SPS Cyclists

Day 45: Finished

2011-07-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

I am not a regular contributor to this blog, but as the one parent who cycled across the country with this amazing group of students, I thought it an appropriate time and place for me to share my sincerest thanks to all involved.

To the parents (aunts/uncles too) – I know just how much work it took to get these kids to the finish line. I loved getting to know those who drove support, and it goes without saying – we could not have done it without you. Maybe when these seven have kids of their own, and are asked if they will support their own child’s desire to cycle across the country, will they then truly appreciate your collective Herculean effort.

To those with the Ride2Recovery organization - you gave us true purpose. Without this particular mission, I don’t think we would have experienced the incredible outpouring of support along the route – particularly in the west and mid-west. Because of you, we received an invaluable education, and I will be forever grateful .

To the host families, churches, other fiends made along the way - your generosity and support of injured vets, and these students, was an inspiration to us all. Hopefully, our paths will cross again at some point in the future.

To the veterans who shared in this experience with us – specifically, Tyler Boudreau, Kenny Butler, Jaime Cruz, Jack Shepard and Mike McNaughton - I enjoyed getting to know you all. Tyler, a special thanks to you – the one who spent an entire week to support this group. You provided much needed conversation (and I was a little needy after 5 weeks with 7 teenagers), and more importantly, much clarity regarding our mission. You are an amazing group of people, and I hope we will remain in touch.

Last but certainly not least, to these seven remarkable students: I am so proud of you all, and hope your “take away” was as rich as my own. We learned much about group dynamics and communication - more than any college course will ever teach you. I know most of you were skeptical about me at first, but I’m hoping I exceeded expectations (which I think were pretty low). You all know by now that I assess people for a living, and if you guys are any indication of what is in the “future leader” pipeline, this country has nothing to worry about. I hope you will keep your promise to me – when my own kids refuse to have dinner with me during one of my trips through Concord, that you’ll happily come out for a meal with me instead! Thanks to you all for allowing me share in your incredible journey; it has changed my life. (Now that the trip is complete, does this mean you now will all be “de-friending” me on Facebook?) I love you all.

-- Anne Keyser

Day 35: 78 Miles

2011-07-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to try something new. The heat wave that has been rolling through has been devastating to our biking, leaving us tired, sweaty and dehydrated by 10 in the morning. After discovering on Tuesday night that today was supposed to be the hottest day yet, the girls of the group made a drastic decision; we were going to leave at 6 in the morning, meaning we would have to wake up at 5:30. The boys decided that this sounded too intense for them, so they opted to sleep in and leave at our normal departure time of 8. This morning, when 5:30 came (all too soon) The girls reluctantly rolled out of bed and into clothes and onto our bikes. The first 30 miles passed in a zombie-like state with almost no talking. At mile 30, we found a gas station and things perked up a bit. By keeping our stops short and our average speed at 20 mph, we were able to roll into the campground at 11:30, where we promptly jumped into the lake to cool off. The boys and the trailer joined us 2 hours later, and we were all able to enjoy the hot day off of our bikes and in the shade.

-Anna Hymanson

Day 34: supposedly 92 miles, actually 97 miles

2011-07-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Today we left the country. With the help of our friends from the St. Mark's Episcopal Church, who fed us an incredible breakfast, we were able to locate the ferry. We were then yelled at by the woman at customs for attempting to take a picture with a sign that read “once you pass this sign you must take the ferry to Canada.” Apparently it is against the law to take pictures of a federal building, even though the exterior resembled more of a candy shop. After making it across the canal, we were able to start our ride. We only made one wrong turn before the first snack break at the local fire station, where the fire chief let us use the bathrooms and take a picture with the old fashion fire truck. Unfortunately, the second portion of the ride did not go quite as smoothly as the first, and we ended up taking a wrong turn that added an extra five miles to the route. This caused my mother to begin yelling at the “worthless” GPS unit perched on the front of her bicycle. We all made it to the stop in good time, and only later did we discover that it was trying to take us on a shorter route. A nice man who owned the restaurant next to the shop let us use the bathroom before he locked up, but poor Luke discovered only a few minutes to late that he had left his water bottle inside. Luke was devastated even though we have extras, because his water bottles would no longer be matching and one of them would not have a Camel back jet squirt top. With his newfound anger, Luke pulled us the last fifteen of our final thirty-mile section into Port Stanley. Upon our arrival, we went swimming in Lake Erie, and later had dinner in a near by restaurant.

Lia

Day 33: 88 Miles

2011-07-18T19:35:00.001-07:00

Monday July 18th

The day started off a bit earlier than usual, at 4:15, when the skies opened up on us and dumped some rain on us. Our tents held for the most part, but the rain was powerful enough to wake us all up to get the no-longer drying towels spread across the picnic tables and lawn. When we actually got up at the usual time, we were a bit slower in downing some cereal. As we started, everything was going well. We didn't even get lost. However, at mile 14, we came across some train tracks. For some reason, the lovely tracks were built as parallel to the road as possible while still crossing the road. Being mostly asleep, we did not think quite enough about crossing them perpendicularly, so we had a bit of a tumble. Lia, Luke and Brit all fell, and Lia ended up with 5 stitches in her elbow. She told me specifically to talk about how she was bleeding profusely, which, I admit, she was.

Nothing else really happened, but it rained for the last ten or so miles. So we finished up at St. Mark’s Episcopal church in Marine City, Michigan, where we generously given showers, a delicious meal, and a roof over our head shelter us from the night’s coming showers.

Tucker Burleigh

Day 32: 94 Miles

2011-07-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday July 17th

Word of the day: LOST. I stopped counting after the 10th time we stopped analyzed the maps, Garmin GPS, and a location application on my iPhone to figure out where we were going! It was crazy how many times we got lost and had to call the support vehicle for help. However, it was a beautiful hot day and we were surrounded by wonderful guests who were riding with us so getting lost today wasn’t as frustrating as others. We had 13 riders at one point-- it was quite the crew. Jaime Cruz rode for the first 60 miles with us. Jaime served as a Marine and then entered the National Guard at which point he was deployed to Iraq. He still serves as a MP and participates in the Ride2Recovery challenges. Jaime was entertaining to ride with and put a smile on all of our faces with his stories and jokes. Jaime was actually quite the jokester. At one of the rest stops he snuck up behind me with an ice cold glass of water and poured it on me! It was ridiculously hot so it felt refreshing. Sandy and Dave Hahn (R2R volunteers) also joined us for the first 20 miles of our route along with John Everett and Bets Kent who rode for 30 miles of the day. For the majority of the ride we were on bike paths which was fantastic because it allowed us to get off the busy roads and ride side by side with our guests where we could share stories and enjoy each other’s company. After all our guests had gone their separate ways we were back to our typical 8 riders. The heat was immense and slowed us down. We were sure to keep applying our sunscreen, hydrating, and eating our CORE bars for energy as the sun beat down on our backs. We rolled into our campground around 7:00pm where we had (at our request) breakfast for dinner! YUM! Omelets, fruit, bacon, potatoes...what a feast! It got dark before we knew it. The realization began to set in that we were now so close to the East Coast and the sun didn’t set at 11:00pm like it did in Montana! So...We were doing dishes in the dark with headlamps strapped to our foreheads. It was an entertaining thing to watch as water was flying everywhere when we were trying to clean. After a while we decided that it was “camp clean” and promised we would clean it better before the next big meal. We filed into our tents and went to bed. The girls decided that we would sleep without our rain tarp on because it was so hot outside. BUT, at 4:00am it started thundering and lightening. Thankfully our trusty support vehicle helpers: Nicole (Better known to me as Mom) and Cathy (Aunt) put our rain tarp back on before the rain began. I was EXTREMELY glad to wake up not sleeping in a puddle. THANKS MOM AND AUNTIE CATHY!

T-Minus 12 days until Maine. This amazing journey has gone by oh so quickly. Such a bittersweet feeling. I'm having the time of my life.

Brittany Marien

2011-07-18T18:00:00.001-07:00

July 16^th 2011

Today was an amazing day for not only the SPS cyclists but for the cycling community. The weather was nice and it was also our first day where we had a bike trail that we all could ride fast on. The feeling of no cars passing you makes everyone feel so comfterable with each other. It was a very relaxing 99 miles because of this path. Later on in the day there was another surprising event. We had our first visitor riders join us. The four Ride2Recovery volunteers were very appreciative and supportive of this expedition that we are pursuing. Also seeing new people and getting to talk to them was great. We all finished at a gorgeous house owned by the Turner family, who let us sleep in their house for the night. That night we all went swimming, boat riding and filled our stomachs with pulled pork, fruit and other delights. We finished our day with a nice and relaxing night that made us all shut our eyes and fall asleep. And so it goes.

-Luke Noreña

Day 30: 44.1 Miles

2011-07-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

Friday July 15th

Dear blog,Today was the best day of my life. The morning was slow and tired and my knees were stiff while the SPS cyclists and I rode 44 miles to lake michigan. It felt long and brutal for what was called a rest day but in the back of my mind I knew (we all knew) it was A VERY HARRY FERRY DAY. We boarded the SS Badger ferry from Manitowoc, WI to Ludington, MI unknowing of what was in store. This ferry was not any normal ferry. It felt like a huge cruise ship (all that was missing was a pool and rock climbing wall) floating on lake michigan. Once Badger Idol was mentioned, everyone (Brit and I) was excited to participate (unknowingly forced) in this competition for a very coveted miniature trophy, fame, and bragging rights until the next ferry took off in the morning. By the time two hours had passed, Brit and I had visited the Micheal at the cruise director's booth 4 times (each time diligently looking at the hundreds of songs for the karaoke contest). Somewhere in our many visits, we managed to sign up Lia, Anne, Tucker and Luke for musical numbers without their knowledge or consent. When we broke the news to Lia, there was a lot of blushing and pleading but in the end she was forced up to the stage and belted out Your Love by The Outfield. Anne in the last second backed out (saying that she only sang to family members) and then Tucker and Luke came in with their rendition of Ain't No Mountain High Enough and then for the grand finale Brit rapped and Anna and I shared the singing of Love the Way You Lie by Rihanna. After the meager clapping (that decided the winner), lia was crowned champion as she was the clear crowd favorite but in the end they just wanted to get back to Badger bingo to win magnets and pencils. Four hours and a new time zones later, we left the ferry ready for dry land and a special surprise of Aaron's brother waiting for us on the other end. After a huge hug, we went on our way with an extra because Harry Potter 7 Part 2 was going to start in half an hour (we were on a tight schedule). We all excitedly took our seats with two large popcorns, three large drinks, and lots of candy in the packed theatre because my dad had bought us tickets in advance. When everyone started dying in the movie, an lady in front of us started bawling and violently hushed all of her friends around her when the tried to calm her down. It was quite a sight such that we could barely manage to muffle our chuckles. To top it off, she yelled at the screen "is that really it?" after the two and a half hour movie came to a close. Then all eight of us squeezed into Aaron's brother's five person car and there was some tickling, squirming, and squealing, but we eventually made it with a rush at the doors when the car stopped movie. Then to top it all off pizza and clean laundry awaited us in our motel room by the awesome Cathy and Nicole Marien. The day we had been looking forward to since Montana had finally come and gone and so our sights switch to Niagara Falls, our next rest day.

-Anna Richardson

Day 29: Stevens Point, WI to Kaukauna, WI; 86 miles

2011-07-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday July 14th

8:00 A.M; the first stroke of the pedal and we were off. It was an extra-ordinary day. The morning was cool for a brief period of time, and then the temperature soared into the 80s and 90’s for the remainder of the day. The first few miles, of what has become our daily routine, we maintained a steady pace-line due to busy roads. For those who don’t know what a pace-line is, it’s excitement level is equivalent to watching grass grow. Thanks to Kathy and Nicole we had plenty of caffeine in our systems to continue the pedal stroking until we reached a course of our trip that was not so busy. Once we had reached back roads our boredom ended just as our caffeine supply ran out; conversation while riding two by two helped wake the group for the many miles ahead. Despite the heat we only made three stops, one of the stops was at a veteran’s memorial park we took a few pictures in from of the memorial ate lunch and continued on our way to Kaukauna. Like I said, today was extra-ordinary; no crashes, no storm, no cool stops, just pedaling east. There was one aspect of the day that was out of the ordinary, but it’s not too exciting; we had a major head wind blowing in our face. It slowed our pace quite a bit; it was rather disappointing because we actually got to stay at a hotel that night. Tucker pulled us the last leg of the trip without help from another rider, and we quickly settled in to the Settle Inn motel. After taking our warm showers and getting dressed the group gathered in the lobby of the hotel and we all headed out to dinner. Walking into the Lazy Dogs Sports Bar, Kathy got caught up in conversation with another costumer, who was rather curious about where so of the kids got their tan lines. It was a great question for the lady to ask; it gave Kathy a perfect opportunity to talk about us cycling, which leads to why we are cycling. Kathy returned to our group and we continued the, going out to eat, process. After we put our orders in the curious costumer, named Mary Romenesko, who talked with Kathy came over and dropped a hundred dollar donation on the table. People like Mary remind me how kind people truly can be. After she came over and gave us her donation we all introduced ourselves and joined in some small talk with her. Our meals came out and Mary went back to her respective table. I had a Bison burger with BBQ sauce on it. Bison burgers are much better than beef burgers and BBQ sauce completed the excellence of my meal. We returned to the Settle Inn and snuggled up to watch the 6^th Harry Potter movie in preparation for part 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.

Aaron Weiss

Day 28: 106 miles

2011-07-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

Wednesday July 13th

Today was, like many of our days recently, long and hot. As we continue our trek across country, our creative group strives to find things to entertain ourselves. Today, Tucker and Luke woke up and asked Lia if they could borrow two of her more feminine, sleeveless bike jerseys. The boys, newly donned in their lovely attire, led us towards a solid start of our day. Team Marien have quickly adapted to their new role as SAG wagon drivers, and have been doing an amazing job keeping us fed and watered. Tucker and Luke got distracted by their fashionable jerseys, and missed a turn, adding an extra 5 miles to their day.
Towards the end of our day, we stopped at a restaurant to refill our water bottles and snack on some trail mix before finishing the last 20 miles of the day. We went inside to use the bathroom, and started talking to some of the people who were sitting inside the bar. They were interested in what we were doing, so Britt, Anna and I talked to some of the folk inside. They were so inspired by what we were doing, they decided to donate! Still excited by our new found donations, we cruised through the rest of the day and arrived at the campsite we would be staying at. We all rushed towards the Wisconsin River for a quick swim before setting up camp. That night we were treated to delicious meatball subs by team Marien. After, we loaded up the Tahoe in search of ice cream from cold stone before turning in for some much needed rest.

-Anna Hymanson

Day 27: 86 Miles

2011-07-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday July 12th

Well rested and ready to go, we headed out of the Stillwater river valley into Wisconsin. We then climbed our way east through the rolling hills and dairy farms, which reminded me of Vermont. The day grew warmer, and we had made a picnic by a baseball field and stuffed ourselves with Peanut Butter, Nutella and Strawberry sandwiches and Turkey Wraps. Although it was their first day, Cathy and Nicole were pros at support, even though they did get a little lost. To give them some credit, the roads were poorly marked in a few places. That night, Aaron, Brit and I went on an adventure outside of the campground we were staying at to find firewood. We then made a fire and attempted to make s’mores, that were unfortunately lacking chocolate and celebrated Cathy’s birthday with beautiful singing and Hostess Cupcakes.

Lia

Day 26: Rest Day

2011-07-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

Monday July 11th

After a fleeting boat of fun with the Hymanson family, we arrived in Stillwater, MN for another rest day. Although their time with us was short, it was nonetheless much appreciated, as they tended to the battle wounds we managed to accumulate over the trip, from bib day sunburns to possibly mailbox-related road rash. So I personally fell I must thank them for always toting some Neosporin and aloe. It did make it feel better. We were, however, very excited to see some fresh faces when Brit’s mom and aunt arrived earlier today, although I cannot say that I am very happy about not having another rest day for almost two weeks. It’s a long time to go without sleep-in and guaranteed electrical outlets and some rest day shenanigans. Speaking of which, today, Aaron and I attempted the Lumberjack Challenge at the local ice cream shop. The sign said that we had to eat a mere five scoops of ice cream to get our photo up in the store, so we foolishly embarked on this gastronomic journey that would devastate our confidence in our abilities of eat huge amounts of everything. The “5 scoops” part was very wrong. They were over 25 apiece. So, after a good 45-minute, our big, goofy smiles faded to shameful bafflement at how some 12-year-old on the lumberjack photo board did what we could not. Apparently eating 8000 calories a day of mostly trail mix and granola bars does not prepare for a middle-America ice cream challenge. The large stuffed-crust pizza we each ate for breakfast/lunch didn't help though. It was still really fun and we got some good photos out of it, though, and I am sure they will be all over Facebook.
Other than our ice cream adventures, not too much happened today, thankfully. Our bikes were tended to down at the local bike shop, we were interviewed twice by the local newspapers, and we met the head of the VA. Good day for raising awareness for R2R and just a good, relaxing day in general. Just what we needed to prepare for long stretch ahead of us.

Tucker Burleigh

Day 25: 66 Miles

2011-07-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday July 10th

Today was a scorcher, 98 degrees with 88% humidity. However, today we only had 66 miles to travel until we reached our next destination: Stillwater, MN. About 10 miles into our ride we came upon Kaffe Stuga, which has been owned by the Ramberg family for over 50 years! The current owner, Monica, even though she didn’t open until lunch, gladly opened up the doors to her restaurant for us and made us breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. We were amazed by her generosity and kindness. The food was DELICIOUS! We continued our journey and battled the heat throughout the day. Day by day we are amazed by people’s willingness to give and their magnanimity. For example, today a woman pulled us over on the side of the road and insisted we take the bottled water she had in the back of her truck because it was such a hot day out. I was awestruck. The one thing I can already tell that I will take away from this trip is the knowledge of how nice, caring, and united the people of America, wherever you go, are. Sometimes it is hard to notice these things in the busy hustle and bustle of our lives, but if we remove ourselves from our typical element we begin to realize how the people of our nation are extraordinary and warm-hearted—even to complete strangers!
Aside from the immense heat and humidity, there were some big hills to climb which made our 66 mile journey feel a lot longer and more like a 100 mile day. Anna Richardson and I acquired some awful sunburns on our backs because we forgot to put on our Badger Balm. Poor decision on our part. However, our journey became a lot ‘sweeter’ when we finally arrived in Stillwater and stopped at Nelson’s Ice-Cream Shop. The portions were enormous! The child-sized ice-cream was the equivalent to any normal ice-cream shop’s large! It was just what we needed on this extremely hot day. After this treat we had finally reached our rest day. Woohoo! We showered and napped then were off to Anne Keyser’s friend’s house for dinner. They prepared a wonderful dinner for us and were magnificent hosts. We were grateful of their benevolence and enjoyed their company greatly. It was very nice to have a home cooked meal! Even though it was a hot day we had a lot of cool experiences and met some great people along the way. These people make the unbearable days seem a lot easier to handle and get through and truly help us wake up every morning to keep pedalin’ to our final destination. T-Minus 19 days until Maine. The countdown begins.

-Brittany Marien

p.s. Sorry for the delay on the blogs. This is the first time we've had internet in a while. So read below for more recent blog posts for this past week. Thank you!

Day 24: 85 Miles

2011-07-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

July 9th 2011

37 bottles of chamois butter down, only 12 more pounds left. There are only two articles of clothing in our bags without grease marks on them. We are half way there and the days seem easier. We are getting stronger as a group and I are able to ride faster together. Today was a very exciting and scary day. We started off with a usual morning of the boys taking a little bit longer to wake up than everyone else (sorry about that) however we all made it out on time. The morning was damp and seemed as if it was going to rain. We left our campsite at 8:30. We had about 90 miles ahead of us. 10 miles into the ride everything was great, our bodies were all starting to warm up and we were ready for the day. At about mile 12 we had something that normally does not happen in our daily routine. Unfortunately we had a spill of cyclists on the road. Luckily everyone who was involved in this crash was ok and no cars passed us, however it was scary for everyone to see the group have there first fall. But thankfully there were only scraps and bruises, nothing that time won’t heal. So after about 45 minutes of fixing everyone’s bikes and injuries we kept on trekking. Everything was going great for the whole morning, everyone enjoying himself or herself and looking forward to the of the rest day in our near future. Also as hard as it may seem today was the first day where we completed ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, which was a historical moment for the trip (shout out to Tuck B.). Later that afternoon we had more dramatic moments. I guess today was an unlucky day for us but yet again we had another major crash. I do not know what happened but that mailbox came out of nowhere. Luckily everyone popped right up and got back on their bikes for more riding. I guess that’s what riding across the country is all about. It’s not about how hard or fast your can do it, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep on going, keep on pedaling. As the day came to an end we were all tired and did not feel like putting up tents. After a great chicken fajita dinner made by the Hymansons we all set up our sleeping bags and went to bed with another day ahead of us. And so it goes.

-Luke Norena

Day 23: 85.3 Miles

2011-07-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Friday July 8th

The third Friday of the trip began with the usual rounds of 'Friday' by Rebecca Black. With only 85 miles to bike today (an easy feat compared to our 110 mile day), we started out with smiles. Those however disappeared when we saw our turn onto a hilly and sandy back road. Our bikes fish tailed, tipped, and some toppled over completely in the dirt. Besides the dirt, there was an unnecessary amount of rolling steep hills. The only thing that could cure our intense frowns and frozen arms, that were determined to keep our bikes going straight and staying upright, was the sight of pavement over one of the hills. On one of our many snack breaks, we ran into some locals who were walking their dogs and had a daughter who was going to attend Andover in the fall. We chatted with them for a bit about boarding school life and they graciously offered their bathroom to us travelers. Most of the time we are accustomed to find the tallest tuft of grass along the road for a bathroom so this was greatly appreciated. Mile 84 of our 85 mile day, we crossed the Mississippi River. This was a feat in my mind. The Mississippi River seemed so far away from Washington and way closer to home, but we ended up still thousands of miles from the Atlantic ocean in an Episcopal church in Little Falls, MN. There we were met by all the members of the church so that we may be divided up and given showers. I went to Ray and Robin's house with Brit (disaster watch) Marien and there in addition to the warm showers and clean towels, we were given delicious homemade jerky, cold drinks, and chocolate covered nuts. We ended talking to them for so long that they even realized that my watch was missing the part that holds down the strap. This was soon fixed by little hair ties of any color that I wished (I chose the purple sparkly one). When we returned, I proudly showed off my prize and my full belly. It only took a look at dinner until I was hungry again. The church members had cooked us a dinner of salad, warm bread and chicken lasagna. Somehow our stomachs have turned into bottomless pits such that we could still managed to have room for the Dairy Queen chocolate sundaes and brownies after dinner. Now I'm lying on my sleeping pad, awaiting pancakes, fresh fruit, and sausage for tomorrow's breakfast because once again I am hungry.

-Anna Richardson

2011-07-11T20:33:00.001-07:00

Day 22: 91 Miles

2011-07-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

Thursday July 7th

91 miles, from Fargo, ND to Battle Lake, MN. Instantly I noticed the geographical differences between the two states. North Dakota had more hills than Montana, but was still relatively flat in comparison to what the group is use to. Minnesota is very similar to New England, not only because of the increase of hills, but also because we have re-entered a geographical area that contains trees. Rest stops have become more enjoyable because we are able to get out of the scorching sun. Now down to what actually happened today. The beginning of the day consisted of a pace line Fargo, being one of the largest cities in North Dakota, was extremely busy when we left our hotel at 8 AM. We entered Minnesota and did our traditional initials of the state, from there we kept a nice pace until mile 35 where we took our first break, in the shade of course. While taking our break a father and a son were passing by and we invited them to have a snack with us. The two cyclists ended up joining us for the rest of the day. The son, named Devon, was the same age as most of the kids in our group and we all hit it off well. So, seeing as we were going to the same town as our newfound friends we invited them to join us on the rest of our journey. Devon and the group talked about recently released AP exam scores and college, which is conversation most of us had been avoiding for the majority of the trip. When we reached Battle Lake, Minnesota; we stopped at the lake and dove in chamois and all. After a 91-mile day with the temperature being in the high 90’s a swim was ideal. That night we stayed at a beautiful Baptist church with a very small congregation, like all the other churches, the people we so kind to us. They cooked us BBQ beef sandwiches, and lasagna. The food was amazing; for dessert we had DQ dilly bars and homemade cookies. Battle Lake was a beautiful town, personally I wouldn’t have minded taking our rest day there. There was an ice cream place that we obviously hit up; it had 40 different flavors ice creams! Half way there!

-Aaron Weiss

Day 21, 80.6 Miles

2011-07-11T14:58:00.000-07:00

Wednesday July 6th

Lia falls, Buffalo Wild Wings, burning car

Today we went from Cooperstown to Fargo. I was especially excited about Fargo because it meant I could force my fellow cyclists to watch Fargo, the movie with me. The day started off monotonously , filled with flat roads that stretched on for miles. By lunch, we were all wishing for something exciting to happen, and we go our wish. Around mile 65, we noticed huge plumes of black smoke in the air. As we cautiously approached, we realized that it was a car that had caught on fire. We saw two people run out of the car, just in time for it explode. We watched the car burn for a half hour before the firemen and police officers arrive. Britt, ever the hero, saved the day by calling 911. She also took a great video of the disaster which includes some hilarious narration. Upon arriving in Fargo, we were surprised to be staying at a hotel, which is a real treat for us. We all took much needed showers and proceeded to dinner. Half way through dinner, a reporter showed up from the Fargo news station to interview us! We were all very excited at the thought of being on the news, so that night we stayed up until 10 to watch the clip. Its awesome to know that both our story and Ride 2 Recovery's has been getting out in so many mediums!

-Anna Hymanson

Day 20: 103 miles

2011-07-06T18:48:00.001-07:00

Tuesday July 5th

I would like to start out this post by thanking all of the wonderful people in Maddock, North Dakota who threw me the best birthday party ever! I had a wonderful time getting to know all of you and I am so thankful for the incredible donation you made to Ride to Recovery.
Today we rode 103 miles through the rolling plains of North Dakota, which were surprisingly more hilly then predicted. We managed to stay on back roads the entire time, enjoying the scenery and the social aspects of a less traveled road. At mile 75 we stopped in McHenry, North Dakota at the McHenry Café where we bought the best milkshakes ever. It turned out that the owner of the Café is a member of the Women’s Auxiliary whose husband was a WW II vet. He had been injured in battle and she was so grateful for our efforts. We ended our long day camping in the city park in Cooperstown where we shared our dinner with another XC cyclist, Brandon, who is on his way to MIT in Cambridge, MA (my hometown).
Lia

Day 19: 83 Miles

2011-07-06T18:10:00.001-07:00

Monday July 4th

We began our day a little earlier and easier than most mornings, getting dressed and ready by about 7:15. To be fair, it was to get in a car rather than an early start to biking, but it still counts. It was a solid effort made easier by the two nights in an air-conditioned hotel room. We got in the car to drive south to circumnavigate the flooding and to avoid the dirt roads that may or may not have been the detour. I have no idea, as I was asleep the entire time. The rest of the day was almost as easy, as we had a steady tailwind that managed to turn with us at every turn, keeping us relatively cool in the insane heat. This may have been a problem for my light-skinned friends and me, as it was Bib Day 2.0, so we had no idea of the severity of the sun burns wreaking probably cancerous havoc on our backs, and in fun designs. The new ipod speakers Brit played music from didn't help either, as the music provided a fun distraction from the burn as well as the pedaling. So, most of us, meaning all of us but our own Colombian Luke Noreña, have sports bra-esq burn lines on our upper backs with speckled dots of red spewn across our lower backs from the holes in the mesh from the R2R bibs we wore for the patriotism factor for the 4th of July. We later augmented the Captain America shorts with face and body paint to ride into Maddock with to greet the people throwing Lia’s 16th birthday/4th of July/R2R party for us, which was awesome. They greeted us with smiles, friendliness, good food, a much-needed shower. For that, we are all very thankful for, but to top it off, they raised a whopping $307, so again, to the people of Maddock, thank you kindly.

Tucker Burleigh

Day 18: REST DAY

2011-07-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday July 3

Alas! A rest day! After 10 grueling days of plains, corn, and cows, we were all very pleased to sleep in and relax. Everyone rolled out of bed between 9-10ish, the boys went down to the breakfast provided by the Comfort Inn, but the girls decided to go out and get some good ole greasy food at Denny’s. We ate like ‘Queens’ and had GIANT breakfasts. I personally went for the “Waffle Slam” consisting of mouthwatering Belgium waffles, with two over-medium eggs, two strips of bacon, two links of sausage, and a side of whole-wheat toast. My mouth is watering as I reminisce. With full bellies we headed back to the hotel where everyone napped for a while. Later in the afternoon we decided to go to the movies. Half of us went to Transformers 3 and the other half went to Bad Teacher. Anna Richardson and I split a large popcorn and finished it before the movie started…Quite the accomplishment I like to think. To continue the eating marathon for the day, after the movie we went to Coldstone for ice cream. With many hours of relaxation under our belt we did a little work such as bike maintenance, laundry, and shopping at Target. Before we knew it, it was already 7:30 and time for dinner. We ate at Grizzly’s, which is a small American food restaurant, and I think by this point everyone’s hunger and giant appetites were finally satisfied. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow so everyone is getting to bed pretty early. The SPSCyclists loved Minot, North Dakota and had a WONDERFUL, well-needed rest day. We hope that the flooding ceases and that the families remain safe here!

-Brittany Marien

Day 17: 91 miles

2011-07-03T20:49:00.001-07:00

Saturday July 2

Today was a very sad day for myself. Still recovering from a head injury, I sat in the car watching the group of cyclist bike 91 miles across North Dakota. Every time I passed each biker it made me even more annoyed to not be able to bike with them. Now that I was in the car I felt so lazy because I was traveling somewhere without moving my legs. As each individual made there way to Minot we were happy that we could have a rest day in our near future. Also today was the last day that we had the Richardsons help us with our endeavors and we thank them so much. However with the Richardsons leaving we had the Hymanson family take their place and we were all very excited. So two weeks across the country and four weeks to go. And so it goes

-Luke Norena

Day 16: 78.3 Miles

2011-07-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

Friday July 1

Today we were entertained by the people rather than the usual never ending flat plains. First we crossed in to North Dakota, where four unknown bikers were eating our perfectly sliced oranges, munching on our bags of open trail mix, and drinking from our coolers of ice cold water. As we approached, we were suspicious of the new comers but they soon greeted us with smiles that were quickly returned. There were two younger bearded men (one from Seattle and one from New York) who also started in Washington but were ending short of the Atlantic in New York. The other two were also bearded (but with grey hair) and had planned a similar route to our own except for they were going unsupported. We swapped our stories and continued on, only to pass by each other all day long. After our miles were covered, we found ourselves at a Lutheran church in Ray, North Dakota. It was announced that there were no showers to be had but there was a lake nearby, but there was an oil spill a few months earlier so that was off the table. When we thought all hope was lost for cleanliness, a teacher from the local public school stopped at the church and offered to take us to his house, only a few blocks away, via the back of his pickup truck. Arley and his wife opened their home us, letting the girls use his two showers while the minister, who lived across the street, allowed the boys to use his basement shower and tv. In between showers, we discovered the troubles of the oil business in Ray and how it had drastically changed the town in only a year. The school had grown by 64 kids which was a lot for a town of 600 people. Oil wells had sprung up all over the town and with that trailers full of workers surrounded the initial inhabitants, landscapes turned into construction zones, and their quiet roads were filled with large trucks. Arley dropped us off at the church clean and amazed by his stories. Then the minister treated us to dinner at a local diner (it had really good milkshakes, the groups' favorite) even after he and his wife had graciously donated bags of tootsie pops an sunflower seed for our hungry stomachs. To our surprise Arley returned to the church with a school bus (which were left unlocked at the elementary school) to take us to see some of the oil production ourselves. None of us had ever seen anything like it, we were able to experience this business first hand. This event kept us out to 9:00 (which was dangerously close to our bed time), so when we were dropped off, we set up camp on the cushioned rug of the altar and fell asleep knowing that there was only one more day of biking before our rest day.

-Anna Richardson

Day 15: 109 miles

2011-07-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday June 30

Thursday was a perfect day for biking. I woke at 4 A.M. beacuse, due to miscalculation, I thought it was 6 A.M., which is the time we usually start our mornings. Lazily, I laid in bed waiting for someone else to break the morning trend of laying in our sleeping bags until 6:30. I ended up falling back asleep until my ipod read 8 A.M. I quickly woke and ran around to wake everyone up... After waking everyone I was informed my source of time was inaccurate, the time was actually 6. At breakfast I got much deserved scolding; it was in a playful manner though. The weather was immaculate; 70 and sunny, we had tail wind blowing at least 20 mph helping increase our speed. After mile 13, we detoured off of route 2 and cycled on a back road called the Indian Highway. During our detour, we ran into a group of cyclists who were also biking coast to coast. One of the cyclist started an online forum asking people around the world if they would like to join her on a relaxed journey across the United States; she ended up getting a group of people from around the world to join her! One man was from Israel another from Guatemala, and the rest were from around America. It was wonderful to hear their stories, and each of them had reasons as to why they wanted to bike across America. Some of the bikers were just doing it as an activity and others cycled with a purpose, yet they all traveled together. At the end of the detour we split with our new found friends and returned on Rt.2. We continue to raise awareness for Ride2Recovery and we are having a blast as we do it.

Aaron Weiss

Day 14, 71.8 Miles

2011-07-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

Wednesday June 29

Today started off with a much needed sleep-in after our grueling 117 mile day. We woke up at the wonderful hour of 7:00 (sleeping in for us cyclists) ate breakfast and headed off for another day of route 2. The 78 miles seemed easy after the previous days brutalities. The weather quickly turned hot, but we still managed to coast through the miles with relative ease. We stopped for a snack in a VFW where one Veteran supplied us with water and told us that there was a bigger VFW in Glasgow, where we were headed. We decided to stop by the Glasgow VFW before we headed to the civic center where we were staying the night. In the VFW, we all were rewarded with cold sodas which we drank while chatting with the Vets who wondered in. After, we headed to the civic center where we, in typical fashion, set up a sprawling camp. While we were doing laundry and preparing dinner, a tornado blew past glasgow! We quickly abandoned what we were doing and rushed to windows to watch the hail, wind, and darkening storm clouds that were gathering outside. Brit took a video on her phone of the spiraling clouds which ended with her appropriately saying "this is scary." After the storm had blown by, we all settled into to bed, dreaming of the strong tailwinds we hoped to have the next day.

-Anna Hymanson

Day 13: 117 Miles

2011-07-01T05:50:00.000-07:00

Tuesday June 28

Never before did I imagine myself driving through northern Montana in the back of a stranger’s pickup truck. Yet there I was, crammed between my mother, Luke, Aaron and four bikes heading down the two miles of sand that was once Rte 2. We had just made it over twenty eight miles of torn up pavement, and we were hot, tired and looking for a functioning road when we reached the sand pit of our route. As Aaron and Luke went up to the road workers to ask for a ride from the pilot car, my mom went straight up to the first pickup truck she saw. It took two seconds before the nice man was telling us to hop in the back. He had never served in the Military, but he thought the cause was a great one and was willing to do anything to help us. He didn’t even know our names.
See that’s the best part about this trip. You learn a lot about people. I grew up in a city where I knew our neighbors for whom you did favors for, but that was about it. I was taught never to talk to strangers and especially never to get into their cars. St. Paul’s School, for many of us, was the first place where you could walk down the road and say hi to people who you didn’t know, help them out or do them a favor, because its not like the rest of the world. There we are safe, but anywhere else we are on our own, right? Or so we thought. It seems that everywhere we go we are met by people who want to hear about what we are doing, and learn about our cause. Just last night, we stayed with the incredible Miller family in the small town of Hinsdale, MT. They fed us and gave us showers and a roof over our heads without ever previously meeting us. Never in my life have I experienced such incredible hospitality, or been so grateful to receive it.
As much as this trip is about raising money for the cause, it is even more about spreading awareness. We have talked to countless Veterans who have never heard of R2R but are so grateful for what we are doing and more importantly want to share their stories.
Not only does this trip teach you about other people, but also teaches us a lot about ourselves. Today was more of a mental test then I could have ever imagined. We have crossed two mountain ranges already, and are all in incredible shape, but for some reason, nothing can prepare you for a head wind. There is something about nature fighting you that is a real killer. With mountains you know there is a top and a downhill on the other side. But when you see a flat road, and you are pushing yourself as hard as you can, with the 13 mph on your odometer laughing in your face, it takes a toll. You break down, crash, hit rock bottom. Some cry or shut down or say no and I can’t, but eventually you do it. We all get back on the bike and keep spinning those circles. Even if it’s to get out of those swarms of bugs, we’re still moving forward. Tonight it didn’t matter that we got in at eight thirty, if you were first or last or if you got pulled the last thirty miles or did the pulling, it’s all about finishing. We are all getting to Maine at the same time anyway. And, as for our day, let me tell you, pizza never tasted so good.
Lia

Day 12: 98 miles

2011-06-30T19:10:00.001-07:00

Monday June 27

This morning, we woke up not from the pains of frozen toes and full bladders, but by the promise of hot blueberry pancakes made to perfection by Mr. and Mrs. Richardson. While we were eating, we met and fed a retired Vietnam veteran headed to Alaska and listened to his incredible story. He spoke of his service throughout his life, emphasizing his desire to see young men and women like us to do the same. He told us of his time first as a soldier in the Vietnam War, as a teacher first in high school and elementary school, and later as a counselor for convicted “beaters” as he called them. He suffered from PTSD from his experiences and had two different cancers resulting from his interaction to Agent Orange, so we found his life story to be fascinating and truly illuminating, as it gave us a greater scope into the lives of soldiers before, during, and after the service. He gave us some parting advice in talking to soldiers, took a picture with us, and wished us luck. And we needed it, especially today, as we rode 100 miles into a blowing headwind. For 10 hours. Besides my 8th flat of the trip, nothing really happened on the road, so it was not the most eventful 10 hours. The end was well worth the grind, as the Miller family greeted us with hot showers and a fantastic meal of meat, meat, and more meat. And a pasta salad. It was awesome.
Tucker Burleigh

Day 11: 86 Miles

2011-06-26T21:07:00.001-07:00

Sunday June 26

Hello blog followers! Today we rode a beautiful route from Olney to Cutbank Montana. It started off as a frosty morning, as we began to shake off our rain flap on our tent the water instantly transformed into frost! It was insane. We now know it gets a bit nippy early in the morning in Montana! Despite our wants to curl back into our warm sleeping bags we faced the cold and began to trek up the Rocky Mountains to the Continental Divide. We were happily riding along until we hit major construction then we were in for a bumpy ride! Thankfully our Terry bike seats cushioned our butts and made the ride more enjoyable or else the day might not have been as joyful as it really was. We reached the support vehicle around 25 miles and apparently that was the top of the mountain we were climbing and had reached the Continental Divide. We couldn't believe how “easy” it was to climb up the mountain. All of our expressions and faces resembled something like, “That’s it? We’re really at the top?” I guess after conquering the giant Cascade Mountains we were ready to tackle almost anything. We enjoyed a long and steep downhill until we reached East Glacier where we began to enter “plain country”. It was a sad and glorious thing at the same time, we were happy that we had scaled most of the mountains on the trip so far, but not so excited to be staring at corn fields and silos for the next 2 weeks. We avoided boredom by having deep conversations, riding with no hands, and even singing songs. Anna R and I made up a tune called “Home on the Plains”. Check out our Twitter for the first verse (Click Here for Twitter). Beware, it’s very catchy, It’s been stuck in my head all day. We had an amazing tailwind and were hauling across the plains at a blistering speed of 25 miles per hour! My maximum speed was 37.8mph, but I think Aaron beat me with a neck breaking speed of 40mph. Another highlight of the day was Browning, Montana; a Blackfoot Indian Reservation. It was a scary experience, because Browning has been known to be a little rough around the edges. We made it out of Browning safely, but we did hear two gunshots. Kinda cool, but mostly terrifying. Don’t worry parents…they were probably hunting…probably. We reached our campground in Cutbank around 4:30pm and settled inside one of the Rec. Buildings because a giant storm rolled in just as we arrived. Anyway, I can’t wait to hit the plains tomorrow. I really hope it’s sunny so I can work on my sweet sunglasses tan line.

-Brittany Marien

Day 10: 70 Miles

2011-06-26T20:56:00.001-07:00

Saturday June 25

Today was a much needed and thrilling day. The day before we biked 100 painful miles that seemed to take forever. Today, however we only traveled 70 miles, a long ride, but not 110 miles which we were suppose to do. What made this day even better was breakfast. We woke up to our stomachs growling as usual, however instead of making breakfast at the campsite we rode our bikes about 14 miles to the Buffalo Cafe where we all had an amazing and helpful meal of eggs, meats and our daily intake of starch. After about a two hour breakfast, we were off. We biked for 55 miles to our next campsite. This took a little longer than we expected though. As we were flying through new tubes from flat tires we all made it to the campsite in one piece at a normal time. That night we were all ready to just pass out. Luckily, there was a bar where we stayed and we all had dinner there. For most of us it was our first time ever having a buffalo burger and each one of us were satisfied. After a great meal we all relaxed by a campfire and socialized in our tents until the next morning where we could start biking all over again. And so it goes.

-Luke Noreña

Day 9: 106 miles

2011-06-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Today there were some tears shed, some lunches tossed back up, and limits pushed. It was our first century as a group. A hundred miles gives you time to think about a lot of things mainly we looked forward to ferry day (day 30 we cross Lake Michigan via a four hour ferry), Harry Potter 7 part 2 (which we are planning to see at the midnight release July 15), the next rest day, and most of all the sight of the support vehicle around the corner. With the 94 mile day before, we started off sore, stiff, and already exhausted. My mom, as expected, had completely reorganized the trailer to her liking the night before, but this I had already warned the group of, so we were ready to depart with orderliness. Tucker (I don't do maps) Burleigh was unhappily forced to carry the maps and navigate after the events from the day earlier but he quickly relieved himself from his duties. Brit (I love twitter) Marien's hip was really bothering her but she lead the group fearlessly to the finish. Aaron (I want to snuggle with everyone) Weiss had to stop several times for vitamin I or more commonly known as ibuprofen for his knee which was steadily becoming more purple. Anna (best morning person) Hymanson turned into a not very happy camper after she was told there was still 8 more miles after an 102 miles biked already. Luke (mountain conqueror- PG version-) Norena was having trouble holding his food and Lia (chunder everywhere- her favorite phrase-) Keyser was struggling with a swollen ankle. Despite all of these maladies, the sun was shining and it was a particularly beautiful day in Montana. After all the grueling miles, we found the yard of which the owners agreed to let us set up in. As it was, there were two businesses in the small town of Olney, Montana: a dog sled company and the bar but no campground. The owners of the bar were very happy to accommodate us but they couldn't offer us any showers. There was however a river next to the yard so the brave hearted jumped in the freezing water while the others washed themselves as best they could in the cramped bar bathrooms. The day ended with burgers and fried chicken while chatting with the locals and the very sassy lady that served us our food. We headed to our tents with our bellies full and hit the hay early with a long and dreaded day behind us.

-Anna (blackberry addicted) Richardson

Day 8: 94 miles (110 miles)

2011-06-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday June 23

Tucker Luke and I cycled 17 miles off course today… The sun was shining and the temperature was high. It took the three of us over two hours to return to our plotted course. Thanks to Badger Balm sunscreen we survived the scourging heat of our mid-day mishap. The Core energy bars gave us the strength to pedal the rigorous 17 miles in the wrong direction and then the 17 miles back to the unacknowledged turn where we met with Mr. Richardson. So you’re probably wondering: how did the all the guys miss a turn and all the women make the turn? At about mile 40 the girls started to sing Hannah Montana. Luke, Tucker and I decided to start our own pace line a head of the girls so we could talk amongst ourselves. We got so caught up in talking that we did not pay much attention to our speed, soon there was no sign of our cyclist behind us. I decided to slow my pace a bit, but Luke and Tucker continued at the same steady speed. After a few minutes of slowing my pace, I was by myself. Luke and Tucker were so far a head of me I could not see them, and the girls, I thought, were so far behind me that I couldn’t see them. After passing through a stretch of highway that was being worked on I slowed my pace more drastically then before; still there was no sign of the second half our group. I stopped after traveling 6 miles in the wrong direction and checked my phone, when I saw that I had a missed call from Anna R. I knew us guys missed a vital turn. I ventured back through the roadwork, and crossed a bridge which led to a small town called Noxon. I followed signs pointing east until I came to a fork in the road; both roads turned into bumpy dirt trails. The journey to the trails led me further from our original turn that I was set to take in the first place. At this point I was lost, without cell service, and by myself; I decided to back track until I ran into Luke and Tucker, which I eventually did. They had cycled all the way to a town called Trout Creek, and then they waited for everyone in town, thinking they were just way a head, when they realized no one was coming they looked at a map and discovered our mistake. We ended up meeting on route 200 south. Once we found a place with cell service we called Mr. Richardson, and he met us near where the roadwork was being done; he picked us up, made a few jokes, then dropped us off on our original course. The guys ended up ride 110 miles that day; 16 more miles then we were suppose to. No one in the group had lunch because the support vehicle was trying to find us during lunchtime, the girls we not very happy with our goof. Throughout the day I saw two moose, and three deer. I ate four core bars, put of tons of sunscreen, and downed, I don’t even know how many, bottles of water. The guys and I also got to see a good chunk of western Montana. It was a great time!

Aaron Weiss

Day 6: 93 Miles

2011-06-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

Tuesday June 21

Today was slow to start, with everyone ready to be out of the Cascades and move on to our rest day. After layering up with sunscreen and packing the trailer we were off again on Route 20, ready for what was in store for the day ahead of us. About seven miles in we were met by a very steep downhill that wound its way down the side of the last of the cascades. We regrouped at the bottom of the mountain, where we crossed the river and headed down the valley towards our first stop at mile thirty. After refueling with Mrs. Burleigh and making a few adjustments to our bikes we were off again. With its flat gently rolling hills; this valley was the first real proof that we were finally out of the Cascades. The day was beautiful with the sun out as well as the local wildlife. We passed horses and cows and at mile forty four stopped to look at a heard of about one hundred buffalo grazing on the valley floor before us. After a second stop at mile fifty, we continued on in the pace line only to be chased by a few very fast dogs and we successfully avoided some sunning turtles. After merging on to route two, we passed the “Welcome to Idaho” sign, where we stopped for a photo op. and to celebrate the fact that we had finally crossed our first state. We made our way into Idaho, crossing through a town and having a near pileup with the pace line, sand stopped for lunch at mile 74. After a long lunch of sprawling in the shade and Anna Richardson almost consuming an entire box of Triscuits, we got back into the pace line and made our way the last eighteen miles into Sandpoint. After finding the Hotel and showering, we made our way into downtown Sandpoint, where we explored some restaurants until we found one with adequate cheeseburgers. We then inhaled our burgers and milkshakes and made our way back to the hotel to watch the fifth Harry Potter movie.

- Lia

Day 5: 85 miles

2011-06-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

Monday June 20

Everything went pretty much to plan this morning, jumping into our climb and enjoying the lovely downhill, welcoming the break in pedaling. We struggled on, looking forward to our coming rest day, and we fought our first real headwind to get to a snack break. It really was a struggle, as the wind was strong, the traffic heavy, and the rogue dogs aggressive. We snacked, but still looked forward to the lunch break promised to us in a mere 20 miles. These, again, were a struggle, as the last and extra 5 were on a newly tarred and therefore soft road that, in the beating afternoon sun, felt like an blend of the molasses and some Elmer’s. It made the lunch my mother laid out all the better and all the more appreciated; Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches on an empty stomach are truly fantastic, especially when eaten, as Lia frequently does, sprawled over the tarp. Aaron and I, despite our fantastic tanning abilities, ate in the shade of the trailer. After lunch, we got back on our bikes and finished the ride with another 20 miles. Even with the impressive amount of food sitting in our stomachs, some of us, not going to say who, were quite motivated to finish out the ride seeming’s how we hadn’t seen a bathroom all day. Again, it was a struggle, but we all managed. We all got to the cabins we are staying at tonight and jumped in the very cold but very refreshing lake. The rest of the day went smoothly, selling a t-shirt to a man at the cabins and eating some dinner and then smores by the campfire. A good day.

-Tucker Burleigh

Day 4: 58 Miles

2011-06-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 19

It had rained throughout the whole night, but we woke up with the sun shining, clear skies, and Emmy and Anne Burleigh cooking eggs for breakfast! We put on a ton of chamois cream and Badger Balm sunscreen and started riding around 8:30am. We rode through the town of Riverside and rode 28 miles before our first snack break. Along the way we saw many animals! We saw gorgeous horses, some cows, and scary snakes. Anne Keyser spoke to a man we met along the way and he said that there had been a mountain lion in the area as well! The sun was blistering so we decided to get going after our quick snack break. We rode 25 miles uphill through the next pass of the Cascades, it was a long haul but we finally made it to the top of the mountain where Mrs. Burleigh was waiting with our lunch. After lunch we were relieved to go 13 miles downhill to our next destination Republic, Washington. Republic Washington is a small town with extremely kind and generous people. We are staying at the Klondike Motel for the night and there are two men, Bob and Herb, who are cycling across the country (but they went the other way and are ending on the West Coast!) and are also riding for a cause. We shared our pasta and quesadillas with Bob and Herb as they told us their story. Bob underwent a Colostomy after being diagnosed with a disease that lead to colon cancer. Bob is living with a "poop bag" as he referred to it, but is living a perfectly happy and active life. He is being sponsored to ride across country by support groups for people who undergo the same thing. Bob's overall message was "If you're passionate about something, you can do anything even if you have an obstacle standing in your way". This is an example of the extraordinary and inspirational people we are going to meet along the way and we can't wait to get going tomorrow!

-Brittany Marien

p.s. our farmer's tans are looking great! :)

Day 3: 68 miles

2011-06-19T20:09:00.001-07:00

Saturday June 18

After a long a gruesome day of climbing in the sun over the Cascade Mountains and sleeping in a very enjoyable lodge, the group had yet another day to look forward of biking. Today we had a 60-mile ride, not as terrible as the day before however it was still a climb. It started off as a slow relaxing flat ride, however a little too relaxed as we were not aware what was ahead of us. For about 20 miles we rode closer and closer to the 10 mile climb that we all gradually climbed. As we slowly ascended on the 6% incline, we separated as we ventured up the mountain. When we start climbing up the mountain it only gets better because of the freezing rain that stings our faces and legs. We counted down the miles as we climbed this road. We all turned a corner, and we saw something that made us all so happy, our water cooler. That orange water cooler in the street meant that we were done. We saw the trailer next to the cooler with smiles on our face. Even though it was freezing and raining we all made it and were so happy. After about 10 minutes our thirst was quenched and our stomach were full of cliff bars and Gatorade, the best part was ahead of us. Everyone in the group quickly went down the scary turning mountain. Although it was very scary we were all anxious to go down and relax at the campsite. 15 miles went by and we were at the bottom of the hill, although we were far away from the camp. As we passed the grass the looked so nice to sleep on to our campsite, we all slowly made it to Maggie’s RV Park and pottery. We were the happiest we have ever been. Getting out of our damp cloths and taking hot showers were the best feelings of the day. We all relaxed and sat down to enjoy food and a movie, and that is where day 3 concludes on our journey across this nation. And so it goes.

-Luke Norena

Cascades

2011-06-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Day 2: 73 miles

2011-06-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Friday June 17

Today started with a "Good morning. It's 6 o'clock. Time to get out of bed." We had one of the hardest days before us, the Cascades... It was a 5000 ft climb over a pass with no resources for miles so the support vehicle had to stock up. We mounted our bikes in a daze of tiredness and unknowing of what was to come. The first 30 miles were great. We all worked diligently on our pace line averaging 17 mph. Then we hit the mountain: a twist of turns and steep sections with seemingly no end. Then we saw it, the snow. It was all around us first unnoticed by the burning desire to reach the top and our tunnel vision to zone out at go. As we got higher, the more and more snow there was. After many grueling hours of hurting butt, knees, shoulder, and just about every muscle in our bodies, we made it. Nothing were as big as our smiles when we reached the top except for maybe the beautiful mountains surrounding us that I didn't quite appreciate until the top. You could tell by everyone's expressions that we had done it. The mountain was conquered. All that was left was a turny downhill to the log cabins we were staying in for the night. To top off a grueling but triumphant day we had warm showers and homemade burgers by Emmy and Anne Burleigh. I am very proud of all the cyclists today for reaching the top and I'm looking forward to getting onto my saddle tomorrow.

-Anna Richardson

Day 1: 60 miles

2011-06-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today brought us 60 miles of beautiful farms, vegetation, rivers, and mountain scenery. The locals are extremely supportive, and moral is high. On our seven hour journey, we experienced little difficulty; one flat tire, and, the more difficult challenge, the escape from an interested beagle. When boredom kicks in we enjoyed Harry Potter 20 questions, singing, and discussing how much food we are going to be able to eat by the end of the trip. It seems as though when I feel most tired a car drives by and give our group a supportive honk and thumbs up. It seems that people already know who we are, and what we are riding for. Every time someone stopped to take pictures of us or gave us a motivational honk, a smile slipped across my face. Our cause is one that easily inspires, and I feel like I'm going to be using that as inspiration to persevere through the aching pains we are going to feel the next few days.

-Aaron Weiss

Welcome to Seattle!

2011-06-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

The cyclists flew into Seattle last night after a long day of travel, delayed flights, and lost luggage. We were greeted with open arms by Lia who had flown in the day before. Leo Marien (Britt's dad) shuttled us to the hotel where Anne Keyser, Anne Burleigh (more commonly known as the Annes) and Emmy Burleigh were waiting. There we promptly ordered pizza and made plans for what to purchase at Costcos the next day. Today we will be leaving Seattle and heading towards a camp ground in Bay View where we will do some last minute bike tuning and logisitics for the trip. We are all getting extremely excited for our first day of riding on Thursday!

-Anna Hymanson

Meetings Meetings and More Meetings!

2011-02-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

The SPS cyclists have been busy this winter continuing to fund raise towards our goal of 100,000 dollars! We are currently looking for corporate sponsors to donate to our trip, so if you know of any companies that would be interested, please let us know! We are also working on logistics of the trip, and finalizing the route which we have changed to include Great Falls, MT, hometown of Colton Timmerman.

We had an all rider and parent meeting last week over lunch that went really well. We divided up jobs to parents and riders. Its incredible that this trip is really coming together!

Brunch!

2011-01-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

The SPS cyclists had a meeting this morning to discuss the trip, fundraising, and other plans with Mark Richardson. We also spoke with Jim Behnke, a veteran about his experience in the Navy, all while munching on delicious eggs, toast and pancakes at Corner View Restaurant. Mark brought along maps of the route and Lia and myself traced our fingers along route 2. It is incredible to think that in just 5 months we will be starting our ride.
Fundraising has been going well, and at last count, we had reached 20,000 dollars. While this number is very exciting, we all realize we still have a long way to go.
All of the cyclists are very excited about the trip as it seems closer and closer, as Lia put it this morning "I can't believe we are actually going to do this!" It does seem unreal.

More to come soon.

For the bikes!

Anna Hymanson

Coming Soon!

2010-11-28T17:27:00.001-08:00