Day 15 Sea 2 Shining

This is a day I've been looking forward to since the very beginning. Riding from Salt Lake City to Park City! I have done this ride a dozen times before. This is my old stumping ground. It is great to be on climbs where I know what is coming up next and know what kind of effort it takes to climb fast and not blow up. And to top it off, my friend Jill was going to join us on our ride today!!

We started at a slow pace thru town to keep the group together until we got to Hogle Zoo. This is where the climb starts up Emigration Canyon. I am not much of a climber but I've always liked this climb because it has the perfect pitch for me to hold a nice hard tempo and still be able to power up the final steep pitch to the top at This is the Place Park. Of course this is the first time I've ridden this climb on a tandem, but Larry and I just flew up this great climb. We had a blast.

After a fun descent, we had to climb up to Parley Summit on I80 with all the traffic you would expect from an interstate and a very steep 12 percent grade. Not my favorite part of the climb but still not that bad. Again with a fun descent to Kimball Junction then an up and down, mostly up, ride to Park City. When we got to town we had to wait for the whole group to arrive so we could ride up Main Street and up the Deer Valley together. It was fun to ride with all the people in town watching us and people taken pictures.

Soon we arrived at our hotel for the night. Heck, hotel? More like a palace. We are staying at St-Regis-Deer-Valley-Resort , HOLY CRAP!!! I've watched this place being built when I lived in Park City 14 years ago. I also watched when they bulldozed one of the best mountain bike trails in the world called spincycle. I guess I have to say it was worth losing that trail for such an incredible place. We were treated like kings and queens. I really mean it. We wanted for nothing. There are butlers and waite staff that will do anything for you at any time. Of course dinner and breakfast was first class. Somehow our stay here for all forty of us was donated. Wow!!

Rest Day 3

Today we had a rest day in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is so great to be in a city I know so well, since I've lived in Park City years ago and I've had many overnights here while working for Southwest Airlines.

I started my day with a great breakfast at our hotel. Followed by updating my blog and catching up on phone calls back home. At lunch time I went for a walk with Sabrina to help her find a bike shop. We didn't make it but a few feet from the hotel when we spotted a street vendor selling tacos and burritos. They looked so good, we bought ours and went back to the hotel to enjoy our finds. Everyone in the lobby was jealous. Later they all went to get their own.

After our tasty lunch, Sabrina and I set out to find a bike shop with in walking distance. I've forgotten how long Salt Lakes blocks are and how hilly it can get. We walked up to Watsatch Touring and to Salt Lake Bicycle Company. Sabrina was able to get exactly what she was looking for at each store. We walked about 3 miles easy.


For the evening, we had another sponsor dinner planned at a steak place near by. I decided to spend the night going to one of my favorite places in town Brewvies with my best friend Jill. We went to see Hunger Games. We had a great time, we always do, but the movie was very mediocre at best. And yes I did read the book first and thought the book missed the point too. Maybe someday I will write a better book.

Day 14 Sea 2 Shining Sea

Joe showed up at breakfast with his right hand all wrapped up from the doctor. Turns out he does has a fracture to his thumb. They said it is going to be best for Joe to get an operation on his thumb on our rest day tomorrow. But that is tomorrow, today Joe is riding with us! He is one tough guy!!

Todays ride is broken into two parts again because we needed to shuttle 25 miles around construction to stay on time for our planned festivities in Salt Lake City. The first ride was to a Vererans Center in Provo where we hung out for an hour waiting for our shuttle ride to a Walwart parking lot where we had lunch and waited to start our 30 mile ride to Peace Park to hang around before going to downtown Salt Lake City. Hurry up and wait.

We had an amazing welcome into Salt Lake City and Gateway Plaza by The Adaptive Sports Expo. There was even a stage and live music. Nice.

Larry and I have been having all kinds of issues with our tandem this week. From a warped rotor on our disc brake, too a new chain and now we need a new cassette. On our ride from lunch to Peace Park we were riding with a badly skipping chain and just a front brake since we just pulled the rear brake off. Brakes are over rated. Our bike can't wait for a rest day rebuild.

Our dinner was the best so far, easy. We ate at Thaifoon Taste of Asia . Wow, what a great meal and a great time with great people.

To top off the night, Glenn had a radio interview here somewhere and was able to get us into the Nickleback concert at the old Delta center( not sure what it is called now). Twenty five of us went to the concert. Very cool indeed. I only lasted about 12 minutes before by ears had had enough from very load music that I just didn't understand.

Day 13 Sea 2 Shining Sea

Still getting miles, miles and more miles. But today I took a little break after a steady climb for 48 miles. I shuttled in the last 30 miles with a slightly sore back. No big deal.

We left Delta and started just a gentle climb on another very staight road. It was the two tandems, Joe and Hunter. Larry and I thought we were rolling out at a steady pace and I was looking over our shoulder to see a helmet on our wheel, thinking we were all together. Until I looked over that first helmet to see a half mile gap to the rest of our group. Oops! It would have been nice to know we broke up the group right out of the gate. We sat up and waited to the rest so we could share the work.

The comfort group left the hotel a half hour before us. Usually it takes us a little over an hour to catch them. Not today. Was it the straight gradually slope, the long days beating us down or is the comfort group just getting that much stronger? Not sure of the real reason but it took well over two hours for us to catch them. We caught them at a water stop.

As soon as we got to the water stop the comfort group pushed off. We filled all water bottles, grabbed a quick snack and set off to catch them to good. Well, so much for that thought. A few minutes after we left the water stop we had a mishap. Larry and I were following Hunter with the other tandem on our wheel and Joe on their wheel. Hunter was trying to adjust his speed to ours and I was trying to adjust to his when I bumped into Hunter. No big deal for us, but the chain reaction caused Joe to overlap wheel and he went down. Joe was back up in seconds with  some road rash on his knee and on his right palm. Gloves? What gloves? We were back on the road.

When we arrived at lunch the surport staff checked out Joe and cleaned his wounds. I got myself some food and when I turned around they had Joe laying down wrapped up in therma blanket and bandages like a mummy. Joe had injured his right thumb but didn't know to what extend. All Joe wanted to do was continue riding. After some coaxing he was allow to ride.

It the same time I was trying to stretch out my low back. All of these long days in to the wind and countersteering for the movement on the back of the tandem has caught up to me. I have not been keeping up with my yoga as much as I should be. So I climbed into the big truck to stretch out some. Hunter came to me and asked if I wanted him to drive the tandem for the rest of day and I could ride his bike. Sounded good to me but I was just going to take the shuttle and not get messed up more by riding his bike that didn't fit me. So I shuttled the last 30 miles.

When we arrived in Payson Utah we were escorted in by Police and Fire trucks to the State Farm office where they had a nice reception for us. I was greeted by my very good friend from high school Jennifer Hopkins Asplund and three of her four kids, Maggie, Ellie and Griffin. It was so great to have them take time out of their day to visit us. Thank you very much.

After a much needed shower Larry, Hunter, Paul and I went to Massage Envy for massages. Then we went to Texas Roadhouse for a good steak dinner. I will be better for tomorrow. Joe went to get his hand checked out. We will see how Joe is in the morning.

Day 12 Sea 2 Shining Sea

Today we rode from the state line of Nevada/Utah to Delta, Utah in a straight line, I think. Just two small climbs and a whole bunch of false flats and head wind for 90 miles to Delta. And yes, we had more flats. I think we are up to six flats in twelve days. What the heck is going on? I rode for over 3000 miles before this trip without any flats. We are getting new new tires in Salt Lake City when we get there in a couple days.

We had a great cookout by the hotel pool afterward.

Day 11 Sea 2 Shining Sea

I'm updating Day 11 from Delta, Utah, which is the end of Day 12. Because last night we stayed at the Border Line Inn in Baker, Nevada, which is right at the state line on Nevada and Utah. That is in the middle of nowhere. No internet, no phone reception, nothing. Just a Motel, a dinner and of course a casino.

Yesterdays ride was a pretty easy 60 miles because of just two nice climbs and two wonderful descents, 58+mph. Larry and I have been having more than our share of flats since we left San Fransisco. We picked up a screw in our rear tire on Day 3 so we have been switching between our good tires to a new heavy set of tires that we use for descending for the safety.  Problem with these tires are they are as slow as snot. I figured out why they are so much slower while climbing the second hill. The front tire is just too tall and hits the fork crown with every rotation. I thought I heard something during our first descent. So while starting our second climb I pulled over next to our supply truck to change our front tire. Now we can climb better.

At the top of the last climb Larry and I met up with Joe. The three of us had a great time during the final 10 mile descent into Baker even with the crazy cross winds. By the time we were getting ready for dinner the wind had picked up to 50mph gust. Wild winds!

After dinner, since there was absolutely nothing else to do, Paul Curley showed us a movie of his world trip with World Team Sports in 1995. This movie was the most inspirational thing I've ever seen. It makes this ride across the USA make sense and makes it look so incredibly small. Here is the World Ride trailer. I am still trying to find the whole movie to post here.

When we got back to the room our rear tire was flat. Dam!!

Rest Day 2

For the past two days we have had the pleasure of riding and hanging out with Tom Riley from York, England. He is riding around the World. He is nine months into his journey and has about seven months to go. He has already been thru Europe, Central Asia, China and Japan. Landing in San Fransisco and starting his ride across the USA the day after we started our trip across the USA. For the past two days Tom's touring bike has been hanging into our big truck and Tom has been riding one of our light fast Trek spare bikes. I hope we didn't ruin him from riding this

A Dawes touring bike which weighs over 100 pounds. After a long night out with all the youngsters of our crew Tom headed out toward Utah with I hope a big tailwind at his back and a safe journey to the other side of the US and great trip up West Africa back home to England. Hope to see you soon.

In the afternoon, our title sponsor State Farm had a very nice dinner for us and treated us on a tour on a steam train up to a copper mine. Here are some pictures.

pictures failed! i will post pictures when i get better internet

Day 10 Sea 2 Shining Sea

Today we had the pleasure of riding all day with the one and only Paul Curley, our fearless road captain. We left Eureka Nevada by continuing our climb again from the day before, this is the second day in a row we started by finishing a climb. We, being the 'fast' group left a half hour after the 'comfort' group, stayed together slowly reeling in the 'comfort' group. We kept it under control for the climbs, meaning they went slow enough to keep the tandems in the group and on the down hill the tandems went to the front for a little more speed. It was quite fun. We caught them at a water stop at about 21 miles. Great job 'comfort' group, they were moving. We continued our steady pace all the way to lunch.

After lunch the real fun began. It was just five of us, Paul, Hunter, Joe, Larry and I(on the tandem) and Tom(our world traveller). Paul came up with a great idea of having all of the single bikes in our group take turns helping Larry and I up the hills and Larry and I would pick up the pace and fly down the hills. And fly we did. Where as Larry and I would normally climb at 8-9mph, they had us climbing at 11-12mph. They were getting a good workout pushing and learn new skills from Paul and we were getting a bit of help on my least favorite thing to do, climb.  When we hit the top of the hill Larry and I would put our 400+ pounds to good use. One thing I can do well is go fast on descents and keep the speed up on the flats. On the final climb we had Seth in our sights cranking up the hill on his handcycle, he was not getting closer fast at all. Seth is the real deal, he can keep a super hard pace all day long. We caught him at the top of the hill only because he stopped to wait for us. On the downhill Seth also jumped on the train behind the tandem and enjoyed the draft. It was an absolute blast pulling all these guys into Ely to end our 10th day of riding.

Day 9 Sea 2 Shining Sea

After such an amazing day yesterday I didn't think it could be topped. It was topped today.

Tom joined us all for our 70 mile from Austin to Eureka. Still in Nevada. Our road captain Paul insisted Tom put his touring bike with panniers (over 100 pounds) in the truck and ride one of our spare bikes. Tom couldn't refuse. We started by finishing the climb past Austin up 4 more miles. After we came down to the bottom on the hill we were on the straightist roads I've ever been on. You can see where you are going to be 30 minutes later. Larry and I rode hard for the first 37 miles until we got to lunch. Again another great lunch served by the amazing girls in the USO rv.

Larry and I almost left just before the main group arrived but we hung out to see them in. This turned a bike ride into a day that will never be forgotten.

Paul had been riding his handcycle for the first half of the ride and was completely exhausted so he wanted us to take turns riding the handcycle the rest of the way in. Interesting idea, none of us have ever riding a handcycle before but we were all game. They decided wach would ride for 10k each (6 miles). Tom took his turn and Paul rode his bike. We all rode as a group watching Tom enjoying his time riding something completely different from what he has been riding for the past 9 months.

After his 10k, it was my turn. Tom took over the tandem riding with Larry. They took off at top speed having an absolute blast. I've never been on a handcycle for more than a quick turn in a parking lot during my bike shop days. This was so much fun and very hard work with my little bird arms.

Next on the handcycle was Larry. YES, Larry!!

Did I ever mention that Larry is blind?
I rode behind Larry with Paul on the tandem. I just treated it like skiing but easier. The road was straight and had rumblestrips on the white line. All I had to do was tell Larry 'a little to the left , a little to the right' as we rode along. It worked out great. Larry being as fearless as he is, he picked up the pace quite quickly. We were going 20mph. Larry was going as straight as an arrow.

This may be the first time for a blind handcyclist ever. It was such a great experience for everyone there.

Day 8 Sea 2 Shining Sea

Well, lets start with our longest day so far. We rode 111 miles across a very desolete section of Nevada. The next couple days will be pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The distances between towns is exactly how long our days are. It started with a slight descent for the first 25 miles and a steady climb for the next 73 miles followed by a 10 mile descent, ending with a very cruel 3 mile steep climb to our hotel. We did our best to pace ourselves to finish strong and not go out too fast in the beginning. But we were rolling at 26mph during the first hour. We needed to back it down a bit if we didn't want to wear out well before the finish. So we started climbing at a more controlled pace.

After another great lunch previded by our amazing surport crew, Larry and I continued at a good pace. Midway up our last big climb I saw a cyclist in the distance riding with a full set of panniers. When we caught him we slowed to say hi, the best move we could have ever made. His name is Tom Riley and he is riding around the world. THE WORLD!!! He is 12,000 miles into his journey and started riding out of San Fransisco a day after we started. Tom is riding for a cause called Around the World for Water. At the top of the hill we stopped to take a picture

At the top of the hill Larry and I left Tom for the ten mile descent. A ten mile descent is a thing of pleasure after so much climbing. Larry and I love to go downhill. I do my best to explan as much as can to Larry of what I see during our day. This descent was extra special as we were being lead down the hill by a hawk that was flying just in front of us at over 40mph. He just floated from side to side down the road for over 3 miles. I so wish I could have gotten my camera out to take a video of this hawk watching over us. Very cool!!

To add to the experience, during our descent we passed the 100 mile mark. This is Larry's first century! We hit the century mark at 5 hours and 30 minutes. That is a great time for such a hilly hard ride. Way to go Larry!!

But this ride is 111 miles long. The last 5 miles hurt like hell. Straight up to the town of Austin. Lots of pain for the end of such a great day. We got to our room and could not get showered fast enough so we could eat everything in site.

Tom showed up in Austin as we were leaving for dinner. We invited him to stay with us since he had planned to riding up the road to camp. We insisted he stay with us, take a shower and join us for dinner. Great plan. He stayed and everyone loved to hear his stories of traveling around the world.

Day 7 Sea 2 Shining Sea

In all of my years of riding, I've never had such a tailwind like today. We rode from Carson City to Fallon Nevada which is pretty much perfectly in a northeast direction. We had a perfect 20-30mph tailwind coming from the southwest. We rode 63 miles in just over 2 hours 40 minutes and I'm not in the least bit sore. We rode so fast that we sat at lunch for over an hour so I had to cut my ride data into part 1 and part 2 again.

and


After our ride, we got a tour of the control tower at Fallon Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center. This is where Top Gun happens. Very cool indeed. (I have a cool picture on my phone that I posted on my Facebook page. Check it out there. I can't figure out how to get it on my blog.)

Then we went to the 9/11 Memorial in Fallon to show our respect and take pictures.

Tonight we ate a great chicken dinner with salad at the hotel. I can't thank our support staff enough for all of their hard work.

Tomorrow we ride our first century so early to bed.

Day 6 Sea 2 Shining Sea

Today we had the extremes of slow to fast. We got a late start because of a charity bike ride going around Lake Tahoe, luckily they were going the opposite direction. Just after the first few miles we already had two flats as a group. Then we crossed our first state line, YEA. Only 13 more to go. We all stopped so my friends LaVerne and William could take our pictures. ( I'll post that picture when I get it)

As we rode around the southeast side of Lake Tahoe we passed a caravan of covered wagons.

Then we rode thru a tunnel. Then we started to climb. Todays climb was much shorter, Larry and I decided to hang with John all the way up and meet everyone else at the top for lunch. It was a very slow climb but it was great to be with John as he made it to the top strong. Great job John!

After lunch all we had was a very fast and long descent to Carson City. Larry and I hit 61.1 mph!!!!! That was way FUN.

Rest Day

What a beautiful place to spend our first well earned rest day. We are at Camp Richardson on South Lake Tahoe. Last night we had a nice pizza dinner out on the back patio followed by everyone relaxing with a few beers late into the night.

Today a bunch of us had breakfast it the general store at Camp Richardson. I had the biggest breakfast burrito, it was as big as my head. We spent the rest of the morning working on bikes, changing tires and swapping out Larrys seat. And of course walking along to shore of this big blue pond called Lake Tahoe.

We all loaded up in the bubble buses to take a tour of the lake on The Tahoe Queen. This was a very beautiful but very long paddle boat ride out to Emerald Bay. This also turned out to be a very loud 3 hour tour.

Larry gave me the night off so I could go to dinner with my friends Laverne and William, who flew out from Pennsylvania for a week of vacation. We had an incredible sushi dinner and I even had a big ice cream chocolate chip cookie sandwich for desert.      
I can't wait to get back on the bike tomorrow to ride all of this food off.


pictures to follow...

Day 4 & 5 Sea 2 Shining Sea

Yesterday was nothing short of an epic day on a bike. 52miles at 9.4avg and over 7700ft of climbing. The tandems started riding an hour after the rest of the group to try to allow the main group to ride a more leisurely controlled pace. Since was only the tandems who stayed back it didn't quite work out to slow the front down so we took the opportunity to stretch our legs and hammer a bit. We caught the guys in the front in a little more then an hour twenty. Larry is really a turbo/ deisel back there just making our bike fly along. I'm just hanging on and steering.
The rest of the way we rode with rider after rider, pushing, cheering and just being there for them so they could ride as far as they wanted for the day. The steady steepness of the climb was just unrelenting.
After lunch we rode with a group of 6-7 riders just keeping each other company and telling stories try to make the pain of the hills go away. I can't even to begin to explain what an honor and pleasure it is to ride with these people. The stories of their life experiences to get to where they are now will bring a tear to your eyes even while climbing some of the most beautiful roads in the country. Sunglasses are great for masking the tears.
We were rewarded with a fast downhill to our cabins for the night at Kit Carson Lodge on Silver Lake. They were kind enough to open their lodge just for us. They were not planning on opening for the season for a couple weeks. We had a great pasta and chichen parm dinner, which was excellent.
After dinner a handful of us spent the evening kayaking and watching our crazy surport staff jump off the high rocks into the lake. And of course a fire pit was there to warm us all back up. Just an amazing day!!

Day 5

Today we had two good climbs followed by the real reward for all of our climbing, a 56mph descent  down to Lake Tahoe.

Day 2 and Day 3 Sea 2 Shining Sea

Yesterday we rode out of Petaluma for a pretty lite easy ride of about 38 miles Fairfield. Once we got past the traffic congestion of the city we were able to stay together as a group pretty nicely. We did have a few issues with finding a comfortable pace for everyone. It is very tough to ride with such a diverse group of cyclist. We have some that have started ride just a few weeks ago and are going to ride into fitness and some who have been riding for years or have been training for this ride. Add into that the different levels of abilities and basic skill levels and it is challenging to say the least. All in all everything was handled very professionally and courtouesly. It is day 2 so we will have many ways to work and ride together over the next 60+ days. Since it was such a short day we arrived at our Best Western a bit before 2pm. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the pool enjoying the beautiful weather.


Today was the start of our long mileage days. We had planned on riding 87 miles from Fairfield to Jackson with last 7+ miles being a very steady climb. We had one major problem, a very crappy section of road about 20 miles in. It was decided for the safety of the whole group that we would shuttle to our lunch stop instead of risking a major mishap or injury. It was the right thing to do, absolutely.
We were shuttled 20 miles to lunch stop at Michael David Winery. As we left we were greeted by the founder of the winery who was a World War 2 Purple Heart receiptent. All of our riders and staff were very honored to meet him.

and

Day 1 Sea 2 Shining Sea- San Fran - Petaluma

The past few days in San Fransisco have been really nice. The weather has been good. We've had a couple meetings and dinners to kick off the ride. We spent all day yesterday walking around the city. And last night watched the 75th Anniversiery of the Golden Gate Bridge fireworks.

But Today the real riding began. We left Fischersman's Wharf at about 8am to ride over the bridge into Sausolito and up to San Rafeal and finished in Petaluma with 53.4 miles. It was a great day on the bike. Here are a few photo.

Here in San Francisco

After a couple crazy days of non-rev travel I've make it to San Francisco. I flew from Philadelphia to Seattle on Wednesday and Seattle to Oakland on Thursday. Two of the three flights I had to sit forth and I even got bumped by an IOE out of Chicago. Go with the flow, I am off for the next 2 months and I won't see an airplane for just as long. Wow, no airplane for a whole 2 months? I've taken time off from work before but this is the first time in 14+ years with Southwest Airlines that I've been away for so long.

I got in after 11pm on Thursday night so I said a quick hi to Larry and went right to sleep. In the morning we had a nice continental breakfast at our home for the next few days Holiday Inn Fisherman's Wharf. Larry and I both have the idea that we are going to shed 10-20 pounds during our trip so we started today. No pastries for us.

At 9am we had our first meeting with the whole group; riders, interns and staff. The leader of the whole ride is Mike C. (we have something like 6 Mikes) He give a very inspiring introduction speech about what to expect from this ride. In a phrase, LIFE CHANGING. This is going to be so much more than just another bike ride. We are going to be a TEAM traveling across the country being greeted by small towns and big cities alike in the most patriotic ceremonies celebrating all five branches of service for their sacrifice and dedication.

After lunch, Larry and I finished setting up his new Co-Motion tandem and we went for a little 12 mile ride. ( be sure to follow my daily ride data at Strava.com) We rode to the Golden Gate Bridge for some photos. (EBS at the Golden Gate)

Thanks for reading, more later.

Computer stupid

I'm trying to figure out my new tablet and link it with my phone and laptop. Somehow I would like to share my music and photos between devices. At the same time I'm trying to figure out Netflix. I need to find a six year old to explain all of this to me. If anyone knows me at all, you know I'm not one to waste money or really to spend money on services like cable, internet, music or movies. I can't stand monthly fees. I guess that is why I still listen to the same music from twenty years ago.

Ride of Silence

Every year too many cyclist are killed by automobiles while doing what they love, just riding a bicycle. The Ride of Silence honors their memory. On the third Wednesday in May all over the world thousands of cyclist gather to ride in silence. Tonight 150 local riders rode with a police escort on a 6 mile course thru downtown Doylestown in complete silence. There were people out on their lawns, out walking in town and sitting outside eating dinner. They were very aware of the large group of cyclist riding by without saying a word. It was a very powerful experience to be a part of this ride. Please be careful out there.

S2SS ride schedule

To say that I'm intimated would be an understatement. It seems to start out easy enough with a gradual increase of miles but I see a 600 mile week across Kansas. Total is 3727 miles in 54 days of riding. Wow indeed.