We're in the Rockies! Two days ago, we did Cameron Pass. Yesterday, we did Muddy Pass and Rabbit Ears Pass. It was hard. However, we did get to pee right on the continental divide. We made the 7 mile descent from Rabbit Ears to Steamboat Springs in about 15 extremely downhill minutes, with the mountain to our right and a sheer cliff looking out on the gorgeous valley on our left. Best. Ride. Ever. Also, terrifying.
Expressing the beauty of our surroundings right now is kind of impossible. Hopefully we'll be able to get some pictures up one day.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Colobraska!
We've passed from Western Kansas into Eastern Colorado, cutting one 8 mile corner of Nebraska along the way. Last night we slept in a lovely, grassy park in Wray, Colorado. We were woken up at 4:30 am, when the sprinklers went off about 2 feet from where we were sleeping. Getting everyone up, normally a 20 minute process, took about four seconds. It was very impressive.
We had some big hills in Western Kansas before hitting Nebraska, but now that we're in the baby foothills of the Rockies the road is pretty flat and manageable. We stopped for a night in Oberlin, Kansas, which was slightly disorienting but pretty cool, and for a night in Bird City where we ate at the best steak house in the state. We're all excited to see the terrain gradually change as we move west - we saw our first cactus a few days ago, and by now most of the corn and soy beans have stopped and the cattle have begun. The bugs are getting bigger and weirder, and trees are a rare sight. We'll hopefully be able to get some pictures up in a few days, when we stop for another rest day in Fort Collins.
We had some big hills in Western Kansas before hitting Nebraska, but now that we're in the baby foothills of the Rockies the road is pretty flat and manageable. We stopped for a night in Oberlin, Kansas, which was slightly disorienting but pretty cool, and for a night in Bird City where we ate at the best steak house in the state. We're all excited to see the terrain gradually change as we move west - we saw our first cactus a few days ago, and by now most of the corn and soy beans have stopped and the cattle have begun. The bugs are getting bigger and weirder, and trees are a rare sight. We'll hopefully be able to get some pictures up in a few days, when we stop for another rest day in Fort Collins.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
smith center, ks
yesterday we had a lovely rest day in smith center, kansas, the geographical center of the united states. we were housed by kind member of the community, which was wonderful (and which meant we got to sleep in real beds!) we also got our first newspaper clipping from the local smith center newspaper announcing our workshops in town.
the temperatures are starting to climb; yesterday may have been our first 100 degree day of the summer. fortunately, it also coincided with a day we were not riding. now we are back on the road, though it's still pretty hot, toward norton.
also, today at lunch we had watermelon, cut into pieces with our large all-purpose cleaver, which was quite pleasant.
thanks to everyone leaving comments and following our progress. it's great to hear from you!
love,
linden & 1BBM
the temperatures are starting to climb; yesterday may have been our first 100 degree day of the summer. fortunately, it also coincided with a day we were not riding. now we are back on the road, though it's still pretty hot, toward norton.
also, today at lunch we had watermelon, cut into pieces with our large all-purpose cleaver, which was quite pleasant.
thanks to everyone leaving comments and following our progress. it's great to hear from you!
love,
linden & 1BBM
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
More Kansas
Hello,
Another update for you. We are now 5 states and over 1000 miles into our journey which is, as of today, 1/3 of the way done. We are spending the afternoon in Mankato, Kansas. We had a late start this morning, but the Kansas terrain and weather have been so nice that we didn't have a problem reaching our half destination by lunch time. For the past two days we have had a great tailwind that has made everything so much easier. We are looking forward to our rest day tomorrow in Smith Center, Kansas, which is the geographic center of the contiguous United States and also about halfway across the state. The nice, slowly rolling hills of eastern Kansas are dissappearing rapidly and the state is becoming flatter by the minute, which unfortunately means stronger headwinds. Last night we stayed in Belleville, Kansas at Pastor Lennie's house. They had this gigantic dog with the largest eyes I've ever seen. He had a look of perpetual suprise. We all enjoyed falling asleep to the early 90's classic movie Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. We are down to a riding party of four for the day as most of our crowd is already is Smith Center giving a series of workshops to the Smith Center, Chamber of Commerce. They will be giving workshops on passive solar heating and cooling, vermicomposting, driving a veggie oil truck, and giving a plant walk if time permits. Speaking of veggie oil, yesterday in Washington, Kansas, our support drivers for the day found hundreds of gallons of perfect waste veggie oil for our truck. We ate at the man's restaurant, which had delicous mashed potatoes, saurkraut, and lemonade and he said that we could take as much of it as we could hold. We can only hold about 120 gallons, but that should give us enough fuel to get us almost through Nevada. That's it for now.
cheers,
Tyler
Another update for you. We are now 5 states and over 1000 miles into our journey which is, as of today, 1/3 of the way done. We are spending the afternoon in Mankato, Kansas. We had a late start this morning, but the Kansas terrain and weather have been so nice that we didn't have a problem reaching our half destination by lunch time. For the past two days we have had a great tailwind that has made everything so much easier. We are looking forward to our rest day tomorrow in Smith Center, Kansas, which is the geographic center of the contiguous United States and also about halfway across the state. The nice, slowly rolling hills of eastern Kansas are dissappearing rapidly and the state is becoming flatter by the minute, which unfortunately means stronger headwinds. Last night we stayed in Belleville, Kansas at Pastor Lennie's house. They had this gigantic dog with the largest eyes I've ever seen. He had a look of perpetual suprise. We all enjoyed falling asleep to the early 90's classic movie Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. We are down to a riding party of four for the day as most of our crowd is already is Smith Center giving a series of workshops to the Smith Center, Chamber of Commerce. They will be giving workshops on passive solar heating and cooling, vermicomposting, driving a veggie oil truck, and giving a plant walk if time permits. Speaking of veggie oil, yesterday in Washington, Kansas, our support drivers for the day found hundreds of gallons of perfect waste veggie oil for our truck. We ate at the man's restaurant, which had delicous mashed potatoes, saurkraut, and lemonade and he said that we could take as much of it as we could hold. We can only hold about 120 gallons, but that should give us enough fuel to get us almost through Nevada. That's it for now.
cheers,
Tyler
Monday, June 23, 2008
KANSAS!
hello, all.
we have made it to the great plains of kansas, and are stopped for the afternoon in the town of washington. we crossed over the missouri into kansas on the 21st and will continue across the state for the next six days, before going through eight miles of nebraska and then colorado. the night of the last blog post we had the adventure of putting up a tent during the onset of a thunderstorm. fortunately we all survived and dried off eventually, and, although the weather set us back a bit, we revised the route and are now back on track. we stayed at a lovely community center in plattsburg, and then at a church in horton, america. last night we stayed at a park in marysville. in rushville, mo we met an 82 year old barber named norman gillis who made us a pot of coffee as he does for the loafers 365 days of the year. he told us many stories about his life and alex even got a free haircut. norman's favorite president is harry truman. today we met a man from japan who is walking across the country, starting in washington dc and ending up in san francisco. yesterday we passed by a biker headed from san francisco to boston. coming up we are going to have workshops in smith center, where our next rest day also will be. more news on how those go to come. right now the weather is lovely and riding is great. it's time for me to switch out of the public library's computer, but just wanted to give a quick update-- we're all still alive and on the road. and getting some pretty intense tan lines.
love,
linden.
we have made it to the great plains of kansas, and are stopped for the afternoon in the town of washington. we crossed over the missouri into kansas on the 21st and will continue across the state for the next six days, before going through eight miles of nebraska and then colorado. the night of the last blog post we had the adventure of putting up a tent during the onset of a thunderstorm. fortunately we all survived and dried off eventually, and, although the weather set us back a bit, we revised the route and are now back on track. we stayed at a lovely community center in plattsburg, and then at a church in horton, america. last night we stayed at a park in marysville. in rushville, mo we met an 82 year old barber named norman gillis who made us a pot of coffee as he does for the loafers 365 days of the year. he told us many stories about his life and alex even got a free haircut. norman's favorite president is harry truman. today we met a man from japan who is walking across the country, starting in washington dc and ending up in san francisco. yesterday we passed by a biker headed from san francisco to boston. coming up we are going to have workshops in smith center, where our next rest day also will be. more news on how those go to come. right now the weather is lovely and riding is great. it's time for me to switch out of the public library's computer, but just wanted to give a quick update-- we're all still alive and on the road. and getting some pretty intense tan lines.
love,
linden.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
more of missouri...
right now we are stopped for lunch and afternoon break in carrollton, missouri, quite the lovely town. the library is well air conditioned and pleasant. last night we stayed in the lovely slater christian church of slater, missouri. so much gratitude to the kind folks there who opened up their church to us (including some pretty comfy pew cushions), and cooked us not only dinner but breakfast too. (and i was SO excited for that fruit and yogurt!!). the last few days have been really long and quite warm. we spent some time on the katy trail, which was at times quite pleasant, and at other times, really hot and monotonous. also gravelly. while we were originally scheduled to ride through all of missouri on the katy trail, but, due to flooding we've moved to state routes, complete with many "rolling" hills.
at one of our shorter stops yesterday, at a fantastic convenience/general/antique store that also had costume jewelry, i got an excellent pair of earrings with unicorns on them.
the most exciting news of the afternoon, aside from a great pot of chili, is that our adventures are being written up in the carrollton democrat, the local newspaper. thanks to pauline and mary for bringing us over to the newspaper office and not letting us get away until the story had been reported.
two more days until kansas!
love,
linden
at one of our shorter stops yesterday, at a fantastic convenience/general/antique store that also had costume jewelry, i got an excellent pair of earrings with unicorns on them.
the most exciting news of the afternoon, aside from a great pot of chili, is that our adventures are being written up in the carrollton democrat, the local newspaper. thanks to pauline and mary for bringing us over to the newspaper office and not letting us get away until the story had been reported.
two more days until kansas!
love,
linden
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