Jerry Porter's PAC Tour Adventures

Day 18 Santa Fe, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico 100 Miles

2011-07-29T23:56:00.000-05:00

Yes, we made it! Safe and successful trip for everyone on Ridge of the Rockies PAC Tour 2011.

More details to come tomorrow.

One last breakfast in the parking lot and then the group gathered for a photo. What an incredible group.

Our fantastic crew.

Front Row: Christopher, Rebecca, Lon, Susan, and Martha

Back Row: Tracy, Bill, Phil, Zoe, and Barb

We rolled along pretty quickly with some tailwinds and lots of downhills.

Kevin won the auction for the signed map for $1,200 that will go to charity work in Peru

Steve receiving his plaque from Lon and Susan

Lon and Susan with the crew.

Day 17 Chama, New Mexico to Sante Fe, New Mexico 109 miles

2011-07-28T23:13:00.000-05:00

Second to last day that started chilly, but with french toast with the normal oatmeal in the parking lot. The ride was one of the most beautiful of the trip. We rode Rt 84 south to Los Brazos, Vebolla, Hernandez, Espanola, and on into Sante Fe. We had stops at 25, 47, 60, and lunch at 80 and one last stop at 97 miles. Good thing because it was hot (100+ degrees) and we were going through the fluids quickly. See Michael's recount of the ride at this link.

Got in early with Bruce so when we parked the bikes we walked down the block with Matty and Bret and had a beer. After cleaning up the bike and getting the bag to the room. I took a swim in the pool. Nice and refreshing, but the clouds had rolled in and made it a bit chilly.

Many miles of chipseal...

Great views all day long

PAC Tour trailer

What a wild ride chasing Bruce and Michael down many, many miles (10+) of downhill at 30+ mph.

We caught up with Steve and I rode along till the next break

Brett (AZ) and Steve at that next rest stop

Lots of great downhill riding today

Camel Rock...

Sante Fe near the square. It was a great day and a cool finish in the old section of town.

Steve and I walked around the square and found the El Meson tapas restaurant and made reservations for 8:00 PM. We relaxed near the hotel at the Winebar with a nice glass of Pino and hung out at the room for a while. On our way back to the El Meson we saw Walt and he joined us. The dinner was excellent with a bottle of wine that Steve picked because his son-in-law knows the distributor in Spain. Steve also ordered a special plate of Iberico ham that was fabulous. Great end to a good day. Thanks for the card Kim, can't wait to see you in two days!

Day 16 South Fork, Colorado to Charma, New Mexico 90 miles and 6,500'

2011-07-27T19:04:00.000-05:00

After what was pretty much a day off, Wolf Creek Pass was much easier. Not sure if it was the direction we climbed, the time of day (only a couple miles from the hotel), or the short day before. But it was still 19 mile climb to 10,550' elevation. The descent was good, not much traffic and pretty smooth. We basically went downhill to Pagosa Springs and South on Route 84 towards Charma. Breaks were at 11, 19, 46, and 66 miles. Lunch at 46 miles was early, about 10:30 AM but was excellent, pasta, meatballs and some nice bread.

We had some construction in New Mexico and had to follow a pilot car. Always a bit tricky on a bike, sometimes the flagman at the other end does not wait for bicycles to get through and you have traffic headed back at you on a single lane road. Did not happen to me, but Jim and others had that situation.

Rolled into town and saw Jim heading the other way for ice cream, so I joined him for a 2:30 snack, cheeseburger and a small malt. Now that is a recovery meal. Steve and I are headed out to limited dinner choices later.

I was so bundled up this AM climbing Wolf Creek Pass that I did not take any pictures until we reached the top. Here we are at the rest stop at the top.

Yes, my first flat (puncture) on PAC Tour. I had a steelbelt tire wire stuck in the front tire after the descent. The Brits were wonderful helping me change the tube and get going quickly.

Almost all the bicycles racked at lunch. I would guess that it would be a big bill to replace them all.

Bret stopped for a coffee and is coming into lunch as we are leaving.

Great roads with less traffic than the last couple days. The temperature today was just perfect and not much wind.

A couple of big driveway arches today

Rode with Bruce much of the afternoon.

Jim rolling out of the last stop of the day

David and Andrew exchanging pleasantries in Ozzie slang.

Bruce and I got to ride and chat with Lon for a while this afternoon. I heard Lon tell three jokes this afternoon, I couldn't believe it.

Coming up on the New Mexico state line and I said they should smile for the photo and they all scattered.

Lon then asked a few of us to pose at the state line.

Quite a large group waiting for the construction and pilot car to lead us through

Rolling into Charma

Great day in all. Two more days left. So happy to get a card from Kim today. Thanks!

Day 15 South Fork, Colorado to Creede, Colorado 50 miles

2011-07-26T16:11:00.000-05:00

A group of us deiced to take it easy today and sleep in a bit and do a short 22 mile ride to Creede for breakfast. Bruce, Peter, Peter, Ron, Steve, and I pedaled up the beautiful valley along the Rio Grande River from South Fork to Creede. Great views of the mountains and the river. The valley is dotted with homes right along the river and a couple of RV parks and resorts.

Creed is a booming little tourist town with an Orvis fly shop and many arts and other shops. We had breakfast at the Firehouse restaurant and our waiter was from Ceder Rapids, IA and asked if we were on "RAGBRAI" like ride. He commented that he was missing RAGBRAI this year after riding it the last couple years because he had a music job at the theater in Creede. Music major could not pass up a paying drum gig.

Peter pulling the group up the valley with a chilly headwind this AM.

Steve pulling Peter along. When we stopped, Steve even added his rain jacket layer. Must have been in the high 50s.

Bruce and Peter riding into Creede

Bruce sitting in front of the hardware store sending picture messages to his wife.

Riding out of town after a long breakfast at the Firehouse and a little shopping in Creede.

On the way back to South Fork, we realized how much of a climb it was on the way up to Creede

Rafters and fishermen were floating down the Rio Grande above South Fork

Peter in front of the best driveway arch of the day.

Just after three o'clock now and some of the riders that went all the way to the top of the pass for the optional ride, 100 plus miles. They fought the wind up and back, sounds like our little ride to Creede was a good choice. Thanks!

Day 14 - Durango, Colorado to South Fork, Colorado 117 miles

2011-07-25T22:58:00.000-05:00

After yesterday's big ride, today was quite a challenge. I road with Steve, Peter, Peter, and Bruce for twenty or so miles and then hung with Bruce and Drew for quite some time, lunch. But as the day wore on, I seemed to wear down quickly. By lunch at 85 miles or so I was cooked and I had an eight mile climb over Wolf Creek Pass to do as soon as lunch was done. I tried to stick with Bruce as we pulled out of lunch, but I fell back a good five minutes by the time we got to the top. It took me almost an hour and forty-five mintues to get to the top. Once there, I put on arm warmers, vest, and a rain jacket. It was sprinkling for the last 20 minutes of the climb and it went from 95 degrees at the start to 60 degrees at the top of the pass. The descent was a little wet and included a couple tunnels. The second one was much longer (3 blocks) and very steep. Good thing it was a downhill roll into South Fork with a tailwind.

The Seattle guys had some trouble today. Don broke his carbon crank arm right where the pedal screws in. I think he finished the ride on a loaner bike. Tom was riding down the pass and hit a rock and had a blowout that took the tire off the wheel. He was able to stay upright and get stopped, but it could have been so much worse. The rim had some damage, but seems to still work.

Two options for dinner, we picked the Swiss Chalet. Excellent meal with Bruce and Steve.

Tomorrow, we have options. Could do another 100 mile day up a pass and back, or, sleep in and take an easy ride about 20 miles out and see how we feel. I am sure it will not be the up the pass option.

Bret doing a nice job of getting out of sight for a nature break

Bruce and Drew pulling me all morning long

Biggest driveway arch so far

Up Wolf Creek Pass we go

Tough day. Glad to be in and done. Thanks!

Day 13 Montrose, Colorado to Durnago, Colorado 112 miles and 8,000' Climbing

2011-07-24T22:45:00.003-05:00

Today is July 24, my 48th birthday. I have to say it was one of the best. Only if Kim could have celebrated with me, she did send a wonderful card and called tonight, thank you. Such great people on PAC Tour, it was wonderful to celebrate with you all. I cannot believe the quality of people you meet on PAC Tour. They are all so successful at what they do and have accomplished so much professionally and on the bike. Thank you all for a very special day.

We rode Route 550 South out of Montrose in bright sunshine and a steady uphill for about 2,000'. We had rest stops at 25, 40, 62 (lunch), and 77 miles. Our route had us go through Ridgeway and then Ouray over the top of Red Mountain Pass at 11,118' and then down into Silverton for lunch. After eating too much, we started the climb out of Silverton for 7 miles. Descend 4 miles, and climb for another 3 miles. Then it was almost all downhill to Durango. Amazing how the road had very little shoulder or guardrail over the pass. A long way down if things went wrong.

Pictures currently uploading. No internet at hotel tonight... Updated with some of the pictures from:
http://picasaweb.google.com/106774350909964395923/July242011

Best driveway arch of the day

On our way to Ouray, a little lake along the highway

Rest stop #1

Hammertime keeping ahead of Bret

Heading into Ouray and our first climb of the day

Downtown

Mountains on all sides of Ouray

Climbing all day - over three passes

Bruce on climb #1

Seemed very steep

Rest stop at the top of the first climb

Beautiful waterfalls as you look over the edge of the road.

Trying to get a shot to give you a sense of how little shoulder was on the road and the fall you would take if you messed up just a bit.

Water coming down from the snow in the mountain

Climb #2 - Red Mountain

Feeling good so far

Bruce looking good on Red Mountain Pass

Climb #3 Coal Bank Summit

Day 12 - Grand Junction, Colorado to Montrose, Colorado 115 miles, 8,000' Climbing

2011-07-23T23:13:00.000-05:00

Day 12 started as most other days on PAC Tour with breakfast in the parking lot of the hotel. Oatmeal and today we had some scrambled eggs. It was an early start, 6:30 breakfast, due to the climbing and mileage for the day. My camera battery died yesterday in the Colorado Monument Park so I charged it last night, but forgot to put the XD memory card back in it. So, as we rode out of town this morning and I clicked my first shot of the Grand Mesa, it said "Memory Full". I stopped at an Ace Hardware and a truck stop along the interstate, but no memory card. So a very weird day not taking pictures. So today pics are from Drew Carlson who agreed to share the shots he took today, thanks Drew!

I rode out of town with Steve and a group of 5 or 6 people including Andrew and Bronwyn on the front of the pace line. After the stops, Bruce caught me and we rode together the rest of the day.

We had rest stops at 33, 43, 53, 88 (lunch), and 101 miles. The climb up the Grand Mesa was long and steep (7% estimate) with basically no breaks. I was pretty tired this AM after not sleeping well due to the long hot day before. So it was a weird day, I was struggling to stay focused and awake on the long descent down from the Grand Mesa. That and we all struggled somewhat with the hot weather, high 90's most of the afternoon.

Just after we exited the I-70 freeway, we road along the river. Ron and Peter in there pink kits.

Powderhorn Ski area at 41 miles into the day and 3,800' of climbing so far.

Cassy zipping up the climb.

We road by that white face early on the climb and watched it all the way up.

The view from the long steady climb.

The top of the Grand Mesa is dotted with beautiful lakes.

Ron riding almost the exact same bike as mine.

The last thirty or so miles of flat into Montrose this afternoon were really rough and hot (over 100 degrees).

When we arrive at the hotel, the bags are unloaded, room keys ready and rooms assigned. It is time to wash the bike and make sure an necessary repairs are completed.

The "Adopt a Highway"Jersey was awarded today.
Bruce has been having a hard time determining what signs we are supposed to sprint to. I keep telling him the green town signs. I have cut him some slack due to the fact that he does not have the corrective lens inserts for his sunglasses and keeps sprinting and beating me to all the wrong signs. After all his victories, he is convinced he has collected enough "Adopt a Highway" signs to be the jersey winner. His wife has been in Grand Junction for a few days visiting family so Bruce got to see her after the ride last night. I know she has been a faithful follower of the blog and felt bad about his sprinting "issues" and made him this lovely jersey yesterday. So at the hotel tonight before dinner, Bruce was awarded the "Adopt a Highway" white and blue jersey, Congratulations Hammertime!

Day 11 - Rangely, Colorado to Grand Junction, Colorado 113 miles and 6,000' Climbing

2011-07-22T23:01:00.001-05:00

Day 11 was long and hot. But it also included a bonus twenty-some miles through the Colorado National Monument that was epic. We detoured and Steve bought his life-time senior park pass for $10 that let me in too. The other option was for each of us to pay $5.00 to ride bikes through the Monument. We entered the park and climbed over 2,000' up perfectly smooth roads with little traffic to the top of the rim road. The road winds to the top of the canyon and follows the edge for miles. Breath taking views all along the way.

The morning portion of the ride was pretty uneventful other than the fact that we climbed Douglas Pass at 8,200'. I rode with the Brits and Ron and Anne from PA. Anne has four belt buckles from the Leadville 100 mountain bicycle race. An achievement beyond what most could ever do.

We had rest stops at 21, 40, and lunch at 72 and were scheduled to be done at 92, but we added on the monument. Douglas Pass was a beautiful climb that was really steep. I could have used a triple, but we made it. Sunny and hot, was the weather for the day and the pass, lucky, because I think it could get pretty rough going over the pass. The descent seemed to go for ever and ever to lunch in Loma. We continued down the road to Fruita and then to the park.

Looking down from while climbing Douglas Pass.

Riding with Anne and Peter

Another shot while climbing the pass

Former World Champion Triathlete Kristen Ames.

Still climbing the pass

Along RT 27 prior to Loma

Anne climbing along RT 27

Peter climbing along RT 27

Kevin (RAM Solo rider) riding his fixed gear bicycle

Yes, one driveway arch today

After lunch in Loma, Colorado

Entering the National Monument

Was a perfect ride up the rim road

Tunnel, uh oh!

Balancing rock

The views of the canyon were spectacular

What a ride! Another one tomorrow. Thanks! More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/106774350909964395923

Day 10 - Vernal, Utah to Rangely, Colorado 52 miles

2011-07-21T21:46:00.000-05:00

The day after the big ride into Vernal that everyone was worried about was a very short and easy one. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant 7:45 AM. Nice to sit on a soft seat and be in no hurry. We rolled out of the parking lot after 9 AM. Rest stops at 20 and 32 miles. Lunch at the hotel at the end of the ride at 52 miles. Great lunch of brats and corn on the cob.

The weather for our short ride to Colorado was perfect and started out riding past the pink dinosaur. Vernal, UT is very industrial with lots of morning truck traffic. Many businesses supporting the gas and oil fields.

The long, winding road out of Vernal, UT

Out past the Green River

Rode with Peter, Peter, Ron, and Steve for a while this AM. Here is Peter from Chelmsford, Essex.

Here is Ron from Anaheim, CA. He shared with me the story of being shot in the line of duty as a Sheriff Deputy.

And Peter from Penarth S. United Kingdon.

Peter, Peter, and Ron met on a ride across the U.S. years ago and have been riding together annually.

Shooting from the hip a picture of Susan and Karl.

Another state line.

I rode with Gerry from Tucson for a while after rest stop #2.

One more driveway arch for the day

Making good progress and looking forward to the beauty of the Colorado Rockies

Pretty early morning tomorrow for our 92 mile ride to Grand Junction. We are planning a loop through the Colorado National Monument that will add 20 miles and a couple thousand feet of climbing. Fred Matheny says it is the best descent you will ever do!

Thank you.

Day 9 - Evanston, Wyoming to Vernal, Utah 150 miles and 8,550' climbing

2011-07-20T23:55:00.001-05:00

The day started early with a 5:30 AM breakfast and rolling out on the interstate at 6:00 AM. We did 28 miles East on I-80 to Exit #34. A portion of it was good due to the traffic being routed onto the West bound lanes. I rode out with Steve but Bruce caught up with us quickly and we had a little incident when I tried to catch up to him right as he was coming across the deep rumble strip and lead with his right shoulder sending me off the road. We both managed to stay up right and got a good laugh out of it after we both realized what happened. We rode through Mountain View, Lone Tree, Burnt Fork, McKinnon, and crossed the Utah boarder.

Bruce was riding strong up the climb so Brett and I had no chance of beating him to the state line. At this point we had already climbed 6,700'. The rest of the day was riding through the Flaming Gorge and then the descent down towards Vernal. We had five reststops including lunch at just about 100 miles and after a beautiful, 8% descent to the bottom of the gorge.

After lunch was a huge climb that we road up at 8% or so for about an hour and a half. The day really went well riding with Bruce and Brett. Bruce pulled most of the day. I would take a few pulls but really did not help that much.

We finished at just over 6 hours of pedaling with a 16.2 mph average. We found the hotel we were staying at and then looked for a DQ. Nothing jumped out at us, so we asked at the front desk of the hotel and she let us know that they do not have a DQ! We settled for a "Brain Freeze" at the coffee shack that included two shots of cappacino.

After laundry and cleaning up, I sat in the pool for almost an hour. Steve and I walked down to the Quarry restaurant and joined Bruce, Peter, Peter, Ron, and Reagan.

More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/106774350909964395923

The night before, Steve was hungry after dinner and he went down to the lobby and met these guys from near Des Moines, IA. One of the guys was riding a Boss Hog with a Corvette engine. I could not believe it and had to take a picture.

Steve riding the freeway out this AM into the sun.

The slow, steady climb up I-80. See the group of riders on the shoulder.

Once over the hill the landscape was covered with windmills.

Beautiful scenery all day.

One of the only driveway arches all day.

Good thing it was such a beautiful day for riding because seeing this far down the road can be though on the state of mind

Let the climbing start again.

This was such a stunning view for many hours today as we climbed out of the gorge.

The gorge had such great red and other color contrasts.

Could not get enough of this view.

Bruce and Brett climbing

Steep!

We passed some touring riders that had left one of the group behind with a cut tire. Lon was ready to offer assistance if he could get up to the van.

9 miles of down hill at 5% - 8% with 10 switchbacks!

After the long descent we still had 15 miles or so into town

Brett from AZ. You can see his blog at http://www.watchbrettride1900.com/

Day 8 - Mpntpelier, Idaho to Evanston, Wyoming 95 Miles and 2,680'

2011-07-19T22:13:00.000-05:00

Winning the sprint into Paris, tractors, and one big climb...

Beautiful day on PAC Tour if you don't mind some headwinds... Bruce and I road down Rt. 89 through the Bear Valley and towns including Orvid, Paris, Bloomington, St. Charles, Fish Haven, Bear Lake, and into Utah where we were met with some not so kind drivers. At one point, Bruce and I are riding down the road and an old pickup truck (oncoming) crossed over the yellow line, right at us and jammed on the horn as it sped towards us in our lane. We could see the driver and his passenger laugh. Ha, funny. Otherwise traffic was not too heavy, but it seems in Utah, they do not like cyclists.

We had great rest stops at 29, 52 and lunch at 80 miles. The 52 mile rest stop was after the descent and then the route took a hard right into a stiff wind for the rest of the day.

Steve and Mike rolling out after breakfast and luggage on the motel van

Riding out this AM we realized we should have road downtown to see a bit more of town. Carved bears everywhere.

This must have been a beautiful place in it's day

Hammertime! Bruce pulled me about 90% of the day today, THANKS!

We occasionally sprint for town signs (green ones with the population usually). Here Bruce is complaining again that he is unsure of what sign to sprint for...

No picture of the sprint into Paris (Idaho), but I made sure I got that one.

One of the nicer places along the road today. A lot of places were not so good...

We rode along Bear Lake for many miles and there were many beautiful homes, but the lake was really high and about to cause a lot of pain.

Beautiful homes on and overlooking the lake

The start of the big climb.

Hammertime climbing

At the summit. After 2.5 miles of 7% grade.

Barb on the climb

Randolph, Utah

Some John Deere tractors working today

Fixing the fence

Bruce did win the sprint to the Wyoming sign

Another John Deere working the valley

Rough country

The story of Almy, one of the coal towns that powered the steam trains across the U.S.

Only a couple driveway arches today. Generally life looks like it is a little hard around these parts.

Early start tomorrow and limited dinner choices.

The group all got in very early today with lunch only fifteen or so miles from the hotel. Not a lot of dinner choices in Evanston, so Mexican again for most. A general feeling of concern for tomorrow's ride has settled in over many. Tomorrow is 150 miles with 8,550' of climbing. We have breakfast at 5:30 AM and ride the interstate starting at six for 28 miles. Everyone is just hoping for good weather.

Day 7 - Jackson, Wyoming to Montpelier, Idaho - 117 Miles, 4,000' Climbing

2011-07-18T22:56:00.000-05:00

Another great day on PAC Tour. The first 36 miles (rest stop #1) was fun and beautiful, a great deal of downhill. We averaged just over 19 mph. We rode a bike trail out of Jackson that added to the up and down, but it was nice to be out of morning traffic. The Snake River Valley was a beautiful ride.

It warmed a little later today, but was overcast and cooler for quite a while. When it warmed, the wind picked up. I commented at one point that this is the coolest 80 degrees I have ever felt. A couple times it tried to rain on us, but never amounted to much. I was watching the morning weather and told Steve we did not need jackets, vests, or any thing today, it's gonna be a hot and sunny one. Well, Steve will not take my advice on what to wear again on this trip.

Amazing to have a 13 mile descent to end the day, to bad it was a head wind or we would have really been flying.

Riding out of Jackson on Rt. 89

Riding downhill along the Snake River valley for most of the morning.

Wyoming has some great driveway arches.

I believe we rode through three or four different National Parks/Forest. Targhee Forest, Bridger-Teton Forest, and Montpelier Canyon Park

Steve and I riding with Browyn and Andrew on an early, smaller climb.

Many beautiful views along the way today.

Greg riding along with us for a while this AM.

Peter, Peter, Ron, and Steve doing a climb. Lunch was in Smoot and we had completed 1,500' of climbing.

Two nice homes over looking the Salt River.

Afton, WY seems to be the Antler capital of the world.

And here is the world's largest antler arch to prove it. Right over Rt. 89, main street.

A couple of typical Wyoming bars on main.

You have to look close, but the sign is for "Dog-Eared Books" - new and used.

After lunch we climbed and climbed over the Salt River Pass at 7,630'.

Phil and his daughter Zoe.

Climbing the second big one of the day. Guessing about 3 miles of 7% grade.

Thomas helping Werner. Better to get the flat on the way up!

Start of what was a 13 mile descent into Montpelier, 3 miles at 7%

The start of the descent, trying to show how steep it is.

Karin descending behind me

Down into Montpelier Canyon

The National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier

Today's progress

The "Board" with dinner options, no fancy ones... Breakfast at 6:30 AM.

A lot more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/106774350909964395923/Jul182011

Steve and I finished the day as usual, clean the bike, get unpacked and cleaned up, have a beer and then go out to dinner. Tonight we got to see the TDF recap, yes the night we get Versus, it's a rest day. My hair was getting real long and bugging me so without the proper clippers, I had to shave it. I am sure it will be back in a couple days. Thanks for the comments.

Day 6 - Yellowstone Lake Village to Jackson Hole, WY

2011-07-17T22:56:00.000-05:00

Another great day on PAC Tour. Started cold at 39 degrees, but quickly warmed after we got to West Thumb and loaded onto the vans. National Park Service is not completely bicycle friendly and has closed the road to bicycles from West Thumb to Grand Teton National Park at Colter Bay Visitor Center, so we were shuttled down the road. The road really needs a shoulder for bicycles, currently would be a scary ride.

Riding back through Yellowstone Park this AM past the Marina on Yellowstone lake.

39 Degrees down by Lake Yellowstone

Riding through the Southern Park that burned.

The hot springs along Lake Yellowstone in the morning sun.

Looking across the lake riding to West Thumb

Grand Tetons!

We had plenty of fluff time this AM and rode past our turn to Oxbow Bend to get this view

The dominant feature along the road today, Grand Tetons

Jackson Lake Damn that creates the lake

View from a top the damn

Just amazing riding along these all day

Bruce "Hammertime"

Tour boats on Lake Jackson

We stopped at this turnout along the lake for almost an hour. We had plenty of time to get to Lunch at 1 PM on private land due to park restrictions and the whole touring company deal...

Our last stop before lunch.

Bruce took an immediate liking to the moose at the Moose Visitor Center.

Riding out after lunch through the beautiful valley

Bruce and I pulled a group down the valley towards Jackson. Having a great ride.

Jackson Hole Ski Resort

Jackson Visitor Center as we rolled into town at 3 PM

Sunday night in Jackson. We had dinner at a nice brewpub with a couple of beers. Again, another hotel without Versus and no TDF. We do have cell coverage and wifi so I got a chance to talk to my wife. Interesting contrast to the Lodge in Yellowstone with no TV, wifi, cell service... People sitting around the great room talking and listing to a string quartet. Very nice. 6:30 AM breakfast and 117 mile ride tomorrow. Take a look at Mike and Don's blog for the ride at http://www.2guyscactus.blogspot.com/

All my photos are on picasa http://picasaweb.google.com/106774350909964395923

Day 5 - West Yellowstone to Yellowstone Lake Village Lodge, 70 miles through the park

2011-07-17T22:11:00.000-05:00

Day 5 - West Yellowstone to Yellowstone Lake Village Lodge, 70 miles through the park

The day started a little later with breakfast in the parking lot at 7:30 AM and loading at 8:00 AM. This mornings low temperature was 36 degrees, but the sun was warm and it quickly became a perfect day to ride through the park. We rolled just a couple blocks to the West Entrance to the park at 6.667' looking a bit like Disney Land with 8 lanes of pay booths. The main road is pretty wide with good shoulders and is very smooth. It picks up the Madison River and follows it until we turned South at Madison about 25 miles in. You ride past Mount Haynes at 8,235 fet and National Park Mountain with a 7,500 peak.

The touring company Lon had to hire to get us through the two parks today and tomorrow was Teton Touring (they have a permit to lead bicycle tours through the parks) and they warned us at breakfast about crack crazed like drivers. People driving along the park road see animals along the way and do crazy things. They will not see you riding your bicycle or anything other than the animal, so beware. Not too far down the Madison this morning we saw the line of traffic stopped and sure enough, everyone was doing whatever they could to get pictures of some calves in a grassy, marshy area along the road. Not sure if it was Moose, Mule Deer or Elk calves.

I started the day in a vest and arm warmers and soon was taking them off as the temperature climbed. We took the right at Madison to do the South loop past Old Faithful. We stopped at every spot along the way that had a falls, a geyser, a hot spring, you name it. The road to the South picked up the Firehole river. We took the Firehole Canyon Drive that went past Firehole Falls. The info posted talked of the lava along the walls of the Canyon, just beautiful. The Firehole River leads right down the Geyser Basin, starting with the Lower, Fountain Paint Pot, the Great Fountain Geyser, the Midway Geyser Basin, and Upper Geyser Basin. Amazing how all the traffic stops at the first Geyser stop along the main road and how empty the next ones off the main road are.

Traffic was pretty constant all day, but with the wide shoulder, it was not a big deal. We climbed over Craig Pass at 8,262'. This was our first continental divide crossing and after a great descent and another climb we crossed the divide at 8,392'. Lunch was soon after at West Thumb and an easy ride into the Lake Village Lodge. After doing laundry and cleaning up, we hung out in the great room of the lodge where a string quartet was playing. Steve and I had dinner with Harry from West Virginia. Harry is done riding in Jackson Hole and will fly home. Enough typing and on with the pictures.

First animal spotting was just minutes after entering the park.

Same group of calves, elk, mouse, mule deer?

National Park Mountain

Firehole Canyon Drive

Firehole River

Bison

Hot springs

Blooming Thisle

Complicated day tomorrow with shuttling riders

Biscuit Basin

Old Faithful

Steve and I at Yellowstone Lake

Day 4 - Ennis, MT to West Yellowstone, MT 70 miles, 3,350' of Climbing

2011-07-15T23:59:00.000-05:00

Day four started a bit different from the rest. I walked downtown Ennis (1 block) and had a cup of coffee with the Seattle guys and a couple other riders at the coffee shop. Packed up and headed out with very little wind and lots of sunshine. Temps were in the upper 50s at the start and steadily climbed to a beautiful 75 or 80. We rode Rt. 287 for 30 or so miles and then down Rt. 87 and then Rt.191 and Rt. 287 into West Yellowstone. We had rest stops at 20, 42, and 63 miles. We had a late lunch was in West Yellowstone near the hotel that we got our rooms at 2:30 PM at one of the four Best Westerns on two blocks in town.

Every time I post a picture of a bicycle riding in front of me, I remember a comment a co-worker said to me... "Just a bunch of pictures of people's backsides..." Sorry, I do try to get different views.

Riding through the valley in with the Madison Range along the Madison River. One of the countries most popular fly fishing areas. High water from snow melt and rain have really hurt the areas bookings.

I rode with Thomas from Switzerland for a short time before he had a flat and I rode on. I should have asked him if he was a big Fabian fan.

Steve with lots of clothes on in AM.

Today was a big day for driveway arches.

Tiny town of Cameron. Had to get a shot for my nephew.

I rode with Andrew and Bronwyn from Adelaide and rode with them for quite a while. They are amazing riders. Walt was along for the ride for a short time.

All the boats were the exact same model. And many passed us on the road and were out fishing as well.

As the headwind picked up, the group got larger with most everyone taking a pull to get us down the valley.

Fly fisherman every where.

Now how's this for a cell tower?

Rode the last half of the day with Gerry and Lon.

Lon.

Lunch.

The board for the day.

Our journey so far.

Steve and Jerry guarding the laundry drying on the line after a great day on the bike.

Great pictures from Susan and the crew at the www.PACTour.com site. One of my favorites.
Steve and I had dinner with Bruce downtown tonight at Meadow Crossing. The restaurant and shops were in an old school house. Nice dinner. Bruce and Steve had the Huckleberry crem brule.

Tomorrow should be a great ride through the Park. Very excited to see Yellowstone via bike.

Day 3 - Butte to Ennis, MT 88 miles, 4,800' Climbing

2011-07-14T23:01:00.000-05:00

Today we had an easy, recovery day, only 88 miles to Ennis. However, the morning was full of thunderstorms and we waited an extra hour to get going from the Super 8, but still we road out of Butte in the rain. Within a few miles, I stopped and added a rain jacket. Eleven miles out of town we started the 1,200' climb up Pipestone Pass at 6,418'. I had just watched a couple of tour highlights from stage 12 watching riders go off the road on the first descent. So I was pleased when the road dried on the way down.

Riding out of town in the wet.

Steve in full rain gear.

Rode part of the day with Bruce again.

Steve minus a few layers.

Prior to our first rest stop at 33 miles. Really did not drink much as it was cool and wet this AM.

We rode a flat valley for many miles between Table Mountain and Root Mountains.

A very long valley.

Found a couple driveway arches. This is where Bruce told me he wrote in his journal last night that he is going to have to build an arch over his driveway in New Hampshire.

Nice arch!

Bruce and I rode with Bill and Tracy. They too are from NH, and really strong riders like Bruce. They crewed in 2008 on the Southern Transcontinental ride I did.

Bill pulling up a long climb up the valley.

Tracy asked me about taking pictures of JD tractors on this trip and I said, no, not many tractors around here. And then I saw this JD.

Bill and Bruce pulling us down the valley road.

Riding into Sheridan.

Bruce downtown Sheridan.

Warm and Dry at this point.

Trying to catch a picture of the church.

More big sky.

Some place Steve thought I should get a picture of.

Same place, different angle.

Nevada City.

You can pan for gold...

Almost at lunch in Virgina City.

Church

Lunch stop!

We made it to Ennis

Not many pictures after lunch. Steve and I stopped at a coffee shop and tried to wait out the rain before we started the last climb of the day. It worked a bit, but it started to rain as we made our 30 minute climb up the 4 mile climb. Temperature dropped below 45 degrees an the wind was strong. Very difficult descent with the wind buffeting us with traffic. Anything over 40 mph was very scary. Sailed into town, stopped at the pharmacy for Steve and the liquor store for a six pack. Different roommates tonight. Steve and I split up and had three to a room. Dinner at the Gravel Bar was okay, but the best part was that we sat there and watch 2 plus hours of tour coverage! Great day for BMC and Cadel.

Looking forward to another short day, all is well and having a good time. Thanks for following!

Day 2 - Missoula, MT to Butte, MT 137 miles

2011-07-13T23:11:00.000-05:00

Day 2 - Missoula, MT to Butte, MT 137 miles

What a great day! We had rain overnight again and breakfast in the parking lot. This AM, I chose the oatmeal with fresh strawberries. Not sure if anyone noticed I used the cream from the coffee table on my oatmeal. Pretty sure I am the only one of the group that is hooked on cream on my cereal and oatmeal for breakfast.

Steve and I rode out with Arnie from L.A. this AM. Cool morning, we got on I-90 at 17 miles and rode it for 18 miles. Noisy and not the best place to ride a bicycle. Rest stop at 34 miles.

Steve and Arnie.

Beautiful morning with good roads and shoulders.

Riding on the freeway, we did a paceline of 6 to get down the road faster. Brian from Winnipeg did a lot of pulling.

Up over a big climb on I-90.

Just after our reststop at Bear Mouth.

After a climb I found myself riding with Jim from LaCrosse and Matthias from Munich, Germany. Both are really, really strong on the bike. We road together until the reststop at 58.5 miles.

Rare moment out in front of Jim and his roommate Matthias.

Big Sky!

Sometimes while drafting you catch yourself looking down way too much.

Yard art.

Same place with more art.

Not nearly as many driveway arches today.

This field caught my eye.

Climbing by myself.

Nice driveway arch.

Lunch is in this town! The elevation cannot be right.

Mainstreet Phillipsburg.

Lunch was in the park and Christopher made hamburgers and baked beans for lunch.

Rode with Steve and Arnie after lunch.

Steve was very strong today pulling at 25 mph often.

Me climbing and relatively fresh.

Up to Georgetown Lake. Other bikers way across.

Thought to get the perspective of a 3,500' climb at 8% grade.

Mrs. PAC Tour Susan Notorangelo looking good on the climb.

Barb Bohaty our tour mesage therapist for the tour. She stopped to take a picture of the heart shape in the far wall. I told her no need to stop to take a picture. She didn't believe me that I go her in the picture.

Water flows from Georgetown Lake through the mountain at the top of the climb and creates this beautiful waterfall.

I took many pictures of this and got a couple good ones.

Looking back.

PAC Tour van and riders making the climb.

Arnie getting a vest out at the top. We both thought it was going to be cold on top. It was not, just a beautiful lake on top with lots of sunshine.

Arnie and the vest he did not need.

Shack on the water.

Took this one for Chris, Black dog furniture!

Then the skies turned. We powered through Anaconda (109 miles down) and man did it rain. Then it hailed. Dime size hail stings while riding the bike at 20+ mph.

A small group of us all hit the rest stop at 115 miles to take shelter from the rain and hail.

Look closely to see the hail on the ground.

Rolling into Butte, Steve thought this house looked like Spain.

Steve said I needed a shot of the IT Club...

We got in before 4 PM and it was a good thing because the wind picked up fast and it rained hard while we cleaned up and did laundry. Sunny and nice when we went to the Montana Club for dinner.

Looking forward to a short day tomorrow - 88 miles to Enus.

Thanks for checking out the blog, be sure to leave a comment. We love to hear who is following along.

Goodnight!

Day 1 - Kalispell to Missoula MT, 144 Miles

2011-07-12T23:04:00.000-05:00

Yes, we are underway! Very excited to start the Ridge of the Rockies. A beautiful morning, clear and cold with wet roads after an overnight shower. Started with arm and leg warmers and full finger gloves and a vest. Started peeling clothes from mile 5. Lon had warned it would be colder outside of town and it was not. It grew warmer and warmer all day to a peak over 90 degress after lunch. We road along the same road we drove into Kalispell, so much of it looked familiar until mile 110 when we turned right into a headwind on Rt. 200 West. Rode all day with Steve and Bruce. Bruce did a nice job pulling Steve and I after we ran out of gas at about 120 miles.

A beautiful start to the day at about 7 AM riding out of Kalispell.

Steve riding past Flathead State Park picnic area.

A very calm morning.

The shoulder on Rt. 93 South was narrow, rough, with lots of traffic.

Crossing the Flathead river

Steve cruising down the valley at 20 mph.

Riding past Gerry Goode, the oldest and nicest rider on PAC Tour, man he can ride.

I snapped this picture and told Gerry he looked better than ever, and he quickly replied, "I wished I felt better than ever!"

Snapping a shot of riders coming up from behind us. Most groups are 3-4 riders just as Lon requested.

A John Deere bailer, one of the few pieces of farm equipment I saw today Ron.

Riding along the beautiful valley thinking about what I should be taking pictures of...

Larry from Henderson, Nevada at rest stop #1 for the day. We have stops about every 25 miles through out the day.

Lon and Susan do a great job of picking beautiful spots for reststops and lunch. Here we are at Summit Lake.

Riding along Lake Inez.

Bruce pulling up the rollers along Lake Inez.

The lakes are so clear and beautiful with the mountains in the background.

Lake Inez.

Working hard to get a shot of myself doing down the road.

About 2,500' of climbing so far.

Peter and the guys from the U.K. are decked out in PINK.

Steve stopping to get a shot of the snow covered mountains we are riding along.

So much snow in July!

Finally, I got it! The blog will highlight all the massive structures over the driveways.

If you look close you can see the price for eating at the Hungry Bear.

A beautiful ranch along the road with snow covered mountains out back.

I thought that every one should have a rail caboose in the front yard after seeing this one...

Driveways with log arches...

Lunch at Summit Lake (80 miles from breakfast). Deli sandwiches, fruit, olives, pickles, salad, and I skip the chocolate cake for desert.

About 97 miles into the ride we get to Seeley Lake.

Nice Polaris dealer in Seeley Lake.

More arches.

Getting warmer.

The ditches are very grassy with very few weeds. Not sure why, but very noticeable.

Salmon Lake was beautiful.

This is the covered parking for the boat house and island resort on the lake.

Boathouse with parking garage on the street side.

Island home to go with the boathouse.

I think I could spend some time at this spot on the water.

More of Salmon Lake.

Yes, more arches.

Big Sky Country.

Rode the last 40 miles along the Blackfoot River.

Made for a great feeling of going down hill for hours.

And down, and down.

A great run it Missoula.

But, watchout for the Bighorn Sheep!

Starts all over again at 6:00 AM.

Three more days to get through Montana.

Thought a lot about my friends from PAC Tour 2008. I really miss chatting with Bob Johnson and Charlie Summers. Bob crashed earlier this year and we wish you a speedy recovery. I heard you got married since we last talked, congratulations!

Charlie, I think of you often. Wishing things are the best they can be in Kansas.

Steve and I had dinner at a great restaurant downtown that he had read about in Smithsonian magazine. The Elk medalians were awesome.

Day 0 - Get Registered, Ride, Meeting, Group Dinner

2011-07-11T19:50:00.000-05:00

Kim and Ron drove off in the little red wagon this morning, back to Rapid City. Thank you for everything.

We had a long breakfast at the TravelLodge and hung around until rider check-in started early at 8:30 AM. Steve and I are roommates and we checked out of our rooms and checked into our PacTour room, this time, I didn't have to move. So we got our packets with all the queue sheets, jersey, tee-shirt, name tags, luggage tags, rider list, and many more little items.

Pac Tour veteran Gerry G. with 1st timer Bruce F. at check in.

The "Official" route map.

What you need to know is on the board everyday. A must read!

Tracy, Barb, and Susan running the rider check-in.

Lon put together a 24 mile ride out and back on a bike path that we thought would a good little ride. So, Steve and I headed out with Bruce Farenwald from New Hampshire.

Bruce and Steve riding on a perfect day in Kalispell, MT.

Bruce and the Conola field in bloom.

Steve and Bruce and the mountains all around.

I missed the two John Deere's just to the left of this picture...

Steve looking to the mountains.

The rider meeting went well. Lon talked through three pages of PAC Tour Rider Meeting Outline. Many do's and don't around breakfast times, luggage, and hotels. A lot of common sense points about riding in smaller groups with people you have not ridden with before. Good safety points.

Off to dinner at the Mostly Moose Saloon for the one and only group dinner. Salad, pizza, and beer. Dark, interesting Western Saloon. Desert at the DQ was next, the purpose of which I believe was to get the group out of the bar. Steve and I sat with three of the riders from Washington, Tom, Don, and Mike. Jim and Lon also joined our table for some interesting discussions. Lots of riders that have ridden lots of great routes and miles.

Breakfast at 6:00 - 6:30 and depart at 6:30 - 7:00 AM. Looking forward to getting into the groove. Tomorrow - Kalispell to Missoula in 144 miles.

Day -1 - Kalispell Recover Ride in Glacier Park

2011-07-11T15:23:00.000-05:00

Ron and Kim decided to take a day in Kalispell and see Glacier National Park before returning home. This enabled Steve and I to get on the bike at the park and ride in the park up to almost the top of Logan pass. The pass is still closed and they do not expect to have it cleared until mid-July. The latest since the 1940's. The best part is that with the pass closed, they close the road and only allow the tour buses 5 miles from where they close the road to the sun completely at Ladybird Falls. Giving us an open road for 17 miles or so.

One of the many beautiful sights along the ride.

Me and one of the many snow covered peaks.

McDonald Lake in the park begging for a barefoot run.

Kim and Ron took the shuttle up the pass as far as it was open and hiked a good way up the pass that was open to bikers and hikers.

Hard to believe, but the Ranger at the road closing had pictures of the visitors center at the top of Logan Pass from three days prior and the snow was still over the roof of the building!

Steve and I road a total 36 miles and saw our first Brown Bear (small yearling) on the side of the road. Very happy to be going down the pass at 35 mph when we crossed paths. I warned the hikers coming up the road, but I think they hurried up the road to see it. Boy it felt good to spin after two days of driving and riding in the car.

Day -2 - Rapid City to Kalispell

2011-07-11T08:31:00.003-05:00

Not much to say other than man that's a long drive. Some beautiful scenery along the way, but sorry no pictures from the road, just this one at the hotel... We got in after 6 PM and got checked into the TravelLodge and went out to the Montana Club restaurant. Kalispell is a lot larger than I had pictured in my mind, very focused on Glacier National Park just 35 miles up the road.

Day -3 - Menomonie to Rapid City

2011-07-11T08:24:00.002-05:00

Early Friday morning, Kim, her father Ron, and I loaded up our new Jetta Sportswagon TDI and headed over to Steve and Dianne's house to pick-up Steve and his bike.

Once on the road, things went very smooth and had a very easy drive to Rapid City. We arrived at Heather's apartment just after 5:30 PM, unpacked the car, had a beer, wiped the bugs from our little red wagon and went downtown Rapid to an excellent dinner outside at the Wine Cellar restaurant.

Heather got up early, and feed us breakfast and we were on our way. Thanks Hez!

#	Day	Date	Start	Finish	Miles
Option: Arrive in Kalispell on your own and ride in Glacier Park Saturday, Sunday and Monday
1	Tue.	July 12	Kalispell	Missoula, MT	144
2	Wed.	13	Missoula	Butte, MT	134
3	Thur.	14	Butte	Ennis, MT	90
4	Fri.	15	Ennis	West Yellowstone, MT	80
5	Sat.	16	West Yellowstone	Lake Yellowstone (in the Park)	125
6	Sun.	17	Lake Yellowstone	Jackson, WY	130
7	Mon.	18	Jackson	Montpelier	117
8	Tue.	19	Montpelier	Lyman, WY	132
9	Wed.	20	Fort Bridger	Vernal, WY	123
10	Thur.	21	Vernal	Rangely, CO	54
11	Fri.	22	Rangley	Grand Junction, CO	94
12	Sat.	23	Grand Juction	Montrose, CO	119
13	Sun.	24	Montrose	Durango, CO	112
14	Mon.	25	Durango	South Fork	100
15	Tue.	26	South Fork	Sumgillion Pass (out-back)	130
16	Wed.	27	South Fork	Chama	80
17	Thur.	28	Chama	Sante Fe, NM	120
18	Fri.	29	Sante Fe	Albuquerque, NM	100
Fly home from Abuquerque Saturday, July 30

Pac Tour 2011 - Ridge of the Rockies!

2011-03-17T12:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am doing another Pac Tour! I am so excited to start training, plan, and participate in another serious bike ride.

Training outside started yesterday, Wednesday, March 16, 2011 with a great 2+ hour ride with three friends from the group I ride with, Kim, Steve, and Chris.

See the details at the Pac Tour web site.

Looking forward to a great ride and sharing it on my blog.

The Best Vacation Ever - Southern Transcontinental PAC Tour

2009-01-08T08:56:00.000-06:00

The Best Vacation Ever

The Best Vacation Ever was the PacTour Southern Transcontinental Ride. The ride was led by Lon Haldeman and Susan Notorangelo, the couple that run PAC Tour. Details on this and many other rides can be found at www.pactour.com.

It is very difficult to sum up a twenty-six day bicycle ride in a short article with a few pictures. If you would like to see more detail, surf over to http://jerryporter.blogspot.com and find the day-by-day story in the Blog Archive at the bottom of the page and start at “Day 1- 9/7/08 San Diego to El Centro, CA – Big Numbers”. And as I look back at the pages of the blog I wrote every day of the trip, I remember the huge range of emotions I felt on my journey across the USA.

It started with nerves. I am not the best traveler and I get stressed when I have to fly, and worse yet, I did not have my wife along to take care of the details as she always does when we travel. I was worried with the long line at the airport. I was nervous catching my connection in Denver. I was nervous finding the hotel shuttle. I was nervous meeting the people I would spend the next month with. I was nervous meeting my roommate for the next month. A couple things helped calm my nerves, my roommate for the next month turned out to be my good friend from Menomonie, that I had trained with for the past six months, Rick Gauger. However, when I made it to the rider meeting, it seemed that they were using “scare tactics” about the heat, the desert, and the troubles riders have had in the past. Looking back on that first day, I realize why I was so happy to finally get on my bike and ride.

And ride we did. The desert, the mountains, on the back roads, on the highways, and the Interstate a total of 2,914 miles with 90,200 feet of climbing in twenty-six days. That's an average of 112 miles and 3,500 feet of climbing 26 days without a break. It was the greatest physical challenge I have ever completed and left me feeling the fabulous physically, and emotionally.

Daily life included rising from a poor night's sleep with pain (stiff, sore legs and body) in a different hotel room each morning between 5:30 and 6:00 AM, and trying to figure out what the weather might be for the day because we were about to spend the next 8-12 hours in it, on the bike. Next step, get down to the parking lot with the bike, check the tire pressure, fill my two water bottles with various mixes of Gatorade, protein drink mix, or Heed mix all before the meal bell rang. At the bell we would all get our daily fill of fruit, oatmeal, bagels, juice, and coffee. After eating in the parking lot, we would head back to the room to finish packing our bag, check the room to make sure nothing was left behind, and wheel our bag out to the line of riders waiting to toss the luggage in the trailer. You also checked to make sure you had the right cue sheet and map for the day, just in case one ended up somewhere without another bike in sight (not that I ever experienced that). Then it was time to climb on the saddle, and slowly ride off into another beautiful sunrise – “Head East”, everyday.

Each of the twenty-six rides included three to five rest stops, plus a lunch stop. The time and distance between the stops depended on the terrain we faced each day. The first few days in the desert, where the temperatures exceeded 120 degrees, the stops were closer together so we could get the necessary fluids, and stuff a tube sock with ice to hang around our necks. The ice socks helped keep our body temperatures down, as we rode on to the next stop. The rest stops all started with a place to wash our hands and then I would fill my two water bottles with a mix that I thought I could enjoy in the next hour or so. We then grazed at the tables set-up with snacks, Cliff and Power Bars, Pringels, Jack Links beef jerky, cookies and fresh fruit. We would also drink a couple paper cups full of pop, V8 juice, or Gatorade at each stop. Some riders would linger at the rest stops, others would jump off and back on the bike quickly. Amazingly, everyone would end up a the lunch van and trailer within a half-hour or so of each other. The PAC Tour crew served excellent lunches every day, working very hard to make sure each rider got what they needed to be fueled for the ride. The tour included thirty total riders, including the support crew of ten that would alternate half riding every other day.

Each days ride concluded at a hotel where your bag was set out on the ground and the marker board had all the information you needed: your room assignments and key, locations of restaurants for dinner, the massage therapist, the laundry facilities, and what time breakfast was at the next morning. Also, an area was all set up to wash and repair your bike if it needed. I washed mine everyday and only had minor adjustments to keep it running perfect. Rick and I quickly figured out that we recovered much quicker if we finished with a quart of chocolate milk after each days ride. So we always tried to find the closest convenience store. The next priority was to get the days clothes washed and hung out to dry. As we rode in from the store each day, we really hoped that the hotel would have a nice pool for a cool swim. Usually the three of us from Menomonie would head out to dinner with others from the ride. It was great fun sitting down to dinner every night trying to find meals that would refuel us effectively, never worrying about eating too much.

The plan I had formulated for my best chance of completing the entire ride across the U.S. included riding steady and sticking close to my friend, Steve Brown, for the first two weeks, building strength and being ready to ride the toughest 50 miles in the country on day sixteen. Steve had completed the Northern Transcontinental route with PAC Tour in 1996. and is also a very seasoned rider knowing how and when to conserve his efforts on a long adventure. So the three of us from Menomonie rode together for most of the first two weeks. We made it through the heat of the desert, the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico, and an incredibly difficult day into the headwinds of Hurricane Ike on September 14. That day we rode 105 miles from Socorro to Ruidoso, NM with over 5,000 feet of climbing and head winds gusting over 40 mph, many did not finish riding before 6:00 PM. Rick, another rider, and myself worked together by riding in a pace line, struggling to maintain six mph into the wind that day. But the challenging days are the ones you remember. So by the time I got to day sixteen (114 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing), I was feeling very confident that I could conquer the fifty toughest miles, and I did. I had a great time on the Talimena State Parkway. The road was smooth, had very little traffic, and rose to a beautiful ridge where you could see for miles on either side. Lunch was at a beautiful wayside stop along the parkway where we fueled up, took pictures, and recovered briefly before finishing one of the best rides ever.

The rides got easier, a couple of days under 100 miles, and we started getting some really nice tail winds. We even ventured off the route a couple of times to see historical sites in Georgia. We visited Plains and President Jimmy Carter's boyhood home and current residence. That same day we took time to tour the Windsor Hotel in Americus, GA and the Civil War Prisoner of War Museum in Andersonville, GA. The three extra stops made for a long day, but it was good fun to change things up after twenty-three days of following the route.

Towards the end of the trip it was in interesting mix of joy, sadness, pride and huge sense of accomplishment. We finished the ride as one big group, and rode right out onto the beach of the Atlantic Ocean. The group gathered on the beach for pictures, greeted friends and family, and there were a lot of hugs and handshakes. Standing around talking with many of the other riders, it was funny to hear many of them ask each other “So what's you next big ride going to be?”

The work of taking the bike apart, packing up it up in a box and getting it ready for shipping home was done quickly in the parking lot of the hotel. The last night Lon and Susan put together the last scheduled event of the trip, dinner with an award banquet where we all enjoyed sharing time together for the last time. I flew home the next morning, again nervous about things, especially about my bike making it back in one piece. After a layover in Atlanta seeing my bike lay on the tarmac of the airport, I was very, very happy walking down the steps of the airport seeing my wife waiting for me, with presents that each stage winner receives at the Tour de France, a lion and kisses from the podium girl. The “Best Vacation Ever” was over.

Day 26 - 10/2/08 Metter to Tybee Island, GA - Joy and Sadness

2008-10-05T11:20:00.001-05:00

Joy and Sadness

The ride started like twenty-five others before it, bring the bike down from the room, fill the bottles, eat some oatmeal, back to the room for the bag and final look to see if we forgot to pack something, load the bag, and ride. Except, this time it's the last ride of the trip. Joy and sadness. The ride was like every other, great weather, get down the road to the first reststop, except today, great anticipation.

A line I thought Rick had made up the day before, but the truth comes out as I see the water tower on the way out of Metter, GA.

A golf course (not the clubhouse) along the road that was just above the swamp.

Bobby Emmet Jr. applied the last two band-aids of the trip and says, "common man, it really helps!"

Yes, the last John Deere tractor picture of the trip. It was a great way to have something to snap pictures of along the way, thanks Ron!

Aye mate!

A very sunny lunch stop with Mike, Steve, Mike, and Nancy. Time to start thinking about what I should eat again and not "wow, I can eat all this and not gain a bit!"

The tour rolls through the historic downtown Savannah . Steve and Len do a great job of navigating the many turns with the queue sheets clipped to their aerobars.

Bengt, Len, and Bob always making a joke and having a laugh.

We roll over one of the many bridges on our way to the Island.

A view from the bridge.

Rick, me, and Steve pose at the Tybee Island sign were the tour regrouped for our parade to the Atlantic.

John and Larry wait for the parade to start.

The parade to the Atlantic. This was the only time the entire tour rode together in one group.

Getting off the bike for the last time of this tour. We have completed the tour! Susan and the crew do a nice job of creating a party on the beach. Many family and friends gather to see their riders after being away for a long time. Many smiles, hugs, and kisses.

Here's Charlie Summer from Newton, KS with his map wondering about the next turn. I had to put it in because I keep thinking of the joke he told me on day six or so of the Chief on the hill looking off in the distance...

Mark and his proud parents on the beach, this was one of many scenes much like this.

The 2008 Pac Tour Southern Continental Crossing group, a fine bunch it was. It was my first and I thought it was a great group, but many of the Pac Tour veterans commented on what a great group and crew we had. Nobody left the ride to go home, no hospital visits, only a couple scraps and bruises from falling off the bike after a car turned in front of a Mike and Nancy on the recumbent tandem, or a dog ran in front of Mike...

The line is drawn and complete. Reminds me of the saying, "you had to be there...".

After the bikes were boxed, and we gathered our bags from the hotel parking lot for the last time, Lon and Susan but on a closing dinner. It was another buffet (mine and Bob's last for a long, long time) that the group and some guest gathered for the last time. After dinner, Susan presented the awards to each rider starting with the Pac Tour Rookies and on to the many veterans of many Pac Tours. A couple riders achieved 10,000 or 20,000 Pac Tour miles and were awarded jerseys and will have their names added the the "Hall of Pac Tour Fame" on a trailer. Susan had a lot of nice things to share on each rider and did a great job.

Here's Hans with his award, a great Swede.

Rick collected his award and then tried to get some sympathy from Lon for the last time. He is pointing out where the pain starts in his foot and never stops.

The Crew - (from left to right) Mike, Tracey, Nancy, John, Dave, John, John, Jim, Lon, Bill, and Susan.

Lon and Susan lead bicycle adventures in Peru that include some great work building schools and other cool projects. He auctioned off the map with the money going to the charity. Mike won the auction with a $1,200 donation.

The banquet ended, many hands were shook, some hugs, a few went to the bar downstairs and had a beer, but it was over, finally done. What a trip, an adventure, an experience I hope to remember for a long time. I now can say that I have ridden my bicycle across the country once... It's not a bad way to start a conversation, but most will never know or understand.

I cannot believe I completed almost 3,000 miles without a flat or any trouble with the bike. I almost shipped the bike home via Fed Ex from the hotel, but grabbed it from the lobby and took it to the airport at the last minute. I had taken time and bubble wrapped it like we did at BadCat Bicycle shop a month earlier and put it on the plane. I was very nervous on the first flight from Savannah to Atlanta with the CO2 cartridges in the box, but no explosions! It worked out well, AirTran charged the standard second checked bag fee of $20 and the bike made it without issue.

I am so proud of my wife, the support and commitment she provided. Also, I am so pleased to have been able to do the trip and bring it to you all in this blog, most of you know how bad my memory is, so I am hoping this will help me not forget what a great time I had.

Thanks for everything Steve and Rick, you were very helpful and I could have never signed up, trained and completed this ride without you both. I now know a great bunch of people around the world that we could drop in on and do a bike ride with...

The End

Day 25 - 10/1/08 Perry to Metter, GA - One of the Best Rides Ever

2008-10-01T21:24:00.001-05:00

One of the Best Rides Ever

Today I was a bit late getting out of the hotel room. We had the time zone change and breakfast was in the hotel, so I was a bit off the routine. I got rolling down the road with the "Hole in the Tire Gang" and the temperature was a cool 62 degrees with bright, sunny skies. A cold front from the North gave us a beautiful day with great tail winds pushing us to Metter. We all had a little route change this morning to avoid construction that added 3.5 miles to the route of 117 miles. Our first reststop was at 28 miles and then we rolled through Danville, Allentown, Montrose, and then reststop #2 in Dudley at 49 miles. Seeing the town sign made me think of all my friends at the Dunn County Humane Society and good ole Dudley. Dudley ran into Dublin, it was one of the bigger towns we have been through lately. We rolled into lunch at 76 miles with ease. The tailwind made the miles whip by on a smooth road in the country that was just wonderful. I rode out of lunch with Mark and we had an easy ride, except when we picked up the pace to lose the "gang" just prior to the final reststop of the day at 100 miles. After the final reststop I rode with Mark and John into Metter. We easily flew up and down rolling hills at 25 mph and I got the jump and out sprinted John to the Metter town sign. Mark, Bob, and I stopped at the DQ and had a Blizzard treat before picking up a beer for the pool. We had a great, sunny afternoon around the pool enjoying a few cold ones with Mike, Rick, Steve, Bob, Hans, and others.

John Deere tractors working on the peanut harvest.

At reststop #1 you can see the tailwind blowing the flag behind Mike and Nancy.

Hey Dudley!

The cool city of Dublin, GA.

A couple John Deere cotton pickers.

John Deere Tractors rolling down the road.

Peanut harvest.

The last stop of the day before the hotel.

One day away from the coast.

Today we road easy and fast with little effort. Everyone was in a great mood on day 25. We all have the coast on our minds. It has been a fabulous journey that I have enjoyed immensely. I am so pleased that I have been able to get the time off work and spend this time riding across the U.S. with Rick and Steve. We have meet a group of great people and share a very unique experience together. Tomorrow we will ride 87 miles to Tybee Island and get together for a end-of-tour banquet.

Day 24 - 9/30/08 Eufaula to Perry, GA - Off the Route

2008-09-30T22:54:00.001-05:00

Off the Route

Today's route from Eufaula to Perry skipped downtown Eufaula, so we went downtown. The main street was lined with beautiful houses from the plantation era cotton money. Unfortunately, the main street was a busy one but it was well worth the ride. We quickly crossed Lake Eufaula and into Georgia (Yea!). We rode the route to the first reststop at 27 miles in Lumkin, past the courthouse and into Richland, then Preston where we left the route. A man standing on the corner started yelling that we missed the left turn, "Hey, all them others went that away!, where you going?" We were going to Plains. We wanted to see the National Parks in Plains and Andersonville. We toured the boyhood home of President Carter, stopped at his house in Plains, and checked out Downtown Plains. We then headed down the road towards Andersonville with a lunch stop in Americus. We toured the Windsor Hotel in Americus and saw the suite that Al Cappone stayed in. We had lunch at a local bar while our bikes were safe in the Hotel. Everyone was really nice. In the information center I had my picture taken with Jimmy and Rosalyn with their bikes. The Park Ranger at the Carter Farm told us we missed Jimmy and Rosalyn on their bikes riding out from town the day before.

Andersonville was an amazing place that was very moving. We watched a movie that was comments from POWs and their experiences. I walked through the museum briefly, but could have spent an entire afternoon. We then rode around the site of the prison camp and the cemetery. The ride in from Andersonville was around 35 miles and got late. We rolled into the hotel after a quick quart of chocolate milk and some of the riders were already walking to diner. The crew was great and put our bags in our rooms and left the keys at the desk. The hotel was not bad and we did not have to was our bike clothes (two rides left!) so we got to take a swim, whirlpool, and sauna.

Downtown Eufaula, AL.

Here are a couple shots of the homes on the main street of Eufaula.

Yea, another state! Hans getting ready to cross into Georgia.

Len on the causeway into Georgia.

The Stewart County Court House in Lumkin, GA.

Hans trying to get an accurate weight for Rick. Susan commented that it was appropriate that we got a Wisconsin guy on the Deer Scale.

Heading off the route with Steve, Mike Granger, and Rick.

John Deere Tractor for sale.

Peanut digger and a John Deere.

Mark heading into the National Park.

Mark trying to share a powerbar with a Fast Ass.

Some of the equipment on the Carter farm.

The blacksmith shop on the Carter farm.

Ron, it was a working wind mill that ran the pump to fill the water tower.

Plains, GA home of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. The fence around the compound was from the Nixon home in Florida. You could not see the home from the road. They had these two info stations just off the road.

Downtown Plains and the depot behind the sign.

The main drag of Plains, GA. We stopped in and got some free peanuts and filled our water bottles.

Then it was onto Americus and the Windsor Hotel where I had my picture with the Carters.

Rick out front of the Headquarters of Habitat for Humanity in Americus.

After lunch, it was on to Andersonville and the National Prisoner of War Museum.

A very powerful place.

A diagram of the Civil War Prison Camp where 13,000 soliders died at a rate of 100/day.

It was a long day, we did not get in until after 5:30 PM, but it was a great day. Again, perfect weather and smooth roads. We had a good time and it was day 24! On to Metter tomorrow.

Day 23 - 9/29/08 Greenville to Eufaula, AL - Lunch at George Wallace's School

2008-09-29T22:34:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe that we had another great day of beautiful weather! We did the same old routine with breakfast at 7 AM and on the road at 7:30 AM. Again I thought I would have to take it real easy, but again, we got down the road pretty quickly. We had some smooth roads through Honoraville and White Oak where we had reststop #1 at 28 miles. Then onto Goshen where we debated if it was GO'shen or GOSH'en, then Spring Hill and a reststop at 53 miles.

Onto Brundidge and then Clio, the home of Gearge Wallace and lunch at the Barbour County High School. I got to walk the main hallway to visit the restroom, whoo, whoo! Main thoughts for the day - I miss home, we are getting closer to home!; How hot & humid will it be today?; Will it be a nice hotel?; Will the hotel have a pool?; What restaurants will be close by? Will the wireless work so I can do my blog?..

Every house has a porch! And usually a couple dogs under it that are going to chase you.

Mark and I riding by a cool old farm with a bunch of horses.

Greg, I had to get a shot of the Henderson Volunteer Fire Department! Hoping it was a bumper crop of pumpkins this year and a happy customer for everyone.

Yes, we did have some climbing today.

Some trees, farms, cattle, horses, cotton, peanuts, and alfalfa today.

Thinking of all my friends at the DC seeing the #7019 in Georgia today.

Lots of steel roofs and nice porches along the way today.

Not the best picture, but I had to put the picture of "We Piddle Around" in the blog. Not sure if it was a dog walking or dog daycare business.

The antique sign shop.

Three JD tractors in one yard.

Our lunch stop in Clio was at the Barbour County High School, home of the former Governor Wallace.

John Deere tractor harvesting peanuts.

The last couple miles rolling into Eufaula, AL where the cops were at the hotel waiting to talk with Lon about the bicycles riding in the middle of the road...

Seeing the lake I had waterskiing and Lake Tainter on my mind.

Nice relaxing evening in the Comfort Suites, clean, new, big rooms after diner at another Chinese Buffet for dinner. Tomorrow is day 24! We are planning a little side trip to Plains, GA on the way. See ya soon!

Day 22 - 9/28/08 Livingston to Greenville, AL - My Fastest 100 Yet

2008-09-28T21:45:00.001-05:00

I rolled out of Livingston, AL this morning by myself thinking that I would take it easy and catch up with Steve at the first reststop. As I was riding past the University of West Alabama, the "Hole in the Tire Gang" came up behind me and I thought that I could ride with them easy for a while. Well, in under five hours, we had completed the first 100 miles. The weather was perfect, the roads were smooth, and there was NO traffic until noon. Everybody was in church in Alabama this morning. We crossed the Tombigbee Waterway Bridge and had our first reststop in Jefferson at 28 miles. Next we were on to Linden, Hugo, and the second reststop in Thomaston, AL at 48 miles. We then rode onto Consol and over the Alabama River with a view of the lock and dam and the lunch stop at the picnic area at 67 miles. After a great lunch of chicken salad sandwich, olive, deviled egg, and pears we rode through the towns of Miller's Ferry, Canton Bend, Camden, Rosebud, and a reststop at Pine Apple, AL at 98 miles. Shortly after the reststop in Pine Apple we had ridden 100 miles in 5 hours of saddle time. It was a good thing because the next 26 were darn tough. I really enjoyed my ride with Bob, Len, Hans, and Bengt.

My Computer's Numbers:

126.6 miles in 6:24 hours of riding with 4,600' climbing with an average speed of 19.7 mph and average heart rate of 128 bpm.

Riding with the two Swedes, Bob, and Len from NJ over the Tombigbee Waterway Bridge. It was early and we had many of the other riders out in front of us.

The roads were very quite on a Sunday morning in Alabama.

The temperature started in the mid 60s and rose to the low 90s with beautiful, clear skies. The countryside was mostly wooded with very few tillable acres to be seen.

Not to many John Deere tractors on the route today.

Some tractor junk in the yard.

Crossing the Alabama River with Hans and Len.

Len on the bridge over the Alabama River.

Bengt crossing the river.

The lock and dam on the Alabama River at Miller's Ferry.

Great park where the crew served lunch.

Lunch in the park.

Welcome to Pine Apple, Alabama.

The day ended with laundry, washing the bike, a swim in the pool and a couple of cold beers (not purchased in Alabama on Sunday) left over from the night before. Tonight's Best Western is much better than the last couple nights and we enjoyed the swim in the nice outdoor pool after chores. Mark, Rick, Steve, and I walked over to Ruby Tuesdays and had a nice meal. Steve, Rick, and I then walked over to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of items. Day 23 tomorrow! We are getting there.

Day 21 - 9/27/08 Kosciusko to Livingston, AL - Thinking of the Atlantic

2008-09-28T16:02:00.001-05:00

Thinking of the Atlantic

It was a funny day today, we all were trying to recover from the previous two long days and this one got tough. It was supposed to be an easy 116 miles with 3,000' or so of climbing and it was almost double that. Many of the riders suffered on the rolling climbs of Eastern Mississippi. The roads were pretty quite through the wood with rough, heavy chipseal that did not seem to roll very well (see in the pictures). My computer had almost 5,900' of climbing. We rolled out of Koscuiusko, MS past the Natchez Trace and on to Edinburg and where Mississippi burned in Philadelphia, MS. I rode with the Connor's tandem for a while and then with Bob Johnson and others. Reststop #1 was at 24 miles at the baseball field. Reststop #2 was at 49 miles after Philadelphia. We rode through Moscow, MS somewhere around 67 miles, but it was hard to tell there was a town anymore. I had a great lunch of brats, olives, salad, pecan pie with ice cream, and a root beer float all washed down with a couple glasses of grape soda. I am guessing it must have been an easy 2,500 calories.

I was excited to see that we were riding through Porterville, MS. Just think, Porterville, what a great place that could be. Well, it turned out to be a dozen homes, a post office, and a art studio that we had the reststop at with a cute miniature Doberman Pincher. Not even a town sign to have my picture taken at, just a street sign for Porterville Road.

My Numbers:

116 Miles in 6:50 riding time for an average speed of 16.8 mph with 5,877' of climbing and an average heart rate of 127 bpm.

I really tried to find some different pictures today since I was not suffering in a paceline for much of the day. However, I didn't do to well. More woods and less farm land, so fewer tractors. Lots of run down houses with a lot of junk cars and things in the yard. Not a lot of dogs chasing, but a few and I tried to get pictures of them as I yelled at them to get home. Here is the group rolling out first thing in the AM, lower left is John Downham, and ahead of John is Lynn on Mike's wheel.

Here is a group of riders passing a John Deere rolling down the road. We had beautiful weather again with clear skies and temperatures starting in the low 60s and getting into the 90s with not much humidity.

Here is one of those dogs coming out to chase the bikers away.

Sorry this picture is not zoomed in, but it is the roughest looking mama dog and her two puppies watching the bicycles go by.

Local High School with an interesting sign out front.

Bobby Emmet Jr following me through Philadelphia, MS.

These boys were loading up the skidder when all these funny looking bicyclists came rolling by.

Jerry Porter in Porterville, MS on Porterville Road.

The third reststop of the day was at 94 miles at a studio in Porterville, MS. Nobody seemed to be around except this killer guard dog.

Mark hanging out on the steps with Killer.

The post office in Porterville was down the road a block so I had to take a self-portrait in front of the nice building.

The ride from the last reststop was 12 miles that seemed like many, many more. We rolled into the Western Inn on the edge of Livingston, AL without even seeing a sign for the state of Alabama or the city of Livingston. The routine then starts with washing the bike, oiling the chain, getting the key to the room, finding the bag and getting to the room, drinking a chocolate milk or "Muscle Milk", and then washing the days biking clothes and finding a place to hang them in the sun. We hung around getting pictures transferred onto the computer and watching some football until six and then walking down the road a block or so and eating at Diamond Jim's. We sat with the Hole in the Tire Gang and both Bob and Len had a full rack of ribs that was big enough to feed all six of us. One of the topics at diner tonight was about when we can stop washing our riding clothes and just wear the sets in the bag.

It's been a great ride, but you know we are looking forward to the Atlantic.

Day 20 - 9/26/08 Clarksdale to Kosciusko, MS - Missed Turn, Better Route!

2008-09-26T20:41:00.001-05:00

Missed Turn, Better Route!

Somewhere around the 5 mile mark many of us missed a turn on the route sheet. Most everyone turned around and went back except me, the Canadian, and the Australian. Herb had a map and Lee and I thought he had a good way to get back on the route. It turned out that the three of us had a nice ride down highway 49 with a good shoulder and cut almost 11 miles off the route. With a shorter route, we missed reststop #1 and got to reststop #2 early. At the second reststop at 50 miles I met up with Mark and John and quickly got to the lunch stop at 72 miles in the town of Money, MS. I took this picture as Paul was telling me that his wife is following along on the blog!

My Numbers:

Average speed of 19.5 mph and ride time of 6:45 Hours for 133 miles with 2,500' of climbing and an average heart rate of 146 bpm.

Hopson cotton processing. Old cotton picker out front.

The only Case Cotton Picker we have seen in the Mississippi River valley. The many pictures of tractors is a good way to show the countryside of the United States. My Father-in-law Ron Smith got me started bicycling with a bicycle ride across Tennessee in 1994. Ron is a retired John Deere Engineer and I am pleased to share my views of all the farm equipment across the country from the seat of my Specialized.

Here are some prisoners working outside the wire at the Tallahatchie County Prison.

Riding with Herb and Lee (next picture), we stopped at Sumner, MS to check the map and take a nature break. We paralleled the route and got on the route at Web, MS.

A couple of good ole boys looking at the John Deere tractor after turning over a bean field. A gentleman we spoke to at Tippo said that the area has a significant lower percentage of cotton planted in favor of beans and corn due to the prices.

Many, many stores and businesses have shut down long ago here in rural Mississippi.

Busy Friday morning at Farmers Supply Store.

The only Case Cotton Picker we have seen.

Hanging out in Tippo, MS waiting for the support crew to get to reststop #2. Lee, Herb, and I got to reststop #2 early due to the eleven miles we missed on our shortcut when we missed a turn.

Here comes the support crew to the reststop in Tippo, MS. Most of the Volunteer Fire Departments had "Vote Here" signs on them like this one in Tippo.

At reststop #2 I met up with John Lake and Mark Magilner. We came upon a road closure and decided to take it anyway. We were able to ride around the bride out and construction equipment.

Chris - a nice MasterCraft SkiBoat for sale outside of Kosciusko, MS! I think it is a 1992 and they were asking $9,500. Sorry, I didn't get a phone number for the boat.

In general it was a beautiful day riding across Mississippi, the temperature started in the 60s and made it into the 90s with not much humidity. Our missed turn could have turned out way worse than a nice eleven mile shortcut on a good road. While the route went through two sections of gravel for about a 1/2 mile each. One recurring thought today was that I will be in my wife's arms in a week. That sounds good. It has been a great ride, but it is a long time to be away. A new state tomorrow! Two to go. Thanks for all the comments and emails, it is great to hear from everyone. Thanks!

Day 19 - 9/25/08 Pine Bluff to Clarksdale, MS - A Short, Long Day...

2008-09-25T22:05:00.001-05:00

A Short, Long Day - 133 miles in under 7 hours

The add from Pearl Izumi says it all, A Fast Ass is a Happy Ass. And I was a pretty happy one today. I rode with Mark, John, Rick, and Walt today and our pace line moved along quickly. We started at 7:15 AM and we were in by 3:00 PM.

The Numbers (my computer):

We peddled 133 miles in 6:55:59 ride time with altitude gain of only 770' and an average of 129 bpm heart rate. The temperature started in the mid 60s and never got above 90 degrees and not too humid. It really was a beautiful day.

We started out in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and road past the Port of Pine Bluff and crossed the Arkansas River. We rode through Lake Dick, Cornerstone, and Swan Lake to the first reststop #1 at 30 miles. We rode through Dewitt and past the John Deere dealership to the second reststop at 59 miles.

A lock and dam were directly below the bridge on the Arkansas River.

As we rode over the bridge, a crop duster was spraying the cotton to defoliate the plants.

Lots of John Deere equipment in this part of the country. Fields of rice were just harvested and they were combining corn and beans all over. We even got to see a couple of cotton pickers off in the distance.

Swan Lake Volunteer Fire Department Truck.

Some big money farms in the Mississippi river bottoms.

Share the road!

The Green mower between Mark and John.

Rick and the John Deere tractor chopping corn.

A field of cotton ready to be picked.

The big green cotton pickers ready to go.

Sharing the road with the John Deeres.

The John Deere dealer on the Arkansas side of the river.

I have a few pictures until I got so scared I had to put the camera away when we crossed the Mississippi River at Helena. The bridge was so high, so narrow, and had so many trucks on it I had a white knuckle ride across. I was not alone in my fear on this ride, many of the riders were talking about the scariest bike ride they have ridden.

Mark crossing into Mississippi.

Rick trying to catch a couple of picks with the iPhone.

Now were are getting high over the river.

Now I am noticing how low that guardrail is on the right.

Here I am realizing that I need to get the camera put in my pocket and ride. Then the traffic started... I passed these two and hammered across the bridge right down the middle of the lane. I could NOT look right or left without my heart racing faster and my grip getting tighter.

These are the trucks that were bearing down on us...

Yes, another state under our belts! We only had to ride a couple miles until we got off the main highway over the river and had our last reststop at 110 miles.

Clarksdale had some really nice homes on the edge of town. And as we got into the city, it had some interesting sites.

So, we were really fortunate to have a light wind in the morning from the North, Northeast today that did eventually help up us after we crossed the river into Mississippi. We took pretty short reststops and lunch break. We hit the lunch stop just before noon at 85 miles and lunch was a hot dog, olives, salad, fruit and pudding. The hotel is much better than the one last night (so bad Rick had nightmares) and it even has a pool. The keys were not ready when we got in just before 3 PM so we went to Wendys and had a Frosty Malt. Once back at the hotel, we cleaned-up, did laundry for the day and hit the pool with a couple of beers. Diner was at 6 PM with Steve, Rick, Walt, and Mark. We walked almost a mile to the Lebanese, Italian, and American restaurant. We all had stuffed cabbage and grape leafs and kibby. It was one of the best, home cooked meals so far that we toped-off with chocolate cream pie.

Tomorrow is another long day and we are hoping that it will go as smoothly as today did. Tonight I will be taking Advil before bed... Thanks for all the long pulls on the front of the paceline John and Mark!

Day 18 - 9/24/08 Arkadelphia to Pine Bluff, AR - A Beautiful Ride

2008-09-24T20:51:00.001-05:00

A Beautiful Ride

Today we had an beautiful, easy day of 91 miles and only 1,600' of climbing. We had a later start with breakfast in the parking lot at 7:30 AM and getting rolling at eight. We rode through Friendship, Donaldson, Rolla, and a reststop at Lono at 23 miles and the second reststop at 47.5 miles. We then went on to Leola, Ain, Grapevine, and Sulfur Springs, and lunch at 67 miles in a church parking lot. We then rolled through some great country roads to Pine Bluff and the American Best Inns. This really was a flat ride on some nice roads with a lot of dogs. Dogs everywhere! Most were pretty tired by the time Steve and I got there. Not many tractors today, but a lot of fences and some really cool driveway entries. The temperatures were great today starting in the 60's and rising into the 90s with not that much humidity.

The numbers (my computer):

We rode 91 miles in 5 1/2 hours with 2,400' climbing at an average speed of 15.9 mph and an average heart rate of 116 bpm.

Bob Johnson and Larry Tieman riding out of town this morning.

It was a beautiful morning with partly cloudy skies riding on smooth roads.

Here's one of the few John Deere tractors I saw today. This was the only crop we saw today.

Steve riding along with Bob Johnson and Bobby Emmet Jr.

Bobby Emmet Jr riding along this morning.

A view from the bike of rural Arkansas.

If you look closely, here are a couple of the dogs that were tired of chasing bicycles by the time Steve and I rode by.

Reststop #2 along Route 35.

Much of the day looked a lot like this. Tree lined roads with houses here and there along the way.

I tried to get a picture of the three little pinchers that tried to attach us as we rode by, here is one of them.

I had to get a shot of the yuccas in bloom at a typical house along the route.

Here is today's lunch stop where we had burritos that were awesome. It seemed that the area has about one church for every five houses.

Steve rolling along Route 54.

Steve and I both liked the lions at the gate and wanted to get a pair for our homes.

Some great ornamental grasses along the route.

One of the few John Deere Tractors along the way.

The best set of lions all day!

More progress, Mississippi tomorrow!

Steve, Rick, Walt and I walked to the mall and ate at Garefields tonight, at least it was not a dry county and we were able to have a few beers after the ride. It was almost 2,000 mile mark tonight, so I changed my chain after the ride. I took some time de-greasing the front and rear chainrings. We have a longer ride tomorrow and at the week to go mark. It has been a great challenge and great time. See you in Mississippi!

Day 17 - 9/23/08 Mena to Arkadelphia, AR - An Easy Spin into Arkansas

2008-09-23T21:28:00.001-05:00

An Easy Spin into Arkansas

Today was an 87 mile recovery ride into Arkadelphia, Arkansas. We started in a scary, heavy fog that cut visibility to an eight of a mile. We started on Rt 373 to Nunley and onto Rt 370 to Quechita, Big Fork (reststop #1 at 20 miles), Black Springs, Norman, and a reststop #2 at Caddo Gap at 43 miles. The traffic was a little heavy in the morning with not much shoulder, but most of the Arkansas drivers were good, slowed, and moved over. Just some of the logging trucks think that we should not be on the road.

The first reststop was at the Big Fork Mall (pictures below), a small country store that had a little of everything, including the owners home in the one room attached to the store and separated by a curtain.

The second reststop was next to the Caddo Gap monument for the Caddo people, a group of Indians that fought de Sotto and sent him back South. After the stop we were onto Glenwood, Amity, and lunch at Alpine. The ride from lunch into Arkadelphia was a great back road through the woods towards the DeGray Dam and DeGray Lake. The last two miles where downhill into town and a shake at McDonalds with Bob, Jerry, and Lee.

The numbers (my computer):

Average speed of 16.8 mphfor 85 miles with a max spped of 39 mph. I was in the saddle pedaling for 5 hours with 3,600' of climbing with an average heart rate of 129 bpm and a max of 176 bpm. That puts me at a total trip number of 1860 miles in 17 days.

Just after the fog lifted I started riding with Walt, Steve's roommate, Mike and Nancy on the tandem, and Rick for a while.

We rode by many, many churches and this one caught my eye, The Remnant Ministry.

The ride was very pretty today, much like back home in Wisconsin with beautiful woods and hills, but no John Deere tractors today. Only a few tractors mowing the ditches of Arkansas.

Two of the international riders, Lee from Australia and John from the UK catching the tandem.

Beautiful ride into Quechita, AK and reststop #1.

Reststop #1 at the Big Fork Mall.

The only John Deere of the day was on the wall of the Big Fork Mall that had two each of many items different items.

Just cruising along with Steve "Shredder" Brown.

Mike Granger trying to hang with the Shredder.

Mike Birdsong riding along with the Texas flag stuck in his helmet and new stickers on his bike. Mike is really digging the kick off of Dancing with the Stars!

A view from the bike of one of the fancy houses along the way.

Reststop #2 at the Caddo Gap at 44 miles.

A status of the Caddo Indian who fought off de Sotta.

A really neat little park with water running through that was labeled as Caddo Gap High School Senior Walks.

I was riding with John and had to get a picture of the bamboo stand along this section of road.

After lunch I got to ride the last twenty miles with Lon. He told me of his trips to Peru and bicycling over the world's highest road at 16,000'. The road after lunch was just fabulous. I was a lot like riding Saywer County, WI with pine forests that have been harvested and are returning.

Here is Lon and the view down stream of the DeGray Dam.

Lon and the view above the dam.

Coming in to Arkadelphia and going under I30. We stayed at the Best Western just off the interstate.

Progress!

Nice to have an easy day after the big day yesterday. Many riders spoke of really tired legs today. I felt good today and really enjoyed the ride. We got in before 3, did laundry, showered up and had time to hang out and upload pictures to the Blog. Mark, Brad, Steve, Rick, and I went over to the Cracker Barrel at 6 PM for dinner and had a good meal and a nice chat at a big table. I am really going to have to cut back on the eats after this trip. I cannot believe the calories I consume in a day. Start most every morning with oatmeal with brown sugar, raisins, and half & half. Then go back and fill the bowl with yogurt and have a 1/2 beagle with cream cheese and jam. Add a couple cups of juice and coffee with cream. Then bottles of Heed and Gatorade throughout the ride. Lunch is always a good size plate the first time through the line and always includes a bunch of olives. The second pass is desert that is usually pie or cake with a side of tapioca pudding. And I haven't had a diet soda since I started. Man, things are going to have to change in ten more days...

Tomorrow is another short day. Thanks for all your comments and emails, it is great to hear from you all.

Carl - I am riding a S-Works 172.5 compact crank with 50-34 chain rings with a Red 11-26 rear cassette, its working great! I am going to replace the SRAM hollow-pin chain tomorrow.

The HardCase tires Pete at BadCat Bicycles recommended are working great for the three of us, no real trouble, and others have had some tire trouble.

The weather has been great and no one from the tour has gone home. Riding with Lon today, he said that many trips they lose one or two within the first ten days.