Hills and Headwinds

I swung south today after Trenton, Ne, which is where BRAN started in June. For those not familiar with BRAN, it is a 500 mile bike ride across Nebraska over the course of a week. I went on it this year for the first time and used it to train for this ride. After Trenton, I turned south and headed to Atwood, KS, which is where I ended up staying. Mason suggested this route to me and said it was decent. I decided to try it as I was going to turn to Kansas eventually and it was a beautiful ride. The only problem was the15 mph headwind. I don't mind hills as long as the wind is light. It is days like this that make one question why they ride a bike; why they put gear on it to catch all the wind possible; and then tell people it's fun. The only thing is...it is fun. Getting out and hearing, seeing, and feeling nature while also quenching a desire to travel is worth the days of hard work and frustration that occassionally come. It's what adds to the experience. Travel is not about where you go so much as the way you got there. Days like this I get off my bike and have sea leg experiences from wobbling all over the road. I'm sure the people who saw me eat tonight were wondering what bus I fell off of.

Atwood has a beautiful lake and park and as I rolled in I was greeted by a field of sunflowers that reflected the color of my gear, because safety yellow is cheap!

On a different note, I had a burr in my town shorts when I put them on. Thankfully it was only one and it was on my side.

The tortoise loses

I am now in McCook, Ne. The last couple of days went pretty well and I had free camping in the last two towns. I ended up getting a flat today and I still don't know why. I went to put my spare on and then it blew. Then I thought my pump was bad, as it is starting to be. Figured my first flat was only a slow leak so I put that on and figured I could walk to McCook and fill it up as needed. I made about two miles that way and pumped twice. I still had eight miles to go and was stopped to put more air in when a guy named mason came out from behind his house and asked if he could help. He wound up giving me a ride and dropped me off at the campground and told me to look up his sister in Kansas and I could get some water. Go figure you ask God to stretch you on a trip and he let's you meet such amazing people who will help out strangers. Even crazy ones on bikes! So now I am off to fix my bike. Amazingly the walmart in town had the right rube and more than one.


Oh, and with the title, the first of these two days was filled with countless turtle roadkill. So the hare wins.

Hills and sunflowers

I made it to Red Cloud today. As the title suggest, this was a day with a decent amount of hills and both wild and cultivated sunflowers. There were about five golden fields and numerous stands along the way. I am now riding the first half of BRAN in reverse. This was another 57 mile day and my seat is needing a couple days to get used to it. Red Cloud is the home of the Willa Cather SHS. Everything in town is pretty much named after her. This is a neat little town, but all the cool little shops are pretty much closed down or close early. It is amazing to see how much even these small towns seem to get affected by the economy after surviving through so much already.


The bike and gear held together great again today. It was another late start but gave me a chance to sleep in, practice breaking camp, and have some pesonal time with God before the road and all the random songs that go through one's head. A routine I wouldn't mind keeping.

First day down

I am now in Hebron, NE. I rode 56.5 miles today and spent most of the day getting used to my gear. They have a little camping park here with lots of shade and a decent bathhouse. Hebron is also home to the world's largest swing. It is a giant porch swing 32 ft long. I am sitting on it as I write this. I had no major problems today, which is a good start to my trip. One thing I learned today is that the smaller the map, the longer it takes to get across a state. I have not spoken to anyone yet today, but this part of Nebraska is sparsely populated and I have only gone through three towns. The ride was very peaceful and the people friendly except for one trucker. I have yet to understand why certain drivers and train engineers find it so funny to honk their horns and try to make a rider go in the ditch. If I am loaded down for a trip, I probably have at least a slight immunity to jumping whenever this happens.

Slight Change of Plans

I went to school today at 8:45 for a Q&A with kindergarten through fifth graders. I told them a little about my trip and what all it would entail, showed them some of my gear and my bike fully loaded, and then allowed them to ask some questions. It was a good time. The principal also had the local newspaper come out and do a little piece on me.

The weather ended up being somewhat nasty this morning and was predicted to be all day along my intended route, so I held off a day. I got more things organized around here and then prepared myself for the ride ahead. I weighed my gear last night and with food it weighed in at around 90 lbs. That is quite a load, but there is about 20+ lbs of food that will fluctuate throughout the trip and hopefully be less in the future. I have a few luxuries along that may have to be trimmed back if necessary.

I will be posting from my IPOD touch, so I will not be able to upload pictures unless I am at a computer that will allow me. Therefore, I am going to develop my pictures and have one of my brothers post them on a separate website. I will post a link on my page once that is up and running. For now, here are pics of my intended route (roughly), my bike unloaded, and my bike loaded.

Final prep

I am now in the final stages of preparation for my ride. I am finishing packing food and the last of the gear. I am also currently experimenting with an iPod touch to see about taking that instead of a computer. Pictures of the route and gear will follow soon.

The Ride

I am preparing to embark on a journey around our great country.  I will be visiting the 48 continental United States by bicycle over the next year.  I cycled on Hawaii a little this May, so by the end I will have ridden in 49 of the 50 United States.  I will be starting next Wednesday at 8:45 am at Paddock Lane Elementary School in Beatrice, Ne.  I worked at this school a couple of years ago and they decided to throw me a farewell party.  Some of the students will be tracking my progress as a geography project.  

Once I leave the school I will head to Denver and the second state in my ride.  From there it will be southeast to Florida and hopefully a moderately nice winter along the south.  I will then head up the west coast and back east over spring and summer, and then back to Nebraska from New England in the fall of next year.  That is the plan.  Next is the execution.  I am taking this trip in faith as the people in Hebrews 11 were recognized for.

the bike

The bicycle I will be taking (or that will be taking me) on this trip is a Trek 7.5 fx hybrid that I have outfitted for touring.  It has an aluminum frame and manual disc brakes (which should make for better stopping with all my gear).  It has a Surly front rack and an Axiom rear rack, both of which can hold up to 75 lbs (150 lbs overall), which I hope to never have.  It has Armadillo tires and SPD clipless pedals.  It is also outfitted with fenders to keep me a little cleaner as I ride.  There are also Profile Design bar ends, a Trek incite 9i wireless computer, a dolce ti saddle, and four bottle cages.  Most of the components on this bike, as well as the bike, were purchase at The Bike Rack in Lincoln or Omaha.  

the gear

the gear list is a long one, with only a few luxuries afforded.  Here's the list:

Kitchen

msr whisperlite stove, 2 msr fuel bottles, lighter, matches, pot, pot grip, pan, spatula, flipper, can opener, 6 liter msr dromedary bag, spice kit, lexan plate, fork, measuring cup, mug, dish towel

Camping

cabela's xpg 2-man tent, wiggy's 35 degree bag with nylon liner, thermarest prolite 3 regular sleeping pad, ground sheet, petzl myobelt 5 headlamp, rope, pea cord, msr trekker wing tarp, 2 petzl charlet trekking poles, amazon backpackers hammock, webbing and carabiners

Cycling Clothing

2 cycling jerseys, 2 pr cycling shorts, overshorts, canary rain jacket, froggtogg rain pants, 2 pr cycling socks, cycling leggings (fleece lined), 2 bandannas, specialized helmet, fleece gloves, beanie, marmot medium weight long undershirt, 2 rei reflective bands, lake mtb cycling shoes

Regular Clothing

rei jacket, jeans, belt, smartwool socks, western shirt, 2 tee shirts, swim suit, teva flips, columbia hat, sierra designs down booties, x-men fleece vest(thrift store purchase, awesome), leather work gloves, long socks, mosquito headnet

Accessories

first aid kit, batteries, portable radio, macbook, ipod, phone, sony cybershot digital camera, knife sharpener, bible, reading books, journal, sunglasses, sewing kit, brunton data center, playing cards, harmonica

Toiletries

pack towel, toothpaste, toothbrush, razor, shaving cream, aftershave, beard trimmer, shampoo, soap, contact solution, contact lenses, contacts case, lotion, deodorant, glasses and case

Bike Accessories

cat eye headlight, taillight, helmet taillight, 5 water bottles, bike stand, bike lock, extra cables, gerber multi-tool, spare tubes, spare spokes, zip ties, repair kit, duct tape, lube, gorilla glue, pump, rags, spare bolts, patch kit, mirror, chamois butter

In just a few short days, the journey begins...