Seattle . . . Tomorrow??

I have arrived on the west coast! Really? I don't believe it. Tomorrow we ride into Seattle - its only 25 miles, a victory lap of sorts.

The states of Washington and Montana have been incredible. SO pretty, mountains, rivers, national parks... We went to glacier, and to the North Cascades. WE had a day off there and got to go for one of the most spectacular hikes of my life. Up cascade pass to shahale glacier.

I have had the most amazing summer. I cant believe its drawing to a close. I am going to keep riding my bike as much as possible, and always remember to take advantage of adventures that head my way. I want to learn to unicycle and play the Harp, and hike from glacier national park to Olympia national park (the Pacific northwest trail).

Thank all of you so much for your support. I loved all the letters and emails and phone calls (even if I was less than stellar at responding). Hope life is treating you as well as it is me... Until next time!

Idaho? Really? Already?

Somehow, (and no, I have no idea how this happened) I have arrived in Idaho. Crazy. That means that I only have 10 days let, two of which are days off!! holy cow! I never want it to stop, I want to turn around and ride right back to the east coast, or to Mexico....

anyhow, Montana was AMAZING. We spent a lot of time in lakes, which made me happy. My knee has been hurting a lot, but I suppose that's to be expected at this point.

Seattle, here we come!

Did someone say Butte?

I'm in Montana! Its great. Western WYO and Montana have been my favorite parts of the trip. We road through the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, both of which were pretty fantastic rides. The Bighorns, though, turned out to be my favorite day of the trip. It was so rewarding to get to the top of those mountains and then see the sign with a truck going down hill that said "truckers use low gear, next 18 miles." We took a picture with it. Shockingly, while I was tried, my legs haven't been sore on any of these climbs. Maybe I'm finally getting good!

A friend of mine (Ben Beall) came up to ride with us for a day when were dropping into the tetons. What a great day for a ride. He certainly picked the most bueatiful day of the trip. We camped that night and went for a walk about heron pond. While totally flat and only a 40 change in elevation, I got really really! sick. I think just to many days in a row of riding. The 1/2 mile walk back to the camp sight was by far the hardest thing I've done thins trip. But, I'm better now. The next day went for a hike up to amphitheater lake. Beautiful!

I forgot to mention three things. First, on the ride into Deboius (sp?) we picked up a guy who had been doing an unsupported trip across the country and was a CU boulder alum. We were such a fun group (well, we carried his panures at the very least) that he's decided to come with us to Seattle. Its good to have new blood.

Also, we met a woman on the road who is riding her Unicycle across the country - first woman ever to do it. She is fabulous. Just goes to prove that no matter how crazy you are there is always someone crazier.

Bighorns

I find myself in Buffalo, WY. South Dakota was a blur of 100 degree days with 100 miles to go. We did 862 miles in 9 days. Long, flat days . . . Until of course we got to the south west corner. Its as though someone spread a sheet over south Dakota and when the got to that corner, stopped smoothing it out.

There was really only one day of bad headwind - 25 miles an hour, felt like a hairdryer...

We stopped on the Rosebud Rez, had buffalo burgers, built a tepee (sp?), listened to a traditional drum group, and heard the chief tell the story of his people.

The black hills were beautiful; a great change from the plains.

I got to see some of my family. My mom, dad, and two sets of aunts and uncles came to visit in Newcastle. They also brought Vonda (my puppy!) which was great.

Today we climb up and over the top of the Bighorns. That means we go for 4600 ft to 10000 ft back to 4000 ft - all in the span of 68 miles! Cant wait!

The brink of the Unknown

I'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota. From here on out towns get smaller and farther between.... The wind is unobstructed .... And we don't have a rest day for the next fourteen days. Fortunatly, there isnt so much as a hill for miles.

The trip has been incredible. I've been doing this for nearly a month now (what???) and am still enjoying every second. I know I'm getting better because I tried to put on my jeans last night for the first time in a few weeks and they didn't fit over my thighs.... Oops.

We've been riding along the Mississippi river for the past few days and it's HUGE. Wisconsin was my favorite state so far. Just the right amount of hills, beautiful, great roads for riding on, and we spent the night on an organic farm! Very cool.

We have thus far had two major issues... One girl got hit by a car about two weeks ago, broke her leg and scapula but is recovering. Two days ago, Matt Young wiped out on a HUGE down hill, going forty miles an hour... But is just fine, somehow.

My best adventure of late has been the day that we went to a fair, stole a canoe and went out on the Mississippi (we returned it right away and left a thank you note...!) and took a two hour nap on a dock.

hope you all are happy and well! I sure am!

Chicago

Someone asked me today which coast I was headed to! This is progress, because it means that I’ve gotten far enough towards the middle that is a legitimate question.

We had a day off today, and talked our way into the aquarium to see beluga whales. How cool!

The weather has been perfect, the roads a bit larger than I might have liked (turns out I don’t like biking on roads that have a speed limit of over 40 miles an hour), but wonderful rides all the same.

While some members of the trip have changed our name from HBC - Habitat Bicycle Challenge, to the IHBC - I Hate Bicycling Club, I still love my bicycle and cant wait to continue on tomorrow!

Ann Arbor

Wow! Boulder transplanted itself and added about 20 thousand people to its population... This is a very cool town. Our build day got canceled :( but that means Em and I are on our way to the farmers market!

A helicopter from Fox 2 News tried to film us riding our bikes last night. It got lost. Funny, no?

I got a set of 60 swim workouts from my coach this morning... And kind of wondered where he thought I was this summer... He doesn't actually expect me to do one for every day of this trip, does he???

Thanks so much for all those who sent me wonderful mail....