The fabulous four spent the night in a motel in Wytheville, Virginia waiting for the local bike shop to open on Tuesday morning. They have had a few!! mechanical difficulties and are in need of some minor repairs. Kara said she "threw" her bike after another flat tire, which was about the eighth for the group in less than a week. Out of spare tubes they decided to stay in Wytheville, relax and get some much needed rest. Dan Armstrong did want to go another 50 miles and "risk" a breakdown, but the group decided against it, even Brian Homer LeMond choose not to take the "risk".
Their final leg will take them north through Virginia, into Maryland and then to Delaware where they will cross into New Jersey, unless they turn around and go back, as I hear Kara and Jason have contemplated.
A homecoming celebration will take place either the 3rd or 4th of August at the Pigott's in Jobstown, NJ, a stopover before their last day ride to Long Beach Island. I will keep everyone updated as they get closer. Signs, cheering and a party will welcome them home, all are invited to join the fun.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Update
Here's the whereabouts of the Riders:
July 20 : They crossed into Illinois. They found a short cut that cut off 80 miles.
July 21: Kentucky!!
July 24: Berea, Kentucky
Sunday, July 13, 2008
NO MORE WESTERN EXPRESS!!!!
Update on our days and mileage...
7/3- Dolores to Telluride (70 miles and over Lizards head, a 10,222 ft summit
7/4- Lucked out and talked to a lovely woman named Melissa who amazing found us lodging in an unoccupied home for the weekend (Thanks again Melissa, Susan and company)
-most of us got to see some fantastic fire works!
-got to see the town parade, where post-Scientology Tom Cruise and fam was in attendance (even though we didn't see him) and ate at the town picnic
7/5- Telluride to Montrose (only 60ish miles because we were kinda lazy and tired)
7/6- Montrose to Parlin (over Monarch Pass 11,300 ft in elevation)
7/7- Parlin to Pueblo (92 miles) FINALLY FINISHING THE WESTERN EXPRESS!!!!
7/8- Pueblo to Ordway 48 miles) got really lazy this day, oops.
- met the winner from the Biggest Loser tv show who is biking across the country with his wife
- got to watch a movie in the town park
7/9- Ordway to Tribune (118 miles) OUR FIRST CENTURY CLUB (10 1/2 hours of biking)
7/10- Tribune to Ness City (102 miles)
7/11- Ness City to Larnerd (66 miles)
7/12- Larnerd to Newton (110 miles)
So that is what we have been doing the last week or so and that is why no one has really heard from us lately.... We are still alive and kicking and feeling good that we are out of the Western Express and on the TransAmerica Trail.
We have been able to put in a lot of miles and have felt really good to be getting some days with over 100 miles.
Wally, it was good to hear from you and to answer your questions, I (Homer) do the blogging and everyone else helps in telling me where we have come from and where we are going and other good stories (PG of course) that we should share with everyone else. As for the brushes with the law we have been trying to be more unlawful. While camping in Ness City we snuck into the town pool, scaling a very large fence, so that we could take "showers" in the pool. Also, we have been continuously ignoring traffic safety signs in towns and cities in order to save time...don't worry mom we are all still ok. Oh, I must make a correction. Kara has yet to break any traffic laws, and is all about bike safety.
Sorry, but this is all I got for now. There are plenty more stories, but just don't have the time right now.
Here is the update for where we are right now however. On our ride into Newton, our destination for the night, we met two fabulous people (Dave and Cookie) They were bikers who have gone all over the country and make us look like complete amateurs. We are currently cleaning our clothes in their washer/dryer, taking showers, and sitting around exchanging stories while drinking chocolate milk and eating popcoron. We still are consistently being amazed at the kindness and care that we have been encountering throughout our trip so far. It is a great thing to see and we are so appreciative.
OK, hopefully pictures soon?
The bikers
7/3- Dolores to Telluride (70 miles and over Lizards head, a 10,222 ft summit
7/4- Lucked out and talked to a lovely woman named Melissa who amazing found us lodging in an unoccupied home for the weekend (Thanks again Melissa, Susan and company)
-most of us got to see some fantastic fire works!
-got to see the town parade, where post-Scientology Tom Cruise and fam was in attendance (even though we didn't see him) and ate at the town picnic
7/5- Telluride to Montrose (only 60ish miles because we were kinda lazy and tired)
7/6- Montrose to Parlin (over Monarch Pass 11,300 ft in elevation)
7/7- Parlin to Pueblo (92 miles) FINALLY FINISHING THE WESTERN EXPRESS!!!!
7/8- Pueblo to Ordway 48 miles) got really lazy this day, oops.
- met the winner from the Biggest Loser tv show who is biking across the country with his wife
- got to watch a movie in the town park
7/9- Ordway to Tribune (118 miles) OUR FIRST CENTURY CLUB (10 1/2 hours of biking)
7/10- Tribune to Ness City (102 miles)
7/11- Ness City to Larnerd (66 miles)
7/12- Larnerd to Newton (110 miles)
So that is what we have been doing the last week or so and that is why no one has really heard from us lately.... We are still alive and kicking and feeling good that we are out of the Western Express and on the TransAmerica Trail.
We have been able to put in a lot of miles and have felt really good to be getting some days with over 100 miles.
Wally, it was good to hear from you and to answer your questions, I (Homer) do the blogging and everyone else helps in telling me where we have come from and where we are going and other good stories (PG of course) that we should share with everyone else. As for the brushes with the law we have been trying to be more unlawful. While camping in Ness City we snuck into the town pool, scaling a very large fence, so that we could take "showers" in the pool. Also, we have been continuously ignoring traffic safety signs in towns and cities in order to save time...don't worry mom we are all still ok. Oh, I must make a correction. Kara has yet to break any traffic laws, and is all about bike safety.
Sorry, but this is all I got for now. There are plenty more stories, but just don't have the time right now.
Here is the update for where we are right now however. On our ride into Newton, our destination for the night, we met two fabulous people (Dave and Cookie) They were bikers who have gone all over the country and make us look like complete amateurs. We are currently cleaning our clothes in their washer/dryer, taking showers, and sitting around exchanging stories while drinking chocolate milk and eating popcoron. We still are consistently being amazed at the kindness and care that we have been encountering throughout our trip so far. It is a great thing to see and we are so appreciative.
OK, hopefully pictures soon?
The bikers
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
3/4 Through the W. Express and Loving It...
Well, we finally got back to a place with phone service and internet so here I go with a recap since my last post.... We had kind of a slow start on the 26th because we were really dreading climbing Cedar Mountain, but eventually, after eating a breakfast/lunch, we got on the road and started up the mountain at around 12. The climb was really hard and took over 4 hours to rise from about 6500ft to over 10,000ft in elevation (only 26 miles). Once we got to the summit however we had a nice relaxing joy ride down the other side of the mountain and made it another 30 miles in 2 1/2 hours to our final resting place for the night in Panguitch. Once in Panguitch we stopped to eat at an Arby's and then started looking for a place to sleep for the night. We called the sheriff who told us that there was a restaurant/motel that let peole stay behind it for free (he failed to mention the name and we failed to ask what the name was) After looking for this phantom establishment for about 15 minutes and coming up with empty pockets we decided to call back and get the name. Unfortunately, when we called back there had just been a shift change and the new sheriff that we talked to had no idea what we were talking about. We hung up and decided to go looking for somewhere to stay on our own. We first checked out a church, but those damn sprinklers were everywhere. We then went to a hospital and Danny used his suave moves to finagle our way into being able to sleep on some grass behind the hospital for the night. While setting up the tent we found some sprinklers and got a little disheartened, but then we made a miraculous finding. We found the underground sprinkler regulator that controlled all of the sprinklers and were able to turn it off. Finally we had outsmarted the sprinklers!
The next morning we woke up to Danny yelling at us to come outside the tent. J, Kara, and I had slept passed the alarm and thought that Danny was going to give us a little treat for us being so lazy, but we were happily surprised as we emerged from our lair to see tons of hot air balloons taking off and landing all around us in the sorrounding fields. After watching the balloons for a bit we packed up and began riding by around 9. We rode until 12 and stopped in Cannonville for lunhc (36 miles). There was no restaurant but there was a market with a microwave and we got excited (especially J). So we all got a bunch of microwaveable foods and cooked them up for lunch. Somehow J spent more money at this market than for any of his meals so far? I'm not quite sure how that happened... From Cannonville we started up riding again and ended our night a little early at around 6:30 in Escalante at a campsite. Danny and I headed into town, another 2 miles, to get food. We came back so excited with our pick, sloppy joes, but upon arrival back to our site we were informed by J and Kara that we had only gotten sloppy joe sauce and no meat. We felt like idoits... After our mistake, J and Kara took a ride into town and saved the night with pasta and alfredo sauce that we cooked on the fire. Danny and I are really good at getting wood and making fires, not so good at the whole grocery thing (another lesson learned).
We left Escalante in the morning, rode 28 miles up a mountain and stopped in Boulder for lunch. On this ride we went up a 4 miles section that had a grade of 14%....it was terrible. After eating in Boulder we all layed outside the restaurant and took naps for about an hour. When we woke up there were a lot more people there than before and they were all staring at us and our bikes (we were sprawled all out on the ground outside the restaurant trying to relax in the shade). When I woke I turned to J and said, "they are looking at us like zoo animals." It felt terrible and I am now starting a lifelong quest to free all zoo animals because it feels terrible. Ended the night in Torrey where we stayed behind a church, which we thought we had gotten permission to stay behind, but came to find out that we were given permission to stay behind a completely different church. Who knew there would be more than one church in a town of 170 people.
On the 29th we rode from Torrey to Hanksville in the morning (46 miles) through beautiful canyon. Saw 5-6 deer (3 bucks, 2 babies), and came across a really cool waterfall. We stopped in Hanksville to eat lunch and then left and rode another 48 miles to a campsite in Hite State Park. Almost made it to a Century Club(100+ day) but came up a little short. We will get it one of these days. From Hite Park we had an 86 mile day that put us in Blanding with no services in between. This day was really terrible. We were all really tired, and the first 50 miles of the ride was all up hill. For lunch we walked off of the road and cooked food underneath a tree, sorrounded by dried up cow poop and bugs all around us. We definitely ate some bugs for lunch but none of us cared. Anyways Bear Grylls says they are an excellent source of protein. From Blanding we rode to Dove Creek. During that trip we encountered our first rain storm, we felt really B.A. as people drove past us in their cars. Then this morning we rode from Dove Creek to Dolores. We are shacked up in a cozy little motel and our preparing to climb our first big mountain in Colorado. Oh yeah, we left AWFUL UTAH, and are so excited to be out of the damn desert. Also we have crossed to 1000 mile marker and are approaching 1300 miles so far. For now that is all.
In closing, a few more lessons....
1. Dead, rotting animal carcasses smell awful
2. Mexican meals= more bodily functions
3. Open Ranges + Cows in the middle of road= Homer terrified of livestock
4. 14%.........GAAAAA
5. When you are tired, you will sit down anywhere to relax, even sorrounded by bugs and feces
6. swimming in lake= shower for the week
7. Don't leave your wallet at restaurants (I am an idoit)
8. Rod from Dove Creek is maybe the coolest person in the world.
Hasta luego,
Kings of the Road
The next morning we woke up to Danny yelling at us to come outside the tent. J, Kara, and I had slept passed the alarm and thought that Danny was going to give us a little treat for us being so lazy, but we were happily surprised as we emerged from our lair to see tons of hot air balloons taking off and landing all around us in the sorrounding fields. After watching the balloons for a bit we packed up and began riding by around 9. We rode until 12 and stopped in Cannonville for lunhc (36 miles). There was no restaurant but there was a market with a microwave and we got excited (especially J). So we all got a bunch of microwaveable foods and cooked them up for lunch. Somehow J spent more money at this market than for any of his meals so far? I'm not quite sure how that happened... From Cannonville we started up riding again and ended our night a little early at around 6:30 in Escalante at a campsite. Danny and I headed into town, another 2 miles, to get food. We came back so excited with our pick, sloppy joes, but upon arrival back to our site we were informed by J and Kara that we had only gotten sloppy joe sauce and no meat. We felt like idoits... After our mistake, J and Kara took a ride into town and saved the night with pasta and alfredo sauce that we cooked on the fire. Danny and I are really good at getting wood and making fires, not so good at the whole grocery thing (another lesson learned).
We left Escalante in the morning, rode 28 miles up a mountain and stopped in Boulder for lunch. On this ride we went up a 4 miles section that had a grade of 14%....it was terrible. After eating in Boulder we all layed outside the restaurant and took naps for about an hour. When we woke up there were a lot more people there than before and they were all staring at us and our bikes (we were sprawled all out on the ground outside the restaurant trying to relax in the shade). When I woke I turned to J and said, "they are looking at us like zoo animals." It felt terrible and I am now starting a lifelong quest to free all zoo animals because it feels terrible. Ended the night in Torrey where we stayed behind a church, which we thought we had gotten permission to stay behind, but came to find out that we were given permission to stay behind a completely different church. Who knew there would be more than one church in a town of 170 people.
On the 29th we rode from Torrey to Hanksville in the morning (46 miles) through beautiful canyon. Saw 5-6 deer (3 bucks, 2 babies), and came across a really cool waterfall. We stopped in Hanksville to eat lunch and then left and rode another 48 miles to a campsite in Hite State Park. Almost made it to a Century Club(100+ day) but came up a little short. We will get it one of these days. From Hite Park we had an 86 mile day that put us in Blanding with no services in between. This day was really terrible. We were all really tired, and the first 50 miles of the ride was all up hill. For lunch we walked off of the road and cooked food underneath a tree, sorrounded by dried up cow poop and bugs all around us. We definitely ate some bugs for lunch but none of us cared. Anyways Bear Grylls says they are an excellent source of protein. From Blanding we rode to Dove Creek. During that trip we encountered our first rain storm, we felt really B.A. as people drove past us in their cars. Then this morning we rode from Dove Creek to Dolores. We are shacked up in a cozy little motel and our preparing to climb our first big mountain in Colorado. Oh yeah, we left AWFUL UTAH, and are so excited to be out of the damn desert. Also we have crossed to 1000 mile marker and are approaching 1300 miles so far. For now that is all.
In closing, a few more lessons....
1. Dead, rotting animal carcasses smell awful
2. Mexican meals= more bodily functions
3. Open Ranges + Cows in the middle of road= Homer terrified of livestock
4. 14%.........GAAAAA
5. When you are tired, you will sit down anywhere to relax, even sorrounded by bugs and feces
6. swimming in lake= shower for the week
7. Don't leave your wallet at restaurants (I am an idoit)
8. Rod from Dove Creek is maybe the coolest person in the world.
Hasta luego,
Kings of the Road
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