Closing Thoughts (8/16)- Today I was just thinking and got to thinking about my trip and I remembered that I had yet to post any last thoughts about my trip.

        Taking this trip was the best decision that I have ever made.  No contest.  Really, that is all I need to say, but I will elaborate.

        Coming back was a little bit odd.  I was greeted at the airport by about 30 of my friends.  It felt so nice to be back, although it was a little bit of a shock having that many people there.  I spent almost a week re-adjusting to normal life.  Being able to take a shower whenever I wanted and having a cold drink whenever I wanted was just amazing.  It just felt great to be home.  I can't even explain it. 

        10 days after returning home I had my high school graduation.  Even though I had finished many months before, it felt great to be officially done and have my diploma in my hand.  I am going to the University of New Hampshire in the fall to study civil engineering.

        I got my bike back about a week ago, and since then I have only ridden about 10 miles.  Its summer and all so it is pretty hot but I think that is really only an excuse.       

        To be completely honest, what I did never really hit me.  Or maybe it did and I just didn't notice.  Every now and then I think about it and for a few seconds I feel overwhelmed, but that is about the extent of it. 

        Over the course of the trip I learned and learned again that people are generally very friendly.  Really, the only negative experience that sticks out in my mind (not including being ridiculously cold) is the few rocks that were thrown at my tent one night.  That's all. Perhaps I was just lucky.

        I also now have a completely difference sense of the country.  Almost every state I went through was different than what I expected it to be.  Oregon was not filled with lush forests.  Iowa and Nebraska were not even close to flat.  Idaho was not all potatoes.  This country is huge and can offer you just about anything you could ever want.

        If you are like me and have never been out of you area of the country I can't tell you how much you are missing.  Take a few weeks off of work and drive across the country.  Visit the places you have always heard about.  I guarantee it will be one of the best things you have ever done.  But, if you have the time, I would highly recommend riding across.  The only training I had in the 5 months prior to leaving was a soccer game or two every weekend.  If you can ride a bike, you can do it.  Like I said before, there is just something about it that you can't find anywhere else.

        Since I have gotten back there have been many a day that I have wished that I was still out there riding.  There was just something about it, something I still can't quite put my finger on that makes me wish the trip could have gone on forever.  I feel a longing to be back out there, anywhere, riding my bike with not a care in the world, except how far down the road the next gas station is.

Day 64 (6/3)- We woke up fairly early today and as we were starting to pack up, someone walked through the camp and started talking to us.  We told him what we were up to.  He thought that was awesome.  He was on a mountain biking field trip with his school on the other side of the campground and he invited us over for breakfast.  A few minutes later a few more people from the school came over and said hi and invited us over.  After we finished packing up, we went over and had some hot breakfast.  There were about 200 people on the trip and all their bikes were lined up across the field.  It was quite a sight.  It also turned out that one of the leaders was John Boettner, the guy who wrote the book "Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across The Country?", which I have back home.  I thought that was awesome!

        After breakfast they invited us over to their morning meeting.  They started roll call by calling me and Brocks name and all the kids were kind of confused, but one of the counselors started asking me questions and then the kids understood what I was doing.  When she was done with the questions, they all gave me a standing ovation.  That was pretty cool.  We waited through the rest of their meeting before leaving.  It wasn't that hilly, but after the town of Stinson Beach, it was a long uphill to about 500 feet.  The road was amazing.  It ran right along a huge cliff and the view was amazing.  The road came back down to almost sea level before going up to about 700 feet.  While I was waiting at the top, I met a couple who lived in the city and talked to them for a while.

        It was all downhill into Sausalito, which was a very upscale looking town.  This was where I got my first view of San Francisco.  It was amazing to be looking out over the bay and seeing what I have been headed towards this entire time.  There were some pretty steep hills going out of the town, but near the top I caught my first glimpse of the bridge through the trees.  We went under 101 and then came out in a parking lot that led to the bike path on the bridge.  I disconnected the trailer and rode up a 250 feet climb to get a better view of the city while Brock waited.  When I got back down, we started across the bridge.

        We rode across and on the other side, I said goodbye to Brock who was heading downtown to his hotel, while I was headed another 20 miles south to the airport.  After leaving him, I realized how nice it was to have someone to ride with, even if we weren't always riding together.  It was a long 20 miles down mostly freeways to the airport, but it was along the beach for a while, so it wasn't to bad and there were tons of nice cars to look at.  Bimmer's, Benz's and Porshe's galore.  I got to the hotel in San Bruno and then was given a hard time about the hotel, so I called Ty's mom to find out what was up, only to find out that Ty and Jay had missed their flight and were stuck in Washington DC for the night.

        We got the room straightened out, but Ty and Jay won't be here until tomorrow morning, which is kind of disappointing, but what's one more night, right?

        I guess this means that my trip is over after 4050 miles.  I'm not quite sure what I think yet.  It sure was amazing to ride across that bridge into the city after 2 months of riding but there really isn't anything that can describe it.

        I am going to spend the next few days exploring the city with my friends and after I have been home for a few days I will probably post some closing thoughts and other things, but right now I am very tired and am going to sleep.

Day 63 (6/2)- I woke up this morning and found trash around my trailer which is odd because I am usually very careful about not leaving anything out.  Upon closer inspection though, my sandwich and pastries were missing and there were raccoon prints on the side of the trailer.  I don't know how it was able to get the food out without moving the cover, but it did.  Luckily I had enough other stuff to keep me until the next store.  I was the first one to pack everything up, so I told Brock I would meet him at the first store I came to.  It ended up being further than I though.  I got to one town and saw a "General Store" sign on it, but as I got closer I saw that it was jacked up off its foundation.  Probably not open then.

        I stopped at the store near Salt Point and waited about an hour for Brock, and we he showed up we looked at our maps and decided to meet at a campground in Olema, nearly more miles down the road.  We both knew it was a stretch, but it meant a short day tomorrow.  I left then and headed down the foggy road.  For a good while between Salt Point and Jenner the road ran on a cliff about 500 feet above the ocean, but unfortunately it was to foggy to see anything further than 100 yards away.  I could hear the seals below though.  I stopped in Jenner for some food and then continued through Bodega Bay and Valley Ford.  Just before the town of Fallon there was a huge hill, so I stopped on the top and tried my phone.  It worked, so I spent an hour or so talking to people before heading back into the endless Nextel dead zone.

        Just before Olema I stopped in the town of Point Reyes to get some food for the night.  By this point I was soaking wet and cold from riding through the thick fog.  I got there at about 6:15, 45 minutes before the store closed and went to the deli in the back and asked for a sandwich, but no, they don't make sandwiches that late.  Fine.  I grabbed a soggy sandwich out of the cooler to match my soggy attire and went to the checkout where I waited behind 6 people.  At that point I was not in the mood and was slightly irritated.  After I got my food, I rode a few more miles to the campground and set up camp.  I highly doubted that Brock was going to show up, but just as I was getting ready to go to bed for the night he rode up, completely exhausted.  I was very surprised to see him.

Day 62 (6/1)-  The campground was very noisy during then night and this morning.  I woke up around 6:30 to the sound of a crying baby.  I waited 15 minutes, and it was still crying, so I just got up and started packing.  I was out of the campground by 7:00.  If felt bad leaving Brock there, but I figured I would wait for him at the bike shop in Fort Bragg.  The bike shop didn't open until 9:30 and I didn't feel like waiting 2 hours, so I rode up the road to Safeway and bought some food for the day and a pack of small cereals.  I went outside and ate 4 boxes of cereal at the very comfortable patio set that was for sale in front of the store. 

        I left the grocery store at about 8:15 and a few miles down the road it started to drizzle.  It was very light though, so I kept going for a while.  I stopped a few miles later under a big pine tree near the town of Little River and took a hour long nap on a pine log bench.  Brock woke me up.  I decided we could both be miserable in the rain together.  Just after we started, the rain let up.  This road is amazing hilly and even more amazingly beautiful.  Around every corner there is a magnificent view of the ocean and cliffs.

        We stopped for lunch in the small town of Elk and got some lunch, and by the time we were done, the clouds had given way to the sun.  We left Elk and I told Brock I would wait for him at the next town.  I got to Manchester and when he showed up, I told him I was going to go to the library in Manchester and that he could keep going.  We agreed to meet up again at the campground in Gualala.  I rode to the library in Point Arena and spent almost 2 hours there before leaving.  I rode pretty hard and made it to Gualala a little before dark and bought some food for the night.  When I got to the campsite Brock was already there as well as another fellow, Jeremy, who was from Colorado.  We chatted for a little while and then went to bed because the mosquitoes were eating us alive.

Day 61 (5/31)- Well, I woke up this morning around 8 like I usually do, and just as I started packing up the guy I had met last night drove up in his car and came over.  He brought me a Coke and some granola bars which I was very grateful for because I had run out of decent food to eat.  Then he brought out a ton of parts from his car and found a chain ring that was nearly the same as mine.  Although he didn't have the right tools to fix it, he gave me the chain ring so that I could have someone at the next bike shop put it on for me.  We talked as I packed everything up, and then around 9:30 I said goodbye and got going.

        I rode about another 15 miles through the redwoods before getting back on 101.  The size of these trees has yet to cease amazing me.  I just can't get over how huge they are.  I pretty much just ride along looking up at the sky.  I rode along 101 for a while, climbing about 700 feet to the town of Garber.  There was supposed to be a bike shop in town, but I couldn't see town from the highway and wasn't interested in searching for it, so I kept going.  From Garber it was constant hills.  Up 300, down 200, up 200, down 300.  The road went down to one lane near Confusion Hill, and then went down into the town of Legget.  Right outside of town at a general store, I saw another biker and went over to introduce myself.  He had just left from Fort Bragg, 43 miles away, beginning a 4500+ trip to Bar Harbor, Maine.  I talked with him for a long while and before he left I gave him my phone number so he could give me a call when he got close to New Hampshire.

        I rode a few more miles into the town of Legget where I met another couple who was touring up the coast.  They were traveling from Pheonix, AZ up to Vancover.  They told me they had their bikes stolen while they were in San Francisco and warned me to keep it locked up.  I got some more drinks in Legget before heading to the infamous Legget hill which I have been hearing about since Cresent City.  It was over 1000 vertical feet to the top up a very winding road.  I started counting the 15 MPH corners and hairpins and lost count at 18, and that was just on the way up.  I rode the entire way up without stopping, which was dumb, because by the time I got to the top I could baarely stand up my legs were so weak.

        The ride down was probably about the most fun you can have on a bike.  I flew down it, going around all the turns at least 15 MPH faster than the sped limit.  It was a thrill to fly around those corners.  I bet if I had raced a car down, I would have won no contest.  It was almost 2000 vertical feet down that road.  It stopped going down near sea level and then went another 800 feet up, and then 900 down to the coast.  Getting back to the coast was just amazing.  I rode past a couple of campgrounds that were on a cliff overlooking the water and was tempted to stop, but kept going.  I stopped in the town of Westport and picked up a nice sandwich and some snacks for the night.  I was getting to be starving as I hadn't really eaten much all day.

        A few miles outside of town I saw another cyclist ahead, so I sped up to catch him.  His name was Brock and he was going from Vancouver to San Francisco.  It turned out that he had been a day ahead of me for a while and even camped at the same campgrounds, Patrick's Point and the Burlington campground in Humboldt SP.  He had started in Garberville and was headed to Fort Bragg.  I rode with him for a while and as we got to Cosset, he decided to just come to the campground to camp with me.  It sure was nice to ride with someone for a while.  When we got to the campground, there were already two other bikers here, one riding down the coast and one riding up the coast.  There was also a couple across the way who was spending a year riding from Canada to Panama.  Very impressive.

        The guy who got here before us had a campfire going, my first of the trip which was very nice.  We sat and talked for a few hours before deciding that it was time for bed.  Brock is also trying to make San Fran for the 3rd, so I might ride with him for the rest of the trip.  We'll see.  After putting in these two long days I should be able to take it a little easier the next few days which will be nice.  I would love to spend more time relaxing on the coast.

        I believe that today was the hilliest day of my entire trip, beating out my day through the Bighorns.  I didn't think think that would ever happen.  Crazy.

Day 60 (5/30)- I slept really good last night for some reason.  I think it was because it was just the right temperature out and it was really quiet except for the sound of the surf.  I got up around 8 and left by about 9:30.  The road was pretty flat compared to yesterday so that helped a lot.  There was also a decent tailwind.  It was about 20 miles down 101 to the town of Arcada.  It wasn't that fun of a ride and it wasn't that scenic.  101 is mostly a 4 lane freeway, but there was a nice wide shoulder that was mostly free of debris so it wasn't that bad.

        I got to Arcada and almost right off the highway I found the bike shop.  I went inside and told the guy what my situation was, but he said they were to swamped to do it.  He was nice enough to give me all the tools I needed and even came outside and quickly explained what I needed to do.  It ended up costing about $55, but boy was it worth it to have a working cassette (rear gears) and a front tire that wasn't covered in duct tape.  From there I rode right through Eureka.  Right outside of town I got a flat and remembered that I didn't have any more patches.  I got off the highway at the next town, Futura and asked the people at the chamber of commerce if there was a bike shop in town.  Luckily there was, and it wasn't even out of my way, which was really nice. 

        After getting the patches I got back on the freeway.  It started to get a little more hilly, but nothing to big.  I stopped in the town of Stenia and got some supplies to last me the night and into tomorrow.  Right after that, I got off the freeway onto the Avenue of the Giants which was the old 101.  It runs for about 30 miles parallel to 101.  The redwoods here weren't quite as big as the ones in the other park, but they were still impressive.  I rode for about 15 miles down Avenue of the Giants to the center of the park and decided to stop at the campground there because I was getting tired.  Tonight I get to camp right in the middle of a redwood grove.  Pretty awesome.

Day 59 (5/29)- I slept in until almost 9 this morning because I stayed up so late last night.  It took me a while to get going, and it was 10:45 before I left.  About a mile out of town, the road started going uphill into Del Norte Redwoods State Park.  I got to take a really good look at the trees as I slowly climbed to over 1200 feet.  Just over the crest of the hill, there was a hiking trail, so I put on my sneakers and went for an almost 2 mile hike through the redwoods.  By looking at the undergrowth you would think you were in the jungle.  It was all ferns and moss because it never really dries out.  Pretty neat.

        As I got back to my bike, I caught a glimpse of two other fully loaded bikers going down the hill, but by the time I got my shoes back on and got going they were out of sight.  A little way down the hill at about 600 feet there was an amazing overlook where I stopped and had a small snack on a rock overlooking the coastline and ocean.  Then I kept going down the very curvy road until I was back at the ocean.  I spotted the two bikers I had seen earlier down by the beach, so I went over and said hi.  They had driven from San Francisco to Crescent City yesterday and were riding down the coast back to San Fran.  We talked for a while and I told them about my bike troubles.  They offered me a new cable that they had, but I said it was alright and that I would make it to Eureka to get a new one.  We talked for a little while longer and then they left.  I made some more PB & J's for lunch and ate them on the beach.

        A few hundred yards after leaving the beach, the cable completely snapped so I was stuck in my lowest (hardest) gear, and could only shift my three front gears.  Oh great.  Luckily it was fairly flat, so it didn't cause that big of a problem.  About 5 miles down the road I ran into the couple again and they saw my cable had snapped.  We tried to replace it with theirs, but we didn't have a good enough pair of cable cutters.  We ended up just putting it in a middle gear and then tying  it off so I wouldn't change gears.  Apparently I lost my multi-tool somewhere, so they gave me their extra so I could adjust the cable if I needed to.  I did about a few miles later as I started up another huge hill into Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  This hill only went up 900 feet though.  At the other side of the park there was a herd of elk browsing along the road.

        The road went back down to sea level, but stuck closer to the coast this time, so the hills were only about 200 feet each time.  I was starting getting tired, so I stopped at Patrick's Point State Park and got a campsite right on the ocean.  After I set up camp I packed myself a picnic and went over to the beach where I sat on a huge piece of driftwood, ate and watched the sunset.

        I might end up sending the trailer home in Eureka tomorrow because it really slows me down on the hills and I need to put in some serious miles if I want to make it to San Fran for the third.  We'll have to see where I am.  Hopefully I will be able to get the bike fixed too.  Not only do I need a new cable and tire, but my middle sprocket (front gears) is so worn down that it is starting to slip a lot.  We'll see.       

Day 58 (5/28)- I woke up today and was treated to a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, sausage, eggs and milk with real maple syrup!  After breakfast I went and packed up all my stuff and said goodbye to the entire family and got a picture with the birthday boy!  I left around 8:30 and came to the town of O'Brien where I was warned about the dangers of US-199 through California.  Everyone had been warning me about curvy and dangerous it is.  The road did get very narrow and very curvy soon thereafter.

        I reached California at about 11:00 and stopped to eat some of the food that had been given to me.  It was nice to have some fresh fruit to eat.  I couldn't believe that I was actually going into California.  After the border the road kept going up and up and up to almost 2000 feet.  Near the top of the hill there was a tunnel that was about a 1/2 mile long.  The cool thing was that there was a button for bicyclists to press.  When you pressed the button it started some lights flashing above a sign just before the tunnel that said "Bicyclist in Tunnel".  Someone was thinking when they put that in!

        After going through the tunnel it was all downhill, but about 1/2 mile down, I heard that familiar whooshing sound that meant I had a flat.  I stopped and took a look and I had worn all the way through the back tire!  I didn't have any duct tape to fix it, so I swapped the back an front tires to that there wouldn't be so much stress on the bad tire.  That process took about 1/2 an hour.  The tire went flat after about 5 miles, so this time after patching it, I kept the pressure at 30 PSI rather than the 60 it was at before.  Luckily, that lasted me until the town of Gasquet where I bought some duct tape and taped it over.  I stopped at the cafe there and got a chocolate smoothie and met an older lady who was from the town of Bassett, NE which I passed through on route 12.  A couple there was nice enough to pay for my smoothie which was very nice.  When I went outside, both tires on my bike were flat.  I put a new tube in both of them.  The worn through tire though needed extra attention, so I cut out a piece of a plastic water bottle and duct taped it to the inside of the tire to cover the hole.  It worked great.

        From Gasquet the road got even narrower as it followed a gorge carved out by the Smith River.  It is amazing that they were able to wind a road through the mountains there.  After about 10 miles, I got to the edge of Redwood National Park.  As I entered that park I was amazed by the size of the trees.  Some of them were about 20 feet across and came right up to the white line of the road.  It was amazing.  The sun was out, but it was so damp under the cover of the trees that there was moss growing on the road!  My ride through the park lasted about 10 miles.  It was weird how it abruptly ended.  All of a sudden it was bright and sunny out again.

        Just outside the redwoods I got on US-101 which took me right into Crescent City.  I rode into town and saw a sign that said "Waterfront Access", so I followed it.  After about 10 blocks I saw a huge blue vista.  I reached the end of the road and stopped at a small park that was there and just sat down on a bench.  I had made it to the Pacific Ocean.  Coast to Coast.  I probably sat there for 15 minutes just looking out at the ocean, which was color that I've never seen the Atlantic.  I stayed there for over an hour and made myself some PB & J's.  It's hard to believe that I made it.  I had my doubts, especially at the beginning, but 58 days and 3632 miles later, here I am.

        I saw a sign that said "San Francisco     358" right before I got into town, so it will probably be about another 400 miles to San Fran because I plan on taking the coastal roads.  I'll have to push it, but I think I can do it.

Day 57 (5/27)- I got up this morning and found that there was still a little bit of snow on the ground, but the sun was breaking through the clouds.  I left at around 9 and rode along the lake for a few miles before getting on OR-140.  It was flat for a few miles and then there was a hill.  A big one.  It started to drizzle a little as I approached the hill, but not that bad.  I started up the hill and the drizzle turned into a sleet, but it didn't bother me because I was nice and warm from all the climbing.  When When I reached the top, 1200 vertical feet above where I began, it started snowing pretty heavily. 

        As soon as I started heading downhill I got cold.  Even though I was riding the brakes and only going 10 MPH down the hill, I could barely see where I was going because it was snowing so hard.  I ended up stopping and waiting under a tree until the snow stopped.  When I came out 30 minutes later, there was over an inch of snow sitting on my trailer.  As I started down the hill again, it started raining and I couldn't feel my hands or feet, despite having duct tape wrapped around both.  About a mile down the road someone with a pick-up truck stopped and asked me if I wanted a ride.  I didn't want to, but I was so miserable that I said yes.  He was on his way to DJ a wedding and said he had driven across the country 30 or more times which was cool.  I had him drop me off at the bottom of the hill, about 5 miles down the road where it was drizzling, but almost 20 degrees warmer.

        I rode to Eagle Point where I stopped to get something to eat and then rode up to OR-234 which took me over to Grants Pass.  The terrain out there was much more what I imagined Oregon to be like.  Overcast with on and off drizzle, hilly and lots of trees.  The road to Grants Pass eventually started to run next to I-5 which was nice because I didn't have to ride on the highway like I thought I would.  I rode through Grant's Pass and then on to the town of Cave Junction where I stopped at Radio Shack to get a new cord for my camera.  I talked to the girl there for a few minutes and asked where I should spend the night and she recommended a motel down the road.

        When I got to the motel the lady there said that there was a phone call for me.  How could there be a phone call for me?  No one knew where I was!  It was the girl from Radio Shack.  She said she had called her dad and that he had invited me over for the night!  I rode back to Radio Shack and met her father, Craig and her husband, Mike who took me back to where they lived.  It was Craig's 50th birthday the next day, so that was very cool!  After they made me a nice hot dinner, we watched the movie Narnia which was very good.  It was nice to just relax for a while.  Then I went back to Mike apartment where I had a second dinner and took a nice warm shower and showed them pictures from my trip. 

Day 56 (5/26)- You know the saying "If you don't like the weather in New Hampshire just wait 5 minutes." Well, in Oregon the saying goes "If you don't like the weather in Oregon just wait 5 minutes and you will like it even less."  I woke up this morning to the sound of sleet falling on my tent.  Understandable because it gets pretty cold out at night.  It stopped after 15 minutes or so and I packed everything up and got some supplies at the store.  When I got out the bike and trailer was covered in sleet, so I moved it under an eave and waited for the sleet to stop.  As  I waited a pickup parked in front of me, completely covered in snow.  There was a good 5 inches of snow in the bed.  The couple had just come down from a quick trip up to Crater Lake.  They said they were up there about 30 minutes and in that long they got 5 inches of snow in the back of their truck!

        After the sleet stopped I headed out but about 2 miles down the road it started raining, so I took cover under an underpass.  It rained on an off for the next 2 hours.  I just stayed were I was waiting for a break in the clouds that would allow me to go 11 miles to the next town without being completely miserable.  I took off as soon as I thought I could and rode as fast as I could.  Lucky the wind wasn't to bad an the road was fairly flat.  I was bout a mile from the town of Fort Klamath when the wind picked up and it started sleeting hard.  I had to put on my sunglasses in order to see where I was going.

        I stopped at the general store and the owner invited me to sit down with him and his friend and we talked about this and that for hours as the sleet changed to snow then to rain and stopped and then repeated the cycle over and over.  At around 3:30 there appeared to be a break in the clouds, so I took off towards the mountains.  The road ran along the base of the mountains through some very dense forest.  Just after getting to the base of the mountains it started snowing hard, almost as hard as it did in the Bighorns.  I rode in this for way to long an stopped at Rocky Point Resort.  I took cover in a phone booth missing its phone and waited for almost an hour, hoping that the snow would stop so I could keep going.  It didn't stop, but it did start raining, so I finally broke down and asked for one of their very overpriced rooms for the night.

        The hot shower almost made it worth it.  Hopefully the weather will start behaving like it is almost June so I can make it to Grant's Pass and head south to California.  This weather means I am going to have to put in a couple of long days in order to make it to San Francisco in time.

Day 55 (5/25)- I woke up still feeling damp/cold and there wasn't any sun to warm me up because of the clouds.  I just stayed in the sleeping bag until the sun poked through and then I quickly packed everything up, bought some drinks at the store and started riding in order to warm up.  Despite what the locals in Riley said, the road was not flat.  It wasn't even close.  Right off the bat I rode up an almost constant hill that ended up being 1000 vertical feet above where I started that morning.  There was something nice though.  Just outside of town, the landscape turned from the desert sage to trees.  By the time I reached the top of the hill, there were huge Ponderosa pines towering over the road.  Even though I could still feel the wind, the trees did a great job of breaking it up for me.  I could hear the roaring of the wind in the tree tops.

        There never really was a downhill, it just kind of gradually went down without me noticing.  I ended up going through the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge.  This was basically just this big flat marshy area with tons of ducks.  An the road was as straight as they come for 10 miles and with my trees gone, the wind picked up to about 15-20 MPH.  I have discovered that a direct headwind is much better than one coming from an angle.  With a direct headwind me and the bike break the wind for the trailer and it is actually easier than a headwind from an angle.  When it comes from an angle it hits me, the bike and the trailer and makes it very hard.  Today's wind was from an angle and it was tough going.  The only good thing about the wind; it kept the mosquitoes away.

        The road through the marsh ended at US-97 which runs north-south between Bend and Klamath Falls.  What a horrible road to ride on.  About 3/4 of the traffic was trucks.  Another 1/8 was campers and the rest was cars.  This was heavy almost constant traffic that I haven't seen since I was in New York and Pennsylvania.  There was only about a two foot shoulder too, and it was mostly covered in gravel.  It was not a fun ride.  By the time I got to the town of Chiloquin, I was almost accustomed to looking up and seeing two semi's coming down the road at me as one tried to overtake another.  I got to the first town since Silver Lake at about 5.  There was nowhere to eat at all, only a supermarket, so I got some 6 inch pizzas and warmed them up in the microwave there.  Surprisingly the library was open, and imagine this, the internet worked.  Wow.  One odd thing about the town though is that all the occupied stores have bars over windows, like a bad neighborhood in New York at night.  I don't know why, and I hope that I don't find out. 

        I am camping the town park tonight.  Its probably going to rain, so I set the tent up.  Normally when it is going to rain, I try and find a place to stay, but there isn't anywhere to stay here.  Hopefully the tent will hold up well.  Oh and about pictures.  A. The camera is giving me troubles and sometimes doesn't work and B. I don't know where the cable went to connect it to the computer.  I'll get a new one within the next few days.

Day 54 (5/24)- It must have gotten pretty cold during the nights because the trailer was covered in frost when I woke up, but with the sun up, it warmed pretty quick.  It took about 30 minutes to pack everything up and then I was on my way, with a slight tailwind.  A few miles down the road there was a 1 mile 9% grade which I quickly climbing and then the road turned and my tailwind turned into a headwind, a much stronger one than yesterday as well.  It took me about 3 and a half hours to get less than 40 miles to Christmas Valley where I stopped at the cafe, just before it started to rain.

        I stayed at the cafe for a little while and waited for the rain to let up.  After I thought that the worst of it was over, I headed out.  By then it was almost 4.  The rain held up for about 30 minutes and then started again, so I took shelter in a farm shed that I found on the side of the road.  The rain lasted for about 30 minutes, and near the end of it there was a faint rainbow off to the east.  The wind kept blowing, so it was a slow ride.  The road was fairly flat accept for a small pass that I went through, but it was a very slight grade an only lasted for about a mile and a half.

        I got to the town of Silver Lake around 6:30 and found the park.  The sprinklers were on when I got there, so I left the trailer just off the grass and went back to the cafe to get something hot to eat.  When I got back to the park the sprinklers were on the zone closest to the road, so I went and set up my sleeping bag on a picnic table that was in a small covered area.  I tried to find a radio station to listen to, but the only one that would come in at all was NPR, and that isn't quite the bedtime music I was looking for, so I settled in and went to bed.

        I was rudely awakened at 1 AM by a jet of cold water on my face.  Apparently they like to water their grass 24/7 in Silver Lake.  I quickly grabbed my sleeping bag before the sprinkler came around again and moved it to the porch of the decrepit "Homesteader Cabin" on the edge of park.  It wasn't a very comfortable night because everything was damp, but I did get a very good look at the stars, and boy was that amazing.  There were so many more than we can see back east.

Day 53 (5/23)- I got up around 8 today and was out of the motel by 9.  I went to the grocery store and picked up a bunch of Gatorade to bring with me and then went to the bakery and got some cookies and a cinnamon roll to bring with me.  The wind was blowing out of the south, so I had a cross wind all morning which slowed me down a little.  It was more of an annoyance though because it was a gusty wind, so I had to constantly fight it to stay going a straight line.  The road was very straight with some little rollers here and there.  Very boring.  Sagebrush as far as I could see with just a few buildings here and there off in the distance.  I stopped at a rest area a few miles from Riley and met a couple who had relatives in New Hampshire.  Apparently the wife's brother in law owned the Mobil station across from the library in Merrimack.  It was pretty cool to run into someone who had connections back home.

        I got to the "town" of Riley a few miles later.  There were two buildings that made up the town, a post office and a store.  That was all.  I went into the store and found that the back wall was covered with pictures of cool cars that had stopped at the gas station there.  Upon closer inspection there were all pictures of bikers!  I started looking closer and there were quite a few of them, even a couple from Deering, NH on a tandem.  Pretty cool.  I got something to eat there and spent over an hour talking with the owner and customers that came in.  While I was there a guy I had met back in Burns came in.  Before I left, the owner took a picture of me with my bike to hang on the wall.  I want to go back in a few years to see if its still on the wall.

        After leaving the store I said my last goodbye to US-20 and got on US-395 which headed south into northwestern California.  Now that I was heading south I was pushing right into the wind which made for a slow and boring ride.  I could almost always see the next 5 miles of road, which makes it hard when you are only going 7 or 8 MPH.  Now all the I could see was sage.  No buildings, no other roads, no nothing.  It was 28 miles from Riley to Wagontire where there was a cafe.  I got to Wagontire and was happy to see open signs, but when I tried to go in the door was locked and there was a small post-it note saying "Come to motel office next door after hours".  Well, there weren't any hours posted anywhere, but I was starving so I went over to the motel office.  Also locked.  Ok, great.  I knocked on the door.  Nothing.  I banged on the door.  Nothing.  I went and banged on the cafe door.  Nothing.  There was no one anywhere.  A ghost town.  Excellent.  The next town?  50 miles away.  Honestly, what kind of cafe/bar is closed on a Tuesday at 5:30?  Oh right, one with a sage covered international airport.  Whatever, not much I could do, so I left.

        On my way out of town, I saw a sign that said "Wagontire International Airport".  What was this airport?  One runway that was a piece of desert with less sage than the surrounding area.  All I did was laugh.  10 miles down the road was an intersection where I could either keep going south on 395 or west on a county road to the town of Christmas Valley.  After looking at my maps and adding up the mileage I decided to go the Christmas Valley route because according to the people in Riley it was much, much flatter than going down 395.  By then it was about 7, so it was time to start looking for a place to camp.  A few miles down the road I saw a nice opening in the sage a few dozen yards off the highway and dragged the bike and trailer over to it.  It would do, and I set up camp, watched the sun set and went to bed.

Day 52 (5/22)- I woke up this morning to the sound of rain.  I stayed in my room until checkout time, procrastinating.  I took all the stuff out of trail and repacked the stuff I thought I was going to need, left out the less used stuff and packed it into a box.  At 11 I mailed my 12 pounds of gear back home and the waited for a little while for the rain to light up.  Then I rode around town and went into a discount store where I found a new trailer tire to replace the one that was 3/4 covered in duct tape.

        Next I went to the library, which was closed, so I just stood there for a little while.  To my surprise one of the librarians came and opened the door, invited me in and let me use the computer to check the weather.  I spent almost an hour there just talking with the librarians and by the time I left it was 1.  It was still raining and there were no more towns until Lakeview, 140 miles away and the weather for the rest of the day and night was rain, so I got another motel room and just relaxed.  Hopefully I can put in a long day tomorrow and make up the miles I missed today.

Day 51 (5/21)- I got up around 8 today and packed everything up. My front tire was flat, so I fixed that.  As I was about to leave one of the kids from last night came over and said goodbye again before I left.  It was all uphill all morning.  The road followed the Malheur River, so it was very curvy and went slowly uphill for over 30 miles.  The pavement was terrible and very rough.  I got to the town of Juntura around 12:30 and stopped at the cafe there to get lunch.  I stayed there for almost an hour resting up and then headed out again.

        It was over 1300 vertical feet up to Drinkwater Pass (elev. 4212).  About halfway up at the border of Malheur and Harney counties I crossed into Pacific Time.  I took a short break at the top of the pass and then headed down 700 feet into the valley on the other side.  The road was only flat for a few miles before the hills started up again.  It was another 1300 feet up to the top of Stinkingwater Pass (elev. 4848).  From there it was all downhill to the "town" of Buchanan, which was only a gas station.  I stopped there and got a few drinks.  I had planned on stopping there for the day, and I was really tired and wanted to stop, but there wasn't anywhere for me to stay, so I decided to try and make it to Burns.  From Buchanan the road was perfectly flat and perfectly straight for over 20 miles.  I have decided that the south eastern part of Oregon needs to become its own state, named Boregon.

        I Burns around 7:30, just as it was starting to sprinkle.  I couldn't find a suitable place to camp for the night and found a motel, probably the last one I will see for 200 miles.  Tomorrow I am going to mail some stuff home and lighten my load a little bit.

Day 50 (5/20)- Boy was it good to sleep in a real bed and a room with air conditioning.  I used the fridge to cool off the bottle of PowerAde that I had been carrying since Yellowstone because it was to warm to drink.  I took my time getting my stuff together and had a fairly big pile of stuff that I wanted to send home, so I went to the post office.  It didn't open on Saturdays.  Ridiculous.  Then I went and found the laundry mat.  Also closed.  What kind of town was this?  Oh well.

        I left at around 10:30.  A few miles later I crossed into Oregon and Pacific Time.  Right on the border was a small store where I stopped to pick up something to drink.  The man in there was very friendly, but at first couldn't believe that I had actually ridden my bike all the way from New Hampshire.  After I finally convinced him, he called his family who wanted to talk to me and they had tons of questions.  Before I left he was kind enough to give me a couple of free shirts and a some drinks for the road. 

        From the Oregon/Idaho line, I was on back roads for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon.  Although the pavement was very rough there was basically no traffic, so I didn't mind.  The road was pretty much all uphill and went through a state park that preserved part of the Oregon Trail.  In some areas you could even still see some of the wagon tracks which was pretty cool.  The road turned downhill at Haleey Pass and was all downhill into the town of Vale, but the headwind made it impossible to coast down the gradual grade which wasn't cool.

        Vale had a very nice downtown area.  Most of the buildings had murals of the Oregon Trail painted on them which were nice to ride around and look at.  I found a laundry mat and did laundry and found out that the next store was 30 miles down the road.  After I finished doing my laundry, I bought a few more drinks and then headed out.  It was fairly flat for a little while and then there was a long hill.  When I got to the bottom on the other side, I was at the exact same elevation I was before climbing the hill, which was interesting.  The town of Harper (pop. 20) was 5 miles on the opposite side of the valley.

        I stopped in at the store, got something cold to drink and talked with the owner for a little while.  He told me that the principal of the school in town said that bikers were welcomed to camp out on the football field, so thats where I went.  I set up my tent behind the bleachers and then I found a stray basketball and kicked it around for a while.  A couple of the kids must have heard me, because they came over and had tons of questions.  There were five of them from 7 to 13 years old and they hung around for a few hours.  I played a basketball game with Dustin which lasted way to long because we both stunk, but it was a ton of fun.  They headed home nearly an hour after dark and then I went to bed.

Day 49 (5/19)- I got up and was on the road by 7:00 this morning, the earliest I have gotten going yet.  I guess it was just because it was so humid out and the sun was shining in my eyes.  Before I left I got a couple of waters at the cafe because the gas station wasn't open yet.  It was mostly uphill all morning.  It wasn't really hilly, just a slight incline that was barely noticeable.  I started the morning at 2400 feet and within the first 10 miles had reached 3250 feet, but from there it was pretty much all downhill, back to the Snake River.  I stopped in the town of Murphy (pop. 50) and got something to eat and a cold drink and then got going again before it got hot.

        I reached the town of Marsing (pop. 800), 60 miles down the road, at about 12:30 and stopped there at the public library to escape the heat.  I stayed there for about 3 hours and when it started to cool off around 4, I decided to go find some food.  On my way to the grocerey store, I felt something hit my arm, and I thought someone had spit out their car window at me, but there weren't any cars around.  A few seconds later it started to hail!  I have only seen hail on two other occasions and this was by far the largest, almost the size of a dime.  I took cover at a gas station across from the grocery store and when I stopped hailing and started raining I went over and got some food.  The entire time it was raining it was bright and sunny out which was pretty cool. 

        The storm only lasted about 30 minutes, and within 15 minutes of it ending the roads were dry again.  I went another 10 miles to the town of Homedale where I decided to stay in a motel for the night due to the threat of thunderstorms.

Day 48 (5/18)- I got up today at around 7:30 after having not such a great rest.  It was hot and buggy out, so I was either way to hot in the sleeping bag or I was tossing and turning as bugs landed on me.  The bugs are one of the downfalls of the warmer weather.  Anyway, I left Bliss at around 9 after getting some breakfast at the gas station down the road.  Once again, I was forced to ride on the highway due to the lack of other roads.  This time it was for 26 miles down I-84.  Unlike I-90 in Wyoming, this highway was very busy and the majority of the traffic was large trucks.

        One of the nice things about all the trucks was they added to the decent tailwind I already had at my back, so I averaged almost 19 MPH on the highway.  The first 16 miles between Bliss and the town of Glenns Ferry was very nice.  The rumble strip was just off the white line and was only a foot wide, so I had the entire shoulder to myself.  After Glenns Ferry though, it changed to the kind that are spaced every 50 feet and take up the entire shoulder, forcing me to ride with the trailer 1/2 way in the travel lane.  I was forced over onto the shoulder only a few times, but other than that, most people understood my predicament and moved over into the other lane.

        I got off the highway near the town of Haggerman and then got on ID-78 which was a very nice road with very little traffic.  From Haggerman, it was 20 miles to the town of Bruneau.  I stopped there at around 12:30 because it was just to hot for me.  I found the town park and took a little nap.  I didn't leave until after 4 when it had cooled down a little bit.  From there it was another 20 miles to the town of ?????.  I think that the toughest park about the heat is not having anything cold to drink when the towns are as far apart as they are out here.  By the time I got to ???  I was forcing down powerade that was about 75 or 80 degrees.  That is disgusting and gets old really really fast, like after the first sip.

        Anyway, when I got to town I found a covered picnic area on the far side of town down near the Snake River.  I left my stuff there and then rode back up to the main road to see if I could get any cell service, but I didn't have any luck.  On my way back, it started down pouring as a thunderstorm came through.  Right now I am watching lightning strike across the river which is pretty cool.  One more note, I hit the 3000 mile mark today!

Day 47 (5/17)- Once again I was up just after sunrise today and I was on my way by 7:30.  The wind was almost dead calm, but at times there was a slight tailwind.  I cruised through the town of Richfield (pop. 412) and kept going until I came across a live rattlesnake in the road.  He was right in the part of the road where he would get run over by cars, so I tried to get him to move.  He was not very happy and started to rattle and hiss like crazy.  I tried one more time to get him to move, but all he did was lunge at me and then settle back into his spot, so I left him there.

        A few more miles down the road, I was riding along as close to the shoulder as I could when I heard truck brakes lock up behind me.  I took a quick look and saw a huge blue semi coming down the road with a car trying to pass him in the other lane.  I drove off into a ditch, jumped off the bike, and somehow managed to stay on my feet and kept the bike up.  Needless to say, I was not very happy, but what could I do.  I got back on the road, and a few miles later the truck pulled up next to me and apologized even though we both knew it wasn't his fault.  He told me that he also biked quite a bit and that I was one of the better bikers he had seen for not crashing while going off the road.  I think it was more luck than skill, but that's ok.

        I got to Shoshone (pop.1398) at 10 and went to the post office, where once again I had quite a pile of packages.  I found a nice shady gazebo and opened everything.  There was tons of food and lots of encouraging notes.  Thank you!!!!!!

        After spending almost an hour studying my maps and crunching numbers, I decided to head back north and into Oregon rather than go south in Nevada.  I figured out that the mileage was nearly the same both ways (within ten miles) and the road through Oregon appeared to have more towns and less desert.  I also wanted to do some research on the prevailing winds, but of course, the internet at the library was down.  Just my luck.  I asked where the next open library was and the librarian said Gooding.  I also asked if their internet would be working and she said yes.

        I headed west on US-26 and got to the town of Gooding (pop. 3384) about an hour later and sought out the library.  I went in and asked to use the internet.  "Oh, I'm sorry, the internet has been down lately", was the reply I got.  I was not happy, so I looked around for somewhere else that might have wireless internet.  Nothing.  Then I looked for a bike shop.  Nothing.  Ok, well then there had to be at least be somewhere to pick up a small FM radio or something right?  No.  Right on my way out of town there was a dollar store and I found a little AM/FM radio for $5 and bought that to replace my MP3 player.  Not the best, but it would work. 

        It was 11 miles to the next town, Bliss (pop. 250).  Bliss was at the intersection of US-26 and I-84, so it was basically just a bunch of truck stops, but it would work.  There was a nice little park just outside of the commercial area.  After I got settled in the sprinklers on the other side of the park started going off.  I took off my shoes and shirt and went to the last sprinkler in the row and took a makeshift shower.  The water coming out of the last sprinkler was even semi-warm because the pipes were above ground.  Boy did I feel good after.

Day 46 (5/16)- I got up just after sunrise today and packed everything up as quick as I could because there was a decent tailwind blowing.  It was more than 30 miles to Arco, but it was nice and easy and the road was pretty flat.  I stopped at Pickle's Place in Arco and got something to eat and then went to the library.  I probably spent almost an hour there before leaving.  On my way out of town I grabbed a sandwich and found a park and quickly ate it.  There was a historical marker there that said Arco was the first town in the world to be powered by nuclear power and I thought that was kind of cool.

        It was getting hot really quick and I road for 20 miles until I got to Craters of the Moon National Monument.  I stopped there at the visitors center and spent a couple of hours there laying in the shade, waiting for the temperature to drop a little.  The park was very barren, with rocks randomly strewn all over the place.  I didn't actually go into the park because the road going through was one way and was 7 miles long, but I spent some time looking at the pictures in the visitors center.  I met a couple from northern Idaho who were at the park doing research.  They were both bikers and were very interested in my trip.  I spent some time talking to them and then around 4.

        About 4 miles down the road there was some major construction going on and the road was one lane and very loose gravel.  There was no way I was going to make it through that with my skinny tires so I got a ride with the pilot car for about 2 miles.  From there it was about 20 miles to the next town, Carey.  The landscape through this area was very interesting.  It looked as if the land had been used as a dumping ground for blasted rock, except it went on and on.  Very interesting.

        A few miles before I reached Carey I met another touring cyclist named Jack who was going from Washington state down to Colorado.  He was on a recumbent and had a bob trailer and he was carrying way more gear than I was.  I reached Carey (pop. 513) at around 6 and got some food at a cafe and then went to the park.  I ended up just setting up my sleeping bag on a concrete slab next to a picnic table and that was good enough for me.

Day 45 (5/15)- I got up at around 7:15 and watched the weather channel for a few minutes.  All they talked about was the flooding in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.  After watching that for a few minutes I went upstairs and caught Stacey right before he headed off to work.  He said I was welcome to stay as long as I needed and to help myself to anything.  After he left I made myself some oatmeal, packed up and left at 9:15.  It was already pretty warm out and I knew it was going to be a hot one.

        Outside of Ashton, US-20 turned into a four lane highway, which I can normally deal with, but the genius who designed this section decided to put in rumble strips that take up the entire shoulder at 50 foot intervals, so I was forced to ride in the travel lane on a road with a speed limit of 65.  Lucky, traffic was that heavy and I was only forced onto the shoulder a few times. There was a decent tailwind out of the north east, so it took me just over an hour to go the 27 miles to Rexburg.  I got off at exit 333 and stopped at the Comfort Inn just off the exit and checked my e-mail and uploaded the pictures from Yellowstone.  Then I went to the gas station and picked up a sandwich and a few drinks.  From there I headed west on ID-33.  It was pretty much a desert.  Very dry and the only vegetation was some grass and sage brush as far as I could see.  Off in the distance I could start to make out another mountain range, The Lost River Range, including the highest point in Idaho, Borah Peak (12662 feet). 

        It was 20 miles from Rexburg to the next building, which was a truck weigh station at the intersection of ID-33 and I-15.  I stopped there, went inside and sat down, got something cold to drink and had a few granola bars.  Inside there was a bulletin board with all sorts of comics making fun of the high gas prices.  Some of them where pretty funny.  From there it was 14 miles to Mud Lake and the next gas station.  I stopped between the weigh station and Mud Lake because it was just to hot.  I took cover under a spruce tree of some sort and spent about an hour talking to some friends I hadn't heard from for a month.  When I finally got to Mud Lake, it was in the upper 80's and the sun was beating down relentlessly.  I can't say that I saw a single could all day, not one.

        I probably spent an hour in Mud Lake sitting in the gas station eating ice cream and drinking water and powerade.  When I finally left at 4:30, it was still really hot out, but was starting to cool off.  I had bought three big powerade bottles, because the people at the gas station said the next store was in Arco, over 60 miles down the road.  The road got even more boring from there, almost perfectly flat and straight.  The only distractions were the mountains ahead and the remnants of 4 old volcanoes off to the south.  I got to the town of Howe (pop. 20) just after 7, and although I wanted to make it to Arco, it was another 23 miles and I was ready to quit.  Howe was nestled at the base of the mountains, had a nice covered picnic area with power outlets, so that sealed the deal.  It was time to stop.

        For most of the day today the wind was either calm or was coming lightly out of the ESE, giving me a tailwind which helped speed up those long, straight stretches of road.  There was a 40+ mile stretch that did not take a single turn from Rexburg to way after Mud Lake.  The weather is supposed to be even hotter tomorrow, so I am planning on going to bed early tonight, waking up early, and maybe taking a little siesta during the hottest part of the day tomorrow.

Day 44 (5/14)- It was pretty cold last night, and when I got out of the tent at 7:30 and checked the thermometer it was only 24 degrees.  I spent a few minutes just sitting in the sun warming up and then started breaking down the tent and packing things up.  I ate some granola bars while I was packing.  By the time I was finished it was 8:15 and I still hadn't decided if I was going to ride to Old Faithful or not.  I spent a few minutes looking at my maps and then decided not to because it was all uphill, there would be a headwind the entire way there, and I didn't have enough food to make it there, back and then to West Yellowstone.

        The ride this morning was amazing.  By 9 it had warmed up enough for me to take my pants and jacket off and the road continued to follow the river, so there was an almost constant downhill slope.  There was also no wind.  Imagine that.  No wind.  I can't remember the last day there was no wind.  Anyway, the ride along the river was very nice and I saw a ton more buffalo and quite a few more moose.  Just before leaving the park I entered Montana.  I was dissapointed to have to leave the park.  I could have ridden around in there for weeks without getting the slightest bit bored, but I knew that I had to keep moving.

        I got to West Yellowstone, MT and found a cafe to get my first real food since leaving Cody.  Then I went and found a laundry mat and spent an hour or so getting all my clothes nice and clean.  When I finished the laundry I went and sat outside the Days Inn and used their wireless to update the website and check my e-mail.  I copied down the phone number of the person I was going to stay with in Ashton and then started heading west on US-20.  A mile or so out of town there was a sign that said "Ashton      63".  It was already almost 1:30, so I knew that if I did make it that far it would be close.

        A few miles outside of town there was a fairly long climb up to "???? Pass", 7072 feet.  The top of this pass was also the Continental Divide and the Montana/Idaho border.  From there it was a nice downhill into a valley.  The road kept at a very slow downhill slant and the wind started coming lightly out of the north, giving me a small tailwind.  That was what I needed to get me to Ashton.  I was averaging around 17 or 18 MPH on the flats and faster on the downhills.  Heading down into Ashton (pop, 1100) there was a 4 mile long 6% downhill grade into town.  I dropped nearly 1000 feet in that 4 miles and in the valley the temperature was in the low 80's, almost hot!  I find it amazing how you can go from freezing to roasting out here in the same day.

        And guess what?  MY CELL PHONE HAS SERVICE AGAIN.  Let me tell you, that made my day.  After not having service for 19 days and 1034 miles, I am absolutely psyched that it is working again.  As soon as I got into town I called 6 people, and of course, with my luck, only one answered.  Thanks Kel.  :-)

        After talking on the phone for a while, I went and found a place to eat.  The waitress asked me where I was biking from, and I said New Hampshire.  She said, "So you must be Charlie."  I guess news travels fast in a small town.  She was the ex-wife of the guy I was supposed to be staying with.  I told her I had tried calling the house, but he wasn't home.  She said she would call him, and a minute later she came back and told me he would be right over.  Stacey showed up a few minutes later and we talked as I ate my dinner and then he took me back to his house where I took my first shower in a long time.  He then made me my second dinner and we talked for a while before I went to bed at around 10.       

Day 43 (5/13)-  Wow, what a day.

        I got up at around 7:30 this morning, had some breakfast and was out of the camping area by 8:30.  I rode for about 10 miles and then came to a gas station/store/restaurant combo and stopped to get some more drinks.  Then I went into the restaurant and they really didn't have anything like a muffin or pastry and everything was way overpriced, but I was hungry, so I just ordered an english muffin with peanut butter.  It cost almost $3, but I guess that's just the way things are out here.  One of the workers named Mike???? came and sat down with me and we probably spent nearly an hour talking about this and that.  He was a writer from Chicago and had come to work for the summer and take a break.

        I left the restaurant at 10:30 and rode the last few miles to the east entrance to Yellowstone.  It cost me $12 to get in, which I thought was quite a bit for a kid on a bike, but you gotta do what you gotta do.  The other ranger who was on duty said that she had seen me at the dam and later at the "red barn" ( the convenience store) while making a trip into town.  I thought it was cool that she remembered all that.  A few miles after entering the park I hit the construction.  The park service was redoing the road up Sylvan pass and 10 miles of the road was completely torn up and there was only one lane open the entire way.  There was no way I was going to be able to ride uphill, in the dirt and keep up with the pilot vehicle, so I went down the line of cars waiting and started asking people with trucks if they would mind taking me.  The first one was full, but the driver of the second truck, a Tacoma with Nevada plates, said he would be happy to take me.  He was headed up to the northern part of the park.

        We talked until the pilot vehicle came and then we got in and drove up through the construction.  I asked him to take me to the first "town" ( a "village" with nothing at all open") which was 24 miles away from the start of the construction.  I could have just ridden to the end of the construction, and under normal circumstances I would have, but the ONLY campground open in the park was near the west entrance, over 80 miles away.  From Fishing Bridge it was only 44 miles to the campground, which I figured I would be able to do.  In the truck we went over Sylvan Pass.  Some of the snow banks up there were still over 10 feet high.  From the pass it was all downhill to Yellowstone Lake.  It was quite a view.  Down near the lake there was a huge traffic jam, so I figured that there were some moose or buffalo, but it was a grizzly!  It wasn't a big one, I think it was just a cub, but it was still awesome to see because I have never seen a bear before.   

    After I got dropped off at Fishing Bridge around 12:15 the first interesting place I came to was Mud Volcano, which was a huge bubbling vat of mud.  It reminded me of the scene from Volcano where the statues sink into the pond.  Anyways, just as I was leaving a herd of about 20 buffalo decided it was time to take a stroll down the road, and I had to wait 5 minutes as the buffalo walked on by, not more than 6 or 7 feet away from me.  That was cool.

        Next was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  First I stopped at the Upper Falls, which was a 100+ foot drop.  Even though I was a good distance away, it was still impressive.  Next was Artist Point, which was a solid 3 miles extra.  The view of the canyon from here was incredible.  There is no possible way that words or pictures can come even close to telling what it was like.  It was just amazing.  The colors and the rock formations and the hugeness of the whole thing were just indescribable.

        After spending some time at Artist Point I rode back to the main road and went a mile or so to Canyon Village, which actually had something open, a small store with drinks and junk food.  I got some Gatorades, a few candy bars, a muffin and a cinnamon roll.  After I was thoroughly stuffed, I disconnected the trailer and left to do a 5 mile loop that wound its way next to the canyon.  The first stop was Inspiration Point, which was the same deal as Artist Point, an incredibly amazing view of the canyon.    Then there was Lookout Point, from which you could see the Lower Falls(300+ feet).  Even though it was taller than the Upper Falls, it looked the same sized because it was further away.

        I ran out of space in the camera for pictures at the lower falls, so I went back to the village and got the trail and then went to the gas station where I took out the laptop and emptied the camera.  While I was there another biker, Mike,  stopped in.  Apparently him and a bunch of other guys were doing a century through the park.  He was one of the stragglers.  He was very outgoing and told me his motto, "Safety third".  I liked it.  After he left, I packed everything up and got going.

        There was a good sized hill outside of Canyon, but after that it was all downhill.  It took me about an hour to reach the next "village", Norris.  Located here was the Norris Geyser Basin which was just a huge area filled with tons of hot springs, geysers and mud boils.  I spent almost an hour there and walked about 3 miles on the paths through the area.  Some of the colors in the springs were incredible.  While I was there walking, I met a couple from Montana and we talked for a few minutes.  They thought what I was doing was incredible and also a little insane.

        After Norris it was all downhill to Madison.  The road ran parallel to a canyon and passed many more small hot springs.  They were everywhere you looked.  A few miles from the Campground, I passed a herd of at least 100 buffalo.  I started counting and gave up at 50 because there were to many of them.  Unfortunately, the camera ran out of batteries and I had used up all the spares during the day.  I got to the campground at around 8:00 and by 8:30 had everything set up.  They had a nice area set up for hikers and bikers and it was already covered with a tarp in case of rain, which I highly doubt will fall because it is perfectly clear right now.

        Today was pretty much a perfect day.  Most of the day I was riding at over 8000 feet.  It was perfectly clear, in the upper 60's and although there was a good bit of traffic, I was told again and again it was nearly nothing compared to the summer months.  During the day the same cars would pass me multiple times, and they all gave me plenty of space, except for this one silver Chevy Impala which, no matter how empty the road was, insisted on staying completely centered in its lane, coming within a foot or so of me.  This happened four or five times, and after the fifth time, I started carrying a snowball with me to throw at it the next time it came to close, but unfortunately I never saw it again.

    Tomorrow I will most likely leave the trailer her and ride the 16 miles (one way) to Old Faithful.  Then I will come back and get the trailer and head of the west entrance of the park to West Yellowstone, MT.  I wish I could spend more time here, but it's not going to happen.  I will definitely be coming back.  Soon.

Day 42 (5/12)- After waking up and packing up, I went and got some breakfast at Peter's and then headed up to the post office.  Luckily my package was there waiting for me with my new trailer tire inside.  There were also a few snacks which saved me a shopping trip.  Thanks mom!  I left Cody at about ????? and for once there was barely any wind.  I got a flat just outside of town and stopped to fix that before heading into the mountains.

        Right after fixing the flat there was a set of three tunnels.  The first two were only about 100 feet long, but the third was nearly 3/4 of a mile, so I tried turning on my tailight so drivers could see me.  The silly thing broke right off.  I guess all the vibration from the bad roads did it in.  At the end of the tunnel was the Cody Dam?  The dam was 350 feet tall and was very impressisve.  The amount of water it head back was awesome and the gorge it was built into was huge.  I spent some time there and the headed off into Buffalo Bill SP.  The road through this area road right along the resevoir and there were great views of the snow covered mountains.  About 5 miles after the dam the wind started to pick up.  And then it picked up some more and then some more until it was blowing a solid 20 MPH with stronger gusts.  I biked for about an hour at 6 miles an hour and then gave up and stopped at the Yellowstone Valley Inn, which was closed.  I just sat behind a building out of the wind for two hours and waited for it to die down.

        When the wind finally died down a little bit I headed back out and came to the town of Wapipi, which consisted of a bar and post office.  I stopped at the bar and got some cold water and was told there was a gas station/store 3 miles down the road.  I rode to the store, got some ice cream and powerade and called home, since apparently they removed all the payphone from the state park.  After my stop at the store, I rode in the Shoshone National Forest, the oldest national forest in the country.  I rode by "The Holy City" and then came to the range station, which of course, was closed, along with the campgrounds on both sides of it.  Apparently nothing out here opens for another few weeks.  I kept riding and the trailer tire finally wore through.  I didn't feel like fixing it there, so I put some duct tape over it and kept going.

        A few miles down the road I saw a moose and a mile later I saw some big horn sheep, you know, the ones with the big curly horns.  I saw tons of deer.  A few miles later and 13 miles from Yellowstone I finally found an open campground.  I went in and set up my tent, and as I was getting ready to go relax in my tent, the couple who had just pulled into the spot across the road came over.  The husband had done tons of touring when he was younger, including a 2700 mile tour from Jackson, WY to PA.  We talked for a little while and they invited me over for dinner, which was great, becvause all I had to eat were granalo bars!

        During dinner we talked about our experiences and they told me they had just come through the park on their way to IL to see family.  They told me that pretty much nothing was open in the park, except for one lodge at Old Faithful and a campground in Madison, both about 100 miles away.  They also informed me about a 10 mile stretch of road that was all dirt due to contruction.  I guess I'll have to figure that one out tomorrow.

Day 41 (5/11)- Today I was up at around 7:30, got some breakfast and was on my way by 8:30.  It was already warm enough when I left to take off my pants and jacket which was nice.  After cresting a hill coming out of town, I had a great view of both the Bighorns and the Rockies.  It was a nice, clear day without any clouds obstructing my view, which made for some nice views along the way.

        The wind was blowing out of the east for the first time since those couple of days in Illinois, and even though it wasn't nearly as strong, it was much appreciated.  It was 22 miles from Basin to the next town, Burlington (pop. 250).  I stopped there for a cold drink and something to eat and spent some time reading the local newspaper.  Apparently the high school soccer season out here takes place in the spring, which is odd, because in the east it is always in the fall.

        From Burlington it was about another 35 miles to Cody.  The road had many long, straight stretches and although it felt flat because of the tailwind, was almost always heading uphill at a very slow rate.  The pavement used for the road was terrible.  It was so rough, it felt like I was riding on a gravel road.  My feet and hands were getting numb from the vibrations.  Other than the road it was a perfect day, sunny and in the upper 60's.

        There was a nice downhill stretch a few miles long into Cody (pop. 8835).  I got into town at about 1:30 and went to the post office.  My mom had mail out a new trailer tire for me a few days ago and I was hoping that it would be there so I could keep on going and take advantage of the tailwind.  Of course it wasn't, so I was forced to waste the rest of the day.  I rode around Cody for a while, got my jacket zipper fixed and found a cheap motel to stay at since it will be a while before I get to another one.  I also stopped in at Peter's Cafe and got a burger.  That was one of the better burgers I have had so far on this trip and they also had great pastries there.

        I am just over 50 miles from Yellowstone, so hopefully I will make it there tomorrow and hopefully my tire will come.

Day 40 (5/10)- I woke up at around 8:30 this morning and took a shower.  It took me a while to get my act together and I didn't get out of the campground until about 10:30.  Then I went to the gas station in town to get some food and drinks for the day and then I stopped at a cafe to get some breakfast.  I got a cinnamon roll and a muffin and spent some time talking with the people there.  They were even kind enough to invite me to stay at their house if I was going to spend another night in town, but I wasn't planning on it.

        I got riding at about 11:30 on County Road 47 which would shave off about 10 miles and a lot of hills that were on US-16.  The wind today was miserable.  It was strong and steady at about 20 MPH out of the northwest, the exact direction I was heading.  As a result, it took me just under 5 hours to go the 35 miles to the small town of Manderson (pop. 104).  I stopped there for a cold drink and a short rest at about 5:30.  I had planned on stopping there for the night, but I decided not to waste what had turned out to be a really nice, warm and sunny day.  It was 12 miles to the next town, Basin (pop. 1238), but the wind died down a bit.  The entire ride I had a great view of the mountains I had just come over.  It was pretty cool knowing that I had ridden my bike over them the day before.

        I got to Basin at about 7:30 and stopped at a gas station and called a few people and then ordered an entire pizza because I was starving.  The person in line behind me as I was paying asked what I was doing and I told him, and said he was going to ride his motorcycle across the country when he was my age as well.  I told him I was on a bicycle and he said "Never mind.  You're crazy."  Yeah, I know, thanks.  haha

        I am camping out at the town park tonight, which has a nice covered picnic area.  It supposed to be in the low 30's tonight, but I think I can handle it after going over the Bighorns.  I just found out that US-16 through Yellowstone doesn't open until May 12th.  Luckily, that is the day I will get there, but I had figured it would be open much earlier than that.  Hopefully the Rockies will be a little warmer and less snowy than the Bighorns.  The weather for the next week is looking great, sunny and in the lower and mid 70's.

Day 39 (5/9)- I woke up this morning around 7:30 and it was looking like it was going to be a decent day.  Then I went outside and took a look at the mountains.  They were covered in snow from the top all the way to about 500 feet above town.  I packed everything up and then went to the library which opened at 10 and checked the weather.  It looked good, but there were supposed to be scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon.  Then I went to the National Weather Service site and looked up Powder River Pass.  They had gotten 15 inches of snow during the night!  I left the library at about 10:30 and headed towards the mountains, but first I stopped at the Wyoming DOT and they told me the road was clear but wet, so I decided to head up and try my luck.

        It started snowing right when I reached the snowline and kept going on and off for the next ten miles or so.  It was up, up and up some more, but the sun came out and so it wasn't that bad.  At around 1:30, at just over 8000 feet I noticed storm clouds starting to cover the mountains in front of me.  15 minutes later I got to a long, straight section of road and saw that the end was all clouded in.  I stood and watched for a few minutes and watched as the "clouds" moved down the road towards me.  Then it started snowing.  Hard.  The wind started to pick up and it started to snow harder, so I got off the road and found a bunch of trees to hide behind.  I took my tarp out and covered myself up with it to keep the snow and wind from getting to me.

        Visibility went down to about a 1/4 of a mile for a few minutes and then the snow started to lighten up.  It was about a 1/2 hour before I started riding again.  The road was only wet because it had been warmed up enough from the sun before it started snowing.  From that point on though, it was very wind and the temperature dropped to 26 degrees.  The wind was blowing at around 15-20 MPH straight down the mountain right into me.  It didn't help that the zipper on my windbreaker zipper had broken that morning, and was only being held together by 3 small pieces of Velcro that kept coming apart.  Without the zipper, the wind blew right through and it was very cold.  My fingers and feet got cold soon after from the constant wind and then it started snowing again.  I stopped at a parking area and tried to figure out what I was going to do.  I decided to wait another 15 minutes and see if it would clear up a bit, and if it didn't I would try to get a ride back to town.

        Lucky, it started clearing up, and I kept going up, but much slower than before because I was cold.  I reached the top of Powder River Pass (9666 feet) at 3:45 PM and boy was I happy.  It took nearly 5 hours of riding to reach the top and this wasn't just leisurely riding.  Even though it was only 26 degrees I was still dripping sweat like crazy.  The beginning of the ride down was not what I had imagined.  I had to pedal down the first 500 vertical feet because the wind was so strong and there were quite a few uphill stretches. Then I got to a sign that the picture of the truck going downhill and "Next 18 miles" under it.  That was what I had been looking forward to all day.  I wanted to go over and give the sign a big hug.

        The road down the mountain range followed Tensleep Canyon.  Towards the bottom of the canyon, the road got very steep as did the walls of the canyon.  I thought it looked a lot like the Grand Canyon.  It was amazing to look at.  I wish I had ridden up that side rather than flying down it at 35 MPH.  It took me just over an hour and a half to reach the bottom of the Bighorns.

        It took almost 5 hours to ride up 35.23 miles from Buffalo to Powder River Pass and just over 1.5 hours to ride down 28.08 miles to Ten Sleep.  Tonight I am staying in a cabin in Ten Sleep.  Power River Pass will be the highest point I reach on my trip by nearly 1000 feet.  

Day 38 (5/8)- I woke up this morning at around 6:30 and made some oatmeal.  I left at around 7:30 and started my morning off with a 5 mile climb out of the valley that the rest area was situated in.  Once again, it drizzled on and off all morning, but luckily it never rained heavier than a drizzle.  The wind started up a little today as well, but was never more than 10 MPH.  As I got closer and closer to Buffalo, I could see the bottom of the Bighorns, but the top was shrouded in clouds.  I wasn't to happy about that.  I think it would have been really cool to be able to see the entire mountain range getting larger and larger as I got closer, but it never happened.

        I got to Buffalo at around 11:30.  About 15 minutes later it started to rain pretty good, so I stopped at the KOA campground and asked how much it would be for a cabin, and the owner said $25, so I got it for the night because it was supposed to keep raining and I figured I could use a good rest.  I talked to some people who were stopped there who had just come through the pass and they said it was snowing pretty good up there. 

        The pass I have to go through to get through the mountains is called Powder River Pass and has an elevation of 9666 feet, more than 5000 feet above where I am now.  It is about 40 miles uphill from here and then 25 miles down the other side to the town of Ten Sleep.  The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be about the same as today, so I might have to take another day off because there is now way I am riding my bike through a mountain pass in the snow.      

Day 37 (5/7)- I woke up at around 7:30 this morning and was on the road by about 8:30.  After a mile or so I got onto Interstate 90 just outside of Moorcroft.  It was about 25 miles on the interstate to the next town, Gillette (pop. 17635).  Riding on the highway actually wasn't that bad.  There was very little traffic and a nice wide shoulder.  The little traffic that there was very polite, almost always moving into the passing lane to give me extra room.  The day was very nice, very sunny and warm.  I got to Gillette at around 11 and found a grocery store to restock my dwindling food supplies.  I got some lunch as well, and then found a hotel in the area with wireless where I spent an hour or so checking e-mails and looking at the weather.  Then I went to Wal-mart and picked up a new patch kit, as I had used all 20 of the patches I left home with.

        I left Gillette around 2:00 and got back on the highway.  From Gillette it was 67 miles to the next town, and I knew I wasn't going to make it that far, but my map showed a rest area 36 miles from Gillette.  Although I didn't know what was there, I figured I could spend the night.  About 15 miles from Gillette it started sprinkling on and off and continued to for the rest of the day.  The interstate is a very boring place to ride a bike.  I could almost always see the next 2 or 3 miles of road, which gets very old and makes it feel like you are barely moving.  The mile markers on the road didn't help to much.  One interesting thing that all the wide open space allowed me to see was the sheets of rain coming down out of the clouds a few miles away.  It was cool to be able to see exactly where it was raining. 

        I got to the rest area at around 6 and started talking to the man, Joe, who took care of it.  We talked for a while and he invited me to come and stay with him in his RV.  We sat around and talked for a while and he let me do my laundry.  Then he made a dinner consisting of salad, veggies and a 1/2 ham, 1/2 turkey burger which was very good.  He also had a homemade hot tub which I soaked in for a while.  I noticed afterward that I had left my Ipod in the pocket of my shorts.  Great.  I doubt there is anyway I will get it to work again, but I'll keep it for a few days to see if it will dry out.

        I got to bed around 10 on the floor of Joe's camper.  It started raining at some point during the night and boy was I glad I didn't have to camp out.      

Day 36 (5/6)- I woke up at around 7 and tried to find a coffee shop to get breakfast, but didn't have any luck, so I stopped at a gas station and got a couple of breakfast sandwiches which were luke warm, but I needed food so it would have to do.  I sat down at the one table they had there, and a few minutes later an older fellow sat down across from me with his coffee.  He was quite the character.  As we were sitting there, a man came into the station and politely asked the cashier if he could use the sink to wash out his coffee mug.  The older fellows response to me about this was, "Them darned civilized folk.  I can't stand 'em."  I just started laughing.  A little while later, one of the fellows friends came in and they started chatting about this and that, but I could only stand so much of their "uncivilized" talk, so I dismissed myself in a way I hoped they wouldn't consider to civilized and headed west on US-16.

        The road was wide up-hill and fairly straight for the first 10 miles or so, and then it narrowed into a winding, hilly mountain road with no shoulder.  The grades got steeper, but I didn't mind, because again, the scenery was amazing, although different than that of the area around Rushmore.  The road when by Jewel Cave National Monument, but I didn't stop because the road to it was steep and downhill and they charge a lot for tours.  They entire area around the cave (around 81,000 acres) had been burned in the 2000 Jasper fire, so it was interesting to see how the forest was recovering.  I saw tons of deer in there.

        From Jewel cave, it was almost all downhill to the Wyoming border, which I reached at around 12:30.  There happened to be a family moving from Wyoming to South Dakota there also taking pictures, so I had them take a few of me and the bike.  The next town was Newcastle, which was a very nice town with about 3,000 people.  I stopped there for lunch and to figure out where to go from there.  I could either go south west and stay on the back roads and then go straight north later on, or I could go northwest on US-16 and then ride on I-90 (which is legal in Wyoming) for 100 miles.  I decided to stay on US-16 and take my chances on the interstate because it would save me about 75 miles.

        It was about 30 miles to the next town, Upton (pop 830) where I stopped quickly to get some drinks, and then 20 more miles to Moorcroft (pop 807).  In between Upton and Moorcroft I could see the Devils Needle about 30 miles to the north.  It looked huge from where I was, I can't imagine how big it must be up close, but unfortunately, I don't have the time to take another 20 mile detour, as I now have a deadline to be in San Francisco.  Ty and Jason are flying out there to meet me on June 3rd.  I can't wait to get there and finally see a couple of familiar faces.

        The weather today was incredible, near 70 degrees with nearly no wind and only a few puffy clouds.  There was tons of wildlife.  I probably saw about 150 deer (no exaggeration), a few wild elk, and a ton of rabbits and other smaller animals. 

        I will be staying the town park tonight.  It's supposed to be clear, but the low will be down near freezing.  Tomorrow I will head to the city of Gillette which is 30 miles from here and then down I-90 to Buffalo, which is another 70 miles.

Day 35 (5/5)- I woke up fairly early today, at about 7:30, ate breakfast, packed up and was out of Hot Springs by 8:30.  The road to Custer was mainly uphill since it is located over 2000 feet higher than Hot Springs.  I really didn't mind all the climbing though because the scenery was amazing and the weather was perfect and I had a slight tailwind pushing me up the hills.  I got to Custer at around noon and stopped at the visitors center.  I explained my situation to the lady working there and she agreed to let me keep my trailer in the shed at the visitors center so I could bike up to Mount Rushmore.

        It was more uphill from Custer to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  Although the memorial isn't nearly done, it was still very, very impressive.  It was huge and literally took up almost an entire mountain.  I also thought it was great that the project is not at all funded by the government.  From Crazy Horse, there was a nice downhill stretch until I reached Hwy 244 which lead to Mount Rushmore.  I would have to say that was the best road I have ridden on yet this trip.  It was absolutely incredible.  The mountains and rock formations in that area are just indescribable.  About a mile from the mountain, I met a climber named Ryan.  I talked with him for a few minutes and he told me that when I got to a small parking area on the side of the road a 1/2 mile up to look behind me to see the profile of Washington's face.  I never would have noticed if he hadn't told me that.

        I got to Mount Rushmore at about 3:15 and waited in line behind the cars to get into the park.  The attendant waved me through after the car in front of me and happened to forget to keep the gate up.  Just as he started to yell something to me, the gate crashed down on my head.  My helmet paid off for the first time.  A few hundred yards after that, right by the bike rack, my back tire went flat, so I just left it in the rack to worry about later.

        The mountain was very interesting, but honestly I was more impressed with the natural landscape and the view in the other direction, in which you could see the South Dakota plains for miles and miles and miles.  After spending some time, and talking with the people who were in the car behind me at the gate (they got a good laugh out of it crashing down on me), I went back to my bike.  All my extra tubes and patch kit were 20 miles away in the trailer, so I went into the parking lot to wait for someone with a pick-up truck to leave.  The first people that I asked were headed in the direction of Custer and were happy to give me a ride.  The drive and his wife were from Rapid City and they were giving a tour to some relatives from South Carolina.  If they hadn't given me a ride, I don't know what I would've done, so thank you very much!

        After they dropped me off in Custer, I fixed the tire and then headed over to the park and set up camp.

Day 34 (5/4)- I got up today at 7:30 and had some corn flakes at the continental breakfast offered at the motel.  Then I came back and watched the weather and they were still predicting snow and rain, so I decided to just hang out for a little while to see if anything was going to change.  I decided at 9:30 that I was just going to take a day off and so I booked my room for tonight.  About 1/2 an hour later it started snowing and then 1/2 an hour later it changed to rain.  It has been alternating between rain and snow all morning and boy am I glad I decided to stay.  It would've been a long, cold ride.

        When the rain finally stopped around 4:30, I took a ride over to the Mammoth site, but I got there 5 minutes before it was going to close, and they were still going to charge me the full $7 admission price, despite my asking to just go in and take a quick look around, so I left.  From there, I headed over to where you can swim in the hot springs.  It cost almost $10 to get in, but it was pretty cool.  There was a large pool about 5 feet deep with a bottom made of loose, smooth stones.  The water temperature was about 87 degrees.  I was hoping it would be a little bit hotter than that, but it was still very cool.

Day 33 (5/3)- I woke up around 6:30 to find my sleeping back in pretty much a puddle of water.  I think it was mostly dew, but there was enough to thoroughly soak the outer layer of the sleep bag.  Lucky, the inside stayed nice a dry.  I packed everything up and was out of there by 7:00.  I stopped a mile or so up the road and had a few granola bars for breakfast.

        The first town I came to was Oglala, but all it had was a general store, so I bought some drinks.  Back in 1999 a tornado hit this town and there were around 30 FEMA trailers all set up for the people displaced by the storm.  From there, it was a long 26 mile ride through the Buffalo Gap National Grassland to the town of Oelrichs.  The road through the grassland was curvy and followed a ridgeline through the area.  It was very scenic and very windy.  The wind was blowing directly against me for most of the ride, and I averaged 7.5 mph through the area.  There were many, many hills, which I don't mind.  What I do mind is having to pedal down the hills.  There is not much more depressing to a biker than climbing a hill, only to have to pedal back down the other side.  This happened many times, and was extremely frustrating.

        When I finally got to Oelrichs, I was exhausted a took an hour long break at the general store there.  That helped a little, and by the time I left, the wind had died down a tab.  It was another 23 miles to Hot Springs.  The road had a little more traffic, and wasn't quite as scenic, but I was in a much better mood after my break.  It was 18 miles to the turnoff to Hot Springs and then another 5 miles from there.  I really enjoyed the last 5 miles, as it ran through the range of small mountains that had been getting closer and closer all day long.  It wound through the hills and there were a lot of steep cliffs. 

        The road led right into Hot Springs, which seems to be surrounded by the hills.  I stopped and got a burger at the place the librarian had recommended and then found a motel to avoid the rain predicted.  It turned out the place I picked would be hosting a Adventure Biking Club tour in early July, so it was kind of cool that I had picked the same place the tour would be coming.

        Tomorrow it is supposed to be scattered showers all day.  I would like to go swimming at the hot springs and maybe see the Mammoth site here in town before heading north through Wind Caves National Park.  From there I will either head up to Mount Rushmore or over to Custer.  It really depends on the weather.

Day 32 (5/2)- I woke up today at 6:30 which is pretty early for me, but I went to bed fairly early last night.  It was chilly out still, even though the sun was up and shining bright.  It was also windy, which I found fairly odd because the wind isn't usually that bad while I am in towns.  I finally got up around 7:15 and plugged my MP3 player into an outlet on the outside of the post office.  Then I ate the leftover pizza from last night and packed up camp.  I bought two Gatorades from a soda machine and left Merriman at around 8:00.  The wind was blowing fairly strong out of the west, so I decided just to head straight north out of town to Martin, SD instead of west to Gordon, NE. 

        I reached the South Dakota border at about 8:45.  The wind kept picking up from there and shifted more to the northwest.  It took me more than 2 hours to go the 18 miles to Martin.  The tough part was for the last ten miles I could see the town because I was going across a flat plain.  When I got to town, I went to the library and checked the weather.  When I checked, the wind was blowing a sustained 31 MPH and gusting to 43 MPH from the WNW.  I went to the grocery store and heard the weather on the radio there.  All of South Dakota is under a wind advisory for the rest of the day.  I decided that it wasn't worth my time or energy to ride into a headwind that strong, so I am going to rest here until it dies down.  I will probably ride tonight if the wind dies down.

        The library closed at 5, so I left and went to the story and bought some supplies for the next couple of days.  I left Martin at about 6:00 and it was still windy, but it had let up a little bit.  After about 5 miles the wind died down quite a bit and then after sunset it died down to almost nothing.  There wasn't much traffic and without the wind riding was almost perfect.  Even though the temperature dropped, it was still very nice.  The stars are very, very bright out here. 

        After about 25 miles I came to the town of Pine Ridge, which is on an Sioux Indian reservation.  When I first got into town, I was greeted by two cop cars and the police arresting someone, so that obviously made me feel very comfortable there.  I stopped very quickly at a gas station to get some drinks and then headed out of town.  I stopped at a church a few miles out of town that one of the librarians in Martin had told me would be a decent place to camp.

        I ended up just unrolling my tarp and then rapping the sleeping bag in it because I was to tired to set up the tent.  I was asleep by 10:30.

Day 31 (5/1)- I woke up at around 7:30 this morning after staying up until around 2AM updating the site, answering e-mails and watching Forest Gump (which I had never seen).  I went and had some cereal and muffins at the continental breakfast and talked with a couple that I had met the night before at dinner.  After that, I went back to the room and hooked the 1/2 empty trailer back up to the bike and went to find the local bike shop to get a new tire for the trailer.

        I found the bike shop, and surprisingly, it was open before 10AM, unlike the other shops I had been to.  I went inside and the owner tried to find me a new tire.  He found me one, a nice yellow one with paw prints as the treads.  It was the right size and I needed one, so I got it and talked with the owner for a little while.  Then I went down the road to the post office to see what kind of mail I had.  When I told the clerk I was there to pick up some general delivery mail, she said, "Oh, so you must be Charlie Smith.  We have been waiting to meet you."  She had to make two trips back with everything!  There was a whole pile of packages and letters!  Good thing the trailer was half empty!

        I took everything back to the room, opened the packages and then repacked everything more efficiently.  By the time I had done that, it was 10:15 and I still had to clean up the room and pack the trailer, so I didn't have time to open the letters, but I figured it would give me some incentive to get where I wanted to be for the night.  I left the motel at 11 and stopped at the gas station to pick up a few snacks and a Gatorade.  The first town I got to was Crookston (pop. 99).  There wasn't a convenience store, so I ate some food out of the trailer and then headed to the next town, Kilgore (pop. 79).  Once again, no convenience store.  Next was Nenzel (pop. 11) and then Cody (pop. 177).  Nothing in either one! 

        Cody did have a small resturante, so I went in there and ordered a burger and fries.  The owner thought what I was doing was a little bit crazy, but she thought it was cool.  When I was about 1/2 way done, an older fellow came in.  The owner must have told him what I was doing, because he paid for my lunch!  Before leaving, I went over and talked with him for a bit and he gave me his address.  I also learned from him that all the small streams in the area all started from springs.  He said the spring water that came up on his ranch had less impurities than water in the big cities, and I believe him.  Before I left, the owner gave me a free Gatorade for the road. 

        24 miles down the road was the next town, Merriman (pop. 151).  Guess what, nothing there but a bar.  By this point I had eaten most of the food out of my trailer and was pretty hungry, so I went inside and got a frozen pizza and some juice.  After that I called my parents from a pay phone and then set up camp in the local park.  The skies are clear right now and I hope they stay that way for the rest of the night.  I can't wait to open my mail!

Day 30 (4/30)- I got up today around 7 but it was cold, windy and lightly raining, so I just stayed in my sleeping bag until 8:30.  After finally getting up, I packed everything nicely back into the trailer and went to the general store and got some milk which I used to finished off the last of my cereal.  After finishing breakfast, I just sat around in the store and talked to anyone that seemed interested in what I was doing.  I asked everyone if they knew what the weather was supposed to be, but not a single person knew.  I sat around until around 10 and then the nice man who had paid for my dinner came in.  He came and sat down across from me and we talked for quite a long time about anything and everything. 

        It was nearly 11 before I decided that I needed to get going or I was never going to get anywhere.  I knew as soon as I started it was going to be a long, long day.  The wind was blowing strong out of the north west at about 25 MPH.  It didn't stop all day.  Not once.  Lucky it wasn't too cold, but I didn't take off my jacket or pants all day.  There were no towns between Springview and Valentine.  Not one.  There were a few "unincorporated" towns, which were basically two houses within half a mile of each other.  Other than that, just lots of cow pasture and farms.  It was fairly flat for most of the day, with a few slight inclines.  Towards the end of the day the road got closer to a river, and the road dipped into small ravines a few times which meant a few steep hills.

        I got into Valentine around 6 and found a cheap motel that had a pool and hot tub, which I figured I deserved.  I think that it is safe to say that I am at least 1/2 way done, as I have completed a total of 1928 miles.  The motel, a bag of gourmet caramel popcorn and a orange soda were my celebration. 

        I'm excited to go to the post office tomorrow and see what people have sent me.  After that, I am going to head out on US-20.  The wind is supposed to be exactly the same tomorrow, so I don't know how far I am going to make it, but hopefully I can get an earlier start.  Sometime within the next few days I am going to head north into South Dakota.  I think I am going to take a little detour off my original route to go to the Badlands and Mount Rushmore.

Day 29 (4/29)-  I woke up at around 8 this morning and got a slow start.  I spent a while reorganizing the trailer which somehow seems to be a mess at the end of the day, no matter how neat I try to keep it.  I am finding though, that every time I repack it, I have more room when I am done, so I must be getting good at it!  Anyways, I left the Skyline Motel at around 10 and went next door to a cafe and got a sausage, egg and cheese and a couple of pancakes.  By the time I was done eating, it was after 10:30 and I was ready to get going.  I don't really like getting late starts.  I would much rather start early and end early.

        The first town I came to was Butte (pop. 452).  Despite it's population, there wasn't really much of anything there, so I stopped for a quick drink out of the trailer and then kept going.  From Butte, the next stop was the town of Naper (pop. 130).  I stopped in at a cafe, quite tired from fighting a steady headwind all morning.  I got some chicken and fries and topped it all off with some chocolate pie, which was excellent.  Then I went to the general store, where I discovered the next town with a store or restaurant, was 41 miles down the road.  That's a long way, but I had enough food in the trailer to keep me well fed, so all I bought was a Butterfinger and a Gatorade. 

        There was a long hill right out of town that quickly warmed my legs up.  When I got to the top, I found that the wind had shifted to coming almost directly out of the north, so it wasn't quite so bad, I could still feel it dragging on the trailer, but it was still better than a headwind, so I tried not to get to frustrated.  I stopped after about 20 miles and took a break on the top a big hill.  I heard what I thought was a small airplane, so I started looking around and then two kids on four-wheelers came flying up over the hill.  They stopped and asked me if I needed a ride or needed anything and offered me a can of "pop".  I told them I was fine and that I was just taking a short break.  I talked with them for a few minutes and they were amazing at how far I had biked and by how far I planned on going.  They left after a few minutes, and I finished up my snack or crackers and pop tarts and got back on the bike.  A few miles later I ran into a large group of cows in a pasture, maybe 150 of them, so I stopped.  Before I knew it, every single cow that had been spread out over what was probably 5 acres, was at the fence looking at me.  I started biking again, and they all ran along the fence to follow me.  I think they were sad when I finally left.

        About 5 miles after the cows, I noticed some really dark clouds off to the north, and a few minutes later the wind picked up.  Every time the wind got stronger, I would tell myself that there was no way it could get any stronger, but it did until I had a crosswind blowing at about 35 MPH.  The only way to describe it was ferocious.  When I passed the occasional patch of trees all I could hear was the roaring of it.  I started picking up the pace and raced through the town of Burton (pop. 9) at about 12 MPH.  That was as fast as I could go.  I was pedaling about 80-85 revolutions per minute compared to my regular 55-60.  I kept that pace up for about 10 miles to where NE-12 turned to the south.  Right then it started to drizzle a bit, but I was going about 25 MPH with the wind at my back, and I made it to the town of Springview (pop. 304) before the rain got heavier.

        I am spending tonight in a nice little covered picnic area just outside of town near the school.  I'm guessing it will probably rain a little tonight, but the people at the gas station said tomorrow is only supposed to be scattered showers.  I'm really enjoying watching the weather front grow and move across the area.  It's so flat I can see the clouds about 20 miles in all directions.

        I just got back from going out to dinner Koyote Cafe.  I got an "Indian Taco", which was basically a taco made with a piece of sourdough bread as the shell.  It took up an entire plate and was very filling.  As I was about to pay, the owner came up to me and told me her husband had paid for my dinner!  What a nice surprise that was!

        Its about a 50 mile ride to Valentine, where I will spend tomorrow night and then go to the post office to see what people have sent me.

Day 28 (4/28)- I woke up today around 8 to find it was still sprinkling a little bit after raining heavily during the night.  I rode into town to the grocery store and bought some frost mini wheat's, milk and cinnamon rolls to have for breakfast.  After I finished eating, I packed everything up and then waited for the rain to stop.  At around 10, it looked like the sky was lightening up in the west, so I headed out.  From Crofton, it was 28 miles to the next town, Niobrara (pop. 406).  I stopped there to get some ice cream and eat a cinnamon roll left over from breakfast and then I mailed all the maps I was done with back home. 

        Throughout the day it got less and less cloudy, but the headwinds picked up to around 10 MPH which kept me going fairly slow. After Niobrara, I passed through a few more small towns, including Monowi which had a population of 2.  That's right, 2.  I can't believe they even call it a town still.  Right when I got into "town", I noticed that my front tire was getting low on air.  I didn't want to fix it, so I just put some more air in.  From there, my next stop was in the town of Lynch (pop. 296), where I got a root beer float for .10 at the general store, along with some milk, which I used to eat some more of the cereal from breakfast.  I spent some time there talking to a few of the people at the store, who were very interested in my trip.  I put some more air in the front tire and then got going again.

        From Lynch, I rode to the town of Spencer (pop. 536) where I got a motel room because there are supposed to be thunder storms tonight.  I went out to eat at the Long Branch Saloon and Steakhouse and got some chicken and tater tots which hit the spot just right.  I got done with dinner a few minutes before sunset, so I rode out of town a little and found a nice place to watch.  A little while after the sunset I rode back to the motel and watched some TV and just relaxed a bit.

        Even since, I got about mid-way through Iowa I have noticed that people are becoming more and more friendly.  Out here the drivers of nearly ever single car wave at me as they drive by.  Even as I am riding through towns, just about anyone who sees me riding will give me a wave.  I think that is really, really cool.  I think its because the people out here are more friendly, but it could because they are just happy to see a new face in town that they haven't seen hundreds of times before.  haha.

Day 27 (4/27)- I got up today at around 7:30, right before Mark had to leave for work.  He left around 7:45 and then I made myself some oatmeal and toast.  I left around 10:00, after reorganizing the trailer for easier access to the camping gear.  It took me a little while to find my way out of the city and to the bridge crossing the Missouri River.  I crossed into Nebraska at 10:30.  From there, I took US-77 to US-20.  About 6 miles down the road, I stopped in the town of Jackson and got a burger. From there, I stayed on US-20 for a few more miles and then got onto NE-12.  I will be spending the next 4 or so days on this road until I get to Valentine where it meets back up with US-20.

        After Jackson, I stopped in the town of Pandora? where I got some chocolate milk and talked with the cashier for a little while.  Pandora was the last town until Valentine that has a population of more than 1000.  It's more than 200 miles between the two towns.  So, if I don't get around to updating the website, or I don't return phone calls for a few days, that might be the reason why.

        The next few towns all had less than 100 people, and as I went by Maskell (pop. 54) I saw a sign proudly proclaiming that they had they smallest City Hall in the United States.  I went down and took a look, and I believe them.  They could have used a little pop-up camper and it would have been bigger!  I also think they should change it from "City Hall" to "Town Hall".  I don't think 54 people quite constitutes a city.  Well, maybe out here it does.

        From there, I went to the town of Obert (pop 39) where I took shelter from the rain for an hour or so in covered picnic area.  I ate my lunch there (a bunch of things I picked up at a Hostess bakery outlet in Sioux City) and took a short nap while I waited for the rain to let up.  It was pretty hilly from there out, but I don't mind because they are rolling hills, so when I spend 10 minutes pedaling up, I get a nice break on the other side and can use some of my momentum to make it up the other side.  I also had a kind of tailwind from the north east which helped quite a bit, especially when the road took turns to the north.  I rode until the town of Crofton (pop 739).

        I am spending the night in Crofton tonight at the town park which doubles as a camping area.  It is supposed to rain tonight, so I was very glad when I saw that they had a large covered picnic area.  It even has a few power outlets, bathrooms, and a public shower.  Very nice!  If all the bigger towns have something like this, I will be very happy.  The weather for the next couple of days isn't looking that great.  Friday and Saturday it is definitely going to rain and then probably on Sunday to, before clearing up for Monday.  I can't seem to find my Nebraska map now either, and I just had the silly thing.

Day 26 (4/26)- II woke up today around 6:30, but it was really cold out, so I just stayed in my sleeping back until 8 when it had warmed up quite a bit.  Then I made myself a huge thing of oatmeal with some maple syrup and dried cranberries.  Then I packed everything up and threw it in the trailer.  I really need to find a better way to pack the trailer so that I don't have to unpack the whole thing to get to the camping gear.

        I left at around 9:30 and started my day with a nice climb out of the valley I was staying in.  I was running a little short on water, so I stopped in the small town of Climbing Hill and bought some water.  From there it was all farms to Sioux City.  I got into the city at around 1 and found the public library and spent some time in there.  After that, I was getting pretty hungry so I asked someone what a good place to eat was, and they recommended USA Steak Buffet.  It was actually pretty good and I spent probably an hour in there eating.  After that, I spent some time riding around looking for a place to stay, and just as I was getting ready leave the city, another biker rode over to me and asked where I was going.  I told him my story and he invited me over to his house to spend the night.

        It was about a 3 mile ride back to Marks house, where I took a shower and then we drove around for a bit running errands.  We stopped and brought his son, Sam, some pizza at the climbing wall where he worked.  It was actually fun to be moving without pedaling.  We spent some time talking about some of Mark's past tours, including RAGBRAIA.  It sounds like a ton of fun and I would like to come back and do it sometime.  I went to bed around 10.

Day 25 (4/25)- I woke up around 8 today, went upstairs and was greeted by Mrs. Hagen.  Unfortunately I was to late to meet the rest of the family.  She made me oatmeal and scrambled eggs with cheese and ham which was all excellent.  After eating, I went downstairs and packed up and then started putting everything into the trailer.  I left at about 9:30, but not before Mrs. Hagen loaded me up with snacks for the day.

        When I left it was raining lightly and there was a strong wind coming from the north.  I had to go 3 miles north to get back to where I left off the day before and then an addition 2 miles.  During that time, the rain turned to sleet which stung because the wind was blowing so much.  By the time I got to turn to the west my hands and feet were freezing.  I rode into Breda and stopped a little restaurant, which was basically someone's house that they served people food out of, but it sure was nice to be warm.  I talked to the three people in there while I had my hot chocolate, cinnamon roll and apple pie.  When I went to pay, the owner said it was on the house, and that they were so happy I had decided to come in.  That was a very nice treat.

        After I left the restaurant, I went across the street to a gas station to see if they had any duct tape I could use.  Lucky, they did, and I rolled it all over my shoes.  That helped keep the wind out, and my feet didn't get cold for the rest of the day.  From Breda, it about about 18 miles to the next town, but there was a tailwind from the north east which helped.  It was rolling hills the entire way to Kiron.  I stopped there and ate some of the food out of my trailer and got a hot dog at the gas station.  From there it was almost 20 miles to the town of Danbury, and the hills got even bigger.   When I got to Danbury, the sun was starting to come out and it had warmed up quite a bit.  I stopped to eat some more food out of the trailer and then continued to the town of Oto, 11 miles away.

        I was hoping there would be somewhere to eat in Oto, but I could barely find the gas station which was sparsely stocked.  I got a few bottles of water to cook some food on my stock and then took off on D54 on my way to nowhere.  Sioux City was really the next town, and it was about 40 miles away.  I knew I wasn't going to make it, but it looked like it would be a nice night for camping.  A few miles down the road, a herd of maybe 20 buffalo crossed the road in front of my, herded by a four wheeler.  That was pretty cool. I went about 10 miles when I found the perfect spot to stop.  It was an 8 foot culvert at the intersection of Ida and D54.  The bottom was covered in sand so it was nice and level and it would shelter me from the wind and frost.  I set up my sleeping bag on a tarp and then cooked some ramen noodles for dinner.  After eating that, I hiked up a nearby hill to watch the sunset.  It was really nice just sitting in the grass on the hill and watching the sun go down.

        Sioux City is less than 30 miles from here, so I don't know if I will stop and spend the night, even though I have a place to stay there.  We'll see how I'm feeling I guess.

Day 24 (4/24)- I woke up this morning around 7:15 and went upstairs and had a nice breakfast of frosted mini wheat's, some fruit and some toast.  I was ready to go at around 8:30, but before I left Mrs. Krapfl brought me out a bag of fruit for a snack later.  I said goodbye, and left to find a cafe at the University of Iowa that was supposed to have wireless internet.  They did have wireless, but you had to be a student or teacher at the university to use it, so I left and headed towards downtown where I figured I could find something.  I found a nice little coffee shop with wireless right across the street from the bike shop Mr. Krapfl had recommended. 

        I stayed at the coffee shop until the bike shop opened at 10.  I took the bike around back and explained my situation and the guy working there set me up with a new back tire.  It's more of a racing tire and is skinnier than the last tire I had, but that's probably a good thing as there will be less resistance.  While I was there the guy gave the bike a quick once over and tightened a few things and cleaned and oiled my chain for me.  I also bought two new tubes, but hopefully I won't need them now that I have a tire with no holes.  Today was the "Bike across America buy one tube get one free day" at the bike shop, so that was a nice surprise.  I was on my way from the bike shop at around 10:30.

        From Ames, I went to Boone where I mailed a couple of things back home and stocked up on snacks and Gatorade for the day, because apparently it was about 30 miles until the next town with a convenience store.  I also stopped at a BBQ joint, because that was the only place I could find that looked like it might have decent food.  I got a pork sandwich, which was pretty good and spent some time talking to the people working there, all of whom thought I was crazy.  After lunch, I continued to the next town on the map, Dana.  That town should be taken off the map, as there it is nothing but a small group of houses close together.  No stores or anything.  After Dana, the winds began to pick up out of the north east, so I had a brisk 15 MPH tailwind, which was a welcomed change. 

        There were lots of small gradual hills during the day, but with the wind at my back, I really didn't notice.  I cruised up most of them at 15 MPH and then down the other side at 25.  The views were very nice.  Lots of open field.  I could see the water towers for all the surrounding towns which was pretty cool as well.  I could take out the map and look at the water towers and figure out what towns I was looking at.  I stopped for a cold drink in the town of Lanesboro and while I was there I got a call from Mrs. Hunter (a friend of Mrs. Bushnell) who said she had found a place for me to stay for the night in Carroll.  That was great news because the weather hadn't looked that great for the night and I didn't think any of the towns within biking distance would have a place to stay.

        When I left Lanesboro, the wind had shifted to coming directly from the north and had picked up to around 25 MPH.  Good think Carroll was mostly south from where I was.  I did have to ride west for a while though, and the wind made it very hard to keep the bike going on a straight path.  When I got close to Carroll, Mr. Hagen came out and met me just outside of town, and I followed him back to his house.  I got there at around 6:30 and met his wife and two younger sons, and then took a shower.  Although the family had already eaten dinner, they gave me all the food I wanted; salad, lasagna, grapes, cantaloupe, ice cream and bowl of cereal.  After dinner we sat around and talked for a little bit and Mr. Hagen made me a great fruit smoothie right before I headed to bed. 

        I don't think I will make it to Sioux City tomorrow like I wanted, despite my long day today.  The only way I might make it would be with a really strong tailwind, but I don't think that's going to happen. 

Day 23 (4/23)-  Let me just start of by saying that the fact that Iowa is flat is a common misconception.  Iowa is NOT flat.  Iowa is actually quite hilly.  Granted, they are gradual hills that you might not always notice in a car, but they are most certainly there.  Anyways, I woke up earlier than normal today, around 7 or so and Mrs. Elliot made me a great breakfast of oatmeal, complete with nuts and berries.  After that, she gave me directions to Ames where she had found me a place to stay for the night with the Krapfl family.  I left at about 8:30 and Mr. Elliot rode with me until we got out of town.  After saying goodbye to him, I continued riding on a nice, lightly traveled county road that took me into Le Grand.  From there, I had to ride on US-30 for about 5 miles, but it wasn't as bad as before because it was four lanes and there was a little bit of a shoulder.

        I got off the highway in Marshalltown and found my way to the Eaton's.  They had offered to put me up for a night, but since I stayed in Tama and because it was so close, I didn't need to.  However, I couldn't pass up the offer of a nice homemade lunch, so I stopped by.    Only Mrs. Eaton was home because her husband was out racing, but she made me a huge lunch.  I think I ate for about 20 minutes straight even though I had been completely stuffed from breakfast only 3 hours before!  I had a turkey sandwich, chips, a banana, yogurt, about 10 cookies, a gatorade and some water.  For anyone who wants to be able to eat a ton of food everyday without gaining weight, consider riding your bike 60 or so miles a day.

        After completely stuffing myself, I headed out around 12:15 and promptly got a flat just out of town.  It seems that I get the flats right after taking long breaks.  These things need to happen more in the middle of the ride so it becomes more of a break!  After fixing that, I got back on US-30 for a few miles.  I got off near the town of Lamoille and got on county road E41, which ran parallel a mile of so north of US-30.  That was very nice riding.  The wind let up a little today and was coming more out of the north, rather than the west.  For a few miles it even was coming from the north east, which was a nice change.  The road ran through farm land and had many rolling hills and very little traffic and I would even say it was a relaxing ride.

        I stopped in the small town of Colo, which was the intersection of the first north-south route across the US (Route 65) and the first east-west route across the US (Route 30).  There was a small cafe, which I got an ice cream at, and an old gas station turned into a museum.  I guess during the early/mid 1900's it was a well known place because it was at the intersection of those two major highways.  Now it was just the small cafe and museum.  After stopping there for a short break, I continued to the town of Nevada, where I stopped for another ice cream.  Again, just outside of town, I got another flat.  I fixed it and pumped the tire up and then took a look at it.  The tube was actually pushing through the nail hole and making it bigger!  No wonder I was getting flats so often.  I lowered the pressure from 90 PSI to 30 PSI, which close the hole up a little.  It made for a little bit slower riding, but it allowed me to make it to Ames without any more problems.

        I got to the Krapfl's house at around 5, which is much earlier than I normally stop, so that was a nice change.  I took a shower and then had a wonderful chicken dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Krapfl and their two boys, Will and Patrick.  After dinner Will and Patrick were kind enough to share a few pieces of their Easter candy with me.  After dinner, I spent some time relaxing and reading the local newspaper, which had a big article about gas prices and such.  I have noticed out here that they are starting to put 10% ethanol into the mid-grade gas.  I guess the state is giving the stations a tax break because of this, so the mid-grade gas it actually cheaper.  I started noticing the "10% Ethanol" signs back in Indiana, but didn't really know what it meant.  I don't think they are doing that back east yet.

        Anyways, I don't have anywhere to stay tomorrow night.  The weather during the day is scattered showers, but the night looks to be decent for camping.  Hopefully I can make it to Sioux City by Tuesday night, which will be a stretch though, so I'll hope for some headwinds and see what happens.

Day 22 (4/22)- I woke up around 8 today.  Mrs. Bushnell had left on a business trip, so I went upstairs and had a couple of bowls of cereal and then started packing up.  Before I left, I met Sara who was also staying at the house because the tornado that went through the city had messed up her apartment.  We talked for a few minutes before I left at around 9:30.  It was a very nice morning, sunny and just the right temperature, about 60.  A few miles down the road another cyclist came up from behind me and he rode with me for a mile or so before taking off.  I guess he was training for a race this Sunday that is going to be held in Iowa City.  I saw more cyclists during the day, many more than usual, so I guess they were all training for the race.

        I tried to stay off the main roads today as much as possible and took some roads that were a little too rural.  I ended up on a dirt road named 255th W St for about 3 miles which was tough to navigate because the gravel was fairly loose.  After that though, it was fairly smooth riding.  I spent maybe 10 miles on US-6 again, but there was much less traffic on this section.  I  got off US-6 at Marengo, where I stopped for lunch at a nice looking pizza joint.  I sat down and ordered and looked at my map for a while, and then one of the waitresses asked me where I was coming from and I said New Hampshire and somehow, the entire place heard me!  Before I knew it, people were asking me questions rapid fire and the 20 or so people in there were all looking at me and asking questions for about 10 minutes.  It was pretty cool, and everyone there thought what I was doing was awesome and a tad crazy.  One of the groups there gave me three left over pieces of pizza from their lunch and the couple sitting a seat down from me paid my bill without me knowing!

        After finishing lunch and saying goodbye and thank you to the people at the restaurant, I headed out, but only got a mile or so before my back tire blew out again.  I stopped on a corner, and the guy across the street came out and asked if I needed any help, but I told him I was fine.  He chatted with me for a few minutes and told me about a bike race across Iowa that happens every year and how it was coming through Marengo this year.  Someone else also stopped to ask if I needed help, but once again I explained that I had every, but thanks for the offer.  After fixing the flat, I headed towards Belle Plaine, where I stopped for some more food before heading off to Tama.  On the way to Tama, I stopped at a pioneer cemetery and saw a few graves of pioneers from the mid 1800's.

        My nice back roads ended at US-30 which I had to take for 6 miles in order to get to Tama.  Once again, there was heavy traffic and no shoulder.  A few people were irritated enough with me to honk, but at this point I really don't care.  If they ride their bike 1300 miles and still feel the need to honk at me for holding them up for a few seconds, then I might care.  I got to Tama around 6:30 and found the Elliot residence.  I was welcomed in and given a great dinner and a shower.  Afterwards we looked over a bike map of Iowa and had some wonderful homemade strawberry shortcake.

        Even though the winds today were just as strong as yesterday, I found myself in a better mood for some reason and made slightly better time.  I was also on more back roads with more trees to break up the wind which also helped.  I guess I will try to make it to Ames tomorrow where Mrs. Elliot is trying to find me a place to stay.  The wind is also supposed to let up a little, so that will be nice.  My calf held up for most of the day, but the last 10 or 15 miles it started to bother me.  I figured out that it is the same calf that got stomped on a few months ago playing soccer.  I forgot all about it, but now that I think of it, the doctors did say that it would never heal quite the same and that I would always be an issue.  Hopefully it won't get any worse than it is now.

Day 21 (4/21)- After falling asleep around 10:00 last night, I woke up at around 10:45 to rocks being thrown at my tent.  Needless to say, I wasn't very happy.  I looked out the front of my tent and saw two kids on BMX bikes and gave a little yell.  They threw a few more rocks and then took off, but after that I didn't really sleep well and every sound that seemed out of place woke me up.  I awoke from my restless sleep around 6:30, but just laid in my sleeping bag for a bit.  When I finally decided to get up, I took a look around and the roof of the tent was covered in seagull poop.  Great.  I started packing my sleeping bag and took everything out of the tent, and then used a paper bag to clean the tent off as best I could before packing it up. 

        I was on my way at 7:45 and crossed into Iowa via Arsenal Island.  Apparently the island is some sort of military base because I got yelled at for taking pictures.  I finished crossing the bridge and stepped into Iowa at about 8:15.  Once again, there wasn't any sign so I made do with what I had.  After taking some pictures, I spent a few minutes biking around looking for somewhere to have breakfast.  After going around a few blocks any not finding anything I was getting ready to head out without any breakfast, and then I found a nice looking coffee shop,  I went in and found out that they even had wireless!  I sat down and ordered a couple of sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches and then check my e-mail and such.  While I was there I met an artist named Kevin who I spent a good deal of time talking.  He offered me some great advice and showed my his website, www.papausa.org. 

        I left the coffee shop and all the great people who I met there around 10 and headed out of Davenport in search of US-6.  I found it and was not impressed.  Once again there was about a one inch shoulder, tons of trucks and a solid 15-20 MPH headwind.  Lets just say it was very slow going.  I wasn't very happy because as hard as I tried, I could only go about 7-9 mph the entire day.  I might have hit 15 MPH down a few hills.  At least it was sunny and warm though.

        Right before the town of ????? I ran into a group of about 10 older cyclists and crossed the road to say hi.  I guess they were out for a 70 or so mile ride and were on their way back to the quad cities.  I talked to them for a little while and told them about my trip and they were amazed that I was going east to west.  We chatted for a little while longer and before I left one of them took out a them gave me some money and told me that dinner was on him tonight.  I thanked him profusely and then said goodbye as they continued their trip.

        My day didn't really get any better.  The wind kept up, and whenever a big truck came in the other direction the wind was like hitting a wall.  It would slow me down to around 5 mph.  Once there was four semis in a row that came down the road and I just stopped because it wasn't worth trying to push through the wind.  Then there were the times that there was traffic in the opposite lane and a truck barreling down the road behind me.  I ended up just pulling off onto the dirt shoulder on many occasions to let them by.

        I got to the outskirts of southern Iowa City around 5:45 and called Mrs. Bushnell who said she would come and give me a ride to her house on the northern part of the city.  When she arrived I put all my gear into her van and she gave me a tour of the city.  We drove through downtown, which had been hit by tornado's the week before and was still quite a mess in some spots.  It was interesting to drive by some of the housing that I had been seeing on the news for the past week.  When we got to her house I took a shower and then Mrs. Bushnell went out and got me some chicken parm for dinner, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  After dinner went outside and spent some time in the hot tube, which was awesome.  I'm hoping that it will help loosen up my calf, and my other muscles for that matter.

        Tomorrow the forecast is the same as todays, lower 70's, sunny and a 10-20 MPH wind out of the west.  I was hoping to make it to Tama or Marshalltown, but with the wind I'm not sure if I will be able to make it.  I struggled and fought for ever single mile I did today and Tama is about 10 miles further.

Day 20 (4/20)- I woke up around 8 this morning, but was feeling lazy, so I didn't get up until 8:30.  I went out to the hotel lobby for the continental breakfast, which again wasn't very good, but at least they had milk here.  After eating three bowls of raisin bran, I went back to my room and started packing up.  I took my sweet old time, and didn't leave until 10:30. 

        I rode back to US-6 which I followed one town up to Wyanet.  Just after Wyanet, it crossed the Hennepin canal trail.  Although the trail was gravel, I decided to take it because I wasn't making good time on the road because of the nasty headwind which was blowing a solid 15 MPH with some much higher gusts.  I figured maybe the bike trail would provide some shelter from the wind.  It did provide some shelter, but any advantage that gave me was taken away by the gravel.  I was still averaging the same speed as on the road.  I figured I might as well just stay on the bike path though because I didn't have to worry about traffic which was very nice.

        I stayed on the trail until Colrain? where it ended.  The trail was very nice, with bathrooms and camping spots spread out about every 10 miles or so.  I wish I had known about the camping on the trail last night because I might have taken my chances and camped out.  Oh well.  Anyways, I enjoyed the 40 or so miles I spent on the trail despite the headwinds.  I saw quite a few rabbits, a beaver and two deer.

        When the trail ended I wasn't sure quite where I was going so I took out the map and figured out at I to make my way over the Green River in order to get to Iowa.  I found the bridge and then had to do some guess work to find my way across to the Mississippi River.  I just kept going a block north, then a block west, then a block north until I ended up on the street I wanted to be on.  After I found the street, I had to find a way down to the river.  I ended up going down a little back road, down a path and over a set of railroad tracks (which is not easy with the trailer). 

        Boy was I excited to see the river.  Even though I know its not that big up here, it was still impressive.  I got there at about 7:30, thirty minutes before sunset, so I found a nice place to sit and watch.  It was wonderful.  The sun set over downtown Davenport, IA and the bridge that went over the river to it.  After sunset I made my way down the bike path that ran along the river.  I followed it maybe 5 miles to its end where there was a park, but there were signs everywhere that said it was closed.  So I went back about a mile to another little grassy area I spotted on my way by and decided to camp there.  I am camped literally 25 feet from the water on the river on a nice, dry, grassy spot.  It doesn't get any better than that.  It does smell like cat food though and I'm not sure why.  Maybe from the industrial parks across the river?  Who knows.  Tomorrow I am headed to Iowa City, IA where I have a place to stay for the night.  Hopefully the ride will be shorter than today's, as I only wanted to do about 50 or 55 miles today.

Day 19 (4/19)- I woke up today around 7:30 and Gary made me a nice breakfast of eggs, hash browns and toast.  After breakfast I packed up my stuff, said goodbye to his wife and got in the car to go back to my bike at the fire station.  Jerry was there and got me some bottled water to take along.  I packed everything up, said goodbye to Jerry and Gary and was on my way by 9:30.  I got right on the I + M trail which ran right through the town and rode on that for a while.  The trail took me into Ottawa which was a very nice little town.  I rode through the town and then got back on the trail and followed it up to Buffalo Rock State Park.

        I really wasn't in a cruising mood today, so I decided to take a look at the park.  The entrance was really cool with limestone cliffs and big old trees.  The road curved around and went up a big hill, which I almost decided not to climb up, but I did.  At the top there was a nice view of the Illinois River and further up there was buffalo!  Buffalo!  I mean, the park was called Buffalo Rock Park, so I expected this big, oddly shaped rock at the top, not three buffalo, so that was a nice surprise.  Those were the first live buffalo I have ever seen so it was pretty cool.  I spent maybe 15 minutes in the park before going back down to the path, but the road seemed to run parallel to the dirt path, so I decided to try the road for a bit.

        The road led me right into Utica.  Jerry had mentioned that a tornado had gone through the city a couple of years ago, but when I got there, I found out that the two year anniversary of the twister was the next day.  As I rode through town a lot in the center of town that had eight crosses on it.  I talked to a candy shop owner in town that explained what happened.  Apparently people from a mobile home park across the street ran to a tavern for shelter because it had a basement, but the tornado completely demolished the tavern.  The mobile home park was left untouched.  A few people were rescued from the rubble, but eight people died.  As I rode through town more, I could see the path of the tornado by looking at the houses.  There was a diagonal line that looked brand new and there were trees that were obviously dead, but still standing.  There was an abandoned house with only 1/2 a roof and another with only 1/2 standing.  It was very eerie because I could see exactly what had happened.

        From Utica, I took the I + M trail past La Salle, but about a mile out of town it just ended with no warning, so I had to bike a mile back to town.  Honestly, how hard would it be to put a sign saying that the trail ends in the middle of a swamp a mile up?  Oh well.  I biked up into La Salle and then took US-6 into Peru where I stopped at a bakery where I met Chris in the parking lot.  While we were talking, one of his friends (Jerry?) showed up and we went inside and chatted some more.  While I was ordering my chicken sandwich, another of Chris's friends (Dave?) showed up and we probably spent a good solid hour just talking about my trip and how crazy am I am other good stuff like that.  Before I left we got a picture together which I will put on the pictures page ASAP. (By the way, the chicken sandwich and cinnamon roll I got with it were amazing.) 

        From La Salle I decided that I would go about 20 more miles to Princeton and probably spend the night there.  The wind started picking up and for the last ten miles it was a pretty brisk headwind.  I got to Princeton and found a motel, because there was a threat of thunderstorms for the night.  After getting settled in I went out to The Big Apple, which was recommended to me by the hotel manager.  I got a burger which was ok and then a huge piece of cake for dessert. (Note to self: Stop overeating at dinner, no matter how good it is. It makes you feel sick for an hour afterwards.)  I don't really have plans for the next few days, but I do think I have a place to stay in Iowa City.  That means going a little south of my planned route, but that's ok. 

        One more note.  My left calf has been bothering me since the last 20 miles of yesterday's ride.  I thought it was just a little sore, but it got a little worse today, which is why I didn't go as far as I usually go.  I'm going to put some icy hot on it tonight and stretch it out and hopefully it will loosen up within the next few days.

Day 18 (4/18)- I woke up at around 7:00 this morning and was still feeling tired, but decided to go upstairs.  Mr. Zoladz was up and told me my options for breakfast.  I had a couple of bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios, some OJ and a banana.  After that we went downstairs and laid out all my maps and he helped me find a good route to Senaca, IL where he had a friend that I could stay with.  He also drew me a very nice map of how to get from Valparaiso to Crown Point.  Those were the most precise directions I have gotten so far on this trip and it was nice not to have to worry about getting lost.  After that I went and packed that trailer, said goodbye and was on my way by about 9:45.  The area that the roads we had planned earlier in the morning were very nice, with rolling hills and fields mixed with newly built houses.  The only problem was that there was absolutely no shoulder.  The white line was almost falling off the pavement.  Come on, how much harder would it be to add a foot to the side of a road running through a flat field?  We manage to do it in New Hampshire and we have to blast thought mountains.  Lucky there wasn't to much traffic and the shoulder width didn't cause any big problems.

        I got to Crown Point, found the post office and went inside to see what kind of mail had been sent to me.  Apparently none, which I know isn't true.  My mom mailed something four days ago via two day mail.  I told them I would check back later, and in the meantime went and got some lunch and found a wireless hot spot to check my e-mail.  I went back to the post office about a hour and a half later and there still wasn't anything, so I just asked them to forward anything that showed up to Valentine, NE.  I was a little disappointed that I didn't get anything, but I suppose that's what I get for showing up three days sooner than I thought I would.  I left Crown Point and headed off in the directions of Illinois.

        I reached the Illinois border around noon was disappointed that the only sign marking the milestone was one that said "State Line Rd".  The roads here were much better, and I took some back roads that went through a small state forest, which was very nice.  From there I was forced to travel in some very heavy traffic in order to reach the Old Plank Road Trail.  Once I reached it though, fighting the traffic was made more than worth it.  The path was in better condition than almost every single road I have ridden on this far and I was very impressed.  The path ran about 20 miles to Joliet which was right where I needed to be to get to the next bike path.  I did get a flat about 1/2 way down the path and it was another blowout.  I finally figured out what was happening.  The hole that was punched through the tire by the nail in New York was allowing the tube to rub through, and after a certain amount of rubbing the tube would burst.  I patched the hole in the tire with a patch and then patched the tube.  The tube I am currently riding on has three patches on it, so I should probably get some new ones ASAP. 

        The bike path ended in Joliet, where I had to ride through downtown and across a busy bridge to reach the I + M Canal Trail, which would take me to Seneca.  Although the trail wasn't paved, it was much, much better than the gravel canal trail along the Erie Canal in New York.  It almost felt like riding on pavement with a little fine gravel spread over it.  The path was very scenic, and rode a few feet above the canal.  For most of the ride it rode on an old rail bed that had water on both sides.  The smell was nice as well, almost like peat moss, but a little bit different.  Whatever it was, I enjoyed it.  The path took me all the way to Seneca, but by the time I got there around 8 it was already dark, so Jerry came out and found me and I followed him a mile or so back to the fire station.  There I talked to a group of Boy Scout leaders before going out to dinner with Jerry and his friend Gary who I am staying with for the night.  I got a bacon cheeseburger which was oh so good and some fries.  That hit the spot.

        After dinner we went back to the station and took some pictures of me in front of the trucks and then I got my stuff together and went with Jerry to his house.  His entire family thinks that I am crazy for doing this.  Well, I am.  haha.  After talking with the family for a while, I took a shower and went to bed around 11:00.

Day 17 (4/17)- I was rudely awoken this morning at 5:30 by the alarm clock in the motel room.  Apparently the last person who used the room used it and was kind enough to leave it set for me, just incase I wanted to wake up super early.  It was tuned to a radio station that didn't come it, so it was just an annoying fuzzy sound.  At first I thought I was a train in the distance going by, but when I didn't stop I finally figured out what was wrong.  Then I couldn't figure out how to turn the thing off, so I just started hitting it and that didn't work either, so I just ripped the cord out of the wall and went back to bed. 

        I woke up (again) at 8:30 and laid in bed for a little bit before getting up.  I ate a pop tart and then completely unpacked and repacked the trailer to organize everything that I had just thrown back in after camping out.  It took me a while to get everything the way I wanted it, and by the time I left it was 10:30.  I tried to find a place to eat in Nappanee, but didn't see anything appealing, so I left for the next town up, Bremen.  There I found a nice cafe which I think was owned by Amish people.  Well, I'm not sure if they were Amish, but they dressed like they were.  Anyways, I ordered a cinnamon roll, and it seemed to be taking forever to get it.  When I did get it about 10 minutes later, I understood why.  They put what you wanted in the oven right when you ordered it!  It was the best cinnamon roll I have ever had.  The bread was perfect, and the frosting was just amazing.  It was exactly what a cinnamon roll should be.

        The destination for the day was Valparaiso where I found out I had a place to stay last night.  The wind today was not a direct tailwind, but was probably blowing at a 45 degree angle to my back from the northeast.  I got a flat before Walkerton.  This wasn't just another flat though, this was a blowout flat.  All of a sudden there was just a loud POP and WHOOSH from the back tire and then it was flat.  This was the first time that had happened and was a little surprising.  I fixed that with my last spare tube and continued to Walkerton where I had lunch.  I guess right after Walkerton I crossed changed time zones, but I didn't see any signs or anything marking the occasion.  Its weird to thing that by crossing an invisible line you can move you clock ahead or backwards an hour.  After crossing into CST, I continued on to Kingsbury, where I called Mr. Zoladz.  We had agreed last night that I would call him when I got to Kingsbury and he would ride out and meet me near Westville at a gas station.  I got another flat right after getting off the phone with him, and it was the same kind of blowout as the last one.  I found that odd, so I took out the old one and found the hole and then found the hole in the new one.  Guess what, they were in the same spot, so I checked the tire and rim, but couldn't find anything that could have caused it, so I patched up one of the old tubes and put it in.  It seemed to work good

        I met Mr. Zoladz at the gas station around 4 and he took me on a 12 mile ride back to his home along some very nice country roads that I never would have discovered on my own.  When we got to his house, I had a PB&J and some OJ and then took a shower.  Mr. Zoladz then showed me around his backyard which I found amazing.  The amount of work he must have put into it to make it look so nice I can only imagine.  He then showed me pictures from a bike trip he took a few decades ago around Wisconsin, Minnesota and Canada.  After that his wife came home and we had a spaghetti dinner and I had a couple of bowls of Breyers ice cream, my favorite. 

        Tomorrow I am going to Crown Point to the post office to see what kind of mail people sent me and from there I have no idea.  There is supposed to be a tail wind again tomorrow, so maybe I can put on some more miles.  :-)

Day 16 (4/16)- I woke up this morning around 6:30 to the sound of rain on my tent.  What happened to the clear skies that the weather channel had promised me?  I got out and found that although I had missed the sunrise, there were still some nice colors in the east.  I packed up all my gear as quick as I could and stuffed it in the trailer in no particular order, figuring I would sort it out later.  As soon as I got on the road, I knew it was going to be a good day.  Although it was still raining a little, the skies were already starting to clear up.  The best part was the tailwind.  Right after I got going, I was doing 20 MPH with very little effort.  It took me less than an hour to get from Custar to Defiance, which was a 21 mile ride.  I stopped for breakfast at a donut shop in Defiance at around 8:30 and got a couple of breakfast sandwiches.  It sure was nice to have almost 25 miles done by the time I am usually waking up! 

        After breakfast, I sought out OH-18 and started riding on that.  The tailwind kept up and I made it almost 20 miles to Hicksville without a break.  I stopped for a quick snack at a gas station and then continued on my way to Indiana.  It was about 3 miles to the border, and I crossed into Indiana at about 11:30 and continued on my way.  I intended to take full advantage of the easy riding.  After the border, OH-18 turned into IN-8 and I followed that all the way into Albion where it ended.  I really didn't want to go north to US-6 yet, so I gave Ty a call and he said I could just keep going straight where IN-8 ended and it would take me where I wanted to go.  I ended up on County Road 100N which was very quiet, but the pavement was rough.  I stayed on this for pretty much all the way to US-33 which then took me northeast to US-6. 

        I planned to stay on US-6 until I stopped for the night.  Near Syracuse I reached 1000 miles for the trip and a few miles later I reached 100 miles for the day.  A few miles later I saw a group of Amish horse and buggies leaving their Easter dinner.  That was quite a sight to see these four horse pulled buggies pulling out from a driveway and then going down the road.  I followed one for a mile or so before it pulled onto a side road.  Right after the buggy got off the main road, Ty called me to say that there was a band of severe storms just starting to enter Indiana and that they had issued tornado warnings in Illinois a few minutes earlier.  I figured I had about and hour before the storms reached me, so I figured I would stop in the next large town for the night.

        I stopped in Nappanee just as the sky was starting to darken to the west.  I reached a motel around 4:15 and decided to stay there for the night.  I am currently watching lightning strike to the north every few minutes.  I have always liked storms, so I actually find the weather out here quite intriguing.  Although the storm did cut my day short a few miles, I can't really complain about 110 miles.  I really would have liked to make it a few more towns up though.  Maybe the tailwind will continue tomorrow.

Day 15 (4/15)-  It was a little bit chilly and cloudy when I woke up this morning, but it cleared up fast.  We had oatmeal and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then I started packing up. While I was outside packing the trailer, Kit came out and saw me admiring his car and asked me if I wanted to go for a drive and of course I couldn't resist.  We took a short jaunt around the area, and he showed me one of the biggest oak trees I have ever seen.  It was probably 8 feet in diameter.  After admiring the tree, we went back to the house and I finished pack my stuff up and said goodbye. 

        Although it was a bit chilly when I started, it warmed up to about 70 really quick.  For the entire morning I was on back roads that went through farm land.  There was almost no traffic and the road surface was perfect for riding.  There was a little bit of a headwind, but it wasn't right in my face like it usually is, but was coming more from the northwest.  About 20 miles into the day at the intersection of OH-101 and OH-412 I ran into another cyclist.  We chatted for a little bit and then he said he would ride with me.  We rode for about 15 miles until we got into Fremont.  It sure was nice to have someone to talk to while I was riding.  I guess I don't even realize that I am alone until I have someone else to talk to.

        I got into Fremont at around 1:45 and asked a post-lady if there was anywhere good to eat in town, and she directly me to a burger place called Rudy's, which was decent.  I ate and then sought out the library to check my e-mail and update the site.  I left the library around 3 and headed out to find the Greensburg Pike.  I found it and it was a pretty nice road for most of the way, but near the end it got very narrow and had very bad pavement.  Good thing only three cars passed me in the 10 miles I was on it.  From there I got on OH-281 in Wayne and I spent the rest of the day on that.   I was pretty much perfect.  I stopped next to a nice field in Custar and watched the sunset.  It was really nice until someone decided to start burning their trash and the smoke drifted into the sunset.  I decided to move on and probably went another 10 miles before I found a place to camp. 

        The spot I found is behind a huge warehouse looking building.  Behind the building there was a huge stack of bales of hay, so I set up the tent behind those in a field.  After I set the tent up I made some soup and some canned fruit and got ready for bed.  There are barely any clouds in the sky and the stars a very bright.  It looks like it is going to be an excellent night for camping.  Hopefully I will wake up early enough in the morning to pack up before anyone sees me here.

Day 14 (4/14)- Today was fairly normal.  I woke up around 8 and had a breakfast of pumpkin muffins and corn flakes and then started packing my stuff up.  I said goodbye to Mr. Bramante and was on my way by 10.  It took me a good 15 miles to get through the city.  I think I know why Cleveland is the fattest city in America.  It is not bike friendly at all.  The roads are in pretty bad shape, there are no shoulders and there were no bike routes that I saw.  I was very happy when I made it out onto US-6.  This road ran right along Lake Erie, and I took a few side roads that ran even closer.  The houses in this area were amazing.  Most of them were brick and very nicely landscaped.  I was very impressed.  After cruising around these less traveled roads I got back onto US-6 and continued west.  The houses on this road were the same, just bigger!  Most were either brick or stone and had gated cobblestone drives and large trees in the yard with flowers blooming.  This actually reminded me a lot of Isle of Palms, South Carolina where me and the family vacation every year.  Lots of very nice oceanfront homes.

        Anyways, about 35 miles into the day, around Lorain, I started noticing dark clouds, so I stopped at a library and turned on the laptop to look at the weather.  It showed a pretty big band of thunderstorms, but I decided to keep riding.  It was interesting to watch the storm roll in.  You can't really do that in New Hampshire because of all the hills.  It ended up passing just a few miles south of me, and I only felt a few sprinkles.  After the storm passed the temperature went up probably ten degrees and the sun even peeked out a few times.  I decided I would stop in Sandusky for the night which was about 15 miles away.  I stopped at a general store on the eastern side of Huron and bought a few things to eat and sat down outside to relax for a little bit.  While I was eating a new Pontiac GTO pulled in and I made a comment about what a nice car it was to the driver.  He said he loved it and asked me what I was doing, so I told him.  We chatted for a few minutes and he went into the store and I finished up and headed out.

        Right as I crossed the road I heard a whistle behind me and looked back to see the GTO driver walking toward me, so I turned around.  He introduced himself as Kit and asked if I would like to come over for a steak dinner and to stay the night.  I was really surprised, but he seemed like a very nice guy, so I accepted and biked a mile back down the road to his house.  It turned out he lived right on the lake!  I went inside and met his daughter and wife Cheryl and then took a shower.  When I was done dinner was ready.  I haven't had steak since I left, and boy was it good!  We topped it off with some ice cream with bananas which we ate outside on the back porch.  The sun was just starting to set, so we walked down to the beach to watch.  It was amazing.  The sun set right next to the famous Cedar Point theme park which you could see in the distance rising out of the lake.

        After the sunset, Kit told me I could use his internet to check on things, so he took me up to his third story loft and let me hook up my laptop.  He gave me the pictures he had taken of me and the sunset and a few others he has taken over the years.  He also showed me some of the work he does for his career.  It was very interesting and I wish I had more time to actually read it.  I sat up in his office for an hour or so looking things up and talking to my mom.  It was really nice, hearing the lake and feeling the warm breeze coming through the door.  Very relaxing.

        When I finished talking to my mom, I went downstairs and we watched some basketball and I had a PB&J, milk and some chocolates and then went up to bed.  The weather for the next week looks good, with just a couple of days that it might rain a little.  I think I will camp out tomorrow night because it should be perfect weather for it. 

Day 13 (4/13)- I woke up around 8 today and spent a while reorganizing the trailer.  I left at about 10 and took a short ride to the Ashtabula Public Library to check my e-mails and update the website, which I haven't done for much to long.  I left at around 12 and got onto US-20 which I planned to follow all the way into Cleveland.  This road was four lanes wide, but it had absolutely no shoulder.  It was to bad to ride on though because traffic was fairly light and the cars would just merge into the passing lane to get by me.  However, when I reached Mentor around rush hour, traffic drastically picked up and a few people started yelling as they passed.  Its not like there was a sidewalk or anything to ride on, so I just kept going.  In the middle of the city, I stopped at an intersection and looked at my map to find an alternate route.  I found that if I went one more street up, I could get on OH-84 and it would take me right to where I was going to stay for the night.

        OH-84 was much better.  It had a little bit of a shoulder, there weren't as many pot holes and traffic was in much less of a yank to get where it was going.  The road when through the suburbs of Cleveland and it was actually quite pleasant.  I got to the Bramante residence in Cleveland Heights at around 6:30, right as they were sitting down to dinner.  It was an excellent pasta with sausage and veggie sauce, fresh baked rolls and an amazing carrot coleslaw with what I think was a pineapple flavoring.  After dinner I took a shower and chatted the family for a while before retiring to bed at around 10.  The family reminded me a lot of mine because of the three sisters. 

        I don't have anywhere to stay tomorrow night, so maybe I will give camping out a try.  We'll see.

Day 12 (4/12)- Needless to say, I slept really, really good last night.  I woke up around 9:00 and went upstairs where Mr. Traut and Kyle made me an excellent breakfast consisting of eggs, turkey bacon, toast and cereal.  I spent a while just laying around and watching the weather and then started packing up.  The weather was showing some showers we going to come through in the morning and then a string of thunder showers for the afternoon.  I wanted to make it at least to Ohio before the storm, so I finished packing up and we loading everything into his truck and headed back to where I left off last night.  We made a few stops, first to his work where he tried to find me a few more places for me to stay, and then to a bike shop where I picked up four new tubes, three for the bike and one for the trailer. 

        We got to where I left off the night before and I replaced another rear tire.  Mr. Traut offered to take my trailer a good 10 miles up the road to where he turns off to get to his house.  I told him that was ok, but he insisted that it was no problem so I said ok.  It was nice to ride without the trailer for a little bit, especially with the headwind that was blowing at about 15 mph.  Along the way, I noticed that my new tube was getting flat again.  This was getting really old.  I got to the bait shop where Mr. Traut said he would drop the trailer off, took off the back tire and waited for my trailer and new tubes to arrive.  I spent some time looking at my rim and then had the brilliant idea to look at the tube.  Guess what I found?  A 1.5 inch stuck through my tire.  That might just be the problem.  I'm glad I found it, but it took me 4 tubes to finally figure out what the problem might be.  I'm shouldn't have to worry about the back tire for a while now. 

        When Mr. Traut arrived, I put a new tube on, finished packing the trailer up and said goodbye.  Right before I left, the bait shop owner came out and offered me a powerade on the house which I accepted.  I started on my way and got about 100 yards before it started to pour.  It was still fairly sunny out, so I dashed under some spruce trees and a minute later, it stopped.  I was still dry, and boy was I glad I put those fenders on the bike, because the road was soaking.  It took a little more than an hour to get to Ohio and I crossed the border at about 3:15.  I have never been to Ohio before.  Come to think of it, i've never been to a state that hasn't touched the Atlantic Ocean, (Well, except Vermont, but most of the country think NH and VT are the same, so we won't count that) so this was a very exciting milestone.  I kept riding and got to the town of Conneaut and bought a map of Ohio.  I don't know where mine went.  I decided I would try and make it to the next large town before the storm came, but I knew it would be close.  I could see the sky getting darker to the north and the wind was starting to pick up as the storm pushed it.

        I got to the next town, Ashtabula at about 5, and 30 second after I pulled into the motel, it started pouring with lighting and thunder.  I cut it really close, and for a little bit I wasn't sure I was going to make it.  When I turned on the TV after getting into the room, I found out the storm was moving at 70 MPH and the wind gusts on the ground were reaching 40MPH.  I believe it, because I was having a really hard time for the last few miles pushing into the wind.  At once point during a huge gust, I had a little fit and started yelling.  I think a few people heard me, because they were looking at me funny, so I kept to myself from then on.  Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice and I and looking to make it to East Cleveland where I have a place to stay for the night.

Day 11 (4/11)- Today I was up around 7:30.  I had a couple of bowls of cereal and said goodbye to Wendy and Aubrey who had to go to work and college.  Mike then helped me find the nearest bike shop because I really needed a new pump.  It wasn't open until 10, but I left around 8:30 anyways figuring that I could find a nice little coffee shop or something to hang out at.  I found the bike shop and there happened to be a coffee shop across the street.  I got some coffee cake and water and sat outside on the patio next to my bike.  You could tell that it was going to be a really nice day.  I went to the shop when it opened at 10 and got my new pump.  I used it to put air into my still nearly flat back tire and it worked very good.

        It took me about 2 hours and 20 miles to find my way out of Buffalo and onto NY-5 where it isn't an interstate anymore.  Although there was a bike path along almost the entire waterfront of Buffalo, it conveniently ended right where NY-5 turned into a interstate, forcing me to follow city streets all over the place.  I had to take out the laptop a few times to consult my Buffalo bike route map, but I did finally make it back to NY-5.  Although it was not an interstate anymore, it was still two lanes each way of very heavy traffic with little or no shoulder.  I stopped at the first gas station to ask how much longer the road continued like that and they said just a few miles.  Right after the gas station I was pleasantly surprised when I found a bike path along the highway.  It ended after just a few miles, but by then there was much less traffic and a nice shoulder.

        I stopped for lunch at a Subway (uh oh) about 20 miles outside of Buffalo.  I stuck with the subs this time and everything was fine.  I got outside and the trailer tire that had been giving me trouble was completely flat, so I fixed it.  After I ate my lunch I turned into a machine!  It was 12:30 and I saw a sign that said "Erie PA     72" so I put the pedal to the, err, pavement, and went over 20 miles in just over an hour without any stops.  That took me into the last county in New York and in the process of getting off the bridge crossing into the county the trailer flipped over.  The sidewalk over the bridge had a curb at the end, but half of it was gone, so one wheel was way higher than the other and flipped it onto its side.  It didn't really affect me on the bike, it just felt like I was trying to tow a rock.  I righted that problem and then stopped at an ice cream place a few miles up.  I got a sunday, and when I was ready to go the back tire was flat again.  So I fixed that and go on my way.

        After that ice cream shop NY-5 turned into a dream.  A two lane scenic "highway", nicely paved with a huge shoulder and very little traffic.  It rode within 1/4 mile of Lake Erie the entire time through wine country.  It was filled with little ravines, so the road was constantly up and down, but for most of them you could just coast/pedal to the top with no problem, so it was actually kind of fun!  I would have to say that was one of the best roads I have ridden on so far, until I got to the detour.  I stopped at a gas station and asked about it, and the cashier said it was just minor work on the side of the bridge and that the detour would add an extra 6 or 7 miles.  By then I was up to about 75 miles, so I decided to take my chances with the bridge.  Well, there was no bridge.  It was almost completely demolished.  I didn't want to ride 3 miles back to the detour though, so I carried the bike and trailer across the stream and continued.  The nice thing was that not a single car passed me for about 4 miles.

        Crossed into Pennsylvania at about 7:25 and took a couple of pictures.  Whew, New York sure did take a while.  I kept riding and then stopped at a marina to watch the sunset over Lake Erie.  When that was done I put on my pants and windbreaker and turned on my lights.  It took me until around 9:00 to reach Erie.  I found a bike path to ride on along a byway and kept going.  I reached 100 miles and then called the Trout family.  They said they would come and pick me up.  Mr. Traut and his son Kyle found me just before 10:00, brought me some much needed Gatorade and gave me a lift back to their house about 10 minutes west of Erie.  There was no way I would have made it by bike because I hadn't eaten anything for the last few hours and I was pretty much completely exhausted.  I got there and Mrs. Traut gave me a salad, peas, a ton of spaghetti and some ice cream.  Then I took a shower and went to bed, completely out of steam for the day. 

Day 10 (4/10)- I woke up around 6:30 today, but went back to sleep and woke up again at 8:30.  I got dressed and packed everything up in the trailer.  The elder Paul told me about a great place to eat in Fairport, a few miles down the road and we agreed to meet there.  It was a pretty short ride, probably 20 minutes or less.  Both Paul's arrived there in there car right as I was parking my bike, and we went in.  I got a sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.  That was by far the best breakfast I have had in a diner on this trip so far.  We finished up at about 10 and said our goodbyes and I started on my way to Niagara Falls.  The ride was about 20 miles, and the roads were very flat with 2 or 3 mile stretches of straightness.  And yes, there was of course a headwind.  It was probably a little less than 10 MPH and it was really annoying along those long straight stretches. 

        The first 15 miles or so were fairly nice, but after that things got a little interesting.  Lets just say that I didn't take the scenic route into Niagara Falls, and that things didn't get scenic until I got to the park.  I could see the mist and hear the falls before I could actually see them.  I have never seen the falls before and seeing them for the first time was amazing.  The amount of water flowing over those falls and the power that is behind the water is amazing!  It was a perfect day to be there too, around 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  I ended up just leaving the trailer in an inconspicuous spot and then I spent two hours just cruising around the park.  I rode all around the outside of the park and all over goat island and just sat down where ever it looked nice and relaxed.  It was very nice. I wish I could have gone over to the Canadian side, but I just didn't have time and I didn't want to have to lug the trailer through customs.

        I could have stayed there for the rest of the day, but Buffalo was calling and I left the park at around 3.  There was a really nice bike trail that led away from the park that ran along the Niagara River.  It was never more than 10 feet from the water.  This path ran all the way from the park to Buffalo.  The only problem was that it ran along I-190 over two bridges going to and coming from Grande Island.  The bridges had a sidewalk that was about 36 inches wide and traffic was going by doing around 70 only 2 feet away.  I had to concentrate pretty hard to avoid being blown into the guardrail when the big trucks went by.  The other problem was construction.  On the second bridge on the way down off the bridge the sidewalk was essentially closed.  There was construction equipment all over and a path only about a foot wide.  There was no way the trailer was going to fit through that.  I ended up disconnecting the trailer and walking the bike through.  What about the trailer though?  I ended up providing entertainment for the rush hour traffic as I stumbled down the sidewalk carrying a 65 pound bright yellow trailer over my head for 100 feet.  I got to the other side, connected the trailer back up and discovered my rear bike tire was flat.

        There was no way I was going to change the tire on the bridge, so I walked the rest of the way down, and started taking the bike apart in a grassy area under the bridge.  I got everything taken apart and put back together again and then remembered that my pump was broken.  I spent about 20 minutes trying to find a way to make the pump work.  I managed to get about 15 PSI into the tire, which was just enough to keep the rim off the road going over smaller bumps.  Good thing it was only another 3 miles to Buffalo.  I got to Buffalo, but I didn't know where I was going, so I stopped and asked a Taxi driver, who gave me directions that I promptly forgot.  I called the Thomson's and got more directions and made it to their house about 15 minutes later.

        When I got there they made me a great dinner of spaghetti, squash and toast and then I took a shower.  After that we watched a movie about the Beatles, "A Hard Days Night".  It was pretty funny.

Day 9 (4/9)- I actually forgot to write about this day, so I am going this is going to be short.  I left the Shale's at around 9 or 10 after a huge homemade breakfast.  I accidentally left my flag at their house, but I never really used it anyways because I could always hear it flapping around and it irritated me and made me feel like I was getting held back by the wind.  I know it was really only a mental thing, but I don't care, it really annoyed me.  It was a really nice day for riding but there was a little headwind, not to bad though.  At the start of the day I noticed that the house numbers started at about 20,000.  The place I was heading for the night was in the 7,000's.  I tried not to count the numbers down, but sometimes I just couldn't help it. It made for a long ride knowing exactly how far I was getting, but oh well.  I still wasn't back at 100% from my Subway incident, so I took it fairly slow and stopped often. 

        I stopped at around 1 in a little town called Millville and sat down at a table in a gas station to eat the PB&J's the Shale's had packed me.  I started eating and woke up two hours later.  I don't remember falling asleep, but I definitely did soon after I started eating because I had barely finished half a sandwich.  The people in the station must have thought I was quite a weirdo to come in and start eating and then just fall asleep.  I guess I must have needed the sleep though and it gave me the extra boost I needed to get to Gasport.  I got there around 7 and was greeted by the whole family and a few of their friends.  They gave me a nice hot chicken dinner and at a few points I almost spewed it all over the table.  What a hilarious family. 

Day 8 (4/8)- I slept in late today, and when I did wake up, I just laid in bed.  I felt but better than I did last night, but still not 100%.  I left the hotel around 11AM.  The weather was much better today, but it was very cold.  I stopped at a gas station in almost every town I went through to warm my feet and hands up.  I took a look at my shoes, and the top is made out of see through mesh.  That could be part of my cold problem.  Other than that, there was a slight headwind today, but overall the riding was pretty good.  The trailer tire was flat again this morning, and probably will be tomorrow morning as well.  I got to the Shales' residence in Rochester at around 3PM today and they greeted me outside.  They invited me inside and then I took a shower and sat on the nice leather recliner and watched The Transporter with their son Jamison while they made dinner.  It was a wonderful pork roast with salad and potatoes.  After that, they took me out for a drive to see Lake Ontario.  It was huge, just like an ocean!  We came back to their house and I was given a huge bowl of ice cream which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Hopefully I can get to bed fairly early tonight and get up early.  I am looking to make it to Gasport tomorrow, where I have another place to stay.

Day 7 (4/7)- I woke up fairly early, around 7, and was disappointed by the continental breakfast.  There were plain bagels, two kinds of cereal without milk and apple juice.  I had a bagel and was on my way by 9.  I got about three miles before the rain started, and by then I was already hungry.  I stopped at Brenda's Diner in Port Byron and had a more filling breakfast of french toast and eggs.  By the time I was done, it was raining harder, but I had places to go.  There was actually a 5 MPH tailwind today which was very nice.  I was averaging 16-17 MPH on the flats with the trailer.  I passed through several towns before I felt myself starting to run out of steam.  I had decided after breakfast that I was going to go until I had nothing left, no breaks, because I knew after I stopped I would stiffen up and have trouble getting going again.  I made it a little more than 25 miles to Lyons, where I stopped at Subway, one of the only places around that looked decent.  I had some hot clam chowder and a few powerbars and rested up for a good hour or so.  I watched the temperature on the screen at the bank across the street drop 5 degrees from 45 to 40 while I was there, so I knew getting started again was going to be tough. 

        Right before I got on my way, my stomach started to get upset, but I didn't think much of it because that often happens to me when I eat after exercising.  About a mile after getting going, my stomach started having really bad pangs of pain, and I knew if it kept up, I wasn't going to make it to Rochester.  I stopped at a gas station for another hour to try and let it pass, but it only got worse.  I asked the attendant there if there were any motels in town.  There weren't and the closest one was 5 miles down the road in the next town.  I felt a little dizzy when I stood up to go out to the bike, but I didn't see that I had much of a choice, so I got on an started riding at a much slower pace.  It felt like the only power I was getting from my legs was coming from gravity pulling them down.  The pain in my stomach only got worse.  I got to Newark about 30 minutes later and stopped at a gas station in town to find out what my lodging options were.  There was only one, so I ate another powerbar, and some Sprees despite feeling sick, and then went over to the Hotel. 

        Prices were of course jacked up for the weekend, but there was no way I was going to make it anywhere else.  I went in, and asked for a room, but I couldn't find my wallet.  The person at the desk said they needed something with my address on it, so I went outside, wrote it on a piece of paper, and gave it to them.  Good thing I had a little extra cash in the trailer, otherwise I would have been out of luck. After getting the room I brought all my soaking wet gear in and took a shower.  I felt dizzy again in the shower, so after I got out, I just laid down the bed, and tried to move as little as possible.  I stayed like that for three hours, not asleep but not really awake either.  Then I felt everything starting to come back up again.  I just barely made it to the bathroom.  That wasn't fun, but I felt much better afterwards.  Since then I have been eating and drinking constantly. 

        I didn't make it to Rochester today, but that is my destination for tomorrow.  It's only 25 miles, but I figure a nice easy day will help me recover.  The weather for the next few days is looking much better, and it will be nice to not have to worry about getting rained (or snowed) on.                                                                                                 

        PS: The Newark police just called my cell phone and said they have my wallet and need to come pick it up.  Its a small town, so hopefully it isn't far from here.  I don't know how they got my cell number, but I sure am glad to know my wallet isn't gone for good.

Day 6 (4/6)- Woke up a little later than I wanted to today.  I was hoping to be up at 7 because I went to bed fairly early at 10:30, but I didn't wake up until 8:30, and didn't get on the road until 10:30.  When I took the trailer out of the room the left tire was flat, so I put are in it and it seems to be holding up fine.  It took me a while to find my way out of Utica, but once I did it was decent riding on NY-5.  There is still a headwind today, but its very mild compared to the last few days.  Its been drizzling a little bit all morning as well.  I am currently in Vernon, NY at a gas station with wireless access.  I am hoping to make it at least to Syracuse today, and maybe as far as Auburn.  I was going to take NY-31 out of Vernon, but I decided to stay on NY-5 because it saves a few miles.  The day got better after Vernon.  The wind kept dying down and things seemed to flatten out.  I ran into some construction in Chittenango, but the driver behind me was very respectful, kept his distance and didn't try to pass me or anything.  I stayed on NY-5 until right before Syracuse and then got on NY-92.  That was one of the worst roads I've been on so far.  There is no shoulder, 6 inch granite curbs, no sidewalk and constant heavy traffic, but it was the only way I could find into the city and it brought me right into the heart of Syracuse University, which was very, very nice.  Getting out of the city was the same deal as getting in, very tricky.  I would have to say, based on what I saw today, that Syracuse is the least bike friendly place I have run into yet on my trip.  I back on NY-5 and then got on NY-173, which was a great road with a nice wide shoulder and new pavement.  I stopped on this road next to a field to watch the sunset, which was wonderful.  I continued onto NY-31 and started riding in the dark.  It was actually really nice because there was no wind, it was really flat and there was a huge shoulder.  I was doing around 16-17MPH the whole time and put on 15 miles without even noticing.  I stopped at a gas station in Jordan and ate some powerbars and had some Gatorade, then continued onto Weedsport, where I hoped to find somewhere to stay for the night because it is supposed to be cold and rain/snow tonight.  I found a Day's Inn which had wireless internet access and a free continental breakfast which all your touring bikers know I will be taking advantage of in the morning.  :)  I am hoping that this storm will get all the rain and snow out of its system tonight so I can make it to Rochester tomorrow.  We'll see.  I was pretty happy with my mileage today considering the late start that I got.  I can only imagine if I had gotten up on time!

Day 5 (4/5)- Today I woke up around 7:45 and it looked like it was going to be a nice day.  I went downstairs, and Marina and Brittany made a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, eggs, sausage, toast and milk.  The eggs, sausage, and milk was all from their farm, and the milk was only an hour or so old.  Much, much better than the milk you get in the store.  Right before I was going to leave I found my phone!  It was in the bottom of the pouch where I keep my camera.  I remember putting it there now to keep it from getting wet.  I left around 9, and had a nice 6 miles of mostly downhill to start my day.  Back down by the canal, I got on the bike path heading west.  Despite another weather report of a 15mph WNW wind, it was blowing due east at the same speed for the second day in a row.  The bike path only stayed paved for a few miles, so I got back on NY-5S for a few miles, where the wind was even worse.  Then the bike path became paved again and I rode into Canajoharie on it.  I was greeted by a old man running out of a mill building yelling "hey there young man!"  I thought I was in trouble for some reason, so I stopped, but it turned out that my trailer had just caught his attention and he wanted to talk.  He was quite an eccentric one.  We talked for maybe five minutes and then I said I had to get going because I was cold.  I stopped about 1/2 a mile up and went into a bakery and got a cup of hot chocolate.  A few minute's later, guess who walked in?  Yeah, the man I was just talking to.  He sat at the table next to me and started talking again.  The people at the bakery seemed to know him and kept shooting me knowing glances.  I guess I met my first town crazy today.  haha.  After warming up I continued on.  There was a fairly big 1.5 mile hill near Fort Plain's that took a while to climb up.  The wind on the top of that was even worse.  I actually had to pedal down the other side if I wanted to go any faster than 10mph.  I stopped again in Herkimer, and got some food and another hot chocolate.  Although it snowed intermittently throughout the day, it was fairly steady during the last 11 miles into Utica. I had a hard time finding a way into the city that didn't involve an interstate highway.  I reached the city at about 7pm.  I am staying at a Motel 6 tonight because we couldn't find anyone in the area for me to stay with and its too cold and snowy out to camp.  I am hoping to make it past Syracuse tomorrow and hopefully out of New York by the end of the weekend.  The forecast for tomorrow is another strong WNW wind and mid 40's.   If that's true I should do ok.  If I get another headwind though, there will be some problems, as they are becoming more and more discouraging. 

Day 4 (4/4)- I woke up today at around 8 and it was snowing out.  Oh joy.  Marian and her niece made me a huge breakfast of eggs, toast and bagels.  I didn't end up leaving until around 12:30, when I thought most of the snow had stopped.  I got on NY-5 and started west against a fairly brisk headwind.  I got about 3 miles and then it really started to pick up.  The headwind was about 20mph for an hour or so.  I turned around and coasted until I couldn't feel the wind on my back anymore and I was going 20.  It was miserable.  A 20mph wind driving snow into my face.  It was cold too, my feet and hands were freezing.  I fought the headwind all day.  It was blowing straight down the canal which both NY-5 and NY-5S parallel and made a long ride.  I reached Fultonville around 5:15 and then had to go 6 miles up NY-30A to reach my destination for the day.  It was all uphill, but the wind was no longer blowing in my face, but into my side.  What a nice change.  The country on this road is really quite beautiful, as I was riding an hour or so before sunset.  The colors, even though nothing has bloomed yet, were really nice.  I reached the house at around 6 where I was greeted by my mom's high school friend Marina, her husband Chuck, their daughter Brittany and, no exaggeration, about 15 cats.   I took a hot shower and got dressed.  Then I discovered that I no longer had my cell phone.  I guess I left it in Schenectady.  I'll have to get it shipped out to me somehow.  Anyways, Marina and her family took me the scenic way to Johnsonville and had dinner at Applebee's. 

Day 3 (4/3)- Today I woke up around 7:45 and ate some raisin bran for breakfast.  Me and Dan got riding at around 8:45.  It was hills all morning.  Right out of his house we had to climb a steep one, and in the first 6 miles we climbed 1300 feet.  If you ever want to wake up real fast in the morning give that a try.  We got to the top of Hogback mountain after and hour and a half of riding.  The elevation was 2450 feet.  That is where Dan left me.  We said our goodbyes and then I continued on my way.  There was a nice downhill into Wilmington, but after that there was the biggest hill of the day, big enough for two truck runaway turnoffs.  When I got to the top, the sign said 8% grade 3 miles.  It was really tough with the trailer, but I made it with a few rests.  The top of the hill (read mountain), was 2655 feet.  And then it started to sleet.  Not little sleet, but big huge chunks.  Those hurt like you wouldn't believe when you are wearing shorts and going 35 mph.  It started to rain about halfway down.  The ride into Bennington was really nice, almost all downhill and the road was fairly good.  I stopped at a restaurant where the people let me part my bike under the screened in outdoor section.  I had a lot of hot cocoa, some clam chowda and a fruit salad.  Ty called after school and I asked him to see how far it was to Schenectady from where I was, because the guy working there said it was 25 miles.  It was actually 47.  I had 47 miles to go and it was already 2:30.  This was going to be close.  I got on my way and crossed into NY.  I also missed getting a picture of the "Welcome to NY" sign because it was on a downhill and corner.  This is how I found out if I lock the back wheel of the bike, the trailer will try and force me into a jackknife.  I handled it ok, and stayed up, but it was a little scary.  I'll keep that in mind for the Rockies.  In Hoosick I stopped at a Mobil, bought a Powerade and talked to the nice folks there for a little bit.  NY was much flatter than VT and it was a nice change, although for most of the way before Troy there was a pretty solid headwind.  The ride down into Troy was a very nice downhill, and when I crossed the Hudson river I felt like I had accomplished something.  The ride after that got tough though, as Route 7 became a four lane road with a one foot shoulder.  I had to have the trailer a constant 3 or 4 inches from the sidewalk curb.  It took a lot of concentration with the traffic going by at 50mph a few feet away and me going a fairly constant 25mph.  There was a nice tailwind the whole way from Troy to Schenectady, and I don't think I would have made it without it.  I made it to the house where I am staying tonight at 7pm, just after dusk.  Marian(sp?) who is an aunt of one of my mom's friends from work, Linda.  She and her niece made me a nice pork chop dinner and gave me ice cream, a hot shower and a nice, big, soft bed, which I will soon be falling asleep on.  Tomorrow is supposed to snow and rain like crazy, but I still plan on riding to at least Fultonville, which is about 35 miles down the road.  We'll have to see how the weather is.  Hopefully those hills I rode today were the biggest ones I will see for a few months.  I am looking forward to a little flat riding along the Erie canal.  That's all for tonight.  I miss you guys and gals at home.

Day 2 (4/2)- Today was the big day, the first "real" day of the trip.  I wanted to wake up at 6am to finish packing and then leave by 8, but I didn't wake up until 7:15.  But, oh wait, daylight savings, so I really woke up at 8:15, brilliant.  I took a quick shower and then went downstairs.  Ty was already there and to my surprise, so was my Aunt Nelly from New York City.  She drove all the way up to say goodbye to me!  What a pleasant surprise!  I ate some breakfast and finished packing, but still could not find the pump, so I decided to just leave without it.  I moved the bike and trailer outside and then my dad, mom, three sisters, my Aunt Nelly, Ty, Courtney, and Ty's parents all came outside to say goodbye.  I gave everyone big hugs, and then got on my way.  It was hard saying goodbye to everyone and knowing I'n not going to see them for the next two months.  It was harder than I thought it would be.  I started off and everything went good.  When I got on 101, WMUR news called and said they were going to come out and find me but they never did.  There were some huge hills along the way including a 1.5 mile 8% grade hill near Temple Mountain that seemed to never end.  I stopped for lunch in Marlborough and one of my dad's good friends, Bob, drove in.  I went over to say hi and boy was he surprised to see me.  I then continued on my way, through Dublin, which is apparently the highest village in New England at 1432 feet (which I entirely believe) and then downhill into Keene, where I stopped at Wal Mart and picked up a new pump.  I entered Vermont at around 5pm.  I had talked to a biker named Dan from Brattleboro, VT earlier and he rode out to to meet me in town.  We rode together back to his house, where he was kind enough to make a wonderful chicken parm dinner, let me use his shower and the extra bed.  A nice, warm, soft place to sleep is so much more greatly appreciated after a long day on the road.  A big thank you goes out to Dan for taking care of me for the night!  BTW, I don’t have a way to get pictures from my camera, to the computer yet.  I’ll get on that ASAP.

4/1- Most of today was spent frantically packing and organizing all my gear.  Everything was carefully accounted for and packed into the trailer for morning except for a few last minute things like my chargers and maps.  The only thing I was missing and couldn't find was my pump.  I have no idea where it went.  After almost finishing packing and eating dinner I went out with a few friends to say goodbye.  Before I could go though, I had to tell my parents where I wanted to go to college.  That was part of the deal, I had to tell them where I wanted to go before leaving on the trip.  I am going to go to UNH.  Anyways, I got home from saying goodbye to everyone at around 1:30 in the morning and went to bed. 

Day 1 (3/29) - Well, today was the first day.  Me and Ty woke up at around 4AM and left for Hampton Beach.  We got there around 5:25, and watched the sunrise.  It was amazing.  Perfectly calm and no one else was around.  I did the ceremonial tire dipping and then came up from the beach and started getting ready to leave.  Ty left to go to school and I got started.  About a mile later my chain started skipping so I stopped to take a look.  It turned out that two of the chain links somehow got bent while we were putting the bike in the car.  There was no way I was going to ride all the way home with the chain skipping every revolution.  I asked around and found out there was a bike shop about 7 miles up the road in the opposite direction.  I didn't really have much of a choice, so I started off going back where I came from.  I got about a mile and then stopped at a nice, cozy coffee shop called JB's and got some breakfast and then got back on the bike.  I got about 100 yards before the chain broke, 6 miles before the bike shop.  I ended up scooting the bike the rest of the way there.  It took just under an hour and by the time I got there both of my legs were starting to cramp.  I told the guys there I needed a new chain, so they looked at the bike, and apparently when the chain came off it tore apart my rear derailleur too.  Wonderful.  A new chain and derailleur cost me $90.  It was 11 before I finally got on the road again.  It took me a little while to get back to the route I planned, but once I did everything went smoothly.  I stopped and got lunch in East Kingston at a small general store and sat out on the front porch.  It was a beautiful day, around 65-70 degrees and as clear as could be.  I actually got a little sunburn!  The rest of the trip went pretty smooth, except for a bridge being closed on one of the roads I was supposed to take.  One of the advantages of being on a bike: you can go where the cars can't!  I just lifted my bike over the jersey barriers and continued on my way.  Closer to home on Route 101 Ty rode his bike out to meet me and we rode the last 5 miles of the trip to his house together.  Even though the first day didn't go quite as smoothly as I planned, I am still extremely excited and anxious to get going for good on Sunday morning.  I can't wait!  3 days!

3/28- Finally finished the route today.  That was a ton of the work.  I spent a sold four hours getting from Vermont to Nebraska where I finally hooked up with the rest of the route that I had finished earlier.  I would say that planning the route from scratch took about 15 hours.  The directions fill an entire 7 pages of a word document in size 12 font.  Hopefully all the time spent will be worth it.  Google Earth was an amazing program to use for my purpose.  I could zoom in and see how large the shoulder was on every road and see how much traffic was on it.  During the next few days I plan on contacting a few post offices along the route to have my mail shipped to and maybe try to find a few warm places to stay along the route.  4 days to go!

3/25- We woke up this morning and it was a bit chilly, the water in the Nalgene bottle had frozen about a 1/4 inch overnight. We packed up all the gear and hopped on the bikes around 8:30am. We biked out of Center Harbor and found a Citgo station about 2 miles out of town with picnic benches. So we made a breakfast on the stove consisting of oatmeal, hot cocoa and a few yogurts I had brought. We got back to biking and headed towards Wolfeboro where we planned to stop for lunch. Along the way, at Nineteenmile Bay, I noticed that the lake was still frozen, so I pulled off the road and went for a little ride on the lake. I went maybe three or four hundred yards before I had to stop for open water. We stopped in Wolfeboro as planned to make some soup for lunch. We are starting to get used to all the weird looks that we get between the trailer and cooking on a stove in a park in the middle of the day. From there we continued back towards our starting point at Alton Bay. We stopped once to grab a quick picture of a mile long hill before we started up it. The hills always seem bigger when your pedaling up them, but coming done them doing 35 or 40 and keeping up with cars makes it worth it. We got back to the car at 2pm and now are driving home after completing 26 miles today. After this trip I feel more confident about my trip. I averaged about 11.5 mph with a trailer over the entire 62-mile trip, which was very hilly. Over the 62 miles we gained about 4500 feet. I still have quite a bit of planning to do for my big trip though, including planning the rest of the route from Vermont to Nebraska. 6 days to go!

3/24 - Today me and Ty are starting to ride around Lake Winnipesauke to test out all the gear for my trip. We started in Alton Bay at the southern tip of the lake at around 4 pm. We got about 4 miles before we saw a big cliff on the side of the road across from a scenic overlook and decided to climb it. It was a tough climb, but definitely worth the view at the top. Way better than the scenic overlook 200 feet down. We continued riding until Meredith where we got some dinner at a diner and met a couple who asked us if we were the people they passed going up the big hill by Fun World. We said yes, and we talked to them for a little bit. They seemed quite impressed that we were riding around the lake, and even more so when I told them my plans to go across the country. Before leaving, the couple offered us the extra rolls that they didn't eat and we gladly accepted them. After dinner, we continued to Center Harbor, which is almost opposite of Alton Bay. We saw a nice little park down by the lake and started to set up the tent. We had just finished putting the tent up when a police cruiser showed up. He was very friendly and asked us what we were doing, where we were coming from and a few other things. The funniest thing was when he asked to see my maple syrup. Apparently he thought my maple syrup was shots of something.. He said that he could let us stay for the night, but that was it. He then told us to be safe, wished me luck on my cross-country trip and left. We decided not to push our luck and use the stove to cook our dinner and went to bed about 15 minutes later at about 9PM. We rode a total of 26 miles today.

3/23 - I got a decent amount of stuff done today.  Brett and I went down to Goodale's in Nashua to try and get the bike tuned up, but apparently there is a two week waiting list!  Since Brett works there he got one of his buddies in the service department to take a quick look at the bike.  He did a quick once over, tightened a few things up and told me it looked pretty good.  While I was there I picked up a very nice, but very expensive cycling computer.  Later on Ty came by my house and we loaded up the trailer with all my stuff in anticipation of riding around Lake Winnipesaukee on Friday and Saturday.  Then we went over to his house and I installed the computer which works great while Ty figured out that switching out the cassette on his bike wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.  Since he has a fast internet connection, which my house is lacking, I spent about three hours on his computer planning my route on Google Earth.  For some reason I decided to start planning in California and work backwards.  I planned what appears to be a fairly exciting route all the way to Iowa.  The new laptop that I order for the trip also came in today.  It's pretty sweet and weighs just over three pounds.

    3/17 - The tent came today and its awesome.  Its a three person, three season tent and it weighs only 3 pounds, including a floor, stakes and poles.  Sometime this week I plan to take it for a test run in the backyard.  13 days to go.

    3/15 - Doing a good amount of work on the website today in hopes of getting it up and running by the end of the week. 16 days to go.

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