Lander, WY

So far, approximately 100% of our riders want to move here. Specifically to Lander. It is the international headquarters of NOLS and most people here seem to embody that type of spirit. Most of us atae lunch at the Gannett Grill which is a popular local microbrewery. I had the salad I've been craving basically since Providence (Greek salad with chicken and...this is the important part...AVOCADO. Mmm.)

We've been through a lot of diversity here in Wyoming. First we came into Lusk where I talked to a man in the drugstore about the coal mining industry and the railroad that ran right through town. He said about 30 fully-loaded trains run through there everyday. That has been happening for many many years...imagine how much coal is shipped and has been shipped.


We went from Lusk into Douglas where we were able to explore a (free) Pioneer Museum. It had everything from weapons to covered wagons to furniture from the early 1900's. Also in Douglas, we were served a big dinner at the ranch owned by the Pastor from the Baptist church in Lusk. When we first got there, we got the full tour of the barns and the grounds, and some of us even rode horses around the land.



The ride from Douglas to Casper was one of my favorites thus far. About 10 of us decided to take and alternate route to avoid Highway 25. We climbed an additional 1,000 feet but the little traffic, antelope sightings, and amazing views made it all worth it. We also discovered Wyoming is a major Uranium testing center.


I can't forget about the build site we worked on in Casper. Dean and Bill were good guys to work for. A few of us worked on the same room all day - insulating and putting drywall on the ceiling and walls. It was difficult work - strenuous on the neck and arms and a few annoying angles to cut, but it was rewarding. At the end of the day, our room looked like a real room and we imagined a child laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling, our ceiling. The house next door was the mirror image of ours, so we were able to go over there and see what the finished product would eventually look like. The most rewarding part of the day came at the end (possibly the epitome of what this trip has been about for me), when Bill, a comical and facetious guy said to Jackie and I, "Boy, I will never, ever bad mouth anyone from your generation again. I don't care what they say. You guys have restored my faith in humanity."


From Casper, we rode into Shoshoni. I was up and ready to leave at 6:45am when I realized that it was my day to sweep with Bridget, something I had been looking forward to, but it was difficult to get into the sweeping frame of mind being ready to go so early. After about an hour of letting everyone get ahead, we biked out of town and met up with the coffee drinkers about 5 miles down the road. Since we had about 100 miles to bike that day, we had scheduled 2 lunches. The first was at Hell's Half Acre - a section of the desert overlooking a strange 320 crater.
It was a hot and slightly hilly ride into that point, but we left there with about 1/2 the trip under our belt. Half way to the second lunch, the headwinds picked up and we were treated to a 20 minute thunderstorm with just enough rain to cool us off and just enough thunder to make it thrilling (a thunderstorm in the desert!). My sweeping duty paid off at this point though, because after the storm the winds shifted and provided us with a very strong tailwind. We rode the last 40 miles between 22 and 30 mph with little to no effort. That was something else. The rest of the group unfortunately came in too early and were bucking the storm winds the whole way. It all turned out ok once we were in town though, and everyone treated themselves to a malt or milkshake at the locally famous Yellowstone Drug.

So, after a 50 mile ride today, we're finally here in Lander at the base of the Rockies. For the next few days we're going to be going up and up and up. I'm off to go relax in preparation.

WYOMING!

P.S. I stopped on the (opposite) side of the road today to talk with Alborz - a guy I spotted walking up ahead. He's walking from Oregon to Boston, MA. Check out his site.

Chadron, Nebraska

Here we are in Chadron, our last stop in Nebraska. Last time I was able to write we were just about to cross the border out of Iowa. Hard to believe that was only 6 days ago. We've gone over 500 miles in that little time. As you may have heard, quite a few of us have been sick with one thing or another, but (knock on wood) it seems to be dying out. Personally, my sore throat and stuffy nose are much better. The day off today is providing some much needed rest.

Probably the most notable ride of this week was from Valentine to Gordon. That morning, we all woke up at 4:30am so that we could get biking as early as possible and avoid the heat. It was really cool to be up so early we actually had to wait until the sun was high enough to provide light enough to bike. At about 6:15, I headed out with the sunrise at my back. I was heading into terrain almost exactly like that of the day before, a day that I dreaded due to its dry, sandy, hot conditions. But that morning at 6:15, everything was peaceful, cool, and extraordinarily lit. The brown sand dunes of the day before took on a new color. They cast long shadows and deeper oranges and purples appeared. The green underlayer of grass shown through. Before our first lunch, we crossed into the Mountain Time Zone, meaning we actually ate *lunch* number one at 7:15 in the morning. Lunch number two came at 9:30am, and by noon we had all biked 93 miles into Gordon. Upon arriving, Amelia, Courtney, Whitney and I headed over to the Antelope Creek Cafe, a little local diner, to get some ice cream. I talked briefly with another touring cyclist heading east to Iowa City. He was headed to Merriman for the day, where we had stopped for lunch number 2. I told him about the Sand Cafe, one of two establishments in the little town ("town") where the woman there doesn't charge for drinks, only sets our a jar for donations. She had covered the walls with Polaroids, and we were happy to find pictures of past B&B trips there as well. Next time you're in Merriman, NE, look for me on the wall of the Sand Cafe.

It's been really interesting watching the terrain change while biking. Just yesterday, on the ride here to Chadron from Gordon, Amelia, Derrick and I were talking about our expectations for Wyoming. We expected to see more evergreens and rocky hills. Not 10 minutes later, we looked up to find we were surrounded by trees and off in the distance we could see rocks sticking out from the hills that 2 miles back were entirely made of sand. The terrain changes so abruptly, and often almost directly on state lines. But when I look back, I forget when exactly things started looking different from home. We're definitely not on the east coast anymore, Toto.

Sioux City, Iowa

I didn't think I'd ever say this, but, northwestern Iowa is one of the most beautiful parts of this country.

Today, we rode 102 miles from Carroll to Sioux City. We climbed over 7,000 feet. It was our longest mile day and the most feet of climbing we have done so far, and it was all done with a headwind. Coming into Sioux City and seeing the YMCA atop a hill, I wasn't sure I had the energy to make it up. But I looked over at Sam and saw that he was thinking the exact same thing: sprint it. And we did and it was the perfect ending to an amazingly arduous yet beautiful ride. I also don't want to forget to thank Kristina of the Lutheran Church in Carroll for riding with us this morning and showing us the nice (flat) bike path.

I'll try to get some photos up later, but for now, shower time.

Hysterics

First post from Iowa.

I don't know how or why but at some point between when I was born and the beginning of this summer, I got the image in my head of a flat Iowa. IT IS NOT FLAT. It's also not brown and plain like I imagined. It's beautiful rolling hills of farmland. The sky seems bigger here, the colors richer.

Yesterday, I rode 87 miles. The day before that we rode 100. The day before, 88. That's why yesterday Amelia and I were in hysterics. When it's 95 degrees with a tremendously strong headwind and you get 8 miles out of your way and have to backtrack over a hilly gravel road, there's no better solution than laughter. I thought I was laughing hard the other day when Marie and Derrick and I were riding together and making up new lyrics to "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain." This topped even that. It was different laughter, I suppose. A reaction to that sort of ridiculous humor that these outrageous conditions embody. You can't do anything but laugh, and then suck it up and climb the hill while your back tire spins and your bike threatens to jump right off the road, all the while you're covered in dust because a 2 ton truck just drove by and spit up all the loose gravel. Oh, and you're covered in sweat so it all sticks to you. But it was hilarious. HYSTERICAL. Had we gone crazy? Maybe so. The "shower" we found awaiting us at the church in Marshalltown was probably the best I've ever had in my life -- a hose and an empty bottle of Dasani that we refilled with handsoap from the bathroom. What a day.

PS - We crossed the Mississippi River!

Pontiac, IL

Tomorrow is the fourth of July. The only reason I know that is because this morning Pat was giving us our directions for the day and he opened with, "Welcome to the third of July!"

Time has a way of escaping us out here on the road. Speaking of time, we crossed over into the Central time zone yesterday. Despite the extra hour, the day seemed to go by just as fast. We spent last night in Gilman, IL, population 1,800. A small group gave a bike clinic to some of the children in town. This one little boy, Cody, was adorable. He had a mohawk (see my photos). He went around giving us all hugs last night and this morning.



We only had 45 miles to go today so I spent the first 15-20 miles alone at my own pace. Eventually I met up with Lauren and Tommy at the junction of a cornfield and soybean field (big surprise). I think Indiana is the Crossroads State, but as far as I can see out here, there are crossroads everywhere. They're the sort of street corners you see in movies and wonder if they actually do exist. Well, they do. And no, I wouldn't stop at a stop sign if I were driving and could see 20 miles of empty road all around me, either.

It's interesting the think about this setting. First of all, this setting allows for, almost begs of you to ponder it as you pass through. There's not much else to do. What I was thinking today is how we've all come to think of this as the middle of nowhere, so far from civilization. We go so long between sightings of other people that we forget how much people have actually shaped even this "barren" landscape. Really, what we are riding through out here in the middle of nowhere is no different from inner city Manhattan in relation to how much it has been manicured by the human hand. Out here, there are blocks. The whole state of Illinois (and Indiana and I'm guessing Nebraska and Iowa) is covered in a system of grided roads, numbered, running North-South or East-West. Within each block are cornfields, not buildings, but still a sure sign of the human influence on the land. It has made me wonder where exactly I could go if I wanted to see pure nature, untouched by humankind.

Ruminations aside, this afternoon I'm off to the Route 66 Museum here in Pontiac. I'm not sure what to expect but Pat says it's quirky. Tonight, we're giving an affordable housing presentation to the congregation and also another bike clinic. Both dinner and breakfast are provided by our hosts which means I'll be going to bed with an extra full tummy yet again.

All for now.

Lafayette, IN

It's been 8 days since I last wrote and you've entirely missed the state of Ohio. Both time and internet access seem to be in short supply, which means there's a lot to write about and not much time to do it.

We were so happily surprised to ride into Dover, OH last week to find Derrick there waiting for us. At first, I thought he had just come to visit. But I ran over to give him a hug and he told me he was back for good! Broken pelvis and all, this kid is amazing. My pelvis hurts enough already without a clear break in it.

Other news from Ohio: Logan's mom catered a whole lunch and pool party for us mid-ride into Columbus. The food was tasty and plentiful. I also didn't escape the pool without tearing down the basketball hoop (oops). We all had a fun day that day.

We're now in Indiana near Purdue University and I'm quickly trying to get internet errands done on Logan's computer. The tummy is rumbling (as always), though, so it's time to get some lunch. My photo gallery site seems to be acting up a bit, so I've put a bunch of photos on Snapfish for now. Unfortunately, there's not a link to those, so if oyu want to see them, please email me and I'll send oyu the Snapfish invite.

Peace.