DAY 20 Colfax Iowa to Mount Pleasant Iowa....A DAY TO REMEMBER.....

Distance 141 miles
total miles to date: 2450
1200 more miles to go
Climbing 5303
total climbing To date 80,000 feet
Avg speed today 15.9


After having said that yesterday was BORING. God must have listened because today was a DOOZY.

Our riding began at six thirty am and right from the start it began to rain. The first twenty miles lightly showering, then the wind picked up turning into a torrential downpour. Or maybe I should say side pour because the rain was literally coming down sideways. The wind was in excess of twenty miles per hour, straight into our faces, we had a hard time keeping our speed above 16 mph. There were several points where we had to walk our bikes through valleys of mud, over 1 ft deep. The riding groups were kept small today for safety reasons; only 2 to 3 per group.

Finally at the 100 mile point the rain and wind subsided and we were thrilled thinking we would just cruise in the last 40 miles, unfortunately then my riding partner Greg took a very bad spill on his bike. He was banged up and Both of his wheels were bent to the point that he could not ride his bike. We waited for help from one of the sag trucks which took awhile as they had to replace both of his wheels. At that point we were wet, tired, bloody and dirty. we were Finally Relieved to see the hotel at 5:00 pm, making it a a ten hour bike day! Greg limped into his hotel room to recover; hopefully he will be ok tomorrow .

Mount Pleasant is the largest town we have been in the last week, complete with a wall mart! woo hoo! So that is where I went tonight to stock up on supplies; baby powder for my butt and candy for my gut. :) I finished the day with a big Mexican dinner. It's ten o clock now, I'm very tired and and have to get ready for tomorrow as we go 140 miles - AGAIN! onward to Pekin, Illinois. A new state! ...... eleven days to go.....

So far I have raised $18,508 for JDRF. A phenomenal accomplishment, thank you so much to all who have donated! (you can still donate at http://ride.jdrf.org/) That equals about $7.55/mile ridden so far. Not to shabby an hourly rate, so with that in mind I'll keep on pedalin....... hoping that I reach my goal of $20,000 and the first ever to ride across America for this cause in honor of my granddaughter, Casey! good night!

DAY 19 Dennison Iowa to Colfax Iowa..... a bit boring.....

Distance 140 miles an Additional 10 miles as I got lost!!!
Total climb 4341
Avg speed 16.5
Elevation of Colfax 833

Not much to tell about today's ride, how many pictures of corn fields can I take? The climbing grades today were moderate, my roommate thought today's ride was boring, there were very rough roads, most without a shoulder and cars were pretty aggressive, maybe they are not used to seeing bikers? The humidity is incredibly thick, In the pic below where it looks cloudy, that's actually humidity.

Tomorrow is 140 miles to Mount pleasant, Iowa. We have a bunch of long days than a few short ones. We have lost a couple of riders the past few days; several are injured or sick or pooped. Hopefully they will recover soon. I'm feeling pretty good however my butt sores are not getting any better I'm just trying to ignore the discomfort and ignore the pain, which is really impossible. ): Going to hit the hot tub, maybe that will help.

Just heard on the wheather channel 80 percent chance of rain tomorrow hope they are wrong! Here's some pics of my sister in law Nell, her husband Jack and my nephew Jeff from yesterday's visit.

DAY 18 Vermillion SD to Dennison Iowa ... MORE CORN.....

Distance 128
2037 miles total
Total climb 6758 feet
Avg speed 16.5


After almost 8 hours in the saddle its nice to know that Progress continues to be made as we are in a new state today; The enchanting state of Iowa!!

Today's ride was easier than yesterday as the temps hovered the mid 80's down from the blazing triple digits. The wind calmed a bit too and the humidity was bearable. Last night it rained , bringing with it a little needed freshness to the air. The climbs today were moderate; rolling hills averaging grades of 6 to 8 percent. There were some really cool kids helping at the last sag stop today too. We always appreciate all the volunteers and support.

I'm getting some visitors in this segment of the tour, as my wife Verla, is from these here parts!! hee haw! ;) This evening my sister in law Nell, her husband Jack, along with my nephew Greg came down several hours from Sheldon Iowa for a visit . We enjoyed a nice dinner together. Must say the prime rib really hit the spot after all the tour food! Tommorrow Colfax,Iowa. 135 miles.

DAY 17 Mitchell SD to Vermillion SD

Miles 115--last five days 500 miles
Climbing 2760
Avg speed 16mph

Today was the same as yesterday and the day before: wind, heat, humidity and lots of corn and soy bean fields. The miles are taking it's toll on people especially some of the big guys, it's very hard to stay hydrated in these conditions. The last 20 miles
I got heat rash on my legs. I think I'm ok now but will find out tomorrow as we go 127 miles to Iowa.

Verla's nephew, Jeff Nieuwendorp and wife, Cindy who live in Sioux Falls, S.D. along with their kids; Jaycee, Hunter and Skyler drove several hours to Vermillion to greet me at the day's end. We went to dinner at pizza Hut and just tallked for a couple of hrs, I had not seen them since their wedding in 1993. Jeff completed the ride across Iowa in the 90's, it's the largest state ride in the country and over ten thousand people participate every year. They are a very special and loving family and it was great to reconnect with them. Their kids are close in age to my grandkids and reminded me of them. They were impressed with how light my bike is! Seeing them was definitely the highlight of the day! I am missing all my grandkids so much this summer!

Tomorrow 127 miles to Denison Iowa.

DAY 16 Murdo South Dakota to Mitchell SD -- Toughest day yet.

Miles 145
Climbing 2973
Avg speed 15.1 slowest speed to date
Elevation Mitchell 1289

If you like wind ( 25 mph plus ), heat (90 plus) , humidy (90 percent) and sharing the road with combines, then today would have been your day because that is what we got!..... that plus plus 145 miles of riding which added to yesterdays 148 miles is just shy of 300 miles in 2 days.
Many of the riders today did not complete the entire ride because of the conditions. About half were sag'd (this means transported on the sag vehicle) part way or to the motel this evening. One of my friends (Jim from NY, pictured here) was sick,
so he only rode part of the way. I was in the saddle for 9.5 hrs, the most time I have been in the saddle since day one. The miles are starting to take it's toll; I'm sore and tired. tomorrow will be a little shorter day 115 miles but the winds are predicted to be the same or worse.
In these conditions the trick is to ride steady and not go out to fast or you will blow up. We knew early on that today was about survival, not speed, so we picked a doable pace, and stuck with it. The other thing is to manage your liquid intake, today I drank 24 ounces of various drinks every ten miles for a total of 360 ounces of liquid ....more info than you want but I'm giving it to you anyway.
South dakota is very sparcly populated many with many towns less than 1,000 people. Lots of farms and corn fields. I'm getting along very well with my roommate Tom, we ride together and have similar riding strategies and ability. Tomorrow vermillion south Dakota.

DAY 15 the HALFWAY POINT and 1,653 miles DONE!

RAPID CITY SOUTH SD to MURDO SD.
Distance today 148 miles,
Total distance to date: 1653
Total climb 3712 ft
Elevation of murdo 2270
Well I must say I'm very happy today is in the books! Were half way now. Today was Almost 150 miles and I was in the saddle for seven Hours +, battling very strong headwinds, high heat, challenging hills and millions of grasshoppers! never seen so many grasshoppers in my life; they invaded like a plague, annoying and pesky, constantly jumping on your bike and down my jersey. Now i know how the mormons felt! I rode strong today, hard in fact, and My legs have been cramping off and on this evening. I am wearing my compression socks to try and minimize that. The cramping could come from de-hydration although i drank 12 - 22oz bottles of various fluids. It was 95 degrees today and I lost 5 pounds. More of the same tomorrow, 145 miles again! trying to eat as much as i can to replenish.

Total miles to date is 1653, which is more than the itinerary shows. Often the daily map shows two routes to get to the destination and i always take the longer one.

Here's a picture of John, the crew masseuse, and some female riders doing a great job! There are some neat (and unusual) characters on the trip.

DAY 14 Custer, to Rapid City South Dakota

75 miles today
1503 miles total
6536 climbing grades up to 12 percent
17 mph
Internet and phone are very spotty today:Custer SD is in the middle of nowhere and i'm not kidding. It's about as desolate a place as you'll find.
Todays ride we went up to Mt rushmore which was truly awe inspiring. To see those faces chiseled in stone; really its amazing.

We also rode in the middle of buff herds which were within ten feet of us. I wanted to take a closer pic but it was too scary! Still in Some of the most awesome , beautiful meadows I've ever seen; yellow and purple flowers, aspen and pine trees. weather to day was perfect. I recovered from yesterday's bonk and I'm feeling really good. Overall better than I thought I would, especially since some of the early days put some doubt in my mind. It took some time for me to settle in, but I seem to be feeling stronger as the days go along and am riding up front with the fast group. Some of these guys are hard core riders; CAT 1 and 2's of their era's as bikers. Some people are starting to hurt and slow down. One guy was on his bike for 12 hours yesterday; which when you really think about it is a terribly long time. Tomorrow we go 150 miles. The longest day so far not much climbing but could be windy and hot.

DAY 13 Gillette Wyoming to Custer South Dakota and I'm "DONE"

My "horse" and I are wiped.

Distance 116 miles
Climb 3694
Avg speed 17.9
Elevation Custer 5366

Today was another fast day. Mostly flat, with one moderate climb but the winds were strong today and this afternoon I bonked.(In endurance sports, particularly cycling and running, " bonking" describes a condition caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, which manifests itself by precipitous fatigue and loss of energy). This happened because I went to hard this morning. We tried to out run a train this a.m.so we were flying for about 20 miles or so. Apparently not without price. We left wyoming and entered south dakota. Tonight we stay In Custer. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow but that is the forecast. We go to Mt Rushmore and crazy horse monument. Lots of climbing 7500 ft and severe grades. Eating, hydrating and resting in hopes I recover overnight. (sigh)

DAY 12 Sheridan Wyoming to Gillette Wyoming

Miles 112
Climbing 4259
Avg speed 20 mph
Elevation gillette 4640

Todays ride was very fast just over five hours. (around 19.8 mph) I rode with the lead group most off the way so the pace was very fast,I was the oldest rider in the group so I was happy to stay with them. (: not much climbing today 4000 feet compared to 8,000 feet yesterday. Wyoming was spectacular and is the old west at it's best, tomorrow we will be in South Dakota. We're moving along.....
Some facts on riders in group:
51 riders total (includes 15 crew who ride every other day so; half of tour.)
RIDERS:
1 CANADA
3 AUSTRALIA
2 SWITZERLAND
1 GERMANY
21 from USA
Avg age 58
Oldest 71
Youngest 17
11 in my age group 60-65!


Really enjoying all the personalities!

DAY 11: Power wyoming to Sheridan Wyoming

Distance 121 total distance 1200 miles
Avg speed 16.1
Climbing 8130
Elevation Sheridan 3767


sorry I missed a few days of blogging! All is well and ok!.... matter of fact, Wed was the most challeging and rewarding day of riding I have ever had bar none! The ride consisted of over 8000 feet of climbing; the most so far, with the highest elevation that we will have on tour 9430 ft. So high that we saw snow in the meadows at that elevation. There are spectacular yellow and purple wild flowers with lush green meadows. As you can see here in Wyoming the cows have the right of way!!

The mt range that we rode are some of the steepest in the country (the big horn mts) with grades of up to 14 percent and averaging 8 percent. This climb was the only timed climb of the tour. 18 miles long with grades in excess of 14 percent and 4500 feet of vertical gain. My time was under two hrs -- which is very good! Most of the people on this tour are true "riders" (having ridden all over the world etc) and since I consider myself a triathlete over a biker, I really proved myself today! I feel euphoric. The next climb is 11 miles long and 3000 ft of elevation gain ending at the summit at 9430 feet.
Our decent was 20 miles long reaching speeds over 50mph. I'm starting to enjoy those speeds. (my daughter nichole would be horrified) ;) the last 40 miles into Sheridan were flat and fast (still alot of cumbersome road construction to contend with) however we did have rain the last hour of the ride. Tomorrow we head to gillette Wyoming ,it should be a easy day compared to the last couple of days!

DAY 10 Finally out of Montana and I'm still smiling!

Columbus Montana to Powell Wyoming.
total distance 112 miles
Total climb 5112
Avg speed 16.9
Elevation of powell 4422


Woo hoo! we are out of Montana and into Wyoming. This part of the country is still like the wild west. Today marks the one third point of the ride so far. It's going fast, I think?!
My usual day begins at five a.m. When I get up and look for coffee which can be difficult. 6 a.m. We have breakfast which consists of oatmeal cold cereal yogurt fruit sometimes eggs and juice. Actually they do a great job with the food!
We have logged about 1075 miles and all things considered I feel great! No real aches and pains as I am smart enough to get a massage every third day and that seems to help a lot. They bring a masseuse on these tours and 30 mins for $25
bucks is worth it. The first ten miles today we rode on a bumpy surface of dirt and gravel as the road was under construction which landed several people with flats. As with most days there were two climbs, tomorrow will be a very difficult
climbing day over 8000 feet 30 mile climb. As you can see this is not easy! ... but i'm still smilin'! Pic's below of loooong roads ahead; red bluff mint and mountain stream mint.

DAY 9 happy birthday to my wife, Verla!

Today is my wife Verla's birthday: Happy Birthday! -- I miss you and am sorry to be missing your special day, but thankful for you allowing me to experience this adventure!

Today's distance was 105 miles bringing us from Bozeman MT to Columbus MT. Yes, we are still in MONTANA! As you can see, its kind of a cute little town. Our climbs today were 2225 ft and average speed 18.9. We started with a 10 mile climb up I-90 with no bike lane and lots of traffic. With less than 5 miles into the ride the highway patrol stopped 2 of us for riding on the freeway. He probably did not appreciate me taking a picture of the scene,(that's the blurry picture) but let us go after he heard what we were doing, apparently being crazy has its perks. I think he was just happy to see us leave town. (:


The next 90 miles were very fast as we got into a pace line of 5 riders. Our average speed was 19mph. To non riders (and my daughter, nichole, who rides that fast on her own) that may not seem fast but trust me, it is.

Sadly the miles seem to be taking a toll on some. 3 riders did not start today and several others seem to be hurting in some ways (the guy in the picture sprained his ankle). Hope they recover tonight. It would be tragic to see anyone drop out. I'm holding up! so far, so good! Tomorrow is a big day of climbing. 6,500 ft and over 100 miles and The day following tough too, a 8,000 ft of climbing. As you can see I'm preparing mentally already.


Thanks to all who are following me on this blog. I have heard through my wife and daughters there are lots of you! It really means a lot and keeps me motivated. If you have not donated yet, please consider doing so, as i am riding across america for a CAUSE! to raise money for JDRF (juvenile diabetes research foundation) in honor of my granddaughter CASEY (the one pictured on the left) who has had type 1 diabetes since the age of 4 . She is the light of my life and just did a triathlon in the Seafair triathlon in Seattle yesterday as a relay with other diabetic girls -- so proud of her! you can donate online at my JDRF ride for a cure website. We're almost at $18,000 and trying to reach $20,000! i know we can do it! http://ride.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=rideCentral.personalpage&riderID=9860