2017 - Day 29 - Brownsville, MN

Goodbye, Iowa.  YOu will be missed for your beautiful greenery and how polished your small towns are.  Hello, Minnesota, where the people seem friendly; home of my favorite TV show ever, Mystery Science Theater 3000.  Last night we stayed in a church again, and the route leaders made us chili, and now I'm here sitting in this diner.  Other than collecting "Welcome to This State" signs, I feel like I'm riding towards my future; a future full of relationships, success, safety and exploration.  I feel much more confident about myself on this trip than I have in the past.   

Plus, I now have some really cool Wheaties socks, courtesy of Jenn who talked me into them.  And a new sticker for my bike - first one this trip! - for the Effigy Mounds national monument.   

2017 - Day 28 - Elkader, IA

Today was another difficult day, and my body is starting to wear down, but I still have a positive mental attitude.  There were more winds, more hills.  Iowa is surprisingly, even startlingly beautiful; manicured, polished and green, the sort of landscape you imagine on a movie set.  I wish I had more time to look at it but it's flying by.  At the end of today I got chased into camp the last 8 miles by a rainstorm mixed with thunder which scared me a little bit.  I managed to beat it, though.  Our mileage estimate for the day was wrong by about 8 miles so I kept thinking camp was right around the corner.

Elkader itself is surprisingly nice.  We had dinner at an excellent little Algerian restaurant, of all things.

The highlight of the day was stopping by the Field of Dreams, which is where they shot the movie of the same name.  It was a really nice little spot; they have kept it just like it was in the movie, and avoided commercializing it too much; it's free to just walk up and swing a bat.  We rode our bikes around the bases.  Iowa really is the best of middle America; what rural America aspires to be.  It's a shame we're working so hard that I feel like I can't fully enjoy it!

2017 - Day 27 - Oxford Junction, IA

Yesterday’s riding itself was fairly uneventful.  It was a long day, 92 miles through the Illinois and Iowa countryside.  We crossed over the Mississippi, but that was surprisingly uneventful as well.  What I want to write about today is to capture some vignettes of living in a small town.  We’re staying at the Senior Center in Oxford Junction, Iowa.   I don’t know what the population is but I’d be very surprised if it was over 1000.  Last night we ate dinner at Shackey’s Place, home of the All-We-Care-To-Serve-You fried chicken, fish and shrimp.  It was hilarious because you had to "reorder" the food, and the woman passive aggressively kept us from ordering too much (because of course we were hungry cyclists).  Nice lady, though.  I said to Tony that there's a time in a man's life when he decides if he really wants to make somebody go back there and fry up another piece of crappy cod, and the answer for me was "no".  She told us that they don’t take credit cards anymore because the Visa company said they needed to get online to continue to use their account, and they don’t have a computer so they said “no thanks”.  There’s one gas station, no stop lights, and you can see the grain elevator at the end of town no matter where you stand.  I’m sitting outside the public library because that’s where they told us we could get wifi.  There is nobody here, but the sun is shining off the main intersection in town, highlights glancing off the Oxford Junction City Hall.  I do dearly love small towns like this, and I value this trip so much because of the access it gives us to them.  If I came here on my own, I would never get much of the town.  I wouldn’t meet the mayor or the city council, as I have many times.  I wouldn’t know the library wifi code.  I wouldn’t have friends to eat at Shackey’s with.  I could never live in a place like this; I would go crazy with boredom.  But I love, love love to visit and see them.

P.S. In the middle of a 94 mile day, if you stop at McDonalds, don’t get 20 Chicken McNuggets.

2017 - Day 26 - Orion, IL

We're about to run out of Illinois!  One last night staying at a Methodist church; again with the way-too-much-food, the super nice hosts, the amazing shower.  Some ping pong, some Candy Land with Amanda.  Today was fairly uneventful riding, about 72 miles.  We did have an excellent meal at the Barnhouse Restaurant in Kaweeka, Illinois.  For $7 you get a breaded chicken sandwich with swiss and mushrooms, french fries, and a bowl of chicken soup.  And super nice ladies.  Again, everyone is awesome.

An incident happened yesterday; I lost about a week worth of my GPX tracks from the ride.  We won't go into how it happened because it's boring, but suffice it to say that I'm an idiot.  But I didn't flip out or freak out; I just calmly solved the problem by asking a fellow rider Kurt for his tracks.  Hooray for maturity!

Tomorrow might be a serious thing; 94 miles, and it's hot and humid.  Stay tuned.

2017 - Day 25 - Henry, IL

Okay.  Today was great cycling; 55 miles of tailwind biking.  We were done by 11:30, at the campground.  A few locals gave us some catfish they caught in the Illinois river, and some teammates filleted and cooked them with cajun spices.  Unbelievably good.  I'm up in a local coffee shop, updating the blog.  Life gets simple out here, you can focus on what's important to you.  Basics like shelter and food become your world.  It's a simpler way of life.

Not much is going on in Henry, IL, to be honest.  The public library doesn't have wifi.  We'll probably play some cards.  At some point I have to think about the future.  But today is just Henry.

2017 - Day 24 - Odell, IL

Wind wind wind wind.  Wind?  Wind wind wind; wind wind wind wind wind.  Wind wind, wind wind wind wind wind wind, wind wind wind.  Wind wind wind wind.  Wind!  Wind wind wind.

Corn corn corn?  Corn!  Corn; corn corn corn corn corn corn.  Corn corn corn, corn corn corn corn corn corn corn corn corn corn.  Corn corn corn corn corn corn corn corn, corn corn corn.  Corn corn corn corn corn.

Flat flat flat flat.

Also, we went to a really interesting conspiracy theory bookstore in Kempton, IL.  Funny little place in the middle of nowhere that self-published their own conspiracy theory books.  And the diner in Odell was pretty good.  Today should be an easier day; only 55 miles and possibly even a tailwind.

Oh!  And we got to go to our first community pool.  Regular readers of last year’s blog will remember the pools as a small town staple out here.

2017 - Day 23 - Iroquois, IL

Here we are in Illinois!  There is essentially no difference between Illinois and Indiana.  It's the first time I crossed a state line and it was so rural that we didn't have a "Welcome to Illinois" sign.  There was no visible indication that had happened.

I love these little towns.  I was waiting for us to get out far enough to find these places, where there is one bar/restaurant (which I'm sitting in right now), a small market, maaaaybe a post office, and a park we can stay in with some sort of weird shower situation.  There's a few reasons I like these places: one, they care about cyclists.  Two, there's not much to do so we tend to bond as a team; when there's only one restaurant, we're all going to eat there, you know?  And three, you see/hear/witness some weird stuff.  This town for example has this weird Communist market where they only have one of everything: one box of cereal, one can of soup, etc.  Oh, and the local paper had a front page story: Local Resident Becomes An Eagle Scout.  That's the news in Iroquois, IL.

Today was 94 miles; I did most of it in a pace line.  We got an early start so we did most of the miles without too much wind, but the last 20 miles were really tough.  I feel really good physically - finally! - mostly because I think I finally kicked the cold.  

2017 - Day 22 - Denver, IN

It's funny how what this trip is "about" changes so much from day to day.  At times it's about where we're going through, seeing the sights.  At other times it's about the group, and getting to know new people.  Lately, it's just been about the raw physical challenge.  Yesterday was about 82 miles in a strong headwind, and it was tough.  I had enough energy just to take a nap, play a round of waffle ball, and then pretty much pass out.  Just to wake up and do 94 miles today.  I know I will accomplish it, because I have a strong will and I never quit.  But I think it's going to test me to the utmost.  It's reminding me of my marathons, to be honest.

Again I'm struck by the kindness of others; a full home-cooked meal by the baptist Church here.  Also, one upside of the difficult cycling is that we are bonding more as a group.  Also it was Eric's birthday.  Oh!  And one of my riders from the Pac Coast last year may come up today and hang out with us, which would be awesome.

2017 - Day 21 - Monroeville, IN

today is a difficult day to write about.  I had a great day, don't eat me wrong.  But I continue to be a bit sick and the toll of the riding is adding up.  There was a ton of wind today and we did about 85-90 miles, with the same tomorrow.  Tony and I did the last stretch together.

one thing worth noting was Dooger, a guy who stopped at the state line and gave us free cold water and chatted.  I loved Dooger.  People are so great out here.  Thanks, Dooger, you're our hero! 

Oh, and we're back to small farming towns, which are my favorite!  Feels like home! 

2017 - Day 20 - Bowling Green, OH

Today was 69 miles across Ohio.  I didn't realize that Ohio was so much of a farming area; the part we just went through could've been Iowa or Idaho for how flat it was and how much farming was happening.  It's one of those parts of the country where the roads are all at perfect 90 degree angles because there's no reason for them not to be.  We're staying in the yard of an awesome couple who live out here and do this every year.  They own a donut shop in Bowling Green, which is a college town, and they have Evil Dead posters everywhere.  It often happens that the people in rural areas really surprise me with how cast against stereotype they are.

This year's group, as I've mentioned, is very easy-going and low-key, and one way that manifests is in these genuine - and large - pace lines, which is groups of cyclists working together.  I struggled to keep up today because the plague is still leaving my body and I haven't been eating enough to keep my body fighting the disease and also riding my bike.

Sorry for the lack of interesting pictures today but there wasn't as much to take pictures of.

2017 - Day 19 - Huron, OH

Days are like today are hard to write about because in some sense nothing happened and yet in another sense they are the essence of these tours and why I love to ride.  It was an easy day; only about 50 miles on flat ground.  We didn't pass anything particularly interesting really; the strip west of Cleveland is mostly just residential.  It would have been a really easy day but I was still feeling a bit sick.  It was a good "team" day; we rode most of the day together, sometimes even as one big group, and we had a few mechanical issues that we fixed together.  Then we got to the gym we're staying at early, so we got to hang out and just do normal team stuff; play a little basketball, go get coffee, hang out at a bar.  Days like today are why I come out here; for the camaraderie.  Pretty soon we'll get into some serious riding and high mileage, so this is a nice bit of a break.

2017 - Day 18 - Cleveland, OH

Today was our rest day in Cleveland.  It was a great day for a rest day for me personally because I was getting sick.  But I think because I got to rest for a day, I'm getting over it.  We went in the morning to a service project at a really nice MS clinic in downtown Cleveland.  It was a good clinic that did its best to give its residents a great quality of life and obviously cared about them.  I felt bad that I felt so crummy because I couldn't help as much as I would have liked but I picked up cigarette butts and helped plant flowers.  Those projects are always good reminders of how good we have it.  As one of the other team members put it a couple of weeks ago, "there but for the grace of God go I".  

We also got free tickets to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so we all went there this afternoon.  I enjoyed myself, but not as much as in 2014.  The exhibit was about Rolling Stone this time, which just didn't speak to me.  Nobody I know reads Rolling Stone.  But still we had a good time.

I also went out to Best Buy and traded in my new MacBook Pro for an even *newer* MacBook Pro, with the Touch Bar.  I wanted the new one because you can hook up an external graphics card to it.  I love these machines.  Still getting used to the keyboard and the Touch Bar but it was so easy to set up and the screen looks fantastic and I already dropped it from a height of about 4 feet and nothing happened.  Try that with my old Windows laptop.

Having a great time out here in Ohio!

2017 - Day 17 - Cleveland, OH

Ah, Cleveland.  Believeland.  I was here in 2014 to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was awesome.  But this time, with that out of the way, I can explore.  Yesterday was a great day of riding.  We only did 60 miles, so the heat didn't bother us so much (it is really hot here!).  I rode most of the way with Eric and Tony's baseball coach, Matt.  It was really cool to talk to him; he's an amazing competitor with a strong will to live and succeed, which is good because he's had brain cancer twice (!).  I asked if he was sick of talking about it but he said nobody ever wanted to talk about.  So we talked about it.  I won't reveal too much of what he said but it did make me feel better to hear his words since my brother is struggling with cancer as well.

I started getting sick yesterday so I had to take it easy and be in bed early.  Feeling some scratching in my throat.  A few other tidbits, perhaps.  Oh yes!  Somebody really awesome left a note in my cubby a couple of days ago; just a nice note saying how awesome it was to have me here, and they also left me a t-shirt.  I don't think people know how much stuff like that means to me; it's one of the whole reasons I go on this trip, to feel connected to other people.  Also, Jennifer gave me her hammock because mine stunk.  Everybody is so nice.

Today we're going to do a service project, so stay tuned for that!

2017 - Day 16 - Geneva-On-The-Lake, OH

Yesterday was a good day.  We rode straight through Pennsylvania without stopping and ended up in another state park in Ohio.  I remember coming through here, going the other way, in 2014.  The town itself is very touristy, with mini golf and ice cream and all the rest, but the park itself is natural and beautiful.  We went swimming for the second day in a row in Lake Erie, which felt amazing even though the lake itself seems kind of dirty, and the bugs are bad. 

We rode a full century yesterday, and it felt really good.  I'm rediscovering the joy of the physicality of cycling and it is really so much more fun to be in good shape and to feel capable.  I felt like I could do another 30-50 easy, and that's a nice feeling.  And I'll need it because I have a half ironman coming up in August!  Everyone is really nice in the group and I'm having fun; I want to focus on the physicality of the cycling from now on in this trip and really get myself ready to go for that ironman! 

2017 - Day 15 - Lake Erie State Park, NY

Today was a good day.  We rode 66 miles along the shores of Lake Erie to Lake Erie State Park.  The last 30 miles or so we rode in a 7 person pace line, which is the longest I've ever ridden in a pace line that long.  It was a lot of fun and easy riding.  Camping here reminds me of being a kid; it's a lot like the campgrounds we used to use down in the Allegheny mountains, with lots of green grass and little cabins you can rent.  The weather is still impeccable.  We went swimming in Lake Erie and everybody was afraid of the rocks but I had the bright idea to wear lake shoes. 

I hesitated to put this in the blog, but today I got a call that an old friend had passed away.  It didn't really hit me that hard because we hadn't talked in over 10 years and were never really that close, but still it was a weird thing to find out.  Just another reminder that life is short.  I was encouraged that when I heard that I did feel a sense that I was really living life to the fullest.  Being here, at this campground, doing this with these people, I am in no hurry to stop living, but if I had to, I would know that I had done the most I could! 

2017 - Day 14 - Buffalo, NY

Today was the Buffalo and Canada day, meaning that we woke up in Lockport, rode through Niagara Falls, down the Niagara River on the Canadian side and ended up spending the night in the hostel in Buffalo.  It was a great day.  The morning ride through Lockport and the ride in Canada went by in a bit of a blur.  I've been to the falls before so no big deal there although it was nice to see it again and have my friends see it.  Believe it or not the weather has been perfect, if possibly even a bit too hot and sunny.  My body is getting used to the sun slowly but the overall effect is to make me a bit sleepy.  I was excited to get to Buffalo.  Since the hostel couldn't take us we went to the Hatch and had some delicious food while watching the expensive boats come in and out of the harbor.  Buffalo is clearly on the rise; I saw all the signs of a good, healthy economy.  Brian explained to me that the frontier of hipsters moved from SF to Portland to Austin and now to Buffalo, and that seems true.  We went to his brothers' brewery and it looked a lot like Portland.  Of course it's a bit of an illusion since the weather happens to be awesome right now, but still.  There are a lot of bad neighborhoods still but definitely signs of resurgence - which was the name of the brewery, not by coincidence.  We then went on to a bike shop and helped Brian be on local TV, then to his friends place, then the hostel.  I could write a whole entry about hostels and how awesome they are.  Buffalo is trying to shut the hostel down because they want to do something more lucrative with the building, which is a shame.  Hostels really contribute to the artistic and social nature of an area.  Without a hostel we'd be camping out outside the city most likely and it wouldn't be nearly as easy to explore.  And explore we did; a bunch of us went to the Anchor Bar for wings and beer.  The Anchor was way more awesome than I remembered; I always thought it was dumpy but it isn't at all, and the wings were amazing.  Sometimes tourists do get the best stuff!  I was able to pick up the tab for everybody too, which felt nice.  It's really great to be able to connect with where you're from and realize that it's a lot more awesome than you remember.  So often things are the other way around.  :)

Goodbye, Buffalo!  I think I may come back sooner than I might have previously thought.  :)

2017 - Day 13 - Lockport, NY

I miss the food.  Birch beer, beef on weck, noodle salad with tuna fish, strawberry gelatin dessert, baked beans with pork, and a spread of dips and crackers.  Everything amazingly delicious.

Today we spent the whole day on a bike path.  That sounds nice, but it was actually an embarassment of riches type scenario.  The path was a bit dull to be honest; the canal is not all that pretty really.  And the constant rumbling and bumping of the road is starting to take a toll on my wrist and lower arms.  Tomorrow we get off the path and ride up to Niagara Falls (yay!) and go up into Canada to ride along Lake Erie.  Should be really great fun.  About half the team (a bit more) is going into Canada, the other half isn't for various reasons (Eric and Tony don't have passports for example).  Tomorrow night we'll be in Buffalo (!) where we should have a pretty damn good time.  But for today, it's noodle salad with tuna fish in Lockport!

2017 - Day 12 - Spencerport, NY

So many things today!  Every day is a new adventure.  First of all, the weather held for a second straight day.  This part of the country is really beautiful when the weather is as gorgeous as it has been for the past two days.  We spent the better part of today on the Erie Canal Canalway bike trail, and we'll be on it for most of the next two days as well, it's quite long.  It's a lot of fun being on a dedicated bike path but there definitely are down sides, one of them being that it's quite complicated to follow the directions.  We got lost a couple of times; at one point we found Richard and Brian riding back towards us telling us we had missed an unmarked turn onto a bridge.  Eric's teammate Tony has showed up and I rode with the two of them.  Tony got several flat tires and when he took the tube off the second time I was there and saw that his rim tape was about a million years old.  So we used electrical tape but stopped by a bike shop to pick up rim tape.  I made the mistake of asking the guy to wrap my handlebars but he took it upon himself to do a full tune up of my bike that took about 40 minutes, meanwhile everybody was waiting for me.  I really don't like bike shops, and I especially don't like it when they're condescending.

Tonight we had Stefani Pratt's parents drop by and give us all food!  And the town gave us free showers at the museum.  Honestly it continues to amaze me how nice everybody us.  And Donna drove us back and forth to the showers so I got to hang out with Kitty again.  Then we played Euchre and I got some work done.  I love this trip and I love these people!

2017 - Day 11 - Sodus Point, NY

Today was a very fun and interesting day.  First of all, the weather today was as good as yesterday's was bad.  This part of the country looks so amazing when it's a nice day, and today was one of the nicest.  Bright, sunny, a bit on the colder side which is good when you're riding, bug-free and just glorious.  I'll remember the smell of cut grass, the way the hills rolled out under us, the chirping of birds, the sun glinting off the water.  I spent a good part of the day riding with Amanda, which was fun because I don't hang out with her as much and it was cool to just chat.  Then, in the afternoon, I met up with my parents (!) and we went to see my Aunt Sandy (!) and my cousins Tim and Mike, and had dinner at a steak house.  Now I'm blogging from inside a bed and breakfast in Sodus Point, and there's a beautiful sunset.  A few interesting tidbits from today: I haven't seen my Aunt in many years and my cousins in even more.  I often feel like I don't have a lot of family so it's good to see family.  They are really great.  I really like them.  Sandy still runs a store in Wolcott and her son Mike lives with her and does really good woodworking.  They're just good people.  Tim reminds me of Brian, my cousin on my mom's side.  It's good to know that you're from somewhere.

Can't wait for more riding, and more adventures. 

2017 - Day 10 - Pulaski, NY

Toes frozen, I walked into the grocery store and stopped the first clerk I saw.  "Socks," I squeaked out.  "Do you have any socks?"  "No socks...no socks in this whole town."  First I tried the thrift shop - closed.  Then the Dollar store - closed.  Finally the Rite Aid had, in the back, on clearance, red socks with hearts on them for little girls.  I quickly stripped off the plastic grocery bags and wet socks on my feet and slapped the girl socks on as far up as they would go - toes wouldn't fit - and hopped back on, hoping frostbite wouldn't set in.  80 miles in the cold and rain: here's a life tip for you.  If somebody says "hey, do you want to ride a bike 80 miles in the rain from Old Forge to Pulaski, New York" the answer is "No".  Even if they offer you a thousand dollars - just say no.​

Today was a heroic victory, and for every heroic victory you need almost insurmountable odds, and so, I welcome the adversity and the cold and the rain.  I grew as a person today, no question about it.  But I'm not in a hurry to do it again!​