.
Today's ride went well. We had to change the directions slightly to avoid riding on the interstate, but otherwise the ride went fairly smoothly. It was a nice descent out of Zion, which made it easier to leave as I wanted to stay there another week. It was mostly rolling hills the rest of the trip, until a few pretty good climbs at the end into Dammeron Valley. We hung out at the fire department for a while, all got to take showers, and got some tips on giving a massage from Jody, our registered masseuse. And, the best part of the day, Rachael trimmed my mohawk and gave me some sweet flames in the sides of my hair. It is pretty awesome, I must say. I love it. We told Rachael she should take pictures of all the haircuts she has done on this trip and she will have a nice portfolio if she ever wants to become a hairdresser.
After a very refreshing shower, we were treated to an amazing meal in the driveway of the fire station by members of the local community. There were many, many people there to meet us and listen to our presentation, which went quite well by the way. Many props to Elyse for the excellent job organizing the presentation and to everyone who presented it; it was a great improvement from our first presentation! The dinner was incredible, I stuffed myself silly, and the people were very friendly and interested in what we are doing. It was a very warm welcome into the community of Dammeron Valley.
After dinner, we were split up to go to our host family houses. Once again, Rambeau, Mike Glass, and I got the best host family of all. This time, we were joined by John instead of Oleg. Our family has a gorgeous house with a large, beautiful guest house with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, and laundry facilities. It is incredible. We were treated to snacks and a case of water bottles in the fridge as well. And, best of all, they have a jacuzzi in their backyard! I went in the jacuzzi twice, which was absolutely heavenly on my legs. I am going to sleep so well tonight.
Tomorrow we head into Nevada for a stay in Caliente. Judging by the name, it should be a warm day tomorrow. We shall see though. For tonight, I am simply going to enjoy the effects of the hot tub as my legs feel as good as they have the entire trip.
Peace and Love,
Tubbin' Tito
Day 18-A Less Stressful Day Off
Day off in Zion National Park
The day did not exactly begin as planned. We woke up a little later than expected, but it felt so good to sleep that nobody really cared. We ate breakfast and headed off to hike the Narrows rather than Angel's Landing as originally planned as we had received some more convincing advice on the order of which to do things.
The Narrows was absolutely gorgeous. It began on a mile-long paved trail, leading to a point where we were forced to hike through the river itself, sometimes wading through water knee-deep. The water got deeper as well, but there were usually more shallow spots where you could walk. We had some shoes that looked like moon boots and hiking sticks that we rented from the town outside Zion. I am not sure how necessary they were but I suppose it was nice to have them. All in all, I absolutely loved the hike. I got many, many pictures and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
After hiking the Narrows, we went back into town to return our rented gear and eat some lunch/dinner. We at at a local diner called Blondie's which was excellent and we were all stuffed. We then headed back to the campsite and gathered our things to try and catch the sunset atop Angel's Landing.
The hike to Angel's Landing was much more challenging than expected. It was 2.5 miles long, and we gained 1,500 ft. in elevation. We conquered the trail in a mere 45 minutes as we were hauling to try to catch the sunset. It was so worth it. The last stretch before the final destination was rather frightening as it was all rock, with some chains to lead you and give you something to grab onto. We barely missed the sunset, but the view was incredible. We had a 360 degree view of the park from 1,500 ft. above the canyon floor. We were all in awe. I cannot even begin to try to explain how beautiful it was.
Coming down, the sun set quickly and it was dark for the last 2 miles of the trail. Mike and Rambeau had fun running ahead and jumping out at us to scare us as we hiked down, and we arrived just in time to catch the last shuttle to our campsite.
I have to say that Zion is by far the coolest national park I have ever visited. It is so unrestricted, you can hike wherever you like, and the park never closes. It was absolutely beautiful and I want to come back so I can spend a week or more exploring what the park has to offer. So far, this gets my vote for best stop of the trip.
Peace and Love,
Mountaineering Miggy
The day did not exactly begin as planned. We woke up a little later than expected, but it felt so good to sleep that nobody really cared. We ate breakfast and headed off to hike the Narrows rather than Angel's Landing as originally planned as we had received some more convincing advice on the order of which to do things.
The Narrows was absolutely gorgeous. It began on a mile-long paved trail, leading to a point where we were forced to hike through the river itself, sometimes wading through water knee-deep. The water got deeper as well, but there were usually more shallow spots where you could walk. We had some shoes that looked like moon boots and hiking sticks that we rented from the town outside Zion. I am not sure how necessary they were but I suppose it was nice to have them. All in all, I absolutely loved the hike. I got many, many pictures and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
After hiking the Narrows, we went back into town to return our rented gear and eat some lunch/dinner. We at at a local diner called Blondie's which was excellent and we were all stuffed. We then headed back to the campsite and gathered our things to try and catch the sunset atop Angel's Landing.
The hike to Angel's Landing was much more challenging than expected. It was 2.5 miles long, and we gained 1,500 ft. in elevation. We conquered the trail in a mere 45 minutes as we were hauling to try to catch the sunset. It was so worth it. The last stretch before the final destination was rather frightening as it was all rock, with some chains to lead you and give you something to grab onto. We barely missed the sunset, but the view was incredible. We had a 360 degree view of the park from 1,500 ft. above the canyon floor. We were all in awe. I cannot even begin to try to explain how beautiful it was.
Coming down, the sun set quickly and it was dark for the last 2 miles of the trail. Mike and Rambeau had fun running ahead and jumping out at us to scare us as we hiked down, and we arrived just in time to catch the last shuttle to our campsite.
I have to say that Zion is by far the coolest national park I have ever visited. It is so unrestricted, you can hike wherever you like, and the park never closes. It was absolutely beautiful and I want to come back so I can spend a week or more exploring what the park has to offer. So far, this gets my vote for best stop of the trip.
Peace and Love,
Mountaineering Miggy
Day 17-My Favourite National Park Ever
Kanab, UT to Zion National Park
Distance: 35.13 miles
Time: 2:32:03
Max Speed: 40.6 mph
Average Speed: 13.8 mph
Today has been a day of great food and beautiful scenery. It all started with a delicious continental breakfast at the Best Western in Kanab with cereal, bagels, hard-boiled eggs, and more. The breakfast was followed by a beautiful climb that was rather challenging. We were winding through the mountains, red rocks and trees abound. There was a sweet descent into our first rest stop. From there, we climbed again, all the way up to the Buffalo Grill where we were treated to lunch.
I had never tasted buffalo before today, but I must say that the buffalo burger we had for lunch was quite delicious. Though it could also be that I had just climbed a very sizable hill, but either way it was tasty. We took some time to take pictures with the live bison behind the restaurant and pick up some postcards before continuing on to the park.
From the Buffalo Grill into the park was mostly downhill riding. Upon arriving at the entrance to the park, the majority of us stopped to get pictures with the sign. From there, the road was gorgeous, winding through breathtaking rock formations all around. To experience that road on a bicycle was incredible. I felt as though the world had stopped, just for that happy moment. A little ways into the park, there was a mile long tunnel where bicyclists are not allowed to ride due to the darkness and exhaust fumes from cars, so we all loaded into the van and car to get through the tunnel and rode down to the campsite.
After setting up camp, a fair amount of us went swimming in the Virgin River that runs through the Zion Canyon. It was very refreshing and a ton of fun. We all enjoyed ourselves, splashing around and playing in the mud like young children. We then ate a lovely pasta dinner back at the campsite and sat around chatting and enjoying the rest of the night and planning out what we wanted to do on our day off. We decided to wake up early and hike up to Angel's Landing, one of the most popular hikes in Zion, and then to the Narrows where the Virgin River carves through the rock at the beginning of Zion Canyon. Tomorrow looks to be a busy day.
Peace and Love,
Trekking Tito
Distance: 35.13 miles
Time: 2:32:03
Max Speed: 40.6 mph
Average Speed: 13.8 mph
Today has been a day of great food and beautiful scenery. It all started with a delicious continental breakfast at the Best Western in Kanab with cereal, bagels, hard-boiled eggs, and more. The breakfast was followed by a beautiful climb that was rather challenging. We were winding through the mountains, red rocks and trees abound. There was a sweet descent into our first rest stop. From there, we climbed again, all the way up to the Buffalo Grill where we were treated to lunch.
I had never tasted buffalo before today, but I must say that the buffalo burger we had for lunch was quite delicious. Though it could also be that I had just climbed a very sizable hill, but either way it was tasty. We took some time to take pictures with the live bison behind the restaurant and pick up some postcards before continuing on to the park.
From the Buffalo Grill into the park was mostly downhill riding. Upon arriving at the entrance to the park, the majority of us stopped to get pictures with the sign. From there, the road was gorgeous, winding through breathtaking rock formations all around. To experience that road on a bicycle was incredible. I felt as though the world had stopped, just for that happy moment. A little ways into the park, there was a mile long tunnel where bicyclists are not allowed to ride due to the darkness and exhaust fumes from cars, so we all loaded into the van and car to get through the tunnel and rode down to the campsite.
After setting up camp, a fair amount of us went swimming in the Virgin River that runs through the Zion Canyon. It was very refreshing and a ton of fun. We all enjoyed ourselves, splashing around and playing in the mud like young children. We then ate a lovely pasta dinner back at the campsite and sat around chatting and enjoying the rest of the night and planning out what we wanted to do on our day off. We decided to wake up early and hike up to Angel's Landing, one of the most popular hikes in Zion, and then to the Narrows where the Virgin River carves through the rock at the beginning of Zion Canyon. Tomorrow looks to be a busy day.
Peace and Love,
Trekking Tito
Day 16-How Do You Pronounce Kanab?
Page, AZ to Kanab, UT
Distance: 76.84 miles
Time: 5:58:32
Max Speed: 36.1 mph
Average Speed: 12.8 mph
Riding out of Page was gorgeous. The road wound through the red rocks, down to the bridge across Lake Powell and the dam which created the lake. The views were quite breathtaking and I got plenty of pictures. Not too far out of town, after a few decent climbs, we reached the Utah border. It is really crazy to think that we have ridden our bicycles from Austin all the way to Utah. To date we have ridden about 1,310 miles from Austin. And that is just in over 2 weeks. Considering it took most of us the entire spring semester to complete our 1,000 training miles, 1,310 miles in just over 2 weeks is quite impressive.
Utah gave us a warm welcome with some bumpy roads and a strong headwind. The riding became quite difficult to say the least. Though, Jody and Mike did an awesome job at the rest stops today. They both dressed up, and at Jody's rest stop we all got squirt guns to have fun and help beat the heat. At Mike's rest stop, we were treated to root beer floats, a kiddie pool, and the seats from the van placed outside for lounging.
Shortly after arrival into Kanab, we loaded up the van and headed to the Grand Canyon which was about an hour and a half drive away. It was pretty incredible. I had been before when I was younger but do not remember it. The sheer size of the canyon baffled me and the combination of all the different colored rocks and vegetation was absolutely beautiful. Originally, I did not want to go to the Grand Canyon, but I am definitely glad I went. Upon returning to Kanab, we were treated to a wonderful dinner by Cowboy Ted at the campground where we are staying.
Currently, I am inside the office of the campground where we have wireless internet and I just finished writing my first batch of postcards. But it is getting late and tomorrow we roll into Zion, which is supposed to be beautiful. Hopefully we will get to go mountain biking on our day off as the area around Zion is amazing for mountain biking, particularly for freeriding where they do crazy jumps and drop offs. See you in Zion.
Peace and Love,
Mountain Miggy
Distance: 76.84 miles
Time: 5:58:32
Max Speed: 36.1 mph
Average Speed: 12.8 mph
Riding out of Page was gorgeous. The road wound through the red rocks, down to the bridge across Lake Powell and the dam which created the lake. The views were quite breathtaking and I got plenty of pictures. Not too far out of town, after a few decent climbs, we reached the Utah border. It is really crazy to think that we have ridden our bicycles from Austin all the way to Utah. To date we have ridden about 1,310 miles from Austin. And that is just in over 2 weeks. Considering it took most of us the entire spring semester to complete our 1,000 training miles, 1,310 miles in just over 2 weeks is quite impressive.
Utah gave us a warm welcome with some bumpy roads and a strong headwind. The riding became quite difficult to say the least. Though, Jody and Mike did an awesome job at the rest stops today. They both dressed up, and at Jody's rest stop we all got squirt guns to have fun and help beat the heat. At Mike's rest stop, we were treated to root beer floats, a kiddie pool, and the seats from the van placed outside for lounging.
Shortly after arrival into Kanab, we loaded up the van and headed to the Grand Canyon which was about an hour and a half drive away. It was pretty incredible. I had been before when I was younger but do not remember it. The sheer size of the canyon baffled me and the combination of all the different colored rocks and vegetation was absolutely beautiful. Originally, I did not want to go to the Grand Canyon, but I am definitely glad I went. Upon returning to Kanab, we were treated to a wonderful dinner by Cowboy Ted at the campground where we are staying.
Currently, I am inside the office of the campground where we have wireless internet and I just finished writing my first batch of postcards. But it is getting late and tomorrow we roll into Zion, which is supposed to be beautiful. Hopefully we will get to go mountain biking on our day off as the area around Zion is amazing for mountain biking, particularly for freeriding where they do crazy jumps and drop offs. See you in Zion.
Peace and Love,
Mountain Miggy
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Day 15-An Easy Day At Last
Shonto, AZ to Page, AZ
Distance: 66 miles
Drive day numero dos was a success. Everything went well, and there were no major issues. The only problem encountered was cleaning up the community center in Shonto and getting some food for rest stops, but all was taken care of. Speaking of getting food, I stopped at this market in a small town along the way in the middle of the Navajo Nation, and the owner of the store was a very, very kind lady. She donated ice, bread, fruit, and juice for us to use at our rest stops. I asked her if I could fill my water coolers at the store and she said that she could not do that at the store but instead kindly led me to her house across the parking lot to fill up the coolers with her own personal hose. I am continually amazed at the generosity we have been shown by the people we meet.
It was a short ride, so not much else happened between Shonto and Page. We did have some excellent watermelon at my second rest stop of the day which Emily had purchased at a roadside stand and I cut up to serve to the riders. The final stretch into Page was all downhill and most of the riders seemed to enjoy it, as they did the whole day for that matter.
Once we got into Page, we headed to the police station where we are currently, and then to a local Mexican food restaurant for some food and drinks. The people in the restaurant and friendly and we enjoyed ourselves. Following the restaurant, a few of us went to Lake Powell to go swimming and cool off for a bit. Lake Powell has to be one of the coolest, most beautiful lakes I have ever seen, and definitely the coolest man-made lake I have seen. The water was so blue, and contrasted beautifully with the red rocks through which it ran. We soaped up and jumped in, using the lake as our shower for the day, and then swam around and enjoyed the lake a bit before going to eat dinner.
We were served a wonderful roast beef, gravy, mashed potatoes, and veggies dinner in the Page Elks Lodge, which we all scarfed down. It was quite delicious. After dinner, we had our team meeting where Vitek and I served as Jordan's bodyguards/enforcers for comedic relief and safety purposes. Since then, we have been back at the police station, watching Mrs. Doubtfire and hanging out. Nothing else exciting has really happened, so I think it is bed time for me.
Tomorrow we ride to Kanab, UT, crossing another state border and ending the day by meeting the fabled Cowboy Ted. It promises to be an exciting day.
Peace and Love,
Maneuvering Miguelito
Distance: 66 miles
Drive day numero dos was a success. Everything went well, and there were no major issues. The only problem encountered was cleaning up the community center in Shonto and getting some food for rest stops, but all was taken care of. Speaking of getting food, I stopped at this market in a small town along the way in the middle of the Navajo Nation, and the owner of the store was a very, very kind lady. She donated ice, bread, fruit, and juice for us to use at our rest stops. I asked her if I could fill my water coolers at the store and she said that she could not do that at the store but instead kindly led me to her house across the parking lot to fill up the coolers with her own personal hose. I am continually amazed at the generosity we have been shown by the people we meet.
It was a short ride, so not much else happened between Shonto and Page. We did have some excellent watermelon at my second rest stop of the day which Emily had purchased at a roadside stand and I cut up to serve to the riders. The final stretch into Page was all downhill and most of the riders seemed to enjoy it, as they did the whole day for that matter.
Once we got into Page, we headed to the police station where we are currently, and then to a local Mexican food restaurant for some food and drinks. The people in the restaurant and friendly and we enjoyed ourselves. Following the restaurant, a few of us went to Lake Powell to go swimming and cool off for a bit. Lake Powell has to be one of the coolest, most beautiful lakes I have ever seen, and definitely the coolest man-made lake I have seen. The water was so blue, and contrasted beautifully with the red rocks through which it ran. We soaped up and jumped in, using the lake as our shower for the day, and then swam around and enjoyed the lake a bit before going to eat dinner.
We were served a wonderful roast beef, gravy, mashed potatoes, and veggies dinner in the Page Elks Lodge, which we all scarfed down. It was quite delicious. After dinner, we had our team meeting where Vitek and I served as Jordan's bodyguards/enforcers for comedic relief and safety purposes. Since then, we have been back at the police station, watching Mrs. Doubtfire and hanging out. Nothing else exciting has really happened, so I think it is bed time for me.
Tomorrow we ride to Kanab, UT, crossing another state border and ending the day by meeting the fabled Cowboy Ted. It promises to be an exciting day.
Peace and Love,
Maneuvering Miguelito
Day 14-One Small Village to the Next
Mexican Water, AZ to Shonto, AZ
Distance: 65.63 miles
Time: 6:11:52
Max Speed: 50.6 mph
Average Speed: 13.8 mph
Another wonderful surprise awaited us in Shonto as Kevin got us a place to stay in the Shonto community center, complete with a kitchen, large floor area, bathrooms, wireless internet, and the coldest hose shower we have experienced to date. We had a delicious pasta dinner prepared by Darlene and Katrina before winding down by trying to fix Ryan's shifter/derailleur, which Oleg did most of the work on and ended up replacing the shifter in the end.
The ride today went well. At one point, we stopped at a Burger King in one of the towns we were passing through and I got a Whopper Jr. and a slurpee. It was delicious. About 5 miles down the road, at our next actual rest stop, Kevin had McDonald's chicken sandwiches, fries, and Sprite for us, all donated. That was probably the most fast food I have had in one day in quite some time, but when we are burning 3,000+ calories a day on our bikes, I figure one day won't do too much damage.
Later in the day, we saw an interesting grain elevator contraption that looked like a huge roller coaster of sorts. It was very intriguing. At the final rest stop, Kevin gave us the directions to the Shonto community center after telling us the awesome news.
The final mile into Shonto was a very steep hill into a canyon where I hit my top speed for the day. It was another awesome ending tot he day. Upon arriving at the center, however, we found that Oleg had gotten the trailer stuck in some deep sand, so it took some careful planning and brute strength to correct that error, but all was well in the end.
Tomorrow I drive again, but it should be an easy day as we are headed for Page, AZ and will be descending a couple thousand feet or so. Hopefully it will be less stressful than my first drive day. Peyton should be a good drive buddy. Hopefully.
Peace and Love,
Trailer Tito
Distance: 65.63 miles
Time: 6:11:52
Max Speed: 50.6 mph
Average Speed: 13.8 mph
Another wonderful surprise awaited us in Shonto as Kevin got us a place to stay in the Shonto community center, complete with a kitchen, large floor area, bathrooms, wireless internet, and the coldest hose shower we have experienced to date. We had a delicious pasta dinner prepared by Darlene and Katrina before winding down by trying to fix Ryan's shifter/derailleur, which Oleg did most of the work on and ended up replacing the shifter in the end.
The ride today went well. At one point, we stopped at a Burger King in one of the towns we were passing through and I got a Whopper Jr. and a slurpee. It was delicious. About 5 miles down the road, at our next actual rest stop, Kevin had McDonald's chicken sandwiches, fries, and Sprite for us, all donated. That was probably the most fast food I have had in one day in quite some time, but when we are burning 3,000+ calories a day on our bikes, I figure one day won't do too much damage.
Later in the day, we saw an interesting grain elevator contraption that looked like a huge roller coaster of sorts. It was very intriguing. At the final rest stop, Kevin gave us the directions to the Shonto community center after telling us the awesome news.
The final mile into Shonto was a very steep hill into a canyon where I hit my top speed for the day. It was another awesome ending tot he day. Upon arriving at the center, however, we found that Oleg had gotten the trailer stuck in some deep sand, so it took some careful planning and brute strength to correct that error, but all was well in the end.
Tomorrow I drive again, but it should be an easy day as we are headed for Page, AZ and will be descending a couple thousand feet or so. Hopefully it will be less stressful than my first drive day. Peyton should be a good drive buddy. Hopefully.
Peace and Love,
Trailer Tito
Day 13-Hard to Say Goodbye
Farmington, NM to Mexican Water, AZ
Distance: 84.8 miles
Time: 4:32:35
Max Speed: 37.5
Average Speed: 14.2
Farmington was much, much too good to us! This morning we were treated to three different kinds of breakfast burritos, fresh fruit, juices, milk, cereal, and more. We also gave our first presentation of the trip, which went well, considering we had not done one yet. Following our awesome breakfast and presentation, we said goodbye to Cathy, who was absolutely amazing, and we were escorted out of town by Farmington police. At the Farmington city limits, the sheriff's department took over on the escort, and then once we crossed into the Navajo Nation, the Navajo police continued our escort.
Being escorted out of town was awesome. We had a whole lane to ourselves, and many people were driving by, honking and waving in support. We were able to make awesome time to the first rest stop, and our escort even stopped at the rest stop to wait for us and then continued the escort. Following the rest stop, we were flying at an average of about 22 mph, and the escort led us almost the entire way to our next rest stop at 40 miles. At this rest stop, a Navajo police car pulled up at some point with Kevin and Elyor inside. We all thought they had been arrested at first, but they had just had some problems and the cop was kind enough to give them a ride.
We had our second border crossing, going from New Mexico into Arizona. I was riding with Oleg, drafting off him as we approached the border. He was still in his granny gear from the previous uphill when he asked "Is that the border?", at which point I saw that it was in face the border and sprinted past Oleg to beat him to the border. It was a cheap move but hilarious and satisfying, nonetheless.
The scenery in Arizona is a great improvement over New Mexico with beautiful red rock formations and what not. It made for quite a good day of riding. There were a fair amount of good-sized hills, but none were too bad, and the scenery was enough to take your mind off the climbing. The final stretch into Mexican Water was amazing, with very smooth roads, mostly downhill, heading into the sunset as it began to unfold across the desert. It was a prefect ending to the day.
Now we are in our campsite next to the gas station/trading post that is the only thing in Mexican Water other than a restaurant on the other side of our campsite. Another one to add to my list of most interesting places I've camped. We had a nice cold hose shower to clean off after today's ride. We have become quite accustomed to and efficient with hose showers. We joke that when we get host families again, we will just use their hose to shower rather than the actual shower. The hose may be cold, but it is refreshing, and it gets the job done. Plus, with Dr. Bronner's biodegradable soap, there are no worries. This is not an infomercial, I swear.
For dinner we had some good tacos and veggies. Tonight will be the first time I have slept in a tent on this trip. Hopefully my tent is still in good condition. So far, so good. Tomorrow, we are headed for Shonto, AZ. I am not sure where we are staying there, probably camping again. It sounds like another small town, but hopefully not as small as Mexican Water (which should really just be named Tequila, it's the same thing).
Peace and Love,
Tequila Tito
Distance: 84.8 miles
Time: 4:32:35
Max Speed: 37.5
Average Speed: 14.2
Farmington was much, much too good to us! This morning we were treated to three different kinds of breakfast burritos, fresh fruit, juices, milk, cereal, and more. We also gave our first presentation of the trip, which went well, considering we had not done one yet. Following our awesome breakfast and presentation, we said goodbye to Cathy, who was absolutely amazing, and we were escorted out of town by Farmington police. At the Farmington city limits, the sheriff's department took over on the escort, and then once we crossed into the Navajo Nation, the Navajo police continued our escort.
Being escorted out of town was awesome. We had a whole lane to ourselves, and many people were driving by, honking and waving in support. We were able to make awesome time to the first rest stop, and our escort even stopped at the rest stop to wait for us and then continued the escort. Following the rest stop, we were flying at an average of about 22 mph, and the escort led us almost the entire way to our next rest stop at 40 miles. At this rest stop, a Navajo police car pulled up at some point with Kevin and Elyor inside. We all thought they had been arrested at first, but they had just had some problems and the cop was kind enough to give them a ride.
We had our second border crossing, going from New Mexico into Arizona. I was riding with Oleg, drafting off him as we approached the border. He was still in his granny gear from the previous uphill when he asked "Is that the border?", at which point I saw that it was in face the border and sprinted past Oleg to beat him to the border. It was a cheap move but hilarious and satisfying, nonetheless.
The scenery in Arizona is a great improvement over New Mexico with beautiful red rock formations and what not. It made for quite a good day of riding. There were a fair amount of good-sized hills, but none were too bad, and the scenery was enough to take your mind off the climbing. The final stretch into Mexican Water was amazing, with very smooth roads, mostly downhill, heading into the sunset as it began to unfold across the desert. It was a prefect ending to the day.
Now we are in our campsite next to the gas station/trading post that is the only thing in Mexican Water other than a restaurant on the other side of our campsite. Another one to add to my list of most interesting places I've camped. We had a nice cold hose shower to clean off after today's ride. We have become quite accustomed to and efficient with hose showers. We joke that when we get host families again, we will just use their hose to shower rather than the actual shower. The hose may be cold, but it is refreshing, and it gets the job done. Plus, with Dr. Bronner's biodegradable soap, there are no worries. This is not an infomercial, I swear.
For dinner we had some good tacos and veggies. Tonight will be the first time I have slept in a tent on this trip. Hopefully my tent is still in good condition. So far, so good. Tomorrow, we are headed for Shonto, AZ. I am not sure where we are staying there, probably camping again. It sounds like another small town, but hopefully not as small as Mexican Water (which should really just be named Tequila, it's the same thing).
Peace and Love,
Tequila Tito
Day 12-A Roller Coaster in All Senses
Cuba, NM to Farmington, NM
Distance: 89.64 miles
Time: 5:51:13
Max Speed: 34.6 mph
Average Speed: 18.7 mph
After the roughest day of the summer so far, today was a good way to make up for it. Though, the start of the day was not too enjoyable. One of my worst fears about the trip actually came true this morning. I did not feel like riding, not at all. Getting on the bike, I felt zero motivation to ride. But, we began the ride with some good, steady climbs, climbing over 400 feet in the first 12 miles, all the way up to the Continental Divide. It was a pretty cool feeling knowing I had ridden a bike across the Continental Divide from Texas. From there, the ride went much better. I felt so much better and was enjoying riding again.
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. Oleg, Mike Glass, Rambeau, and I stopped at one of the rest stops and took a nice nap for a little while before continuing on. At our last rest stop, we were told we would be provided dinner at 5:30 and it was 4:30 when we had about 20 miles left to ride. Not wanting to sag (ride in the van into town), we made it a quick rest stop and booked it into town. A little while after the rest stop, we hit an awesome downhill section and were flying at 30+ mph the whole time. The wind was pretty strong and a gust of crosswind knocked us all to the side at the same time, which was pretty cool to see, but a bit jolting to experience.
The final stretch into town was a two-lane, busy highway from Bloomfield to Farmington. The shoulder on this road was 2 ft. wide or less the whole way, with 18-wheelers flying by at 60-70 mph. It was a bit frightening, but we have ridden on similar or worse roads in Austin. For fear of our safety, we had to sag into the hospital where we were having dinner. We were all rather upset about having to sag as we felt that we would be fine riding into town, we just would have had to be more careful. But in the best interest of everyone's well-being, we all had to sag into Farmington.
We arrived at the hospital in sour moods, but that was very soon changed as we were greeted by some of the most wonderful people we have met on the whole trip. We had some delicious BBQ sandwiches, potato salad, macaroni salad, fresh fruit, beans, cherry cobbler, peach cobbler, and more. It was a glorious meal, but the best was yet to come.
Oleg, Mike Glass, Rambeau, and I are staying at the house of Neal and Cathy Roberts. It is incredible! They have a pool, yoga room, pool table, inversion table for stretching out your back, and more. We were treated to some awesome New Mexico pizzas and tasty beverages. After showering and eating, we were able to use the internet to check e-mail and blog and what not. Rambeau also got the opportunity to rock out with Neal to his collection of vinyl records. Oh yes, and we went swimming before eating, which felt amazing.
Cathy and Neal have been such amazing hosts. I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done for us. We have had an amazing experience in Farmington, these people are awesome. Neal is also a mountain biker, so Oleg and I talked to him about mountain biking for a while. He even invited us to come back some time and go mountain biking with him. I doubt he was serious, but I think Oleg and I are taking it seriously regardless.
It has been a wonderful night to follow a very unpleasant ending to the day's ride. Tomorrow we ride to Mexican Water, AZ and will be camping next to a truck stop. That should be rather interesting.
Peace and Love,
Trucker Tito
Distance: 89.64 miles
Time: 5:51:13
Max Speed: 34.6 mph
Average Speed: 18.7 mph
After the roughest day of the summer so far, today was a good way to make up for it. Though, the start of the day was not too enjoyable. One of my worst fears about the trip actually came true this morning. I did not feel like riding, not at all. Getting on the bike, I felt zero motivation to ride. But, we began the ride with some good, steady climbs, climbing over 400 feet in the first 12 miles, all the way up to the Continental Divide. It was a pretty cool feeling knowing I had ridden a bike across the Continental Divide from Texas. From there, the ride went much better. I felt so much better and was enjoying riding again.
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. Oleg, Mike Glass, Rambeau, and I stopped at one of the rest stops and took a nice nap for a little while before continuing on. At our last rest stop, we were told we would be provided dinner at 5:30 and it was 4:30 when we had about 20 miles left to ride. Not wanting to sag (ride in the van into town), we made it a quick rest stop and booked it into town. A little while after the rest stop, we hit an awesome downhill section and were flying at 30+ mph the whole time. The wind was pretty strong and a gust of crosswind knocked us all to the side at the same time, which was pretty cool to see, but a bit jolting to experience.
The final stretch into town was a two-lane, busy highway from Bloomfield to Farmington. The shoulder on this road was 2 ft. wide or less the whole way, with 18-wheelers flying by at 60-70 mph. It was a bit frightening, but we have ridden on similar or worse roads in Austin. For fear of our safety, we had to sag into the hospital where we were having dinner. We were all rather upset about having to sag as we felt that we would be fine riding into town, we just would have had to be more careful. But in the best interest of everyone's well-being, we all had to sag into Farmington.
We arrived at the hospital in sour moods, but that was very soon changed as we were greeted by some of the most wonderful people we have met on the whole trip. We had some delicious BBQ sandwiches, potato salad, macaroni salad, fresh fruit, beans, cherry cobbler, peach cobbler, and more. It was a glorious meal, but the best was yet to come.
Oleg, Mike Glass, Rambeau, and I are staying at the house of Neal and Cathy Roberts. It is incredible! They have a pool, yoga room, pool table, inversion table for stretching out your back, and more. We were treated to some awesome New Mexico pizzas and tasty beverages. After showering and eating, we were able to use the internet to check e-mail and blog and what not. Rambeau also got the opportunity to rock out with Neal to his collection of vinyl records. Oh yes, and we went swimming before eating, which felt amazing.
Cathy and Neal have been such amazing hosts. I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done for us. We have had an amazing experience in Farmington, these people are awesome. Neal is also a mountain biker, so Oleg and I talked to him about mountain biking for a while. He even invited us to come back some time and go mountain biking with him. I doubt he was serious, but I think Oleg and I are taking it seriously regardless.
It has been a wonderful night to follow a very unpleasant ending to the day's ride. Tomorrow we ride to Mexican Water, AZ and will be camping next to a truck stop. That should be rather interesting.
Peace and Love,
Trucker Tito
Day 11-Dust in the Wind
Albuquerque, NM to Cuba, NM
Distance: 76.73 miles
Time: 6:25:16
Max Speed: 33.4 mph
Average Speed: 11.9 mph
The day did not start off well, to say the least. We found out this morning, to our most unfortunate surprise, that Zeke, our beloved teammate from the swamp (Florida) would be leaving us due to knee problems which had occured in the past as well. He was worried he would screw up his knees if he completed the trip and would regret it at a later point in time. As sad as it makes me to admit it, Zeke made the best decision regarding his well-being, but he will indeed be sorely missed. I have only known Zeke for a couple weeks, but I think everyone on the team will agree with me when I say he seemed as though he had been in Austin with the team from the very beginning and fit in perfectly. He was one of the funniest, most easy going guys on the team, and just a great guy all around. And, he was so good at keeping a straight face while saying the most ridiculous things. It was quite impressive. Anyway, it was very depressing to see Zeke leave, but there is still a chance he may meet back up with us in San Francisco if there is no serious problem with his knees. I really hope that is indeed the case. I nearly cried this morning when he told us, but I was able to hold back. We miss you Zeke.
Needless to say, most of the team started today's ride in a less than favorable mood. I did not really feel like riding when we started. To make matters worse, the road leading out of Albuquerque was terribly littered with broken glass and we had about 10 flat tires within the first 10 miles. I got two flats at the same time when we stopped to fix Jordan's second flat of the morning. We spoke with a construction worker while we were stopped and he told us that the road was constantly being littered by drivers after they did projects to improve the road, and people would even steal trees that had just been planted. It is sad to see how little these people care about projects they pay for with their own tax dollars.
Once we got all the issues with flat tires resolved, it was fairly smooth sailing to the first rest stop at 20 miles. It was already past noon at that point as the day was moving extremely slowly. At one point, it had been 3 hours since we had departed, yet we had only been actually riding for 45 minutes. It was slightly ridiculous.
Following the first rest stop, we were greeted by a nasty headwind that only intensified as the day went on. It was the most frustrating experience I have ever had as we were going through a pass in the mountains, so no matter which way we were headed, the mountains directed the wind right into our faces. Physically, I was not too tired, but mentally I was a broken man, frustrated and defeated.
The day has not been my shining moment, and I do not know that I have ever been so challenged in my life. It was quite a struggle and the first time on this trip I have ever seriously considered sagging. But, I made it. I arrived triumphantly in Cuba, thanks to the company and support of my teammates, who were all struggling as much, if not more than I was but still found the strength to encourage me and help me keep riding.
We ate dinner at Subway and are now sleeping in the basement of a church here in the small town of Cuba, New Mexico. Today I overcame, and thinking about the memories Zeke has given us was a great source of inspiration. Hopefully tomorrow will be better as we head to Farmington.
Peace and Love,
Monster Miggy
Distance: 76.73 miles
Time: 6:25:16
Max Speed: 33.4 mph
Average Speed: 11.9 mph
The day did not start off well, to say the least. We found out this morning, to our most unfortunate surprise, that Zeke, our beloved teammate from the swamp (Florida) would be leaving us due to knee problems which had occured in the past as well. He was worried he would screw up his knees if he completed the trip and would regret it at a later point in time. As sad as it makes me to admit it, Zeke made the best decision regarding his well-being, but he will indeed be sorely missed. I have only known Zeke for a couple weeks, but I think everyone on the team will agree with me when I say he seemed as though he had been in Austin with the team from the very beginning and fit in perfectly. He was one of the funniest, most easy going guys on the team, and just a great guy all around. And, he was so good at keeping a straight face while saying the most ridiculous things. It was quite impressive. Anyway, it was very depressing to see Zeke leave, but there is still a chance he may meet back up with us in San Francisco if there is no serious problem with his knees. I really hope that is indeed the case. I nearly cried this morning when he told us, but I was able to hold back. We miss you Zeke.
Needless to say, most of the team started today's ride in a less than favorable mood. I did not really feel like riding when we started. To make matters worse, the road leading out of Albuquerque was terribly littered with broken glass and we had about 10 flat tires within the first 10 miles. I got two flats at the same time when we stopped to fix Jordan's second flat of the morning. We spoke with a construction worker while we were stopped and he told us that the road was constantly being littered by drivers after they did projects to improve the road, and people would even steal trees that had just been planted. It is sad to see how little these people care about projects they pay for with their own tax dollars.
Once we got all the issues with flat tires resolved, it was fairly smooth sailing to the first rest stop at 20 miles. It was already past noon at that point as the day was moving extremely slowly. At one point, it had been 3 hours since we had departed, yet we had only been actually riding for 45 minutes. It was slightly ridiculous.
Following the first rest stop, we were greeted by a nasty headwind that only intensified as the day went on. It was the most frustrating experience I have ever had as we were going through a pass in the mountains, so no matter which way we were headed, the mountains directed the wind right into our faces. Physically, I was not too tired, but mentally I was a broken man, frustrated and defeated.
The day has not been my shining moment, and I do not know that I have ever been so challenged in my life. It was quite a struggle and the first time on this trip I have ever seriously considered sagging. But, I made it. I arrived triumphantly in Cuba, thanks to the company and support of my teammates, who were all struggling as much, if not more than I was but still found the strength to encourage me and help me keep riding.
We ate dinner at Subway and are now sleeping in the basement of a church here in the small town of Cuba, New Mexico. Today I overcame, and thinking about the memories Zeke has given us was a great source of inspiration. Hopefully tomorrow will be better as we head to Farmington.
Peace and Love,
Monster Miggy
Day 10-A Rest Day To Catch Up
Day Off in Albuquerque
I assumed a day off would be restful and not exhausting. I should have known better and should not assume such anymore. A day off simply meant it was a day to do everything we have been putting off since we started riding. I feel more tired now after a day off the bike than I do after a day in the saddle.
As I mentioned in my last post, my body felt 7:15 was a good time to wake up and did not like the idea of going back to sleep. I thought it would at least be a good chance to get some stuff accomplished today. Once again, I was wrong. Just as a group of 5 of us were about to leave, the rest of the team began waking up and wanted to go eat. So we sat around for an hour or so, waiting for everyone to get ready. By that time, we had not time after we ate to do any other errands and had to head to the University of New Mexico cancer center to visit. We sat in the waiting room for a while, talking with patients and their families, and then met with a researcher at the facility who said a great deal of things way over my head.
After the hospital visit, we ran around the rest of the day to do all the errands we needed to do. We did not get back to the church where we are staying until about 9 PM, and we were too exhausted to do much of anything when we returned. So now I leave you for a nights sleep which I am very much looking forward to.
Peace and Love,
Tired Tito
I assumed a day off would be restful and not exhausting. I should have known better and should not assume such anymore. A day off simply meant it was a day to do everything we have been putting off since we started riding. I feel more tired now after a day off the bike than I do after a day in the saddle.
As I mentioned in my last post, my body felt 7:15 was a good time to wake up and did not like the idea of going back to sleep. I thought it would at least be a good chance to get some stuff accomplished today. Once again, I was wrong. Just as a group of 5 of us were about to leave, the rest of the team began waking up and wanted to go eat. So we sat around for an hour or so, waiting for everyone to get ready. By that time, we had not time after we ate to do any other errands and had to head to the University of New Mexico cancer center to visit. We sat in the waiting room for a while, talking with patients and their families, and then met with a researcher at the facility who said a great deal of things way over my head.
After the hospital visit, we ran around the rest of the day to do all the errands we needed to do. We did not get back to the church where we are staying until about 9 PM, and we were too exhausted to do much of anything when we returned. So now I leave you for a nights sleep which I am very much looking forward to.
Peace and Love,
Tired Tito
Day 9-Albuquerque Dislikes Cyclists
Encino, NM to Albuquerque, NM
Distance: 114.71 miles
Time: 7:31:49
Max Speed: 37.8 mph
Average Speed: 15.2 mph
I have to say that in my very limited cycling experience, New Mexico, especially Albuquerque, has some of the least cyclist-friendly drivers I have ever encountered. But, at the same time, there were many people encouraging us as we rode into town late yesterday evening. I am actually writing this on our day off in Albuquerque because I was in a not so good mood last night after a very challenging day and being cutoff by two cars coming into town who were very aware that they had cut me off and seemed to have done so purposely. Please do not ever do that to a cyclist, I beg you.
Anyway, it is about 7:45 AM right now on our day off, as I said. I went to bed around 3 AM, but my body woke up at 7:15 because it has fallen into our routine and refused to let me sleep any later than 7:15. Thus, I am using the time to write. I also hope to see if I can't find some sort of deal with a massuse or multiple in town to treat the team to massages. Hopefully it will work out. One way or another, I could really go for a massage; my shoulders and upper back have been numb since we began and I started to get shooting pain in them the other day while riding. I also need to go to a bike shop today, and we are visiting the local oncology center, so it will be a busy one, but I think the day off will do wonders for the team. Everyone got a good night's sleep in Encino and when we woke up yesterday, the overall mood of the team was so much better than it has been any other morning. I am hoping this day off will have the same effect.
But, I am supposed to be writing about yesterday, so I guess I should do that. As I said, everyone was in a pretty good mood to begin the day, so that was motivating. It was very foggy and slightly chilly when we woke up, but that lifted quickly and we were once again treated with nearly perfect weather almost all day. With the exception of some strong headwinds, I really do not think we could have asked for better weather so far on this trip. I only hope it continues.
Leaving Encino, we got into some awesome hills. They were very gradual, but at a decent grade. You could charge up them or take your time and spin up them if you prefer. The first rest stop caught me by surprise as I was pumped from all the hills. We stopped at soe dried up salt lake beds after the first rest stop, but due to the intense storm that hit us last night in Encino, the bed was very muddy as you approached white, salty area. Darlene attempted to make it but instead got her legs, hands, and shoes covered in dark brown mud. It was quite entertaining.
Our second rest stop was amazing. Elyor found this gas station/mini-mart with one of the most generous ladies we have met. She gave us ham, cheese, and bread to make sandwiches and let us use her mustard and mayo. She also gave us a large pan of popcorn, and while we were sitting in the shade outside the mini-mart, she brought out a large carrot cake that had fallen apart and asked if we would like it. Of course we devoured it; we were in heaven. Rachael was just abou to begin riding again, but when she saw the carrot cake appear, she quickly changed her mind and stayed a bit longer.
Contrary to what I had anticipated based off of past experiences, New Mexico has had nice, smooth roads for the most part. Though, many of them have had little or no shoulder, which has not been a problem, with the exception of Hwy 333 (a stretch of Historic Route 66) into Albuquerque. We were told it was a bike-friendly road, but either someone did not know what they were talking about or we are just spoiled in Austin and have very different standards for "bike-friendly". The first 10 miles or so of this road had some pretty good hills on them, and about a 4 inch shoulder , which was pretty much unsuited for bicycle use. Many riders were honked at, gawked at, laughed at, and nearly hit by cars. Within the first mile my group was on this road, someone drove by and threw water on us. At least I hope it was water. People refused to move over and give us any space, even though we were being forced to ride on the white line or in the road, and most of the time the other side of the road was clear, so the drivers could have easily given us more room. One group of riders even got a bunch of coins thrown at them. Perhaps someone was just trying to make a donation.
After climbing for a while, we peaked at around 6,800 ft. or so I believe, and from there it was all downhill into Albuquerque as Albuquerque is at 5,000 ft. This stretch was awesome, though I was going about 30 when some jerk pulled into the right turn lane right in front of me, forcing me to slam on my brakes to avoid slamming into the back of his car or swerving out into traffic going. As the driver turned, I looked back and he gave me a very smug smile, as if he had done it on purpose. I was so angry that I just began sprinting down the hill, flying at nearly 40 mph, just to blow off steam. It takes a lot to make me angry, and granted I was in a foul mood to begin with as the day was turning out to be much longer and harder than anticipated. But when someone is so blatantly and intentionally rude to someone, it really strikes a nerve with me and makes me wonder how a person could possibly be so selfish and inconsiderate. It also makes me wonder why so many drivers hate bicyclists with such a fiery passion that they go out of their way to let us know how they feel. Cycling is the only sport I have ever participated in where people dislike you simply for the sport you enjoy.
Once we got into town, my legs had next to nothing left in them from sprinting down the hill, and I had cooled off some. But then, as we were going down the main street in Albuquerque, a car that had been parallel parked on the right side of the road pulled out right in front of me, cutting me off, causing me to swerve out into traffic to avoid hitting the car. Had I hit the car, the driver probably would have had a fit that I had run into his precious vehicle. Needless to say, this pretty much made me boil over. I wanted to give up riding for the day because it had been such a long frustrating day and I was so discouraged by people intentionally cutting me off. I sprinted to catch up with the car, riding next to them through town, and then getting in front of them at a light to let them know I was unhappy. At the light, I saw it was a whole family in the car, and the mom and dad in the front seat were mocking me and laughing. I do not know whether or not they had intentionally cut me off, but they did not seem to be the least bit sorry at that point. When the light turned green, I blocked them from going through the intersection, smiling at them. I realize my actions were probably a bit rash, but I was so frustrated already after such a long day of riding and did not want to simply let the driver think that cyclists appreciate being cut off. We are just like any vehicle on the road, we just stay to the side because we are slower.
Sorry to rant and rave on the issue, but I really do not understand how people can be so rude to one another. I do now know who reads this, but I hope at least one person will be more conscious when driving around cyclists and encourages others to do so as well. Waiting an extra 20 seconds to allow a cyclist to pass safely is not going to make you late. As they say in Austin, Please be kind to cyclists.
Peace and Love,
Traffic Tito
Distance: 114.71 miles
Time: 7:31:49
Max Speed: 37.8 mph
Average Speed: 15.2 mph
I have to say that in my very limited cycling experience, New Mexico, especially Albuquerque, has some of the least cyclist-friendly drivers I have ever encountered. But, at the same time, there were many people encouraging us as we rode into town late yesterday evening. I am actually writing this on our day off in Albuquerque because I was in a not so good mood last night after a very challenging day and being cutoff by two cars coming into town who were very aware that they had cut me off and seemed to have done so purposely. Please do not ever do that to a cyclist, I beg you.
Anyway, it is about 7:45 AM right now on our day off, as I said. I went to bed around 3 AM, but my body woke up at 7:15 because it has fallen into our routine and refused to let me sleep any later than 7:15. Thus, I am using the time to write. I also hope to see if I can't find some sort of deal with a massuse or multiple in town to treat the team to massages. Hopefully it will work out. One way or another, I could really go for a massage; my shoulders and upper back have been numb since we began and I started to get shooting pain in them the other day while riding. I also need to go to a bike shop today, and we are visiting the local oncology center, so it will be a busy one, but I think the day off will do wonders for the team. Everyone got a good night's sleep in Encino and when we woke up yesterday, the overall mood of the team was so much better than it has been any other morning. I am hoping this day off will have the same effect.
But, I am supposed to be writing about yesterday, so I guess I should do that. As I said, everyone was in a pretty good mood to begin the day, so that was motivating. It was very foggy and slightly chilly when we woke up, but that lifted quickly and we were once again treated with nearly perfect weather almost all day. With the exception of some strong headwinds, I really do not think we could have asked for better weather so far on this trip. I only hope it continues.
Leaving Encino, we got into some awesome hills. They were very gradual, but at a decent grade. You could charge up them or take your time and spin up them if you prefer. The first rest stop caught me by surprise as I was pumped from all the hills. We stopped at soe dried up salt lake beds after the first rest stop, but due to the intense storm that hit us last night in Encino, the bed was very muddy as you approached white, salty area. Darlene attempted to make it but instead got her legs, hands, and shoes covered in dark brown mud. It was quite entertaining.
Our second rest stop was amazing. Elyor found this gas station/mini-mart with one of the most generous ladies we have met. She gave us ham, cheese, and bread to make sandwiches and let us use her mustard and mayo. She also gave us a large pan of popcorn, and while we were sitting in the shade outside the mini-mart, she brought out a large carrot cake that had fallen apart and asked if we would like it. Of course we devoured it; we were in heaven. Rachael was just abou to begin riding again, but when she saw the carrot cake appear, she quickly changed her mind and stayed a bit longer.
Contrary to what I had anticipated based off of past experiences, New Mexico has had nice, smooth roads for the most part. Though, many of them have had little or no shoulder, which has not been a problem, with the exception of Hwy 333 (a stretch of Historic Route 66) into Albuquerque. We were told it was a bike-friendly road, but either someone did not know what they were talking about or we are just spoiled in Austin and have very different standards for "bike-friendly". The first 10 miles or so of this road had some pretty good hills on them, and about a 4 inch shoulder , which was pretty much unsuited for bicycle use. Many riders were honked at, gawked at, laughed at, and nearly hit by cars. Within the first mile my group was on this road, someone drove by and threw water on us. At least I hope it was water. People refused to move over and give us any space, even though we were being forced to ride on the white line or in the road, and most of the time the other side of the road was clear, so the drivers could have easily given us more room. One group of riders even got a bunch of coins thrown at them. Perhaps someone was just trying to make a donation.
After climbing for a while, we peaked at around 6,800 ft. or so I believe, and from there it was all downhill into Albuquerque as Albuquerque is at 5,000 ft. This stretch was awesome, though I was going about 30 when some jerk pulled into the right turn lane right in front of me, forcing me to slam on my brakes to avoid slamming into the back of his car or swerving out into traffic going. As the driver turned, I looked back and he gave me a very smug smile, as if he had done it on purpose. I was so angry that I just began sprinting down the hill, flying at nearly 40 mph, just to blow off steam. It takes a lot to make me angry, and granted I was in a foul mood to begin with as the day was turning out to be much longer and harder than anticipated. But when someone is so blatantly and intentionally rude to someone, it really strikes a nerve with me and makes me wonder how a person could possibly be so selfish and inconsiderate. It also makes me wonder why so many drivers hate bicyclists with such a fiery passion that they go out of their way to let us know how they feel. Cycling is the only sport I have ever participated in where people dislike you simply for the sport you enjoy.
Once we got into town, my legs had next to nothing left in them from sprinting down the hill, and I had cooled off some. But then, as we were going down the main street in Albuquerque, a car that had been parallel parked on the right side of the road pulled out right in front of me, cutting me off, causing me to swerve out into traffic to avoid hitting the car. Had I hit the car, the driver probably would have had a fit that I had run into his precious vehicle. Needless to say, this pretty much made me boil over. I wanted to give up riding for the day because it had been such a long frustrating day and I was so discouraged by people intentionally cutting me off. I sprinted to catch up with the car, riding next to them through town, and then getting in front of them at a light to let them know I was unhappy. At the light, I saw it was a whole family in the car, and the mom and dad in the front seat were mocking me and laughing. I do not know whether or not they had intentionally cut me off, but they did not seem to be the least bit sorry at that point. When the light turned green, I blocked them from going through the intersection, smiling at them. I realize my actions were probably a bit rash, but I was so frustrated already after such a long day of riding and did not want to simply let the driver think that cyclists appreciate being cut off. We are just like any vehicle on the road, we just stay to the side because we are slower.
Sorry to rant and rave on the issue, but I really do not understand how people can be so rude to one another. I do now know who reads this, but I hope at least one person will be more conscious when driving around cyclists and encourages others to do so as well. Waiting an extra 20 seconds to allow a cyclist to pass safely is not going to make you late. As they say in Austin, Please be kind to cyclists.
Peace and Love,
Traffic Tito
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Day 8-Riders On the Storm
Fort Sumner, NM to Encino, NM
Distance: 76.06 miles
Time: 5:39:05
Max Speed: 36.4 mph
Average Speed: 13.4 mph
I love this team. We have such a great time together. I am not looking forward to the end of summer. Today we left Fort Sumner, eternal home of Billy the Kid, and headed west, blazing our trail through New Mexico. Originally, we were supposed to stay in Vaughn tonight, wherever we could find public land to camp on. Instead, we decided to continue on to Encino today to cut off some the mileage for tomorrow's ride to Albuquerque, which is supposed to include some interesting climbs. Speaking of climbing, we climbed over 2,000 feet today in a bout 60 miles. That was pretty cool.
To begin the day, Rambeau and I bought some American flags to attach to our saddle bags at the Billy the Kid Gift Shop. They were quite a hit with both drivers on the highway and our teammates. The route was nice today, with very little traffic, smooth road and bountiful hills. It looks like El Paso out here, and it gives me a feeling like I am home. I guess I have figured out where my home is. Even the desert is not the prettiest place ever, there is a comforting beauty and serenity that I can find in it.
When we arrived in Vaughn, we ate lunch at Penny's Diner, which had very good food, and they hooked us up with ice cream and coffee! Also, in the diner were two sheriffs who we talked to and ended up getting to staying the community center in Encino, thanks to their help. We are currently in the center, living large as there is a kitchen, washer, dryer, bathroom, and hose. We had a nice group shower at the hose in the rain with about 8 people. It was quite cold, hilarious, and fun.
Coming into Encino today, a storm began to blow in, so we were truckin' to beat it. Once we got on the other side of the storm clouds, we caught an awesome tail wind, and the road was downhill, so we were flying at 30+ mph into town. It was such a cool feeling, flying down the hill, racing the storm into town. It is moments like these that I love so much and make me feel so alive. It all feels so real. Every day, we wake up, suit up, and ride our bikes. Though it sounds the same, each day is so incredibly unique and we never know what to expect. There are no filters, nothing is censored, and there is no need for a facade. All that matters is us, our bikes, and our mission. It is so liberating to be doing something that I love and believe in 100%, rather than just being a pawn, trying to please others.
Now, we are all sitting around after a delicious dinner, some playing cards, some reading, others working on applications to medical school. In the morning, we will get up and ride again, but that is where the similarities between today and tomorrow end.
Peace and Love,
Tornado Tito
Distance: 76.06 miles
Time: 5:39:05
Max Speed: 36.4 mph
Average Speed: 13.4 mph
I love this team. We have such a great time together. I am not looking forward to the end of summer. Today we left Fort Sumner, eternal home of Billy the Kid, and headed west, blazing our trail through New Mexico. Originally, we were supposed to stay in Vaughn tonight, wherever we could find public land to camp on. Instead, we decided to continue on to Encino today to cut off some the mileage for tomorrow's ride to Albuquerque, which is supposed to include some interesting climbs. Speaking of climbing, we climbed over 2,000 feet today in a bout 60 miles. That was pretty cool.
To begin the day, Rambeau and I bought some American flags to attach to our saddle bags at the Billy the Kid Gift Shop. They were quite a hit with both drivers on the highway and our teammates. The route was nice today, with very little traffic, smooth road and bountiful hills. It looks like El Paso out here, and it gives me a feeling like I am home. I guess I have figured out where my home is. Even the desert is not the prettiest place ever, there is a comforting beauty and serenity that I can find in it.
When we arrived in Vaughn, we ate lunch at Penny's Diner, which had very good food, and they hooked us up with ice cream and coffee! Also, in the diner were two sheriffs who we talked to and ended up getting to staying the community center in Encino, thanks to their help. We are currently in the center, living large as there is a kitchen, washer, dryer, bathroom, and hose. We had a nice group shower at the hose in the rain with about 8 people. It was quite cold, hilarious, and fun.
Coming into Encino today, a storm began to blow in, so we were truckin' to beat it. Once we got on the other side of the storm clouds, we caught an awesome tail wind, and the road was downhill, so we were flying at 30+ mph into town. It was such a cool feeling, flying down the hill, racing the storm into town. It is moments like these that I love so much and make me feel so alive. It all feels so real. Every day, we wake up, suit up, and ride our bikes. Though it sounds the same, each day is so incredibly unique and we never know what to expect. There are no filters, nothing is censored, and there is no need for a facade. All that matters is us, our bikes, and our mission. It is so liberating to be doing something that I love and believe in 100%, rather than just being a pawn, trying to please others.
Now, we are all sitting around after a delicious dinner, some playing cards, some reading, others working on applications to medical school. In the morning, we will get up and ride again, but that is where the similarities between today and tomorrow end.
Peace and Love,
Tornado Tito
Day 7-A Strange Day Indeed
Clovis, NM to Fort Sumner, NM
Distance: 75.18
Time: 5:14:22
Max Speed: 28.4 mph
Average Speed: 19.2 mph
I told everyone that New Mexico roads suck. So far, I have been very wrong, and I can only hope I continue to be so wrong. It was smooth sailing today as the roads were incredibly smooth and the wind was either at our backs or non-existent. I would say we averaged at least 20 mph for most of the day. For some of the long stretches, we had a solid paceline going and probably did not go much below 23 mph.
In the morning, Vitek and Darlene were interviewed on the radio, which went well, and then we went to a centennial celebration for the town of Clovis at their Civic Center where we were introduced and shared our ride dedication for the day with everyone in attendance. We were originally supposed to have given our presentation at the Civic Center, but plans changed and we got to speak before the centennial audience, which was a great opportunity for us. The mayor of Clovis made a very generous donation and also gave us all Clovis centennial pins. We also received donations from others present and it seemed they were all very moved by what we are doing. It is because of people like these that I have come to love taking my time on the road, stopping as often as we like to see the sights and interact with people. It has only been just over one a week, and we have already met some of the most amazing people ever. It is so flattering for these awesome people to tell me that what I am doing impresses them when many of them have knowledge and experience well beyond my years. This is my inspiration, thisis why I ride, to see the joy we bring to all the people with whom we share our journey.
It has been a while since I have been in the desert, and at such a high elevation. Coming into Clovis, the sign said an elevation of about 4,200 feet. That is impressive that we have climbed so much already, though I know we have much more to come. At our first rest stop, we were once again treated to donated McDonald's, Egg McMuffins this time. Oleg said we are all going to get fat from this trip, and I think he may be right, we shall see. After the rest stop, we were flying. It is such an amazing feeling to be doing 20+ mph on a smooth flat road with very little wind. The sound of the tires dancing on the road is such a beautiful and calming sound. I do love it very much.
We stopped in the town of Melrose at this fruit market just as we hit town. They had some amazing cherry and also raspberry cider from Carrizozo, NM. I bought a 2 liter bottle of the raspberry cider, and also got some honey with the comb in it, which I had never had before and is quite delicious. We all stood around outside the store, drinking cider and eating honey with our hands straight from the jar, Winnie the Pooh style. Good times. We also stopped at the Melrose war memorial for all the citizens of Melrose who have died in wars from the Civil War up to the Iraq War. It is amazing how many people from that town have lost their lives in wars, especially since the town's population was just over 700, and the memorial had a list of at least a few hundred names, only those who had died, mind you. At the end of town, we stopped for a bit at a garage sale with some interesting stuff to look at.
All day it was easy riding, my heart rate stayed below 120 for the majority of the time. It was a nice recovery ride after yesterday's taxing ride. It is funny that a 65 mile ride has become a recovery ride for us and 100 mile rides are somewhat routine now. We were also losing elevation ost of the day, so that helped. At our second rest stop, we found a large toad and Shelley kissed the toad, causing the toad to immediately pee all over Oleg's hands and Shelley's chamois. I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard.
Outside Fort Sumner, we drafted off a tractor driven by a boy who looked to be well under 10 years old. It was a strange sight, and only fitting to follow Shelley being peed on by a toad. We also visited the grave site of Billy the Kid, which was neat.
The town of Fort Sumner is rather small and centered around the fact that Billy the Kid is buried here. Tonight we are staying in an Episcopal church which is very cool, somewhat in the style of an old Spanish mission. Tomorrow we do not have a place to stay, but plan on simply camping on some public property outside of Vaughn, NM as we hope to cut some of the mileage off the following day's ride to Albuquerque.
Peace and Love,
Toad Tito
Distance: 75.18
Time: 5:14:22
Max Speed: 28.4 mph
Average Speed: 19.2 mph
I told everyone that New Mexico roads suck. So far, I have been very wrong, and I can only hope I continue to be so wrong. It was smooth sailing today as the roads were incredibly smooth and the wind was either at our backs or non-existent. I would say we averaged at least 20 mph for most of the day. For some of the long stretches, we had a solid paceline going and probably did not go much below 23 mph.
In the morning, Vitek and Darlene were interviewed on the radio, which went well, and then we went to a centennial celebration for the town of Clovis at their Civic Center where we were introduced and shared our ride dedication for the day with everyone in attendance. We were originally supposed to have given our presentation at the Civic Center, but plans changed and we got to speak before the centennial audience, which was a great opportunity for us. The mayor of Clovis made a very generous donation and also gave us all Clovis centennial pins. We also received donations from others present and it seemed they were all very moved by what we are doing. It is because of people like these that I have come to love taking my time on the road, stopping as often as we like to see the sights and interact with people. It has only been just over one a week, and we have already met some of the most amazing people ever. It is so flattering for these awesome people to tell me that what I am doing impresses them when many of them have knowledge and experience well beyond my years. This is my inspiration, thisis why I ride, to see the joy we bring to all the people with whom we share our journey.
It has been a while since I have been in the desert, and at such a high elevation. Coming into Clovis, the sign said an elevation of about 4,200 feet. That is impressive that we have climbed so much already, though I know we have much more to come. At our first rest stop, we were once again treated to donated McDonald's, Egg McMuffins this time. Oleg said we are all going to get fat from this trip, and I think he may be right, we shall see. After the rest stop, we were flying. It is such an amazing feeling to be doing 20+ mph on a smooth flat road with very little wind. The sound of the tires dancing on the road is such a beautiful and calming sound. I do love it very much.
We stopped in the town of Melrose at this fruit market just as we hit town. They had some amazing cherry and also raspberry cider from Carrizozo, NM. I bought a 2 liter bottle of the raspberry cider, and also got some honey with the comb in it, which I had never had before and is quite delicious. We all stood around outside the store, drinking cider and eating honey with our hands straight from the jar, Winnie the Pooh style. Good times. We also stopped at the Melrose war memorial for all the citizens of Melrose who have died in wars from the Civil War up to the Iraq War. It is amazing how many people from that town have lost their lives in wars, especially since the town's population was just over 700, and the memorial had a list of at least a few hundred names, only those who had died, mind you. At the end of town, we stopped for a bit at a garage sale with some interesting stuff to look at.
All day it was easy riding, my heart rate stayed below 120 for the majority of the time. It was a nice recovery ride after yesterday's taxing ride. It is funny that a 65 mile ride has become a recovery ride for us and 100 mile rides are somewhat routine now. We were also losing elevation ost of the day, so that helped. At our second rest stop, we found a large toad and Shelley kissed the toad, causing the toad to immediately pee all over Oleg's hands and Shelley's chamois. I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard.
Outside Fort Sumner, we drafted off a tractor driven by a boy who looked to be well under 10 years old. It was a strange sight, and only fitting to follow Shelley being peed on by a toad. We also visited the grave site of Billy the Kid, which was neat.
The town of Fort Sumner is rather small and centered around the fact that Billy the Kid is buried here. Tonight we are staying in an Episcopal church which is very cool, somewhat in the style of an old Spanish mission. Tomorrow we do not have a place to stay, but plan on simply camping on some public property outside of Vaughn, NM as we hope to cut some of the mileage off the following day's ride to Albuquerque.
Peace and Love,
Toad Tito
Day 6-Farewell Texas
Lubbock, TX to Clovis, NM
Distance: 106 miles
Time: 8:00:16
Max Speed: 27.1 mph
Average Speed: 13.2 mph
Clovis, New Mexico could be my new favorite town ever. After one of the most boring days of riding ever, we arrived in Clovis, just west of the Texas/New Mexico border at the beautiful home of Rick and Michelle, who were some of the coolest, kindest, and most hospitable people I have ever met.
The route today was incredibly boring as the land is nothing but flat (the only hills are man-made, such as overpasses and railroad tracks), so there was nothing exciting to see. Also, the wind was in our faces almost the entire day, preventing us from going much faster than 13 mph and making everyone quite frustrated and unmotivated.
We were so bored and frustrated that we began stopping in all the small towns through which we passed. We stopped in the town of Muleshoe, TX for almost 45 minutes to get some food and a drink, and we also saw the world's largest mule shoe, and got some cool pictures. While visiting the mule shoe, we met three awesome senior citizens who we talked to for a little while. They wanted to get us on their local news and told us about a local bike ride they were hosting in mid-June. We will definitely have to tell the 2008 team to be in contact with the people of Muleshoe.
I am currently in New Mexico, now in the mountain time zone. Crossing the border was such an exhilirating feeling. Rather than having a race to the border, my group of 4 rode four-abreast across the border, and then stopped to get pictures with the "Welcome to New Mexico" sign. It is so crazy to think that we practically rode our bikes across the state of Texas. From Austin to Clovis, NM, over 500 miles, in one week... on a bike. Simply driving across Texas is an undertaking, and to think that I have done it using only my two legs and two wheels is an awesome feeling of accomplishment.
The last 10 miles or so into Clovis were awesome. The wind finally gave up and the road was smooth as butter, so we were flying, going over 20 mph the entire time. We made it to our host's house just before the sunset, which was our goal, and w were welcomed by such an amazing group of people. They were all so nice and positive, it really let us know that what we are doing has an impact beyond ourselves and that others support us 100%. Michelle, one of the hosts is currently battling breast cancer and was such a strong, positive, beautiful, and inspirational woman. After such a frustrating day on our bikes, Rick and Michelle made it all seem so worth it. They fed us one of the most amazing meals I have ever had, consisting of chicken, pasta salad, macaroni salad, cheeses, crackers & spreads, Greek salad, beans, amazing desserts, and more. These people were incredible and such an inspiration to continue on this journey no matter how difficult it seems. I cannot thank Rick, Michelle, and the people of Clovis enough for the awesome welcome and stay we have had here.
Tomorrow morning we are giving our presentation for the citizens of Clovis at the Clovis Civic Center before we ride to Fort Sumner, NM. Hopefully the wind will be more cooperative tomorrow. We also have a radio interview tomorrow morning on the local Clovis station, and this morning we were on both Lubbock TV news and radio as well, which I almost forgot to mention. We have been receiving an amazing amount of media attention, which is so cool, and also, many more people are beginning to honk at us and wave as they drive by. I have a feeling it is because they have heard about or seen us and recognize us. It is so cool to know that so many people support you in what you are doing, even if it is a simple friendly honk, wave, or hook 'em sign.
Today was rough but worth 100% worth every minute of it. I lay here in the gym of the Clovis Middle School, reflecting on the day and realizing how fortunate I am. I think our plan of action today where we took our time seeing the sights and stopping in the small towns along the way is really the way to go. So long as we make it to our destination city by sunset, we are free to do as we wish. It is such an incredible feeling.
Peace and Love,
Mighty Miguel
Distance: 106 miles
Time: 8:00:16
Max Speed: 27.1 mph
Average Speed: 13.2 mph
Clovis, New Mexico could be my new favorite town ever. After one of the most boring days of riding ever, we arrived in Clovis, just west of the Texas/New Mexico border at the beautiful home of Rick and Michelle, who were some of the coolest, kindest, and most hospitable people I have ever met.
The route today was incredibly boring as the land is nothing but flat (the only hills are man-made, such as overpasses and railroad tracks), so there was nothing exciting to see. Also, the wind was in our faces almost the entire day, preventing us from going much faster than 13 mph and making everyone quite frustrated and unmotivated.
We were so bored and frustrated that we began stopping in all the small towns through which we passed. We stopped in the town of Muleshoe, TX for almost 45 minutes to get some food and a drink, and we also saw the world's largest mule shoe, and got some cool pictures. While visiting the mule shoe, we met three awesome senior citizens who we talked to for a little while. They wanted to get us on their local news and told us about a local bike ride they were hosting in mid-June. We will definitely have to tell the 2008 team to be in contact with the people of Muleshoe.
I am currently in New Mexico, now in the mountain time zone. Crossing the border was such an exhilirating feeling. Rather than having a race to the border, my group of 4 rode four-abreast across the border, and then stopped to get pictures with the "Welcome to New Mexico" sign. It is so crazy to think that we practically rode our bikes across the state of Texas. From Austin to Clovis, NM, over 500 miles, in one week... on a bike. Simply driving across Texas is an undertaking, and to think that I have done it using only my two legs and two wheels is an awesome feeling of accomplishment.
The last 10 miles or so into Clovis were awesome. The wind finally gave up and the road was smooth as butter, so we were flying, going over 20 mph the entire time. We made it to our host's house just before the sunset, which was our goal, and w were welcomed by such an amazing group of people. They were all so nice and positive, it really let us know that what we are doing has an impact beyond ourselves and that others support us 100%. Michelle, one of the hosts is currently battling breast cancer and was such a strong, positive, beautiful, and inspirational woman. After such a frustrating day on our bikes, Rick and Michelle made it all seem so worth it. They fed us one of the most amazing meals I have ever had, consisting of chicken, pasta salad, macaroni salad, cheeses, crackers & spreads, Greek salad, beans, amazing desserts, and more. These people were incredible and such an inspiration to continue on this journey no matter how difficult it seems. I cannot thank Rick, Michelle, and the people of Clovis enough for the awesome welcome and stay we have had here.
Tomorrow morning we are giving our presentation for the citizens of Clovis at the Clovis Civic Center before we ride to Fort Sumner, NM. Hopefully the wind will be more cooperative tomorrow. We also have a radio interview tomorrow morning on the local Clovis station, and this morning we were on both Lubbock TV news and radio as well, which I almost forgot to mention. We have been receiving an amazing amount of media attention, which is so cool, and also, many more people are beginning to honk at us and wave as they drive by. I have a feeling it is because they have heard about or seen us and recognize us. It is so cool to know that so many people support you in what you are doing, even if it is a simple friendly honk, wave, or hook 'em sign.
Today was rough but worth 100% worth every minute of it. I lay here in the gym of the Clovis Middle School, reflecting on the day and realizing how fortunate I am. I think our plan of action today where we took our time seeing the sights and stopping in the small towns along the way is really the way to go. So long as we make it to our destination city by sunset, we are free to do as we wish. It is such an incredible feeling.
Peace and Love,
Mighty Miguel
Day 5-Riding to Raiderland
Post, TX to Lubbock, TX
Distance: 50.87 miles
Time: 3:11:08
Max Speed: 31.8 mph
Average Speed: 16.0 mph
As much as I thought a day of driving and rest would be awesome, I could not wait to get back on my bike. Poor Vanessa could not understand why she had to be put in the trailer all day. It took me a while to explain to her that it was not punishment, but rather something we all had to do for the good of the team. Driving sucks, to say the least, but it is essential to the success of this trip and everyone must have their turn.
Riding out of Post, heading to Lubbock, there was supposed to be a somewhat nasty climb up to the Caprock Escarpment. However, for one reason of another, be it the tailwind, or the very low grade, gradual climb we averaged about 20 mph for that entire section. Jordan and I even started riding pretty hard for a while. I lasted almost 15 minutes before I had to drop back. It was crazy how quickly my heart rate went back down though. I have really been focusing on keeping the lowest heart rate possible, particularly below 150 bpm, and the improvement in just one week is incredible. If I keep this up all summer, my heart will be in awesome shape.
At our first rest stop, we all got sausage biscuits generously donated by McDonald's, which was a nice treat. The rest of the ride went well, and we were looking to arrive in Lubbock much earlier than earlier expected. Oleg and I did a bit of a modified time trial where you go maximum effort for 30 minutes, but we were too close to Lubbock when we began and ran into construction, and then I got my second flat tire of the trip, blah.
The streets in Lubbock are very confusing, to say the least. It seems as though the entire city is a big grid, but the part where we were staying had many interruptions in the grid. We spent a little too much time trying to find our way to Steph's house where we were generously hosted for the night. Steph is a member of the Sierra team but unfortunately will not be able to do the ride this summer due to a medical condition. I feel so bad for her. But she plans on doing it next year and I am sure will be able to provide great insight to the 2008 team. Best of luck Steph!
The meal prepared for us by Steph's family and friends was to die for. There was some amazing pulled pork that was wonderfully tender and lightly seasoned, and some awesome salads. It is crazy how much you miss vegetables when you do not eat them regularly. After dinner, I got to meet up with my good friend John from Grapevine who is working in Lubbock for the summer. It was awesome to see him and spend time with him since I had not seen him since probably last October when I went up to Lubbock for the UT vs. Tech football game.
We had internet access for the first time on the trip at Steph's house, so everyone was excited to check e-mail and update blogs and what not. Though I am considerably behind on my blogging, so please forgive me. Now I retire to my sleeping bag and wonderful pad in Steph's backyard. Tomorrow we have another century (100 mile ride) and will be crossing our first border going into New Mexico!
Peace and Love,
Tailwind Tito
Distance: 50.87 miles
Time: 3:11:08
Max Speed: 31.8 mph
Average Speed: 16.0 mph
As much as I thought a day of driving and rest would be awesome, I could not wait to get back on my bike. Poor Vanessa could not understand why she had to be put in the trailer all day. It took me a while to explain to her that it was not punishment, but rather something we all had to do for the good of the team. Driving sucks, to say the least, but it is essential to the success of this trip and everyone must have their turn.
Riding out of Post, heading to Lubbock, there was supposed to be a somewhat nasty climb up to the Caprock Escarpment. However, for one reason of another, be it the tailwind, or the very low grade, gradual climb we averaged about 20 mph for that entire section. Jordan and I even started riding pretty hard for a while. I lasted almost 15 minutes before I had to drop back. It was crazy how quickly my heart rate went back down though. I have really been focusing on keeping the lowest heart rate possible, particularly below 150 bpm, and the improvement in just one week is incredible. If I keep this up all summer, my heart will be in awesome shape.
At our first rest stop, we all got sausage biscuits generously donated by McDonald's, which was a nice treat. The rest of the ride went well, and we were looking to arrive in Lubbock much earlier than earlier expected. Oleg and I did a bit of a modified time trial where you go maximum effort for 30 minutes, but we were too close to Lubbock when we began and ran into construction, and then I got my second flat tire of the trip, blah.
The streets in Lubbock are very confusing, to say the least. It seems as though the entire city is a big grid, but the part where we were staying had many interruptions in the grid. We spent a little too much time trying to find our way to Steph's house where we were generously hosted for the night. Steph is a member of the Sierra team but unfortunately will not be able to do the ride this summer due to a medical condition. I feel so bad for her. But she plans on doing it next year and I am sure will be able to provide great insight to the 2008 team. Best of luck Steph!
The meal prepared for us by Steph's family and friends was to die for. There was some amazing pulled pork that was wonderfully tender and lightly seasoned, and some awesome salads. It is crazy how much you miss vegetables when you do not eat them regularly. After dinner, I got to meet up with my good friend John from Grapevine who is working in Lubbock for the summer. It was awesome to see him and spend time with him since I had not seen him since probably last October when I went up to Lubbock for the UT vs. Tech football game.
We had internet access for the first time on the trip at Steph's house, so everyone was excited to check e-mail and update blogs and what not. Though I am considerably behind on my blogging, so please forgive me. Now I retire to my sleeping bag and wonderful pad in Steph's backyard. Tomorrow we have another century (100 mile ride) and will be crossing our first border going into New Mexico!
Peace and Love,
Tailwind Tito
Day 4-Driving For the Cure
Sweetwater, TX to Post, TX
Distance: 87.28 miles
Today, I drove. It made for an interesting day. It started off well and I thought it was going to be an easy day, but I was sorely mistaken. It all started when I tried to find a spot to set up my second rest stop, the third overall for the day as there are two drivers each day responsible for setting up rest stops every 18-20 miles, alternating between drivers. We are getting into very flat land here, and it is starting to look more and more like the desert, so there were not really any good places to have a rest stop on the side of the highway we were on. After much searching, I decided on the entrance to a ranch, the "Covered S Ranch" to be specific. I noticed that my water coolers were somewhat low, so I decided to drive down the dirt road to the ranch to see if I could use their hose. Right before I got to the house, I came up on a small horse/donkey who was standing in the middle of the road and would not move no matter how much I honked or yelled at it. So I went a little off road and went around him. I then parked the van at the gate and went to knock on the door. Nobody answered, so I decided I should leave. However, when I returned to the van, there were about six horses and the previously mentioned horse/donkey standing around, sniffing the van and trailer. I tried making noises to scare them off but it did not work. I then got in the van and honked at the horses and even moved the van as if I were going to run into the horses, but they were not to be moved. Instead, they stuck their heads in the window and began sniffing me. It was a cool experience, but I needed to get water and set up a rest stop for the riders as soon as possible. Finally, I escaped the curiosity of those beautiful animals, was able to fill up the water cooler, and went to set up the rest stop.
From there, the day got a little busy, running around, trying to support all the riders, but I will not bore you with the details. A group of 8 riders went to get some food in Snyder, TX on the way and ended up getting radio interviews on two different local stations this afternoon, which was awesome. Following the interviews, we were getting many more honks on the road, and the friendly kind at that.
We finally made it to post and set up in the First Baptist Church. We had somewhat of an impromptu hair styling party after dinner as Emily and Shelley buzzed their heads and Oleg got some sweet custom lightning bolts cut in the sides of his mohawk. Hopefully soon I will have a cool design in my mohawk to rival Oleg's. Oh, and I lied, Emily buzzed all of her head but the bangs and two tufts in the back of her head. She looked like a goth/gangsta, and it was quite interesting to say the least. Many laughs and good times were had. This summer continues to get better and better.
Peace and Love,
Mohawk Miggy
Distance: 87.28 miles
Today, I drove. It made for an interesting day. It started off well and I thought it was going to be an easy day, but I was sorely mistaken. It all started when I tried to find a spot to set up my second rest stop, the third overall for the day as there are two drivers each day responsible for setting up rest stops every 18-20 miles, alternating between drivers. We are getting into very flat land here, and it is starting to look more and more like the desert, so there were not really any good places to have a rest stop on the side of the highway we were on. After much searching, I decided on the entrance to a ranch, the "Covered S Ranch" to be specific. I noticed that my water coolers were somewhat low, so I decided to drive down the dirt road to the ranch to see if I could use their hose. Right before I got to the house, I came up on a small horse/donkey who was standing in the middle of the road and would not move no matter how much I honked or yelled at it. So I went a little off road and went around him. I then parked the van at the gate and went to knock on the door. Nobody answered, so I decided I should leave. However, when I returned to the van, there were about six horses and the previously mentioned horse/donkey standing around, sniffing the van and trailer. I tried making noises to scare them off but it did not work. I then got in the van and honked at the horses and even moved the van as if I were going to run into the horses, but they were not to be moved. Instead, they stuck their heads in the window and began sniffing me. It was a cool experience, but I needed to get water and set up a rest stop for the riders as soon as possible. Finally, I escaped the curiosity of those beautiful animals, was able to fill up the water cooler, and went to set up the rest stop.
From there, the day got a little busy, running around, trying to support all the riders, but I will not bore you with the details. A group of 8 riders went to get some food in Snyder, TX on the way and ended up getting radio interviews on two different local stations this afternoon, which was awesome. Following the interviews, we were getting many more honks on the road, and the friendly kind at that.
We finally made it to post and set up in the First Baptist Church. We had somewhat of an impromptu hair styling party after dinner as Emily and Shelley buzzed their heads and Oleg got some sweet custom lightning bolts cut in the sides of his mohawk. Hopefully soon I will have a cool design in my mohawk to rival Oleg's. Oh, and I lied, Emily buzzed all of her head but the bangs and two tufts in the back of her head. She looked like a goth/gangsta, and it was quite interesting to say the least. Many laughs and good times were had. This summer continues to get better and better.
Peace and Love,
Mohawk Miggy
Day 3-To West Texas
Coleman, TX to Sweetwater, TX
Distance: 85.67 miles
Time: 5:29:25
Max Speed: 38.3 mph
Average Speed: 14.3 mph
I am exhausted. At the same time, I have never had more fun than I am having right now. I need to go to bed seeing as I must wake up in four hours because I am driving tomorrow and my duties begin at 4:45 AM. Yikes!
Today's ride went well. It was mostly uphill the whole way, but never too steep, so it was very manageable. The worst part was definitely the road; it was very bumpy the entire way and caused my rear end to be very, very sore. Not to mention that I was already sore from yesterday's 130 mile ride. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. The highlight of the day was definitely a seemingly endless 3 mile climb that was pretty grueling. But at the top, or at least when it was less steep, the land opened up and there were wind-powered turbines as far as you could see across the plains. There were also oil pumps scattered amongst the monstrous turbines. It was the epitome of West Texas and the first real change of terrain/region we have seen.
Tonight we are staying in the gym of Sweetwater High School. It is the second night in a row we have had showers! How wonderful. Tomorrow is an 83 mile ride to Post, which I am disappointed about missing, but it will give me time to rest my shoulders, which are still sore, and my hip which began to hurt today.
Anyway, I must be off to bed. I will write more tomorrow. Wish me luck driving and setting up rest stops tomorrow. Hopefully I won't screw up terribly and make everyone hate me. That would suck.
Peace and Love,
Turbine Tito
Distance: 85.67 miles
Time: 5:29:25
Max Speed: 38.3 mph
Average Speed: 14.3 mph
I am exhausted. At the same time, I have never had more fun than I am having right now. I need to go to bed seeing as I must wake up in four hours because I am driving tomorrow and my duties begin at 4:45 AM. Yikes!
Today's ride went well. It was mostly uphill the whole way, but never too steep, so it was very manageable. The worst part was definitely the road; it was very bumpy the entire way and caused my rear end to be very, very sore. Not to mention that I was already sore from yesterday's 130 mile ride. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. The highlight of the day was definitely a seemingly endless 3 mile climb that was pretty grueling. But at the top, or at least when it was less steep, the land opened up and there were wind-powered turbines as far as you could see across the plains. There were also oil pumps scattered amongst the monstrous turbines. It was the epitome of West Texas and the first real change of terrain/region we have seen.
Tonight we are staying in the gym of Sweetwater High School. It is the second night in a row we have had showers! How wonderful. Tomorrow is an 83 mile ride to Post, which I am disappointed about missing, but it will give me time to rest my shoulders, which are still sore, and my hip which began to hurt today.
Anyway, I must be off to bed. I will write more tomorrow. Wish me luck driving and setting up rest stops tomorrow. Hopefully I won't screw up terribly and make everyone hate me. That would suck.
Peace and Love,
Turbine Tito
Day 2-My Longest Ride EVER
Lampasas, TX to Coleman, TX
Distance: 130.90 miles
Time: 8:56:09
Max Speed: 34.1 mph
Average Speed: 14.6 mph
I cannot think of a time I was ever this exhausted. 130 miles on a bike is a lot of riding. But I did it. We did it. It really wasn't that bad, but now my shoulders hurt like crazy and it is uncomfortable to sit. Getting in the saddle tomorrow will be very interesting. Not looking forward to that one.
Today we rode from Lampasas to Coleman, parting ways with the Rockies route this morning. We had a ride dedication as an entire team for Carson, the little boy who Jordan and Claire visited in Memphis this past week. Following the dedication, we had a huge group hug followed by everyone exchanging hugs and goodbyes to the riders of the other route. It was a very heartfelt moment and many tears were shed. I was rather surprised of some of the people I saw crying, but it was good to know I am not the only one on the team who really loves everyone else on the team. Not that I thought that, but it was still good to know. This is the most dedicated, passionate, and fun group of people I have ever been a part of. I might even cry at the end of the summer when we all leave Alaska.
The ride went well, it was a good route, if there is such a thing as a good 120+ mile route that is. It started off a little rocky with some people having bike issues and others getting dropped or left behind. I ended up backtracking about 3.5 miles to find my buddy, Mike who had stayed behind to help Eric with some shoe issues. I then ended up sweeping for a portion of the ride as a couple of people had been dropped by their group/buddy. It was really nice to just ride easy for a while, keeping my heart rate nice and low. I was the very last person to leave the second (of 5) rest stop, and between the second and third, I stopped my sweeping duties. I caught up to the lead group at rest stop 4 but waited until after they had left to continue on. At rest stop five I met up with them again, but this time Jordan convinced me to ride with them for the final stretch, about 20 miles or so. By this time we were all exhausted and our rear ends had been rubbed raw. This was at mile 100, mind you. Actually, I did about 7 extra miles because I went back for my buddy, so I was past the 100 mile point at rest stop 5. But anyway, I did the last stretch with the first group. Jordan and I pulled a double paceline for a while, and then I pulled alone for a while before Jordan took over. We could see a storm approaching and lightning in the distance so we picked up the pace to try and finish before the storm got to us. There was a large flash of lightning right above us, so we decided to pull over to take some shelter. Of all places, the first place we came upon was a welding shop where everything was metal. An interesting choice in a lightning storm, but it was shelter nonetheless. The mosquitoes were also awful there, but no matter.
At this point, we thought we were about 5 miles out and really did not want to have to get a ride back in. We wanted to complete the ride; we were so close. One of our awesome hosts for the night came and found us in his truck and told us the school we are currently staying at was only 2 miles up the road. Hearing that, we waited for the rain to stop and rode in. It was a wonderful feeling, minus a little wipeout on some slick pavement in front of Sonic. Not only was today my longest ride ever, but it was also my longest ride to go without a flat!
Our hosts are amazing. We are in a junior high school, sleeping in the gym, with showers and laundry machines for us to use. It's like a 5-star hotel to us. After not having showered for 3 days, being clean feels awesome. Our hosts cooked us an awesome pasta and salad dinner and had really good tea. In the morning, they are providing us with breakfast too. We are living like royalty, here in Coleman, Texas.
Peace and Love,
Tubular Tito
Distance: 130.90 miles
Time: 8:56:09
Max Speed: 34.1 mph
Average Speed: 14.6 mph
I cannot think of a time I was ever this exhausted. 130 miles on a bike is a lot of riding. But I did it. We did it. It really wasn't that bad, but now my shoulders hurt like crazy and it is uncomfortable to sit. Getting in the saddle tomorrow will be very interesting. Not looking forward to that one.
Today we rode from Lampasas to Coleman, parting ways with the Rockies route this morning. We had a ride dedication as an entire team for Carson, the little boy who Jordan and Claire visited in Memphis this past week. Following the dedication, we had a huge group hug followed by everyone exchanging hugs and goodbyes to the riders of the other route. It was a very heartfelt moment and many tears were shed. I was rather surprised of some of the people I saw crying, but it was good to know I am not the only one on the team who really loves everyone else on the team. Not that I thought that, but it was still good to know. This is the most dedicated, passionate, and fun group of people I have ever been a part of. I might even cry at the end of the summer when we all leave Alaska.
The ride went well, it was a good route, if there is such a thing as a good 120+ mile route that is. It started off a little rocky with some people having bike issues and others getting dropped or left behind. I ended up backtracking about 3.5 miles to find my buddy, Mike who had stayed behind to help Eric with some shoe issues. I then ended up sweeping for a portion of the ride as a couple of people had been dropped by their group/buddy. It was really nice to just ride easy for a while, keeping my heart rate nice and low. I was the very last person to leave the second (of 5) rest stop, and between the second and third, I stopped my sweeping duties. I caught up to the lead group at rest stop 4 but waited until after they had left to continue on. At rest stop five I met up with them again, but this time Jordan convinced me to ride with them for the final stretch, about 20 miles or so. By this time we were all exhausted and our rear ends had been rubbed raw. This was at mile 100, mind you. Actually, I did about 7 extra miles because I went back for my buddy, so I was past the 100 mile point at rest stop 5. But anyway, I did the last stretch with the first group. Jordan and I pulled a double paceline for a while, and then I pulled alone for a while before Jordan took over. We could see a storm approaching and lightning in the distance so we picked up the pace to try and finish before the storm got to us. There was a large flash of lightning right above us, so we decided to pull over to take some shelter. Of all places, the first place we came upon was a welding shop where everything was metal. An interesting choice in a lightning storm, but it was shelter nonetheless. The mosquitoes were also awful there, but no matter.
At this point, we thought we were about 5 miles out and really did not want to have to get a ride back in. We wanted to complete the ride; we were so close. One of our awesome hosts for the night came and found us in his truck and told us the school we are currently staying at was only 2 miles up the road. Hearing that, we waited for the rain to stop and rode in. It was a wonderful feeling, minus a little wipeout on some slick pavement in front of Sonic. Not only was today my longest ride ever, but it was also my longest ride to go without a flat!
Our hosts are amazing. We are in a junior high school, sleeping in the gym, with showers and laundry machines for us to use. It's like a 5-star hotel to us. After not having showered for 3 days, being clean feels awesome. Our hosts cooked us an awesome pasta and salad dinner and had really good tea. In the morning, they are providing us with breakfast too. We are living like royalty, here in Coleman, Texas.
Peace and Love,
Tubular Tito
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