Revere Beach - 48 days from LA to Boston!

Our ceremonial dip in the Atlantic!

Chris, Janie and Jan - The 3 women on XC2010 Team for the long haul!

Our XC2010 Team at Revere Beach

Tour Map/Route downloaded from a Garmin

Wow! How can one describe the feelings and emotions of ending a trip like this? We just can't. It seems like a dream that we rode the whole way across the US. But then we can see the tan lines on our legs and we, of course, still have those sore muscles, so we must believe that we actually did this.

We are thankful for a safe journey and good weather. We've been told that we were extremely lucky to have had cooler temperatures in the desert and a minimal amount of rain. We were fortunate to have such wonderful staff and support. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning to know the other riders and hope to continue our friendships in some way.

We had a short ride to Revere Beach this morning -- only about 20 miles. The skies were beautiful and the temperatures were good for our short ride. The last 5 miles we were escorted by CrossRoads staff and we could roll through stop signs. We did our tire dip in the Atlantic, remembering back to May 9 (Mother's Day) when we began this journey. Our son, Steve and daughter-in-law, Krista are planning to join us this evening for the banquet.

I think that it will be easy to forget those very hard days of centuries back to back and the riding on the Interstates. But the scenery through each state was beautiful and helped us to forget those hard days. Each state had something different to offer. We enjoyed the west with the awesome scenery through areas like Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon and New Mexico. Kansas had lots of straight, flat roads with miles of wheat fields. Then the corn fields appeared in the mid-west. NY was a great ride and we climbed up the mountains in the New England states.

Our trip was memorable. How will this trip impact our lives? We certainly have had lots of time for reflection each and every day on our bike. Perhaps in a week or so, we'll add some reflections to our blog.

Again, thanks for your support and encouragement! We enjoyed your notes and look forward to seeing our friends and family when we return home tomorrow. Thanks also for our followers that we did not know personally. Your encouragement and comments were very much appreciated.

Crossing New Hampshire into Massachusetts

Janie's family saw us off as we left the hotel this morning at 6:45 a.m. It was mostly sunny today during our ride. The first 35 miles of the 92 mile ride had lots of climbing. After that the terrain was rolling but not as difficult. When there were berms, they tended to be narrow and the traffic seemed determined not to be slowed down by a few cyclists.

At this stage of the tour, we have become even more safety conscious. We'd like to avoid any mishaps that would keep us from finishing.

We entered New Hampshire just several miles from our hotel in Brattleboro. After riding approximately 40 miles in New Hampshire we crossed into Massachusetts, our final state. We saw lots of stone fences and white church buildings.

Since this was a longer ride with lots of hills, it seemed like a major hurdle that had to be overcome before the short day

tomorrow. It was a hard 6.5 hour ride.

The thunderstorms held off until all of us finished. There is a big storm approaching now at 5:00 p.m. We have been very fortunate to have remarkably good weather for a seven week trip across the country.

Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 7:00 a.m. for the 15 mile ride to Revere Beach, just north of Boston. This evening each of the riders reflected on their experience and the relationships that have developed. We will miss our CrossRoads family.

Crossing Vermont

The skies were overcast this morning when we began our ride and the temperatures were cool. When we finished our ride around 2:00, it was quite warm.

We had 6100 feet of elevation gain including several long climbs. One was a 7 mile climb just east of Bennington and the other was over Hogback Mountain. The benefit of the climbs was a very nice downhill ride into Brattleboro.

We entered Vermont about 30 miles into the 80 mile ride. The scenery included old New England homes and scenic views of mountains, valleys and rivers. We rode all the way across the southern part of Vermont to within several miles of New Hampshire.

Janie's two sisters and brother and their spouses met us again in Brattleboro after our ride. We enjoyed a barbecue dinner with them on the deck of the restaurant which overlooked the Vermont countryside. They are headed back to Lancaster County tomorrow.

Our last big day of riding is tomorrow before finishing with a short ride on Friday morning. Tomorrow we have ninety plus miles with very warm temps and thundershowers likely. Of course, we'd like to skirt those storms again tomorrow.

Surprise in Albany

We had a beautiful ride through the Mohawk Valley today. The day was partly sunny and relatively cool for the 72 mile ride. There was a headwind which slowed us down a bit. This area was is beautiful and the first time we traveled through this area.

When we arrived in Albany we were very surprised by some of Janie's family who came to see us. Bud and Carol, Vernon and Barb and Wilmer and Gladys drove to New York to spend the evening with us. They will also be with us tomorrow evening in Brattleboro, Vermont. It is very nice to have their company and interest in our trip.

We still have two big climbing days coming up. We are still very focused on taking this one day at a time. Some persons are dealing with pressure sores and are trying to stay ahead of them. Our friend who had the fall yesterday cracked three ribs. He finished the ride yesterday in pain. His determination is amazing.

Little Falls, NY

In Syracuse last evening we walked back to our motel after dinner and saw the Turkey Hill cow in the parking lot of our motel. A few days ago, we had seen a Turkey Hill billboard as well.

Each rider has all of their belongings in two duffel bags. In the picture all of our duffel bags are waiting to be loaded onto the truck.

Today we were gifted with another very nice day for riding. In the morning, the sky was overcast but got sunny as the day went by. We got to our room around 1:00 after riding 79 miles. We did not have much climbing today.

In Oneida, New York, we came across what is described as the smallest church building in the world. It seats two persons and is in the middle of an algae covered lake. The last 12-15 miles we biked along the Mohawk River and has a slight downhill grade.

We are staying in Little Falls, NY. Little Falls is nestled in the deep gorge of the Mohawk Valley with beautiful views in all directions. After some refreshment, we spent some time walking the streets. There is a lock which is still being used on the Erie Canal. They have some very beautiful old buildings with very nice architecture. The earliest settlers in this area were involved in river trade. In the late 1800's, Little Falls was the "cheese capital" with many cheese factories in the valley. At one point, Little Falls had a population of over 20,000. Now there are less than 6,000 people living here.

Today one of our group hit the back wheel of another bicycle and had a hard fall. He was checked out at the hospital and appeared okay. While he was being checked out, he arranged by cell phone to have a new helmet delivered to him and also to have his bike repaired by a bike shop. He truly wants to ride every bit of the route. He was taken back to the site of his mishap and is now riding into the motel. We are wondering how he will feel in the morning! We certainly try to be cautious at all times, but this was another reminder to be careful. I think this was the fifth helmet that was broken on this trip.

Father's Day in the Finger Lakes Region

Father's Day here in the Finger Lake region was partly sunny. It was a beautiful day for a 70 mile bike ride. We rode through Geneva which sits on the shore of Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. We recalled riding in this area with our friends from the North Hall Bike Club from Akron several years ago.

Just outside of Syracuse, we stopped at the Erie Canal Park. Of course, Janie had to think (and sing) the song from grade school:

I've got a mule, and her name is Sal,

Fif-teen years on the Er-ie canal,

She's a good ol' worker and a good ol' pal;

Fif-teen years on the Er-ie canal...

Low Bridge, ev'ry bod-y down...

We left Los Angeles six weeks ago this morning. It is hard to fathom that we have ridden all of the way to Syracuse since then. We still have several days of riding and need to focus on that before we think too much of home and whatever we may find there! Thanks to some good neighbors, we think our place will be in good shape.

3,000 Miles

The weather was sunny and humid when we left Hamburg, New York this morning. The route to Canandaigua was rolling with some long hills. The elevation gain today was 5,100 feet and the distance was 95.7 miles. So, it was a hard ride and by the end of our ride it was hot.

We passed the 3,000 mile mark today. We have now been biking for six weeks. There are just five riding days remain before the last 15 mile ride to the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, one of which will be a long ride with climbing. It's interesting to hear some of our riders reflections on this journey and how it will change their lives.

We knew there was a chance of storms in the afternoon but did not realize they were so close. Within 30 minutes of our arrival at the hotel a strong thunderstorm went through. Although it did not last long, the rain came down very hard for 10 minutes or so.

We are in Canandaigua which is in the Finger Lakes region. There is a Wegman's grocery store across the street from our motel. Tonight, for dinner we are going there to choose our own food from the Food Market.

New York - The Empire State

Our riding day began with a police motorcycle escort out of Erie. It was nice to be able to go through red lights without stopping.

It was a beautiful day for biking with blue skies and minimal winds. We had a very nice, wide berm with little traffic most of the way. The scenery was mostly vineyards and nice views of Lake Erie.

We entered New York State about 20 miles into our 81 mile ride. We stopped at an old lighthouse on our way to Hamburg, New York.

We arrived at the hotel around 1:00 p.m. Average speed was 16.6. Tomorrow is a big climbing day to Canandaigua, New York. We'll be riding in NY for 4 more days.

Today was another of those days that one dreams about when anticipating a ride across the country. Ninety one miles with slightly favorable crosswinds or a tailwind all of the way! The roads were relatively flat and in good condition. We averaged 16.7 mph.

After yesterday's harder ride, today's ride was welcomed. The temps were in the 70's and the skies were sunny after being overcast for much of the morning.

At one point we were about 1000 feet behind a big tractor and planter going down a lightly traveled country road. I saw a flash of light but didn't realize until we got up to some lines on the road that the planter had caught some electric lines. We stopped as we crossed a cable and backed up real fast before we got to the live wires. We walked our bike behind some trailers to stay away from the downed lines.

One of the highlights was a stop at the White Turkey Drive-In on route 20 just east of the Pennsylvania line. We had root beer floats which were a real treat!!

As you can see Janie was especially glad to get back into Pennsylvania. We are looking forward to a rest day here in Erie before the last seven days of biking to Boston.

Today was more difficult. After 109 and 99 miles the previous two days, today's ride of 95 miles seemed to take more effort than either of the longer rides. A headwind much of the day as well as some climbing during the first third of the ride made it seem as though we were working extra hard. Our riding time was just over 7 hours.

Again today, it was raining when we woke up but stopped before we got on the bike. The roads were wet and it was overcast, almost chilly for much of the morning. The road conditions varied from some fairly nice berms to some very, very rough sections.

We had one flat from a piece of glass. That makes a total of six flats on the road and five overnight in the hotel room. We will put on a new front tire on our day off in Erie.

We are in Niles, Ohio this evening. The picture at the beginning is typical as we finish many of our days with the exception that Janie is very much involved in cleaning the bike as well. We are doing a much better job of keeping the bike cleaned and oiled.

We are tired and hope that we will be able to recover for another long day of riding tomorrow. We are very much anticipating a day off in Erie on Thursday.

Climbing to Wooster

Okay, we've heard some comments that our trip seems easy from what we say in our blog. Now, we certainly don't want to leave that impression, at least not me, Janie.

We did a total of 99.3 miles today. That's almost 2 centuries back to back. And yes, we worked! It takes strong legs, a lot of goo and energy bars to make it up all those miles!! The first 75 miles or so we didn't have a lot of climbing. Then we reached Wayne County and we had some serious hills with the steepest grades reportedly registering at 15%. We actually "topped off" a couple of the hills by walking. (Our term for that is "butt-breaks on the move".) We decided to save our legs occasionally rather than pedal every steep grade that comes along.

The scenery was small towns, farms and crops. It rained during the night and early morning in Marysville so we started our day with wet roads again. The staff do a nice job of encouraging the riders along the way.

We did not have rain during our ride, but the bike was really grimy again so we needed to wash it before bringing it in our room. We are at a Best Western in Wooster this evening. Our room is on the 2nd floor and the elevator was not working. So, Zach, one of our staff, volunteered to help carry the tandem up to our room. I was happy about that!

We have two more days before our rest day in Erie, PA. Tomorrow's terrain will be more rolling with slightly fewer miles. We had a half gallon of chocolate milk for our recovery food. After dinner with the biking group, we met Merlin and Loretta Erb who took us for some great ice cream. We enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with them (Merlin was LaVern's college roommate). Now we need to rest up for another big biking day tomorrow!

Ohio - The Buckeye State

Today was a great ride even though we rode 108 miles. Technically, it's the last century on our schedule to Boston. But tomorrow's ride is 98 miles so there really isn't much difference.

The sky was overcast and the roads were still damp from an overnight rain. No showers today. The clouds kept the temperatures down a bit. The terrain was quite flat except for a few nice rollers around West Liberty.

We reached the Ohio line several miles from Richmond, Indiana. We saw very nice soybean and corn fields as we rode country roads to Central Ohio. We saw an octagonal barn and a round barn. It's obvious that there has been plenty of rain. There are areas of fields that are under water.

Art and Mary Newcomer met us at the second sag which was about 15 miles from their home. We worked with them in Colorado 40 years ago and it has been great to keep in touch over the years. They brought some homemade cookies and some very special buckeye candy to share with the riders. (The buckeye tree is Ohio's state tree. Buckeyes are the nuts on the trees and buckeye candy is made to look like the nuts.)

We very much enjoyed today's ride. The scenery was great, and it was especially interesting because we were riding close to Plain City where LaVern grew up. We are staying in Marysville, Ohio. LaVern's mother and sister Luann visited us this evening. LaVern's family spent the weekend together at the cabin in Belleville. Of course, we needed to miss the reunion but it was great to them this evening.

A Rainy Morning for the Ride to Richmond

When we left Indy this morning, it was raining. We had showers (no thunder) for the first hour or so, but then it stopped and the roads were wet for most of our ride to Richmond, IN. For those bikers out there, you know how the dirt from the road ends up on one's back. This is one time, the captain stays a bit cleaner than the stoker!

We were quite focused on biking with the wet weather. It took us 12 - 15 miles to get out of Indianapolis. Traffic wasn't too bad on a Saturday morning.

We saw our first Amish buggy near Hagerstown, IN. Of course, that is a common site for us being from Lancaster County. It really felt like we were getting close to home.

We rode about 85 miles and had an elevation gain of 2,974 feet. Tomorrow we ride into Ohio. We will be riding close to where LaVern grew up and hope to see some of his family.

Again, we are really glad to be clean and dry! Our bike (and ourselves) were quite grimy when we reached our motel! We took care of cleaning our bike before getting to our room.

Many Turns to Indianapolis

Today was another beautiful day for biking. It was sunny to partly cloudy. The temperatures were comfortable in the morning but by noon the heat and humidity were quite noticeable.

Today's 70 mile route was a bit shorter than some days so we took our time meandering through the countryside. Our SAG stop was at a farm so it was fun to talk with the farmer. He sold his dairy cows two years ago and now raises heifers and corn and soybeans. We were kept on our toes by the 58 turns that were involved in our ride today.

We stopped at a Velodrome, which is a race track for bicycles. Sides of the track are banked so that you can use the grade to pick up speed. We tried it a bit and enjoyed the feel of the banked sides.

A band of thunderstorms are nearing Indianapolis now. Sure glad we finished our ride several hours ago.

Indiana: Crossroads of America

We were back on the bike again after a day off. We enjoyed the day off with doing some necessary jobs such as our laundry, washing the bike but mostly relaxing with naps and reading.
We were supposed to decorate our helmets to add some interest to the trip. You can see that some persons went all out. Ours was a bit more understated, combining themes from "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true."

Today was another beautiful day for biking. We would have to rate it a #10. We had sunny skies with light headwinds and mostly lightly traveled country roads. We left Illinois and entered Indiana and the Eastern Time Zone. Yeah! Our route to Crawfordsville today was 81 miles and average speed was 15.4 mph.

A street scene in Hillsboro, Indiana. This is a nice way to retire old bicycles!

Again, we appreciate your support with your comments and emails. It really does feel that we are getting closer to home!

Racing the Rain to Champaign

The forecast for today included a high probability of showers in the morning with increasing likelihood of thundershowers and stronger storms as the day progressed. In light of this, we began our ride at 6:30 a.m. to try to stay ahead of the thunder and lightning if possible.

The winds were mostly headwinds with some crosswinds so the going was tough. Our goal was to push ourselves a bit to get to the hotel as early as possible. The rain caught up with us at mile 80 of an 88 mile ride. Thankfully, there was no lightning so we kept going and got to the hotel after 5 hours and 44 minutes of riding, an average of 15.3 mph.

There were several dangerous railroad tracks at bad angles to the road. Being wet, the tracks were especially treacherous. Three of our riders fell and suffered bruises, but none were seriously hurt.

After seven straight days of riding since Abilene, we are very happy to have a day to rest tomorrow. Because of the rain that was predicted today, we left our camera in our luggage. The scenery was mostly corn. The Drury Hotel will be our home until Thursday morning. In the picture the Ryder truck and the van behind it are two of our three support vehicles.

Illinois Corn Fields

Today was overcast which kept the temperatures cooler. There were some gentle hills the first third of the ride and then it leveled out. The ride was 109 miles mostly through large fields of corn and some soybeans. As you can see from the picture, the corn is nearly waist high.

The ride took seven hours. The temperature was 78 degrees when we arrived at the hotel in Springfield, Illinois.

One more riding day before a rest day in Champaign. The forecast tomorrow calls for showers in the morning and severe weather in the afternoon. It will be interesting to see how many of the 87 miles we can get in before the severe weather hits.

Crossing the Mississippi River

One of the best!! After thunderstorms during the night, the morning was clear and cool. The weather was perfect for biking 76 miles to Quincy, Illinois.

The roads from Kirksville to the Mississippi River were smooth with little traffic. There were gentle ups and downs, another great day for a tandem.

About ten miles into our ride we reached another milestone: 2000 miles since we left Los Angeles on May 9. Reaching 2000 miles and crossing the Mississippi River makes it feel as though we really are getting closer to Boston.

We reached our hotel before noon. After a sandwich at Subway we relaxed in the whirlpool. We have a few extra hours to relax our legs before a very lonhg ride tomorrow.

More Missouri Hills

Today's ride was easier than we anticipated. We knew there would be a lot of climbing and threatening weather.

Our departure was delayed by 30 minutes this morning due to nearby thunberstorms. We needed to wait several times on the route to ensure that we did not run into a thunderstorm. The skies were overcast all day and we rode through a shower near the end of the 76 mile ride. The good news about the overcast skies was that the temperatures remained relatively cool.

We were warned by previous riders that there were 158 hills on our ride today and that it was a tough ride with over 5000 feet of elevation gain. True to tandem style, we enjoyed being able to pedal hard down the hills and then use our momentum and pedaling to get to the top (or nearly to the top) of the next hill. Lots of ups and downs and relatively few tough hills that required pedaling in the granny gear.

There were more thunderstorms in the area last night and more are predicted for tonight. We talked with one farmer who said that many farmers have not been able to get their corn planted due to the rains. We saw many fields like the one in the picture. Of course with all of the rain the pastures are lush and green.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to cross the mighty Mississippi into Illinois.

Missouri Rollers

We rode 88 miles today from St. Joseph to Chillicothe, MO and had "rollers" almost the entire day. We actually enjoyed the first 60 miles but after that the rollers turned into steeper hills. The day was very humid and toward the middle of the day the temperatures also got a lot hotter. The last two hours, we stopped to "wet down" every 5-10 miles or so and to take a break. Wetting down really does help with the heat.

Apparently, they have been getting a lot of rain in this area. We saw many fields that were partly flooded. Some of the fields were planted with corn already. Part of today's ride reminded us of riding in Lancaster County. But the rollers were a lot more frequent.

As you can imagine, we see lots of roadkill. The "captain" usually misses roadkill, but today I felt a bump and said, "What was that?" LaVern said, "Oh, that was an armadillo." You can be sure that's the first time our Co-Motion went over an armadillo. We also heard a lot of bobwhites, saw two red-headed woodpeckers and a wild turkey.

The monument on the picture has this quote, "Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true." We feel like we are putting forth a lot of effort to make this dream come true!

It was another good day for chocolate milk! Hopefully, by tomorrow we will feel recovered for our 75 mile ride. It will be our last full day in Missouri.

Goodbye KS, Hello Missouri

Another great day for riding. The light winds made it an easier day than yesterday. Today's temps were great for riding. We did 86 miles in just under six hours of riding time. Our average day's ride on this trip is around 85 miles.

After being in Kansas for seven days (including one rest day), we said goodbye to Kansas. We really liked Kansas. The scenery was beautiful with all the fields of wheat and the Flint Hills. I noticed a sign along the road that said, "A Kansas farmer feeds 128 poeple, plus you." That really made me stop and think how much food comes from Kansas. We also learned that Kansas is not all flat, but has some nice rollers too.

But, it's time to move on. After sixty miles of riding we crossed the Missouri River and entered Missouri. We arrived at our motel around 1:45. We need a bit of time to recover from today's ride and yesterday's long ride.

Being in Missouri makes it feel like we are getting closer to home.

Topeka, Kansas - Halfway Across the USA

Our rest day in Abilene was welcome. We enjoyed Robert and Luann's (LaVern's sister) visit in the morning. The rest of the day we relaxed and let our legs recuperate. Actually our legs are feeling pretty strong after all of the riding.

We were all a bit concerned about the weather this morning. We awoke to the sound of wind and it was very overcast. Scattered thunderstorms were in the forecast.

We did have "unfavorable" winds most of the day but the skies became mostly sunny. We rode 108 miles to Topeka. The terrain was quite nice for a tandem, although we had to work very hard with the winds. It was rolling with an elevation gain of 6260 feet. We rode through part of the Flint Hills in KS. Beautiful scenery and lots of green fields.

Since it was a big day, we got in later -- around 4:00 p.m. after 8 hours of biking. Needless to say, we were quite tired. It's always so good to see the motel, get showered and ready for dinner. We'll enjoy our meal tonight.

Topeka marks the half-way point of our trip. We're so grateful for safe travels and a very good group to ride with!

Abilene, Sweet Abilene ............

Today was a great biking day. The skies were clear and the temperatures nearly perfect. I woke up feeling much better and was able to eat breakfast before our ride. We rode 64 miles from McPherson to Abilene, KS.

It was great to be on the bike and appreciate the sights, sounds and smells of the ride. Occasionally one sees deserted homesteads. Grain elevators can be seen for quite a distance before the town comes into view.

The firsts 20 miles or so, we had some light headwinds. But after turning north on Rt. 15 toward Abilene, we had crosswinds which made the going easier. We were able to hear the birds and frogs singing, see the fields of wheat which are turning gold and smell the newly-mown hay. After yesterday, I especially enjoyed this ride. I'm sure the hour nap yesterday afternoon and the nearly ten hours of sleep last evening helped my body recover.

One of our jobs before our day off is to clean our bike. We lubricate our chains every day, but when we finish our ride prior to the day off, a washing station is set up. We spray the cassette and chains with degreaser and give our bike a good cleaning. We also enjoy watching the French Open when we get to our room.

Abilene is the home of Dwight D. Eisenhower. We rode by his home place and saw the presidential museum.

So, after nine straight days of riding, we are especially appreciative of a day off. We plan to have breakfast with Luann and Robert, LaVern's sister and husband, who live in Newton. They are preparing to move to Pennnsylvania to co-pastor a church there. We very much enjoy opportunities to connect with family and friends on this adventure!