Surviving the Third Leg Plague (Escalante, UT)

What happens when 26 people are eating, sleeping and biking together 24/7? That's right, the "plague" has hit the 4K team. Riding into Escalante, UT yesterday there was the suspicion that several riders had received food poisoning at our last stop in Green River. However, as the hours passed and more people were hit with the bug, it became a general mystery as to what exactly was the root cause.
Fastforward 24 hours to yesterday afternoon. The climb into Escalante turned out to be a 30 mile gravel/dirt road that wound up a mountain before descending down into town. After several hours of a rather grueling climb, only a few of us decided to truck on and see how far we could get until the summit. As Raffi, Tom, Anne, Craig and I worked our way up the trail, we came across people off-roading on their ATV's and quickly realized how sadistic we were acting. After reaching the summit, Mary-Lacey sped up in front of us and warned us of the steep descent and basically threatened us if we didn't get into the van to be shuttled down like everyone else. We complied.
By the time we got to the bottom, I couldn't tell if I was car sick...but a sudden wave of nausea hit me as soon as I exited the van. I heard mumblings from others that a couple people couldn't stomach the bumpy ride down from the top and had to stop the car several times before reaching the campsite. Before I knew it, I found myself in the same predicament. Luckily, the campsite we stayed at last night was kind enough to bring us up to the cook's apartment and relax on the couch while we set out on the road to hopeful recovery. Christine took on the role of mother hen and kept us comfortable throughout the evening, bringing us ice chips (the only thing anybody could keep down), covering us with blankets and generally keeping a close eye on us.
As terrible as this 24 hour bug has treated the team, you could probably credit it as one of many experiences we've had along the way that have brought us closer together. With the arrival of a new day, we all had the very exciting and congratulatory moments of eating food! Nicole kept down her cookies (literally) and I ate an entire half a bagel successfully.

Fulfilling my Dream of being on Public Radio (Paonia, CO)

The KVNF "green" Radio Station in Paonia

Paonia, Colorado is where we have our day off today. I will admit that I didn't understand the point of taking the day off of cycling to stay in a small no-name town when we could be continuing our journey throughout the scenic landscape of this beautiful state. However, I can quickly and safely rescind my thoughts now that I've fallen completely in love with this place! Paonia is a small Colorado town bubbling with life beneath the surface. We spent yesterday being introduced to the members of the United Methodist Church where we're staying. It's a little upsetting to see that the church community itself only consists of mostly senior citizens. From the conversations we had during dinner, there are no younger generations within the church community. Throughout this trip, there's been a growing cynicism that some of us have developed for the more conservative Christian regions. (This is not to say that just about every community we've entered hasn't shown us a deep appreciation and generosity, no matter what religious affiliation people may have on the team.) However, Colorado (and Paonia in particular) has proven this prejudice wrong. The library at the church here, for example, is filled with books of authors from all different cultural and religious backgrounds...I even spotted my favorite book, Three Cups of Tea, on their shelves!

Another surprise that quickly surfaced once we came to Paonia is the absolute humility and generosity of one particular community member, Felix Belmont. Mr. Belmont is actually a graduate of the Johns Hopkins class of 1940! This makes him 91 years old...and still kicking! He attended our dinner yesterday evening and was kind enough to share his story of graduating from Hopkins and coming to Paonia about 30 years ago. Despite his wife's passing from cancer six years ago, his involvement in the community is still astounding. After speaking with him yesterday, he invited Caitlin, myself and a couple other members of the team to visit the station the following morning. Of course we jumped at the opportunity and at this moment we've just returned from a tour of KVNF Public Radio, as well as a group interview! As geeky as this may sound, it's been one of my biggest dreams to be on Public Radio. Caitlin and I share a passion/obsession for NPR and it was like Christmas walking through the KVNF's (GREEN!) studio building in town that was dedicated and named after Felix himself. Of course, being the gentleman that he is, he would never own up to his amazing generosity and accomplishments that have helped create the face of this town. We also were lucky enough to bump into some musicians at the local coffee shop this morning who offered to play a small concert for us this evening!

I feel like I've ridden right into the beautiful epitome of small town America...coffee shops where everybody knows your name and where you're from, openness and hospitality to all who enter and real human connections made in a place where you'd least expect it. While the interview was being recorded, it was a perfect moment to re-connect with our diverse reasons for joining the team and taking this 63 day journey across the country. In particular, it was a suddenly touching point in the trip for me. As we went down the line and each described our adventures along the way and what we've enjoyed most about the trip, I suddenly realized that this is going to be an adventure I can have with me always. As we near the end of our second leg and come closer to the last third, I'm hoping to squeeze every ounce out of the surprises that pop up in the coming weeks. It's easy to deem certain things as frustrating or detrimental to having a perfect cycling day. However, isn't the perfect day one that is filled with those moments you least expected?

Climbing the Rockies

Our last day off was spent in Boulder, Colorado. If it weren't for the beauty that awaited us in the mountains, I could have stayed much longer...possibly a year or two? The atmosphere is extremely liberal and the plethora of things to do is endless. (above: students from the university parade the streets on Thursday night)

sitting at an outdoor cafe in Boulder with some yummy mint iced tea and a berry scone. I visited this awesome used bookstore, Trident, which was in town (see below)... a key place to go for book and coffee enthusiasts alike.

(above) University Bicycle Shop in Boulder. One of the employees at the shop had done 100 miles of cycling (a century) in each state last summer.

The general store at the top of the Ward Cimb. AMAZING chocolate chip walnut cookies...and coffee.

We've spent the past few days climbing over the Rocky Mountains and through the extremely mountainous state of Colorado. Let me just say, that this state is damn lucky it is so beautiful...otherwise, these climbs would not have been finished by this particular amateur cyclist.
Our first day of climbing was out of Boulder and up the "Ward Climb," into the town of Ward. The climb was approximately 17 miles long (to be honest, I cannot remember the mileage...let's just say it was long enough). We quickly realized that climbing would be a much more individual feat to achieve, rather than teams doing their best to stick together. My team did a pretty descent job of sticking with one another until we hit the steepness of the last couple miles. I lagged behind a bit while the three guys on my team were out of their saddle and hauling along. Luckily, I was able to push through without stopping until the summit.

Despite warnings from a 2008 4K rider who joined us for a few days, we waited a bit too long to make the descent into Estes Park. On our way down we ran into a hail storm! You can wear as many layers as possible, but when hail is the size of peas, it stings whatever skin is exposed...it definitely found its way to my eyelids and finger tips. The entire time, we were unable to enjoy the beauty of the descent, fearing that if we glanced over the edge of the road for two seconds then we would tumble down the side. Fortunately, we made it to the bottom in time for the downpour and found a restaurant lodge on a sidestreet that gave us some warm towels and good coffee. After the storm let up we continued on our way to a YMCA that was equal to a low-cost family resort.

Outside of the general store there was a fence made of skis...

The pictures following are from the second day while biking up Trail Ridge Road, the highest paved road in the country! The photos really can't do justice to such magnificence...

We reached the tree line of the mountains, where not even trees can grow. It was approximately 40 degrees F. near the summit...by this point we still had another 5 miles to climb...

Coffee (above: Conor, aka the Unibomber) at the summit tourist store. This was my last cup of coffee for the entire trip!**

**Note: I've made a wager with my teammate, Chris. I will cease drinking coffee and he will go veggie until one of us breaks. The terms have yet to be laid out, so I'm looking for suggestions from people as to what I should ask for WHEN I win.

Elk! They were at the bottom of the mountain after we carrened through a rain storm as we descended from the summit. I was pumping my breaks like mad the entire way down. During the last few miles we were greeted by a dirt road scattered with pot holes. The only way to get through it was to create a game out of it...we decided on the idea of dodging landmines all the way to Grand Lake, CO.

Hail seems to follow us everywhere we go. On our way into Kremmling, CO we were surprised by a freak hail storm, with a bonus lightening and thunder combination. Stuck in the middle of two fields with a telephone pole lining the road, we realized it would be better to find shelter than duck in the ditch we were in at the time. Braving the weather, we rode back about a quarter mile to a barn. All 27 of us managed to cram inside. As the storm moved on, we slowly walked out and collected our bikes from alongside a fence. Little did we realize that we had only survived half the day's battle...the creek nearby had been disturbed by the storm and flushed out all of the mosquitos from their homes. SWARMS of these suckers were attaching themselves to the entire team as we ran down the dirt road towards the main road. Hopefully, West Nile isn't a huge issue here in Colorado.

Besides the little bumps in the road so far, we're making our way closer to San Fran. We have 3 more riding days until the end of the second leg of the trip...one only knows what awaits us in the desert...

Rocky Mountain HIgh (meditation)

Tomorrow we begin our climb into the Rocky Mountains. It's a severe understatement to say I'm nervous. The entire team is finally (if they haven't as of yet) feeling the intensity of this trip. Tomorrow we will have a humbling ride up to Ward, Colorado...I'm hoping to keep a steady cadence while remaining focused on the task at hand. The climb itself is approximately 25 miles long, with a 35 mile "descent" into Ward.

On a sidenote, Boulder is phenomenal and if I could choose to live here I would. The people are down-to-earth, athletic, and an overall happy bunch. There are too many outdoor cafes to count and a day and a half is not nearly enough to explore the entire city. I will hopefully post pictures soon, either tonight or the next time I have computer access.

Photo Essay: St. Louis, Missouri to Yuma, Colorado

In Sweet Springs, Missouri, we were given a hero's welcome. A small town with a big heart.

Cuts for Cancer...

Shareef as the new (and free) 4K poster boy

Cream Can dinner in Arapahoe, Nebraska. A slew of vegetables and sausage were steamed inside a cream can and served in a trough...luckily we didn't have to eat straight out of it

Our hostess Grandma Ginny. Everyone should hope to be as graceful and giving as this woman when they're older.

Tan lines. We've all got 'em...some are prouder than others.

In Nebraska rattlesnakes run rampid, apparently. One of the older gentlemen at the senior citizen center in Benkleman explained in great detail how to kill them. "Well, you have to run 'em over with a car. Or shoot 'em."

4K fundraiser/party in Benkleman, NE. Pickles cost $1.

Dessert table shenanegans.

Grilling. I had the privilege (?) of having a lengthy discussion with one of Nebraska's richest cattle farmers at the cookout. He laughed at me when I told him I don't eat red meat and warned me of the dangers of salmonella.

4K family with 4K baby candidate.

Rainstorm at our backs.

Goodbye, Nebraska!

The 4K loves animals. We've had some very successful animal rescue missions along the way, too.

The St. Louis Arch...The Gateway to the West.

Today I have an absolutely wonderful host family in Yuma, Colorado! Kit and Randi are such amazing people. They're frequent hosts to many young people who pass through town, and their hospitality and friendliness is not something you'd expect from just any couple.

We just crossed the state border from Nebraska today around mile 30 and ever since then it's been love at first sight. The scenery in Colorado is completely different. There are no mountains in sight (yet), but there is a much more rugged landscape that you don't see in Nebraska.

The photos below are a compilation of everything I've deemed "worthy" to be posted. Once the trip is finished I will upload all the extras online in some fashion. These also deserve captions that I will hopefully continue to add as quickly as possible. Enjoy!

Western Territory

It has been far too long since I've posted on this blog. Computers are very hard to come by in the west. Most towns out here have a population of no more than 300-400 people and only a select few have accessible libraries. One town we passed through had a population of 66 people. Riding through them is a surreal experience. Most store fronts are broken down and abandoned shells on the inside. On our day off in Sweet Springs, Missouri, one of our riders claimed that we were "the next big thing to come through this town since Jesus." Christianity plays a HUGE role here in the midwest. Each day we pass by at least two or three anti-abortion billboards along the road that stand high amongst endless corn and wheat fields. A surprising sight for me was the amount of Catholic churches in Kansas. Apparently, it's a phenomenon in the midwest for Catholicism to have any place among the saturation of Protestantism.

Today we find ourselves in Benkleman, Nebraska. It is another small town that has been severely hit by the recession. Some locals will admit that the area has hit hard times long before a recession was ever publicized. The infrastructure is extremely bare and walking through the streets in the evening can be a lonely experience. We entered town on a Sunday (yesterday) and there was a maximum of three cars parked along the main road.

Tomorrow we head into Colorado! This is the part of the trip I've been itching to experience. We will make our way towards the Rocky Mountains and eventually climb Trail Ridge Road, which is rumored to be the highest road in terms of altitude in the United States. (I'm assuming the criteria include car accessibility and pavement.)

One of the main challenges on this trip, besides finding a working computer and internet access, is patience with other riders. All the riders on this team find themselves at various ability levels. While some are experienced riders who can charge up hills at 24 miles per hour and keep pushing onto the next, others are still struggling. The fortunate thing is that we're all improving drastically. Every rider, including myself, has found themselves at a completely different place than they were 4 weeks ago. I never imagined looking forward to climbing the Rockies. However, I can barely wait for those thousand-foot ascents. According to word of mouth, we will be reaching a maximum altitude of 15,000 feet in Colorado.
There is a constant mixture of emotions throughout the team. As with everybody else, I have my fears: I'm afraid of descending down 15% grades. I'm ly afraid of wiping out. We've all gotten some bumps and bruises along the way, but this is going to be a true test of our ability to stay safe...not just as individuals, but as a team. I'm afraid that people will not be responsible enough (although I'm sure they all will once they see the massive peaks ahead) and will hurt others through their own messiness.

Despite all this fear, there is an uncontrolled excitement that is surging through me. I've never traveled to Colorado before, and I cannot even anticipate the beauty that lies before us in the mountains. We are half way through this journey, and reaching this point is an extraordinary feat for all of us. I'm hoping that the family we've slowly created and nurtured along the way thus far continues to develop. It is too easy to become stressed by the little things on this trip. I'm just hoping that we can embrace everything that we come across as the unique experience that it is and will remain throughout our entire lives. Not many people can bike across the country, and I hope that people see this as a privilege in and of itself.

Amendment to my previous post: it was pointed out that I ally pegged the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra as the Chicago Symphony orchestra.

The computer I'm currently using does not allow me to upload photos via my camera, but hopefully our next day off in Boulder will afford me such capacity. Until then, check out the website for updated photos: http://www.4kforcancer.org

Deep Dish Love

Picture preview of the past week...mostly of my mini-Chicago adventure, since the Midwest is full of farms and nothing else...

The Big Bean sculpture in the middle of the city...

Banana Foster Pancakes at Eppel's Restaurant in Chicago...delicious.

Mount Baldy sand dune in Michigan City, Indiana. So beautiful at the top! You could see Chicago from there across the Lake.

The church we stayed in at Michigan City...the stained glass was so lovely that I decided to sleep in the sanctuary that night. However, it didn't help that the place was considered "haunted"...we definitely heard some noises that night.

A fave water stop of mine by a previous rider/alumni...those brownies were so yummy!
(below) Us on our way out of Cleveland, Ohio...and into the boondocks...

Today was our day off in Chicago! It was a nice treat to be in the city and be amongst a bit more civilization. The small towns we've passed through have always been extremely kind to us by providing meals and shelter each night. However, when you have the rare occasion of passing through buildings larger than two stories and hearing the hustle and bustle of traffic, honking cabs and reading newspapers that cover more than the cat that fell down the well that week, it's a nice breath of fresh air...ironically.

I got to get my bike serviced today at a local bike shop, Kozy's, located only about a half a mile away from where we're staying at University of Illinois at Chicago. They offered some amazing service, tuning our bikes for free, and then gave us a great discount on all of our purchases...something that is always appreciated in such an expensive sport.

Here are some pictures from the past week! The photo opportunities are not quite frequent in the midwest as they were in the Allegheny mountains. Things are pretty flat and the scenery is basically farmland for miles. At our stop in Fayette, Ohio, we were able to pick up packages that friends and family sent to members on the team. Salman had sent this amazingly large package of goodies for the team, but since our stop was so far out of the way (i.e. in the middle of nowhere) then FedEx didn't "feel like" riding back out to drop it off. This was followed by an intense minivan bolt to civilization to pick up the box and then drive back to our host. This is the downside to these areas. However, the upside includes the fact that the land is something you never see on the east coast. The crops that are mostly grown in the region are corn and soybeans, so they hadn't really grown tall while we were riding through.



Tomorrow we ride out of Chicago and make our way through Illinois. In a couple days we'll be in Missouri...I have heard mixed things from past riders about the state. Some seem to despise it, but I hope to get through it with a slightly more positive attitude. Taking each day one at a time has helped a lot, and I'm hoping to continue this throughout the trip. While I was visiting with my good friends Maansi and Sarah here in the city today, as we shoved our faces with deep dish pizza and listened to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Millenium Park (which was phenomenal, by the way) we got to talking about the trip. Their friends couldn't believe what I was doing, and it almost got to a point where I couldn't believe it, either! After leaving, I had to talk myself down and realize that I've gotten this far. I have a feeling that there are going to be plenty more of these "breathers" in the coming weeks, but I'm also realizing that I've got a whole 26 other people to help me through this...and of course I look forward to doing the same for them.