Day 2: West Virginia to Maryland

Sunrise start to beat the heat for 33 miles and some short steep climbs in the river bottom near the Potomac.  I had planned 66 miles, but that was long before the present heat wave.  

I heard they teach stuff about self awareness in some leadership courses.  It was heading to 96 degrees today, and I have the choice to acknowledge that I just don't tolerate heat as well as I used to, or pretend I do and end up hurting myself.

So I looked at the forecast for the next week and decided after talking with Marcie to take a pause to avoid the heat and resume in 9 days, in Vermont, back on schedule but without poaching myself like an egg.

Today was a beautiful, short ride.  Some pics:

Pre-sunrise, tall corn, and a cool layer of low clouds hugging the side of one of the Allegheny ridge lines 

More goats for Marcie.  Just have to put them on the trailer.

It has seen better days.

Quaint one lane bridge "in the early morning rain."

The beautiful Potomac River valley.

Day 1: Virginia into West Virginia.

22 miles from Winchester, VA after church and lunch with the fam.... to Chez Reiser, the West Virginia mountain home of my sister Lori and her husband Bill.  88 degree temps and an early climb made this a long enough first day.  

Marcie, Brady, Jenna, and granddaughter Reagan drove from Front Royal to meet us for dinner.  Vicky Reiser returned from WVU, and Alex Reiser visited from Annapolis with a couple other midshipmen for an added surprise.

Pictures show the rural mountain beauty of Wesr Virginia.  In fact, I've heard it said that it's "almost heaven."

Thanking the Lord for a safe day.

PACKED AND READY

The mode of transportation is chosen and ready.  I named this recumbent bicycle Rex, "for no particular reason."  Marcie saw it loaded out like this and dubbed it, instead, "THE BLUE BEAST."  And so it is.  Over the next few days, I'm pretty sure The Blue Beast will tame me.  

Tomorrow is day one.  See you on the next post.

Driving back to PA and FINAL STATS!!

Steve and Janis Cross

Dave, Beth, Hadassah and Micah Clark Fourth of July Fun!
More fun on the 4th...
Pyrotechnic delight at the Clark's house

Sleepy Sasha on the drive from Great Falls

Zhenya, in the same mode (Lee stayed awake the whole time!)

Doing his best "BOLT" impression!

Mount Rushmore

Welcome to Pennsylvania!

This way to York......

The guys spent their last 2 days in MT visiting the Clark and Cross families. Thanks to each of those families for extending hospitality and good times to Lee, Zhenya, and Sasha. The fireworks were a highlight! As you can see from the photos, Zhenya and Sasha caught up on some sleep as soon as the car departed Great Falls. Lee woke them to show them the roads they had started bicycling on just a few weeks prior.

Before leaving Great Falls, Lee set the trip odometer to zero in order to see how far they would have to drive before hitting 1,155 miles -- the number they had bicycled during their trip. They called me from Albert Lea, Minnesota (not too far from Rochester) to say they had just made it to mile 1,155! They were very impressed with the distance, and also quite glad to have ridden in the beauty of Montana as opposed to crossing the more barren parts of eastern MT, WY, and all of SD!

Sasha has given permission to share this quote that he made at the end of the trip, "My calves are hard as rocks." I believe that they all have much more muscle than when they started!

FINAL STATS:

1,155 total miles

Google map mileage from YORK, PA to MIAMI, FL is 1149 miles

That is pretty amazing, isn't it???

Over 30,000 feet of elevation gained in vertical climbs

Mount Everest is 29,035 feet high....

These guys have accomplished a very impressive feat

Thank you for your prayers and interest in this marvelous adventure! We hope to see many of you at the cook out on the 18th of July!

Day 24 Going to the Sun Road!!

Removing layers of clothing once the sun came up! Storm clouds gathering over Lake McDonald as the sun was rising.

Rained on the guys for 45 minutes! Climbing Going to the Sun Road

Cliffs and curves....

So glad I didn't see them on their bikes on this road. Lee with Heaven's Peak in the background

Sasha summiting Logan Pass
(taken by Lee, over his shoulder, while riding!) Zhenya summiting Logan Pass
This is what perseverance earns!
They are a great looking team.

Taken at a stop along the very fast descent down the east side of the pass.

Lee called to say that they made it to the top of Logan Pass by the 11:00 am cut-off time and have ridden successfully through Glacier National Park. Our friends, Dave Clark, and his daughter Hadassah, picked the guys up in East Glacier. They ate a well-deserved lunch before departing the East Glacier area.

They started pedaling at 4:50 am and got to the park at 6:30. There was no one at the entrance to check their annual parks pass so they rode right on through! A thunderstorm hit at 7:30 and rained on them for 45 minutes. They still managed to make the summit by 11:00, not a minute sooner nor a minute later. They took a picture of the clock to prove it! The sun came out and it was a gorgeous, perfect temperature riding day. Lee said that he stopped to take tons of photos on his cell phone (the camera dove off his bike on the 100 mile day and died, how sad). The boys thought he was just being slow and asked why they had to wait for him to catch up to them. He is the king of chronicling trips and they will appreciate all of those photos one day! :)

DAILY STATS:

65 miles from Columbia Falls to St. Mary's Lake

4:50 am to 1:45 pm, sunny and beautiful

(other than that rainstorm!)

3400 feet elevation gain

1155 TOTAL MILES IN THE PEDAL OR DIE TRIP

They have achieved their goal and have finished the course set out before them. I am so proud of all 3 of them. Thank you all so much for your prayers and your interest in their trip. Please join me in praising the Lord for His watchcare and protection over them!

Day 23 Water Slides and Resting

Friday was a much needed day of R&R after achieving their goal of riding 100 miles in one day. Lee, Zhenya, and Sasha went to the Big Sky Water Slides and enjoyed a day of refreshment riding tubes down water slides, soaking in the hot tubs, and sliding down a slide called the Geronimo (which is so high it causes you to slide at a high enough speed that it feels like it is ripping your skin off ~ ouch!). Sasha told me he preferred the inner tubes!

Lee told me that after watching the boys for three weeks and spending so much time with them he is convinced that they have an unlimited capacity for sleep! They slept until 10:30, so he didn't have to feed them breakfast. :) They do have a new favorite restaurant now -- the A & W Drive-In (which they walked to). Sasha wants to know if there are A & W restaurants in Pennsylvania.

Needless to say, they all enjoyed a day out of the saddle. The plan was to go to bed early as they needed to be up and pedaling by 4:30 am (yes, AM) in order to get to Glacier National Park in time to start biking Going to the Sun Road. There are rules about when cyclists must be off the road in order for motorists to be allowed to start driving on it. If the guys don't finish in time they will have to get on a shuttle and catch a ride to the other side of the park that way. We are praying that Sasha's legs wake up quickly this morning!!

Thanks for your prayers and your interest in the trip!

Day 22 Century Day ~ 100 miles!

THEY DID IT!

Starting at 7:00 am from Seeley Lake

(the third creature is not Lee, FYI)

Hearty brunch to fuel their bodies for more miles! Mid-morning in the Swan Valley

The guys rode through the beautiful Swan Valley (Salmon Lake was the day prior) beginning at Seeley Lake and then spent many hours pedaling along Swan Lake. It was yet another gorgeous blue sky day with winds from the north giving them headwinds for their 100 miles. I am not sure they would know what to do with a tailwind at this point. :)

New tire for Sasha.

The guys arrived safely in Columbia Falls this evening after a long day of pedaling that included 2 tire changes. They had to change Sasha's front tire fairly early on and then at the 98 1/2 mile point Lee's rear tire went flat and had to be changed. Total bummer! More info on tire changing. They have gone through all 3 spare tires and 5 out of the 9 inner tubes they took on the trip. The road trash over the last week was really bad. As far as riding conditions on their 100 mile day, there was NO SHOULDER for almost half the ride (white paint was right next to the grass) and for the first time ever they encountered rude ranchers who did not like sharing the road with them. It made for some interesting riding!

Here are 3 quotes from the Century Day:

Quote #1 ~ Zhenya, at the 90 mile point, stated "That wasn't so bad."

(realizing that they would, indeed, make their goal of 100 miles in one day)

Quote #2 ~ Lee, "Saddle rash isn't so bad once it finally advances from raw to numb."

Quote #3 ~ Sasha, "Neat, now my tires match."

(after Lee and Zhenya spent 20 minutes changing his front tire for him)

This cartoon was too good to pass up for the 100 mile day.

Click on it to enlarge it to see the fun details.

DAILY STATS:

101 miles from Seeley Lake to Columbia Falls

7 am to 8 pm, sunny and beautful!

No elevation gain

1090 total miles to date

Tomorrow is a much anticipated day of rest. Lee will be taking Sasha and Zhenya to one of the coolest water parks, ever! It is right across the street from their motel so they don't even have to get on their bicycles to go to it. Good planning, eh? Please join us in thanking the Lord for His provision of good weather, road conditions, health, and bicycle maintenance for our 3 bicyclists over these last few weeks. Only one more day of riding remains and it will be a spectacular view of God's creation as they ride Going to the Sun Road through Glacier National Park. GNP shouts of God's majesty!