AND IN THE END

I MADE IT!!!!! I pulled in to Jackson on Friday 27 of may. Riding in to town was awesome. But b4 I get in to that I will catch every one up on the end of my trip

BEAR TOTH PASS

Taking the day off b4 attacking the pass was a good idea. I woke up well rested to a beautiful day. I had a quick breakfast at a diner and then hit the road. As soon as I left town the up hill started. This was the most amazing hill I have ever been on. You can’t believe that there is a road going up the mountain. In the beginning the hill was pretty gradual, about 4.5 miles in the switchbacks start. Whoever designed this road did a great job. The switchbacks were at reasonable grade and were spaced well.  Some people might not think riding a bike 30 miles up hill would be fun but in my case I loved it. Going over the pass was the best day of my whole trip. The views were amazing and the temp was perfect. I am gonna take it one step further and say going over the pass was on of the top ten experiences of my life. As I was riding cars would occasionally pass me. The people in the car were amazed and offer a friendly honk or a few yelled words of encouragement. The best part of the climb took place about half way up. I stopped at a look out point to use the bathroom. There were a bunch of cars stopped as well. As usual the people asked me what the heck I was doing and expressed their amazement that I would take on such a monster of a hill. One couple even asked if they could take my picture. After this quick exchange I went back at it. Since there was a bunch of people watching me as I left the look out point I had no other option but to leave at a full sprint!!!! I was tearing up the hill, right as I had left the beatles song come together came up on my shuffle. I was cranking belting out come together as I went. I don’t know if it was the sprinting, the singing, or the cool breeze that had just started, or a combination of all 3 but at that moment I experienced something like a runners high. I was tingling all over and was experiencing extreme euphoria. It was amazing!!!!!! I made it to the top in a little over 5 hrs. pretty much as soon as I got to the top the clouds rolled in and I was in a full on blizzard. Luckily it didn’t last long. Going down the other side was really fun it was a long down hill my top speed was 51 mph!!!!!! o ya and I forgot to mention that in places there were 15 ft snow banks on the side of the road. I ended that day in cook city I got my self a motel I figured I earned it (and not campgrounds were open cuz of snow).

Yellow Stone

The next day I rode in to Yellowstone. I had figured that Yellowstone was pretty touristy and I would have no problem camping and getting food, this was not the case at all. Half the campgrounds and restaurants were closed. I was planning on doing a really short day but this ended up not happening cuz every thing was closed (I ended up going 50 mi not that far but a lot longer then I was looking 4). O ya I had to go over 2 more passes these ones were not fun at all.  I ended up stopping in canyon village where I thought there would be an open campground but this to was closed. As I was sitting there trying to figure out what to do to biker pulled up and asked my where I was heading. It turned out that they were going from Oregon to Virginia (here is their blog  http://cryantri.blogspot.com/). They two were having the same problem with every thing being closed. We decided that we would all just go find some place to pitch the tents. We found a nice spot behind some cabins that are usually rentable. As we were about to put up the tents we noticed that 20 of the cabins doors were ajar. We decided that we would wait for night fall and if the doors were still open we would make our selves at home. Sure enough no one came and closed the doors and we go a free night in a hotel!!!!!!!! The next day I rode another 50 miles to Grant Village. On the way I saw old faithful a bunch of geysers and mud pots all really cool. That night I met up with the two guys from the night b4 as well as another group of bikers 2 chicks and 1 dude (their blog is http://gobybike.webs.com). This group of 3 started in CO an were headed to Calgary. It was really fun to hang out with a bunch of fellow bikers. We all shared our experiences from our trip some similar some different and of course we also talked gear.  The next morning I hit the road early for my final day my last 70 miles to Jackson!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thats it thats all

Sooooooo I made it the final day was uneventful. I was sooo pumped to se the welcome to Jackson sign. Bike touring is awesome I love it and highly recommend it. I cant wait to go on my next tour.  I am gonna try to up load all my pics so check back soon. Hope you all enjoyed hearing about my trip. if any one has any questions i would b more then happy to answer them

-NEO

good ol cuntry fun + other stuff

its been a wile since i have got some Internet so a lot of stuff has happened. i will just give you the highlights . i will start a few days back when i was in williston ND. i pulled in and found a park to camp in, i decided not to set up camp but go find the library to use a computers. i pulled up to the library and siting out side was a touring bike with a trailer. i figured that it had to be some one using the adventure cycle maps. i walked in and scanned the occurrence i easily picked out the tourer. it was a girl sitting at a computer surrounded in charging electronics and here garb was defiantly of the touring variety. her name was brook and she was going from Maine to Washington. she had left April 11 but had gotten ahead of me by hitch hiking and taking a train through ND. her tour relied predominately on couch surfing with a little camping mixed in. she had a host set up in wiliston she called him and asked if it would be cool if i crashed as well. the guy we stayed with was named micha he was a cool guy. it was cool to hang out with some kids around my age. brook cooked us a real tasty stir fry. the next morning we both packed up and headed out. our roots were the same for the first couple miles then they diverged. that days i did about 75 miles to Savage Montana. my map had told me there was camping and a restaurant this was not the case. the was no camping and the restaurant was closed for renovations. i grabbed some beef stew from a gas station and then went and set up my tent behind a school next to a irrigation canal. i had a quick dinner and then lay in my tent listening to my book. after hanging out for a wile some one shook my tent and said "any one in there" i responded "hold on be right out". i got out of my sleeping bag and popped out of my tent. standing there was a smiley girl about 11 years old. she wanted to know what the heck i was doing. i told her.as i was telling her wiiiiizzzzzz a rock flys by me. i turn around and see to little boys with wrist rockets. the girl informed me that that was buck and clay and she went to school with them. she didn't like them. she yelled across the river "y don't you guys go home and play some video games. for a few minuets the girl and the to boys yelled insults at each other across the river. the girl soon lost interest and rode off on her bike. the 2 boys then sifted their attention to me. "lets try to hit his tent" "hahah ya i bet i hit it first" the two boys started zipping rocks in the direction of my tent all falling short. the rocks soon started to for some strange reason to be aimed at me and not my tent. i yelled " haay im gonna be really pissed if i get hit". this cracked the boys up and seemed to encourage them to try to hit me. i started shooting the shit with them, telling them how i used to have a wrist rocket ( this is a sweet type of sling shot) when i was there age. i told them they should come over to my side of the river so i could shoot the sling shot. they agreed and about ten mins later they both showed up on there bikes. we proceeded to see who could soot the farthest. i found out that clay was 11 and it was his birthday and he had just got the sling shot for his birth day. buck was nine the 2 boys were neighbours. it was really cool to hear all the questions that 2 young kids have about what i was doing. "do you sleep in the tent all the time?" " can we go inside it?" "do you live in a house or always the tent" "why didn't you take a 4 wheeler instead" "where do you go to the bath room?". they were really interested in seeing all my bike stuff. after giving them the tour of every thing i had we decided to try to see if we could hit a bird with he sling shot. we would each take a turn, find a bird sneak up on it and then let one fly. we all got really close but never got a good hit. when we got sick of this the boys asked me if i wanted to go ride around town with them. i grabbed my bike and we headed out. buck warned me "we go pretty fast i hope you can keep up" i said " i think I'll manage". we wet all around the store, the school, and the park. after an evening of good old country fun the boys parents yelled for then that it was time to come home. as they were leaving the boys asked me if they would ever see them again i said i was leaving in the morning but if i ever came back in to town i would find them. they rode off hooting an hollering. i went to bed.
i made it to Montana and am now in red lodge i got here yesterday. red lodge is at the foot of my biggest climb of the trip. tomorrow i will attempt to go over the bare tooth pass. this pass is 30 miles up hill, i will start in red lodge which is at about 5500 ft the top of the pass is 11000 ft. i took to day off because i want to do this monster climb in good weather its real windy today and is supposed to rain. when i pulled in to town yesterday first thing i did was stop at a bar so i could get the lay of the land and figure out my options. i wasn't long before i had two different options to go stay at peoples camp sites where they were cooking food and having parties. i declined both offers because of location they were both about 10 min drive out of town, i figured i would try to hold out for some thing better. the bartender told be that i should go eat at Foster & Logan's a local bar and grill. at F&L's i got the offer i was looking for, the bar tender Luke said i could crash at there place which was a few blocks out of town and his room mates were BBQing. sold. the house i am staying in is known around town as the tree house cuz its all wood with unfinished beams on the inside. four guys live there permanently but a lot of people seem to float in and out. the guys are all great they fed me and are letting me stay for 2 nights inside. this is a great treat b4 taking on this killer hill. it turns out that 2 of the guys grew up in Jackson. one of there Friends works at the golf course that i am trying to wok at. when ford the kid i am staying with called his buddy he had herd about the kid biking from NH(me). i am getting really close i would say i have about 4 more days of riding left. thinking about the trip ending is bitter sweet. i am not sure i am ready to be off the road. hope all is well with every one.
-NEO

I LOVE TAIL WINDS!!!!!!!!

I LOVE TAIL WINDS I LOVE TAIL WINDS I LOVE TAIL WINDS did I mention that I LOVE TAIL WINDS. It all started 3 days ago, I woke up at the spirit lake casino camp ground and hit the trail around 7. My destination for the day was Rugby ND. The day started out calm but then the winds picked up. I was headed west for most of the day and the winds were coming out of the south this meant that I was facing killer side winds. As the day progressed and I continued to fight the winds I notice that at the end of the day I had a 24 mile stretch due north.  If the winds continued at there current strength and direction I was going to get a little treat at the end of the day. Sure enough conditions stayed the same as I made the turn due north the wind hit my back and rocketed me forward, I just started laughing with joy. We had had a few tail winds prior to this but nothing like I was experiencing then. I was flying and it was effortless. I was going 20 mph up hills high 20’s on the flats and high 30 low 40s down hills. I finished the 24 miles in a little under an hr. I now know what I was capable of with a good tail wind and I wanted more bad. I knew that if I could get a full day of tail winds I would have a chance at beating my dear old dads family distance record of 129 (he accomplished this on his cross country trip from cali to nh). As bad as I wanted a full day of tail winds it seemed unlikely due to the fact that I was going east to west. The next morning I woke up a little late but got on the road around 8 after a pancake breakfast. My goal for the day was Minot ND which was 60 miles from rugby. over night the winds had changes and were blowing out of the east, this meant that once again i would have a tail wind. as i started riding the winds were light but around 5 miles in things really started to pick up. the wind was really blowing, even stronger then the day b4. !!!!!!!!!!!!!! By blog post got ruined i just talked to my dad and he informed me that he went back and checked his journal and his record was 149 not 129!!!!!!!! ill be honest my hart isn't in this post any more but i guess i will still tell you what went down. sooooo i ended up getting to minot by lunch you must remember this was my goal for the whole day. i was making about 20 miles every hr there was no way that i was gonna stop in minot. at lunch i new that my first century of the trip was defiantly in my grasp, i decided to push on to makoti which was another 42 miles. i ended op getting there by about 330 and the wind was still blowing hard at my back. even b4 i got to minot i had started thinking that to day might b the day to try to brake the family record. once i was in makoti and there was still plenty of daylight i decided it was now or never, i would push on to new town which was another 30 something miles. i pulled in to new town around 630 and was totally pumped not only had i done a century but i had put up 135 miles and thought that i had broke my dads record. as it turns out i was misinformed and the record was still intact. had i known the true figure i would have had a quick dinner and then kept on pushing, i still had at least 1.5 hrs of daylight.  as they say excuses are like ass holes every ones got one. well at this point i can only hope that i get another sick tailwind and get another shot at the title and this time im not stopping till its dark no mater what.     well that all 4 no more stuff has happened but im sick of writing . here are some pic hope you enjoy

-NEO

my friend the horse

andrew the night of the cross

day after the crash

Haggen this little guys the man

my favorite sign 

the mississippi

Disaster Strikes

we had woken up early so we could get to our days goal Fargo early. riding about 85 miles we pulled in to Fargo around 430. we were excited to be in a city as well as to be in North Dakota. we set up cam and then showered. being in a city we had a big night planed. we were gonna go have dinner and then go see a movie. we eat at the food court in a mall because it was right next to the movie theater. we saw star trek. previous to seeing this movie i knew nothing about star trek but this did not detract from the movie at all it was very good. when we got out of the movie it was poring rain. Andrew had his computer because he had been using wifi at the mall, he tucked it under his jacket and we headed back to the camp sit. a few blocks form the movie theater we were crossing an intersection Andrew was riding in front of me with one hand holding his computer and one on the handle bars. he didn't see the car that was crossing threw the intersection till it was to late. he couldn't get his hand on the brake soon enough and he hit the car. luckily no one was hurt and his wheel was just a little bent. the car had the right of way so it was kind of Andrews fault. he was kind of pist about the incident after it first happened but then cooled down. we fixed his bike so it was at least ridable and headed for the camp ground. as we were riding we were talking about how we were lucky and it could have been way worse at least it was only the bike that was messed up. we realized that we had made a wrong turn so we corrected our course and continued on still talking about how lucky we were that no one was hurt. we were riding down a a 4 lane road two going one way to going the other. we were going with traffic in single file, i had a red light on the back of my bike and Andrew had a with light on the front of his, he was riding in front of me. so we just riding along and a car buzzed by me and then swerved in front of me and hit Andrew!!!!!!! when the car hit him he went flying almost 10 feet in the air and then landed on the pavement with a thud. i screamed and couldn't believe what i just saw it was very surreal. after the car hit him he sped off. i jumped off my bike and ran to where Andrew was lying unconscious in a bloody puled on the street. immediately two cars stopped and both drivers one male one female rushed over to where Andrew was. in about 20 second he regained consciousness. the two people that stopped stayed with Andrew and made sure he didn't move while i called 911. with in minutes the ambulance police and fire trucks had arrived. as the medics were putting Andrew on a stretcher i was telling the cop what happened. i locked my bike and what remained of Andrews bike to a tree and went to the hospital in the ambulance. i was kind of in shock i was shaking uncontrollably. during the 5 min drive to the hospital i got myself under control. Andrew was clearly very concussed he kept asking the same questions over and over again. "what happened?" "was i waring a helmet?"(he wasn't, we wernt going far so he had left it at the tent) "was it my fault?". the emt's in the ambulance told me that they couldn't locate any major injuries but they wouldn't know for sure until they did a cat scan. when we got to the hospital every one turned to me for all of Andrew personal info, all i knew was his name and age and i couldn't even spell his last name. i was sent to the waiting room where i was soon questioned again by the cops. after the questioning they told me that they had caught the guy because another car had fallowed him. i turned out that he the driver was wasted. the doctors came in and told me that Andrew was very lucky he had a bad concussion and a very small crack in his scull but that was it besides a lot of cuts a scrap. there was some bleeding in his brain but they expected for it to be gone by morning. he was going to stay in the hospital over night so they could keep an eye on him. the cop gave me a ride back to the bikes where we put them in the back of the car and then went to the camp ground. once at the tent i made my self a cup of tea to calm down and then went to bed it was about 3 in the morning. i woke up at 7 and talked to Andrew he was going to be totally fine. my original plan was to take a cab to the hospital but i did a little trail magic fishing by telling the people in the rv next to me what had happened and they gave me a ride to the hospital. Andrew go discharged from the hospital that afternoon and we relocated to a motel. we just chilled in the motel all day. Andrews girlfriend who was in Montana was driving to pick him up. although he was going to be fine the tour was over for him the docs said he shouldn't do any thing real active for a few weeks. bally Andrews gf showed up last night, they both packed up all his stuff and headed out this morning. sooooo now i am back on my own for the last stretch. i did the calculations last night and i have about 1000 miles left till jhole. i estimate this will take about 2 weeks. the last two days have been crazy i am putting up a zero today to recoup. tomorrow i will hit the trail again.

link to news article---> http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/118487/group/home/

-NEO

Bar Olympics Epic Fail

yo yo yo
after a long day we pulled in to sobieski Minnesota. sobieski is a 2 bar town we decided to go wit the polish palace. going in clad in our spandex it was very clear that we were out of towners. this of cores prompted the regular questions. with in a couple of minutes the owner of the bar agreed to let us camp in the field behind the bar. the people of sobieski are very friendly. as we were chatting with they told us about the bar olympics that was going to take place the next day. the bar olympics was a pub crawl where teams of 5 compete in 2 competitions at every bar. it turned out that the bartenders team was 2 men short, the whole bar started trying to convince us to not ride the next day and partake in the festivities. at first we were a little hesitant because we didnt really want to lose a day of riding. After one of the patrons at the bar promised us that he would drive us the day after the games to make up the missed time we decided we were in. after this decision we were pumped on the idea and determined to win it all. the olymioics didn't start till 12 the next morning so we got to sleep in. we woke up around 1030 and had breakfast around 11 i went in to the bar to use the bathroom. as soon as i walked in the bartender says to me "well shelly(the bartender from the night b4) bailed on you two of the guys who were gonna be on your team cant make it." this development messed up our whole day. we were mentally set on not riding and now that we couldnt compete in the olympics it was either ride or hang out in sobieski for the day. reluctantly we packed up and hit the trail. riding sucked we just were not in to it. we decided to cut the day short and stop in long prairie which was about 25 mi away. with in 10 mins of pulling in to town a guy on a bike pulled up to us and asked if we needed a place to cam for the night we instantly accepted. he gave us directions and told us to show up when every we wanted. after using the Internet and getting dinner we haded out to find the yard that was offered to us. being idiots we didnt write down the directions to the house so we got kinda lost but in the end we found it. our hosts were jurgan lue and there son hagan. the couple were avid bike tourists so thats why they were so willing to give us a place to stay. jurgan was originally from germany and lue was a German teacher. they were raising there son speaking both german and english. this family was great they let us sleep in their living room, take showers and then fed us a great breakfast in the morning. we really enjoyed exchanging stories with them about touring. their son was 1.5 years old and very cute. after breaky we headed out for another day on the iron mules.
-NEO

the mighty mississip

hello all,

i have made it to Minnesota!!! this means that i have completed 6 states (nh, vy, ny, canada, mi, wi) and have 3 more (mn, mt, wy) to go. the last chunk of WI was pretty uneventfully except for to thing. the first was a monster thunder storm. the day of the storm started out overcast with light rain, it then cleared up and became a beautiful day. we were stoked with the improvement in the weather and took our rain stuff off. after lunch the sky started to darken and we could start to see the storm in the distance. being in pretty flat terrain that was dominated by farms it was amazing how clearly we could see the storm coming, we were riding directly towards it. when it hit it hit hard it was one of those rains where you couldn't conceive it raining any harder then it was. we were int the eye of the storm the thunder and lighting out of control. we were about 8 miles from a bar, we peddled like hell to get there asap. we figured that we could wait out the storm. we got to the bar dripping wet the storm looked like it was starting to let up. we figured that we would wait it out till it stopped. we hung out for a bit then decided to get back at it as soon as we got back out side the skys opened up in full force again. we waited a little longer then decided to just go for it rain or no rain. we started riding again it continued raining for about another half hr then stooped. soon after it stooped the sun came back out. we then stopped at a gas station for some snacks. we were happy to be out of the rain and thought that our troubles were over but as we were pulling out of the gas station i got a flat tire. i quickly changed it and we were on our way. this flat marked the end of our problem with the rain and that start of a new problem. in the next 3 day i got 5 flat tires!!!!!! after the second one i found that a rock had punctured my tire after removing i thought i had solved the problem. this was not the case at all the flats just kept on coming. yesterday i found a tiny piece of glass in my tire i think that the removal of this fixed my problem because i havent got a flat since but who know. crossing in to mn was uneventfully. the night of our first day in mn we got a little more trail magic. we stopped in dalbo for the night. when consulting the map for a place to stay for the night we noticed a symbol we had never seen. the key informed us that it meant lodging for cyclists only. we went to the address and found out that it was just this guy don olsens farm. three years ago a few bikers asked him if they could camp in his yard, after this he started noticing all the bikers going by he started inviting them in. he eventually called adventure cycling (this is the company who makes that maps we use) and told them to put him on the map. don and his wife were great!!! they gave us beds, showers and let us do laundry. we also got all our questions about farming answered. the day after we left dons was the day that we crossed the mississippi river. i was really stoked to see the mississippi. i love the old mississippi what a river. it was every thing i was hoping for and more. "the mighty mississip, the old mis, the old man..deeeeeeep riiiiiiiver myyyy hooome is over joordan"(name that qoate) well any ways thats whats up im sick of writing so i am gonna go.

shout out to mimi happy b day and to my mother happy mothers day

-NEO

Trail Magic!!!!!

We have been on a serious trail magic streak. It started in Escanaba. After a shorter day of riding we pulled in early and did some laundry at a laundry mat. Wile washing our clothes we started chatting with a fellow clothes cleaner. This guy was like what Willie Harrison is gonna be like when he was older. As we were leaving he recommended that we go to the gym he belonged to and use the locker room to get a shower. He gave us directions and then we set off to find it. The girl at the desk was amazed with what we were doing, and let us use the locker room free of charge. With clean clothes and clean bodies we headed to dinner. At dinner we met a couple that had seen us ride in to town and were curious about what we were doing. After giving them the normal speech they invited us to camp in their yard. The next morning we were woken up by the guy informing us that breakfast would be ready in 5 mins. They feed us a huge breakfast of eggs toast bacon and home fries and then sent us on our way. That day we fought killer head winds but made it to crystal falls the birthplace of crystal meth. The next morning we woke up and rode one of our hardest days. It was hilly as hell. We usually do at least 40 to 50 miles before lunch but that day we only did 20, total mileage for the day was 50. The highlight of the day was making it to WI and changing time zones. We woke up in Phelps to great weather and good terrain ahead of us. We made it 3 miles and the disaster hit. I was pedaling up a small hill when I felt my chain go loose at first I just thought that it had fallen off but when I looked down it had snapped and was dragging on the ground. I thought well this sucks but we can just take a link out and put it back together. I then looked closer and realized with a sinking feeling that my problem was way worse then just a snapped chain. My front derailer was totally mangled. We looked at the map and found out that we were no where near a bike store. We made the bike ridable by taking the front derailer so I could at least pedaled back to Phelps. Our plan was to get back to phelps and then try to get some one to drive us the half hr to the nearest bike store. We started our search at the local hardware store. The owner said that he didn’t know any one who would take us. Right as we were about to leave an older guy walked in, we asked him if he knew any one who would give us a ride. He said "i know an old guy who might do it.... he is a bit of an ass hole though (chuckles). Us: "who is he". "your looking at him go load up your bikes in my truck while i buy this stuff." this good samaritan was named Louie he told us that the big guy up stairs was looking out for us because he was the one who wanted him to take us. Louie was a great guy he drove half an hr to bolder junction where the nearest bike store was located. he drooped us off at the bike store and then headed out. we went in and quickly found out that this bike store was no use to us that mainly just rented bikes. so now we were stuck in bolder junction. we went in to a near by gas station to look at a phone book to try to find another bike store. we told the cashier our predicament and she informed us that there was a bike store 15 min away in some town that starts with a M. We asked her if there she knew any way we could get there, she grinned and pointed to a guy coming out of the bathroom "he will take you". It turned out that it was her husband and as she put it he had nothing better to do. So for the second time that day we loaded our bikes in to a pickup and were off. both times with in minuets of inquiring about a ride we found one it was pure trail magic. so guy2 (i forget his name) drove us the 15 mins to the other bike store. Strike 2 they didn't have the part either!!!! we had one more shot another bike store a few blocks away. Guy2 helped us load the bikes again and drove us there. This third bike store was legit and they had the part i needed which was great but it was gonna take a wile to install it. We were now about 30 miles off route so we thought we were gonna have to bike it to get back on track. Guy2 came through big once again by agreeing to wait it out with us and then drive us back to our route!!!!! It ended up taking about 1.5hrs we then loaded up for the last time and drove back to the route, finally back on route with working bikes. It was about 230 by the time this whole ordeal ended and we hadn't eaten any thing the whole time. Being used to eating all day we were starving. Andrew opted for pb&J but my hunger needed an real meal so i popped in to the local pub and ordered a double burger fries and a drink. I started chatting with the guy next to me telling him what are deal was and what had happened to us that day. He finished his meal first an left. When i finished my meal i asked for my check, the bartender told me that the guy i had been talking to had picked up my bill!!!!TRAIL MAGIC!!!!! We ended up riding about 40 miles then setting up camp. We had dinner at a bar and ofcorse they wanted to know our deal so we told them. after we finished out meal the owner came and told us if we wanted we could go upstairs and take showers in his apt!!!!! Getting clean is soooo great when it doesn't happen that often. After the showers the owner gave us each a bowl full of home maid ravioli on the house. i don't know what we did to deserve so much trail magic in one day but it was unreal. i hope we didn't use up all our TM. i don't think any of these people are reading my blog but i would like to thank all of them any way people like this make touring a lot of fun. below are some more pics. Hope every one is well.
-NEO

lake MI

cleaning clothes

cows

pwond

THE U.P!!!!!

I take back saying that MI is mostly flat. Yesterday we got hammered with hills. It felt like we were going up hill all day. Even in the face of the literally uphill battle we made it to St. Ignace which is right over the bridge in the upper peninsula of MI (about a 70 mile day). To get to St. Ignace we had to cross the Mackinaw City Bridge which is the longest suspension bridge in the USA and the second longest in the world. This is so high off the water that it gets very windy so no bikes are allowed. To get across we had to call the bridge authority and for a $2 fee they picked us up and drove us across to St. Ignace. Today we woke up on Lake Michigan to a beautiful day and set off to conquer the U.P as it is known in these parts. All day we rode on route 2 which fallows Lake Michigan, it was very scenic. It was an awesome day of riding the sun was out and the wind was at our back. When we stopped for lunch we had already gone about 50 miles we decided to set our sights on Manistique which was another 40. We made great time and pulled in to town around 430!!!! We started at nine and stopped a 430 since we stopped for lunch and took a few bathroom/water/snack stops I estimate that our actual time riding was 6 hrs. This means that we averaged 15 mph. If we could do that every day we would be done in no time. I am at the public library now but we are headed to dinner hope every one is doing well.
-NEO

Business District

Stranger: where are you guys coming from?

Me: I started in nh and he started in up state ny

Stranger: (insert amazed and awe filled remark)

Me: ya we have come a ways

Stranger: so where are you guys going?

Me: im going to Wy and he is going to OR

Stranger: (insert even more amazed and awe filled remark)

Me: ya we still have a lot of miles ahead of us.

Stranger: Why are you guys doing that

Me: Fun

Stranger: confusion , more questions

 

I have variations of this conversation at least 5 times a day. I will admit that at it is kinda fun to see people’s shock and amazement but it is starting to get a little old. We now have a script down and recite it with out even thinking. Most of the people that we have been meeting cant seem to wrap their heads around what we are doing. Well any ways I am back in the good old USA Traverse City  Michigan to be exact.  This means that I have now completed nh, vt, ny and Canada. We had a few days of great weather but the last two days it has been raining like crazy. During the sunny weather we have started to develop some interesting tan lines. Andrew has a killer sunglasses tan and my arms a burnt from the elbow down from rolling up my sleeves.  Although the weather hasn’t been cooperating this hasn’t impeded our progress. We managed to still ride 80 and 75 miles in the rain. If every thing goes as planed we should be in the Upper Peninsula in 2 day. MI has been pretty nice, relatively flat with a few rolling hills lots of farm country and tons of deer. One day we must have seen at least 10 deer dead on the side of the road. We later found out that there is a big problem with car accidents involving deer. The worst thing that has happened in MI besides the rain was one day we hit a bridged that was under construction and had to go 15 miles out of our way to get around it. This happened at the end of the day so we were pretty tired as it was. its late now and I am to tired to write any more hopefully we will get some more internet soon so I can update again.

Ps

Shout out to Ben Hall, Jen, and the Keenans for putting me up along the way you guys were all awesome

Another note I have never eaten as much as I have been on this trip I amaze my self every dinner even with the amount I have been eating I still have lost 5 lbs

-NEO

Apply Liberally

The law of averages holds true we are now paying for all the great weather we have had. Be for I get more in to the weather let me catch you up on what has transpierced since my last post. While writing my last post I was also chatting up the librarian, telling here where I was from and what I was doing. As the library was closing I was asking her if she had any restaurant recommendations or any suggestions for where we could camp, she made a few suggestions. Andrew and I then went out side and started packing up right as we were about to head out the librarian came out with her husband, they said that if we didn’t want to camp out we were more welcome to come stay with them. It had been a wile since our last shower so we quickly agreed. We packed our bikes in there mini van and headed to their house. We found out that the librarian was named Debbie and her husband was named Harry also they had 5 kids all boys: Andrew, Hayden, Owen, Harrison and Hunter. The kids ranged from ages 5 to 17. This family was totally awesome they fed us dinner (hamburgers) gave us beds and even did our laundry. In the morning they fed us breakfast and then drove us back to the trail. Talk about trail magic!!!!!! The day of riding after this stay was also awesome. Miraculously the strong wind that had previously been a head wind had done a 180 and was now at our back (law of averages proved once again). We started crushing out miles like no bodies business. At one point in they day it was really blowing and we were cranking on a flat stretch at 30+ mph. We ended up with a new mileage high at 94!!!!! Getting closer to a century. It rained all that night but we got the tent up b4 it started so stayed nice and dry but not for long. When we woke up the rain hadn’t stopped. We ended up hitting the trail let because we were dredging the weather.  The riding was miserable wet and cold the worst combo. During a water brake we decided we were defiantly going to stay in a motel so we took out the map to see where we could stop for the day. 90 fu*$ing miles till the next motel not happening!!!!! So are longest day was fallowed up by our shortest day 26. It looks like the rain is gonna keep coming so that’s a bummer but I guess this is what we singed up for.  We should be out of Canada with in the next too days. Canada has been pretty good but what is up with milk in bags it all over this place. Also they love Tim Hortons up here its like some crazy addiction. To address some of the comments from my last post: my nuts and nips are doing fine lots of gold bond. My gear has been working well brought just about the right amount. Here are some pics that I have taken so far.

-NEO 

                                                             the vangriekens our canadian hosts

                                                            andrew

                                                           eire canal  
                                                         jens house



                                                      starbuckel

                                                    VT



                                                 first night camping

                                                  just past dublin 

first post

For all of you who don’t know I am currently riding my bike from Manchester NH to Jackson Hole Wyoming. I am currently on day 14, I have completed 3 states NH, VT and NY. I am now in Ontario Canada. I started out the trip alone but in Long Lake NY I met up with a kid named Andrew who was biking to Oregon. He was taking the same route that I am until Montana so we have been riding together. I have been averaging about 75 miles a day, my longest day was 90 mi and today was my shortest at 35 (rest day). I am currently in Dunnville Ontario at the public library they are about to close so we are gonna go find a place to eat and then go check out a nearby campground. Unfortunately since it is so early in the season most camp grounds are closed but some times we can still set up camp at them. Other places we have camped so far are: behind a church, on a baseball field and next to the erie canal. I have had great weather so far except it was really cold in the adks. Since being in Canada we have had a killer head wind which has sucked. I am about to get logged off so I am gonna go. I will try to give an update soon and up load some pics.
-neo