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Oprah Interview

10/22/2007

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Listen to the interview with Peter Walsh on "Oprah and Friends"

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KANSAS Clips

8/7/2007

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Oscar Clip

8/7/2007

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This is the dog we chased around.

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Day 34 August 2nd: TUBING!

8/3/2007

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Day 34 - August 2nd

Tubing!

One thing that kept us motivated to haul it to Pueblo was knowing that we were going to be seeing Lee’s sister in law, Niki, having a rest day, and go tubing down the Arkansas River. All three of our motivations turned out to be worth the 113 mile day. Niki drove down from Colorado Springs to spend the day with us and had a really great day.

Niki has the river tubing down to a science now and we met her, set up our take out point, inflated the tubes, iced the drinks, and were in the water in no time. We floated down the river for a few hours and had a very relaxing afternoon. The river was flowing fairly swiftly and it was nice to be moving without having to move our legs and using any energy, a welcome switch.

Of course we could not have a rest day without stopping at a bike shop, so we went and picked up a new tire for Lee’s bike since he had worn a hole in it already, well after 1800 miles.

The rest of the day was spent seeing The Simpson's Movie and eating steaks at the Texas Roadhouse…need that protein for the Rockies. As we rolled into Pueblo, we were able to see the silhouette of the Rockies and they are impressive. I guess John Denver wasn’t lying. It is a bit intimidating since they are all around you, tower above the plains, and there really isn’t a way around them. Even if there was, we couldn’t do that, we are going straight through them.  

34 days of biking has hopefully made our legs think that these are simply molehills. We will find out starting tomorrow, Doh!


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MONARCH PASS...

8/3/2007

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Tomorrow, Saturday August 4th we will be going over Monarch Pass elevation 11,312 Ft. and this will be the highest point of our entire trip.  

There is a "Weather, Live Traffic Cam" at the top, see it here or click the photo above, the camera takes a shot about every 10 minutes. 

We plan on being there tomorrow around 1:00PM Mountain Time (3:00PM Eastern Standard Time).  If someone out there in cyberspace has the time and could take a screen shot, save it as a Jpeg on their computer and email it to [email protected] we would really appreciate it.

TO MAKE A SCREEN CAPTURE WITH A PC (Instructions from another website):

Press PrtScn (in the upper right had of your keyboard) When you press the PrtScn button an image of your screen is placed on your clipboard. Now, rather than printing it, you can do something with it.

Like email it to a friend.

First we need to make a file out of it. After you've pressed PrtScn, fire up your favorite image editor or use the Paint program that comes with Windows by pressing Start, All Programs, Accessories and then Paint. Now in Paint (or your equivalent), hit Edit, Paste and you should now have a image of your screen within the image editing program.

Now save this image to a file. Typically that means File, Save As.... Give it a filename you'll remember (MonarchPass.jpeg). I'd also suggest selecting either a JPEG or PNG file format instead of the default bitmap; they're smaller in file size.

TO TAKE A SCREEN CAPTURE WITH A MAC HIT: Shift, The Apple Command Key and the number 3 all at the same time and it will take a shot. 




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We're not in Kansas anymore...

8/1/2007

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Day 32 July 31st

Leoti, KS to Eads, CO

After a restful night’s sleep in the “Hi-Plains Inn” which had the coolest TV.  Thank God we had a tail wind again, we entered mountain time zone about 20 miles from the Colorado border which made it seem like we started our day really early.  It was nice to have an extra hour of sleep the day before we were planning a 110 mile day to Pueblo, CO.  

The Colorado border sign was ridiculously more impressive than the Kansas sign.  I have to say I was glad to be out of Kansas, there were numerous times I started to go kind of batty from the monotony, not to mention Kansas is huge!  We met Paul and Mike at the border, they were headed East just for a week long ride, finishing up in Newton, Kansas.  Mike and Paul had just met each other two days earlier at an Adventure Cycling meeting.  

Immediately the surroundings became more beautiful in Colorado.  The roads were flat just like Kansas but it just felt different.  I’ve been looking forward to Colorado since we left Lexington, Kentucky, can’t wait for all the sights.  We had a section of road between Tribune, KS and Eads, CO that we heard was 60 miles without any water or services, but there turned out to be an auto parts store in Sheridan Lake, CO that let us fill up on water and eat inside.  We met Kirby whose father owns the shop.  Kirby is fifteen years old and is working on fixing up his father’s 1957 Dodge truck for his sixteenth birthday on March 2nd.  He’s almost done rebuilding the engine and then he will move on to painting (he doesn’t know the color he wants yet.)  Keep up the work Kirby, seven months is plenty of time.  


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Kansas = Flat

8/1/2007

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Day 31 – July 30th

There is not too much to report here, but one thing that is really, really, surprising; Kansas is still flat. Since we are really lucking out with the weather and the wind(2nd straight day of a tailwind, hooray) we decided to put in another big day. We might as well take advantage of it while we can and blaze a quick trail out of Kansas.

We left the Derrick Inn Motel which from the outside reminded us of a correctional facility, but was pretty unique on the inside. All the rooms were surrounding the pool, hot tub, and mini working oil rig, that think helped to finance the building.

Ever since Farmington, MO I had been riding without sunglasses since I had managed to lose them at a gas station. My eyes couldn’t take anymore sun so today I splurged at the Dollar Store and found some real winners which may have been made for someone that hasn’t reached the double digit age demographic, but they do the job and think they will either make people laugh or think I am a complete idiot, oh well.

-Brent


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Cliff Jump Video

7/26/2007

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It was fun

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Fair Grove, MO

7/26/2007

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July 23rd Day 24

We left Houston, MO at 10AM, a little later than expected.  Not 10 miles out of Houston we ran into the Biers-Ariel family from David California.  The family of four is biking across the country with a petition to take to Washington, DC with some proposals for the government regarding Global Warming.  Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to speak very long with them as they had not eaten yet that morning and as they said "we usually yack more, but we're hungry and all yacked out after talking with Mike.  (the English guy from Boston that has been riding before and after us for over a week now)  Mikes usually gets out before we do but we always catch him before lunch.  

Maybe 20 miles later we ran into Jeff who was biking from Oregon to Virginia.  Jeff had biked the first 3,000 miles of his journey with his sister but she has just recently left because of obligations somewhere else.  Jeff is a graduate of the University of Maryland and is doing a tree study during his trek.  He basically takes a sampling of trees every so often and as he said "does a lot of technical nerdy science stuff on them."  It was good running in to him as he said he was going to stay at the Horse Creek Inn at Houston and 10 miles back I found I still had the key from our room in my pocket.  Jeff said he would take it back to Pony and Eya.  Check out his site here.  

We had a great lunch in Walnut Grove, MO at "Mom's Family Cafe".  We were the only people there and I had a huge stack of pancakes, Brent, Chicken fingers and fries and both of us had a piece of cherry pie.  "Mom" was definitely in the back cooking and Mike also joined us for a bit at lunch.

Big day of running into people biking the other way.  We ran into Daniel and Nisse, a father and son from Sweden doing the trek from West to East.  They were really nice guys and seemed to be having a great time on their trek.  They warned us that the hills further west in Missouri were pretty rough.  

We huffed it on the last 15 miles to Fair Grove and along the way we ran into "Wiry Mike."  Mike just graduated from college and was on a severe deadline to finish his trip to start his new job as a trauma nurse in Harrisburg, Virginia.  Because of his deadline Mike was averaging between 130-160 miles a day.  WHICH IS INSANE.  He confirmed that the hills got rough further west, and when a guy that's averaging that much mileage in a day said that our ears really perked up.  

We arrived in Fair Grove, MO where we were scheduled to stay at the Historical Society, which we'd heard was a great place to camp.  It was a historical society with 18th century buildings and the society lets cyclists camp there and they unlock the bathrooms (which had a shower) for use.  We had a great dinner at Hill Top Pizza, literally the one restaurant in town.  Cheesecake on a stick finished the meal and then we called it a night.  We had a race to see who could set up their tent fastest at the sun was going down and believe it or not we tied.  Overall, it was an excellent day of riding and the weather was beautiful and cool.   


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Houston Missouri, not Texas

7/26/2007

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July 22nd Day 23

Ellington, MO to Houston, MO

Well after a seriously lacking night of sleep for me, Brent could sleep through World War III, I was not really looking forward to what is supposed to be the most difficult section of riding in Missouri through the Ozarks.  We had read people's accounts of the ride between "Ellington and Houston" and they struck fear into our hearts.  Turns out it was all a big facade.  There were definitely some hills and some challenging climbs but nothing like what we faced in North Carolina and Tennessee.  We lucked out big time on the weather while riding through Missouri, we had temps only reaching 88 or so with about 50-60% humidity.  Apparently the humidity and heat in the Ozarks is vicious and the most difficult thing about the ride.  Riding through the mountains was great, the scenery was great, the breeze felt good and it was nice to see some charming mountain towns, like Eminence, especially after our bleak impression of Ellington.  

We stopped for lunch in Eminence at Whitleys which had an old soda fountain feel to it.  Also, something that is really big in the Ozarks is people drinking and tubing down rivers.  We saw countless people going into convenience stores to stock up on beer for their trips down the rivers.

We found a great spot in the Jacks Fork River to take a swim, the water felt great but after such a relaxing break like that it's tough to get on the bike and finish out 35 miles.  There was a fire tower at the top of the Ozarks, so of course we had to climb it.  The view was great, you can see it in the video.  We ran into Tim a little bit down the road, he was biking West to East alone.  Tim lives in Monterey California and has his own accounting business, he has flown back twice on his journey for business, he was a really nice guy and tough too, he was biking in wool hiking socks and sandals!

We hauled it in to Houston to the Houston Motel, which had been changed to the Horse Creek Inn.  We had heard all sorts of great things about this Inn from several different people coming the opposite direction, so we were excited to get there.  We had heard about the "Swimming Hole" we went there with the owner of the motel.  He was a really cool guy, he is full blood native american from Bryson City, North Carolina and is one of the biggest horse whisperers in the world.  It was pretty amazing to hear him talk about some of his experiences.  The truck he drove was an old diesel Ford that had been converted to run on Vegetable Oil.  He said the modifications only cost $3,000 dollars and that he goes to a couple of the local fast food type establishments and collects their used vegetable oil for his fuel.  He told us that diesel trucks were originally developed to run on Peanut Oil for farmers.  These type modifications aren't possible on newer model diesel trucks because apparently the auto/oil industry caught on.  He said that their is a diesel take in the truck that is only used to briefly heat the engine to a certain temperature and then the vegetable oil takes over as the source of fuel.  

The owner of the motel then took us to the swimming hole about 3 miles away and it had the best cliff jump imaginable.  The highest one we jumped off was probably 40 feet.  It was a great thing to end the day with, somehow, some way I have to get something like that in or near my backyard.  See the video here.  

That night the cool owners of the motel made a pasta dinner for us, Art and Ben, a father and son riding east from San Francisco.  The pasta hit the spot as did the $35 dollar room.  We had a great stay at the Horse Creek Inn and want to thank the owners for making the trip through Houston so enjoyable. 


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    eLIFELIST.com BIKING ACROSS THE COUNTRY: DONE

    Sept 5th 2007

    Days 68
    (including an 11day stint off)

    $ Raised for LAF:
    $11,500

    Final Miles: 3820.61

    Final Hours: 275.25

    Equals: 11.42 Days Straight Biking

    Average MPH: 13.88

    Daily Calories In: ~6000-7000
     
    Daily Calories Burned:
    Alot

    Total Calories In:
    408,000-467,000 each

    Friendly People Met:
    Countless

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    "Bicycle Across the Country raising funds for Livestrong"

    We will be updating this Blog the entire time we are biking Across the US.  Check in regularly to see where we are.  Click About above to learn more about why we are doing this trip and how you can donate money towards Cancer Research.  Cheers!

    VIDEOS

    Final Video!
    8/10/07 Moab Biking
    COLORADO
    Telluride
    Crazy Grasshoppers
    KANSAS
    7/28/07 OSCAR!
    7/22/07 Day 23 Cliff
    7/19/07 Day Off!
    7/18/07 Day 18
    7/15/07 Day 16
    7/11-7/14 Lexington,KY
    7/9/07 Day 10
    7/8/07 Day 9
    7/7/07 Day 8
    7/6/07 Topo Map
    7/5/07 Day 6
    7/4/07 Day 5
    7/2/07 Durham Bulls
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    6/28/07
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    E-Town Play Rehearsal

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    9/5/07 Day 68 SF!
    9/3/07 Day 66
    9/2/07 Day 65
    9/1/07 Day 64
    8/30- 8/31 Day 62/63
    8/28- 8/29 Day 60/61
    8/26- 8/27 Day 58/59
    8/25/07 Day 57
    8/24/07 Day 56
    8/23/07 Day 55
    8/22/07 Day 54
    8/21/07 Day 53
    8/19/07 Muddy Buddy!
    8/14/07 Day 46
    8/13/07 Day 45
    8/12/07 Day 44
    8/11/07 Day 43
    8/10/07 Day 42
    8/8/07   Day 40
    8/7/07   Day 39
    8/6/07   Day 38
    8/5/07   Day 37
    8/4/07   Day 36
    8/3/07   Day 35
    8/2/07   Day 34
    8/1/07   Day 33
    7/31/07 Day 32
    7/30/07 Day 31
    7/29/07 Day 30
    7/28/07 Day 29
    7/27/07 Day 28
    7/26/07 Day 27
    7/25/07 Day 26
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    7/23/07 Day 24
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    7/21/07 Day 22
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    7/18/07 Day 19
    7/17/07 Day 18
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    7/15/07 Day 16
    7/14/07 Day 15
    7/13/07 Day 14
    7/12/07 Day 13
    7/11/07 Day 12
    7/10/07 Day 11
    7/9/07 Day 10
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    7/7/07 Day 8
    7/6/07 Day 7
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    7/3/07 Day 4
    7/2/07 Day 3
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    6/30/07 Day 1
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    6/28/07
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