When Men and Mountains Meet

On a wooden campside table west of Caineville, UT I joined Jon and Nick as they looked over our route maps for the coming days; nothing seemed to fit well- the next day's ride would be too short and leave us at a very remote campsite in Dixie Forest. Increasing the day's ride was problematic as well- the next town, Boulder, UT, had no location for our group to camp. As we added distances and considered all the options, the only other option would be a big push to Escalante, UT. The total distance? 84 miles. We were split on the feasibility of the day's ride. Before us was a very difficult (5,000 feet!) mountain climb, extreme desert heat, canyonlands and exeptionally steep ascents. We debated the day's forcasted temperature, the elevation change, and our group's fatigue. Was it too much? Was our team up for the challenge?

We arrived at a strategy which Jon, Nick and I all agreed upon; we would stage water breaks as usual, with the addition of a food stop at Boulder Mountain's false peak, giving our riders extra fuel to push over the summit in the early afternoon, avoiding the afternoon heat at the mountain's 9,000+ ft altitude.. Twenty miles past the summit, on Boulder Mountain's fantastic descent, we would stage a full lunch with a long break to recoup energy and wait out the Utah's energy-sapping afternoon sun. Regardless, the day's plan would be very challenging- it was up to our team to decide whether or not to step it up.

After double checking distances and calculating approximate ride times, We polled the group at an impromtu meeting. As we explained the potential plan, describing the climbs and elevation gains that would come, I became a bit nervous seeing so many fatigued faces. I was astounded when everyone raised their hand in affirmative of taking on the challenging ride! The team understood the challenges, the benefits in pushing onwards and no one shyed away from it! After the meeting, as I prepared for bed, my anxiety was replaced with excitement. I was excited for the ride, yes, but really my excitement came from our team's response. I realized how special our team really is- the resiliency and determination of our team remind me what this experience is about.

Arguments, unfortunate circumstances and frustration are sometimes unavoidable. Through this, when our team can unite behind a common challenge and excel, beauty shines.

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet" - William Blake

Hello, hello

A lot has happened since the Ozarks! We're currently in Salida, CO, at the heart of the Rockies. The rockies are incredibly beautiful! After 2 days in the mountains, the anxiety of the steep climbs and high elevation have more or less passed- if we've come this far, there's really nothing stopping us.

On the cancer awareness front, we've had the opportunity to meet with some amazing people affected by cancers and, as a team, I believe we've learned a great deal about the cancer experience and, as the climbs get steeper and longer, we're all reminded really why we are here.

I wish I had more time to update, but I'll let these photos do the talking.

Oh, the Ozarks...

The state of Missouri really doesn't get the credit it deserves. In our two days (and 146 miles) in the Show Me State, I'm pleasantly suprised by Missouri's east-central landscape. Almost immediately after crossing the Mississippi River (which, in its own right was symbolically and visually awesome) the terrain becomes very hilly, with curving, wild flower bordered roads. Golden wheat fields give way to tree filled ranch properties and vineyards.

The cycling is reminiscent of Pennsylvania's hills, but much, much more visually pleasing. Today's travels, from Ironton, MO to Eminence, however, showed us that the Ozark Mountain Range isn't necessarily ideal for liesurely cycling and photo snapping- in fact, we've faced the toughest climbs and grades of our entire trip in this region. Even at a low 70 miles, today's ride was rough on just about everybody but the beauty of the area more than makes up for the leg pain.

It's been exciting to meet other cycle tourers- today we met 2 solo riders who were both travelling East on the Trans-Am trail. While 2+ months of solo bicycle travel may seem lonely, I was definitely reminded of the freedom, flexibility solo touring affords. However, being a part of such a profound and amazing team has its own benefits, and the chance to grow friendships while enjoying pizza and a beer with teammates after a ride is certainly nice.

A Sunny Day in Indiana...

Over the past few days the weather has been very good to us- with tailwinds of over 20mph, we had a chance to look around, take some pictures, and mess with livestock at every possible opportunity.

I should explain, however, that not everyone in our group gets a kick out of feeding grass to cows. Our group is similar to a mullet- business in the front and party in the back. Mark and Jon generally lead the all business group- they generally ride much faster and reach our destination hours before everyone else. Nick, a human jukebox, leads the rear flank widely referred to as the caboose. The real goal of riders in the caboose, Im pretty sure, is to visit every ice cream shop from NY to San Diego, and spend as much time as possible taking goofy pictures, singing 80s pop songs and spooking cows.

I find myself in the caboose pretty often- arriving into town early is nice, but staring at someone's back in a paceline and breathing hard for 80 miles isn't the most fun everyday. There's a lot to see along the way, so why not take some time to smell the flowers? (and cows)

Hello Ohio!

After the first week, I think everyone on our team is welcoming Ohio's flat land. The scenery is still great, however, and we saw some incredible views of lake Erie today.

Its amazing to think that only 30 years ago the lake was so polluted that, as the saying goes, nearly anything in it would float and spontaneous fires were known to arise due to the toxic and flammable chemicals which resided in the lake. The incredible Clean Water Act, however, began the massive cleanup and filtration of Lake Erie which has restored the lake's water quality, at least to my swimming standards (as shown below.)

I'm consistently amazed with the daily improvements on our team. Riders are getting faster and faster, our morning routine, which involves decamping, route briefing, preparing, eating and cleaning breakfast and packing the chase car has gone from a 2+ hour process to just over one hour. Everyone's communication on the road has improved significantly also, and we're pacelining like pros. All this in the first week? Yea, we're that good.

S'mores in Edinboro, PA

Like a roller coaster!

The roads that is- they go up, down, up, down in this area of Pennsylvania known as the 'Endless Mountains.' The cycling has been tough! A great reward, however, is the amazing scenery! We also manage to find an ice cream place towards the end of each day's ride which tops the afternoon off very nicely.

I'm floored by the generousity and hospitality of complete strangers who have reached out to us along our journey. Each church has greeted us warmly and cooked an amazing dinner for us- Ms. Brown of Hawley, PA, a complete stranger whom Jon met at the Hawley library, hosted us in her lakefront backyard and cooked an incredible dinner for us too. It seems like everytime we run into an apparent obstacle, the situation is resolved by the kindness of people we've never met before, and will likely never meet again. We're truly lifted by the hands of thousands of supporters- our friends, our families, and incredible people we meet along the way.

Today we're taking a day off in Kane, PA to get our Portraits project rolling, as members of the First Methodist Church visit us throughout the afternoon to share their experiences with cancer. We're expecting our first arrivals in about 2 hours and I'm a bit anxious. Will our project come together at first? Will strangers be so outgoing to share their experiences? We'll find out soon! I'm excited to begin this project- I think more and more we are realizing the potential weight and positive impact this project could make. We've set an internal goal to unveil the exhibit in Champaign, IL with what impactful material we collect in the next two weeks.

As always, we're moving fast!

T minus 3 days!