Browsing Archive: May, 2011
Posted by the girls on Tuesday, May 31, 2011,
We were finally able to make some progress today after being stuck in San Luis Valley for awhile. This morning Rebekah noticed that Emily's rear tire was flat, so we changed that before getting on the road. Once we were biking, it was smooth sailing. The route today was completely flat and the winds were extremely mild. We biked about 46 miles today to reach South Fork Campground (4 miles east of South Fork, CO). The campground here is really nice, with hot showers, internet, and friendly sta...
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Posted by the girls on Tuesday, May 31, 2011,
Today Mark woke up at 5:30 am to start biking, however us girls needed our beauty sleep, and opted to start the day a little later. The winds were still quite strong, but we thought they would die down. We packed up our gear and headed out. At the beginning, the wind was bearable. We made it 20 miles to a small town called Mosca where we stopped in at the convenience store. We got a snack and asked for the best directions to our destination, Del Norte, approximately 25 miles away. We started ...
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Posted by the girls on Monday, May 30, 2011,
We decided to take today off since Michelle has been feeling sick the past couple of days. Most likely, we would have taken the day off anyway. The winds are crazy with gusts up to 55 mph! We felt obligated to look at the sand dunes, despite the weather, so Emily and Rebekah braved the winds (while Michelle got some much needed rest). They biked the 4 miles to the park, walked around on the dunes, and biked back. It was painful to be on the dunes; the wind was blowing the sand so hard that it...
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Posted by the girls on Monday, May 30, 2011,
Today we had a shorter day of about 30 miles. The route was completely flat, but that meant the winds affected us quite a bit. We stopped at the Oasis Campground, which is just outside the boundaries of Great Sand Dunes National Park. We were afraid there wouldn't be any camping inside the park (the reservable sites were full and we were a bit late for the first-come, first-serve). Seeing that it's Memorial Day weekend, things are packed. Originally, we thought we'd look around the park today...
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Posted by the girls on Saturday, May 28, 2011,
We anticipated that today would be difficult. Not only were we about to bike 65 miles, but we had to go over/through Poncha Pass (9,010 ft). We were starting in Salida, CO which is at about 7,000 ft. The 2,000 ft increase all occurred within the first 12 miles, so it was a long climb.
The climb was definitely not the steepest we've done. The winds, however, made it really hard. Michelle literally was blown over once and we all struggled to keep our balance. We celebrated at the top with choco... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Friday, May 27, 2011,
Today was the most gorgeous day of biking we've experienced thus far. The winds were minimal and the climbing was very gradual. The scenery though was spectacular! We left the KOA and started out with a huge downhill. The rest of the day was a gradual climb, but the road stayed along the Arkansas River the entire time. We saw people whiteater rafting and fly fishing at various spots in the river. What a beautiful sight!
The last few miles to our campground (Wilderness Expeditions) in Salida we... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Thursday, May 26, 2011,
Well, for better or worse, we've finally made it into the mountains! The first part of our day from Pueblo was the usual flats with some gradual incline. However, at the end of the day we were greeted with the steeper inclines that central Colorado has to offer.
We left our CouchSurfer's house this morning and headed to a nearby guest house to meet Mark (the Dutch guy that we met at the bike shop two days ago). We will be heading the same direction for at least a few days, so he decided to joi... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Wednesday, May 25, 2011,
Today we took a look around Denver. Pretty much as soon as we got into town, the rain started. We loitered around the visitor center until the rain let up a bit and then took the bus down to the state capitol. We walked upon a free tour and followed along for a segment of it. We were thinking of other free indoor things we could do, so we walked down to the mint. Unfortunately, they were booked for the day, so we walked over to the 16th Street Mall and stopped in a few shops. We found a reall...
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Posted by the girls on Tuesday, May 24, 2011,
It's a good thing we made an appointment at the Great Divide bike shop. We got there a few minutes before they opened and there already were two other people waiting with their needed-to-be-looked-at bikes. As soon as we told them who we were, they took our bicycles and started to work on them. They had plenty of employees, all of whom were very friendly and knowledgeable. For $50, Michelle and Emily had the best tune-ups ever; their bikes looked and felt brand new! Rebekah had to spend a lit...
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Posted by the girls on Monday, May 23, 2011,
It seems as though we've been dreaming about arriving in Pueblo for a long time. It's the biggest city we've been in for a long time. Most importantly, we were excited to go to the Great Divide bike shop. After 52 miles, we made it. Not without a struggle though. Poor Rebekah had so many issues with her back tire (she had already been having problems and had one delivered to Pueblo about a week ago). After a few leaking tubes and a un-true, wobbly tire, her bike made it in one piece.
We arrive... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Sunday, May 22, 2011,
We recently changed from Central Time to Mountain Time and are still getting used to it. Michelle woke up and looked at her clock (that had not been changed) thinking it was time to get ready. It really was only 6:30am, but that was okay. Rebekah and Emily followed suit and started packing up their things as well.
It was a good thing that we got on the road early because a headwind slowed us down. The terrain was very similar to what we've had the past few days (mainly flat with a slow, steady... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Saturday, May 21, 2011,
When we woke up, the winds had died down a bit and both tents were where we had staked them! We had a bit of headwind today, but it was nothing compared to the winds we had in eastern Kansas. We were still able to make decent progress without getting discouraged. After 16 miles, we reached the Kansas-Colorado state line. Of course, we had to take some photos. We tried our best to climb onto the sign; some random truckers enjoyed watching our efforts. After getting some acceptable poses, we co...
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Posted by the girls on Saturday, May 21, 2011,
We left our hotel at 10am (taking our time to get ready). We knew we only have 47 miles to bike and sort of favorable winds. Most of the winds were coming at us from the side, but once in awhile we'd get some decent gusts behind us that would give us a little boost. The terrain was flat as usual, but today a gradual incline was noticeable. We made it to Tribune, KS with plenty of time to stop at the library before it closed. We got some useful information from the librarian (but this time no ...
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Posted by the girls on Thursday, May 19, 2011,
We had the day off today, which worked out nicely as it has been pretty windy and cold. A good day for huddling inside. We did make it outside for a bit. We left the athletic club this morning, it wasn't as comfortable as we hoped for the price and since we had the whole day of relaxing, we thought it'd be nice to get beds. We finally found an open room at a motel; almost everything in town was full. We walked around Scott City for a few hours, buying some food for this upcoming week, chilled...
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Posted by the girls on Wednesday, May 18, 2011,
Today we knew we would have pretty favorable winds, though strong, and we wanted to make it all the way to Scott City, 94 miles away. We knew it would be a pretty big feat, especially after a 93-mile ride yesterday and quite a few difficult days before that, but figured we'd take the following day off if we made it. The ride started off at Don and Donna's house, in the middle of nowhere with only sand and gravel roads. We had to ride 10 miles on sand (not easy at all) to start the day. When w...
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Posted by the girls on Tuesday, May 17, 2011,
We left Nickerson early and headed toward Larned, KS. We were so appreciative to have favorable winds. Although they weren't strong, they were at least blowing in a better direction. The combination of flat roads and kind winds allowed us to increase our mileage. Instead of staying in Larned, we decided to go further, to Rush Center.
We stopped at the public library in Larned to look up information about Rush Center. While there, we talked to a friendly librarian named Donna. Not only did she ... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Monday, May 16, 2011,
Today was yet another windy day. This time the gusts were a little less strong, but still enough to exhaust us. We biked 50 miles from Newton to Nickerson. By the time we arrived in Nickerson, everything was closed. We were lucky enough to get into the only grocery store to pick up a few items before it closed at 4pm. Since it was Sunday, the library, pizza place, cafe, bar & grill, and post office were all closed already. We asked for directions to the city park and were disappointed that th...
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Posted by the girls on Monday, May 16, 2011,
We were hoping for a break in the winds, but no such luck. As soon as we woke up and stepped out of our tents, we knew we'd be in for another tough day. We packed up, ate oatmeal, and got on the road a little bit later than usual (we only planned to go 38 miles to Newton).
Once again, we took turns leading and drafting to be as efficient as possible. We barely averaged 10 or 11 mph, but made slow progress. There weren't any services (or towns) between Cassoday and Newton, so we only took 2 sh...
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Posted by the girls on Saturday, May 14, 2011,
Today was tough to say the least. We ended up biking only 35 miles, though it felt like much, much more. The winds in Kansas can be fierce since there are not a whole lot of trees, buildings, hills, or anything really, to block them.
During the first half of our day from Eureka to Rosalia, we were exposed to a strong crosswind (about 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph). By the time we reached Rosalia, we were feeling exhausted and defeated, not to mention cold. We luckily found a little restaurant... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Saturday, May 14, 2011,
We woke up at Knight's Inn in Chanute and thoroughly took advantage of the continental breakfast. This one was the best so far since you could make your own waffles! It also had the usual cereal, bagels, milk, coffee, juice, etc. After eating, we had to head across the street to the campground where our tents had been pitched. They were still soaking wet and the sun was not shining. We opted to pack them away wet; waiting would be futile. We just had to hope that there would be sun later in t...
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Posted by the girls on Thursday, May 12, 2011,
Today was not big based on mileage; we biked an average amount (about 57 miles). It was big, however, in the things that we saw. First, we saw a big American flag at a veteran's memorial in Girard, KS. It was listed as a sight to see in our trans-Am map, but we were a little disappointed. It didn't look all that big to us...at least it was only a 1/2 mile off route.
The next big things we saw were in Walnut, KS. We were just pulling into the convenience store to take a rest, when we saw three...
Posted by the girls on Wednesday, May 11, 2011,
Today was our day off (after 7 days-in-a-row of hilly Missouri). We allowed our legs to rest a bit, but still had to run a lot of errands. We spent a good chunk of time using the internet at the public library. We also did three loads of laundry, went to the post office, bought supplies, and went grocery shopping. Our favorite part of the day was lunch. We stopped at a little local place called Sweet Green Soup & Salad Bar. If you ever find yourself in Pittsburg (the one in Kansas), make sure...
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Posted by the girls on Wednesday, May 11, 2011,
Ad astra per aspera - The state motto of Kansas meaning, "to the stars with difficulty."Well, we've made it to our 8th state! After many, many hills in Missouri, we've finally hit flat land. The last few miles of Missouri and the first few of Kansas welcomed us with little elevation. The winds, however, were a completely different, unfriendly story. We experienced gusts up to the 30 mph. Most were not direct headwinds, but they still made our trek to Pittsburg, KS difficult. Our original rout... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Sunday, May 8, 2011,
The hills, that is. We have had enough! Even though we are starting to feel stronger every day, we are ready for a break from all of these steep climbs. We had no idea that Missouri was going to be so darn hilly!
Today was definitely a tough day. We got an early start, but took a lot of little breaks. The hills today weren't any steeper than other hills, but the weather made it worse. We've gotten used to cool, overcast days, but today was hot and sunny. We all felt weaker than usual, but trie... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Sunday, May 8, 2011,
So I think it's crucial that we add to our post from yesterday. After doing our business at the public library, we wandered down Main Street to the only restaurant in town (besides Subway). It was a sort of local cafe. We ordered our food and people-watched as we waited. One of the most interesting sights was of a man dressed in drag. People were joking around with him, so we figured this wasn't his usual attire. After asking, we found out that the local nursing home was having a fundraising ...
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Posted by the girls on Friday, May 6, 2011,
When we woke up, the rain had finally stopped, but everything was still wet. We hung all of our stuff on the fence around the sand volleyball court and waited for the sun to come out and work its magic. Before long, everything was dry. We enjoyed some new flavors of oatmeal and headed off to Wal-Mart. We were almost out of fuel, so we had to buy some white gas to re-fill our fuel bottles with.
We finally headed out of Houston and were pleasantly surprised with how nice the weather was. Sunny,... Continue reading ...
Posted by the girls on Friday, May 6, 2011,
Happy Cinco de Mayo, everybody!! We started off the holiday by eating our usual oatmeal and packing up our tents. We are so grateful that we were allowed to stay at Alley Springs Campground for the night. We had the entire place to ourselves and we all slept soundly.
Our goal today was to bike to Houston (this one is in Missouri although it is in Texas county). The ride would total only about 38 miles, but we knew it would be hilly since we were still in the Ozarks. It was not nearly as hilly ...
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Posted by the girls on Friday, May 6, 2011,
When we woke up, Hermnn was preparing breakfast for us. He made really delicious fried eggs with parsley and paprika and put them on toasted rye bread. We also had bananas and hot chocolate. Herman took some photos of us for his album and sent us on our way. Thank you so much, Herman, for letting us stay with you!! We enjoyed listening to your stories about life in Germany and moving to America. Your cooking was wonderful. We hope to see you again in the future!
As soon as we were out of Ellin...
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Posted by the girls on Friday, May 6, 2011,
We ate our free continental breakfast at the hotel (cereal, bagels, bananas, Little Debbie snacks, orange juice), packed up, and left Fredericktown. Our goal was to bike to Ellington, MO to stay with another WarmShowers.org host, but we were a bit worried about making it there since it was more than 60 miles and very hilly terrain (in the foothills of the Ozark mountains). I am happy to report that we made it! It definitely was a struggle up those steep hills with so much weight on our bikes....
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Posted by the girls on Tuesday, May 3, 2011,
Even though it was raining this morning, we decided that we needed to bike. Judy had already been so generous to let us stay two nights, three would've been too much. We woke up early since the showers/thunderstorms were meant to be worse later in the day. Judy made us pancakes with sweet potatoes and flax...mmmmhmmmmm!
It was nearly impossible to find a route that wasn't closed though. Every highway we wanted to take had closures because of the floods. After calling the Missouri Department of...
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Posted by the girls on Monday, May 2, 2011,
Today was our first day of volunteering! We had planned on volunteering earlier, but weren't able to do so because we had to re-route and change our itinerary. Somehow we ended up back on our original schedule which had us in Cape Girardeau on May 1st for the Steamboat Classic Triathlon. This was the 27th year for the event. It consisted of a 450-yard swim, 15-mile bike and 5-mile run. All three of us were assigned different tasks; Rebekah was in charge of the team exchanges (this is where pe...
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Posted by the girls on Sunday, May 1, 2011,
Alan made us a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs & toast. We said our goodbyes and headed back onto the Tunnel Hill State Trail. We stayed on the path for 10 miles to Vienna. It's a good thing we didn't plan to stay on the trail past Vienna because it was closed (most probably due to flooded areas). Instead we took IL-146 W and pedaled through a few small towns. Once we reached the town of Anna, it was time for a Wal-Mart/lunch break. Earlier in the day, Emily realized that one lens was m...
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