The trip has officially ended and im just spending a week in SF to have some more fun and see my friends. It has been great but i am sad that the trip is over. We are all still really good friends, because we've heard that some groups end up not talking to each other after a trip like this but we're doing really well. I wish we could keep riding but it does feel good to say we finished it.
Hanging out at the Sonoma Springs Brewery and Crisp bakery watching the bakers and brewers. The Roche Winery was a nice stop last night too.
Having dinner at downtown joe's in Napa Valley. Ok, so it's not a winery but the beer is pretty good and we'll hit up the wineries tomorrow. We made it to Nevada City, CA after leaving Reno and stayed in Carmichael along the way with a couple very generous hosts. Last night we stayed at a co-op at UCDavis and slept under the fig tree. Apparently thats where the guests sleep but it was still awesome. I dont think we'll find any fig trees here to sleep under.
Stealth camped here and we're on our way to Reno. It's about 40 miles and we're ready for a day off and a shower.
We're in Middlegate at the only bar in town. Probably the only thing in town. It is a 100 year old freight station that also became a pony express station. There are a ton of one dollar bills on the ceiling. This place is pretty cool.
Yesterday was brutal with the head winds but we were able to pick up the much needed, and much appreciated, care packages. There's a wind farm in this valley so that can give you an idea of how steady the wind is here. We made it to Majors Junction, barely, where theres only a bar/inn/RV park. I don't think i would have been able to keep climbing past this bar, so we went and grabbed a beer and set up the tent. The night ended well.
So we made it to Cedar City, not the way we wanted to but it was interesting. We camped just outside Zion the night before and had some trouble finding a safe place to put our panniers. eventually we found out we could leave them at the lodge after talking to many park workers. We hiked up angel's landing at zion and got some food afterwards before finishing up our ride for the day. We still had 60 miles to go at 3 pm. Whoops. On the way we ran into a couple of touring cyclists and stopped to talk to them for a while. So we didnt have enough time to finish up our ride at all. They said we could stop for the night in Kanaraville which was closer but we would have to ride on the freeway. So we kept riding through toquerville after i fixed a flat and made it to the freeway. It was a bad idea we only made it about 2 miles and we had about 7 to go but it was too dangerous. We got off so that we could find another way around but there were no other roads up that way. We knocked on doors asking people for a ride to frontage road and eventually found someone willing to do it. We offered $20 and he actually took us all the way to cedar city. So we gave him $30 and he dropped us off in a park to camp. The sign at the park said "no camping". We should have listened to that too. The sprinkler system turned on at about 230 am and i made a mad dash to get the fly on the tent but we were all pretty wet. Then it turned on again at 5 am or another zone turned on. And someone told us this morning that we should pack up the tent before the cops see it since it could be a $1000 fine. But we've dodged that one too. So, we're in Cedar City and we'll be in Nevada by tomorrow.
So AZ has been very interesting. I was sick for a couple days after leaving the Navajo reservation but the person we were staying with was nice enough to let us stay a couple extra nights. We just saw the Grand Canyon yesterday and we're heading up to Utah today. Just so everyone knows we were not in Aurora, CO at all, so we're still continuing on to SF.
If anyone would like to send us something then we will be in Baker, NV in about 13 days. Send it to
John Innes
General Delivery
Baker, NV 89311-9999
Please make sure it will fit on a bike and isnt too heavy :-) and if you dont think it will make it to Baker in the 13 days then send it Priority and I'll be able to forward it to another post office. Cheers!
We've made it to AZ now and just visited the four corners. The scenery changed drastically after we left the mountains. Lush forests on mountainsides changed to deserts and plateaus. Lots of prairie dogs too, and the sun feels much more intense. I'm already burned. We should be camping in red mesa tonight, not entirely sure where but we'll figure it out.
Rolling from Kayenta to Page I have no service but found wifi at an inn. The sun is getting pretty brutal and we have a hundred mile ride today. We'll see what happens we should have plenty of water to make it though. Hopefully its mostly downhill too.
So this is our last day in the rockies... pretty sad despite the tough climbs. The scenery is beautiful and there was a lot of rain at lizards head pass but it was still really cool. We finished off the day in Dolores and went to the Dolores River Brewing Company. Awesome place. I suggest anyone who likes beer check them out.
Telluride is a really cool place. A lot of shops but it would really be cool to snowboard here. These pictures are taken from the top of one of the mountains of Telluride and one of the trail signs. The gondola was free. There is so much to do here if you're into extreme sports. We even bouldered a little bit at Gravity Works for $11. We even checked out the brew pub Smugglin Joes and tried some beer from the Telluride brewing company. The Juniper Rye at Joes was really good, I've been noticing a lot of breweries selling the Juniper Rye or some other kind of rye beer. So we'll be heading out to climb Lizards head tomorrow toward Dolores. That will be a nice climb almost as high as Monarch.
This is blue mesa lake hydroelectric plant. This and 2 other hydro plants in the area generate 246,000 kW, total. The water is so blue too. The west side of the continental divide has so many fewer trees.
We're in Gunnison now and we just rode over Monarch pass. 11,312 feet elevation. I was sweating at about 9000 feet and then the temperature dropped about 30 degrees then it started raining and that turned to hail. Lightning was striking less than a mile away.There was a river of water running down the side of the road and the road was covered in ice. The excess water running down the cliff sides was causing rocks to fall onto the road (small avalanches). But we all made it up safely, just a little cold. I dont have any pictures of the road conditions during the storm but i have some nice shots of the road from 12,012 ft afterwards. I'll upload those photos later. So here's a photo of some mountain goats we saw. They scale the cliffs effortlessly!
We made it to Pueblo and took a day off to see the city. They have some good Mexican restaurants and the Shamrock Brewery. We also celebrated Tamar's birthday with some fried ice cream. We had lunch at Bingo Burger which uses locally raised food and serves locally brewed beer. We're camping at Arkansas Point campground just west of Pueblo. We can see a little bit of the Rockies right now since the weather has been cloudy and rainy today. We'll see what we can see tomorrow, but we'll be diving into those climbs tomorrow. We should be camping in Howard CO tomorrow night and making it to Telluride in the next few days. The weather will be cooler so i just hope it doesn't rain too much.
We've made it to Tribune, KS which is just over the mountain time zone line. Apparently, there is a sliver of KS that is in the mountain time zone. Most of these towns accommodate cyclists and let them swim in the pool for free and use the showers. KS loves pools and water slides. It's been really helping to cope with the heat in the afternoon. But nobody bothers us when we camp in the park, except on the fourth when EVERYONE sets off fireworks. There were fireworks Everywhere! I dont think I'll ever have the chance again to bike through a town when thats going on again but it was really cool. It didn't help us getting to sleep though. Soon enough we'll be in CO, probably tomorrow. And hopefully it will be just as awesome as KS has been. The headwind still sucks, though, and the gradual uphill all the way through western KS. But other than that it's awesome!
This is the first wind farm I've seen in KS so far but its in a great location. The wind is almost blowing me off the road here. Only two of them are not turning and they look like they're all cranking out a good amount of energy.
After riding 100+ miles yesterday we're ready for a day off. Checking out Fort Larned today in Larned, KS. These towns in KS have been pretty good about letting cyclists camp and use showers. Some of them have let us use the pool for free.
Camping now in a town called Eureka. We've had some pretty amazing hosts but camping in a park is still pretty fun. This town isn't too big but they really try to accommodate cyclists. Apparently, the park we're camping in is where they send all their visiting cyclists and they've built bathrooms here specifically for cyclists too. There's also a race across KS that comes through here. AND we went to the pool, normally they charge $2, but it was free for us to swim and shower. This place is pretty awesome.
Yes Kansas has hills. The flint hills actually. The last untouched prairie lands in the country that stretch on for miles. There's some beautiful landscape out here
Trying to get an early start this morning to beat the heat. It's 80 degrees right now and only 5:20 am. It should be well over 100 today.
Checked out the WW1 memorial. The photo is a view of KC from the top. We also went to the Boulevard brewery (you can see the brewery in one of the photos, too!), Hammerpress printing company, and checked out the Amigoni winery since we heard there might be some cyclists there. Today, we win!
We made it out to KC today. We have officially crossed over the border to Kansas but we'll take the day off to see KC tomorrow. The temperatures hit 102 today but we still did 78 miles by 2:30. We'll clean up and get some KC BBQ!
Out on a hot ride near Jefferson City we stopped by a winery on top of a hill. We could have done without the hill though. The capital building in Jefferson City is amazing though. It wasnt too far from the bike trail we were following, the Katy Trail.
We made it to MO and were able to wander around St Louis. Today we've made it to the Katy Trail.
We made it to IL. The greeting here is "Land of Lincoln" and the greeting in IN was "Lincoln was born here". So they really like him out here.
Just another 30-40 miles left today
We're somewhere around Worthington, Indiana on a hilltop and the sunlight is still visible. There were a lot of unleashed dogs on the back roads and we even came across a wall of dogs staring at us as if they were ready for battle. Or they just knew we had bologna. But slowing down has really helped stop the dogs from chasing us.
Bloomington and Columbus seem to be the only towns in IN that acknowledge that bikes exist.
So I've been lacking on the postings but in the last week we've made it to Niagara yesterday, lake Erie, seen the Frank Lloyd Wright house Graycliffe, and crossed into Ohio. There have been Amish people along the way, a couple guys riding penny farthings coast to coast and lots and lots of corn. But out in Ohio there is a lot of rural area. We just made it through Ohio and are in Indiana now and there is much less here than there was in Ohio.
There was a freak thunder storm the other night which pulled up the rain fly stakes and leaked water into the tent. But that's the worst weather we've had to deal with. Mostly we have had to bear with the heat and just take the afternoon off.
The hosts we've found have been amazing. We've knocked on three doors and used warmshowers.com twice and camped wild the rest of the time. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, has been amazingly supportive who we've come across. The Brudos weren't home when we arrived and left everything out for us to make food and they even made us brownies. And they left the door unlocked for us. AND they made us fresh scones for breakfast. AMAZING! We found them on warmshowers. The Norris' were a family we just happened upon because we knocked on their door. We asked for a place to set up our tent. Nothing more. They made us burgers and potato salad for dinner and then pancakes and eggs for breakfast. They didn't have to do that at all but they insisted. Of course we didnt turn it down. There will be more to follow on the generosity of the Norris'. Other homeowners have allowed us to camp on their lawn and use their hose, which is definitely them going out of their way and we still appreciate it so much. Sometimes they weren't even there! I think I have a benefit with travelling with two girls over most groups. If i were to ask I don't think i would get a good response. Especially with the way I look right now. I'll post that photo later. To the people who have helped us so far I say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Especially to the guy who just happened to drive by and offer us three bottles of ice cold water. That was perfect timing! The heat has been getting bad lately. I hope that we find many more people along the way just as helpful as those whom we've met and I hope that everyone reading this can share the same generosity with anyone needing a helping hand.
The hills may be horribly steep, and the heat may be oppressive, and the sunburn may sting a little, and my legs may be tired but the views really make the climbs worth it around here. Especially when you get to go 30 mph down the other side.
Just climbed that.
I didnt feel like walking back to get a better photo but it was a mile and a half long.
Made it over the rolling hills. These were pretty rough and I'm ready for some sleep. 6 miles before we find a campsite though. I feel like i can tackle the hills a lot better now, even though my legs are feeling tired. Over 60 miles done today
Rt. 20 coming from Schenectady. The rolling hills of NY. Who knows where we'll end up tonight?
Made it to NY. Hard to believe we made it from Florida, MA to Schenectady, NY with all those hills. We had some amazing hosts the photo shows where we camped. There may have been poison ivy out there too...
Saw a bearing trying to get down to the river yesterday when we were getting into the Berkshires. He ran up the hill right when he saw us and just stared down at us as we rode. He was bigger than i thought a black bear would be but he didn't want anything to do with us.
Woke up in Florida this morning; it's pretty much a ghost town with a great view. We'll be making it through North Adams and Williamstown to make it to Schenectady by tonight. We have a host so we can get a shower tonight!
