Day 44 (Morning) - A terrible sleep!

I got a terrible sleep – thanks to the orchestra of snoring (or heavy breathing) from Dean, Matt, Marie and Helen (they each swear it wasn’t them!). Dean also kept kicking me during the night – thanks (will be so relieved when we no longer need to share a bed!) and it was boiling!

We all woke up late and missed breakfast – they are always pretty useless anyway. What is a continental breakfast anyway??

Day 43 - Two Surprises!

We started in New Beaver, PA. From the offset it was very hilly (again). I didn’t manage to get a good breakfast in so had to stop after around 20 miles in New Midia to refuel – we had a very good lunch with a really nice waitress.

It was hilly after lunch which really sucked as I thought we were done with all the hills – the roads were pretty crap to which didn’t help matters. There was a massive downhill section where I managed to pick up a LOT of speed which was pretty scary as the road was scattered with holes.

Day 42 - Reliving the Past

Leaving Lewisburg - was immediately faced with a big hill - same pattern as yesterday - big climbs and descents! Finally a really steep climb of 700 m followed by a decent downhill where I managed to catch up with some slow trucks. Afternoon got easier- where the morning had been really slow - I was only averaging about 10 miles per hour but the afternoon was faster as the terrain changed and I was cycling alongside rivers and through valleys.

Day 41 - Strange Roads...

Straight away this morning it was super hilly - 50 metres up, 50 down - so hilly that I was even having to break on the downs so wasn't actually getting the advantage of rolling on the way down!! We stopped for an early lunch as we couldn't get on to the road we had planned which meant changing maps. Eventually the roads mellowed out and became easier with a tail wind to help somewhat. Though didn't t make too much of a difference as I was amongst the trees most of the time. There were some strange roads to cope without the end of the day when we had to go off road - gravelly new top surfaces - kind of scary at times! Again it got really hilly - in fact we managed about 2800 m worth of climbing over the course of the day! We had been warned about the Appalachians by Sheriff John last week!!

Day 40 - Starting to ease up!

Left Mansfield this morning after a pretty good breakfast in the hotel. It was a decent sized town and as I passed through I was rewarded with a good tail wind once again - again very rural. There were lots of twists and turns to the roads, with the route zig zagging back and forth between country lanes and highways. We stopped for lunch near Dalton and the afternoon continued a lot cooler - temperatures now only around the 70 - 80's - what a difference - helping the ride considerably! The ride was smooth out there in the country as we headed for New Beaver. Bit of a miscommunication with Dean as we were working from different maps at one stage - I only had 1 day in my Garmin and Dean had moved on to the next day! Anyway we covered about 130 miles - our last long day for the trip having now completed over 4200 miles! Our daily rides should now be considerably shorter getting easier every day. Oh yes about 10 miles before the finish today we crossed from Ohio to Pennsylvania - I have to say the road in Ohio towards the state line was terrible - once I hit PA it improved considerably!!

Day 39 - Relearning how to smile

Stayed the night in a hotel in Celina after our day off. Set off riding going directly east and finally the wind was helping! It was really a nice relaxed morning -a flattish road with just a few ups and downs! Covered about 54 miles before lunch. Again the afternoon continued in the same way with a tail wind to help - in fact about half way through the afternoon I remembered about enjoying myself and to smile again - it's hard to enjoy when you have your head down trying to battle through the wind - but that was all behind me and the afternoon went really well!! We started to leave the farms and fields behind and move into a more rural, uncultivated area traveling towards Mansfield. Managed to get a bit lost - in fact all my electrical gadgets died on me and so I never received Dean's message saying to go ahead and meet up - so I ended up finding a hotel room, going on the Internet to get his number from our website to call him so he could join me at the Holiday Inn!!

Day 38 - Day Off at the fair!

We had a lazy start to the day - a long lie in which made us too late for breakfast so we had to go looking - amazingly we found a restaurant offering brunch which was great. After lazing around at the hotel for a while we went exploring the town having been told there might be a Demolition Derby at the fair we had seen. First though we found a swimming pool so cooled off in there for an hour or so. No DD at the fair but they did have a truck pulling competition - basically two trucks at a time strapped together in a tog-of-war contest!! We then went on a few roller coaster rides so all in all it was a fun day off!! By the way just as well we didn't try the poisonous lake - we found out a dog had died in it earlier after going for a swim!!

Day 37 - ID'ed for water?

Set off from Lafayette on a fairly empty road and managed to ride 64 miles before stopping for lunch! Into a headwind as usual but a fairly flat road so no real problems. Had lunch in a strange little bar where we were ID'd even though we had no intention of drinking any alcohol! Half a day left! Met a road closure but was only about a mile detour so not too bad and the wind was lessening. It was a pretty smooth afternoon and in fact the wind did die down to a slight breeze. Hit another detour but eventually found ourselves in Celina excited at the prospect of spending our rest day by the lake. Unfortunately we discovered it was closed due to a poisonous algae!! Typical!

Day 36 - Who invented time-zones?

After the interview with the journalist from the Bloomington Pantagraph said good bye to mum and set off. Had a few problems with my gears previously which we thought was the battery but now seems more likely to be a loose connection! The roads were fairly decent again - need I even mention there was a headwind? We were on a nice quiet road just north of Hwy 26 - would see a car maybe every 10 minutes or so!  I felt OK. However the route didn't enter into my GPS correctly I managed to lose Dean - in the end I was able to text him (phone out of credit) "Come find me!" which amazingly he did! Had a decent pizza at last (Dean's reward) at Pizza Hut.

Carried on in the afternoon and the wind thankfully died down - however the humidity increased and it felt really, really hot. Stopped for a quick snack in the van after about 75 miles - I really felt exhausted and just didn't want to get out of the van and set off again.  But I snacked up and continued - felt as though I really struggled for the next 10 miles but then got a little burst of energy ( must have been the banana) and managed to finish the rest of the day fairly easily. Reached Lafayette - the biggest university I have ever seen - set near the river.There was a great choice of restaurants on the other side of town for the first time for ages - seemed like anything we wanted to choose. However we desperately needed a shower so we found a fitness club where they very kindly let us in for free to take a shower. Thanks guys.

However we were then really miffed that we couldn't find anywhere still open to eat at only 20 to 10 in the evening. Then we realized we had gone through another time zone which really messed us up again! Finally found somewhere to eat but got to bed really late. It's going to be a late start tomorrow!!

Day 35 - Sheriff John

Free continental breakfast - but where's my bacon and eggs?? Drove back across the Mississippi once again to see if the van was still there! We were greeted enthusiastically by Sheriff John - as a fellow cyclist he was very interested and supportive. We wish him luck in Carthage's local bike race "ride the Sheriff out of Town" and thanks for the t shirt and badges. Mum and Dean went to visit the town's old jailhouse famous as the place where Joseph Smith was murdered along with several supporters.

I set off riding - finally a break from the weather -a tailwind!! Made good time till lunch at 55 miles. We continued to make good time travelling through beautiful countryside reminding us of England - very green with lots of fields full of crops ( corn and soy beans) We stopped at a local elementary school to find a witness - the kids go back next week!! Got hotter as the afternoon went on -93 degrees at 5 pm. Right at 100 miles the battery died on my electronic gears leaving me two working gears to finish the day - didn't really matter as the roads were still fairly flat. I entertained myself today by looking out for the caution signs for the Amish horse and carts and although I didnt see any real ones today I did notice tracks at the side of the road. We ended up in Bloomington - another hotel - going to miss mum when she returns to Atlanta in the morning!!

Day 34 - Iowa: Our Surprise State!

Had breakfast with mum in Milan (not quite such a ghost town as I had thought yesterday) in an old store which sold all sort of oddities as well as providing breakfast for the locals. Don't think they had had too many UK visitors! By the way it is pronounced Mylan.

Dean dragged someone out from City Hall to act as a witness and off I set back to Kirksville again with a crosswind in my face-of course! Not so bad though - it was an easy 30 mile ride and then time for lunch! The wind finally died down in the afternoon and I made pretty good time for next 50 miles - then the storm came rolling in. Amazing lightening and claps of thunder with a very strong head wind. The rain was so heavy it was hurting my arms and I couldn't see properly - it was like having my face in a shower. Just in time Dean turned up with a pizza which gave me the energy to carry on and get wet three more times.

We crossed the Missisipi from Iowa into Illinois and I was surprised at the low altitude of the river at this point - I would have expected to be much higher above sea level this far from the coast. Struggled to the end of the day through the headwind in the dark - ended up at Dairy Queen in Carthage. There was nowhere to stay there so we left the van and trailer outside the County Jail but Dean left the sheriff a note. We drove back to Keokuk in Iowa - considering we hadn't realized we were even cycling through the state we ended up spending quite a lot of time there!!

Day 33 - The Things You Learn On the Road (plus a Special Treat!)

Struggled with breakfast again this morning -wasnt feeling great! Headed off on my bike on to a dirt road almost immediately for no good reason (gps going nuts again) Before I knew it we had two flat tyres - Dean had to return for me with mum in tow. We tried to use an old one we thought we had fixed - but it only lasted about 100 metres - which explains the second one - lesson learned never: never buy patches from Walmart again. Haven't seen a bike shop since California! Finally on main road again - the going was a lot better! Stopped for food as soon as got to next town -historic looking Maysville-set out in a square around the large brick town hall building -a style which we saw repeated again and again! The friendly county clerk saw us off! After that the crosswinds started to die and conditions improved -still 1 mile slight hill up then down: up and down. It was steeper in the morning. It went pretty good all afternoon - very hot at about 100 degrees and humid now as well - no breeze helped the riding but made me feel even hotter.
I explained to mum and Dean that it was interesting reading all the billboards posted by the farmers listing info about their crops and the chemicals and fertilizers used on them -one section seemed to be a test area as each row was listed as something different. They laughed at me -but hey you have to think of something as you ride along!! It was also dairy farming country -we all smiled at the one cow standing in the middle of a pond to cool down! Anyway it was good riding so rather than stop again Dean bought me a burger from Jamesport -an amazing Amish town where you felt you were back in the 19th century. I ate it in Trenton which was a busier area. I saw Amish farmers driving their crops round in large flatbed drawn by two horses. All in all a good days riding! We stopped in Milan -another ghost town from the past, where we struggled to find anywhere to stay -mum insists on a hotel room rather than the van!!


A Special Treat!

We had a special treat this evening. Dean had been chatting with Ellen and her daughter Liz on Facebook -initially via the lupus page and the contact with Lincoln City with JB and Rebecca at the Pacific Grind Cafe (seems that Ellen comes from that area). Anyway they live about 30 miles north from Milan so very generously invited us to dinner along with dad and Liz's friend April. What an amazing and fun family- we all had a great evening and didn't feel like strangers at all. Cannot thank them enough for their support and wish Liz all the best for her wedding next year! Again Ellen reminds us of the reality of why we are trying to raise money for charities like the Lupus Foundation!

Day 32 - Rest Day: Motherly Love!

Work up in the hotel for a rest day finally – this time I really feel I need it!
Went for a late breakfast then back to hotel -had a few things to sort out with mum so chatted to her on the phone - imagine my surprise when there was a knock on the door a few minutes later and in she walked! I was very confused !

Dean of course knew all about it - it was really nice to see her! We chatted and lazed around for a few hours and then went off to explore St Joe - mum drove the rental car - a real treat for us! We tried to find a beach park on the river - but failed! Finally found somewhere decent to eat though and had a drive round St Joseph - must have been an amazing place in its hey day but rather neglected now - Dean saw a run down house on the market for $12000 -if only he could transport it to Castle Donnington! After a swim back at the hotel, more food and then bowling it was time for bed! By the way, Deano won!

Day 31 - It seems I am not the only Mad one!

Set off from Walsenburg to meet the guy from the local paper -Dan for a photo shoot, He said he also wanted to catch me with another rider out on the road -Don Delmonte who is riding his horse across America in the opposite direction in order to raise awareness around teenage suicides, Nice idea I thought but that's never going to happen - but sure enough about two miles down the road I see a guy on a horse coming towards me!, Check out the photos!,

Rode all morning with mainly a crosswind, now and then turning to a headwind -getting used to this by now! Legs felts really dead - very tired -but just kept going, Stopped for a late breakfast and then back to the headwind/ crosswind traveling east along the same road for some time, it was very hot -the ride was going well today but I just wanted to get to the end!

Just before reaching St Joe's the countryside began to change -more trees for a start which did provide some shelter from the sun now and then, Felt good to leave Kansas behind as we entered Missouri, looking forward to a lazy day off and hoping for some kinder weather ahead!!

Day 30 - Well they say things come in threes!

We woke up next to a lovely lake area - it was a shame that we not managed to arrive earlier the night before. It would have been really nice to relax a little there. I headed off with the same crosswind from the day before which annotingly turned (again) into a headwind after a couple of hours.

I struggled all day again today. Thankfully after 120 miles the wind broke and I was able to make up the extra 40 miles that I was needing. It feels good to be back on schedule. Kansas has not been an easy state - in reality its probably been the worst three days of downhill ever. Lets hope for better tomorrow!!

Day 29 - Another bad day!

Stayed in sharon springs and had a decent start at 11. Good flat roads, wind was off to the side for the first hour or two then changed to a headwind which made riding really hard then to make things worse I turned into a dirtroad for twenty miles too. At the end of tthe road we took a turn to east to north and there was sttill a headwind somehow. 20 miles later we turned east for another headwind. gradually got stronger almost blowing me off, totally fed up and wanted tto give up almost. managed to make up 20 miles from the preevious day but still 10 miles short, nut found a great spot to camp where i went skiny dipping. Not liking kansas.

Day 28 - Bad Day (the less said the better)

Cooked breakfast and then discovered I actually had water inside the frame of my bike so spent some time sorting that out! Then headed off on what turned out to be the worst day ever! It was very flat but with a very strong headwind - I struggled against it all day long. With it being so flat I missed the downhills where at least I can have a rest from pedaling for a while! Really struggled and eventually gave up about 40 miles short of Oakley to stay in a hotel for a night and get a shower! Hopefully tomorrow will be a lot better and we can catch up with the missing miles. Still chasing that 3000 mile marker!!

Day 27 - Storm Surfing

After getting the tyres fixed in Pueblo we had breakfast and drove back to Walsenburg to continue from where we had finished yesterday! Cycled straight into a headwind - still a little bit hilly -although we were now in the Colorado Plains so more rolling hills than anything else. It gradually got flatter! We had lunch in Rocky Ford - a little off route - and then set off again heading north. As I cycled I could see a big thunderstorm brewing to the west of me - looked rather dark and threatening - a bit scary. So I pedaled as fast as I could as I knew I would need to turn to the east pretty soon and that seemed to be also where the storm was headed. I made the turn and the storm kicked up right behind me - it was brilliant -so much fun - storm surfing! I was going about 25 -35 mph along the road with the storm right behind me pushing me along! Absolutely flying alongside the deserted Pacific Coast railway tracks - empty train cars lining the side! Whenever the road turned of course I would get the side wind which blew me and the bike all over the place! There was nobody else on the road and Dean stayed close by the whole time - he would catch up have a chat, then go ahead till we swapped again!

We eventually made it to Haswell which turned out to be a ghost town - couldn't even find a witness! We stayed in the van in the centre of town!

Day 26 - Seriously? More Climbing?

Left town and started climbing again – a massive 8 miles and 3,000 foot climb to the top - ~ 3400 metres altitude to Wolf Creek Pass (a ski resort). Over the top to a pretty cool downhill – very steep at first so very quick! Then down in to the valley – smooth roads and the wind behind me – so able to put away some miles!
We had lunch in South Fork (where we should have finished yesterday) – then continued to the other side of the valley and started to climb again! Into the headwind – another killer – about 2900m.

Once again it started to rain as it got dark – got the waterproofs out and sailed down the other side finishing just west of Walsenburg – back on schedule (well about 5 miles off actually). It was a really hard day today – 155 miles - but done with the Rockies in only two days so feeling good about that – a couple of rainstorms and two massive passes – legs are feeling pretty tired! Am looking forward to flat land ahead!!

In the van on the way to Pueblo to get 4 new tires!! Good night!

Day 25 - Climbing, Climbing, Climbing!

Rode about 7 miles away from Cortez – then stopped to go and look at the ancient archaelogical preserve – Mesa Verde National Park – amazing cliff dwellings where the ancient Puebloans lived for over 700 years (http://www.visitmesaverde.com/). We had a good look round the area – well worth the 25 mile detour! However this did put us behind on the day’s schedule.

Returning to the route we then started our first big climb - ~2500 m – changing from desert to green trees as we made the climb. Stopped in Durango for lunch – still no phone signal and still finding it difficult to eat properly.

The afternoon was flat and boring – but very green! The heavens opened at nightfall - I got soaked and lost Dean for a while – we managed to keep passing each other without the other person realizing – in the end I just chased after him as he passed! We ended up in the small town of Pagosa Springs to spend the night!