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Post #17. The Wrap

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 It’s done. Another epic 46-day bicycle ride.  21 riders, 5 guides, 15 states, 3,784 miles, 155,419 feet of climbing. As the only rider this year who had already done the northern route with Trek Travel, I was asked by several of the other riders to compare the two trips.  In conversation there’s really not time to come up with a detailed and thoroughly thought-out response.  For the most part my response might have been interpreted as a “been there, done that” answer but with more time to ponder, I will now provide a more in-depth answer. The people.  15 riders in 2018, 21 riders in 2022.  At the risk of sounding like the dialogue from the end of the movie “The Breakfast Club” I’ll say that we were techies, entrepreneurs, doctors and one total smart ass.   Could you insert yourself into a group of 21 randomly chosen people and expect to meld with all of them?  Probably not.  Fortunately, with 21 people there’s someone for everyone.  I still communicate with riders from 2018 and hope
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Post #16 You gotta be tough to live with

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 So here’s the thing about this trip….you gotta be stubborn.  To train for this ride you’ve got to put in massive miles, both flat and uphill.  Months and months of shirking responsibilities, declining invitations to do other activities, braving weather that you’d rather not brave and in general just checking out of everything non-cycling. I’m not the only one riding this year who is a “veteran” of cross country cycling.  I’ve done this exact route while Ian and Jacque have done the Southern route from Santa Barbara to Myrtle Beach which is a bit shorter in both riding days and total miles but is by no means an easy ride.  That means the three of us paid money to ride bicycles across America, did it, then paid more money to do it again.   We’ve gotta be tough to live with.      That’s Ian and Jacque in the picture above and me showing off.  Ian and Jacque look pleasant enough but t hey gotta be tough to live with.   Me?  Well, if you know me then you know when I start training for a bi
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Post #15. Clearing the mechanism, and a couple of beers

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Not sure where I first heard the term “clearing the mechanism” but I’m pretty sure it was a golf thing.   I talked for a few minutes today with a golf pro and  “clearing the mechanism” came to mind.  Not because my   mechanism needed to be cleared but because something had just happened during today’s ride that may have been a case of an “unclear” mechanism.  When cycling long distances with a group and pacelining or “drafting”, off one another it requires a level of clear-headedness similar to what you need standing over a golf ball.  The difference?  This golf ball is moving down the road at 20 miles per hour.  Clear the mechanism.  Focus.   It’s called “touching wheels” and it’s not a good thing but it’s also common and could happen to any member of the group if the mechanism isn’t clear. In pacelining, you try to be as close to the rider in front of you to take advantage of the area of low pressure and minimal wind resistance created by the rider in front of you which requires less
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Post #14 Feeling Minnesota

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Midway point update: States covered:  Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and now Minnesota.   Miles:  2,134.03 (approximately) Streets named Main St:  24 Breweries: 8-ish 😉      An obligatory been-there-done-that state sign from Saturday and a photo from Rick of the Trek store owners in Fairmont, MN (population 11,000).  Rick stopped in on the way by as he entered the town of Fairmont looking for some protein powder which they didn’t have but the bearded guy did hop on an e-bike and lead Rick to the hotel while trying to sell him the bike shop.   Evidently, Rick looks like money, who knew?  In the picture below, Rick is the guy in the middle eating an ice cream sandwich, that’s what money looks like. A joke from fellow rider, Carlin (a bit off color but just barely): An older couple is driving along when a cop pulls them over.  The cop approaches the car and asks the driver “Where are you headed?”  “Heading home to Seattle,” said the man.  “Seattle?” asked the o
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Post #13 “You Gotta See Metallica Live”

With the fear of giving my brother-in-law Mike credit, a term he once used has stuck in my head for years…the term, “mental midget”.  Mike was an athlete throughout his high school and college days and spent years coaching.  The term was still in the back of my mind when buying my first bike in 2000 when Heather worked at 24 Hour Fitness.  Since then, I’ve put over 70,000 on the bike and despite Mike’s term being intended for his team sport athletes, I’ve learned that even in individual sports being a mental midget will absolutely crush you if you let it.  You can ice a knee, but you can’t ice a psyche. When I did this same trip in 2018, I happily rolled into Sioux Falls, SD after 3 weeks of hiccup-free travel on a lightweight road bike with skinny tires, a narrow, non-forgiving seat (or as we call it in cycling, a “saddle”) and 22 gears carrying me up and over mountain passes and along miles-long stretches of farm roads.  So many things could’ve gone wrong, yet none did. In 2018, afte
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Post #12. A bit of pretty and a whole lot of ugly

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 South Dakota.  2 highlights and a lot of junk miles. Sunday morning, we left Spearfish, SD and quickly entered Spearfish Canyon.  A beautiful stretch with winding roads through a deep canyon with sky high cliffs and some of the last green we’d see for a while.     20 miles of this scenery made the miles fly by.  Fellow rider, Pat grinding her way up the canyon. Then it got ugly.  After leaving the canyon, we were greeted by miles and miles of bland farm and ranch land straddling the road with endless rollers.  However, Sunday’s ride ended in Rapid City, SD with the next day being our second rest day of the trip.  A couple of my rest day highlights below:      That’s the dog of the day, Virgo. I met him at Lost Cabin Brewing.  His owners seemed like nice people but wouldn’t part with him.  The second picture is today’s joke of the day.  Still waiting to see the atheist billboard lecturing people.     Tuesday, we rode the stretch that was one of the highlights of my 2018 trip and it did
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Post #11…..When ear worms are the highlight of the day

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 It’s been a few days since I posted. . . . here’s an ear-worm update: Thursday’s ear worm was the song “Signs”.  It was inspired by the sign noting the top of the Bighorn Pass climb.  I couldn’t tell if the day’s ear worm was the original version from 5 Man Electric Band or the Tesla version from the album 5 Man Acoustical Jam repeating itself in my head.  Sometimes ear worms come in a bit fuzzy…..could’ve been the 9,400’ elevation induced hypoxia.  Either way, they’re both worthy ear worms. Friday’s ear worm popped into my head after about 50 miles of riding eastern Wyoming roads bookended between boring grassland on the left and more boring grassland on the right.  The song?  “Doesn’t Remind Me” by Soundgarden, since the surroundings truly didn’t remind me of anything. Saturday’s ear worm needs no explaining except to say that the day’s riding pretty much sucked.  The song?  Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind” Here’s a few pictures from the last couple of days taken when off the bike sin
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