Aug 4

Yesterday was a long, tough day.  101 miles and 6,900' of climbing.  Fortunately, it was overcast with showers, so the temperatures stayed in the mid-70s.  Noel, James Lynn & I rode together.  Took us 12 hours, with around 3 hours for rest & food stops.

Today we have a rest day in Gettysburg.  My roommate Stan Howell & I took a bus tour of the battlefield -- always a moving experience, and I always learn something new.

My dorm "roomie", Stan Howell -- from Chimacum, WA, west side of Puget Sound.

Only 100 miles to go to Washington, DC.  Tomorrow is 60 miles to Clarksburg, MD.  Then, 40 miles on Sat. to DC and all the finish line festivities.

It's hard to believe we're almost done.  My body says "thank God", but I'll miss the other Big Riders & staff, some of whom I may never see again.  Nevertheless, we'll be forever bound by a shared experience few will ever know or understand.

I will appreciate waking in the morning at a civilized  hour (not 5:15), with dry bedding and no wet (from dew) tent to pack away.  I'll enjoy a few days off the bike.

Seeing Mary, Kate, Spence, Jacob & Tom on the Mall will be special.  We plan to tour DC until Friday, then visit Antietam National Battlefield.  From there, Mary & I head north to Maine for a few days with Gilbroughs.  Then home to Seattle from Boston on the 20th.

Aug 2

Today we rode from Confluence to Bedford, PA, a distance of 82 miles with 4900' of climbing.  The first 30  to miles were on a Rails-to-Trails route, in a treed corridor and nearly flat -- but after awhile, pretty boring.  Tomorrow we ride to Gettysburg -- 100 miles and a well-earned rest day.

A highlight of today was a visit to the Flight 93 Memorial near Strongsville. The permanent memorial is under construction and scheduled to open 9/11/2011.  Very moving experience.

Jul 29, continued.

I probably won't get many pictures published until after the ride.  Keeping up with blogging using free wi-fi has been difficult, especially with as little time as we have.  Our experience is a continuing cycle of eat-ride-eat-sleep, and all else is secondary.

Weather last week was "varied": heavy rain, wind, sun & heat.  Fortunately the terrain has been very flat.  Northern Indiana & NW Ohio is former Lake Erie seabed -- there are no hills worth the mention.  That will change next week as we move into eastern Ohio & Pennsylvania.  The day into Gettyburg is reported to be very difficult climbing.  Hopefully, I'll get back my "Cascades" legs by then.

That's all for now.

Update Jul 29

Yes, I'm alive.  ;o}  Last week was very long one -- 7 days in a row on the bike, 645 miles total.  Started the week in Madison WI, ended yesterday in Burton (Cleveland) OH.

I missed one complete day (Coal City, IL - Valparaiso, IN) due to lack of sleep the night before.  The night in Coal City (camping) was hot, humid, with no air movement. I managed to get only 1 hour of sleep and was in no condition to ride, so drove with Cindy Gilbrough.  I took a sag halfway through the next day, still catching up on sleep.  The rest of the week went well.

Yesterday I stopped my ride at daughter Kate's house in Lakewood, west side of Cleveland.  It's been great to have a rest day with family.  They'll take me to the Burton campsite tonight, and we'll hit the road again tomorrow AM.

Last week I was able to spend time with old friends:  John & Vivien Diserio in Belvidere, IL (college friends) and at Coal City with high school classmates Stan Gaul & Ron Dodd and the spouses, along with sister-in-law Norma.  Coal City is only 40 miles from Ottawa, where I grew up.

Next week (starting tomorrow) we ride five days into Gettysburg, PA where we'll take our last rest day.  Then, i't two easy days into Washington, DC.  More in next post....

Rapid City, SD - New Ulm, MN Jul 10 - 18

It was a tough week -- 6 days biking, 513 miles, strong headwinds, rain, heat.  I was really struggling on day 5 and decided to take an extra rest day, skipping the Tyler - New Ulm leg.  I rode with Cindy Gilbrough in their Toyota pickup pulling their Burro trailer.  It was difficult to sit out a day but it's exactly what my body needed.

After two days rest, I rode comfortably today -- 72 miles from New Ulm to Owatonna, MN.  It was hot (low 90s) and humid, but a 10 mph wind at our right side tempered the effects of the heat.

The countryside is pretty flat, with rolling terrain and few significant hills.  Crops are predominately corn & soy beans, generally very healthy.  Some fields show crop damage from the rains & flooding.

Pierre, So. Dakota's capital, is still suffering the effects of a flooding Missouri River.

That's all for now -- falling asleep..

Jul 9 - Rapid City, SD

It hardly seems possible that we've come 1,350 miles  -- 40% of Big Ride 2011 is over!  We've crossed Washington, the Idaho panhandle, Montana, the Rocky Mountains, the NE corner of Wyoming, and entered the Great Plains in south Dakota.  We've also climbed an incredible 41,000' and become acclimated to cruising at mile-high altitudes.

The change this week will be dramatic -- flatter terrain, heat routinely in 90's, and increasing humidity as we head east.

Last week was a tough one for me.  First day,, Jul 4, Billings MT - Hardin WY was fairly easy at 56 miles, but most found it more difficult than the distance would suggest -- me, too.  Seemed like our bodies didn't want to work after a day off.  Hardin - Sheridan (85mi), Sheridan - Gillette (112 mi) and Gillette - Newcastle (76 mi) we're physically painful.  I finally realized I hadn't been stretching as I usually do, and my back & arm pain we're the result.  That night I stretched really well. That and a couple of other changes made and huge difference the next day.  See next post for Newcastle - Rapid City via the Black Hills.

KOA, Hardin, WY

Noel & Cindy Gilbrough's Burro trailer , "Baby".  Cindy drives the route, they sleep in the Burro, except rest days where we have indoor accommodations, like university dorms.  Cindy visits all of the quilt shops en route.

Cindy & Noel

Jul 4, Hardin, MT KOA

Lazy day....  Only 56 miles, and most were in camp by 11 AM.  Noel, Brian, Kenny, Gabe & I stopped in town at Taco John for some "real" food -- other than PB&J.  We were in by noon..  some riders haqve gone to the fairgrounds for the rodeo -- others, like me -- are chillin', blogging, etc.  There will be fireworks tonight at the fairgrounds & by a FW dealer's business.. Too late for most,though. We have an early departure planned for tomorrow - maybe more days, too - to beat the heat & possible headwinds.

Dinner tonight by "Beyond Basil" caterers fro Billings.  Yum!