July 14, 2005
This update on our journey is being written from the library in Dighton, Kansas. Looking at the past few days, Jack reports on:
July 12, 2005 (the 34th day of the journey)
We went to the JR Truck Stop in Ordway to fuel up for the day. We've learned that every little town has its group of local citizens that meet for coffee at 6:30 AM to solve the world's problem. Ordway was no exception. The meeting had already begun on the front porch of JR's when we arrived. I told the 8 guys that I could tell that they were the "brain trust" of the town. All readily agreed and Mr. Reimschneider quickly took on the role of spokesman. It was quite a jolly group and we enjoyed much kidding. As is the case all along the ride everyone wants to know where we are from, how far I've ridden, how far each day. I eventually told them about the fund-raising effort and gave them sticky notes with the rideforjim.org weg site. After we went inside to have b-fast, two of the fellows followed us in to follow up on our effort to promote cancer research. It turned out the Mr. R. was a six-year survivor of cancer himself. He owns about 20,000 acres and farms the hard way he said, compared to back east, since he has to irrigate everything he grows. He has done quite well for himself with his 8th grade education. He said he had the same teacher for 8 years, and after that amount of time he had taught her everything he knew so he quite going to school.
On the road that day I met several cyclist going west, Eric, from Montreal, works for IBM and was riding to Oregon. Jacque and Mary Lou are from Paris, France and are riding from Chicago to Denver. They gave a very positive recommendation for the steak at the resturant in Eads. The 63 mile ride that day was harder that the miles would indicate since it was into a strong headwind all day.
July 13, 2008
The local resturant in Eads did not open until 7:00 and I was anxious to get on the road early to pass some miles before it got too hot so Philip heated water on his little backpacking stove and made oatmeal. We added some packaged Salmon that Nancy had sent to us and had a little b-fast picnic. It looked like a perfect day for riding since I even had a slight tail wind helping to push me. Less that 5 miles into the ride I had aNOTHer flat tire. At this least this one was on the front, which is much easier to take off the bike. I had been told about the "Texas Tacks" which are tiny, about one-quarter inch diameter burrs that are on the ground, are very sharp and easily capable of puncturing bike tires. I inspected the tire and found numerous little spines from these guys in the tire where they had even punctured my Kevlar, bullet-proof tire. They are most frequently found in grassy areas or in gravel I now know and I had ridden in such areas around the camping area of the city park where we had camped.
So I took the wounded tube out and replaced it with a new tube and pumped it up. Before I could even get the wheel back on the bike the tire was flat. So I pumped some more and the pump jammed and would no longer pump air. Philip had already passed me and by this time was way ahead of me. So I decided to patch the wounded tube but first had to find the hole. This is more difficult that it is at home when I just put the inflated tube down in a bucket of water and look for the bubbles to rise. I tried pouring water on the tube with little success so finally licked and spit on the tube. Even the first round of spitting on the whole tube did not reveal the breach. Do you have any idea how much spit it takes to cover a whole bicycle inner tube? This was Sunday morning and no one stopped to see if they could assist but I suppose I would not want to stop to help some guy standing by the side of a lonely highway spitting on a bicycle inner tube at 7:00 on a Sunday morning. I found the hole, the patch worked but the pump did not. The worst curse word I ever heard my dad utter was "Horse Collars". So I laid enough "horse collars" on the poor little pump to harnes 100 21 mule teams and surprisingly the little pump got the message and started doing what it is designed to do.... pump air!!! It may have helped that I also took the pump apart and discovered that the "O-ring" had gotten out of its little groove and need to be pushed back into position. I had called Philip on the cells and he came back to assist putting everything back together and get me back on the road.
After that I met 9 riders heading west. We always stop to compare stories about what lies ahead. Among them were two young guys from Sweden, a middle age couple and several other combinations of riders. Arrived in Tribune, KS in the early afternoon having ridden 58 miles.
So that day I crossed the line into Kansas which feels like a real milestone. At this point we have been on the road for 5 weeks and have covered 2042 miles. Tribune turned out to be a like a big "road family" reunion. Emerson and Copper were there as well as a really nice couple from New York who were heading to Washington state. Also the Swedish guys arrived and this morning there was another fellow at the site who is a grad student at Columbia.
July 14, 2008.
Today I rode to Dighton, KS, for 72 miles. This town of 1300 has a great pool so I cooled down, showered and now am at the library. Next on the agenda is perhaps finding a steak dinner. Not surprisingly the local Dairy King, which I located on arrival, is closed on Mondays.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Blog from Dighton, KS,
Friday, July 11, 2008
Blog update, July11m 2008
July 11, 2008 Jack writes:
Today was a short ride and I have internet access so will take this opportunity to update our blog.
On July 9, 2008, my 66th birthday, I left Keystone, CO heading off to face the challenge of Hoosier Pass. Riding out of Dillon I rode on the "Dam Road" a road over a dam that was created to produce a source of water for Denver. We had driven on the day before when the Leichnetzs drove us over to Frisco. But on the 9th the road was closed to traffic. It turned out that the Denver Water Board had closed the road for unspecified National Security reasons. I read about it in the morning paper when I stopped in Breckenridge for coffee. They had not closed it to bicyclists though, since it is quite obvious that we could not pose a security risk. So I rode up to the pass with no real difficulty and wanted to have my picture taken at the top, 11542'. Philp had a doc appointment in Boulder that morning so was not with me and at that time I arrived at the pass no one was around ask to snap the pic. What to do? So I took one of my bags off the bike and set it in the road to use as a tripod for the camera to take a delayed exposure, and then aimed the camera up toward the sign marking the pass. To make sure the sign with me potentially in it was aimed properly I had to lie down on the road. Of course I made sure I could not hear any cars approaching from either direction before getting comfortable in the road. To my surprise another cyclist who I could not hear approaching appeared just at that moment. He of course thought I was either injured or crazy. Chris turned out to be a really nice fellow and graciouly took the picture for me. As I was about to leave a group of 4 or 5 mostly young college age cyclist reached the peak so we stopped an chatted about where they were from and where they were going. They had started in Yorktown. One older fellow wondered how old I was since he was 50 something and, for some reason wanted to determine if he was the senior member of our little gathering. So I told them that in fact it was my b-day THAT very day. After all of the appropriate "you sure don't look that ancient" kind of comments they all gave me high fives. I gave all of the stickynotes with our web site, RIDEFORJIM.ORG and rode on to Fairplay to a great Mexican resturant, for lunch. Philip and I were supposed to meet up in Harsel, CO but I determined that the planner who had designed Jeffrey City had also done some work in Hartsel so rode on toward Guffey. What I had not counted on were the strong head winds and very significant climbs. The afternoon turned out to be harder than the morning going over the pass. So a 88.4 mile ride marked my birthday. We stayed at a very primitive hostel (I wish you could see some of the places we have stayed on this trip). It was a rustic cabin called "Badger Hole" so that gives you some idea about the amenities. The beds were quite comfortable and I slept like a baby, appropriate for my birthday I think.
July 10, 2008
There was no breakfast available at "Badger Hole" so we had some instant b-fast and beef jerky. There were some dining spots noted on the map within 20 or so miles where I thought I could fuel up. All of the resturants were closed until we reach Canon City, CO, 40 miles into the ride, and found Big Daddy's truck stop. They had the real deal, Chicken Fried steak over scram. eggs, hash browns all smothered with gravey. We even ordered a huge cinnamon bun to go with it. One of the pleasures of this ride is being able to eat EVERYTHING I see. I was planning to make it to Pueblo, CO that day which was going to be a long ride and it was getting hot so I tried to keep my water bottles full. Got water in Florence and planned to fill up again in Wetmore. Wetmore is just a crossroads kind of place and when I got there the resturant was closed until 5:00. I knew that in the town of Wetmore I needed "More-Wet" so when I saw a lady out behind Barb's Saloon and Resturant with her dog I asked if I could get some water. The lady, Barb, graciously opened the resturant for me and filled the water bottles with ice and water. It was going to be 28 miles to Pueblo so she decided I needed more water and gave me a plastic gallon jug half full that I cramed into one of my my panniers. It was a good thing. There was a lot of climbing with a head wind. Thank you, Barb, for your generosity and hospitality. Reaching Pueblo I headed to the great park they have in the middle of town and cooled down in the public pool. Later I learned that the temperature yesterday was 99 F and I had gone 91 miles.
July11, 2008
We stayed in a modest motel last night since the city park no longer permits camping, even though the maps from Adventure Cycling all say cyclist can camp there. The diner next to the motel served up a very adequate breakfast so I rode out of town before 7:00 with, for one of the first times in recent weeks, the wind to my back. Boy did that feel good. I as going 20 mph up gentle grades. I planned to ride only 50 miles today to Ordway, CO since the temperature is forecast to reach 100 F. In Olney Springs I met up with Emerson and Copper, two college age kids, who are also riding east. They had similar stories about their stay in Pueblo. Just after that I had my first flat tire, in fact I had just bragged to Emerson and Copper that I had not had a single flat so far, but it still is not a bad record. I have gone 1921 miles in 28 days of actual riding with only one flat. Still, I hope it is my last one.
Riding down from the Rockies after Hoosier Pass I had mixed feelings. It seemed sad to see the great Rockies disappear into my mirror as I rode east and I realized that all of the anxiety and some fear that I had in the first part of the ride was now behind me. But it also gave me a feeling of confidence that I had accomplished going over all of those climbs and possibly could also face the Ozarks of Missouri and the Alleganies.
Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to only reach 85. I hope the wind is still to my back.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Blog update July 8, 2008
More updates from the last few days.
July 5, 2008 Jack writes:
After another robust breakfast at the Riverside Cafe I headed off to Walden. CO. The ride was only 50 miles but included a 1000' climb and significant headwinds. I have learned that a headwind is no fun. On a steep climb there is a beautiful view at the end and a lovely long downhill reward. With the wind it is just a long hard struuuuuuugle. Along the way I talked to two groups that were heading west so learned some of the idiosyncracies of Walden. It was an interesting experience. It is a rather modest town of 734 souls with a very imposing granite courthouse. Cyclists may camp in the village park but must check in with the Sheriff's office first. Millie at the office was very accomodating and just needed to know my name. Showers were supposed to be available at the local pool. It turned out that the pool was CLOSED for July 4th and 5th. It was a lovely facility adjacent to the park. Also the modern-looking library is always closed on weekends and is open only 10 to 6 during the week. I called my new friend, Millie and she arranged to have the pool opened in the evening. When I questioned the wisdom of closing the pool on the 4th she mentioned something about the power struggles that go on in small towns. The Moose Creek Cafe in town was great, in fact we ate three meals there, about the best endorsement anyone can give.
July 6, 2008
After breakfast at the Moose Creek, where else, I cycled on to Kemmerling, CO, a 90 mile ride. A stop for a hot fudge sundae in Hot Sulphur Springs was fuel enough to complete the ride. I am not sure how my mileage on burgers and sundaes compares to mileage on gasoline. A nice nap and a big pizza at the best pizza in town ended the day. We stayed the night at the Easton Hotel, a sort of European style hotel, modest but clean. Dorothy at the desk was enjoying her day of watching the entire Harry Potter series non-stop and invited us to join her. We decided that a good nights rest was going to be a greater benefit.
July 7, 2008
Another great breakfast at the Family Resturant where they make fresh donuts every morning plus big servings of eggs, bacon and hash browns. The 50 mile ride to Keystone, CO started in the rain, the first messy start in almost 4 weeks. The reward at the end of the ride was being welcomed by our longtime friends, George and Athalie Leichnetz at their condo in Keystone. George and I have known each other since 1967 when we were in grad school at Ohio State together. He arrived at MCV one year before I did, so we have known and worked together for over 40 years!!! They have been feeding us ever since our arrival. A sumptuous lunch, grilled brots for dinner, was followed by a good nights sleep. Their condo is in the Rockies, 6 miles from Dillon but with the feel that one is in a very remote setting.
July 8, 2008
A day of rest. I did not even get on the bicycle for the first time since Missoula, two weeks and two days ago. The goal of fattening me up continued with a robust breakfast of waffles, eggs and bacon. A tour, by car, (boy, you can really cover a lot of distance in a short time by car) offered up spectacular views from Loveland pass.
Tomorrow is my 66 birthday so a Black Forest Cake is waiting on the kitchen counter for the feast this evening. I plan to ride over the last and highest pass of my trip tomorrow, the Hoosier Pass at 11,542, the last two digets are for my birth year, 1942.
Philip and I offer our deep thanks to George and Athalie for their over-the-top hospitality which included using the internet to post these updates. This has been a VERY welcome break in the trip. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Monday, July 7, 2008
blog update: July 7, 2008
July 7, 2008 Jack writing from Keystone, CO. Bet you all have been wondering where we have been.
It is time to do some serious updating at the web site. Between not having access to the internet in some of the remote regions we have traveled through, the July 4th holiday on Friday, and the library in Walden being closed on the weekend, this is the first I have been able to update.
July 2, 2008
We traveled from very comfortable Lander, WO to Jeffrey City WY. The landscape was dramatic but desolute with no intersting towns along the way. However, there were several fellow Trans Am cyclist traveling west so we always stop to compare notes and learn what is coming up. There is a sort of kindred spirit that links us together as a "Road Family". One fellow, Tjoan Liang, was riding a recumbent and we had a nice visit. He had stayed the night before in Jeffrey City which he said some refer to as "Jeffrey Dalmer City". Once we got there I understood. JC was city founded about 1955 as a camp for the Uranium mine. At one point the population was 5000. When the mine closed in the late 1970's the population quickly vanished and today is maybe 50 on a good day. There was a diner where we stopped to eat since it was the only good stop in the 65 mile ride that day. The cook/waitress was a really sweet lady who cooked a GREAT double pattie hamburger and home made french fries. I think this was Hamberger #30 for the trip so far. It is one of the food items that appeals most to me after a day's ride. The best burger I have had on the trip is always the last burger. There was a motel in Jeffrey City but it reminded be a lot of the motel in Psycho so Philip scouted out a primitive camp site about 4 miles out of town and over 3 cattle guard crossing on the rode. We wanted to stock up on powerbars or fruit but the cafe was the only store in town and the grocery part of the store was a 5 foot shelf with, maybe 13 items on it. The snack counter had a box with one Tootsie Pop in it which I did not have the nerve to take. The good news about primitive camping now, according the a lady at the cafe, is the we are out of Grizzley territory. So I stupidly asked what creatures roamed the hillsides. "Oh there are some rattlesnakes and some cats." I did not pursue what was meant by "cats" but was pretty sure it was not Tabby and Felix. We did not purchase the $40 can of Bear Be-Gone Spray back in Yellowstone, but now I was wishing that I had, thinking that it might be useful on the Rattlers. This primitive site included some scattered dried cowpies which we scrapped away to have nice site of the tent. A thunderstorn came through at sunset. The tent does NOT leak and the "cats" did not make and appearance.
July 3, 2008
Rode from Jeffrey City to Rawlings, WY, 56 miles. There was a store in Muddy Gap, the first stop of the day where I could get coffee, a real treat. Crossed the Continental Divide twice with a couple of long slow climbs. I've lost track of how many times I have crossed the divide now. Rawlings has a population of 8538 so we thought it would be a good place to have rest day and spend the 4th of July. It turned out that the only campground was a KOA for $35 or a terrible Psycy-type looking motel for $75. So we decided to go to the Lutheran Church in town and ask if we could camp on the church lawn. Pastor Wiley greeted us at the door and with a rather bewildered look, wondered what we two rather scruffy guys could want. He quickly agreed that of course we could camp in the lawn but perhaps we would rather use the basement which was cool and had a beautiful kitchen. It was perfect. Thank you, Thank you, Christ Lutheran Church, Rawlings, WY. Pastor Wiley also directed us to the BEST Mexican Resturant of the trip, I think it was Rose's Larriete or something like that if you ever find yourself in Rawlings needing a great meal.
July 4, 2008
Decided to ride on to Riverside/Encampment, WY, a 65 mile ride
Leaving Rawlings took us through Sinclare, WY, a small village of about 500. Outside of the town was a huge oil Sinclare Oil refinery. Oh, I see now where the name for the town came from. Duh!! The ride took me on the shoulder along Interstate 80 for 13 miles. There has been every possible riding situation on this ride, including a wide shoulder to ride on, no shoulder, and carrying the bike down a steep stairway early on. Mid-day found us in Saratoga, WY. The 4th of July ceremony and parade were just about to begin. The mayor read an impressive proclaimation declaring the day a holiday, we sang the National Anthem and then the parade began which included a 1931 Model A Ford that the owner had completely restored. Outside of this town, population 1728, was an impressive airport with many small corporate jets parked all about the field. The Sheriff directing traffic told me that Saratoga is a destination place for the rich who have huge vacation estates along the North Platt River running through the town. Who would have thought that this little village attracted the rich and famous. One person who owns a rubber company has a huge party on Labor Day that attracts so many that there is barely enough parking places for all of the jets.
Arrived in Riverside, population 59 which is one mile away from Encampment, population 25. There was a great place to eat, the Mangy Moose Saloon. That was where we had our 4th of July burger and the best Heineken ever. That night this little town put on a pretty spectacular fireworks display that kept us up way past our usual bed time of 8:00 PM.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
1 July Update
After posting the last blog from a lodge near the top of Togwatee Divide we returned to what I thought was a pretty primitive campsite about a half mile from civilization. Along the way we saw a huge moose grazing in an open field. Later just as we were getting into the tent I spotted another one behind the tent. What a sight, the moose in the foreground with snowcapped mountains in the background and a beautiful sunset arching above. I tried to take a picture zooming in on the moose, but it looks a lot like a closeup of the mosquitoes we seen on the OUTside of our tent in the mornings, immobolized by the cold.
The campsites throughout Yellowstone and the Tetons all had warnings about Grizzily Bears in the area and not to have food around that would attract them. After camping in the Park Service camping area in Grand Teton Park along with LOTS of other campers, and having a kid whiiiiiing all night long in a tent not 30 feet from our tent, we both decided we would rather be attacked and eaten by a Grizzily than listen to whinning all night long. So Philip is the self-appointed campsite locater since he has the mobility of a Honda Passport and I only have a Bianchi bike. The campsite two nights ago had the Grizzily warnings and also a large steel box with an impressive door that latched with a hasp and chain. It is for the purpose of putting all of your food items in so the bear cannot get them. However, that box was only three feet from the pad where the tent was located, meaning that my head was three feet from the box where a very frustrated bear was going to go berzerko after smelling food that he cannot get to. He most likely would then settle for second best, a nice gummy humonoid. Since I am writing you can tell the night passed without incident.
By the way, if one needs to venture out of the tent in the middle of the night for any reason, the sky full of stars is well worth the effort of leaving a warm sleeping bag. The stars are so bright it is almost frightening. Unbelieveable!!
So last night Philip located an even MORE privitive camp site. He now zooms ahead of me, actually it is not much of a zoom since I am going an average of 12 miles per hour and he is doing 60, goes to a fishing tackle store, finds a grizzled old fisheman and asks where a good place would be to camp.
So using that technique, last night we were REALLY in a primitve site. It was three miles south of Dubois, WY, a good mile off of the paved road across three cattle guards on the Jakeys Fork River. This one did not even have a picnic table with the bear warning or the steel bear bate box. It was a beautiful site.
Today along my 77 mile ride to Lander, WY I met a number of interesting people. Crowheart, WY, population 163, is basically an all in one general store. They jokingly called it the Crowheart Mall. That one building is the post office. hardware, grocery, filling station and community center. I took a picture of the postmistress, Nancy, beside the wall of mail boxes and one of the clerks. At a rest area about half way into the ride I met the Godfrey family from Missouri and told them about our ride and effort to generate funds in Jim's memory to support medical students to do cancer related research. They have a bed and breakfast south of St. Louis and offered that we can stay there when we reach that part of our journey. It would be great if they are somewhere near our route.
Lander, WY where we are staying tonight is home to NOLS, National Outdoor Leadership School. Philip has done two 4 week backpacking trips with this organization, so he feels as if he is home. Surprisingly he has arranged for us to stay at the NOLS hotel with real beds and a hot shower. Now it is time to do some grazzing in town. We hope to be in Rawlings, WY in two days, the fourth of July. Rawlings has a population of 8538 so we are thinking there should be some hoopla going on for the 4th.