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!

At midnight last night Janie woke up with an upset stomach. She did not sleep well and had no appetite this morning. Several others in the group have had it as well.

We decided to take our time and see if we could do the 65 miles to McPherson, Kansas. The morning was overcast and the winds were mostly crosswinds. The sun shone for a while but much of the trip there was a threat of thunderstorms.

We stopped frequently. At several points Janie wasn't sure if she could make it but we kept going. We missed the rain and made it to the hotel at 1:30 p.m. after 4.5 hours of riding.

Riding cross country like this certainly brings one in touch with at least three of the variables which one has little control over: weather, one's health and mechanical failures/accidents. Of course there are things one can do to prepare for and/or avoid mechanical failures and accidents but it is difficult to prepare perfectly. Trying to find a way to finish the ride in spite of the obstacles is the challenge. A little like the rest of life, I guess.

There are a number of oil/gas wells in Kansas. The corn and wheat fields look very nice. We have also seen some soybeans.

We are disappointed to have to say goodby to Mack, one of the staff from the United Kingdom. His brother is not doing well and Mac needs to return home to be with him. Mac has done a great job of supporting us and has made our rides much more enjoyable. He was the person who got our shifting cable out of our bags and brought it back to us so that we could finish the ride to Cottonwood, Arizona.

After eight days of riding, we have one more day of riding before reaching Abilene and a day or rest. We are certainly looking forward to it.

Great Bend KS

We rode 89 miles today (from Dodge City to Great Bend, KS). The weather was very nice for biking again and very flat. We got into the motel around 1:30 after a little less than six hours of riding. The temperatures weren't too hot when we were biking, but it's quite hot right now -- 86 degrees and very sunny.

We passed the halfway point between San Francisco and New York. We have a few more days of biking our halfway point between Los Angeles and Boston.

We detoured a bit to the Pawnee Rock Historic Marker on the Santa Fe Trail. This marker (sandstone citadel) was the halfway point on the Santa Fe Trail. Native Americans used this as a vantage point to spot bison herds and wagon trains. There is a quote that "for miles the area was black with bison" back in the early 1800's. It's hard to imagine life back in those days.

After we got to our motel, we had a nice surprise. LaVern and other riders had met someone in Guymon, Oklahoma who was asking about our trip. He mentioned that he lives about 8 miles from Great Bend and that he may bring us some home-baked cookies when we get to Great Bend. Well, he was true to his word. He delivered a very nice supply of home-baked cookies which we will share with our group on the road tomorrow. It's such a delight to receive all the well wishes from the people we meet.

We also appreciate all of your comments and well wishes. Thanks for your interest and support.

The Wild West

Yesterday afternoon we walked to the "Dorothy's House". Liberal decided to be the location in Kansas that is associated with the Wizard of Oz. They identified a house that serves as Dorothy's house for tourists wanting to make a connection.

Last evening we had a nice surprise. Our friends from Santa Fe were in Liberal for a viewing. They called about 8:00 p.m. wondering if we wanted to go out for ice cream. We had known that there was a Braum's in town but it was too far to walk. We were delighted to accept their invitation.

Today was a great day for biking. Just a few clouds and relatively cool when we started. We rode about 85 miles from Liberal to Dodge City, KS. We had little elevation gain. There were crosswinds for the first 60 miles and a tailwind the last 20+ miles. A great way to finish a ride! Just a little over 5 hours of riding time. Lots of wheat fields and and great Kansas scenery.

We had a slow leak in a tire at a rest stop. That worked out very well. We are getting pretty efficient at changing tires. That is a total of nine flats in case anyone is counting.

We went through Meade, KS. This is where the Dalton Gang had their hideout. The Dalton Gang were notorious for train and bank robberies in the late 1800's.

We rolled into Dodge City around 1:00. Texas cattle were driven to Dodge City to be put on the railroad for eastern markets. It had a reputation for many gunfights and the cemetery was named Boot Hill for the cowboys who died with their boots on.

It was great to end our biking by early afternoon before the temps reached their predicted high of 90. There was a DQ about .4 miles before our motel so we took advantage of that opportunity! DQ's are a welcome sight and are always on our route map if one is in the area.

A Walk in the Park!

Yes, today's ride felt almost like a "walk in the park." After some long days, today was a welcome break. Only forty miles with a slight tailwind in 2 hours and 20 minutes. We took our time and enjoyed the beautiful day. This area had heavy rains recently, but today was sunny with pleasant temperatures.

There were huge wheat fields as we rode from Guymon, through Hooker and Tyrone to Liberal, KS. We can see huge grain elevators as we approach these little towns. We'll be in Kansas until June 3. We ride from one corner (SW to NE) and have a day off in Abilene.

Even though we started two hours later this morning, we arrived in Liberal, Kansas at noon. We want to get out and walk through some of the town. There are several museums, including the Air Museum and Dorothy's House from the Wizard of OZ. We'll need to rest up for tomorrow.

Fighting the Winds Into Oklahoma

This morning was cool, overcast and foggy when we left Dalhart, Texas. After five miles the fog burned off and the skies remained overcast for the next 30 miles or so. The nice berm continued. We saw the first fields of corn and wheat, lots of irrigation and some oil wells today. The picture of the cowboy was taken in Texas.

There was a threat of thunderstorms most of the morning but the skies became mostly sunny as we entered Oklahoma. The last half of the 74 miles, the light headwind turned into a much stronger headwind. After pedaling 350+ miles the last four days we just toughed it out the last 30 miles or so.

We left our phone charger in a motel somewhere. We looked through about 30 chargers that were left by other guests at our motel but none of them fit our phone. So we needed to ride to a store to buy a phone charger. Mel and Lorene, our friends in Santa Fe, happened to be going through Guymon to attend a funeral in Turpin and stopped briefly to see us this afternoon.

At the motel we talked to some of the Storm Chasers (Weather Channel) staff who are also guests. They had been chasing a tornado in Colorado last evening. They said the worst of the thundestorms are moving north. That should be in our favor.

To our surprise, our motel room has a nice jacuzzi which we will use after dinner. What a welcome surprise!

Riding into Texas

Today was another very beautiful day of biking. There was a smooth six foot berm along a two lane highway for most of the ride. The road was mostly level with only 2400 feet of elevation gain. After yesterday, it was nice to have a day when the wind was not a factor.

The 97 mile ride took just over six hours. After a number of days in New Mexico, we crossed into Texas and are staying at Dalhart tonight. There are many cattle feed lots south of town. We saw irrigated fields, more cattle grazing and the first grain silos of the trip.

We are enjoying some birding from the bike. Yesterday we saw a beautiful Mountain Bluebird. Western Meadowlarks are quite common and we are enjoying their song. Today we saw a number of scissor-tailed flycatchers. We have seen a lot of other birds that we cannot identify. We know that serious biking and birding do not mix but we've enjoyed seeing a few new birds.

The last 20 miles today were a bit difficult. Our seats are somewhat "tired" from all of the riding. Butt breaks helped but very quickly the discomfort returns. We were delighted to finally get to the motel. We are now on Central Daylight Time. "Only" 72 miles tomorrow!

1,000 Miles - Third Century

We left Las Vegas, New Mexico this morning and rode 110 miles to Tucumcari, NM. The elevation gain was 4300 feet. We celebrated 1,000 miles of riding at the first sag stop of the day.

Today was a very hard and tiring day of biking. The winds were strong all day and VERY STRONG most of the day, the strongest that we have had so far. Some of the single bikers had trouble keeping their bikes from crossing the middle of the road. We felt like we were biking on an angle, leaning into the wind. At times the crosswinds were so strong we had difficulty going more than 7 mph on a flat surface. One of the bikers call the winds "brutal".

The scenery was beautiful and changed as we rode. Out of Las Vegas there were miles and miles of little vegetation.

Then we had a nice (but a bit scary with the winds) descent. There were no services (including rest rooms) for 76 miles! We did have 3 SAG stops with their usual display of fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, water and Gatorade and lots of other munchies.

We saw a wild turkey, some antelope and snakes (dead).

We arrived at the hotel at 3:00 p.m. after 7 hours of biking. We are hoping our bodies recover for another big day tomorrow when we cross into Texas. We are grateful that, except for being quite tired at times, our health is good.

Biking to Las Vegas...........New Mexico

We had a great day off in Santa Fe on Saturday. We enjoyed dinner with our friends, Mel and Lorene on Friday evening and saw them again on Saturday afternoon. On Saturday morning we went to the Plaza in Santa Fe and enjoyed time with Amy, our daughter, her husband Dillon, and Hannah and Ella, our granddaughters.

We also met George and Mae Stoltzfus (good friends from back home in PA) for lunch. They are on their way to Oregon for a cross country biking trip as well. We spent more time with Amy, Dillon, Hannah and Ella on Saturday. Today Dillon rode with us for a little over half of the ride. With all of his mountain biking and running in the Boston Marathon, he is in great shape. It was great to see family and friends over the weekend.

Today was a gorgeous day for biking. We saw several dead snakes along the road as we were biking. We had our only SAG stop of the day in the parking lot of the bar in the picture. They opened the bar this Sunday morning so our group could use the restrooms. By state law they cannot sell liquor until noon on Sunday. The cars really start rolling in at that time.

There were clear blue skies and temperatures in the low 80's when we arrived in Las Vegas, New Mexico. We got into town around 1:00 after 73 miles of biking. The winds were picking up and are now 27 mph gusting to 42 mph. The elevation gain today was 4900 feet, not quite as much as going into Santa Fe on Friday. The hot tub felt especially good today on the sore leg muscles.

Although we try not to look ahead, we do know that there are nine straight days of biking before the next rest day. Tomorrow is a long ride to Tucumcari. It is amazing how one's body does recover........ well almost. We are in bed by 9:00 every evening and are sleeping 8-9 hours a night.

Climbing to Santa Fe

Today is another beautiful day. Sunny skies and temps around 80 degrees here in Santa Fe. We needed to climb from Albuquerque at 5300 feet above sea level to Santa Fe at 7000 feet. The first 23 miles was a constant climb. There were several nice downhills but more climbing before it became gently rolling the last fifteen miles or so. We finished our 68 mile ride around 1:45 p.m.

There was beautiful scenery along the way. We never get tired of the deep blue skies. It was a tiring but enjoyable ride.

We are looking forward to dinner with Mel and Lorene, our friends who live outside of Santa Fe. Tonight Amy and Dillon and our grandchildren, Hannah and Ella arrive from Colorado. Dillon plans to ride with us on Sunday. Tomorrow we hope to connect with George and Mae Stoltzfus who are with their son near Taos preparing for their three generation cross country ride next month.

We certainly are looking forward to our day off tomorrow!

Coasting into Albuquerque

Another glorious day of biking. The temps were around 40 degrees when we started and are around 80 degrees now. The sky is still very blue without a cloud in the sky. With the elevation of over 5300 feet, the sun is very intense.

The first thirty miles were on Route 66. Nice road and almost no traffic. We averaged 19.6 mph for this stretch. Then we got on the interstate. The berm was very nice until the road construction. At that point the traffic was in one lane and the berm disappeared so we "bunny hopped" (loaded the bikes on the van and rode up the freeway for about three miles).

We had two flats today. Used a CO2 cartridge to pump up a tire for the first time. Was that ever slick! Sure beats trying to pump air with a small pump.

After a five-mile climb on the Interstate, the last five miles into Albuquerque were great. As you can see from the picture the road was straight and downhill. A great way to end another day of biking!

Crossing the Continental Divide

When I (LaVern) envisioned this trip, I was hoping for at least one day when the roads would be fairly flat and the winds would be favorable. Well, today was one of those days. Only 69 miles, minimal climbing and a nice tailwind. In addition, the weather was sunny and cool, perfect for riding.

We rode on I-40 for only 11 miles today but it was the worst part of the ride. We walked our bikes through a construction zone and picked up plenty of tar. The berm for nearly all of the Interstate was full of stones and junk. We had a flat tire this morning before we started but avoided any further flats even with all of the junk. If anyone is counting, we have had two flats on the road and three flats before leaving in the morning.

After exiting I-40, the rest of the ride was on historic Route 66. We crossed the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7275 feet. The beautiful rock formations provided great views most of the day. We stopped at a Dairy Queen with several other riders for an ice cream cone (Janie) and a chocolate shake (LaVern).

We are staying in Grants, NM for the night. It began as a railroad camp, then became a logging town, for a while was the carrot capital of the US and between 1950 through the 1980's got a boost when uranium was discovered. We see and hear a lot of trains. One day Janie counted a train with six engines and 152 cars.

Our legs seem to be getting stronger. At least our quads don't hurt as much as they did. Tomorrow we have a longer ride to Albuquerque.

New Mexico - Land of Enchantment

We crossed into New Mexico today. Ninety miles on Interstate 40 in just over 5 hours, averaging 17.8 mph. As you might guess there was a nice tailwind the last half of the trip. The weather was cloudy in the morning and became partly cloudy as the day progressed. The temperatures were cool, probably upper 60's-low 70's. A very good day of biking.

We had only one flat today. When you change a tire, it is necessary to inspect the tire to see if there are any other wires in it. In addition to the obvious wire that caused the flat there were two other wires that could not be seen from the outside. A tweezers is a helpful tool for extracting wires. We learned last evening in our planning meeting that there were at least 17 flats yesterday and one person had four of them. At every stop we take time to inspect the outside of the tires to make sure there aren't any wires that will cause a flat down the road.

The rock formations near the Arizona - New Mexico border were beautiful. Our lodging is in West Gallup, New Mexico. We are now on Mountain Daylight Time. Up until now we have been three hours later than the East.

We are grateful to have enjoyed a good day of biking and are always thankful for a safe ride!

Riding to Holbrook - Dust and Crosswinds

Today's ride took us from Flagstaff to Holbrook, Arizona, a trip of 95 miles. The snow capped peak made a nice view as we left Flagstaff.

The day was clear and calm to start and got windier as we rode. Most of the riding was on Interstate 40. The first 20 miles went very well with speeds in the upper 20's. Then the cross winds picked up and the dust clouds were present for 50 miles or so. There were numerous dust devils but we were able to avoid coming in contact with them.

Many riders had flat tires today, some more than one. This is one of the hazards of riding on the interstate. Except for a slow leak which we changed before starting our day, we avoided any flats.

We had two SAG stops today and we are including a picture. SAG stops are always a welcome sight.

We stopped at a Dairy Queen in Winslow for ice cream and a milk shake. One of the benefits of riding like this is that one does not need to worry about gaining weight. In fact, at times it seems like one is feeding a machine so that you have enough energy to ride all of those miles.

It's a tradition to stop at the Jack Rabbit Trading Post. Isabel, who is now 11, has met the Crossroads Riding Group since she has been one year old. Her parents pull her out of school to give us a greeting!

After about six hours of riding time we arrived at the hotel in Holbrook. A hot shower feels really good after a hard ride. We usually drink chocolate milk for our recovery drink. Tonight we go to Pizza Hut for dinner.

A Day of Rest in Flagstaff!

Yesterday was another hard day of climbing. The granny gear has been a lifesaver again the last two days. We've now climbed the two highest elevation gains of our trip (7600 and 6800 ft) and ridden two of the six centuries. Our leaders say that the first week is the hardest! (Hope that is true!)

Yesterday the scenery was spectacular! We had driven through Oak Creek Canyon several times and as I (Janie) was pedaling along yesterday, I had to think -- never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought we would ever bike up. Yesterday's elevation gain of 6800 feet included the climb out of the canyon toward Flagstaff. There were numerous switchbacks. I kept my eyes on the road and would not allow myself to look at the road below. At the top we took time to enjoy the view of the road winding toward the top.

We did experience our first mechanical problem yesterday (besides flat tires). As we were riding through Sedona, we broke our shifting cable. We were about 1.5 miles from a bike shop and pushed/coasted to the shop. As you would guess, they did not have a cable long enough for our "carriage." So, we called our SAG and they dug through our bags and found one of the extra cables we had brought along. This put us back 2.3 hours, but we were delighted that we still had time to finish the trip to Flagstaff. We were the last ones getting in last evening, but we made it!

The weather yesterday was sunny and not too warm. The area around Sedona is beautiful and there were lots of birds singing as we rode up the canyon. I must say that I (LaVern) could not enjoy it as much as I would have liked. With the delay there was not extra time to stop and enjoy the sights. The road through Oak Creek Canyon is two lanes without a berm. It required concentration to ride as close to the edge as was comfortable (sometimes without a guard rail) so that cars could still get by. There are tour buses on this stretch but at least there were no semis.

We have a view of snow-capped mountains here in Flagstaff. We haven't been outside yet, but the temperatures are in the low 30's. We'll certainly enjoy our day of rest!

Again, thanks for your encouragement!

Arriving in Cottonwood, AZ

Today was described by our leaders as a "vacation day." It certainly was an easier day with riding only 45 miles. We did have an elevation gain of 4600 feet and a 12 mile incline(with more false flats). The highest elevation today was a little over 7000 feet at Mingus Mtn.

The Indian Paintbrush were beautiful.

The weather was great for riding. We enjoyed wonderful scenery with switchback curves.

After climbing to the highest peak at Mingus, we had a 7 mile descent to the old mining town of Jerome. It was quite windy and cool at the top so we used our makeshift windbreakers (green garbage bags) and rode to the Jerome. The descents were fairly steep with sharp turns. I had to brake nearly all of the way down. The disc brake on the back was a lifesaver. We stopped for a break about 2 miles from Jerome. The disc brake and the front rim were very hot.

We had lunch at the Haunted Hamburger Restaurant and had a strong tail wind to our motel in Cottonwood, another 8 or 9 miles. Tomorrow we go through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon on our way to Flagstaff.

We are enjoying your e-mails and your comments on the blog. Thanks!

Climbing to Prescott

Today was a hard ride. We rode 61 miles from Wickenberg, AZ to Prescott, AZ. in just under 6 hours. The elevation gain was 7600 feet, the biggest day for the whole trip. We were very glad for the new granny gear with 36 teeth compared to the 34 teeth we had before. For non-bikers that just means that it is a bit easier to pedal up the hills. With a tandem we need all of the help we can get going up hills.

There were lots of hills to climb. The highest elevation we saw was 7000. The previous days rides of 100 and 115 miles made today a bit harder. We took lots of butt breaks and just kept grinding it out. We are thankful for Bag Balm. The last six miles or so into Prescott were downhill and a welcome relief from all of the hills.

There was lovely desert scenery with cacti blooming to the higher elevation with trees. The high desert has more trees and gets snow in the winter.

One of our fellow riders to Albuquerque is a young Catholic priest. He invited any of the group who were interested to his room this afternoon for a mass to celebrate Christ's Ascension. Even though as non-Catholics we could not participate in communion, we attended.

Tomorrow we ride to Cottonwood. We actually leave 2 hours later, at 9:15 a.m. instead of 7:15. The extra time will be nice.

Crossing our First State Line

We left Blythe, CA at our usual starting time - 7:15. Earlier we had noticed that we had a flat (#2 in case you are counting). We pulled out the thorn and changed the tire. We crossed the Colorado River into AZ about 5 miles down the road.

We were on Interstate 10 for about 30 miles and took Route 60 East toward Wickenburg, AZ. We had nice desert scenery along the way and passed through Hope. The picture is one we took after leaving the very small town of about 3 houses. The sign says, "YOUR NOW BEYOND HOPE."

It was a tough ride as we rode 116 miles (after our 100 miles yesterday). We had some climbing and some crosswinds. Our legs remained strong but after 7.5 hours on the bike seat gets a little long.

We were very glad to get to our motel. The staff always has our bags carried into our room with the AC turned on! What a welcome sight!

Now its off to dinner and then back to our room for "early to bed." We've been warned that tomorrow is full of climbing to Prescott.

First 100 Miles in the Desert!

Today was another great biking day. The temperatures in the desert were in the 70-80's, surprisingly cool for this time of year. Apparently several years ago it was so hot that five persons ended up in the ER on IV's.

The first twelve miles on the interstate were uphill. After that it was mostly flat with a nice tail wind most of the time. There were some cross winds and of course all of the semis created a lot of noise and wind as well.

We had our first flat just after we got off Interstate 10 about 7 miles from our hotel. It was a metal staple stuck in the tire, and Tracy (our leader) pulled up in the van with a pump and helped changed the tire. (She said we had worked hard enough!) A number of persons had flat tires from the steel bands that are left on the road after a tractor trailer's tire blows out.

The scenery today was all desert until we got into Blythe. On the way to our motel, we saw some cows under palm trees. We finished the ride in less than six hours of riding time.

When we get to our room, we have several hours of rest before our route rap for the next day. Then we go out for dinner with the group.