Cycling Across the Country

Washington, Oregon, and Northern California

2011-09-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

What an awesome two and a half weeks! After arriving in Seattle, I spent a week exploring the town. I did the obligatory touristy stuff like seeing Pike's Place Market

and the Seattle Library

and the Fremont Troll

and the Ballard Lock fish ladder. Look at those salmon go.

I went stand up paddle boarding amongst house boats

and saw orcas.

My friends taught me about kite boarding (don't worry grandma, I didn't try it).

Then, I rented a car to begin a road trip. It started by riding a ferry.

In the Hoh Rainforest, I sat on a giant fallen spruce tree

and saw an elk.

In Portland, I went to the International Rose Test Garden, which was in full bloom,

and happen to see the Google Street View Tricycle.

On the coast of Oregon, we saw the most beautiful beach at Cape Mearnes,

and sand dunes near Umqua.

Crossing into California, I walked amongst giant redwood trees

and attempted to hug them.

I saw fish of all sorts and giant kelp at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I even got to touch a wild sea otter.

I went to a Stanford football game with a dear friend

and finished by biking across the Golden Gate Bridge before flying home.

I'm now enjoying a bit a rest in Wisconsin with my parents.

Seattle! I made it!

2011-08-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

I've officially made it to Seattle. I biked nearly 4,000 miles, ditched my bicycle, and ran into the chilly seaweed filled Puget Sound. It was a blast of a celebration.

This summer was amazing. I had very high moments while riding - like first spotting the Grand Tetons, the rolling hills going into Mt. Vernon, IA, descending Washington Pass and more. I had great moments off the bike as well - meeting a whole group of people that I'll likely be friends with for a lifetime, eating tons of great food, meeting locals across the country, an epic Bike & Build prom, one of the funnest weddings I've ever attended, etc. I've learned that I have the will power to push myself up mountains and that many of the challenges I face are just mental and with the right mindset I can conquer them.

I plan to travel for the next 2 weeks and will make a weekly blog post to keep you all up to date. Thanks for following along on my journey. Hug.

Washington + Disney

2011-08-25T13:16:00.001-07:00

Who knew there is a desert in eastern Washington? I thought it was all rainy and green, but I was completely wrong. We had a day of rolling barley fields, then desert. The green parts are only on the other side of the Cascades. I had no idea.

To get through the last couple of days, I've been singing - out loud, at the top of my lungs - various Disney songs. Its amazing how free one feels about making noise when out in the middle of nowhere. My top two songs (or the ones I could remember the most words from) were Mulan's "I'll Make a Man Out of You" and Beauty and the Beast's "Belle (Bonjour)". These were two of my favorite growing up and here they helped me climb Washington Pass.

Super leisurely day as sweep

2011-08-19T23:18:00.001-07:00

Who knew there was a swamp in Idaho? The first half of today was along a Rails to Trails bike path and through a very beautiful swamp. We saw lots of giant birds: herons, ospreys, eagles, and more. The second half followed ID-97 (I think, but should look this up again). It was a scenic highway that followed the perimeter of the Coeur d'Alene Lake. I rode with Alex again as sweep and what a difference the day was compared to last time we swept. We took our time, were never rushed, enjoyed the scenery, had great conversation, chatted with a crazy tourist named Teresa at a gas station that wants us to write a book, and generally had an excellent day. The picture is on a bridge that separated the bike path part of the day from the road part of the day.

As I mentioned before with my bike having to have parts replaced, the trend continues. My rear derailer stopped allowing me shift gears properly right before lunch. I couldn't get to the gears that make it harder to pedal - go faster downhill. Nick helped me diagnose the problem at lunch and helped me figure out how to make it through the rest of the day. First, the cable going to my derailer was fraying and needed to be replaced. Second, to shift one or two extra gears, I could reach down and literally pull the cable along the frame while riding. This method got me through the rest of the ride and to a bike shop. The cable was really messed up. It looked like a birds nest and took the guy 20 minutes just to remove all the loose wires from the shifter. But it is all fixed and should get me to Seattle. I'm lucky it broke on the way to a town with a local bike shop.

Road Closed (or maybe not)

2011-08-19T20:14:00.001-07:00

In route between Plains, MT and Pinehurst, ID we biked on the Interstate. This is very rarely done on the trip, but it was the only road between the two towns. Fortunately, the interstate was under construction and all the traffic was being diverted to two lanes on the left, leaving the two lanes on the right open to us. It was like having our own person road. We were even separated from the cars with a barrier.

Personally, this day was very difficult for me. I had mood swings like I've never had before. I started the day really really cold. We had camped the night before and my sleeping bag had not kept me warm enough. It took me till mile 15 to warm up and I was super grumpy before then. The rest of the way to first lunch, I rode with sweep and had a great story telling session where I told them the entire plot to Seven Sons and Seven Daughters by Susan Cohen (my favorite book when I was little). Before we knew it, we had climbed an entire mountain and hadn't even noticed. Then, I climbed Lookout Pass alone and was really sad by the time I got the top and wanted to cry all the down. I had looked forward to cruising down the pass at 20+ mph, but then we got rerouted to a very scary mountain biking trail where I had to go 8 mph or less to stay in control. :( After second lunch, we were on a bike trail all the way to Pinehurst and this turned my entire mood around again and I was really happy. The day was like a roller coaster emot
ionally.

By the way, I'm fine now, loving life, and the trip.

In route to Plains, MT

2011-08-19T20:01:00.001-07:00

What a beautiful day! Check out this scene. I've seen years of pictures of the scenery around Missoula, MT from my Nici's blog, but it is even better in real life.

This day was beautiful newly paved road paralleling the highway in the morning, followed by nice smooth gravel road that gradually got rougher and rougher as the day progressed. Along the smooth part of the gravel road, I had a very nice meeting with a local involving her mailbox. You see, I've been trying to write postcards as I'm on the road. I get them written and stamped, but then often have the worst time finding a post office, blue drop box, or a willing local to let me drop the postcards in their box. This morning, I was desperate and carried my postcards with me in my backpack because I was going to mail them. Period. Of course, we didn't pass a post office, but then as I was biking along, this kind woman was dropping mail off in her mailbox and let me put my postcards in her mailbox as well. She seemed genuinely excited to talk for a bit, and I was certainly excited to finally find a place to drop the cards off.

About 10 miles from the end of the ride and the top of the mountain we had been climbing all day, we had to be shuttled in the van. The road was all down hill, but super steep and really rough. I think shuttling was the best and safest choice. Ironically, I had not previously had internet service on my phone in the entire state of MT, but the service was perfect at the top of this gravel mountain in the middle of nowhere. At the bottom, my service was once again gone. Too bad we didn't camp up there.

A New Friend, New Wheel, and New Tires

2011-08-19T19:47:00.001-07:00

Check out my new hoodie! Although this is not the best picture, it is absolutely amazing and beautiful. Each state was individually cut out and sewn on by my favorite blogger, Nici. (digthischickmt.com) She is from Missoula, MT and I emailed her a few weeks ago to see if she would be willing to make me a shirt in honor of my trip across the country. She enthusiastically said yes and said I could pick it up when I got to Missoula. Yay! I got to meet her and her family. I shared a delicious homemade popsicle with her daughter, Margot, joined in on the family walk, and got to just chill and visit. It was great to meet such an amazing person that I admire and it was great to spend a little bit of time away from the world of Bike & Build.

On this same day (the build day), I also got a new front wheel. Two days previously, on the way to Helena (the day I had to get in the van), we lost my front wheel. Literally. It was left on the side of the road when we went to pick up another rider that had crashed. In order to get all 5 bicycles and 5 people in the van, the bikes had to be shuffled. My front wheel was taken out and forgotten. Luckily, we were able to replace it today and I got another great souvenir from Missoula.

Last, I finally changed my tires. I had over 3,000 miles on the last set. Since my front tire was lost and I was going to replace it anyway, I went ahead and replaced the back tire as well. I had planned to replace them both at 2,000 miles and impressed I made it so far. I might have to replace the bar tape as well, because it is starting to fall off. I bought some just in case but I'm going to try to make it with my current tape as long as possible. After not replacing anything on my bike the whole trip, it seems like I'm giving it a whole new makeover.

PS. Sorry for the delay in posting, I haven't had internet access for about a week. Thanks for still following along.

Missoula, MT: Build Day

2011-08-14T23:04:00.001-07:00

Our second to last build day was in Missoula, MT. There were two houses side by side at different stages of construction. I started the morning helping the site coordinators make sure everyone filled out their paperwork then I helped seal around the windows installed by the window installation team. See the nice blue tape around the windows in the picture? Other teams put in dry wall, floor pieces, and finished the siding under the eaves of the roof. It was a pretty productive day.

Weekly 'Family' Meeting

2011-08-13T10:26:00.001-07:00

Once a week, we have what most trips call a Town Hall Meeting, but our trip calls it a Family Meeting. We sit in a giant circle and each person says their highest and lowest moments from the last week. The leaders go over any issues that need to be discussed to keep the trip running smoothly and we give shout outs to people that have done a great job the last week and should be recognized/thanked. This week was special because we were camping and got to have our meeting around a campfire. It couldn't have been more perfect.

My highs for the previous week included the day going into W. Yellowstone when I rode with Renee and Robin all the time having great conversation and at lunch we stopped at a picturesque lake and I went swimming for the first time of the trip mid ride. The second high was the day riding into Bozeman, MT. It was mostly downhill and followed a beautiful river filled with white water rafters and fisherman. I loved watching. My low happened when I got so excited about the special treat of bagels AND cream cheese for breakfast one morning. I carefully prepared what I thought was my cinnamon raisin bagel only to discover with the first bite that it was a jalapeno bagel. What a let down. Fortunately someone else wanted it and there were enough left over that I was able to make another.

120+ miles to Helena from Bozeman

2011-08-11T16:41:00.001-07:00

The plan was to go 103 miles. After the first quite lovely 40 miles to first lunch, I was feeling great. We had real cold cuts at lunch with cheese and lettuce. I was even the first person to leave lunch and got to chalk the next two turns for the rest of the group. Then, we hit some pretty intense gravel roads. At one point the road got so rough with large rocks that it was no longer safe to continue, the van told us to turn around. On that crazy road, I saw the scene in the picture. It was so pretty that I couldn't help but stop and take a picture. Later, once back on the busier two lane highway, we hit some construction that was impassable. This resulted in detour number two to another gravel road. We finally made it to second lunch after getting rained on when there were no clouds. I was completely exhausted at that point. So much gravel. It takes so much out of you. I was already 80 miles into the ride and some were already 90 miles into the ride with 30 more to go. I couldn't continue between being so tired and the traffic on the road was quite scary. It turns out that some people rode 120+ miles. I'm glad about my decision to stop after the first 80.

Another Yellowstone Pic

2011-08-11T14:01:00.001-07:00

Bison! In the road, next to the road, chasing motorcycles and more. They were pretty fun.

Ol' Faithful

2011-08-11T06:36:00.001-07:00

For our final day off of the trip, we spent the day in Yellowstone National Park. We rented two extra mini vans, drove our 15 passenger van, and had visitors of boyfriends and parents also help drive. All vehicles essentially did the same counter clockwise loop around the park. I was in one of the minivans with honorary van Mom Eliza driving (she is one of the riders). We saw the Paint Pot, the Grand Prismatic Spring (my favorite site), Old Faithful, ??? Thumb, lots of Bison next to the road and in the road, and napped for long periods of time while lulled to sleep by the motion of the car. Considering we were all really exhausted, we saw and did a lot. Next time I go to Yellowstone, I'll take a bit more time to see more sites thoroughly, but this day was a great first taste. (The picture is of Old Faithful soon after it stopped shooting.)

Mesa Falls, Montana, Continental Divide

2011-08-05T21:03:00.001-07:00

Ashton, ID to West Yellowstone, MT. I was told by fellow riders that today reminded them of Lake Tahoe. The entire day was filled with trees and hills. Oh how I missed riding through woods. We saw two waterfalls early in the day. We crossed the border into MT and officially crossed the continental divide! At lunch, we stopped at a reservoir and I went swimming. I just jumped in the water, bike clothes and all. I was the last person on the trip to have not gone swimming mid-day. It was very refreshing and being a short day, I was able to lay out and dry off most of the way before getting back on the bike. I also got to ride with Robin and Renee for the whole day - we had great conversation.

Lander, WY to Dubois, WY

2011-08-05T21:02:00.001-07:00

What an amazing, beautiful, and super difficult day. On August 1st, we biked from Lander, WY to Dubois, WY. Most of the day was gentle climbing while following the base of a pretty tall mountain range. It was so nice, especially after days in eastern wyoming where there isn't much to look at. A few miles into the ride, Kevin and stopped to take a picture of the lake pictured above. Later in the day, we hit some very cold rain that stung at every place it hit you, the hardest headwind I've ever felt along with gusty crosswinds around turns. It was definitely one of my hardest points of the trip, but I made it through. Thank goodness it was only an hour or so long. Kevin was a big part of helping me make it through the weather, by distracting me with "I don't know what people say, we're gonna to make it anyway" responsive chants and yelling. Go team!

Sacajawea's Grave

2011-08-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

Along the route between Lander and Dubois, many of us took a five mile detour to see Sacajawea's grave. It was so pretty at the base of the mountains and it was also interesting seeing all of the other Native American graves in the cemetery. The graves were decorated with little trinkets and flowers. The weeds were growing rampant and it seemed like it was more like a field with graves it in than an actual cemetery. The graves were mounds of clay with a headstone.

Conquered the Tetons

2011-08-05T16:48:00.003-07:00

Those amazing snow topped mountains, the Tetons, separate Wyoming from Idaho. The only way to get to the other side was the Teton Pass. 5 miles of 10% grade climbing results in conquering the Teton Pass. We all made it. The picture above is the view from the highest point in the pass looking back into Wyoming. Early on in the morning, we biked through the same herd of bison again. Then we went through the cute tourist town of Jackson (where several people stopped for a second breakfast) then up the pass. I climbed most of it on my own. At one point I needed a break and walked for a while, but I still consider it a success. On the other side, we crossed into beautiful Idaho filled with barley and potato fields. It looked much like one of the standard Microsoft Windows backgrounds. Picture perfect.

9632ft above sea level

2011-08-05T16:48:00.001-07:00

What a day! Might be my absolute favorite one of the entire trip. Dubois, WY to Jackson, WY. We started with a gentle 25 mile climb up to our highest elevation of the trip. We were welcomed and cheered in by our fellow riders. So fun. Then, we went around the corner to this lake (in the picture). There was snow on one side and fisherman on the other. It was a remarkable location. Just to step it up a notch, our next sighting was the Grand Tetons. When we rounded a corner, they were just there. Unbelievable! We proceeded to bike the Grand Teton National Park where were had to stop to let a herd of buffalo cross the street in front of us. We ended the day by camping for the first time of the trip. There were no showers, so several of us rinsed in the river. While we were rinsing, a moose came around the corner and was only 30 ft away. Craziness but one of the best most beautiful awe inspiring days of my life.

Birthday

2011-08-03T17:35:00.001-07:00

July 31st was my birthday and what a fantastic day. Only 50 miles of biking. Our first day out of the desolation that is eastern Wyoming. We finally saw green grass, birds, and life again. About 40 miles from Lander (our host city for the night), we saw real live mountains in the distance and they even had snow on the top. At lunch, the group surprised me by setting up a tent and decorating it with birthday party supplies that my parents sent. Lunch was also at a playground so I got to play on all the slides and swings, which I love. Lander is a lovely small town. Downtown was awesome and reviled our previous favorite small town of Wellsboro, PA. Two outdoor stores, cute coffee shops, and book stores. I love it. Also, very bike friendly. The town was at the base of the mountains we had been looking at all day. That night we stayed at people's houses and our host made us banana splits and I got to sleep in a 6 year old girls Disney princess room. I loved it. What a great day!

A Bike & Build Wedding

2011-07-31T09:08:00.001-07:00

Two days ago was amazing. We pulled off an entire wedding for the engaged couple on the trip. Their wedding date is July 28, 2012, but we decided to have pre-wedding one year early. We had a flower girl, ring bearer, maid of honor, best man, father of the bride, mother of the groom, a wedding planner, a wedding photographer, an actual ordained minister, and lots of guests. Everyone dressed up; guys with bike shorts and a button down shirt and girls with a skirt and a cycling jersey. There were wedding favors, real wedding cake leftover from one of the church ladies daughters wedding last week, a reception including the first dance, mother son dance, father daughter dance, toasts from key people and much more. Nothing was missed and we only spent $30 on everything. The wedding dress was from a thrift store for $3 and the groom's tux was loaned to us for the night from the same thrift store. It was the wedding of the year. The picture above is during the ceremony.

I also had a friend visit who happened to be traveling in the area and he got to see the fabulous wedding as well.

A Real Wyoming Ranch

2011-07-28T05:14:00.001-07:00

The above picture is of the typical scenery on the road in east Wyoming - wide open spaces surrounding the road with a bit of shoulder and rumble strip (super rumbley on a bicycle).

Today was a shorter ride from Lusk, WY to Douglas, WY of only 57 miles. This meant I was able to get to town early and had time to stop and enjoy the town. This included a stop for ice cream. So delicious and quite the treat nowadays. For dinner tonight, a local invited us all out to her ranch for hamburgers. We got to ride horses, shoot various guns, and wade in a creek. Today was also the first day we've seen real pointy mountains in the distance.

Wildflowers

2011-07-26T20:25:00.001-07:00

There are so many wildflowers across the entire country in the summer it is beautiful. Today, I collected a bunch of these daisy looking flowers at the Wyoming border and carried my bouquet for the rest of the ride. In Pennsylvania, Kevin rode with me one day and stopped just about ever mile to collect a varied array of flowers for the injured girls riding in the van. It was really sweet. He was so fast that I never took any breaks and he would ride in front, stop for flowers, I'd pass, then he'd pass me again to just stop and pick more flowers. Lily, another girl on the trip, consistently has herbs, flowers, or other plants decorating her backpack. Nature is so beautiful.

Unusual sites

2011-07-26T19:59:00.001-07:00

Crossing the country, one sees lots of different things. Today, I passed a house in Nebraska (almost in Wyoming) that was painted from top to bottom like a giant US flag. How patriotic! The house in the above picture was in Chadron, NE and was half greenhouse and half house. We passed through a random city in Iowa named Ida Grove that was full of castles and had a man-made lake with a Pizza Hut on stilts in the middle.

Day Off - Biggest Breakfast Ever

2011-07-26T19:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was our second day off this summer. The previous night I talked to locals to find a recommendation for a great breakfast - Helen's - only a few blocks away. Robin, Danielle and I set a morning date. We went to the restaurant and each essentially ordered three meals totaling nine meals. Danielle, in the picture, is displaying the potato scrambler. I had a giant omelet that came with toast, an order of pancakes, and a huge side of hashbrowns. This would've been three normal meals before the trip. Robin and Danielle ordered similar amounts. The waitress thought we were nuts and kept pointing out that certain items were quite large and we might not want more. I wish I'd taken a picture of the table covered in 9+ plates, but forgot until we only had one plate left. We completely cleared all the plates and were still not overstuffed. Biking so much definitely has its plus sides. If you're ever in Chadron, NE and want a place for breakfast, I suggest Helen's Steakhouse and Pancakes.

2000 Miles Down, 2000 Miles To Go

2011-07-25T06:39:00.001-07:00

As Bon Jovi sings "We're halfway there! - Livin' on a prayer"

Water Bottles

2011-07-24T21:47:00.001-07:00

Wow. The group seems much larger when we put most of our water bottles in the same place.