Where were you moments.

It is hard to write a post today with out mentioning the events of this day in 2001.  I can remember growing up hearing my grandparents talk about where they were when they first heard of Pearl Harbor, and again where they were when JFK was shot.  I was young and can remember asking how they knew where they were after all of those years.  My Grandmother simply said that when stuff that profound happens you will always remember where you were.  I remember thinking that sort of thing wasn’t possible and that they were being creative about their whereabouts on the aforementioned days (as I said before I was young).   Years went by and I never really thought about it after that, until 9-11.  When my roommate woke me up to tell me what had happened and I saw what was happening on T.V. I thought to myself this is one of those moments in time that you will always remember.  As it turns out, my Grandparents weren’t pulling my leg, when something like that happens; you have no choice but to remember your exact whereabouts.  Hopefully we all will pass through life without having to have another one.

The past two days on the bike the weather has been awesome.  Nothing much of mention during the ride from Missoula to Sula, the ride today however, was beautiful.  There was a pretty strong wind all day, in my face for a good portion of the day but not the whole time. 

I crossed the Continental Divide for the third time today, I think I have to do it two or three more times, but after that it should all be down hill right?

This next part it pretty gross so if you are sensitive you should probably stop reading……now………………

I have seen tons of road kill on this trip however, this was a first, and I imagine that I will never see any such thing ever again.

I road up on what was obviously road kill, about the size of a cat (fear not cat lovers it wasn’t a cat, I am just using that as a reference) it was however, totally unidentifiable.  I mean it was bad really bad and pretty fresh.  I really didn’t think too much of it until about 25 yards down the road I see a perfect head of a rabbit.  Seems this poor guy lost his head in the collision.  The astounding thing was that it looked totally unharmed.  Sitting upright on the road looking just as it would if it where still attached to its body.  I will say that judging by the look on his face, he never saw it coming. 

9-10

90.15 miles

16.1 mph average

32.6 mph max

5:35:32 ride time

9-11

101.4 miles

15.8 mph average

52.5 mph max

6:17:23 ride time

Rainy day at Jellystone

It was a cold rainy day in Missoula. Having just gotten over the stomach flu we decided that it would be best to sit out the rain, so as to not risk getting sick again.  It is supposed to be raining tomorrow as well but hopefully it will blow through tonight, because I have to ride tomorrow one way or the other.

Azure has been happy the past few days, because she was able to fulfill a childhood dream. (kinda, not really, it’s hard to say if she was joking or not; she was pretty enthusiastic about her choice of campground in Missoula) We all grew up watching, Yogi Bear steal picnic basket after picnic basket from the unsuspecting campers at Jellystone Park.   Now she can say that she successfully stayed in Jellystone and protected our picnic basket from Yogi. 

All joking aside, tomorrow I head out towards Yellowstone, we should hopefully be there in about three days.  We are really looking forward to seeing it.

I have to take a moment to thank a few very special people.  This past weekend my parents with the help of a dear family friend, Bernie Desrosiers, put together a concert fundraiser for us in Tampa. Mr. Desrosiers’ band the Deacon Blues put on what I hear was an amazing show, I am truly sorry that we weren’t there.  You can check out their website here.  In three hours they raised over $1700 for us, Azure and I are so thankful for your willingness to help us and for the generosity of everyone involved.  From the bottom of our hearts thank you, it is greatly appreciated. If anyone has any pictures shoot us an email.

Lookout Pass

Sometimes you just have to suck it up.  After spending several days in Wallace, Idaho due to illness, we realized that I had no choice and had to ride yesterday.  I was feeling better but in no shape to take on the ride to Missoula.  With the forecast calling for thunderstorms in Wallace for the next three days it was either suck it up and ride or risk being stuck there until the weekend.  As I said before, winter is approaching fast in this part of the world so I knew that I didn’t have much of a choice. 

I ate a few peanut butter crackers, all I could manage to keep down, and headed out.  The first 13 miles were all up hill to Lookout Pass and the Montana border. 

Not feeling well and with no real food in my stomach I really struggled.  It took me nearly 2 hours to get to the top (1:40 to be exact).  Drained from the climb and previous days of being sick, I wasn’t paying attention on the decent. Bad idea.  I was coasting at about 35mph and still trying to catch my breath when I looked up to see a giant piece of frost heave just ahead. For those of you who don’t know, frost heaves are sections of road that have been broken apart or forced up during the winter months.  To the left was a big crater; road bikes aren’t meant to take on bumps, much less a huge hole in the road.  To the right of that was a large piece of cement that had been pushed up to form a ramp.  Road bikes also aren’t meant to get air born.  In an instant both scenarios play out in my head, both of them end with me being catapulted into the air at a high rate of speed.  With no time to stop and no time to debate I chose the ramp, at 35mph it shot me straight up into the air.  I can only imagine what this must have looked like to the cars that were passing by, six foot seven dude jumping his road bike while descending Lookout Pass.  I have no idea how high I was or how far I flew, I can only tell you that I had enough time mid air to consider the fact that when I landed I was probably looking at a wheel failure and a serious crash.  Much to my surprise I landed it and continued descending. 

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, just grinding out mile after mile knowing that I had to make it to Missoula.  Considering how long it took me to ride the first 13 miles I made really good time the rest of the way, getting to Missoula just before sundown.  We have some stuff to take care of here in town, but I may get on the bike today and try to get a few miles in before the storms that they are calling for hit.  

9-7

108.24 miles

16mph average

37.8mph max

6:46:10 ride time

Resting among Giants

As usual it has been interesting, and too long since I have posted.  I actually had to read my last one so I would know where I had left off.  After being thwarted by the forest fire the prior day, I had an uneventful and leisurely ride to Spokane.  After the fire had stopped me short of town, we decided that I would ride through Spokane and to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  It being a Friday evening the traffic was serious and we decided that the 30 miles to Coeur d’Alene wasn’t worth the risk so, I called it for the night. 

Late that night, Azure came down with the stomach flu, living out of a van isn’t all that bad (as long as it isn’t hot out) but being sick in a van well… it’s no bueno.  As a result we were both up all night, literally, luckily by about 6 a.m. the worst had passed and she was able to get to sleep. 

There has been some stuff going on, I’m not going to go into what, consider it a need to know situation, and right now sorry, but you don’t need to know.  As a result of this, we needed to take some time off of the bike to try to figure it out.  So we decided, we would rather sit things out in Coeur d’Alene than Spokane.  By morning Azure was feeling well enough for us to head into Coeur d’Alene (as previously mentioned only about 30 miles) the ride was an easy one and once out of the city unexpectedly pretty.  Taking a break and throwing our timetable out the window is that last thing that we need but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

So we decided that we would make the most of it and see the area.  Only problem was when we awoke the following morning the van yet again wouldn’t start, and this time it was too dead to even jump.  After several hours of trying to figure out what was wrong (keep in mind I am not mechanically inclined so this mostly consisted of me doing the same thing over and over, staring at the engine and scratching my head) one of the other campers at the site was able to lend a hand.  The batteries on a diesel van are mounted under the passenger side doors so on a Sunday afternoon there wasn’t anyone in town who could take a look and determine if they were the problem.  I was hoping that it was the batteries, but after the disaster of unsuccessfully trying to jump her I was leaning towards the mega repair job i.e. the mega bill job. 

Lucky for us, it turned out to be the batteries and we found a local shop that was able to change them out for us.  This was no small feat, if you know how these things are mounted you know what I am talking about.  So the few hundred dollars on new batteries was great compared to the thousands I was anticipating (in a worst case scenario). 

After the two-day battery debacle we decided to head up to Glacier National Park. It is a place that we have both always wanted to go and we figured we were too close to drive on by.  So we picked up some extra groceries, beer, and gas and headed out.  I will say that it was really nice to be riding in the van through the mountains instead of heading into them on the bike.  We arrived late Tuesday evening in the park, found a site and grabbed some shut-eye.  The next morning was cold and rainy but spotty, and the weather was blowing through rather quickly so it made for a visually spectacular day.

(Kootenai Falls on the way to Glacier)

(Just to put it into perspective that is a 496 foot waterfall)

There are really two things to do in Glacier, drive the Going to the Sun road, and hike/backpack.  Since we don’t have any of our gear with us and it was snowing at the higher elevations we decided to drive the road.  Have to say, scariest road I have ever driven, period.  At times all that separates you from a several thousand feet drop is a foot and a half rock curb. The views are unreal; I could sit and stare at those mountains for hours on end.  If Glacier isn’t on your bucket list it needs to be, we stayed and extra day just to look. 

(This is Jackson Glacier, Azure wanted to give a little shout out to her nephew Jackson, we saw this as fitting)

It was really good for me to take a few days to clear my head.  Sound ridiculous, I know that’s what I am supposed to be doing on this ride, so far that hasn’t been the case though. 

(something tells me that wall couldn't hold Bertha)

After a week off, it was time to get back on the bike; I left Coeur d’Alene on Saturday and felt great I took down 4^th of July pass without hesitation.  However, about 35 miles into the ride I started to feel sick.  By the time I reached Wallace, ID I was doubled over in pain and sick to my stomach.  I couldn’t keep riding so; we found a site and hunkered down for the night 50 miles short of my original destination, St. Regis, MT.  I was too sick to ride Sunday and I tried to get on the bike this morning and made it less than a mile before I was forced off the bike again.  We are thinking that I caught what Azure had and for some reason it is just sticking with me instead of being the 24-hour bug that she had. 

The two sick days really aren’t that big of a deal seeing as things still aren’t resolved and the timetable for the ride has been extended greatly due to Fantasy Fest in Key West.  The problem is that it is starting to get cold Fall/Winter is upon this part of the country and I still have 1000 miles of mountains to get through before the snow starts to fly.  So we will have to hope that I feel well enough to ride tomorrow and take everyday as it comes.

I might be sick but I’m still smiling, until next time. 

8-27

48.85 miles

17.1 mph average

37.8 mph max

2:50:38 ride time

8-28

27.1 miles

16.7 mph average

25.2 mph max

1:36:47 ride time

9-4

53 miles

16.1 mph average

45.3 mph max

3:19:08 ride time

Life after Seattle

First things first, I have a bunch of guys that I owe a huge Thank You! To all the guys at Old Town Bicycle in Tacoma, WA, I cannot thank you enough.  These guys are amazing!  I had limped my cross bike into Seattle… Alaska to the States can sure put a beating on a bike.  Especially when you have a guy my size sitting on it.  I won’t go into the specifics, but we will just say that these guys busted their asses breaking her down and reassembling her, oh yeah and they cleaned her too.

I also have to throw a huge Thank You out there to Vince (I don’t like putting other people’s last names up without their permission, so I will leave his out) for organizing the Tacoma group ride.  Let me explain, this guy is an Army Doctor with his wife also an Army Doctor (deployed at the time) and an infant at home.  To say that he has his plate full would be an understatement.  Yet he offered to single handedly try to organize a group ride for me as I was passing through.  He along with the guys at Old Town hosted the ride for me, Vince planned out an awesome route. It was an absolutely gorgeous ride.  I had originally planned to continue my ride from the group ride however; due to a media commitment in Missoula I had changed the route (forgot to tell Vince).

 

At home I ride with groups so often that I really enjoy my solo rides, but after AK to WA solo, I was really ready for some company. We didn’t have the turn out that Vince or I had hoped for, but it was great to ride with people.  I think that one of the reasons is also the purpose for the ride; many people are hesitant to want to get involved or be associated with anything in the mental health realm.  I think it is a large part reason we were unable to get any sponsorship; I think it plays into some of the resistance of media outlets to cover our story, and probably why not a ton of people showed up for our group ride. However, that resistance is all the more reason to be vocal.  It certainly wasn’t for lack of effort, so to Vince and all the guys at Old Town Bicycle Thank You!

If you are in Tacoma or anywhere in the vicinity these guys are the best. For a minute when I was watching them work on my bikes I thought I was watching a NASCAR pit crew.

On to the riding, I started back on the bike on Tuesday after a few extra days in Seattle.  What can I say, my Uncle is a great host and Seattle is an awesome town so we stayed longer than planned.  I set off into the Cascade Mountains headed up to Stevens pass.  The temperature was perfect –not something that has happened much on this ride- and the road was smooth.  The pass and the Cascades proved formidable.  After six days of lying around and stuffing my face, the mountains looked twice as big.  It was a spectacular ride, absolutely beautiful.  There was one funny moment, at what looked like a popular swimming hole, a few teenage kids were milling around.  One of them trying to be a smart ass said “hey Lance where you riding”

I replied “Florida”

“YEAH RIGHT, Florida’s that way dude!”

“Don’t they teach geography in school any more? You’re pointing towards Mexico kid.”

At this point I had stopped and one of them ran across the road to talk to me.

He saw the jersey I was wearing and Azure happened to drive by as we were talking so I pointed out the van.  Stunned he said, “wow that’s really awesome dude, something to be proud of” then as I road away I heard him saying to his friends “ He’s not @%&*#$ kidding he really is ridding to Florida!”

I polished off the rest of the ride, and hoped that the following day I would get more of the same weather.

(can you say Jersey Tan)

Yesterday, I started the day in the mountains and finished in the desert.  No, I’m not kidding. I guess I should have been paying attention in geography.  But yes, eastern Washington is a high desert and to get there you have to climb up from the Columbia river, it was a 7 mile 2,100 foot climb that took about 1:30 hours, and yes, it was scorching hot.  I put down five gallons of fluids.  And no, it isn’t flat when you get to the top, I thought it would be but it wasn’t, rolling hill after rolling hill. 

(who would guess that this was a picture of eastern Washington?)

So today I headed out with the intention of reaching Spokane.  However, about 70 miles into my ride I was stopped by a raging wild fire.  This is really arid terrain and it was incredibly windy today so they were having some serious trouble containing the fire.  The local police had the road closed and were turning everyone back.  So I headed back expecting to see Azure at any moment.  But mile after mile of back tracking and no Azure, I was starting to get worried but told myself that they must have closed the road further back as well as the road block I had hit.  Fire truck after fire truck and no civilians.  I was feeling pretty good about my analysis until several people drove past. At this point, I really started to worry.  Finally, I saw the van on the horizon; turns out Bertha didn’t want to start.  Lucky for Azure, she was stopped in a town when it happened and a local man was nice enough to help.  No, she didn’t get his name, so to the mystery man from Creston thank you for helping my wife.  The van seems to be starting and running fine (knock on wood!!!) so who knows what that was about.

As we were trying to decide what to do the police decided for us, and escorted everyone to the next town.  At which point we decided to continue to Spokane in case the van needed to be looked at.  Tomorrow we will head back to where I was stopped, that is if the fire has been put out.  I know this was a crazy long post but I had tons of stuff this time.

(The smoke is so bad here in Spokane you can barely see the sun)

8-24

79.4 miles

14mph average

41mph max speed

5:40:06 ride time

8-25

80.12 miles

14mph average

36.1mph max speed

5:42:12 ride time

8-26

69.61 miles

17.9 mph average

37 mph max

3:52:17 ride time

(ride cut short due to wild fire)