An afternoon of rest was just what the doctor ordered (literally) and Jack slept for about 5 hours whilst Tom and Matt caught up on facebook, planned the final 300 miles of the route and patched up some injured innertubes. For dinner we had a feast of the biggest steaks we had ever seen, mash and corn on the cob followed by some great homemade pies that Tom demolished. Topics of conversation included the massive college football program in Nebraska that Jay's son works for and has a 81,000 seater stadium and then we looked at some virtual panaramas that the eldest daughter Alex makes. Sloan's (the youngest daughter) friend then showed up for some pie and to meet "the UK men". We learnt some silly US rules about drinking including that some universities ban all alcohol on campus and you get kicked out of uni if you get caught and that you can go to prison if you are caught with alcohol when you are underaged, also known as getting MIPed (Minor In Possession). Tom then began his flirting in earnest getting them to bang him on facebook before trying to start a game of footsie with Hilary. Unfortunately he was quickly rejected and we started to compare music. Dizzee Rascal went down a treat but La Roux was not so well received and we began to demonstrate the greatness of some of our previous UK number ones, namely Bob the Builder, Mr Blobby and the Teletubbies. Hilary and Sloan were impressed by the album of our previous fancy dress efforts although could not grasp the concept of Pot Noodles and thought they were something to do with drugs but now want to spend a semester in the UK after showing them a video of LSU.
We stayed up pretty late (well 9.30) and looked forward to a great nights sleep in single beds for once! Thanks Sloan for giving up your bed for Matt!
We are also looking for suggestions on what the girls could do for a challenge after being inspired by our cycling efforts. We rejected their idea of riding a moped through the state of Nebraska as being too easy and not enough of a challenge so please share your ideas on what they could do.
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Sunday AM - The Day of Rest in the Mid-West
Alright Blog Fans,
This morning things took a turn for the worst, after waking up and getting ourselves ready this morning Jack let us know he felt even worse today than he had yesterday. We got to the exit of the campground where he vomited and we decided to go and find him a doctor. We stayed at the KOA until the office opened and the English store assistant pointed out where the local community hospital was and we cycled over. We may as well have walked such was Jack's pace, decidedly 'Trevorspeed'.
On last nights blog you'll remember I said we'd get some pictures up of Jack's injuries so heres one of me treating Jack's gravel rach and insect bites. Those of you of a homophobic disposition may want to look away now.
We got there and while Tom pissed about for about 40 minutes on the phone to our insurance company to make sure we were entitled to treatment etc Jack was seen by a doctor (below)
Following his examination the doctor determined that the bites dominating Jacks body contained venom and his body was trying to get rid of them be forming an allergic reaction, which is what we thought. This was causing the general discomfort and nausea he'd been experiencing. Furthermore the amount of cycling we've been doing was putting his body under stres and was causing excess amounts of acid in his stomach hence the funny tummy. Some anti hestamines were in order. We decided then to call a halt to the days cycling as Jack wasn't in any fit state and were off to check into a motel after going to the recommended grocery store to get Jack's magic potions.
So we cycled off the few blocks away and as we were going in the Doctor that treated Jack, Jay pulled up. He heard from the nurses that we were Moteling and offered us a place to stay for the night. We took him up on his offer and bought some fruit and headed up over to his house, where I am writing this very blog. His wife Ann has just taken us for Sunday breakfast while we're making the most of the house mainly sleeping and watching TV aswell as sleeping.
The hospital staff who helped us are in the picture below. Jay is the gent rocking the moustache on the right. Cheers for your help if you're reading.
This morning things took a turn for the worst, after waking up and getting ourselves ready this morning Jack let us know he felt even worse today than he had yesterday. We got to the exit of the campground where he vomited and we decided to go and find him a doctor. We stayed at the KOA until the office opened and the English store assistant pointed out where the local community hospital was and we cycled over. We may as well have walked such was Jack's pace, decidedly 'Trevorspeed'.
On last nights blog you'll remember I said we'd get some pictures up of Jack's injuries so heres one of me treating Jack's gravel rach and insect bites. Those of you of a homophobic disposition may want to look away now.
We got there and while Tom pissed about for about 40 minutes on the phone to our insurance company to make sure we were entitled to treatment etc Jack was seen by a doctor (below)
Following his examination the doctor determined that the bites dominating Jacks body contained venom and his body was trying to get rid of them be forming an allergic reaction, which is what we thought. This was causing the general discomfort and nausea he'd been experiencing. Furthermore the amount of cycling we've been doing was putting his body under stres and was causing excess amounts of acid in his stomach hence the funny tummy. Some anti hestamines were in order. We decided then to call a halt to the days cycling as Jack wasn't in any fit state and were off to check into a motel after going to the recommended grocery store to get Jack's magic potions.
So we cycled off the few blocks away and as we were going in the Doctor that treated Jack, Jay pulled up. He heard from the nurses that we were Moteling and offered us a place to stay for the night. We took him up on his offer and bought some fruit and headed up over to his house, where I am writing this very blog. His wife Ann has just taken us for Sunday breakfast while we're making the most of the house mainly sleeping and watching TV aswell as sleeping.
The hospital staff who helped us are in the picture below. Jay is the gent rocking the moustache on the right. Cheers for your help if you're reading.
Thats all for now. May get another post out later on this evening.
Until next time Blog Fans, Keep it real like Ian Beale.
Tom
Until next time Blog Fans, Keep it real like Ian Beale.
Tom
Saturday, 8 August 2009
Saturday - The Bedbugs Do Bite
The day started normally enough with 116 miles planned following a re-jig of our trip days, getting on the road just before 6 am. We cycled through Paxton NE and onto Sutherland NE 33 miles into our day, where we stopped for breakfast at 8:20. It was at this point Ben redeclared his dominance of the puncture league pulling out his first front tyre puncture, showing his all round puncturing ability. There was a cafe there that was closed but wewent to a garage where they served breakfast style subs. We all ordered and waited until the subs woman brought over our stuff and got the orders wrong. Jack, who had earlier in the morning complained of an upset stomach and was harvesting a colony of insect bites around his body for the first time refrained from thanking the server in the station such was his dispositional disgust. While in the gas station we also lost a further hour of time, as we'd just crossed into the Central time zone, which was crap.
Following this we pushed on 20 more miles to North Platte NE where Jacks condition deteriorated as we ate at Donnas Diner, the Swansea native felled by endless cycling and apparent illness. Jack at this point declared he doubted we'd hit 116 miles today though Tom was keen to try and ush on to make sure we kept on track. We stocked up on the usual cereal bar suspects and some medicine for Jack's tummy in Family Dollar, the American equivalent on Home Bargains and set off to our next stop, Gothenburg NE. Only 8 miles in and we had our first incident. Ben, looking at his gears instead of the road while cycling didn't notice that Jack up ahead of him had slowed to take a sip of his water and careered into the back of his bike, going arse over tit into the tarmac with all the grace of a scouse slapper drunkly throwing her shapes outside a late night kebab van. Next up was Jack, meeting a similar fate only 10m after our next break. After setting off he attempted to tuck bens shirts into his pannier bags, but hit a pothole while doing so and promply hit the deck. Gravle rash had now covered his back and arse aswell as his bites. He soldiered on to Gothenburg 6 miles away where we got into a subway to assess the damage and feed. We took the decision to end the day at 5:00 and 90 miles and to set up camp in the local KOA (Kampground of America). We set up the tent and Tom attended Jacks arse sores while Ben laughed and took pictures which we will get up when we can. Following a forgettable day Jack hit the sack at 7:00 eastern time to recoup. Just Another day in the lives of ultra endurance charity athletes.
Play safe blog fans.
Tom
Following this we pushed on 20 more miles to North Platte NE where Jacks condition deteriorated as we ate at Donnas Diner, the Swansea native felled by endless cycling and apparent illness. Jack at this point declared he doubted we'd hit 116 miles today though Tom was keen to try and ush on to make sure we kept on track. We stocked up on the usual cereal bar suspects and some medicine for Jack's tummy in Family Dollar, the American equivalent on Home Bargains and set off to our next stop, Gothenburg NE. Only 8 miles in and we had our first incident. Ben, looking at his gears instead of the road while cycling didn't notice that Jack up ahead of him had slowed to take a sip of his water and careered into the back of his bike, going arse over tit into the tarmac with all the grace of a scouse slapper drunkly throwing her shapes outside a late night kebab van. Next up was Jack, meeting a similar fate only 10m after our next break. After setting off he attempted to tuck bens shirts into his pannier bags, but hit a pothole while doing so and promply hit the deck. Gravle rash had now covered his back and arse aswell as his bites. He soldiered on to Gothenburg 6 miles away where we got into a subway to assess the damage and feed. We took the decision to end the day at 5:00 and 90 miles and to set up camp in the local KOA (Kampground of America). We set up the tent and Tom attended Jacks arse sores while Ben laughed and took pictures which we will get up when we can. Following a forgettable day Jack hit the sack at 7:00 eastern time to recoup. Just Another day in the lives of ultra endurance charity athletes.
Play safe blog fans.
Tom
Friday, 7 August 2009
Whatever trevor
The train carried on hammering past all night long which wasn't a total disaster as it did drown the noisy family out (later found out that just down the road in north platte is a big transport station which routes trains all round the country). We set off again with overcast skies and quite cool weather. Managed to see some wildlife both alive and roadkill, personal favourite are the frogs trying to cross the road or the millions of crickets that line the highways. It was also a nice change to nit actually be on the interstate.
We arrived at our first stop, sidney fifty miles away, after just three hours so stopped for a good old fat filled American breakfast. Here we discussed the plans for the next few days and decided it would be a great idea to try and gain a day in my by doing 360 miles over the next few days, possibly a stupid idea but time will tell!
Our next stop was in lodgepole where we met Trevor who jumped off the back of a truck and was also on his own cycling tour from fort Collins to Michigan. All he had however was a mountain bike that was stuck in 2nd gear and what appeared to be the biggest backpack in the world! We key him cycle on but caught up with him in the next town where we had another burger at burgies, a weird little place with a bowling alley.
After this we again parted ways so we could go get some much needed fruit and bite cream (jack and ben are covered in bites). However we again passed him along the way and thought that would be the last we saw oc him. We were wrong.
An hour or so later we see him fly past in the back of a truck, yet again getting a lift, if you're Reading this trevor good luck but stop cheating! Learnt a great new phrase off Trevor called 'trevorspeed'which means going slow and a phrase we will use a lot from now on.
We stopped one last time in a nice cafe In blumes where we met some nice old ladies and had a rest from the humid heat. The climate has changed a lot over our trip and we now seem to be in the hot humid bug infested part of America. Also everyone we have spoken to on the whole trip said that we would be going downhill by now and that it would be dead flat, well it isn't and you should all be ashamed of yourselves for lying!
We finally arrived in ogalalla where we found a campsite where jack and tom got an electric shock off the shower, brilliant. Met some lovely people there and even had a beer!
We arrived at our first stop, sidney fifty miles away, after just three hours so stopped for a good old fat filled American breakfast. Here we discussed the plans for the next few days and decided it would be a great idea to try and gain a day in my by doing 360 miles over the next few days, possibly a stupid idea but time will tell!
Our next stop was in lodgepole where we met Trevor who jumped off the back of a truck and was also on his own cycling tour from fort Collins to Michigan. All he had however was a mountain bike that was stuck in 2nd gear and what appeared to be the biggest backpack in the world! We key him cycle on but caught up with him in the next town where we had another burger at burgies, a weird little place with a bowling alley.
After this we again parted ways so we could go get some much needed fruit and bite cream (jack and ben are covered in bites). However we again passed him along the way and thought that would be the last we saw oc him. We were wrong.
An hour or so later we see him fly past in the back of a truck, yet again getting a lift, if you're Reading this trevor good luck but stop cheating! Learnt a great new phrase off Trevor called 'trevorspeed'which means going slow and a phrase we will use a lot from now on.
We stopped one last time in a nice cafe In blumes where we met some nice old ladies and had a rest from the humid heat. The climate has changed a lot over our trip and we now seem to be in the hot humid bug infested part of America. Also everyone we have spoken to on the whole trip said that we would be going downhill by now and that it would be dead flat, well it isn't and you should all be ashamed of yourselves for lying!
We finally arrived in ogalalla where we found a campsite where jack and tom got an electric shock off the shower, brilliant. Met some lovely people there and even had a beer!
Thursday - Things starting to go to plan.....we wish
Another sweaty night in the tent saw none of us getting much sleep although the full moon did look pretty special! The plan for the day was simple, climb up one last mountain and then bomb it downhill in Nebraska and chill out by a reservoir, if you haven't guessed already the day didn't go to plan.....
The climb wasn't so bad and after only an hour or so we made it up 1600ft up to the highest point of our trip and the highest point on the I-80 at 8700ft. Here we chilled out for a bit and took in somd history at a rest area about the Lincoln highway which was once upon a time the quickest way to get from San fran to new York, coincidently this is kinda the route we have been following so far and will continue to follow.
The big downhill we were all waiting for never happened and instead sauntered along the rolling roads all the way to Cheyenne, however we did pass through Buford, the smallest town in America with a population of one! Tom popped into a Murdochs to swap the underarmour pull over top he'd got on Evanston, this time ensuring when the woman came back with a large size it wasn't a womans. Then we went to Rock on Wheels, a bike shop recommended to us by the information center we'd stopped at earlier. We all stated what was wrong with our bikes and George the Greek and his trusty sidekick Austin got to work. Jack, Ben and Tom all had a brake and gear tune up which didn't take long until said Austin spotted cracks in Tom's rear wheel, the same as Jacks in Utah. George didn't have a spare wheel of that type so offered to build one using a rim he had spare. While this was going on we all heard a loud bang outside the store like a gun had gone off. Infact it was an inner tube blowing up. Bens lead in the puncture league was cut to just 7-6 as Jacks puncture drought was dramatically ended.
So we now had 2 hours to burn while Tom had a wheel crafted for him so we went to a cafe called 'the pie lady' which served normal food and sweet pies after in a room with walls covered in different home made skirts. Yeh. This was a good mile away so the time walking back to Rock on Wheels flew by. We paid for the bike work and hit the road, now on highway 30, the first time we'd been off Interstate 80 in almost 10 days. We got to Pine bluffs 40 miles away and ate at uncle bobs cafe. We came back out after burgers into heavy rain and cycled to Oliver Reservois State Recreation Park 13 miles away. We pitched our tent and found no running water, a tragic irony. Then we were kept awake by the union pacific freight train sounding it's horn all night and some redneck family arguing and singing kareoke to rhiana in their truck. An interesting, testing and wet day.
The climb wasn't so bad and after only an hour or so we made it up 1600ft up to the highest point of our trip and the highest point on the I-80 at 8700ft. Here we chilled out for a bit and took in somd history at a rest area about the Lincoln highway which was once upon a time the quickest way to get from San fran to new York, coincidently this is kinda the route we have been following so far and will continue to follow.
The big downhill we were all waiting for never happened and instead sauntered along the rolling roads all the way to Cheyenne, however we did pass through Buford, the smallest town in America with a population of one! Tom popped into a Murdochs to swap the underarmour pull over top he'd got on Evanston, this time ensuring when the woman came back with a large size it wasn't a womans. Then we went to Rock on Wheels, a bike shop recommended to us by the information center we'd stopped at earlier. We all stated what was wrong with our bikes and George the Greek and his trusty sidekick Austin got to work. Jack, Ben and Tom all had a brake and gear tune up which didn't take long until said Austin spotted cracks in Tom's rear wheel, the same as Jacks in Utah. George didn't have a spare wheel of that type so offered to build one using a rim he had spare. While this was going on we all heard a loud bang outside the store like a gun had gone off. Infact it was an inner tube blowing up. Bens lead in the puncture league was cut to just 7-6 as Jacks puncture drought was dramatically ended.
So we now had 2 hours to burn while Tom had a wheel crafted for him so we went to a cafe called 'the pie lady' which served normal food and sweet pies after in a room with walls covered in different home made skirts. Yeh. This was a good mile away so the time walking back to Rock on Wheels flew by. We paid for the bike work and hit the road, now on highway 30, the first time we'd been off Interstate 80 in almost 10 days. We got to Pine bluffs 40 miles away and ate at uncle bobs cafe. We came back out after burgers into heavy rain and cycled to Oliver Reservois State Recreation Park 13 miles away. We pitched our tent and found no running water, a tragic irony. Then we were kept awake by the union pacific freight train sounding it's horn all night and some redneck family arguing and singing kareoke to rhiana in their truck. An interesting, testing and wet day.
Wednesday - The long road to Laramie
After a great nights sleep and a good breakfast we prepared for what tom billed as the most desolate day of the trip. So basically what he meant was there was little or no chance of getting food between rawlins and Laramie, which was 100 miles away, great! Oh and we would also spend the majority of the day climbing, it didn't sound too good.
We set off up the hill towards elk mountain and were immediately met with 12 miles of road works, no fun this time though as the whole road had been ripped up which meant cycling along rumble strips for an hour or so. This also forced us in parts to cycle on the sandy embankment where ben was showing off sone skills by accidently sliding all over the place. Also saw sone other cyclists tracks in the sand.....possibly another idiot trying to get to new York? Who knows!
On the way to elk mountain we saw loads of grass and animals and it was a nice break for the previous desert filled days. Nothing much happened until we got to a rest area at around 7800ft where we filled up our water bottles, met an artist and ate. Our diet for the day consisted of cereal bars, cookies and sweets. We even had ti break out the tesco value emergency flapjacks which had aged quite well considering tom gad imported them into the states and then carried them until we absolutely needed them. All of thus also got us thinking about all the health advice you get these days about junk food and how our parents used to tell you that you can't live on biscuits alone. Well it turns out you can as long as you cycle 100 miles per day anyway!
After the rest area there was sadly somemore uphill miles before we began our descent to larimie. Along the way two 23 wheelers (we were all astounded) passed us carrying the fuselage of some airplane, they were huge! Also saw a house on the back of a truck which was going slower than us and caused a five mile tailback.
We saw a truck stop advertised ten miles from our destination so pulled over in hope of getting some food but sadly it was not yet open for business so we had to endure more emergency flapjacks.
Once arriving in Laramie we went to a wemdys for some much needed food and then found a koa campsite with a plethora of grass. So all in all an uneventful day but we have passed thr thousand mile point and should hit half way by the weekend. Also tomorrow sees us reaching 8700ft but then it's all downhill from there.
Finally a quick update of the injury list..
Jack - twinge in right knee, serious saddle sores, bad back
Ben - puncture-itis
Tom - saddle sores, bad back, bad head
We set off up the hill towards elk mountain and were immediately met with 12 miles of road works, no fun this time though as the whole road had been ripped up which meant cycling along rumble strips for an hour or so. This also forced us in parts to cycle on the sandy embankment where ben was showing off sone skills by accidently sliding all over the place. Also saw sone other cyclists tracks in the sand.....possibly another idiot trying to get to new York? Who knows!
On the way to elk mountain we saw loads of grass and animals and it was a nice break for the previous desert filled days. Nothing much happened until we got to a rest area at around 7800ft where we filled up our water bottles, met an artist and ate. Our diet for the day consisted of cereal bars, cookies and sweets. We even had ti break out the tesco value emergency flapjacks which had aged quite well considering tom gad imported them into the states and then carried them until we absolutely needed them. All of thus also got us thinking about all the health advice you get these days about junk food and how our parents used to tell you that you can't live on biscuits alone. Well it turns out you can as long as you cycle 100 miles per day anyway!
After the rest area there was sadly somemore uphill miles before we began our descent to larimie. Along the way two 23 wheelers (we were all astounded) passed us carrying the fuselage of some airplane, they were huge! Also saw a house on the back of a truck which was going slower than us and caused a five mile tailback.
We saw a truck stop advertised ten miles from our destination so pulled over in hope of getting some food but sadly it was not yet open for business so we had to endure more emergency flapjacks.
Once arriving in Laramie we went to a wemdys for some much needed food and then found a koa campsite with a plethora of grass. So all in all an uneventful day but we have passed thr thousand mile point and should hit half way by the weekend. Also tomorrow sees us reaching 8700ft but then it's all downhill from there.
Finally a quick update of the injury list..
Jack - twinge in right knee, serious saddle sores, bad back
Ben - puncture-itis
Tom - saddle sores, bad back, bad head
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Tuesday-Excuse us, we have a sprinkler to move
Waking up after an uncomfortable sleep at the back of the rest area, we were glad that the only animal noises we heard were those of Tom's snoring. After packing the tent and a quick snack we set off into the cold summers morning. Jack had managed to lose his gloves somehow and so had to endure freezing hands. Wamsutter was 30 miles away and we were aiming to have a quick ride so we could enjoy some hot food for breakfast. This plan was disrupted by having roadworks close our side of the interstate. Feeling it was too dangerous to share a lane with massive lorries we decided to cycle through the roadworks. Cue having to cycle over freshly laid tarmac, gravel and past angry workman in trucks signalling for us to move to the other side of the interstate. We persisted and arrived in the town of Wamsutter which appeared to consist of just a petrol station and restaurant.
The restaurant itself was a weird experience with old furniture and a telephone by every table. There was a tv that was showing Spanish morning tv in shades of red. Jack ordered a burrito for breakfast and forgot that chips in America means crisps and so was disappointed when he received crisps. Tom wanted eggs cooked the same way as Josh did them but unfortunately the Mexican watress didn't understand this and so he had to order them "over medium". The highway police came in for breakfast and we were a bit worried when they inspected our bikes fearing that the workman had reported us. We quickly left but not before Tom picked up a map of Nebraska which he thought was free but mysteriously had a price on it.
Luckily the roadworks finished soon after and we were on our way to Rawlins. The cycle was pretty boring with the same kind of scenery that we encountered in Nevada although there were a few ups and downs to keep us interested. 5 miles outside of Rawlins, Matt discovered he had a slow puncture and so quickly pumped it up and raced on. Unfortunately this only lasted until we entered Rawlins when the tyre was completely flat. We decided to change it then rather than walk into town and so Matt drew level with Jack in the puncture league with 5 (as two of his supposed punctures were in fact exploding inner tubes). In terms of the puncture league Tom still isn't interested in joining in while we have a late entry by Jeremy who suffered a puncture after giving us all his spare inner tubes yesterday.
We ate at McDonalds and decided to stay in Rawlins for the night even though it was only half 1 as we didn't want to risk being stranded in the middle of nowhere again and we have a tough couple of days coming up. As we had enjoyed our experience at the KOA the other night we thought we would stay at one again and cycled to the outskirts of town. Unfortunately the campgrounds had no grass and consisted of a patch of gravel. Tom went to get our money back and was informed that it was hard to grow grass at 7000ft in the desert. This was surprising seeing as the main reception and rv areas were surrounded by lush green grass. Tom was then asked to move so that they could move a sprinkler that was watering their grass.
Spotting a hotel on the other side of the road we decided to go there to have a comfy night. It turned out to be the most expensive one so far even with a discount for us cycling for charity. We did however get free cookies. Having dinner at another service station was depressing as we become bored of eating rubbish food at inflated prices. Tom enjoyed his soup though as it smelt of his nanas house. The salad bar was uninspiring and jacks chicken was brown inside. We laughed at the time but are beginning to realise that the only reason we are laughing at everything is that we would cry if we didn't. Jack commented that he feels like he been driving along the interstate for days, only slower. Having a quick look for souvenirs we found a small figurine of a rabbit with antlers which sums up the surrealness of our experiences in Wyoming.
The restaurant itself was a weird experience with old furniture and a telephone by every table. There was a tv that was showing Spanish morning tv in shades of red. Jack ordered a burrito for breakfast and forgot that chips in America means crisps and so was disappointed when he received crisps. Tom wanted eggs cooked the same way as Josh did them but unfortunately the Mexican watress didn't understand this and so he had to order them "over medium". The highway police came in for breakfast and we were a bit worried when they inspected our bikes fearing that the workman had reported us. We quickly left but not before Tom picked up a map of Nebraska which he thought was free but mysteriously had a price on it.
Luckily the roadworks finished soon after and we were on our way to Rawlins. The cycle was pretty boring with the same kind of scenery that we encountered in Nevada although there were a few ups and downs to keep us interested. 5 miles outside of Rawlins, Matt discovered he had a slow puncture and so quickly pumped it up and raced on. Unfortunately this only lasted until we entered Rawlins when the tyre was completely flat. We decided to change it then rather than walk into town and so Matt drew level with Jack in the puncture league with 5 (as two of his supposed punctures were in fact exploding inner tubes). In terms of the puncture league Tom still isn't interested in joining in while we have a late entry by Jeremy who suffered a puncture after giving us all his spare inner tubes yesterday.
We ate at McDonalds and decided to stay in Rawlins for the night even though it was only half 1 as we didn't want to risk being stranded in the middle of nowhere again and we have a tough couple of days coming up. As we had enjoyed our experience at the KOA the other night we thought we would stay at one again and cycled to the outskirts of town. Unfortunately the campgrounds had no grass and consisted of a patch of gravel. Tom went to get our money back and was informed that it was hard to grow grass at 7000ft in the desert. This was surprising seeing as the main reception and rv areas were surrounded by lush green grass. Tom was then asked to move so that they could move a sprinkler that was watering their grass.
Spotting a hotel on the other side of the road we decided to go there to have a comfy night. It turned out to be the most expensive one so far even with a discount for us cycling for charity. We did however get free cookies. Having dinner at another service station was depressing as we become bored of eating rubbish food at inflated prices. Tom enjoyed his soup though as it smelt of his nanas house. The salad bar was uninspiring and jacks chicken was brown inside. We laughed at the time but are beginning to realise that the only reason we are laughing at everything is that we would cry if we didn't. Jack commented that he feels like he been driving along the interstate for days, only slower. Having a quick look for souvenirs we found a small figurine of a rabbit with antlers which sums up the surrealness of our experiences in Wyoming.
Assorted photos from the last few days
In a motel at the moment after a short 70 mile day (details of why to follow...watch out people as Ben will be writing his first blog entry later this evening) and it has a computer so thought I'd stick up a couple of photos. Please feel free to offer any funny comments or captions on any of the photos regardless of how offensive they are.
Ben's 'blown up' tyre, he is still adamant this doesn't count as a puncture
Ben's 'blown up' tyre, he is still adamant this doesn't count as a puncture
Prevailing winds blow three boys into the artic circle
Another cold and early morning was brightened up by the news that ben had managed to somehow get a puncture over night, this saw him storm into a clear lead into the puncture. After fixing it in the dark we headed off to our first destination, green river.
Along the way we were bombarded with advertisements for a hotel called little America, literally a bill board every half a mile or more. We arrived at little America and were due a rest break but didn't venture inside as we were too busy getting a photo with mile marker 69, whey. At this point the people leaving little America along the eastbound exit ramp were treated to a Stirling view of little ben as big ben relieved himself atop a bridge, fun.
Shortly after this jack decided to spice things up by declaring he had a slow puncture, our first hard shoulder puncture fix, getting good at this now. This makes it six for ben, five for jack and still zero for tom. After fixing it we carried on toward green river. On the way in we passed through a huge canyon which was brilliant to look at, up there with the lake tahoe view!
Here we stopped in a random fast food restaurant called the artic circle. It was a pretty comical place where the bloke serving us repeated our order into a microphone which was funny, he also had a cracking moustache! We have also decided to from now on give random funny names to the people in fast food restaurants so we can laugh when they inevitably call them out over the tanoy thing. Ben has also decided to pick up application forms from each place we eat in in the hope of attaining a grad job somewhere and putting his hospitality management degree to it's full potential.
After a few more miles through some canyons and stuff we arrived in rock springs. Here we had a bit of a palava trying to buy stamps, even the guys ups found it a hard task to sell us stamps! We then went through a drive thru ATM which throws the cash at you, tried again to phone home (it's impossible) and then went and lost our international house of pancakes virginity. Had a bit of kerfuffle here with the sheer amount of choice and options on the menu. For instance you have to pick a type of potato, then a type of gravy, possibly a type of sauce, etc etc etc, too much choice. However while tom and jack are muddling thru the menu choices ben is handling it like a seasoned pro, even ordering over easy eggs, still none the wiser what that means!
After a quick trip to walmart (officially full of idiots) for supplies and jack trying again to phone home (sorry katy) we headed off for the final thirty or so miles to a rest stop on top of a hill. On the way we popped into a proper local bar for some food and were treated to some frozen oven cooked pizza which cost us twenty dollars. After a minor hitch where a bungee cord got caught in jacks gears we climbed the final few hills.
Now we were warmed of a possibility of rattle snakes and scorpions but had no real choice as there was nowhere else for miles. After trying to hitch a lift down the road we gave up and ignored the no camping signs at the rest area as it was either stay here or ride in the dark again! Hope we make it thru the night!
P.s. Just realised who the guy from the artic circle reminds me of......ned Flanders
Along the way we were bombarded with advertisements for a hotel called little America, literally a bill board every half a mile or more. We arrived at little America and were due a rest break but didn't venture inside as we were too busy getting a photo with mile marker 69, whey. At this point the people leaving little America along the eastbound exit ramp were treated to a Stirling view of little ben as big ben relieved himself atop a bridge, fun.
Shortly after this jack decided to spice things up by declaring he had a slow puncture, our first hard shoulder puncture fix, getting good at this now. This makes it six for ben, five for jack and still zero for tom. After fixing it we carried on toward green river. On the way in we passed through a huge canyon which was brilliant to look at, up there with the lake tahoe view!
Here we stopped in a random fast food restaurant called the artic circle. It was a pretty comical place where the bloke serving us repeated our order into a microphone which was funny, he also had a cracking moustache! We have also decided to from now on give random funny names to the people in fast food restaurants so we can laugh when they inevitably call them out over the tanoy thing. Ben has also decided to pick up application forms from each place we eat in in the hope of attaining a grad job somewhere and putting his hospitality management degree to it's full potential.
After a few more miles through some canyons and stuff we arrived in rock springs. Here we had a bit of a palava trying to buy stamps, even the guys ups found it a hard task to sell us stamps! We then went through a drive thru ATM which throws the cash at you, tried again to phone home (it's impossible) and then went and lost our international house of pancakes virginity. Had a bit of kerfuffle here with the sheer amount of choice and options on the menu. For instance you have to pick a type of potato, then a type of gravy, possibly a type of sauce, etc etc etc, too much choice. However while tom and jack are muddling thru the menu choices ben is handling it like a seasoned pro, even ordering over easy eggs, still none the wiser what that means!
After a quick trip to walmart (officially full of idiots) for supplies and jack trying again to phone home (sorry katy) we headed off for the final thirty or so miles to a rest stop on top of a hill. On the way we popped into a proper local bar for some food and were treated to some frozen oven cooked pizza which cost us twenty dollars. After a minor hitch where a bungee cord got caught in jacks gears we climbed the final few hills.
Now we were warmed of a possibility of rattle snakes and scorpions but had no real choice as there was nowhere else for miles. After trying to hitch a lift down the road we gave up and ignored the no camping signs at the rest area as it was either stay here or ride in the dark again! Hope we make it thru the night!
P.s. Just realised who the guy from the artic circle reminds me of......ned Flanders
Monday, 3 August 2009
Sunday - No Moaning in Wyoming
Evening all,
We got up this morning after a great nights sleep and still full from the previous nights feast (cheers again guys), this of course didn't stop us tucking into a nice breakfast set aside by Lora (cheers). After this we got on the road around 6am only to find that it was cold, very cold outside. Over the past few days we have got accustomed to applying sun block at 7am and being hot within minutes of leaving the tent but apparently this isn't the case when you're 6000ft up in Utah!
We yet again joined the I-80 to leave Park City and eventually Utah behind. The road took us through some more brilliant scenery through some red rock canyons and small farming towns towards the east of Utah. There were no notable events for the morning apart from Ben being told off by a local for 'urinating' around the back of a gas station when their was a perfectly good rest room in side, a scary moment for him but a funny moment for the rest of us.
As we started our first ascent of the day Jeremy and his brother in law Jed drove past, parked up and got on their bikes with us for the remaining 25 or so miles left of Utah into Evanston, Wyoming. It was great to have them with us as it gave us someone different to talk to (bored of each other, on rides now have an hour of silent cycling and then a break for five minutes when we moan about cycling) and also made those last few miles go a hell of a lot quicker. We were also helped by the fact that Jeremy, who did 175 miles the day before, was pushing our bikes from behind when any of us got tired or started to lag behind. One word, machine! We then crossed into Wyoming (our 4th state) and managed to get a photo with our first state line sign!!
Before we go on with todays blog I feel I have to clarify the rules of the 'Truck wheel count-a-rama' game. When we say we spotted a 22-wheeler we do not mean 22 wheels in total, the rules of the game simply state that you count the sets of wheels not the individual wheels themselves. So for instance what an average american calls an 18 wheeler the game would dictate that that was a 10 wheeler (5 sets on each side). Clear? I hope so.
Other great topics of conversation of the day have revolved around time zones. Like for instance how great would it be if as a school kid you lived in one time zone then travelled into another for school, possibly giving you an extra hour in bed! Exciting stuff.
Anyway the blog. After arriving in Evanston around 11am we all pulled into a gas station to grab some water and say our goodbyes. Here we happened to meet some random bloke with a silver van who knew about Tom Jones (famous welsh singer) but was generally a bit of a nutter and weird. After that encounter we said goodbye to Jeremy and Jed for the last time. Again a big thanks must go out to Jeremy for orchestrating our smooth and comfortable passage through Utah, cheers buddy!!
We popped into a subway (again) for some food and didn't end up getting back on the road until 2pm. There were multiple reasons for this, firstly Tom, as always, spent ages faffing around looking for a fleece as it was starting to get cold. Secondly the lady in the Wyoming information centre was useless and only told us about wild horses (?) and not where we could/nt camp/. Thirdly we couldn't be bothered.
Once back on the road we had three big peaks to get over, the Three Sisters. Tom and Ben mounted the first sister and Jack, again, brought up the rear. The second sister was a little easier than the first and all the boys quite easily got their legs over her. The third sister however proved a little more difficult and stubborn but in the end we all managed to get over her as well.
After some great scenery including wind farms and massive mountains (Wyoming is nice, it has grass!!) we rolled downhill pretty quickly to avoid an ominous rain cloud into the small town of Fort Bridger for some food. Here again we had a chat with a lovely couple and sprightly waitress about our trip and what was coming up before heading on. We also ate some apparently 'English Chips' which were nothing of the sort. This town also managed to fascinate Ben due to the drive-thru liquor store, the epitimy of laziness!!
A short ride later and we were at our destination for the evening, Lyman, where we stayed at a KOA. Here we met a lovely couple for provided us with some good chat, marshmallows and pizza (cheers)!! In return we spread the word of Loras cookies further and yet again they were met with roaring reviews!
And now its time for bed before our cold journey in the morning up some more mountains......only four or so days of mountains left before the downhill and flat begins! Exciting.
We got up this morning after a great nights sleep and still full from the previous nights feast (cheers again guys), this of course didn't stop us tucking into a nice breakfast set aside by Lora (cheers). After this we got on the road around 6am only to find that it was cold, very cold outside. Over the past few days we have got accustomed to applying sun block at 7am and being hot within minutes of leaving the tent but apparently this isn't the case when you're 6000ft up in Utah!
We yet again joined the I-80 to leave Park City and eventually Utah behind. The road took us through some more brilliant scenery through some red rock canyons and small farming towns towards the east of Utah. There were no notable events for the morning apart from Ben being told off by a local for 'urinating' around the back of a gas station when their was a perfectly good rest room in side, a scary moment for him but a funny moment for the rest of us.
As we started our first ascent of the day Jeremy and his brother in law Jed drove past, parked up and got on their bikes with us for the remaining 25 or so miles left of Utah into Evanston, Wyoming. It was great to have them with us as it gave us someone different to talk to (bored of each other, on rides now have an hour of silent cycling and then a break for five minutes when we moan about cycling) and also made those last few miles go a hell of a lot quicker. We were also helped by the fact that Jeremy, who did 175 miles the day before, was pushing our bikes from behind when any of us got tired or started to lag behind. One word, machine! We then crossed into Wyoming (our 4th state) and managed to get a photo with our first state line sign!!
Before we go on with todays blog I feel I have to clarify the rules of the 'Truck wheel count-a-rama' game. When we say we spotted a 22-wheeler we do not mean 22 wheels in total, the rules of the game simply state that you count the sets of wheels not the individual wheels themselves. So for instance what an average american calls an 18 wheeler the game would dictate that that was a 10 wheeler (5 sets on each side). Clear? I hope so.
Other great topics of conversation of the day have revolved around time zones. Like for instance how great would it be if as a school kid you lived in one time zone then travelled into another for school, possibly giving you an extra hour in bed! Exciting stuff.
Anyway the blog. After arriving in Evanston around 11am we all pulled into a gas station to grab some water and say our goodbyes. Here we happened to meet some random bloke with a silver van who knew about Tom Jones (famous welsh singer) but was generally a bit of a nutter and weird. After that encounter we said goodbye to Jeremy and Jed for the last time. Again a big thanks must go out to Jeremy for orchestrating our smooth and comfortable passage through Utah, cheers buddy!!
We popped into a subway (again) for some food and didn't end up getting back on the road until 2pm. There were multiple reasons for this, firstly Tom, as always, spent ages faffing around looking for a fleece as it was starting to get cold. Secondly the lady in the Wyoming information centre was useless and only told us about wild horses (?) and not where we could/nt camp/. Thirdly we couldn't be bothered.
Once back on the road we had three big peaks to get over, the Three Sisters. Tom and Ben mounted the first sister and Jack, again, brought up the rear. The second sister was a little easier than the first and all the boys quite easily got their legs over her. The third sister however proved a little more difficult and stubborn but in the end we all managed to get over her as well.
After some great scenery including wind farms and massive mountains (Wyoming is nice, it has grass!!) we rolled downhill pretty quickly to avoid an ominous rain cloud into the small town of Fort Bridger for some food. Here again we had a chat with a lovely couple and sprightly waitress about our trip and what was coming up before heading on. We also ate some apparently 'English Chips' which were nothing of the sort. This town also managed to fascinate Ben due to the drive-thru liquor store, the epitimy of laziness!!
A short ride later and we were at our destination for the evening, Lyman, where we stayed at a KOA. Here we met a lovely couple for provided us with some good chat, marshmallows and pizza (cheers)!! In return we spread the word of Loras cookies further and yet again they were met with roaring reviews!
And now its time for bed before our cold journey in the morning up some more mountains......only four or so days of mountains left before the downhill and flat begins! Exciting.
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