Ben Bikes the US for MS

One Final BUS4MS Plug

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:55:00 +0000

Hello!! For all of you who followed my 2010 Bike the US for MS ride, I wanted to put in one last plug through the blog. My sister Liz is riding with Bike the US for MS in 2011 and could really use your help fundraising.

As 2011 brings around a new tax year, if you felt that your donation in 2010 went to the right cause and supported a good non-profit then please consider donating to her cause as well, here are the details:

Liz is graduating from UVA in May with a major in Biology and a minor in Global Public Health. A week following graduation, she is heading to Bar Harbor, ME and biking until she gets to Seattle, WA.

Again, proceeds from the 2011 trip will support research and treatment at the James Q. Miller MS Clinic in Charlottesville, VA.

In order to participate in the trip Liz has to meet a fundraising goal of $4,295 by June 1st. This is $1 for each mile that she will be biking and sitting on a bike seat!! You can donate online at the Bike the US for MS website (look for the button that says "Donate in the Name of Liz Dymond").

Donations can also be made using personal checks written to "Bike the US for MS". Mention that you are donating in the name of Liz Dymond on the Notes Line and mail to:

Bike the US for MS
1302 Gladewood Dr.
Blacksburg, VA 24060

As a reminder, 100% of the donations go to benefit MS research/treatment and are tax deductible as Bike the US for MS is a 501c3 tax-exempt organization.

Cheers!!

Video - Episode 9 & 10!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 01:19:00 +0000

Here we go, the long awaited final video for BUS4MS 2010 - Episode 10!!!

If you missed the last video, Episode 9 is posted here!

On a side note, my sister Sara has signed up to do the 2011 BUS4MS ride - if you feel that your money went to an awesome cause in 2010, check out her website and please take the time to donate towards her ride!!!

Over and out, thanks again!
Ben

Thank You!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:14:00 +0000

Sitting here in my hotel room staring over Chinatown in San Fran, I wanted to write one last blog entry on our trip (the last two blog entries have been finished off - Day 61 and Day 62). This is definitely primarily aimed those who followed my blog and those who donated towards my trip and the fight against MS. This trip has been so much more than I ever expected it could be. It will definitely be one of the most life changing events that I have ever experienced (up there next to birth and marriage) and I am really glad that you all got to help me with the trip and therefore experience it with me through the internet. (By the way, there will be another BUS4MS YouTube video sometime in the next week so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for one last sweet hurrah - maybe I will send out a blog entry with the URL.)

I would like to specifically thank all those that made me the all time fundraising champion for BUS4MS - without your support I would not have been able to ride my bike across the US!!!

Secondly, I would like to thank all of my immediate family and most importantly Salli who put up with an extreme lack of communication over the summer (except via this blog). Thank you for all the love and support!!!

Finally, I want to thank all of the riders, route leaders, and organizers that went on the 2010 Bike the US for MS trip. This was a truly amazing experience and there is no way it would have been the same if I did not join this group and this organization.

(PS - if you read through this blog please let me know where you come across spelling or grammar errors as I stopped proof reading the entries somewhere in the middle of the trip!)

Day 62 - Golden Gate Bridge Victory Ride - 6 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:14:00 +0000

After arriving in San Fran and enjoying the festivities setup for us by Don we all went off to the business district Hilton across from Chinatown in San Fran. This gave us a sweet location to grab some really good dinner! Later that night most of the team got together for one last hurrah to celebrate our ride and time together. It was a TON of fun and everyone was semi-sentimental at one point or another through the night.

We awoke to a day filled with more important landmarks along our journey. This included biking down to the Golden Gate Bridge and doing the ceremonial front tire dip in the "Pacific Ocean." We had to travel about 6 miles to the bridge and it became clearly visible at some points along our trip. This is one of the first photos I snagged:

We arrived!!!!! What a long journey!!! The next few photos describe what happened better than I can with words. Everyone got the ceremonial picture with their bikes in the water, Leigh and I lit up a few cigars that most of the team enjoyed in one fashion or another, a few people took the frigid dip into the water, and about half of the team ventured up to the actual bridge to ride across it (tourist loaded!).

Following the fun festivities we all got stuck in a glass case of emotion as people started heading their own way with family or friends. Needless to say it was one of the hardest and weirdest goodbyes that I have ever had to do. In two months, as a group and even smaller riding/friend groups, we all became really, really, really, really close and would probably do anything in the world for each other. It was amazing to get to know 26 other people in such a short time but with such a truly bonding life experience - we will all know each other forever and never forget what we accomplished as a group of riders and more importantly as a group of friends.

As we stood around seeing people of left and right many of the group remarked that biking became the least of the worries over the course of this trip. Meeting people dealing with MS, becoming ambassadors for BUS4MS and MS in general, getting to know everyone in the group, and savoring the time we had together was by far more important than the physical toll of biking across the US.

Day 61 - Lake Solano, CA to San Francisco, CA - 50 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:02:00 +0000

Our campsite last night had one of the most peculiar sites on the entire trip - tons of habituated peacocks wandering around. These beautiful birds would come within 5 feet or less looking for any type of food.

Our ride today got off to a good start as we were all super excited for the last day of the trip and our arrival into San Francisco. About 10 miles into the day our small riding group of myself, Ben, Leigh, Mark, and Kathryn had a small wreck fiasco that scared everyone on the team. We had an accident where myself, Ben, and Kathryn fell - Ben and I ended up with some road rash on our hips and elbows, but Kathryn probably suffered a minor concussion as she doesn't remember everything that happened. Luckily for us, an EMT was driving by and offered to stop and look her over - she was deemed OK to ride and finished the trip to San Fran!! After arriving, for safety measures, Kathryn went to the local hospital for a CT scan and she was deemed OK - PHEW!! Needless to say the whole team was a little shaken, especially our small group who were all there at the time.

After we hit the road again we started to get some glimpses of our ending from afar. Kathryn and I smelled the salty water before crossing the last hills into San Fran and we could see the famous fog over the mountain as we were riding though vineyard after vineyard.

After arriving at our final biking destination (Vallejo, CA) we wandered through the farmer's market and picked up a bag of fresh grapes to munch on. We were scheduled to catch the last Baylink ferry that would escort us to San Francisco. I would say that most people considered this the first end to the trip because we were basically done biking - we all loaded our bikes onto the ferry and went inside to hang around and talk about the trip. We also got some awesome views on the ferry ride (about 1 hour long) of the Bay area, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge from afar.

(see if you can find the bridge in the left part of the photo)

After arriving at Pier 1 in San Fran we walked off the ferry to a hero's welcome from the friends and family of team members. We took a wonderful team picture at the ferry terminal after arriving. This photo was later presented to Don from the group along with a $110 car detailing gift certificate for him to get his car cleaned up after getting back to Blacksburg. From there we were shuttled to an MS patient conference that was scheduled on Pier 2 - we arrived as one of three special guests at the luncheon and were treated with special care as we received lunch and much applause.

The second special guest at the conference was Maureen Manley who's story can be found on her website (the hyperlink) - she is a highly respected cyclist who as a member of the US Cycling Team won a National Championship, set a national record, earned a silver and 2 bronze medals at National Championships, competed in 3 World Championships and won a silver medal in the 1990 World Championships. Maureen's cycling career came to an abrupt halt at the sudden onset of Multiple Sclerosis and she has been battling the disease with vigor and determination as she has been able to get back on a bike and start riding again. She was a very good motivational speaker and gave us yet another wonderful perspective on MS and how people are battling it with all their heart and soul.

The third special guest at the conference was Susan Steen (Leigh Graziano's mother) who is a neurologist that deals with MS a lot in her profession and has good connections with Teva and the drug Copaxone (for MS). Susan went through a brief power point presentation that brought everyone at the luncheon (patients and bikers) to the same level in their education about MS. We learned about the different types of MS, symptoms, and ways that people are dealing with the disease. All in all it was a great talk and everyone left with a bit more knowledge than they came in with.

Day 60 - Folsom, CA to Lake Solano, CA - 65 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:05:00 +0000

Last night in camp I did a minor overhaul of my bike when replacing the rear cassette and putting on new tires to try and prevent any late game flats! I had put a new chain on my bike a day or two ago and found out that the old chain wear had started to ruin my cassette - needless to say this was fairly annoying as my bike skipped while in the hardest gear. Such is life.

Today our riding group headed out to get a close up view of Folsom Prison and do a little shindig in the parking lot while listening to Johnny Cash music. We didn't go into the prison museum, but definitely rode down to the actual prison walls and danced around.

Our ride today was highlighted by many really really cool things - first off the initial 40 miles plus of the trip were on a sweet CA bike trail. This made the riding tons of fun as we were able to cruise along without having to worry about cars. Even the running/walking pedestrians were supposed to move along the side of the path (off the path) so it was solely a bike path!

The bike path led us directly into old town Sacramento where we caught some lunch and delicious dessert from a local deli and the candy store next door. On the way out of town we saw the state capital building (I assume) of CA and a sweet lift bridge that actually went up before we could cross over it!

Next on our awesome travel day through CA was the college town of Davis, home to UC Davis. In Davis we went to one of the sweetest bike shops on the entire trip (Davis Wheelworks) if your flavor is road biking (as opposed to mountain biking). They had some really expensive and awesomely fast road bikes on display for us to play with. Some of the bikes easily ranged from $6,000-$12,000. Following that, we went to a really cool make-your-own frozen yogurt shop (Yogurt Shack) where you pick the flavor and add whatever toppings you choose - pay by weight!

Following our stop in Davis we had 20 more awesome miles to finish off to the campsite. These included a beautifully flat ride through farms where the fruit trees and flowers were abundant. As shown below, we even got a sweet drafting escort out of town on the bike path!

Day 59 - Silver Lake, CA to Folsom, CA - 98 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:02:00 +0000

This morning everyone slept in and left super late in the morning - we didn't get out of camp until around 9:30 am. This turned out to be both a great thing and a bad thing. The great part about it is that we all hung out a little in the morning and we met again at the top of our morning climb. Today's morning climb was something special as it was our last real mountain climbing of the trip. After the summit, we were to descend around 7,000 - 8,000 ft of elevation to camp at around 200 ft above sea level. The even more amazing part of the morning was that we rigged the BUS4Ms video camera on the back of my bike rack (one of the few remaining racks left on the trip) to capture everyone drafting and crushing it down the mountain. Hopefully this made for a lot of great footage that you will be able to see in our final video.

Our daily mileage was made even longer than anticipated because about 7-8 of our group that were really ripping it downhill missed a turn! We were definitely not the only ones to miss the turn, but we did travel about 10-12 miles out of our way down extremely steep mountains only to find ourselves at a super market with a daunting climb back to the turn ahead. The clouds split and an angel descended to give us a ride back to the top! An extremely sweet woman from the grocery store offered to drive us halfway up the mountain in her truck after I told her what we were up to. We even sweet talked her enough during the ride that she took us all the way to our turn!

Phew, after knocking out a bunch of miles, we finally made it to Folsom, CA which we celebrated this morning with some Johnny Cash tunes with breakfast. Our ride took us right next to the Folsom Dam and extremely close to Folsom prison (I hope to get some sweet pics tomorrow).

After arriving at the campsite, I fulfilled a promise to Bridget and Liza by shaving my facial hair to mimic what's-his-name from Moulin Rouge! This will have to be my celebration facial hair for arriving in San Francisco.

Day 58 - Carson City, NV to Silver Lake, CA - 55 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 02:44:00 +0000

Phew - even though we hit civilization in CA we have been out of internet (and sometimes cell service) for a while!

Today we crossed into the final state of California, the end is near :) and :( - but seriously, how to describe the Sierra Nevada mountains - today's ride was definitely one of the best in terms of scenery on the trip to date. That is saying a lot - I would definitely rank it in the top 5! We started the morning from our Motel 6 and headed towards the mountain for most of the morning. Mid-morning we started ascending the mountain and boy the did beauty of the scenery increase as we got up in elevation. All in all we headed towards roughly 8,300 ft elevation to camp for the night in a sweet campground. The pictures from today's ride can probably explain the scenery better than I can.

For lunch we stopped at a delicious resort called Sorensen's Resort and downed a sandwich while dreaming of staying at the B&B to take advantage of the good, accommodations, and in the winter, the CC skiing and fireplaces. After that, we headed to the summit of Carson Pass to hang out and catch the view (below) - definitely one of the better summit views of the trip. Following that, we traveled the 6-7 miles down to the delicious Kirkwood Inn (diner/pub) for some nice Black Butte Porter and $2 amazing delicious tacos. The food was so good that my patched tube (rear wheel) decided to give me a hard time and slow down the process by failing (one Super Patch from UT to CA - not bad).

Any who, the evening continued with a campfire, some dessert pancakes served up by Don (pancakes with chocolate chips), and jams running on the iPod ranging from 80's tunes, a little 90's mix, and finally some blues to top it all off.

Until tomorrow!

Day 57 - Fallon, NV to Carson City, NV - 65 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:21:00 +0000

First off, check out the newest YouTube video from BUS4MS!!

To follow up with last night's dinner, we had the sweetest meal of the entire trip! The entire team went to the local Chinese/sushi restaurant in Fallon called The Wok. Not only was there so much food that everyone was completely stuffed, but the food was great! This meal was made extra special by Seth's dad who picked up the 2 drink/person bill and by Leigh's mom who picked up the entire meal!

Thanks a bunch from the entire team!!

Our ride today started off great with a free continental breakfast from the hotel that was delicious - I got a trip delicacy of Fruit Loop cereal with milk! Milk is one of the harder things to keep on this trip as the cooler space is limited. As far as actually pedaling the bike, we cruised through 65 miles relatively fast because the terrain is getting much flatter (except for our climb into the Sierra Nevada Mountains tomorrow). The difference in our desert ride today was the fact that we are back in civilization - we are able to stop at conveniences to pick up snacks, chocolate milk, and use the bathroom.

After arriving in Carson City (the capital of Nevada) we achieved a goal of the trip by finally ordering a large ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (half priced on Tuesdays) and demolishing it amongst 6 people. Who knows how many calories we had (notice the cell phone for size comparison), but it was delicious! Another super bonus of today's ride is the fact that we are again staying in a hotel with AC as the Motel 6 was cheaper than the local RV parks for the entire team.

(Kathryn Collura peeking through our ice cream bridge)

The last highlight of the night for many of the group was heading out to the local casinos to finally find an actual game of poker (Stephen French) and many other types of gambling.

On a side note, I finally picked up a cigar to smoke in San Francisco after completing the trip - most likely smack dap in the middle of the beach. A cigar is the one thing I forgot on this trip as I would have liked to carry it all the way from VA to CA, but this one will have to do.

Day 56 - Middlegate, NV to Fallon, NV - 49 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:31:00 +0000

Welcome to Fallon, NV - home of B-17 bombers! After getting blasted in a crazy thunder and lightning storm last night, we awoke to soggy tents and a minor tailwind! Most of the group was definitely awake last night around 2:30 (even I woke up with ear plugs in) as a huge thunder clap sounded directly above our campsite.

Our ride today was short and sweet as we received a tweet from BUS4MS in the morning that we were staying in a hotel after a 49 mile bike ride! The ride today had two minor climbs that we breezed through only to continue on flat land for the remainder of the ride. This definitely allowed us to maintain a high average speed and cruise to Fallon quickly.

Along the way we got into some government run areas including B-17 training grounds and other army bases. Below is an image of the signs surrounding the area and an attempt at capturing a B-17 flying above us. This is one of probably 6-8 planes that buzzed over us as we approached Fallon and their training grounds.

We arrived in Fallon at 10:30 am! This was super early and the best part was that we could hit our hotel room asap and enjoy a shower, leftover continental breakfast at the hotel, and some TV before heading out to pick up Dominoes for pizza lunch in the hotel room and to the Safeway grocery store for drinks/snacks!

Tonight we are having a sweet celebration for Seth Milam's 23rd birthday and are throwing in a bit more celebration for Leigh Graziano's birthday which was on the 18th of this month. Up to this blog entry, I know that we are nailing some sweet Chinese food for dinner, but I don't know what else is planned for the evening!

Day 55 - Bob Scott Campground, NV to Middlegate, NV - 70 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:44:00 +0000

Phew - on to today's post!! Again, sorry for the delayed blog posts!

Today's ride had two different options available to the team. The first was to continue on Rt. 50 and see some of the old Pony Express stops while the second was to climb Carroll Summit and ride a nice descent into Middlegate. Most of the team chose to climb the extra summit while some ventured out to explore Rt. 50. All in all, we made it to Middlegate in one piece!

A few highlights to our day included:

1 - A delicious breakfast at the Toiyabe Cafe to load up for our ride today.

(2 - getting buzzed by a pretty sweet little plane in the middle of nowhere)

(3 - hearing vet talk radio while riding in front of Kristen and Carmen - both vet students at VT)

(4 - seeing one of the larger patches of actual sand desert - really white and created a huge dust storm that we avoided luckily)

(5 - checking out the infamous Shoe Tree near Middlegate, NV that we have been hearing about for days)

6 - Arriving in Middlegate which consists of one building that is the bar/restaurant/grocery store/motel/camping area/only building in town. Needless to say we overwhelmed the cook and bar as we do in every small town that BUS4MS rolls through.

(Seth and Alex before enjoying a cold one!)

Off to talk with the wife and try to find a shower in the middle of the desert! Enjoy the three new posts as I will strive to keep things up to date as we reach civilization in CA soon!

Day 54 - Eureka, NV to Bob Scott Campground, NV - 68 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:33:00 +0000

Another day, another dollar. Riding through the desert of NV almost everyone on the team has remarked how few pictures they have taken and how the landscape doesn't really change that much. We ride up a 5-10 mile mountain (fairly gradually) and then descend into a huge valley where you can see for 15 miles in front of you. Typically our van/trailer stops have been at the tops of the mountains so we have something to work towards and then a sweet reward after fueling up. Below are a few pictures from the desert as I am cruising through!

That being said, it is tricky to describe each day as they have been quite the same. Our stopping point for the evening (electricity non-existent and the trailer batteries dead) was on the top of Bob Scott summit which allowed us to avoid a super steep climb at the end of the day (which we have to do in the morning).

The campground situation has been along the same lines as others in NV as we arrive to fairly hot temperatures and are able to find some type of water to hose off and rinse up. This allows the heat (no humidity) to dry us off and really prevent any sweating. It is a little harder to hydrate in the desert as you don't sweat as much and ride a lot of flat sections where you aren't breathing as hard.

(Caleb, Ben, and Amanda resting post ride)

Any who, the most remarkable thing about last night was the fact that I woke up to go to the bathroom around 2-3 am. Yes, quite remarkable. Actually, when I woke up the moon was so amazingly bright that it seemed like daytime outside. It was definitely the brightest moon (and probably combination of clear sky, high elevation, and desert climate) I have ever seen in my life - no headlamp necessary to traverse to the restroom.

Day 53 - Ely, NV to Eureka, NV - 77 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:58:00 +0000

YIKES! Two whole days without blogging! I am sorry friendly followers and will do my best to keep it up the remainder of the trip. We have either had a lack of electricity (my computer requires a power cord since it sucks) or limited access to internet. Either way, this is no excuse as I have been diligent all summer!

Back to business, today we entered the "The Loneliest Road in America" and it wasn't super lonely! Early in the morning we were betting on how many cars we would see throughout the day (my guess was 8 as I assumed it would be a lonely day) and the total was definitely much higher than expected - I don't know the total count.

Along the ride - including three fairly gradual and small climbs and one larger climb that was kind of long - there were definitely some interesting things such as old houses, sins for silver/gold mines, and railroad tracks for hauling the booty.

(Leigh Graziano cruising along the desert)

The highlight of the day was definitely arriving in Eureka and hitting up the Owl Club and Steakhouse for lunch, karaoke, and then breakfast the next morning! Not only was lunch delicious, but the karaoke was also awesome. Some of the highlights included:

Bridget and Caleb - Build Me Up Buttercup
Stephen - Mack the Knife
Amanda - Fancy by Reba McEntire
Carmen - Monster
Matt - Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
Joe - Thong Song
Bret - Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)
Me (accompanied by Dan, Rose, Bridget, Tara, Caleb, and Matt) - Friends in Low Places

The second highlight of Eureka - other than our tents being moved while in the bar doing Karaoke by those who weren't 21 ;) - was the fact that we are in Nevada and you can gamble anywhere! Bridget capitalized on this fact as did Seth who actually won $5 in quarters (which he subsequently had to carry on his bike!).

Day 52 - Baker, NV to Ely, NV - 68 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:23:00 +0000

First of all, check out the pictures now embedded in yesterday's blog.

After changing time zones last night we enjoyed a sweet campsite in the Great Basin National Park with a mountain cold stream for a shower and a beautiful moon shot over some Aspen trees. Everyone went to bed a little early and got a great night's rest. Not only that, but Don's Diner was whipping out pancake, egg, and cheese sandwiches with butter and bacon to top things off!! Can't beat that - well, include our 7 mile downhill out of the park (max speed 46 mph) and you might win the battle.

The first 20 miles of our trip today were fantastic - we had absolutely no wind and cruised up a small mountain to earn a sweet downhill! The roads in Nevada are absolutely flat and extremely easy to cruise on - probably the best roads of our trip! The mountain below was visible from our first stop and reminded me of the mountain described in The Hobbit where Bilbo fights the dragon.

After climbing out of the first valley, we ascended a pretty long incline to reach the summit where most of the team arrived to the "Top 100 Hits of the 80's" playing from the trailer (courtesy of my iPod!). The grade was about 6% uphill and then a corresponding 6% downhill! The only problem was that we had some decent headwinds over the last 16 miles into Ely, NV. Ely is pretty cool - we had some Subway for lunch ($5 foot long subs have become a staple on our trip as we try to vary the meats/sauces/and toppings to make things different) and a large milkshake from McDonalds.

Tonight we are staying at yet another KOA campground (not a bad thing) that is hooked up with showers, wifi, laundry, and a pretty sweet grass knoll for tent camping. It is sweet to get the hookup in places like the KOA as we can accomplish a lot of things in one night!

Enjoy the blog as we starting biking on Rt. 50 tomorrow - "The Loneliest Road in America!" For more reading about our BUS4MS trip, remember to check out the other blogs that I have links to on the right side of the website (you may have to scroll down)!

Day 51 - Milford, UT to Baker, NV - 83 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:07:00 +0000

Thanks to Dave Finkenbinder for donating to BUS4MS!

Welp, cell phone service and internet are limited here in Baker, Nevada (as we hear it will be spotty for the next few days). I will have to upload some pictures to this blog entry tomorrow night when we hit Ely, NV and I have some better internet/computer access.

I'll tell you what, our hotel room last night was pretty sweet. Possibly one of the better hookups of the trip because our $40 hotel room ($10/person) came with a free breakfast at the diner where I nailed some bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes, and sausage for $0.37!! We hit the road pretty early (around 7 am) after waking up around 5:45 am. It was definitely a good idea to hit the road early as the sun was starting to get hot when we finished (about 12:30 PCT).

The ride today was pretty fun and super cool because we rode the 83 miles without any services = total van support. This meant that the scenery was really desolate, but it was also very pretty. There were limited trees on the route today. Specifically one that was noticeable while riding along the road. It was amazing how far down the road we could see and the fact that as we were riding through the desert we encountered our first dust storms! After climbing 3 gradual hills/mountains we enjoyed some wicked cool descents drafting off of each other and getting some good tailwinds on the flats to cruise around 30 mph without even trying!

(a legit dust storm rolling through the valley!)

Definitely one of the highlights of our trip today was entering the second to last state on our trip - Nevada! We rolled into Nevada near the end of our ride and caught some delicious lunch at T&D's Restaurant/Bar/Grocery in Baker. Our campsite tonight is up in the National Forest (6 miles uphill to the site from town) so Don is shuttling us up the campground for the night so we can enjoy a sweet downhill in the morning.

Day 50 - Cedar City, UT to Milford, UT - 53 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:29:00 +0000

First off...we are now under two weeks from finishing and are extremely close to reaching a huge fundraising goal for the group. To date, we have raised approximately $93,000 – awesome! However, the team is definitely shooting for the goal of raising $100,000 and you can help! I would like to encourage you to help us meet that goal if you have not already donated (or if you are still feeling generous). If you are interested in donating in my name, check out my site here, or feel free to donate to other riders you may be following!! We are close!!

Wow - today's ride was definitely one of the easiest on the trip in terms of terrain and mileage. The morning started with some delicious food at a Great Harvest Bread Company in Cedar City where I got an awesome cinnamon roll and "Trek Bar" (basically a loaded breakfast granola bar).

The first van stop today was around 30 miles into the ride and those miles flew by! Our little riding group of Mark, Ben, Leigh, and myself teamed up with most of the Carbondale Crew (Geordie, Alex, BG, and Seth) to ride a fast pace line averaging between 20-25 mph until everyone got worn out and slowed down. It was fun while it lasted (about 20-25 miles)! Another highlight of the ride today was catching a glimpse of the great route leader Bret Taylor training for his future triathlon. Not only does he ride every other day, but he throughly enjoys running in the desert ;).

(you stay sexy big guy!)

To highlight the ride today, we didn't even have to worry about stopping somewhere for lunch because the ride was over in Milford by lunch time! We got some delectable food at Penny's Diner next to the hotel where they also had some good milkshakes! The hotel...the manager of the Diner was also the manager of the hotel and decided to hook us up with $40 hotel rooms including free town pool passes and a free pass to breakfast at the Diner in the morning! Needless to say, all of the group is shacked up in the hotel, except this time we are almost all running 4 deep so that everyone can sleep on a bed!

(the Milford M on the water tower)

After resting up in the room and watching X-men Origins: Wolverine we rolled over to the local town park for another free dinner provided by the local Lion's Club - pizza and salad.

On a side note, I wanted to give a shout out to my mom who recently started her summer bike ride in PA and NJ of about 250 miles! Woot Woot! Check out some of the details here. She has been training for a long time this spring/summer and gotten through the trials and tribulations of clip-in pedals and minor wreaks on the New River Trail to go out and dominate the rails-to-trails ride!!

Day 49 - Panguitch, UT to Cedar City, UT - 65 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:24:00 +0000

Today we awoke to a long day of gradual climbing. Nothing like the Appalachian Mountains (straight up), but we had about 30-35 miles of constant uphill grade with very minor downhills in the mix. Needless to say, this made for a long morning! The scenery on the other hand was beautiful! It reminded me a lot of hiking up near Mount Rogers in Virginia for those of you familiar with the state.

After working through the mountain we earned a massive downhill that lasted for about 10-12 miles!! We arrived in Cedar City - home of Southern Utah University and named Festival City USA - just in time (both in time during the day and in time for our stomachs) for a sweet lunch where I had a green chili hamburger with fries and a 4-5" diameter cinnamon roll for dessert! I was also able to run to the local grocery store for some more energy bars, random food, and cash from the cash back feature at the register (crucial).

After setting up camp at the KOA and catching a quick shower, we were hooked up with a free spaghetti dinner by the local Lion's Club!! I definitely polished off two plates of food along with a popsicle for dessert - who knows what I will get into later tonight...

Sorry for the short entry, but I am beat and need to finish off a few other things this evening - hasta mañana.

Day 48 - Escalante, UT to Panguitch, UT - 70 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:02:00 +0000

If you haven't already, check me out on Twitter as @dynamobikes - just a fair warning I don't tweet that much, but I am trying to make an effort to shoot out a few more texts! Also, check out our newest video on YouTube!

This morning we awoke in a delicious chilly hotel room to find ourselves just in time to watch the Tour de France before heading out on the road for our own biking mission. It was pretty cool to wake up, shower, and eat breakfast while watching biking and then heading out to go biking! The first 20 miles of today ride were tricky as it felt like we were coming off of a rest day (only 3.5-4 hours of biking the day before followed by a long day in AC and watching TV) and everyone's legs were a bit slow. We did arrive at yet another beautiful canyon near the top of our first climb.

The next 21 miles of our trip were pretty incredible biking-wise as our four man peloton including myself, Mark Letenzi, Ben King, and Leigh Graziano knocked out the mileage with an average speed close to 20 mph! We were cruising and arrived at our "lunch" stop around 10:45 am to nail some more breakfast food and a sweet birthday pancake stack for Leigh (turns 19 today!).

The second half of our trip today took us through some of the most breathtaking canyons to date. On a side note, all of these canyons remind me of the book by Aron Ralston who had to cut off his own forearm in a Utah slot canyon to survive - quite a read! We passed by some random beauty but our ride was highlighted by Red Canyon (seen below) and Bryce Canyon (which I didn't go off route to see due to the extra bike mileage) which is apparently quick epic.

(Red Canyon near the end of our ride today)

Until next time fools! Thanks to Mason and Leanna for the sweet cookies this evening that arrived with our newest state rider Kristen Scheller. Kristen is a 2009 BUS4MS veteran and will be joining us a little early in 2010!

Day 47 - Oak Creek Campground, UT to Escalante, UT - 47 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:16:00 +0000

This morning everyone slept in because we had a short and majority downhill ride in front of us. It was pretty wonderful sleeping next to the babbling brook shown in yesterday's blog post - my tent was even setup close enough to the breakfast table where Don's Diner cranked out some blueberry pancakes and toast/egg sandwiches.

After climbing between 700-1000 ft this morning it was time to enjoy the fruits of our effort yesterday! This meant hitting a huge downhill with slopes up to 8% grade downhill. I happened to land the perfect location behind an RV traveling downhill and was able to draft for 1-2 miles and hit a maximum speed of 61 mph without even pedaling!!! This is far and away the fastest speed I have ever gone and is also the maximum speed on the 2010 BUS4MS trip! It was pretty crazy and definitely didn't feel like I was traveling 61 mph as my bike was cruising smooth and there was no cross wind or turns in the road.

Today's ride had some of the easiest 30 miles I have ever ridden (the first 30 miles) as the majority of it was downhill and/or fun rolling hills. We passed by the beautiful Grand Staircase National Monument and rode through some beautiful canyons before climbing one last massive hill and descending into Escalante, UT.

Don evaluated the local campground and determined that 4 hotel rooms were only about $40 more expensive than the appropriate number of campsites for our group, so we are once again about 6 deep in hotel rooms enjoying the AC and watching some Tour de France and James Bond on TV.

Day 46 - Hanksville, UT to Oak Creek Campground, UT - 66 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:30:00 +0000

First off, let me thank everyone for reading the blog - I have received your emails and comments and figured the best way to say your welcome is to keep on writing! The blog entries are definitely 1/2 for you and 1/2 for me as I hope to make a journal out of these entries!

We awoke after an awesome day/night of hoteling that included watching the Tour de France, drinking a few beers, and enjoying the cold atmosphere. Many of the riders headed out the door early to beat the heat and it definitely paid off. The first 40 miles of our trip were amazingly incredible. I think it was one of the best days of the trip in terms of scenery, temperature, and general riding. Below are some pictures with accompanying commentary on our ride:

The next three pictures are from the incredibly lush Capitol Reef National Park in the middle of the Utah desert. It was so amazing to go from a straight up sand desert where there was an extreme lack of vegetation to this weird plush river valley in the middle of nowhere.

(Check out the old petroglyph art on the wall of the canyon!! How cool - they also had some with big horned sheep)

After leaving the canyon we had to ascend up to another very different part of the Utah landscape - our campsite which was on top of a mountain at 9,500 ft elevation! The climb up to the site was mucho steep, but well worth it as this was probably the best campsite we have had all trip (minus the lack of cell phone service).

Day 45 - Lake Powell, UT to Hanksville, UT - 51 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:48:00 +0000

Man, I got one of the best nights of sleep in a while last night...I attribute it to the following - an extremely long day of really hot riding, a few poor nights of sleep in a row, and the perfect temperature (body temperature and outdoor temperature with no rain fly on the tent) after dipping in Lake Powell. Check out the picture from across the canyon this morning of our campground - close to the boat ramp:

Everyone awoke at a normal time this morning (no one peaced out mucho early) in high spirits after our death march through the desert yesterday due to the fact that we had a 50 mile ride in store.

The first 25 miles of our trip included a bunch of climbing and some fairly annoying headwinds. This definitely slowed down most of the group and made us very excited to only have one more 25 mile leg in store. At the first stop, I refilled on water and hit up one of my new creations: a cinnamon raisin bagel, both sides slathered with peanut butter, and some trail mix filling (almonds, peanuts, M&M's, cashews, raisins, etc.) loaded in between.

The days ride was definitely highlighted by some more beautiful views of canyons and red rock pillars/buttes. The two pictures below capture some of the canyons that we rode past. Make sure to find the sweet arch bridge in one of the pictures!

After arriving in Hanksville, the team went directly to Stan's Burger Shack where I was able to find a double cheeseburger, fries, and a delicious chocolate milkshake. We then rode downtown to check out the local campsite around 1-2 pm...it was a no go!

The temperature was getting close to hitting 105-108 degrees Fahrenheit and the nearby hotel sounded like a wonderful option! We are currently stacked 4-7 deep in hotel rooms for the night hitting up some TV and extremely crucial AC.

Day 44 - Blanding, UT to Lake Powell, UT - 86 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:22:00 +0000

Holy @#$%& it was hot today!!

Oh yeah, check out our new video on YouTube!

Again, it was @#$%& hot today! We got a lot of our mileage out of the way before noon, but thought about a pit stop at Natural Bridges National Monument. About 6-7 members of the group actually went through the entire park while many of the other riders turned around halfway through after realizing the bridge loop was an extra 9 miles on our already 78 mile day (Ben King and I rode an extra 8 miles before calling it quits on the monument). The scenery today was beautiful!! The picture below demonstrates my riding/photography along with some of the more desert-ish parts of early Utah before we hit the red-rock desert.

(part of our transition to the red rock desert)

Post noon-time the temperature really escalated quickly (along the lines of Ron Burgundy fast). The sag wagon hook-up was a little bit tricky today as there were no conveniences for our entire 76 mile ride. This meant that each and every rider had to hit up the van/trailer for water and food. Typically some of this is offset by the fact that people can stop at gas stations or restaurants to eat/refill on water.

(part of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area)

The last 30 miles of the trip today were incredibly hot - it was much like riding in an oven because there was little wind and the heat was surrounding us. The air temperature was somewhere close to 100 degrees if not more! We definitely invaded this small air conditioned store about 0.5 miles from the campground and raided the Gatorade, chocolate milk, and hot pockets!

Day 43 - Dolores, CO to Blanding, UT - 78 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:12:00 +0000

First off, scroll down a little more to check out some more pictures from yesterday's ride!

Schwing! We have made it to state number 7 out of 9 when entering Utah today! We camped out at a really sweet reservoir campsite last night and got to enjoy one of our first desert sunsets (and sunrises). A lot of the group decided to get up early this morning and hit the road to beat some 100 degree weather and afternoon headwinds that would slow us down. The first gang headed out the door around 6 am while I hit the road around 7 am. This was after downing some delicious pancakes with bananas and blueberry syrup from Don's Diner.

The morning ride was a lot of fun as we hit some rolling hills (max speed of 41 mph) and were able to knock out 30 miles by 10 am while averaging just over 17 mph. Post chocolate milk and 6-7 mini lemon poppyseed muffins I hit the road again to nail my second flat tube of the trip!! :( This was a bummer as it put me behind the group I was riding with, but all is good as the scenery was beautiful and the town we stopped in had a delicious milkshake restaurant and a sweet sandwich/juice shop called the Peace Tree Juice Cafe.

The last 20 miles of our trip were fairly windy, but we were again blessed with some pretty views and a sweet downhill into the valley where Blanding is located. One interesting tidbit about most of the pictures you are checking out on my blog - a lot of the scenery pics are taken while actually riding my bike! They are pretty sweet quality and not blurry to be taken while pedaling along...

Watch out for a new BUS4MS 2010 video on YouTube as Don hopes to have it done today or most likely tomorrow. I will definitely post a link to it once it is available!

Day 42 - Telluride, CO to Delores, CO - 70 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:47:00 +0000

This will most likely be a pretty short blog entry due to some super slow internet in the middle of nowhere CO. After a delightful rest day in Telluride, we had to hit the road again. To get back on route, the team took the free Gondola I mentioned yesterday up and over the mountain to avoid 800-1000 ft of climbing.

The beginning of our day was highlighted with a climb to the second highest biking elevation on the trip - Lizard Head Pass which is around 10,200 ft. This was a much easier task than the last climb to 11,000 ft as we were already most of the way there and it was first thing in the morning rather than in the afternoon. Following the climb, we had earned another fairly sweet decent and from that point on today we were biking downhill for the next 50 ish miles.

The highlight of the day today was our delicious lunch at the Argentine Grille in Rico, CO. Rico is a very small town, but they had a wicked delicious lunch menu that was only around $8 for the pasta special that I consumed. After that, most of the team cruised through a scenic ride that took us to the brink of the desert (as we enter Utah tomorrow).

Day 41 - Telluride Rest Day - 0 mi

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:45:00 +0000

Phew!! The day many of us have been waiting for - a free day in an amazing Colorado mountain town!! Not to mention some of the better mountain biking in the country!

For weeks (well at least days) those of us that are big into mountain biking had been planning to rent some sweet full suspension mountain bikes and tear up the trails in Telluride. This turned out to be a specifically enticing plan because there is a free Gondola(s) in Telluride that runs people (tourists, bikers, hikers, etc.) up the mountain for free. This means that you get a ride to the top of the mountain and get to mountain bike down the trails without exerting the uphill climbing energy!! Wow, what a deal...

Many on the team rented bikes and hit up the trails throughout the day. I definitely spent a good portion of my day up on the trails only to come down for lunch and 30 minutes of the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands (yeah thats right, only 30 minutes = how sweet the trails/biking was/are).

(some of us at the top of the mountain!)

After a long day, it is definitely time to head out and try to find a second dinner or a milkshake.