The Big Ride experience is anything but typical and the ride is a different experience for each person each day.  I have no doubt there will be great days and tough days and thousands of indelible memories. However, just to give you a feel for what we will do on a normal riding day, here's a little daily schedule:

5AM - Rise and Shine - the other tent "zipper alarms" are usually all we need to wake up

5-6AM - Dress for the day, pack up our gear, sleeping bag, mattress, and tent and store it in the gear truck.

6-7AM - Eat (and/or help prepare) breakfast, fill water bottles, review daily route map and roll out of camp.

7-3PM - On the road - we eat lots, including sandwiches we made in camp and at places we find along the way. I sometimes ride alone or with a friend or with small groups of riders who ride at a similar pace. Stop and see the sights; make a new friend in one of the many small towns; talk to the cows; listen to the wind over the grass; ride the same hill twice just because you can; call friends at work and tell them what we're doing; fix our own flat tire or stop to help a friend. 

3-6PM - Take a hot shower, set up our tent, wash out your water bottles, do a little bike maintenance or just chill out till dinner.

6- 8PM - Eat, eat, eat and help with clean up. Make our sandwiches for the next day. Swap stories with fellow riders and talk over tomorrow's route.

8-10PM - Go ahead - just try to stay awake until dark. Most riders can't -

June 24, 2007     Seattle - We did some last day shopping at REI for gear and then all of the Big Riders assembled at a supporter's home in Redmond to meet one another and to receive last minute instructions. We then feasted on lasagna,

 spaghetti, and red wine to fortify us for the coming trek.

June 25, 2007    Seattle to Easton (78 miles) - We assembled at 6:30 in the morning to gather our last blessing and then to hit the road...and oh what a winding road it was to get out of Seattle and onto I-90 Freeway.  One might call it a C.F. with several groups riding "bonus miles" because of confusion on directions. But after an hour we were on our way and climbing out of Seattle. The road that day was the worst I have ever experienced.  We had to us the freeway to get over the mountain; unfortunately every semi-tractor trailer decided it was the right day to travel as well.

  The wide shoulder was often cluttered with debris or simply obliterated by planned paving upgrades.  But we made it with some "quiet time" peaceful climbs that were Alp d'Huez (Tour de France) like in their difficulty.  This is where I learned the Cascades Crawl...just keep pedaling...a 7, 6, 5 or 4 mph...but just keep moving. Coming to the campground that afternoon was last bit of highway revenge as someone had dropped a load of metal on the side of the road, which proceeded to shred the tires of some riders. We are packing spares of tires, tubes and brake pads...but to need them on the first night??  That night we were hosted for dinner by last year's riders who regaled us with their feats and to wish us well.  We camped by the side of the freeway seranaded by semis throughout night.

June 26, 2007    Easton to Vantage (71 miles) - This was a very interesting 70+ mile ride with twists and turns through forested lands and then into the drier country of eastern Washington state.  The size and beauty of the country was spectacular.  I took a picture of one river scene that reminded me of southwest France where the War of the Roses was fought between France and England and where prehistoric peoples had inhabited the riverside in cliff dwellings.  This was similar country but the castle towers guarding the river passage are replace with natural stone pillars and the cliff dwellings were replaced by rock outcroppings suitable for development. On we rode in small groups or solo to come across wind farm developments. It was a logical spot for the wind farms as we made a 10+ mile climb on a steady grade into strong headwinds...It was here that I discovered the strength of my bike as I was able to keep up the steady "Cascades Crawl" with the benefit of my gearing.. My rig is a modified cyclocross bike Axis by Bianchi.  I had switched out the mountain bike rear cassette for a road cassette (more speed, less spinning).  The chain rings on the bike are the original 48-38-28 tooth; smaller than the road bikes (so less top end speed).  But on this long, steady, windy climb it was running spectacularly.  We arrived at Vantage, WA...

June 27, 2007    Vantage to Odessa (81 miles) - Climbing out of Vantage we rose 900 feet and immediately one of the team had a flat.  It was good to be able to help. On we rode on some pretty flat, straight and hot roads....a time for thinking "big thoughts" as you travelled within yourself...that is until the BIG labrador came charging out of the farm house yard to try to take me down as though I were some buffalo lumbering by.  I immediately "came to"...starting spinning like a bat out of hell and bellowed back at the bored canine.  He peeled off, no doubt looking for his next victim and I came back to a regular cadence in my pedaling and heart rate. The road was so flat that it was good to find dips and climbs and to stop to help folks...Another member had his tire disintegrate from running over a metal scrap.  Just by chance I had backed a spare tire that morning and was able to give it to him and we all took off together...dreaming of cool drinks and hot showers. We ended the day in Odessa, WA at the one and only high school..graduating class of 20 students last year. We were welcomed by the community who fed us dinner and breakfast in the School cafeteria. I was genuinely moved by the kindness and generosity of the people.  After dinner we walked downtown to The Chief's bar and restaurant.  Chief is a 25yr Navy vet who has been operating the bar for almost a year. The town is declining in numbers, but there is the "promise" of a bio-diesel fuel be constructed there.  Chief had a great micro brew from Odessa...Cream Copper Ale..Stop in next time you pass through!

June 28, 2007            Odessa to Spokane (74 miles) - Wonderful tail winds

 So many of differing abilities and capabilities coming together for one purpose.  It has been an interesting time to help others..whether it is to fix flats or pitch tents.. and it is good to learn techniques and strategies to survive.  This is part of the country is known as the Pelouse (sp?), which in French mean lawn. I am guessing it is so named because of all the grain growing. Arrive at Gonzaga College at 1:30PM...Bing Crosby is their star graduate...guess things are slow here.  

June 29, 2007  Rest Day in Spokane (0 miles) -

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Week One: Seattle to Spokane

June 30, 2007    Spokane, Washington to Sand Point, Idaho (76 miles) - Off to northern Idaho…”Goodbye to the Jesuits…Hello to the Survivalists”…The ride out of town was very civilized with quiet roads as we leave before Saturday shoppers hit the road.  Spokane was once a major railroad hub with a large switching yard in what is now downtown… With the decline of U.S. rail traffic the city established a very nice system of “rails to trails” for cycling and walking.  Yet even with the fewer trains, we hear them and see them; bringing coal to the west and hauling Chinese shipping containers to the east.  We’re traveling northeast into the Panhandle of Idaho with a southwest tail wind…We love tail winds!  The countryside is transforming from grain fields to animal grazing to heavily forested.  Saturday brings out the boaters and ATV riders towing trailers heading out to Priest Lake, ID.  The forest smells wonderful and the sun is not too.  Lunch stop in Newport, WA gives news about the local saloon established in 1895.  The proprietors were fed up with rowdy clients and so set up a black bear in a steel cage.  If you didn’t shape up, you were thrown to the cage with the bear.  Whereupon the bear (who was a retired circus bear) would rise up on its hind legs and roar and pretend to attack the client.  Great story of community policing!  

July 1, 2007            Sand Point, ID to Thompson Falls, Montana (87.7 miles)  -The country is spectacular in its sheer size and beauty.  Lots of farms, forests, lakes and rock outcroppings (and pictures!) along the way.  We traveled along lakes and rivers with mountains coming right down to the lake, reminiscent of Alpine mountains and lakes…and I would suppose this gets very “alpine (cold) in winter.  

On into Thompson Falls H.S. for the night in the gym and dinner at Minnie’s Montana Café.  Alaskan Cod with Moose Drool brown ale…a local Montana brew. I finished it off with my first banana split in god only knows how many years.

July 2, 2007            Thompson Falls to Missoula Montana (101.1 miles) - Breakfast was the nicest encounter with the local Elks Lodge who cooked and served us a full breakfast.  It was again an opportunity to learn about the local goings on, in this case about the elk herds, water wells, and bears that visit at night.. Today’s ride was a “Century”; my first ever…though after a week of 70 and 80 milers, the prospect of another couple of hours of riding didn’t have me too scared.  Mostly I just wanted an early start to try to avoid any heavy sun and heat. It was definitely cool when I pulled out at 6:30am.  

The first 50 plus miles were fast and cool.  Again the countryside was amazing and I got some photo shots. One of the stranger sights was a “steam shovel” 200 feet up a pile of stone rubble on the side of a butte scooping up stones and loading them on a truck…I thought this might be one of the less safe jobs ”out there”.  The last half of the ride was a bit more harrowing with small or non-existent shoulders and plenty of trucks and tourists along the way. There was a good 8+ mile climb before descending into Missoula.  Mostly is was 8-10mph… but in the last couple of miles I caught a tail wind and bumped up to 20+mph. Finally came the summit and a descent that reached 48mph!!!,,,,I felt pretty good wrapping this up in just under 7 hours of riding….And now we’ve settled into a University of Montana dorm and  eaten copious amounts of food…

July 3, 2007            Rest Day at the University of Montana, Missoula (0 miles) -It was a welcome rest after the long ride of yesterday as muscles felt firm, but a bit tired.

At the half Mark!!!!

what a ride!

July 4, 2007       University of Montana, Missoula to Avon, MT (98.6 miles)  Almost a "century" today and it was a long and hard one.  Cruising through Missoula at 6:30am was very cool and very quiet

July 5, 2007        Avon to Townsend, MT (60.8 miles)  A short but not so sweet ride today. It was spectacular to make the steep climb to MacDonald Pass (6356 feet) and then take the hair raising 12 mile descent into Helena.

July 6, 2007        Townsend to Harlowton, MT (101 miles)  In short; this was the hottest, longest ride from hell. The first quarter of the ride was rather fun with a long climb and fast descent into White Sulphur Springs with tail winds and a sweet cafe that served up a welcome strawberry milkshake.  

July 7, 2007        Harlowton to Billings (90.1 miles)  This ride was heaven sent in terms of terrain and weather.  It began with a nice long descent to our waterstop at Ryegate where I rode mostly solo and quickly.  Ryegate, MT is home of the Testicle Festival...a celebration of the castrating of the male heifers.  The ride into Billings was fast and cool.   Dinner at our Montana State dormitory dwelling was again catered by Beyond Basil, and followed by a spectacular electrical storm dumping a mere 1.2 inches of rain, that nearly flooded the region and was the talk of the town.

July 9, 2007          Billings to Hardin, MT (54 miles) A little ride to Hardin, "the town with a reason".  It was a nice easy ride with a pretty little climb out of Billings on a winding road to the high plains.  Billings and its refineries never looked so good. But seriously, the countryside outside of town was spectacular in terms of rimrock, forests and fields. The ride was also fun as I came across prairie dog towns.  Prairie dogs sit on top of their burrows and chirp to one another not unlike birds.  If you stop they tend to scurry underground. I then came across a beautiful rim rock lined with evergreen trees and a farm below.  

July 10, 2007          Hardin to Sheridan, MT (84 miles) It was a nice ride today as temps were down but the tourist schlock was in full force. The selling for Custer and Little Big Horn is everywhere as we travel along the Bighorn River. Some of us had gone to the battlefield on our off day in Billings and brought back a very informative brochure from the National Park Service.  It described the culture clash of the 1870s with white immigrants overruning the reservations, of gold being discovered, and of the U.S. reneging on it's treaty obligations to support new settlers and commerce.

July 11, 2007          Sheridan to Gillette, Wyoming (112 miles)  This was an interesting century and after a couple of these and so many 80 and 90 mile rides I'm not intimidated by the distance. We start with a climb out of Sheridan and immediately enter a road work zone for the next 3+ miles.  For some of the time we follow an escort truck and then we CLIMB for several miles to yet another summit on yet another high plain.  We are, and have been, operating at 4000 foot elevation for the past week. The first half of the ride is pretty hard with big hills and big valleys.  We take a water stop at the Spotted Horse Cafe/Bar/Roadhouse.

July 12, 2007          Gillette to Newcastle, WY (76 miles)  This is a different sort of ride but I'm again feeling powerful.  We leave the coal mine, the gasification plant and the natural gas pumps surrounding Gillette to head to Newcastle. Right...you won't need to carry coals to this Newcastle.  It is "conjunction junction" keeping all those coal trains moving east, west and south.  The ride is easy enough and along the way, in Upton, I find the malt shop.

July 13, 2007          Newcastle, WY to Rapid City South Dakota (82 miles)  This was another ride from hell!.... It all began nicely enough in the cool of the morning.  At 6am the seniors fed us breakfast and most notably fresh baked cinnamon buns.  This is not to be confused with the white sugary, gooey stuff sold in airport terminals, but rather some seriously baked bread rolled with sugar and cinnamon!  We pushed out to see yet another deer in a front yard having her breakfast.  

 was a nice climb though high plains farms into South Dakota and the Black Hills National Forest.  It was truly a spectacular ride with giant boulders and pines among the meadows and valleys.  Some of the team wanted to visit Mount Rushmore as an alternate route.  

July 14, 2007       Rest Day - Rapid City, South Dakota (0 miles)  Happy Bastille Day to you all!!!  This was a fine day to rest as it was hotter than ever and the dorm was air conditioned.

July 15, 2007         Rapid City, South Dakota to Kadoka, SD (101.7 miles)  This was one of the most spectacular and challenging rides so far.  We started the day with a cool ride out of the city and into farmland of grains and cattle.  We dropped into the Cheyenne River Valley basin where the river was rimmed with trees and the land was green.  We were being “trailed” by a spectacular electrical storm off to our northwest.  

 A couple of hours later at our first water stop we came into the “Badlands” of South Dakota…and the village of Scenic, S.D. You really should visit Badlands National Park…an absolute natural marvel!

Early the afternoon we got into Kadoka and met Harry the town Mayor, who welcomed us and opened the supermarket (closed on Sunday as is most everything) for the staff to re-stock.  We made use of the pool and camped at the city park.  

July 16, 2007         Kadoka, SD to Pierre, SD (95.5 miles)  This was a tough “almost” century deeper into South Dakota with those long rolling hills and strong headwinds.

July 17, 2007         Pierre to Miller, SD (72.9 miles)  This was a nice and easy ride today.

July 18, 2007         Miller to De Smet, SD (76.7 miles)  One of the more dramatic rides today as we lost our second rider in unrelated incidents and experienced our first full summer electrical storm.   As the storm continued, I rented a motel room and was not disappointed by the hot shower.  Dinner was hosted by the St Thomas Aquinas Church and was a welcome fellowship with local hosts.

July 19, 2007         De Smet, SD to Tyler, Minnesota (78.4 miles)  This was one of the more pleasurable rides so far…Remember, cycling is fun because it’s like beating your head against a wall; it feels so good when it’s over

We were pleasantly surprised to come into Tyler and it’s Danebod Folk School, where dinner (and breakfast tomorrow) was prepared by TuPhat Girls Catering, and where we pitched camp.   

July 20, 2007         Tyler, MN to New Ulm (87 miles)  This was a bit of a tricky ride as we battled headwinds,”tired” support staff who insist on taking seats that spent cyclists deserved, an accident for one of our riders on the narrow highway shoulder and the cruel last hill of the ride to Martin Luther College in New Ulm.  Headwinds were not predictable as we twisted and turned, but I realized that they were lessened in the corn fields as it took some of the wind… our cruelest irony of today’s ride was the swift descent east into New Ulm and a mile later, a steep climb west back to our dorm at the Martin Luther College.  I observed that some riders were simply too spent to make the final climb and I wondered if perhaps there wasn’t a better more direct route to end the trek.