Continental Divide

We got up early and were out of Sargents CO by 7 am. We crossed the continental divide around 10:30 this morning. At 11,300 feet it was pretty exhilarating. They had a gondola which we took to the top of the mountain, about 12,000 feet. From there you could see several hundred miles. It was an extremely clear day. We were fortunate. A few days ago they had 3 inches of snow, and before that forest fires obscured all the views with 70 mph winds, so we lucked out. From there we rode down the mountain another 47 miles from the summit, to Cotopaxi CO. We faced a huge headwind after we got down the mountain, which, when combined with the trucks, made it pretty slow going. We will be leaving very early tomorrow to get to Pueblo CO by early afternoon (to beat the winds), and onto the flats of Kansas. We are both very excited, and looking forward to no more summits and a nice tailwind!

Sargents, CO

Today we reached Sargents, CO after biking 99 miles in the last two days. Today was much easier than yesterday, being mostly flat opposed to dealing with three summits. But tomorrow we push on, going over the ten mile long incline with a summit of 11,400 ft, marking the highest ascent in our trip, and crossing the continental divide. Meanwhile, back at our cabin, we met another cyclist, Ilia, who is riding offroad on the continental divide trail, (covering every peak in the Rockies). We are the first people he has seen in four days! Aside from that however the scenery is beautiful, filled with many animals such as prairie dogs, hummingbirds, red-winged blackbirds. The hills around us seem big, but nothing compared to the summit we face tomorrow!

Connor's First Day/Montrose CO

We made it to Montrose today. While we only covered 64 miles toward the completion of our journey, we ended up biking 84 miles, thanks to an error I made in navigation. It was Connor's first day, leaving from Telluride. Anyway all in all it was a good day, we look forward to getting through Colorado in the next two to maximum three days, and then on to the flats of Kansas.

Telluride CO

We made Telluride, CO today. Cameron flies out tomorrow, going back to his summer internship program. Connor flies in tomorrow,and he and I will continue back east on the 28th from Telluride. We have about 1,000 miles down and 2,500 miles to go. Telluride is an amazingly beautiful mountain town, and today is the mountain film festival, which makes it especially fun to be here. Despite fleeing across the state of Utah the wind continues to dog us and makes biking that much more of a fight. We have met a number of interesting people on the trip so far. Those that stand out include a German couple, Winifred and Gottfried, who are from Wiesbaden Germany. They started in Orlando Florida, and we're heading trough Phoenix to San Francisco. They were using bikes with small electric motors that allowed them a little help on he it mountains, the small addition certainly made all the difference when pedaling up the mountains. We wished we had those on a few of the summits! We also met a guy who was from Australia. He had come from the desert on the same route as the Germans and was covered in heat blisters. That gave us extra motivation to make sure we did not end up the same way going through the desert, after liberally applying sunblock we continued on our way. Then, most interestingly was the guy who was riding his horse, from San Francisco, going to New York accompanied by his dog. He was riding in honor of his parents, both of whom had died from cancer. A few days outside of Baker Utah his horse got attacked by a mountain lion, the horse bucked him and he was left with a few broken ribs. As he limped his way in Baker his dog was then bit by a snake just utside of town. After coming in on skin and bones, they slowly nursed him, his horse and his dog back to health in Baker Utah. He got into town a few weeks before us and purportedly has continued his trip across America. The stories we have heard reaffirmed our decision to stick to the roads and travel on bikes, fortunately we have yet to encounter anything as severely hazardous as a mountain lion or snake on our travels.

Cedar City Utah

We left again early in the morning before 5:00 am, to beat the wind. Fortunately, just across the way was an old fashioned diner that was open 24/7. Equipped with coffee and breakfast we headed out on our journey. We had a relatively easy ride of just 54 miles to Cedar City, Utah. Due to the proximity of multiple world renowned national parks we have modified our route to allow us to visit them, albeit shortly, for a period of time. W plan on stopping by Zion and Bryce, both of which are touted at every availability by the populace and billboards which command attention along the highways. The weather here is hot and dry, although Utah clearly has a lot more green than Nevada. the mountainsides are composed of verdent greens which are a stark contrast to Nevada's comtinual shades of brown which seeming roll on endlessly throught thie valleys and mountains with which we have become so familiar. The canyons are more striking because of the green junipers, and long grasses. The contrat between the red cliff walls and green shrubbery evokes a feeling of awe within the mind, especially with the knowledge that this only happens here. The wind is still very strong here, making biking a challenge. From Milford to Car City the wind seems to penetrate all manner of life, nary a moment goes by without the trees and grasses being buffeted.

Photos of the Trip (5/23)

A rock formation on the way to Baker, NV

Early morning biking to Milford, UT

Heading through Connors Pass

Passing by the State Prison

Us on the way to Milford, UT

Entering into Utah! 

The plains while heading to Milford, UT

Ely NV - Baker NV - Milford Utah

Monday we headed out of Ely, Nevada, initially with plans to go to Piochet NV, which was 104 miles. However we faced a very strong headwind, with gusts so bad that at times we had to stop and walk the bikes going up some of the summits. Based on the winds, we revised the schedule and instead went to Baker, Nevada. We got there, 64 hard miles later. We got a hotel in Baker ok, but found out that, of the two resturants in town, one had closed due to lack of supplies, the other resturant's cook had quit. So we ended up with no dinner and no breakfast. After rummaging throughout the general store, which was also painfully low on supplies, we were able to get some sustinence from the local store, and had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner, and cereal for breakfast. We were out the door the next morning at 4:45 am, in an attempt to beat the winds. We crossed the state line into Utah at about 5:15 am, and did 84 miles, going to Milford Utah. We crossed three summits, fortunately this time the wind switched and was with us, and we got into Milford by about 1:00 pm.

Austin - Eureka - Ely NV (157 miles)

We went from Austin to Eureka NV last night, and on to Ely today. That brings us to over 500 miles in the last eight days. We are exhausted, but happy with the progress. Tomorrow will be our first rest day and one well earned. Itis hard to believe that we've been at this for eight days and have come so far. It still seems surreal, the thought of having to transition back into the real world is one that is best put off. Austin was the remnants of an old mining town that used cyanide to find microscopic amounts of gold. Today it was nearly empty with abandonded buildings dotting the mountainside. We went through Devil's Gate to enter Eureka. Devil's gate is a natural formation of rocks that formed a gate around the Lincoln Highway that we have been following. We imagined having to traverse the countryside in a wagon, and to come upon such a perfect setting for a Native American set ambush must have been quite the feeling. Eureka was a livelier town, when we entered there was a drag race and an antique car show. The cars were amazing and it spoke to the talent of the mechanics in Nevada. Ely is an old mining town, but substantially larger than where we have stayed in he last few days, with a population of 7500. This weekend is the Silver State car race and car show, so rooms are at a premium. You can quantitatively determine that Ely is a larger town simply by the increased number of casinos. We counted four just entering the town and I am certain that a closer inspection tomorrow will reveal plenty more. The number of casinos is almost incomprehensible and really has almost defined Nevada for us. Fortunately the numerous mountain and valley chains that we have been biking have left a larger impression on our minds and our legs. People have been incredibly nice on the trip so far. We had a couple of people stop and ask if we needed help, including one state trooper. Fortunately Cameron was quick enough to snap a hilarious shot of Ray negotiating his way out of additional help from the state trooper.

Photos of the Trip (5/19)

The American River Bike Trail in Davis, CA

Us Crossing into Nevada

Entering Austin, NV

On the way to Middlegate, NV

Some writings in between the salt flats on our way

to Middlegate, NV. Hundreds of them on the trail! 

The Middlegate Pony Express Station

Route 50, the loneliest road in America! 

Austin NV

We had a good night in Middlegate. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, the food was fantastic, and the atmosphere was very memorable. We managed to stay up late enough to see the stars. Away from lights and the city you could see everything, it was marvelous. We stopped at Cold Springs NV in the morning which was another Pony Express station. The route was desolate on the way to Austin. We crossed scenic valleys, and two mountain ranges. Essentially Nevada is made up of mountain ranges with long stretches of valleys in between. The rest of our time in Nevada will be spent climbing mountains and crossing barren plains. We stopped for lunch under a sage brush at the top of one of the maountain ranges. After crossing another long plain we were quite happy to pull in to Austin by the end of the day. A small mining town built right into the mountain, Austin is home to small shops and a few small houses which dot the mountain top.

Middlegate NV

Today was a good day, a very good day. We made 114 miles, from Carson City NV to Middlegate NV. Middlegate NV is one of the old Pony Express stations, so there is quite a bit of lore. Interestingly the Pony Express only existed for 18 months, and ended when the telegraph was invented. Nonetheless we got a good feeling for how hard it must have been to ride the distance on a horse. As painful to admit as it is, the pony express probably made better time than us, but they definitely had less fun. There is a bar here and a few trailers, and that is about it. The main mode of transportation other an cars is dune buggies. We managed to pass a bombing range while on 50 that is evidently quite active due to the stories of several folks going up the mountains and watching the explosions when they can. We are traveling along Route 50, or the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln Highway was he first paved road across the United States. It also has the knickname as the loneliest road in America, which we can attest to. After we got rough Fallon cars were pretty uncommon, and the temperature broke 100 degrees. Anyway all in all it was a very good day.

Carson City, capital of Nevada

I suppose an explanation is in order. We stayed the night of the 13th in a quaint bed and breakfast named and run by Lucienda. A charming old woman she ushered us on our way and we began our ascent to Kirkwood. This ascent composed of a 5500 foot climb over the span of 56 miles with a 800 foot basin thrown in for good measure. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We managed to stop for lunch at Cook's Station admist the passing tractor trailers at noon and voraciously attacked what was placed in front of us. Sated, we promptly continued our ascent and managed to make it into Kirkwood, population 48, at 5:30. Kirkwood is a ski resort that is more or less uninhabited during the summer months, which we were made painfully aware of by discovering that there was noone manning front desk, just our key and a pamphlet about Kirkwood. Finding our room and the bunk beds inside we began to search for our next meal. A few phone calls later we were back on the bikes and bolting to the only restaurant open in 40 miles. After that we returned to our bunk beds and prepared for the next day. Despite being nearly abandoned there was a general store, and after a quick breakfast we scaled the Sierra Nevada and made it to Carson's Pass, elevation 8573 feet. Having conquered the mountain and appropriately feeling on top of the world we flew down the other side and were granted some of the most beautiful scenery one could imagine. The snow runoff had created newly formed streams which bubbled with noise and life. The trees were a full green, the kind only granted during the spring months. As we made our way down the mountain the air gained a palpable dryness to it and the scenery change was quite vivid. While there was still green to be found, underneath the shrubs there was a brown that slowly began to envelope the landscape. Crossing the California Nevada border and successfully knocking out one state in four days brought us into Carson City, Capitol of Nevada. Exhausted and weary, we made our way to the hotel and began to plan for the next day.

It's all uphill from here

We made it to Fair Play, 81 miles in total from Davis. It was a long day. We spent the majority of the day on the American River Bike Trail, which was very nice. Davis and Sacramento are relatively close, and both are very Ike friendly communities. What is nice in particular about the American Bike Trail is that it follows the American River, which is very broad and picturesque. It made us both wish that more of the communities in the United States made biking a similar priority. Compared to biking in the northeast this is a dream.

Davis, California; Biking capital of the world

Having pedaled through the day we stopped in Davis, California. We grabbed dinner at a quaint restaurant called the Black Bear Diner and planned our next day. We plan on biking 40 miles to Folsom, California, which is generally a flat straight away, before noon. Stop and grab lunch somewhere and then continue on uphill for 40 miles to Failay, California. This will be a good test of how we'll handle the Seirra's as the incline is generally the same. After finding a hotel and promptly crashing we awoke before the sun and headed back to the Black Bear Diner, which had fortunately changed music styles from old country to a 50's blend. Listening to Frank Sinatra we finished our breakfast and head out on Day 2 of our journey across America. 1:00 pm. Stopped in Folsom CA for lunch. 40 miles done, another 40 to go to Fair Play CA. Unfortunately the next 40 is UPHILL,

Dawn of the First Day

It has all come down to this, weeks of planning and testing our endurance have culminated into a morning of nerves and excitement. We leave on a 7:50 am flight from Philadelphia. It is a beautiful day in New Jersey, one of those days that makes it tough to leave. With the winds at our backs we should arrive in San Francisco at 11:00 Pacific time. The plan is to pick up the bikes from a local bike shop that we had them shipped to, and then catch the 12:45 ferry to Vallejo. Strangely enough our journey starts on a boat rather than on a bike. However, I'm sure the thousands of miles will make up for the few moments of infidelity with a boat. We plan to make Davis, a paltry 45 miles, by evening and complete the first day.