Road Trip for Slackers

We're Going to Disneyworld!

2007-10-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

After 35 days and 3200 miles, what are we going to do next? We're going to Disneyworld!

Yesterday we flew down to Orlando and began the more leisurely part of our trip. We're staying at Disneyworld for a few days. We also just found out that there was going to be a space shuttle launch this week, so we rushed out to Cape Canaveral and got tickets to see it not really up close or personal. But it was really cool nonetheless.

After that we spent the rest of the day at the "Happiest Place on Earth". The high density of screaming kids scares me (Ed) a little bit. But we really did have a good time.

One of the best features of Disneyworld is also one of the best features of Las Vegas: no open container law! You can walk around with a beer and nobody cares. Like Vegas, there are lots of shops full of tacky merchandise, and everyone is trying to sell you a timeshare. Unlike Vegas, there are no topless shows. At least, I haven't found any yet.

The Tan Line Gallery

2007-10-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

While we're very proud of our achievement, we're also very proud of our sexy tan lines.

The hands:

Ed: the helmet strap and legs

Nancy: legs (I've never been so tanned!)

Unbelievably attractive.

And then there's Linda from Vermont, who wins the raccoon eyes contest. Well done, Linda!

We worked hard for those tans.

Day 34: Orangeburg SC to Charleston, SC (Isle of Palms)

2007-10-20T21:56:00.000-07:00

110 miles, 2000 feet of climbing.

WE FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was the fastest day of all. We woke up singing, making up words to songs, like "On the road again, I'm never gonna get on the road again, going places I will never go again, I don't want to get on the road again." We had what I hope is our last 6:15 breakfast at IHOP for a really long time, and then rolled out last from the hotel, just for old times' sake. The day was really easy-- mostly flat and well-paved roads, tailwind, easy traffic.

One of my favourite moments of the day was about 30 miles from the end. That's when I smelled the Atlantic Ocean. The end was near! The whole gang regrouped about 5 miles from the hotel on the beach, and we rode the last little bit together, just like we'd ridden out of Santa Barbara together.

When we rode up to the beach, we had to pass under a big Trek Travel Cross-Country banner. There was a DJ playing "We Will Rock You" on the loudspeaker, and dozens of people (some friends and families of the riders, others just hanging around the beach) were cheering for us and congratulating us. We got off our bikes, took off our shoes, and dipped our wheels into the ocean. We did it! And we still want to be married to each other! I think this bodes well for the future.

And now, we get to sleep for a really, really long time...

Day 33: Union SC to Orangeburg SC

2007-10-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

120 miles, 8000 feet of climbing

The weatherman lied today. He said there was 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms in both Union and Orangeburg, and it was wet and gross when we got up in the dark this morning. Assuming it was going to be a crummy day, and being so unimaginably bored with cycling by now, I (Nancy) decided to climb into the van and chat with our guide Katie, and Linda, another rider, all day. Well, it barely rained at all after that, and by the time I could get out I was way to cozy in there. We later heard on the news that "9 out of the 10 factors for a thunderstorm" were present, but the absence of the last factor led to a simply muggy day. Oh, well, I had a good rest before tomorrow!

Ed, on the other hand, was going to ride rain or shine. His dad flew down and met us for a visit last night, and that may have re-energized Ed. (He's happy it didn't rain, though.) He rode all day long, fast and furious, as if another 120 miles was like a walk in the park. He even had enough energy left to walk a half mile to do laundry afterwards! I think he got hold of some EPO and didn't share it with me. He was a rock star out there today.

Finally, I should let you know that Ed's famous among our fellow riders for his helmet hair. I think because it's gotten longer than anyone else's, and it just gets sucked up into the vents. Anyway, it's phenomenal, and I needed to share:

Day 31: Townsend TN to Asheville NC

2007-10-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

107 miles, 12000 feet of climbing

Today was a beautiful, difficult day as we crossed parts of the Great Smoky Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains to end up in Asheville, NC, an area we got to know a couple of months ago on a trip with Black Bear Adventures. We actually rode today's route backwards in August.

It was a great time of year to be here-- all the fall colours have come in, and the mountains were just amazing. Several thousands of other people thought so, too, and the steep, narrow roads were clogged with cars. One lady stepped out of her car and told our fellow rider, Kelly, "I just hate you bikers," at which point our guide, Katie, replied, "Well, they hate you, too." Overall, not a very positive exchange because it's a lot safer if we get along. But there's no shoulder on these roads, and when there's this much traffic, I understand that the motorists might get frustrated when they can't pass a cyclist going uphill. But we get frustrated, too, when we can't pass them going downhill even though we can safely reach higher speeds then cars. Why can't we all just get along?!
Our guides, Dave and Matt, hard at work.

Day 30: Crossville, TN to Townsend, TN

2007-10-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

99 miles, 9000 feet of climbing.

This was another day of lots and lots of small hills. Personally, I'd rather have a few big climbs rather than a lot of little ones. That way you can settle into your climbing pace, and afterwards you get a nice long descent.
As we get into more populated areas, we run into more and more loose dogs. I don't mind the ones that don't bark and just like to run alongside for a while. It's the dogs that think you're invading their territory and go after you like a, well, a wild dog.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the best dog yard today. The front yard had about seven beagle puppies lying around, like someone just sprinkled puppies all over the yard. So cute! Then at the far end of the yard, mama was watching the cyclist in front of me go by, and didn't notice me approaching. I gave her a little "Woof!" in greeting, which startled her. She whirled around, let out a high "Yowl!!" and started a pretty pathetic chase. She was trying to be menacing, but it came across as awfully silly.

Nancy and Hans.

Day 27: Erin, TN to Nashville, TN

2007-10-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

70 miles, 5000 feet of climbing.

Today we had one thing in mind: REST DAY!

It was a "short" day (only 70 miles), and the roads were quite pleasant. We were really happy to get out of Erin. The hotel there was quite a dive. Dinner was pretty awful too.

Apparently Nancy and I are the only people on this trip who believe in following directions. We all have a thick packet of route guides, one for each day of the trip. Each day has a brief itinerary that lists what time breakfast will be served, when they expect us to hit the road, and when/where dinner will be. Nancy and I try to follow the directions and show up for breakfast at the assigned time. Nobody else on this trip believes in that. If breakfast isn't early enough for them, they show up early or skip it. Today breakfast was supposed to start at 7:30. Sounds great, we said. In fact, the restaurant looked awful, so we just had Pop Tarts in our room and stepped out at 7:30. Everyone had already eaten and rolled out. We were the last ones up. The guides thanked at us for following instructions, but laughed at us nonetheless for being last.

I'm writing this at the end of the rest day, which has been wonderful. Nancy's brother drove up from Birmingham to see us. We didn't have the energy to go sightseeing, so we just had lunch and talked. Oh, and we did see the full scale reproduction of the Parthenon. Somehow I don't think the real Parthenon had chicken wire over everything to keep pigeons away.

We've been logging all our progress on this trip with a GPS. Here is the route from each day shown in Google Maps.

The best part of the bike trip: when we get off the bike.

Day 26: Union City TN to Erin TN

2007-10-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

100 miles, 5000 feet of climbing.

Are we there yet???

We had a really pretty day of riding in Tennessee farmlands today-- even saw some tobacco fields-- with lots of ups and downs to keep the afternoon exciting. Today was a major day for roadside dogs barking at us and running after us. So far most of the dogs have been friendly, and the mean-looking ones have been too slow, behind fences, or tied up.

We've also seen more trailer homes and rusting, late-model vehicles than we've ever seen. You know that Jeff Foxworthy line, "If you've got five cars parked on your front lawn and only one of them runs... you might be a redneck"? Well, this must be where he got his inspiration. But most of the drivers have been pleasant and courteous, and it was a good day.

Tomorrow's a short ride (only 70 miles) into Nashville, and a REST DAY!!! Hurray!

60th Birthday Wishes

2007-10-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my dad's 60th birthday. 60! Methinks it's about time someone retired and spent some quality time with his wife and kids in Maui. =)

Dad, Ed and I wish you all the best in the coming year and as you ease into the best years of your life. We love you.

Day 25: Poplar Bluff MO to Union City TN

2007-10-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

105 miles, 1500 feet of climbing

Today was a relatively easy day through the flat cotton fields of southeastern Missouri.

Neither of us had seen cotton fields before, and we were surprised at how much the natural product looks like the processed one. (My wonderful new sister-in-law Elena might giggle at that-- she's from Tennessee, and her brother is in the cotton business, so it's probably not as new and exciting to her as it was to us. But we thought it was really neat!)

We went through some rough roads, including a cobblestone section out of Poplar Bluff that left our wrists aching. We've gone through some long stretches of gravel and rough roads in the past 3 days, and our joints and butts were complaining, but the rest of the day was nice and smooth.

It was a pretty eventful day. After spending most of the day in Missouri, we hopped onto a ferry to cross the Mississippi River into Kentucky, where we rode for about 8 miles before crossing into Tennessee.

Some of our fellow cyclists on the ferry ride (from left to right): buddies Randy and Roland from Wisconsin (and it's Roland's 50th birthday today!), Warren from Saskatoon, Jerry from Texas, Hans from Vienna, and Ed.

Three states in one day! That's progress!

Day 24: West Plains, MO to Poplar Bluff, MO

2007-10-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

110 miles, 9900 feet climbing.

Today was another sunny, beautiful day of rolling hills in the countryside. All ups or downs, with nothing in between. We've noticed a whole lot more unleashed dogs here in Missouri than elsewhere-- dogs that will bark at us, run after us, and sometimes look like they want to bite us. At those times, Ed's my knight in shining baby blue spandex, barking at dogs in an alpha-canine voice to scare them off. *Sigh* My hero. We saw some really great sheep-guarding dogs that looked exactly like the sheep they were guarding until they ran up to the fence and barked at us. Still, they were great looking dogs, and did their jobs very well.

I've gotten a few flat tires on this trip-- 6 in all, I think. I used to be pretty quick at changing flats when I was guiding, but since I met Ed, he changes all my flats for me, and my skills have gone downhill. In the month or so before this trip started, I've insisted on doing it all myself, since who can tell if it'll happen when he's not around? I needed to be self-sufficient again. I've changed all of my flats on this trip, and most times Ed will be there, just keeping me company while I do it. Some of our fellow travellers, mostly older men, have remarked on the fact that he's letting his woman do the dirty work. We're pretty amused by that, since at this point I can probably change a tire faster than most of them =)

We've started counting down the days till this whole adventure is over. Our bodies have started complaining in various ways. For example, today Ed's knee started acting up, and he needed some attention from one of our massage therapists, Dana, who did some interesting work on him at a rest stop-- which I, of course, captured for you all to see. Here's another woman making my husband feel better (she's very good at what she does):

Tomorrow we hit the flat plains of Missouri, and we hope the winds will be on our side.

Day 23: Branson, MO to West Plains, MO

2007-10-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

102 Miles, 10,000 feet of climbing.

Today was HILLY. Constant up and down. The elevation profile looks like a sawblade. But the weather was great. Nice and sunny with minimal wind.

You may have noticed our roadkill list on the right. What has really surprised me about Missouri is the abundance of armadillos. There are a lot of them! Haven't seen a live one yet. According to Wikipedia, they have poor eyesight, and tend to jump to fender height when startled. Not a terribly useful trait in today's automotive society.

Day 22: Neosho, MO to Branson, MO

2007-10-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

86 miles, 7000 feet of rolling hills.

Missouri was really pretty in the morning. Rolling hills, happy cows, some friendly dogs, some unfriendly.

Unfortunately, after about 35 miles, the rain started again. Yesterday we cut the ride short because of rain, so today we were determined to finish the ride, and we soldiered on. We stopped briefly for lunch at 50 miles. We were already soaked, though, so we got back on the road and kept pedaling through the rain. The odd thing was, it was nice weather for riding--not too hot, not too cold, not too dry. It was just really wet and we couldn't see a thing.

In the last few miles of the ride, there was lots of crap on the road, and almost everyone got a flat tire. Nancy got three in a row! I got a slow leak that held out just long enough to get to the hotel.

One of our riders crashed pretty badly today though. A large truck passed him very closely, nearly hitting him with the rear wheels. He veered off the road to avoid it, skidded out, and went down. We were worried he might have gotten a concussion or cracked some ribs, but he got a clean bill of health from the hospital. Just some scrapes and bruises.

We finished up in Branson, which reminds me a lot of Wisconsin Dells--lots of cheesy tourist storefronts along a main drag. One is a Titanic museum that's actually shaped like the Titanic. But there's a Krispy Kreme right next to our hotel, so I'm happy.

Day 21: Woodward OK to Neosho MO

2007-10-07T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a bit of a write-off. We set out just after sunrise with huge humidity and the promise of rain. After about 15 miles, it started coming down. And down it came! We got soaked, our shoes got soggy, our glasses got fogged, and the traffic kept coming. It was fine for a while, but the rain just got heavier and heavier, and we got less and less happy. After about 40 miles, we gave up, along with half of the group, and clambered into the warmth of the van until we got just past the state lines into Missouri. On a good note, it gave us a recovery ride after yesterday and we'll have fresher legs tomorrow... except that it's supposed to rain again...

We also had our second dangerous redneck experience today. Some losers yelled and tossed trash, including a beer can, out of their car at some of our riders on the road. The van was able to follow them and get their licence plate, and we pulled up to them at a liquor store (they were up for a refill, I guess). Our guide, Dave, said, "You guys throwing stuff at cyclists?" and the losers soon drove off, giving us the finger and going back over the state lines into Oklahoma. Our guide called the cops, and hopefully someone gave them a hard time. No one was hurt, just annoyed at obnoxious dumbasses.

Happily, we're out of Oklahoma, and hope the winds will stay behind us.

Day 20: Enid, OK to Bartlesville, OK

2007-10-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

132 miles, 7005 feet of climbing

Big day! Nancy and I had fresh legs this morning, thanks to our self-imposed rest day yesterday. As we prepared our bikes, we were the most chipper couple around. Yep, everyone is beginning to hate us :-)

The last few days have been very windy, but today was fairly nice. The wind was sort of gentle, and the cloudy sky kept things cool. We started out on a great country road (cue the John Denver song, again). About 10 miles into the ride, we saw this little guy trying to cross the road:

He (or she?) wasn't that little, either; a bit bigger than a softball. When we zoomed by he quickly pulled his head into his shell. I was worried that he may soon become much flatter, so we turned around, took his picture, and then carried him into the grass. I hope I put him on the side of the road he was aiming for.

A few miles later, we passed through a small town, and a few of the riders in our group met a new friend:

This very energetic doggie ran with them for about three miles! He wouldn't give up! He didn't have a collar on, but he looked way too healthy to be a stray. I hope he finds his way back home. Maybe everyone in town knows him. "Hey, there's the crazy dog that chases everything."

A number of other dogs chased us briefly, and none of them were as nice as the first guy. I growled at each of them and chased them away from my woman.

At the end of our first lunch stop, Nancy was ready to go before I was (like always) so she took off and let me try to chase her down. When I finally hit the road, I was chasing for something like three hours before I saw her again! She was a rocket today! She rode in a paceline with a few guys for a little while, but they were slowing her down, so she dropped the hammer and left them in the dust! Now everyone thinks Nancy is a hardcore racer who's just been holding back.

One last photo. Apparently they're been having problems with people, umm, abusing, the railroad cars:

Day 18: Guymon OK to Woodward OK

2007-10-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

125 miles, 5400 feet of climbing.

Today we got our asses kicked by Oklahoma.

We set out at 8:00 am (the change to Central time made it so sunrise was an hour later than we'd gotten used to), and right away, the crosswinds hit us. And they were relentless, all day long over the flat plains. We heard the wind was at 15 knots with gusts up to 20 knots, but it felt more like 30. I (Nancy) couldn't reach for my water bottle at times because the wind was so strong, I needed both hands to hang on to my handlebars. The roads were really crappy-- the worst so far, and over the whole 125 miles, so that it felt like we were actually getting our butts (and other regions) kicked with every pedal stroke. It took us 6 hours to do the same distance we did yesterday in 3 hours before lunch (70 miles)-- and we still had another 55 to go!

Ed at sunrise

The worst for me was that because the roads and shoulders were so bad, Ed and I couldn't safely draft off each other (or rather, me off of him). I don't say this often, but today I wished I was big and fat. Even another 40 or 50 lbs would do, just enough to give me more mass to battle the wind with. Because I couldn't hide behind Ed, and because I'm lighter, I got tossed around by the wind like a rag doll all day. I feel like I'm about 75 tonight. We skipped dinner and ordered pizza instead, just to avoid having to walk anywhere.

We're sick of Oklahoma. Are we there yet?

We forgot to mention that we unfortunately lost 2 guests earlier this week. A doctor from Madison hurt her knee in the first week, and she and her husband decided that it was best to go back home and get it checked out rather than try to force it. Our group is now down to 21 guests.

Day 17: Clayton, NM to Guymon, OK

2007-10-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

108 miles, 2400 feet of climbing.

Welcome to Oklahoma! We cut a corner of Texas today, then sailed into Oklahoma with a sweet tailwind. We covered the 72 miles to lunch in 3 1/2 hours! After that the road surface was really rough and the tailwind turned into a crosswind, so the rest of the ride was a bit slower. In the crosswinds Nancy tucked into my draft, but once we got a little too close and I actually bumped her handlebars with my knee! We managed to stay upright, but just barely.

Let me tell you about chamois cream. The chamois is the padding part of bicycle shorts. On most rides, that padding is enough to keep your bum happy. On longer rides, you need a little help, and that's when chamois cream becomes your best friend. It's a goop that you spread either on the chamois of your shorts, or directly on your bum, under the sit-bones, or anywhere that may chafe. Nancy and I have tried a number of different brands of chamois cream, including Assos, Butt Butt'r, and Beljum Budder. Assos is a little creepy because it kind of tingles, but it does work well. My favorite is Beljum Budder, because I'm convinced that when I use it I become Tom Boonen, Belgian world champion bike racer. Nancy and I brought lots of all three on the trip. After five or six hours in the saddle, we really appreciate our chamois cream.

Day 16: Raton, NM to Clayton, NM

2007-10-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

92 Miles, 5400 feet of climbing.

Not much to write about today. We started with a surprisingly hard climb, then gentle hills for the rest of the day. First a tailwind, then a headwind.

Hobo condo complex

Day 15: Taos NM to Raton NM

2007-10-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

95 miles, 6400 feet of climbing.

Today was a nice, easy day to ease us back into the daily grind after our very lazy day off in Taos. It started with our guides telling us they had changed our route to make it take an alternate road, thereby saving us 20 miles of riding and one nasty climb where the weather at the top of the pass was uncertain. Good start to the day! We rode out of Taos in about 41F temps --have we mentioned the past few days have been frigid and we've been wearing all our warm clothes almost all day long?-- and began climbing a nice road lined with trees and hills on both sides.

After lunch, we began descending-- and we descended right out of the Rockies and into the plains. (See the photo of Ed waving so long to the mountains. They won't be missed!)

The rest of the day was gradual descending, flats, and really small rollers. All very pleasant, and well earned. The temperature rose enough for us to be riding in just shorts and jerseys for the first time in about a week. We even saw buffalo on the plains! That's when I started serenading Ed with "Home on the Range," except all I knew was the part about the buffalo roaming, so the song was short.

It was one of those rare days when you get to the hotel and say "We're here already?" We might be having more of those, since the big mountains are behind us and the plains and straight roads are stretching out in front of us. Hopefully, the shorter riding days will also give the guides a chance to recupe-- I am SO glad I'm not guiding this trip, because it's hard to imagine doing twice as much work as I'm doing every day, and that's exactly what Katie, Dave, Matt, and Nate are doing. They're also getting sick just like everyone else, but they still show up smiling, with everything dialed and ready to go each morning. Give these people a raise!!!

Sadly, we haven't seen any UFOs in New Mexico yet. But we're looking...

Day 13: Pagosa Springs CO to Taos NM

2007-09-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

My rear derailleur cable snapped early on, and that combined with a hacking cough made me (Nancy) take it all as a sign and pull off the road for the day. Ed made it to 80 miles and to the top of the major climb before hail and thunderstorms forced him to pull off. A few fellow guests were able to avoid the patrolling guides and got through the hail, wind, and lightening flashes all the way through to Taos. A cold and miserable day-- luckily, an official rest day awaits in Taos!

140 miles, 11,000 feet of climbing.

Day 12, Cortez, CO to Pagosa Springs, CO

2007-09-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

103 miles, 9800 feet of climbing.

New day, new terrain! It's amazing how quickly the terrain changes on this trip. Yesterday was just rocks, and today was trees, grassy valleys, and cows.

The ride started somewhat cold, with rain threatening. After a couple hours, the rain made good. At the end of a long descent into Durango, I (Ed) was quite chilled, so I pulled into a sandwich shop to warm up. After a few minutes, a couple other riders on the trip walked in and told me that everyone else was warming up at a pizza place a mile down the road! So I jumped back on the bike to join the gang and see downtown Durango. It's a very cute town.

Remember how Nancy and I rode in the van yesterday? We were the first people to ride in the van because we were simply tired. But we started a trend. Today about a third of the group was in the van :-)

The rest of the day was long and cold, with a lot of climbing and constant headwinds. Nancy is starting to get a bad-sounding cough, but she soldiered on to the finish.

Tomorrow is a big day--140 miles to Taos, NM, with lots of climbing. I hope our legs are recovered!

Day 11: Mexican Hat, UT to Cortez, NM

2007-09-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

0 miles, 0 feet of climbing.

Nancy and I were tuckered out today and decided to take a day off. We rode in the van as our guide zoomed up and down the route, filling bottles, chasing down riders who took wrong turns, and setting up the lunch stop. It was great! So much easier than riding a bike across the desert all day.

Day 10: Tuba City AZ to Mexican Hat UT

2007-09-27T15:05:00.001-07:00

105 miles, 6000 feet of climbing

Day 9: Grand Canyon to Tuba City, AZ

2007-09-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

85 miles, 4000 feet of climbing.

Today was an easier day on the road, so our guides decided to set out the water and snack table later and encouraged everyone to take their time getting started and on the road, because nothing would be waiting for us in Tuba City except maybe an internet café, plus it would be a chilly morning. We took this advice and rolled out at 9:00 am, only to find that we were the very last ones to leave. Most people had left an hour before us, and were rehydrated, showered and massaged by the time we finally rolled in.

We took our time and dawdled all day, stopping at scenic lookout points on the Grand Canyon along the way, taking photos, and trying to be kind to our bodies. It was a pretty spectacular day, with occasional breathtaking views of the canyon. We left the forest and re-entered the desert, only this time with red sand and stone formations, and found ourselves in Navajo Nation territory. Lots of little roadside craft shacks, as well as “dinosaur footprints.” (We didn’t stop for either.)

We’re finally hitting that mental wall of “why in the world did we think this was a good idea?” Getting started and excited in the morning is taking longer and longer, but we feel better by the afternoon. The next four days until the rest stop are going to be brutal, all over 100 miles, with one final 140-mile push to Taos on Saturday. We’ll be happy to pass through Monument Valley tomorrow, though, and lots of other great sights to take our minds off our butts. E-mails make us happy! So does the promise of a day off this weekend =)

Day 8: Seligman AZ Grand Canyon AZ

2007-09-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

Day 7: Kingman AZ to Seligman AZ

2007-09-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

85 miles, 4000 feet of climbing

Today was our recovery day from yesterday's long, long day. It's pretty sick when you start looking at 85 miles as a "recovery ride," but we have to. We (and most of the group) took it really slow today, still feeling yesterday a bit in our muscles but mostly on the seat. Can I (Nancy) just say that there was a good 5-mile steep climb at about 100 miles yesterday, and Ed tore up it like he'd just rolled out of the hotel and had fresh legs? Amazing. I, meanwhile, was a little less graceful. But we made it and were still smiling when we rolled in.

We got our kicks on Route 66 today, spending the whole ride on this historic road. The scenery in the past 2 days has gradually changed from barren dessert to something more plains-like. Rather than flats, rocks, sand and cacti, we've now got small mountains, long grasses, bushes big enough to duck behind, and even some small wild sunflowers on the side of the road. The road could be a whole lot smoother-- couldn't they have repaved it for us? =)

We are really in the middle of nowhere. I'm shocked this little motel in this little outpost has wifi! And good pizza. Dinner tonight is at the local Roadkill Cafe. Speaking of which, this trip has introduced whole new species into my roadkill vocabulary, including a rattlesnake and a coyote. The grasshoppers here are massive-- I'm talking the size of my two thumbs together. We figured out why when we saw one eating a dead grasshopper. Cannibalism has it perks.

Hopefully today's slow ride, post-ride nap, and a good night's sleep will re-energize us for tomorrow's full day to the Grand Canyon.

Day 6 - Parker, AZ to Kingman, AZ

2007-09-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

Today was the longest day so far: 130 miles, 9400 feet of climbing, 8 hours 35 minutes of riding.

We got rained on for a little while at the beginning of the ride, but it soon cleared up and we had a hot, sunny day. The day was so long we had two lunch stops. I (Ed) was feeling pretty lousy at about the 80 mile mark, but a Coke from the support van perked me up, as well as some cheesy 70's music. Nancy teases me about it, but "Stayin' Alive" really works for me when I'm on the bike.

Our second lunch stop was in Oatman, AZ, a town known mostly for the burros that roam free around town. They were pretty much the highlight of a long day.

Leaving Oatman we had a hard climb, our first of the trip. Most of the climbs have been gentle, but long. They feel kind of like a headwind. This one you noticed. The views from the top were great, too.

Day 4: 29 Palms, CA to Parker, AZ

2007-09-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

Sunrise in 29 Palms

110 miles, 3700 feet of climbing. Today was the longest stretch of road on the trip with no civilization in sight--91 miles of nothing but desert. It was a great day to ride, though. There were high clouds keeping the temperature down, and we had light tailwinds most of the day, giving us an average speed of 18 mph.

Not much to write about today. I (Ed) pedaled, Nancy stayed on my wheel. Just to show you what a difference drafting (and being smaller & lighter) makes, Nancy's power meter says she burned 2000 calories today, while I burned 3000. Extra pie for me!

What's all this? I thought it was four days of dessert, not desert!

The shoe fence. There's a short stretch of fence on which people have hung hundreds of discarded shoes. A Trek Travel bag mysteriously appeared on the fence as well.

Long desert roads

Welcome to Arizona! Our first state border sign! There will be, hmmm, let's see, 9 more: Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentuky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

We're taking a rest day now. We're staying at the Bluewater Resort & Casino in Parker. It's a few miles outside of town, the food options are quite limited, and there's no Internet access. Vegas has spoiled me. Our guides were kind enough to give us a ride into town--one van went to the laundromat, the other to the library for Internet access. Which van will you board? Where are your priorities? Nancy, being the best wife ever, volunteered to take the laundry bus while I came here to the library to update the blog.

Day 3: Victorville CA to 29 Palms CA

2007-09-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la, la ...

90 miles, pancake flat in the morning with sweet tailwinds. Nasty headwinds for 20 miles in the afternoon, then flats and descents

Desert, desert, desert. That was, in a nutshell and in great detail, our day. We started in an artificial desert suburb (sans accompanying urban center) and went through the desert on our carbon fiber horses. There was a nice 38-mile stretch without bathrooms of any kind, or a shrub big enough to squat behind-- sometimes being a girl sucks. Lots of sand, sandy hills, small sad shrubs, the occasional Joshua tree, and lots of big, mostly courteous trucks giving us lots of room on the shoulderless road.

The morning was nice and cool, and the road was wonderful (especially tucked in behind Ed, enjoying the benefit of his slipstream). The scenery was pretty for oh, about 15 minutes, and then it got boring, so we put in the earbuds and listened to our audiobooks for entertainment. After a nice lunch on the side of the road, the second half began with awful headwinds, but the last 20 or so miles were great so we're happy. 29 Palms is a Marine Corps base, and Ed's dad Jerry was stationed here for a bit when he was in the Marines. It's pretty small, and we're staying in a little adobe-style hut tonight. Ed's enjoying a massage as I write this, and I'm enjoying a cold Anchor Steam. Life is good.

So what are our days like? We get up around 6 or 6:30 in the morning, change into our clean bike clothes, download the day's New York Times podcast if we have internet access, pack up and have breakfast. We try to roll out by 7:30 or 8:00 to avoid some of the afternoon heat. All the guests are free to leave whenever we want, so there's no mass start. Everyone does their own thing: the fast people go fast, the slow people go slow, we run into and get to talk to different guests at different points in the day, and everyone's in a great mood. (Granted, it's only Day 3.) Ed and I bike at our own pace all day. I'm amazed he's stuck to the program! We've found that even though sometimes we're thinking "ugh... we're going soooooo slooooooow," we end up being happy we're on the slow plan when we roll into the hotel in the afternoon and feel good, not miserable. Along the way, we stop for lunch where one of the 2 support vans is pulled over with lots of goodies for us (including a nice tortellini salad today-- don't ask how our guide Big Wave Dave managed to get that cooked without a stove!), and we can hail them over at any point during the day when they pass us to fill up on water, Clif Bars, sunscreen, or to ditch our wind vests like I did this morning when it warmed up. The afternoons have been much windier and hotter so far, and thus we're less happy, but we're always happy when we see the van parked in front of the hotel because that means we can shower, put on not-so-tight clothes, nap, maybe get a massage or post on the blog, and chow down. For dinner, we have a designated restaurant, usually at the hotel, and we can go down at any time and order off the menu. Sometimes we sit with other guests if they're there, otherwise we're tired, antisocial honeymooners. We often eat with the guides as it turns out, and they've filled me in on Trek Travel gossip over the past year. We're brain dead by 8:30 and try to get to bed by 9:00-10:00, and start all over the next day!

Tomorrow is supposed to be the most desolate day of the trip-- something like 90 miles of it will be without houses or a gas station or anything at all. Let's hope the water holds out! And then already our first rest day. They're easing us into the trip by treating us to a rest day so early. Off to dionner now.

2007-09-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

Day 2: Valencia CA to Victorville, CA

95 miles, about 4000 feet of climbing. Entering the desert! Bad roads, nasty headwinds.

Today we climbed out of whatever valley it was we were in, and came out in Palmdale. Welcome to the Mojave desert! It's a bizzare scene--one minute you're in a desert no-man's-land, the next you're in heavily developed planned communities. It's like someone planted a suburbia seed in the sand and irrigated like crazy.

In Palmdale, we made a slight detour to see the Blackbird Airpark Museum. They've got two SR-71 Blackbirds on display, along with a U2 and a D-21 Mach-6 drone that they tried to launch off the back of an SR-71, although it never quite worked.

As soon as we left Palmdale, it was Joshua trees everywhere. They're not just an album by U2. Different kind of U2, BTW. turns out they were given that name by Mormon settlers who thought the trees' branches looked like a biblical story of Joshua raising his arms and looking Up. And that's about all that's interesting about them.

Today the riding wasn't too bad, until the last 30 miles, when we kept alternating between headwinds and tailwinds, and nice roads and really crappy roads.

GRIPE: we got these really nifty combination GPS/radio things, Garmin Rino's, just for this trip, so we could know where we were, where the other person is, and talk to each other, in case we got split up. Halfway through the first day the bracket on mine broke, and halfway through the second day the bracket on Nancy's broke. How lame! We're really quite peeved, because they're kind of expensive, and now they're pretty much useless to us. Grrr...

Day 1: Santa Barbara CA to Valencia CA

2007-09-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

80 miles, mostly flatish. 4000 feet of climbing.

Nancy in the house. We started the day off with a “before” photo in our bathing suits— in hopes that our "after" photos will be more flattering =) Ed and I agreed to take it easy today, to go no more than 130 watts for me, about 150 for him, the theory being that the easier we go, the more pleasant the next month will be. And it was a great day!

We took off with our group of about 30 fellow guests and guides around 9:00 a.m. from the Harbor View Inn right near the pier in Santa Barbara. We took lots of group photos, and then we were off. We rode along the ocean for a good bit, and at one point there were dozens of dolphins swimming in the opposite direction as us. The most shocking part of the day is when we biked on Freeway 101—yes, the 101! Eventually, a bike lane is added, but not for a while. It was sort of scary with the traffic going so fast. Eventually we turned away from the ocean, and inland towards the orange and lemon groves.

Surprisingly, most of the group stayed together until lunch at about 50 miles. It wasn’t the traditional over-the-top Trek Travel picnic, but still much better than I expected for a “feed zone”—sandwich stuff, bean salad, green salad, good cheeses, and of course the ubiquitous peanut M&Ms. After lunch we biked through more orchards and then a 10-mile stretch of highway (not freeway, but still very fast and very trafficked, with lots of heavy trucks). We got to know some of our fellow guests on this leg-- many of whom are 50+ years old and in amazing shape. One is turning 65 this year and dropped me because he was going faster than my 130-watt limit would allow.

After we pulled into our hotel, we got to enjoy one of the perks of this trip-- a 30-minute massages with Dana, one of the two trip soigneurs. We get one every 2 days. She was great! Dana says the guides call us collectively “the honeymooners,” and that she’s put money down on Ed to be one of the people who doesn’t get in the van at all on this trip. Hopefully neither of us will!

All in all, Day 1 was good, not too tiring, and we’re ready for more!

And so it begins...

2007-09-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family, this is Ed speaking.

We're in Santa Barbara now, about to get a good night's sleep before we dip our wheels in the Pacific Ocean tomorrow morning. Before most trips, I put off packing until 2am the night before we leave, stressing myself out, and keeping Nancy up. This time she forced me to pack ahead of time. Novel concept! This morning I was running all over the house for a couple hours taking care of last minute items, and then I realized I had two hours before we were planning on leaving, and everything was done. Wow.

My dad flew with us to Santa Barbara in my plane. We really wanted to have my plane in Charleston when we got there, but it's expensive to hire a professional pilot to take your plane across the country for you. I thought to myself, "Who do I know that works cheap, has no schedule, and can fly my plane?" Then it hit me--my dad! He's a pilot too, and though he has his own plane, he likes mine because it's got lots of nifty gizmos for you to play with as you cruise along on autopilot. So he flew out here (on a commercial plane), rode with us to Santa Barbara, and tomorrow he'll take my plane home to Wisconsin. Sounds like he'll be taking the scenic route, so it may be quite a while before he's home. At the end of our trip, he's bringing the plane out to Charleston for us. How convenient!

Once we got checked into the hotel, we met up with our Trek Travel group. There are about 25 people on the trip. Nancy and I appear to be the only honeymooners. We're hoping to make everyone sick with our lovey-dovey you're-the-best-no-you're-the-best honeymooner stuff. Nancy and I both know most of our guides from previous trips--her as a guide, me as a guest. Although we plan to spend much of the trip listening to Harry Potter or the New York Times on our iPod's, Nancy and I are looking forward to getting to know the other crazies on the trip.

Alright, I've got to go, I'm keeping Nancy up. We'll let you know how the first day goes tomorrow.

Ed

Training

2007-08-26T13:16:00.001-07:00

A month before the trip began, we went on a 10-day, 675-mile bike trip on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina with Black Bear Adventures. We figured the shorter daily miles would ease us into Cross-Country form-- and boy did we underestimate that trip! (We overlooked the 55,000 feet of climbing described in the literature.) But we made it, in good spirits and better shape than when we started off. (Okay, Ed was in both better spirits and shape all along. His perpetual good humour and capacity for self-punishment amaze me.) That's us on the right.

It was a great trip, with beautiful scenery, safe roads, and good company. Blackbear Adventures owner and guide Paul Wood runs a pro trip with everything we needed, including some good ol' Southern soul food like fried chicken, biscuits and gravy. Definitely recommended if you're looking for an unforgetable cycling trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains: www.blackbearadventures.com

The Ride

2007-08-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Trek Travel -- check out the trip at www.trektravel.com)

This is it. 3,178 miles beginning in Santa Barbara, CA and ending in Charleston, SC. 31 days in the saddle, with 3 rest days spread throughout the trip in Parker, AZ; Taos, NM; and Nashville, TN. Average mileage is about 100 miles per day. Do you know what this means? Yeah yeah-- beautiful countryside, challenging terrain, the ride of a lifetime, yada yada yada. But we've got our priorities straight: for one whole month, we can eat whatever we want-- shovel in the ice cream and pasta and bacon by the plateful-- and still not have enough. This is honeymooning at its best.

...And the honeymoon

2007-08-24T11:59:00.001-07:00

With cycling playing such a big role in how we met and how we've lived our lives together, what better way to celebrate our honeymoon than by going on a bike trip? And so the idea was born, at first as a joke, then with growing seriousness. Why not take Trek Travel up on their once-in-a-lifetime bike trip across the USA, from sea to shining sea, covering over 3000 miles in 34 days? We could go on a relaxing tropical vacation, we supposed, or explore a new part of the world-- but why not instead explore our own backyard, on our bikes, while we're young and (hopefully) able?

So this is a blog of our adventures, good and bad, for our friends and families who want to follow our progress from mid-September to mid-October 2007 as we travel from coast to coast on our bikes. We'll update whenever the internet connections and our energy levels allow. And we'll try to keep talk of saddle sores to a minimum.

Please e-mail us if you feel like it-- we'll need all the encouragement we can get!

...Then comes marriage...

2007-08-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

We got married in California in June, and we started that day off with a bike ride around the Stanford campus.

We absolutely loved our wedding cake-- and it tasted just as great as it looked. Julie Durkee at Torino Bakery looked at some photos of Alpe d'Huez, the first climb we did side-by-side, for inspiration. (You can't see it here, but our names are written out on the almond paste "road" winding up the cake.)

From Paris, with love...

2007-08-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

Here's the background:

We met in Italy during the Giro d'Italia. Nancy was guiding bike trips with the Trek Travel bike tour company, and Ed was a guest on a trip in the Dolomites. We had our first date in Paris 2 months later, the day before the end of the 2006 Tour de France. This photo was taken on our first date-- which began with a bike ride around the City of Lights. Ed gave Nancy a Google cycling kit that matched his before the ride-- he sure knows his way to a woman's heart.