Happy Birthday DAD!

Some Old Photos

We haven't uploaded our most recent photos yet, but I wanted to share with you a "greatest hits" of the first couple days. Here we go!

Dave and I atop Carson Pass, 8,574 feet above sea level. Dave was excited to be there.

Here we are posing with the Push America guys on the way up to Carson Pass. It's a very cool organization that raises money for people living with disabilities. This year they have over 60 guys riding and raise $500,000! Just a good group of some really cool guys.

This is in Carmichael, CA. We stayed with the Lilley family and Charlie, our teammate on the crew team, rode with us the next day. Such a great family and a wonderful evening.

This photo is the subject of lots of controversy. As you can probably see, we are on a ferry across the San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. The maps we got for the ride told us to do this: it is a great symbolic way (watching at San Francisco fades away into the distance) to kick off the ride! Still some people (ahem, my sister Tess, ahem) have called this "cheating". Well the country is 2,700 miles across and we are biking 4,500 so I don't feel too bad. I think it's a really cool shot.

Here we are at the Oval just before kicking of the ride. We barely knew what we were getting ourselves into.... and we love it!

Welcome to Utah!

The ride from Ely to Baker had its challenges. We encountered three peaks, and while the slope was gradual, 7+ miles of climbing even a medium grade is very tiring. Luckily the road mostly coasted into Baker, our last town in Nevada.

Baker is located five miles from the Utah border, smack in the middle of the Great Basin National Park. Overlooking the town is the massive Wheeler Peak. Standing at over 13,000 feet the mountain was the most impressive peak we've seen so far. Baker rests at 5,000 feet, but we heard there was some great hiking up near the peak. So after hopping off our bikes and into the car, we drove up to around 10,000 feet and went on a 3 mile hike.

The route we chose took us up to a grove of bristlecone pines, the oldest living beings on the planet. These trees can live up to 5,000 years old and are incredibly resilient in adverse conditions. The info tour described them as "grotesquely beautiful" and the description was certainly appropriate; these pines looked like something out of an Edgar Allen Poe poem.

We drove back down the mountain to Baker and set up camp. A meal and a couple of card games later, we turned in for the night. The next morning we rose early and broke camp. We had a busy day ahead of us! Before setting out for Milford, UT (and a time zone change!) we went over to the Lehman Caves for the 8:30, hour long tour. The Lehman Caves are a series of massive limestone structures buried in the hillside just outside of Baker. We all agreed that our favorite part of the trip was when the artificial lights were extinguished and the group was left in complete darkness. Then a candle was lit to show how the caves were viewed at the turn of the 19th century. Believe me, it was eerie. I was sad to have the lights turned back on.

The ride to Milford was tough. The part of Utah which our route took us through was barren. Some locals in Milford would later describe it as a "wasteland". A stiff headwind didn't help our efforts. Over the past two weeks I've realized that although a headwind does zap your energy, it is the loss of will that is most difficult to overcome. We broke up the ride into three segments and were happy to finally reach Milford.

Having no place to stay in Milford, we wandered around town looking for a church. We'd heard from other bikers that churches are generally welcoming to cross-country fundraisers, so we hoped to find one that would allow us to curl up in a corner for a night. What we got was even better.

At the entrance to town we spotted a steeple and headed in its direction. The door to the church was open and we filed on into the dark hallways trying to find someone. Eventually we found a group of three or so people, introduced ourselves, and made our request. Turns out we ended up addressing the Bishop Larry Barnes! The bishop was extremely accommodating and directed us to the lone hotel in town. His niece, Janet Russell, was the general manager there and would surely put us up for the evening. Ecstatic, we thanked him repeatedly and headed to the hotel.

Sure enough, Ms. Russell put us up for the evening and even put breakfast on the house for us the next morning! This is another extraordinary example of the generosity that people have shown us on this trip. Our sincere and heart felt thanks go out to both Bishop Barnes and Janet Russell for their kind support of our trip!

In the morning, after our breakfast and thanking Ms. Russell, we started out for Cedar City, UT. This was our last day before getting a rest day and with a distance on 56 miles, it shouldn't be too bad of a ride we thought. How wrong we were. The entire day we were blasted with headwinds of up to 30 mph, some rain, and general fatigue from a long week of biking. Getting a flat tire 25 miles outside of town wasn't a pleasant experience either. Needless to say, we were thrilled to finally reach town.

After a quick tune up and a few purchases at Cedar Cycles we met up with Theresa Reddy, our host for the next day and a half. We contacted Theresa through couchsurfing.com, a very cool site if you aren't familiar with it. Theresa is wonderful and we had a great time hanging out with her lat night. Today we slept in for the first time in a while and then got to doing some errands. Laundry was high on the list and I am pleased to say it is currently in the dryer (this is a major accomplishment for us). The car is also clean and Dave and Lauren are out gathering up supplies for the next couple of weeks. We'll probably grab lunch at some point and see a movie later tonight.

Tomorrow we set out for Panguitch, UT. It's a short ride (58 miles), but we hit a BIG mountain. The highest we've climbed so far was just over 8,500 but tomorrow we get all the way up to 10,500! The climb starts right as we leave Cedar City, but after getting it out of the way we should be able to zoom on down into Panguitch. Should be a fun day! Over the next 10 days we have 2 rests days: four biking days, one rest day, four more biking days, and another rest day. We're going to spend those rest days in some gorgeous national parks and we are all looking forward to some fun hiking, swimming, and kayaking!

As always, thanks for reading and I will keep updating as our access to the Internet allows. Thanks!

Answer to the last Trivia Question: Mama Katele. Mama Katele was the outspoken AIDS activist in a refugee camp inZambia that so influenced the founders of Face AIDS. Just after their return to the US, the three students received word that Mama Katele had passed away.They channelled their grief and outrage into the formation of Face AIDS and we try to continue their work today! (10 points to Matty Pru!)

Today's Trivia Question: What is the state emblem of Utah? (10 points)

BONUS QUESTION: What is the state fossil of Utah? (5 points)

Mild and green and squeaky clean

Sorry for not blogging yesterday, but we didn't have an Internet connection so I was grounded. We left the Bob Scott Campground early and headed back into Austin to start the morning. As we were getting ready to shove off a motorcyclist stopped us and warned us to be careful as we climbed out of the town; a cyclist had been hit 4 miles up the road just moments before. Shaken, Dave and I set out and proceeded with caution.

After getting to the top of Austin Summit we slowly rolled down the back side of the mountain. About half way down we came across an ambulance and a man being attended to on the side of the road. We were told that he had been riding, a car clipped him with its mirror, and ran. The sight hit Dave and I both a little too close to home and served as a reminder that we need to be extra careful on roads with blind corners where drivers might not be paying as much attention as they should. Our thoughts go out to the injured cyclist- here's to a speedy recovery.

The rest of the day passed without much fanfare. We narrowly avoided rainfall coming down our second peak and then booked it across the valley. Ten miles to go brought a little bit of "fun". There were lightning strikes off in the distance as we approached Eureka. The clouds seemed to be pushing away from the town, but we still proceeded very carefully. With three miles to go we hit a steep hill, were blasted with a halting headwind, met some pouring rain, and were blinded with hail! Luckily, it lasted only two or three minutes and we cruised into town safely. The Best Western was our home for the evening; no campgrounds were around and with storms in the area we thought it best to find some good shelter.

Eureka is a quaint little town known as "The Friendliest Town on the Loneliest Road". After showering and enjoying the complimentary hot tub at the Best Western (SCORE!), Dave, Lauren, and I strolled around town. Eureka has a famous red brick opera house on its main street which we checked out. It was closed but in the morning we stopped by to check it out. As it was the summer solstice we hiked up to a hill behind the high school and watched the sun set. It was a surreal experience to watch the sun fade behind the mountains we had just left and to think about all the miles we had crossed. We returned to the hotel and fell into a deep, well deserved sleep.

This morning we got a good start on the way to Ely. It was a 77 mile trek with 4 peaks/passes, so it was time to bring back our climbing legs. The first three peaks were in the first 34 miles so our fresh legs managed to carry us pretty far. For those of you who have never been to Nevada, it goes a little something like this: ^_^_^_^_^_ where the carrots are mountains and the underscores are valleys. A crude diagram, I admit, but it sums up the state pretty well. After each climb we were greeted with 5-6 miles of smooth sailing down hill, 10 flat miles across the valley, and then another mountain. The predictability is nice and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous.

We arrived in Ely around 4:30. With a population of 4,000, it is easily the largest town we've seen since Fallon (8,000) and is a nice breath of fresh air. Currently we are (surprise, surprise) sitting at a picnic table at our campground having a meal.

Overall the riding has been great so far. The past couple of days have reminded me of a lyric from the U2 song "Zooropa" which serves as the title for this entry. The miles have been mild since Carson's Pass, Nevada is surprisingly green, and most of the campgrounds have boasted showers! The last verse to the song also speaks to the heart of our ride, so if you will permit to get a little preachy, the lines run:

"She's gonna dream up
The world she wants to live in
She's gonna dream out loud
She's gonna dream out loud"

A lot of people ask us why we've chosen to ride across the country as a way to raise awareness. My answer has been three-fold: 1) it's a personal challenge 2) the seeming insanity of riding across the continent attracts a lot of a attention and opens up people to hearing our message and 3) taking our message out to people reaches more people than if we tried to raise awareness in our own circles.

Part of this goal is to show the people we meet that students can make a difference. All too often students can be overwhelmed the gigantic issues that we face today: global warming, nuclear proliferation, poverty, AIDS, etc. But getting involved in any way makes a significant difference. By working now we can start to form the world we want to see. For Dave, Lauren, and I, this ride is a way of "dreaming out loud" as Bono so elegantly states it. We hope it leaves that impression on others.

Answer to Saturday's trivia: Nevada. Surprise, surprise! Everyone we met in Fallon made sure to let us know this fact. Needless to say, it made me a little bit nervous! Still, it hasn't been that bad so far.

Today's Trivia Question: Face AIDS was founded in 2005 after three students came back from working in a refugee camp in Zambia. There they met a woman who was HIV positive who was one of the few outspoken advocates of HIV testing. She is the inspiration for the Face AIDS movement. What is her name?

Happy Fathers' Day!

The Loneliest Road in America

Thursday morning we awoke to a beautiful California day. Tahoe was good to us. My legs felt refreshed after a long hot tub session the night before and a good night's rest. Breakfast consisted of cereal, eggs, and OJ and we hopped into the cars to head back to Carson City to start our next leg. I rode with my uncle Bill while Dave and Lauren took the Sprinter. It was Uncle Bill that first got me interested in cycling, so I was more than pleased to have him join us on first half of the leg to Fallon.

The riding out of Carson City was easy. 35 miles disappeared in the blink of an eye and we found ourselves eating pizza at a small pizza joint in the middle of nowhere. After lunch, my uncle turned around and headed back to Carson City and Tahoe; I was sad to see him go, but excited to continue on the journey.

The last 26 miles in Fallon were just as easy, if not easier, than the first 35. We rolled into town and were greeted by Sue Sevon, our contact in the area. She had arranged for a photographer to take our picture as we rolled into town so that it would make the Friday edition of the paper.

After pictures and introductions, Sue brought us to the Wolf Center at the Epworth Methodist Church in Fallon. This was to be our home for the next two days and we settled right in, happy to have a day off and showers in the building. That evening we ate with the Fallon Daily Bread, a twice weekly food kitchen that feeds the Fallon community. Everyone was extremely welcoming and interested in our ride. We had great conversations with many of the locals including Ron Evans who made a generous contribution to our cause (thank you Ron!). We worked our way through the dishes to contribute our part and then settled in to our living space.

We spent the evening resting and watching "Top Gun". Turns out Fallon is home to a huge Naval Base and part of the filming of the movie took place there. Dave was outraged when I told him I had never seen the movie ("Austin, it's like the greatest movie of all time!") and a trip to Blockbuster was in order.

Friday, our first rest day of the trip, was an eventful and fun day! We started off with a wonderful breakfast prepared for us by Donna Strickland and her hospitality team (thank you! we loved it!!) before heading off to the KHWG radio station for our an interview with DJ Ladigo Travis. Ladigo (whose true identity shall remain hidden) interviewed us for a solid 45 minutes while letting us introduce songs ("Wish I Didn't Know" by Toby Keith was my selection) and giving us a chance to riff off each other. It was an extremely fun time and we will certainly be giving KHWG some call-in updates on our progress.

Sue took us around Fallon for the rest of the day until our meeting at 1:30 at Town Hall with Mayor Ken Tedford. In a very generous gesture, the Mayor presented us with large, gold medallions commemorating Fallon's centennial in recognition of our efforts. Dave, Lauren, and I were greatly honored and headed back to the Wolf Center with big smiles.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing (read: napping) before Sue took us out to wine tasting and dinner. All parties not of drinking age, so just me, were treated to a delicious bottle of Joe's Root Beer while everyone else sampled five very good- or so I'm told- wines. Dinner was lovely. We were joined by Sue's friend Kathie Slaughter and enjoyed a fantastic evening all around. Having said our goodbyes Dave, Lauren, and I returned to the Wolf Center for some much needed sleep.

This morning we were once again treated to a lovely breakfast courtesy of Donna Strickland and we hit the road at 8:30. For those of you unfamiliar with your Nevada geography, we are following Highway 50 across the state. In the 1950's a Life reporter famously called Highway 50 "the loneliest road in America" and with good cause! After leaving Fallon we had 115 miles ahead of us until our next town! Fortunately, Dave and I were met with a couple of good conditions. First, temperatures in Nevada are at a record low (mid 80's) so the sun was not too brutal. Secondly, we were graced with a tailwind that increased our base speed to as fast as 28 mph at times.

The prospect of riding across "the loneliest road in America" initially was not very appealing. Yet as soon as we left Fallon, all my reservations left. Simply put, Highway 50 is one of the most beautiful stretches of road I've been ever been on! The road climbs 2,400 feet from Fallon up into the mountains before tumbling back in a massive desert valley. The various types of rocks, formations, and wildlife make this road absolutely exquisite! The 115 miles when by in no time at all.

Now we are camping in a campground just east of Austin, NV and are cooking some hot dogs. The road climbs back up into the mountains after the town of Austin (Austin Pass is 7,400+ feet) so we are sitting at a picnic table staring off into the beautiful green hills of Nevada. Tomorrow we head out to Eureka, NV a 70-mile ride with some big climbs. After that we hit up Ely, NV and then spend one or two more nights in Nevada before passing into Utah.

The trip has been absolutely wonderful so far and I can barely believe a week has already passed! Before I know it, we'll be back in Boston so I'm trying to take everything in while I can. but now, there are some hot dogs calling my name so I must retire. Thanks for reading!

Answer to yesterday's Daily Trivia: The Mountain Democrat. The Lilley Family is in the lead with 10 points! Will anyone step up and challenge their lead for the Dave's affections?

Today's Daily Trivia Question: What is the most mountainous state in the continental US?

One down, fourteen to go

It's been a long two days so I am going to keep this blog short. Charlie joined us as we left his house and we jumped back on the path along the American River. 10 miles in we stopped at some rope swings on Lake Natoma. Having rowed by there many times and watching enviously as kids jumpin, we felt we had to stop and partake in the fun. 45 minutes later we were dry and back on the road.

After 20 or so miles we parted ways with Charlie and continued on up into the hills. At Placerville, 2,000 feet above sea level, we met with a reporter and took some photos. We're hoping to find and post the article soon. We continued on and climbed all the way up to Cooks Station at an elevation on 5,000. With the ups and downs in the roads we climbed nearly 6,500 feet and were very happy to see Lauren and the support car.

We spent the night at Pipi Campground in El Dorado National Forest. Pitching the tent at the end of such a long day was a hassle, but was worth the effort as we all slept 10+ hours. We woke up today and headed back up the mountain. Along the way we ran into multiple cars and riders with the Push America organization. Push America is a cross-country ride that raises funds for people living with disabilities. Along the way they stop at various centers and have friendship visits. It is a fantastic organization full of wonderful guys and we were very happy to cross paths with them.

After several breaks we continued up to Carson's Pass, our first peak. It was 8,574 feet up and I was pumped to see the sign. We took some pictures before continuing on. The road dove downhill, weaving in and out of the mountains. It was a beautiful and refreshing ride. A few miles after we leveled out at 4,000 feet we crossed into Nevada, our first state border! 26 miles later we were in Carson City and done for the day.

We are currently staying in Kings Beach, CA with my extended family. All my mother's siblings and their families are renting a house up here and we are very happy to be staying with them. Tomorrow we get back on the road and head to Fallon, NV. It's only 61 miles and Friday is a rest day, so we get a chance to get our legs back under us after two days of hard climbing. Can't wait to rest (it gives me more time to blog!).

Answer to yesterday's daily trivia question: Finnegan's Wake

Today's Trivia Question: What is California's oldest, still operating newspaper?