tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89928650652910920522024-02-21T06:48:11.494-08:00TomsLifeRide2012From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-30066940208956066642012-07-13T07:09:00.000-07:002012-07-13T09:26:57.759-07:00So long LIfe Ride 2012Here it is, most likely the concluding post of Life Ride 2012.<br />
<br />
I flew home on Sunday, July 2nd and started the re-acclimation at work on Monday. <br />
Michele
arrived Friday July 6th after staying on the east coast a few days to visit
cousin Carol. My bike arrived yesterday and today I took it out for a quick 30 mile test run. It felt strange on a ride that short; I guess its all a matter of perspective. Anyway, it was really fun to get back in the the saddle again. <br />
<br />
After initially
struggling last year with the decision to undertake this journey, and
all the preparation, its hard to believe that it is coming to a close.
Right from the beginning we aptly named this 'Life Ride 2012' for the
relationship with our Pro-Life values and supporting Birth Choice Health
Clinics.
<br />
Michele
and I would like to deeply thank everyone who supported LifeRide with your
interest in our journey, kind words, prayers and support of Birth Choice. In addition, your generous donations raised
over $7500 and more are still coming in.
We especially would like to thank our two daughters and son-in-law,
Jennifer, Lisa and Tim for all their help in support of Life Ride from initial
planning, logo design, customized sweatshirts, cheering, phone calls, mail handling
and house sitting visits. We thank our neighbors as well for helping out on the home front . We also appreciate the time and efforts of Laura Jones who contacted many reporters along our route
getting Life Ride covered in several newspapers along the way. Together with everyone, we truly hope to have made a difference, however small, in the quest to save the innocent unborn.<br />
<br />
This ride was really about life, that greatest gift; how we use
it & how we waste it, who we are, and what we are capable of doing. A
journey such as this is really eye opening. We'll try to share our
observations here.<br />
<u><b><br /></b></u><br />
<u><b><br /></b></u><br />
First a bit of the dry facts:<br />
<br />
Total Miles: 3430<br />
Total Number of States: 15<br />
Total Vertical Feet Climbed: 109, 256<br />
Total Time Riding: 224 hours, 10 min <br />
Average Speed: 15.3 mph (includes all city traffic, side trips etc)<br />
Number of flats: 3<br />
Total Number of Pedal Revolutions: ~ 1.2 Million<br />
<br />
<u><b>Favorite States</b>:</u> AZ, NM, KS, MO, NY<br />
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<b><u>Favorite Rides:</u></b><br />
Prescott to Cottonwood AZ, (The climbs were tough but the cool breezes swirling up to Mingus Mt were delightful.)<br />
Cottonwood to Flagstaff AZ, (The red rocks of Sedona and the smell of pine trees in the canyons.)<br />
Erie PA to Hamburg NY; (Beautiful road, lake on the left, vineyards on the right.)<br />
<br />
<b><u>Hardest Rides:</u></b><br />
Las Vegas NM to Tucumcari NM (109 miles, hot dry and windy)<br />
St. Joseph to Chillicothe MO (endless rolling hills)<br />
<br />
<b><u>Nutrition:</u></b><br />
Estimated calories burned per day ~ 4000<br />
1 Huge breakfast per day: pancakes, waffles, OJ, yogurt, bacon, eggs, pastries etc<br />
1 Huge dinner per day: pasta, potatoes, steak, chicken, dessert etc<br />
1 normal lunch per day: chocolate milk, V8 juice, sandwich, chips<br />
<br />
On the road fluids:<br />
~ 25 Gal of Gatorade consumed<br />
~ 45 Gal of water consumed<br />
~ 25 Gal of water poured on rider for cooling<br />
On the road food:<br />
Enough gels, PBJ sandwiches, Cliff bars, Luna bars, cookies, bananas, oranges, ice cream, trail mix,<br />
veggie wraps, watermelon, doughnut holes and yogurt bars to choke a large horse. <br />
<u><b><br /></b></u><br />
<u><b>Weather:</b></u><br />
Highest
temperature was 111 in Indio (my Garmin was reading road temp of
120.9), coldest 45, only two partial days of rain and lots of wind both
headwinds and tailwinds.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
Now to the more subjective comments and observations:<u><b><br /></b></u><br />
<u><b><br /></b></u><br />
<u><b>The Riders:</b></u><br />
We
had 21 coast to coast riders; 16 men and 5 women. There were 3 married
couples, one of which rode the tour on a tandem bicycle. As you might
expect this group was filled with rather focused individuals that had
many stories of incredible challenges and accomplishments such as
climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, cross-Atlantic sailing trips, running
marathons, skydiving, cycling in China, Africa & Europe. Many were
retired from <u>very </u>successful business careers.<br />
The interesting
thing about the group is that it was the oldest average age of any tour
Crossroads had run to date with an average of 62. The youngest was 48
and we had two riders of 70 and 71. One guy only 18 months ago fell from
a tree and broke his back in three places yet he was there riding
strong.<br />
<br />
A tour like this is a significant challenge
both physically and mentally but I found it interesting that the mental
side of it, your attitude of life if you will, is probably the most
dominant factor in a successful outcome. Age is not really the driver,
nor is pure physical condition. Years ago, a retired engineer friend who
was involved with mentoring young adults to become future engineers and
scientist, once told me of his retirement: 'I'm going to burn out, not
rot out'. I now understand his message that relates to life in any
phase: No goal is out of reach.<br />
<br />
Near Chillicothe, MO we rode past the following monument. I think it really captures what I am trying to say about the mental side of our tour.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmzLfcik2ya5WbloeiChQHQ3j2eKyhyFZas1xHDZkvpQAe1GVhUG_z5glo7J445s3IN1aejQgdjQJsV8o6qUYgWrAabufWgOBDiwejjgfNcIlciuIKvkIXyos5tiUbazURoIwyXB-MUxc/s1600/Dreams_IMG_5539_Cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmzLfcik2ya5WbloeiChQHQ3j2eKyhyFZas1xHDZkvpQAe1GVhUG_z5glo7J445s3IN1aejQgdjQJsV8o6qUYgWrAabufWgOBDiwejjgfNcIlciuIKvkIXyos5tiUbazURoIwyXB-MUxc/s400/Dreams_IMG_5539_Cropped.jpg" width="331" /></a></div>
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<br />
<u><b>The People:</b></u><br />
It seemed to me that as we moved
east, there was a slow but steady change in the people we encountered.
Since we spent so much time on the road, these observations are
primarily those of the local drivers but I think these conclusions hold
for the people on the street as well.<br />
<br />
CA/AZ/NM: Willing
to wait for cyclists; maybe because it was the law but never the less
we got along fine. Fast paced in urban CA but generally considerate
everywhere.<br />
KS/MO: A patient sharing of the road, almost too much
at times. Some cars would match our speed on the roads for large
distances until they could see a stretch that they could pass and move
completely into the opposite lane. It was like they were saying 'I'm in
no hurry, we'll wait'. I would call this 'Patient-Sharing' and I think
it is part of the basic nature of the people and midwest culture . I
loved it.<br />
OH/PA: I would call these encounters
'Impatient-Tolerance'. We were given the right of way in most cases but
when a car did finally pass, the car often gunned its engine in disgust.
It was kind of like saying, 'how dare you cause me to have to wait'.<br />
NY/VT/MA:
Finally, we received the reaction from the stereotyped New Englander.
These drivers would pass us on blind curves or hills, often dangerously
crowding us to the shoulder. I call this style 'Aggessive-Intolerance'
and it was like they were saying 'Get off MY road'.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>My Life's Support </b></u><br />
Speaking of dreams, some dreams can't happen with only your own singular determination and focus. My cross country cycling dream would not have been possible without the complete support of Michele. On one level, I can't imagine she would ever have bought into this insane idea for me to go in the first place. However, she not only supported the idea from training start to Boston finish, she joined in and followed along in a rental car for the entire trip.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwVoLGYCdSrJWkQijRyuk4KX2lBzEtdSEsaOX4P3foiNoFBTePc8pOvKnpsMeWPYLuQBTEcAxc9JiWfgmP8ck5MA_8tnBZCChE5r4DXyjTs7baVrSaDFvp6PT38m3FEgjrGbSOFzy1Wro/s1600/IMG_5146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwVoLGYCdSrJWkQijRyuk4KX2lBzEtdSEsaOX4P3foiNoFBTePc8pOvKnpsMeWPYLuQBTEcAxc9JiWfgmP8ck5MA_8tnBZCChE5r4DXyjTs7baVrSaDFvp6PT38m3FEgjrGbSOFzy1Wro/s320/IMG_5146.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standin' on the Corner in Winslow Arizona..........</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
She was there documenting the craziness of the patients....<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUTsC0JDo2dqzMwNd7MGZpqZxjZGTSxiFm49MemegwgEwfkV-ZgU9iIqWccF8G2sCwDS-IEBvZLyNr_lixDcMGzpmup0zLfis0TxapU4B2wIrSJoMw7Mct_-C9iRjV3TAM_SC52ffnGc3g/s1600/IMG_5834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUTsC0JDo2dqzMwNd7MGZpqZxjZGTSxiFm49MemegwgEwfkV-ZgU9iIqWccF8G2sCwDS-IEBvZLyNr_lixDcMGzpmup0zLfis0TxapU4B2wIrSJoMw7Mct_-C9iRjV3TAM_SC52ffnGc3g/s320/IMG_5834.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michele looking for a Pulitzer in journalism.....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU536A3Utf_FrTWpQCCO2iiJzi1EDtHtGC-wQs4hUYiVTY7jwmkmYKPVtHT2cmPw6xxKIJBajfEOtUPKZCK1-YjzyUVu6vpHLY7_SDKupEDIxdrBTVOBvoznNJBdzk2VY3MlxMnRtEaapd/s1600/IMG_1444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU536A3Utf_FrTWpQCCO2iiJzi1EDtHtGC-wQs4hUYiVTY7jwmkmYKPVtHT2cmPw6xxKIJBajfEOtUPKZCK1-YjzyUVu6vpHLY7_SDKupEDIxdrBTVOBvoznNJBdzk2VY3MlxMnRtEaapd/s320/IMG_1444.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No Pulitzer received, but she does capture us throughout the journey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Beyond the departure journalism, she didn't take the shortest (Interstate route) between our start and destination hotel each day, but rather she got a copy of our turn-by-turn route sheets and traced the riders' route for each day. Now, that is about as close to riding the tour yourself as a person can be without getting saddle sores. She was a part of the tour in every way: every day, every mile and hill, in a way I really can't describe.<br />
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From the start to the finish, we were there together on this most incredible journey. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaoE9loTgJLA_B6MgKZ8AQ-QZLreoDPztJYFhbSCN7tugMnQPYB2ElGYWf9Q6oqeEDGo8S-rrdSZQtwAoIpem8xd8bQ1KkkXSL7Lu88Gd1l1ieP-GP19080eE_ueLdemGXFGR5UhFCyl6N/s1600/IMG_5868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaoE9loTgJLA_B6MgKZ8AQ-QZLreoDPztJYFhbSCN7tugMnQPYB2ElGYWf9Q6oqeEDGo8S-rrdSZQtwAoIpem8xd8bQ1KkkXSL7Lu88Gd1l1ieP-GP19080eE_ueLdemGXFGR5UhFCyl6N/s320/IMG_5868.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Revere Beach, MA 29 June 2012</td></tr>
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I couldn't imagine taking this 7 week cycling trip with out her. I'm incredibly Blessed.<br />
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<u><b>Personal Take-Aways</b></u><br />
In no particular order:<br />
Michele and I were surprised how much farming went on in this country and how much of that is done on small family-farms. I hope we never loose this. Also, seeing these farms up close and intimate and then seeing the larger cities, we were struck with how much we are really dependent on each other. I wonder if the typical city person really thinks of that family farmer in KS,MO, IN or OH. This city boy didn't think that way and I suspect many other non-farmers don't really get it either.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_1tRZWkky9X7AlYMdhzIyzQSyaMF_KXEFpdv2qcCp0KTkVSNlB3j411rBP_zD8pM-DFf3kGLJXUvXtl90LJS_4CUOI99i31_XGnwuDP6WfXizPwvN3RNvl4zjK-PNaXuNU-fsmAkxIRBp/s1600/IMG_5776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_1tRZWkky9X7AlYMdhzIyzQSyaMF_KXEFpdv2qcCp0KTkVSNlB3j411rBP_zD8pM-DFf3kGLJXUvXtl90LJS_4CUOI99i31_XGnwuDP6WfXizPwvN3RNvl4zjK-PNaXuNU-fsmAkxIRBp/s320/IMG_5776.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These people are dependent on.....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUArs5UzSXM5XXCGkbd_rlOhVjVwkRwdtRqwim0lUoZuQoKRyW06cOZ6PIZPpzCaJGVg1Unz2m88KwqhAsJuh9Rjvv1ZthlnelCc2FTIcJsPRTS3PHLOMdmHYz0tEisbAR6P-357GV8F8V/s1600/IMG_5469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUArs5UzSXM5XXCGkbd_rlOhVjVwkRwdtRqwim0lUoZuQoKRyW06cOZ6PIZPpzCaJGVg1Unz2m88KwqhAsJuh9Rjvv1ZthlnelCc2FTIcJsPRTS3PHLOMdmHYz0tEisbAR6P-357GV8F8V/s320/IMG_5469.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">....these people.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I also observed many very overt signs of patriotism, morals, faith and religion, and community in the Midwest. We have become so secular, intolerant and 'politically correct' in other parts of the country that these signs are almost unheard of. Either they never get built or if so are challenged in court or covered with graffiti. I for one loved this feeling of the Midwest.<br />
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I learned a lot about myself and my response to hardship and challenge. As the tour wore on, when facing difficult terrain, or physical discomfort or fatigue, I seemed better and better at responding. Of course, as the tour continued I got in better shape and on that physical level the riding became easier. However, as I mentioned earlier, I believe that the mental game is the eventual driver to success. In my mind, I began to really believe that I could overcome the obstacle, climb that hill or finish a really long ride. I started to mentally see the hills a little lower, not quite as steep or that long ride just a bit shorter. Here is a photo of rolling terrain in MO that is so demoralizing each time you reach the top of a hill. You see just more hills and more climbing and more road ahead. As the text says, self doubt tends to enter your mind and a little voice in your head gets a little louder.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwslMFPtuJr18CecTj0vct1ubjFUj_bU1Z_3WhCWydxijVtfbXRCixISoSjmTiQkfOG58J5nltwXeGO3x5QNqE6815ITDnLelgYAGnish0l9Svs3LZjfUVeklavJp-X4DeFWC6YBT2ZwHw/s1600/Roads_PS1+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwslMFPtuJr18CecTj0vct1ubjFUj_bU1Z_3WhCWydxijVtfbXRCixISoSjmTiQkfOG58J5nltwXeGO3x5QNqE6815ITDnLelgYAGnish0l9Svs3LZjfUVeklavJp-X4DeFWC6YBT2ZwHw/s640/Roads_PS1+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The voice screams at you to quit and take a bump in the
SAG wagon to the next rest stop but somehow you silence that voice and
find a way to continue. Somehow, the hills <u><b>are </b></u>climbed and the miles roll on.... until the impossible dream finally comes into view.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwCQZZAMqq1-HF9EZ3rMetByG_LiIHigtrRR-W0bWEAPTistclVbOiLvYHT4x43CoXDdoBAcDhsaixoIUcpVfVSNSbGRd7BUny7W__crpSywWqjEZfnIgQdVHUKUFk5LJu6waRX6JKxmB3/s1600/Celebrate+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwCQZZAMqq1-HF9EZ3rMetByG_LiIHigtrRR-W0bWEAPTistclVbOiLvYHT4x43CoXDdoBAcDhsaixoIUcpVfVSNSbGRd7BUny7W__crpSywWqjEZfnIgQdVHUKUFk5LJu6waRX6JKxmB3/s320/Celebrate+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And my final thought, a realization that when I speak it, tears come to my eyes. I've mentioned that this tour involved some major choices: sleep lost to training, lonely miles and at times what I would call pain or suffering. However along with that also came times of indescribable joy and personal satisfaction.<br />
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This journey was called Life Ride 2012 and as I reflected on those many miles and the emotional rollercoaster, it dawned on me that those countless unborn children lost to 'Choice' will never get the chance to feel the pain of the climbs or the joy of the summit. The mixture of excitement and self-doubt of the first miles in CA, and then the victory of the Atlantic sand in their toes will never be theirs to feel.<br />
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Why don't they get to dream? Why don't they get to choose?<br />
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<br />From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-73104933732683922192012-06-29T14:36:00.001-07:002012-06-29T14:36:36.273-07:00Day 49: Burlington to Revere Beach MA - Final Ride 2012 It seems appropriate today to flip the order of some of the photos; I'll start with the daily detail and then the USA map which shows our entire coast to coast journey which was completed today.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaBFnVq5zU5oSEF-HS50B2mKsS5bDPDlQaKGwEn3HNUP9imbqAFDvgloo5xV2-qSaAc2mPsv1lSEfdJdkqFG2aGmP5Vt_V296qG2Q_S2Pur6lEH-s-QIZcWbJaL1ARoU5Ag0_Ao3c__GJ4/s1600/Day+49+Close.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaBFnVq5zU5oSEF-HS50B2mKsS5bDPDlQaKGwEn3HNUP9imbqAFDvgloo5xV2-qSaAc2mPsv1lSEfdJdkqFG2aGmP5Vt_V296qG2Q_S2Pur6lEH-s-QIZcWbJaL1ARoU5Ag0_Ao3c__GJ4/s640/Day+49+Close.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The final 19 Miles..........</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Life Ride 2012: 3,430 miles from Manhattan Beach CA to Revere Beach MA</td></tr>
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This tour has been remarkable in that we have had only one partial day of riding in the rain. So, it was ironic that we rode to Revere Beach in a rather steady downpour. Sandwiched between a Crossroads van in the front, another CR van in the rear, and finally escorted by a Boston Police squad car (with lights flashing) in trail, the rider pack finally crested the last hill and got our first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean.<br />
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As we arrived, the rain kindly stopped so we had time to capture and savor the moment.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team Life Ride 2012 at Revere Beach, MA</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Crossroads riders (Note - John F injured in NY and not shown)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trusty bike, and trusty motor-of-bike celebrating the journey.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Helmet hair and all, it was a life time experience. Now can I sleep in????</td></tr>
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Any finally it was time to stop and give thanks for this incredible journey, for our safety and the gift of life, and of experiencing this beautiful country in this unique way.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike, Tom and John (L-R) taking a moment to thank Him for the blessing of our safe journey.</td></tr>
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Final tally for LR12:<br />
3430 miles<br />
223 Hrs, 44 Min Riding<br />
15.3 MPH Ave speed<br />
106, 911 feet of vertical climbing<br />
Countless Blessings <br />
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Michele and I have been talking quite a bit on how to best describe what LR2012 was and what it really meant to us. Stay tuned to the blog and we'll try to write these summary thoughts down and post them. In the mean time, thank you so very much for your interest and support of LR12 and Birth Choice Health Clinics!<br />
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Now, final laundry is complete and its off to the CrossRoads XC12 final banquet.<br />
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Blessings<br />
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Tom & Michele<br />
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Click here for details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193991008#.T-4LUYEgbsI.blogger">Day 49: Burlington to Revere Beach MA - Final Ride 2012 by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-39047302648300672262012-06-28T18:37:00.000-07:002012-06-28T20:01:58.022-07:00Day 48 Brattleboro VT to Burlington MAWell we have arrived in Burlington MA, just 18 miles from Revere Beach and our Atlantic Ocean goal!!<br />
Today was a 92 mile ride with 4500' of climbing thru some beautiful NH and MA scenery. It was the usual staggered start with the early birds leaving at 0645 and the rabbits at about 0725, but today something was not the same. This was to be our last significant ride of the 2012 cross country tour.<br />
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As usual, Michele was there capturing our departure activities. It has been a great adventure to share with her and I'm sure glad she decided to a) entertain me doing this crazy ride in the first place and b) deciding that if you can't beat 'em then join 'em. It would have been a completely different, and emptier, journey without her. <br />
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Mike K and I started to ride together way back in Arizona. I think it was during the first long climb up towards Mingus Mountain pass that fate brought is together. I'd estimate that we have ridden closely together for about 3000 miles; on every day since, practically every mile, hill and turn since then. Michele and I made some great friends of Mike and his wonderful wife Diana and hope to stay in touch doing something that doesn't involve cycling.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparing to depart for the morning</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Away they go to start their final long ride of the journey</td></tr>
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Today, Mike and I crossed into NH and MA. We even stopped and the Ashuelot Covered Bridge just inside the NH state line. This bridge was built in 1864. There was a sign on the bridge indicating a $5 fine for using the bridge as speeds beyond walking so we just took the photo and moved on down the road.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ashuelot Covered Bridge</td></tr>
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At the SAG at mile 60, one of the riders casually said 'Wow, did you see all the poison ivy around the sign at the NH border?'. I'll tell you, even though we stayed on the road side of the barrier, I itched all the way to the hotel just thinking about that poison ivy. Wouldn't that be a great way to end the cross country ride?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzo_RBI_eTXmp8I_nxfRPsP2zDMO4FQERZqTK_wZbGPV41eGZAwFCrlmuhguqQdnw3_ZeuCCKph-4NFLmLbEt0M9eLiERY6IfeDOSklsTV2EAQVJhkdPd9pPa8NTwAHqjC20PT-JXVOQ5/s1600/IMG_2404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzo_RBI_eTXmp8I_nxfRPsP2zDMO4FQERZqTK_wZbGPV41eGZAwFCrlmuhguqQdnw3_ZeuCCKph-4NFLmLbEt0M9eLiERY6IfeDOSklsTV2EAQVJhkdPd9pPa8NTwAHqjC20PT-JXVOQ5/s320/IMG_2404.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom and Mike arriving in Burlington ... only 18 miles left to Boston!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was so happy to see Tom arrive safely at the end of the final long ride!</td></tr>
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Tomorrow, we have only a short 18 mile ride to arrive in Revere Beach, Boston and end the riding part of this 2012 journey. A bit of ceremony at the beach and a banquet tomorrow night.<br />
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Talk to you later.<br />
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Tom<br />
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Click here for details of today's ride. <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193728070#.T-zC8YCkOyM.blogger">Day 48 Brattleboro VT to Burlington MA by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-87441146253829784312012-06-27T15:40:00.001-07:002012-06-27T15:40:16.524-07:00Day 47: Albany NY to Brattleboro VTHello Life Ride followers.<br />
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Well, it would be hard to beat today's ride as far as a combination of beautiful scenery, weather and road terrain. The ride was 79 miles with some nice sustained climbs totally 5500 feet, which I really prefer to the 'rollers' of MO, and some rewarding long high speed descents. This day was very much like the training rides I'm used to in SoCal in the Anaheim Hills, Santiago Canyon, Corona areas. I really enjoyed the ride.<br />
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The only small off-sides today were that there was a bit of traffic on the narrow roads in the small towns and today I got my first, undeniable, must-fix-on-the-road flat. I was two miles from the hotel in Brattleboro when I hit some debris and heard the hiss-hiss-hiss sound of the rear tire deflating. Oh well, I must consider myself extremely lucky after-all; Nick my friend from the UK, holds the tour record for 'punctures' at 19!!!. Previously, I've only had two soft tires in the evening that were small leaks that needed a quick tube change before the next morning.<br />
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Anyway, as I said the road scenery was beautiful. Departing Albany, we crossed the Hudson River and then we were forced to walk thru a construction project for about 1/4 mile but it gave us a chance to talk to the many construction workers. They just couldn't believe that we had come all the way from LA.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hudson flowing to NY City</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike and Chuck showing perfect detour style.</td></tr>
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I'll let the following photos speak for themselves. Imaging just cruising along on a country road, in the relative silence of a bicycle and being in the middle of this. Fantastic!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cruising down the country road.....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's not to like with the Green Hills, blue sky and white clouds of VT</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our 13th State on the Life Ride 2012 tour.</td></tr>
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Our climbing today consisted of ups and downs but there were two sustained climbs as I mentioned above. Here is the reward of the second summit; Hogback Mountain. Fantastic view of the VT countryside.<br />
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Believe it or not, tomorrow is the LAST of our real rides for the cross country tour. This 90 miles (and 5000 feet of climbing) will take us into and then out of New Hampshire, into Massachusetts and within 18 miles of Boston. Michele and I are both a little stunned that our great adventure is almost over.<br />
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Well, off to dinner and some rest.<br />
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Talk to you in tomorrow's posting.<br />
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Click here to see details of today's ride: Note - don't worry about the heart rate at the beginning. Apparently it was not making good contact. <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193446395#.T-t4MypJuXg.blogger">Day 47: Albany NY to Brattleboro VT by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-1987956934030785882012-06-26T17:26:00.000-07:002012-06-27T14:07:25.796-07:00Day 46: Little Falls to Albany NYA very quick post tonight since it is late and we have a tough ride tomorrow with lots of climbing.<br />
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Today we had an easy, wind at our back, 71 mile ride to Albany NY. We thought we were going to get rained on but alas again the weather gods were friendly so we only got a few sprinkels.<br />
Here are a couple of pics of the ride:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All dressed for a ride in the rain.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amish families traveling along the public road.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Mohawk Valley and River</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike and I are convinced that this sign actually means 'Men at Work MAKING potholes' .....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Mohawk River: Runs from Syracuse to Albany.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom and Michele in the NY countryside</td></tr>
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Click here for details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/193172987#.T-pPSGkFLsk.blogger">Day 46: Little Falls to Albany NY by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-32676401328189181882012-06-25T16:54:00.003-07:002012-06-25T16:54:49.858-07:00Day 45: Syracuse to Little Falls NYHello again,<br />
Well today's ride had its ups and downs but all in all was very nice. It apparently rained a little last night; the streets were wet in the morning but dried by the time we started. The forecast was for 30-50% chance of rain so I headed out to this sky with my rain jacket crammed into my rear jersey pockets.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving the hotel to a smaller road</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The departure sky at Syracuse NY this morning.</td></tr>
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We have come to notice that when out on the road the shoulders by and large are not too bad but as we arrive in towns the condition of the roads take a significant downturn. We have selected NY as the state with the worst roads thus far in these little towns. Here is a photo of a section of Syracuse as we departed. The streets are full of cracks, potholes, uneven metal drain grates and other dangers to skinny little bike tires.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pothole and crack filled streets of Syracuse. Not Good!!</td></tr>
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Here is an interesting little building we came across today. The water is very stagnant and filled with moss or some other icky green growth. One sign even described this lake as 'eco-friendly'. Anyway, someone came up with the brilliant idea of building a three person, 29 square foot, chapel in the middle of this lake that was used for a wedding. Only the minister, bride and groom could fit and the guests floated in surrounding boats. Go figure.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some people have said 'I do' here.....I say 'No Way'!!</td></tr>
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One of our riders suffer a mishap today when he became tangled up with the bike he was trailing. Their speed was luckily very slow as they were approaching an intersection. Unfortunately, the trailing rider went down hard and could not continue the ride. He was later diagnosed with a broken pelvis and elbow and was moved to Syracuse for treatment. We will miss him on the rest of the tour and pray he has a speedy recovery. Cycling comes with risk and it only takes a moment of inattention and things can go wrong. Be careful out there.<br />
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As the skies darkened, we continued our ride to Little Falls hoping to get there before the rain. We got just a few sprinkles but nothing too serious. Thankfully, it actually rained ahead of us and then stopped before we arrived leaving us only wet streets to contend with.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We dodged the rain bullet....only wet streets remained after the storm.</td></tr>
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Many of these little towns were formed in the 18th century and have historical plaques posted at the entry points. Not sure the name of this bridge or the river it spans but it caught my attention as particularly pretty.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching Little Falls NY<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some pretty flower boxes in town on our way to lunch<br />
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Tomorrow is another short ride: 71 miles to Albany NY and then into Vermont the next day. The weather is calling for more 30-40% chance of showers for the next three days so we are not out of the woods yet. Guess I'll pack my rain jacket again tomorrow.<br />
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Take Care<br />
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Tom<br />
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Click here to see details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192771173#.T-jAswFkYHA.blogger">Day 45: Syracuse to Little Falls NY by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-1737036123054831722012-06-24T17:17:00.001-07:002012-06-24T17:17:51.100-07:00Day 44: Canandaigua to Syracuse NY<br />
Another beautiful weather day in upstate NY. No rain, temps in the 70's and light winds. Today our ride was only 69 miles and the tour leaders selected an 0815 departure for all riders, both early birds and rabbits. You could kind of sense that everyone was in a slow mental state; we were just going to roll along and enjoy the beautiful scenery with no rush to complete.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mix of early birds and rabbits started together and enjoying the NY roads</td></tr>
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Our route took us east on SR20E and along the north shore of Seneca Lake. We stopped to take these photos and enjoy the city park that was there. There was a nice cool breeze blowing and the sailboats were starting to find their way onto the water for a day of fun. A gorgeous place!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seneca Lake</td></tr>
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One thing that I noticed today was that along this route there were quite a number of mom & pop used car lots. I don't know why they seemed to be concentrated here in particular but it seemed that there was a pretty strong local market for used cars.<br />
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Our route also took us into the Erie Canal Park near Camillus NY. The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that travels about 363 miles
from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake
Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Great Lakes. <br />
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Did you know???...<br />
<ul>
<li>It took 8 years to build the Erie Canal? The original Erie Canal was constructed between 1817 and 1825.</li>
<li>The Erie Canal is 363 miles long?</li>
<li>The Erie Canal spans from Albany to Buffalo?</li>
<li>There are 83 locks to solve the difference in elevation from near seal level on the Hudson River to 565 feet at Lake Erie?</li>
<li>More than 300 bridges crossed the canal along its route?</li>
<li>Mules and horses pulled the canal boats at 4 mph?</li>
<li>Costs to transport goods across the state on the canal vs by road were reduced by 80% to 90%?</li>
<li>Toll receipts paid back the $7.5 million construction cost within ten years?</li>
<li>The canal was enlarged due to increased traffic demands with construction occurring from 1836 to 1862?</li>
<li>Tolls were abolished in 1882 because of increasing competition from railroads? </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEh26GiTI1IALvHSaCe3WDlfpXMToAXGFQ4jwVt9iiiApEGBWhKeQByji62CTHmAth2PW29oz1H2et6n2kOCMnVu9nlu12BuZlXVW99G16ULVCdEp3CctP83EpBWV0sGb264Tb-sv9pZ1E/s1600/IMG_2307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEh26GiTI1IALvHSaCe3WDlfpXMToAXGFQ4jwVt9iiiApEGBWhKeQByji62CTHmAth2PW29oz1H2et6n2kOCMnVu9nlu12BuZlXVW99G16ULVCdEp3CctP83EpBWV0sGb264Tb-sv9pZ1E/s320/IMG_2307.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women's Rights Museum in Seneca, NY</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Location of first Women's Rights Convention in1848</td></tr>
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Its now 5:25 and route rap starts in 20 minutes. I finished the laundry so I've got riding clothes for a couple more days now. Michele is out getting in a walk but looking out the window I see that it is raining a little. I hope she doesn't get too wet :).<br />
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Tomorrow is 80 somewhat flat miles to Little Falls NY; I'm afraid to check the weather forecast.<br />
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Tour stats so far:<br />
3090 miles<br />
201 hours riding<br />
15.3 MPH average speed<br />
close to 90,000 feet of climbing <br />
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Talk to you tomorrow.<br />
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Click here for details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192429992#.T-d6miDjSUE.blogger">Day 44: Canandaigua to Syracuse NY by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-43901989958235062672012-06-23T17:34:00.002-07:002012-06-23T17:34:49.263-07:00Day 43: Hamburg to Canandaigua NYHello again LR12 followers. Today was another amazing ride in up-state NY. The WX was perfect; what else can I say. Instead of boring you with words, these few photos show what we experienced to day on our 95 mile ride from Hamburg to Canandaigua. Very enjoyable even with 4300' of climbing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhue4uSVPgI4fFmfvpMqcHgV4f6LEZ7gsA2GQeTVhfTt7eO2-FQf8fJq_XPKnbW5oBOD5MRtNRhPbNF4nXO9oaCPQUwXoDyNJV_6Z_2Gd5GTL8mJ2nOpyj9DP4IrS-4-suBGXuNftgDM5RC/s1600/IMG_5746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhue4uSVPgI4fFmfvpMqcHgV4f6LEZ7gsA2GQeTVhfTt7eO2-FQf8fJq_XPKnbW5oBOD5MRtNRhPbNF4nXO9oaCPQUwXoDyNJV_6Z_2Gd5GTL8mJ2nOpyj9DP4IrS-4-suBGXuNftgDM5RC/s640/IMG_5746.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smooth roads, wide shoulders, little traffic, blue sky and light winds......</td></tr>
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We also crossed another milestone. I can't believe we've come so far and its getting a little sad that we have less than a week to go. :(<br />
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We had the opportunity to see two Amish farmers bailing a straw or hay field. Its incredible that their subsistence and way of life is accomplished with these basic tools and horsepower. Quite a commitment. Makes you consider what is really important.<br />
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We have two women riders on the tour, Pat and Cindy, that live in this area and are avid sky divers. Somehow they persuaded two of our British riders, Nick and John to come out to their local sky diving airport and go for a tandem jump. Well, Michele and I had to go see what all this was about so after the ride we drove out to Ovid Airport. Here are some photo's that try to capture the pre-jump situation.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nick and John (R) signing their release forms.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(L-R) Nick, John, Cindy, Pat, Tom and Michele</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ground instruction</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the field next to the runway</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from a winery of one of the finger lakes near the airport</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Unfortunately, things were delayed a little and Michele and I had to leave but I'm sure we'll hear the news tomorrow morning about Nick and John's great adventure. Stay tuned, I'm sure there will be some very interesting stories.<br />
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Click here for details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192012651#.T-ZQOTXHdLs.blogger">Day 43: Hamburg to Canandaigua NY by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-36635049944653884922012-06-22T18:41:00.000-07:002012-06-22T18:41:28.788-07:00Day 42: Erie PA to Hamburg NYWell today was a great riding day and a disaster avoided.<br />
First the riding: We had an 81 mile trip on Hwy 5 from Erie PA to Hamburg NY. This road was in good condition, with wide shoulders, the wind was light, the temperature was in the 70s and the blue sky was accented with beautiful puffy clouds. A perfect day to ride.<br />
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As we found out, this area is dominated by grape vineyards both for wine and grape products thru the Welch's company. On our ride, we paralleled very close to Lake Erie on the left and huge spreads of grape crops on the right.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Erie on the left.....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A perfect road straight ahead.....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vineyards and a beautiful sky to the right!!!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We passed a really beautiful stream that was running into the lake and just had to stop and take a picture. While admiring the scene, we noticed that this stream had a dozen or so rather large fish (18 to 23") in it. After talking to the locals it seems like these fish might have been salmon. In any event it was fun to watch them swimming around.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very nice stream feeding Lake Erie</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slightly above center in the shadowy area....can you find 5 fish????</td></tr>
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Today was also another milestone.... we passed our 11th state line!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incredible!! We have been in 12 states on this tour.</td></tr>
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Now to the disaster. Today's ride was not too long and I arrived at the hotel at about 1:45 pm so I decided to clean up the bike. While cleaning I notice that the rear wheel had several 1/2" hairline cracks streaming in both directions from many of the spoke islets. Anyway, the short version is that this could lead to a catastrophic wheel failure and if it happened on a high speed descent, well, the results would not be good for yours truly. No new wheel meant that I don't ride tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I would not be happy to miss out and a riding day and not be able to really 'complete' the coast to coast ride.<br />
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Fast forward: After many frantic internet searches and phone calls to both coasts, I found a local bike shop about 20 miles away that in the end gave me a loaner rear wheel, installed it on my bike, checked the shifting and gave me a pair of riding socks with his company name on the side. Tom the owner said, good luck getting to Boston and then get home to CA, just ship the wheel back to me. No charge, no deposit....just one cyclist helping another.<br />
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So my trusty bike is now at the ready for the remaining 500 or so miles. THANKS TOM!!!!<br />
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Tom's Pro Bike<br />
3687 Walden Ave.<br />
Lancaster, NY 14086<br />
(716) 651-9995<br />
www.tomsprobike.com<br />
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That's all for now. It's 9:30 pm; tomorrow is up at 0500 and a tough 95 miles to Canandiagua, NY with 5000' of climbing in the hills of NY.<br />
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Good Night...... zzzzzzzzzzzzz<br />
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Click here to see details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/191667654#.T-UN6z_OmDA.blogger">Day 42: Erie PA to Hamburg NY by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-21756867259514746882012-06-22T02:41:00.000-07:002012-06-22T02:41:16.105-07:00Day 41: June 21 Rest Day in Erie, PAA very busy yet wonderful day visiting family. We were so touched by the warm welcome and hospitality of everyone.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I learned from Aunt Virginia to use old belts to keep rabbits out of the garden since they don't like snakes</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a garden!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8OASZiLBAdwmwXeA7_k5C0odLfhN_uRt0PxqNAtCvsXPvnIobegZ_huVGGWiLZH93IKqBPdq_sP0VmtEGIbXWg_K0sAsRiO5Olt5naUUOOlYKN9p9Rzfbex1WLsebjeyjf2HdB9TH-nl/s1600/IMG_2271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8OASZiLBAdwmwXeA7_k5C0odLfhN_uRt0PxqNAtCvsXPvnIobegZ_huVGGWiLZH93IKqBPdq_sP0VmtEGIbXWg_K0sAsRiO5Olt5naUUOOlYKN9p9Rzfbex1WLsebjeyjf2HdB9TH-nl/s320/IMG_2271.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cans and plastic bags work well in a breeze to keep the deer out</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9eCm6VPh9Bho6mGhDZqLbU1d_EhjGMnLOzZuNNuVtzlDzE7ut1LIMQ7Qz2VIit3mXB6yc8gX2wxYjyOLqjYh1eyWReVbjnhtPfSnU4-K16vj8I9ffMPxo9BM06wHDmBAvZe3ujvVxaA8c/s1600/IMG_5721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9eCm6VPh9Bho6mGhDZqLbU1d_EhjGMnLOzZuNNuVtzlDzE7ut1LIMQ7Qz2VIit3mXB6yc8gX2wxYjyOLqjYh1eyWReVbjnhtPfSnU4-K16vj8I9ffMPxo9BM06wHDmBAvZe3ujvVxaA8c/s320/IMG_5721.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmyX-vUXW7BbDvKS93gKGudBwYsoiYEZJwra8-lfB3_wnZiH0WgX9D06HdYp1bcF5R5MwKrGbexy1teLKJse-qxbs8AbcfDH3cHkwBadUdWIqDOFQfHjeuKTPhsORwIO3mUiOoNFP-j-j/s1600/IMG_5722.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmyX-vUXW7BbDvKS93gKGudBwYsoiYEZJwra8-lfB3_wnZiH0WgX9D06HdYp1bcF5R5MwKrGbexy1teLKJse-qxbs8AbcfDH3cHkwBadUdWIqDOFQfHjeuKTPhsORwIO3mUiOoNFP-j-j/s320/IMG_5722.JPG" width="320" /></a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-20865716872737406002012-06-22T02:39:00.000-07:002012-06-22T02:39:51.207-07:00Day 40: Niles OH to Erie PAA somewhat late posting since we finished the ride and then went out visiting...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First time on tour seeing tree farm.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwnoJOq8TpIdvyi-4Nagwq60YmJfCbhAJ9f8Yp0Mkq3R7kZm8CIL9NtggcUAwL_YupD6ZyGTF8EIZeIL9KeLWEPRtfh3N6Srmwl9pWjR2z_GE5OVC2AYnsr_9jpp09UeE5oVCWzCmOgzE/s1600/IMG_5690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwnoJOq8TpIdvyi-4Nagwq60YmJfCbhAJ9f8Yp0Mkq3R7kZm8CIL9NtggcUAwL_YupD6ZyGTF8EIZeIL9KeLWEPRtfh3N6Srmwl9pWjR2z_GE5OVC2AYnsr_9jpp09UeE5oVCWzCmOgzE/s400/IMG_5690.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now this is a real SAG stop!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 'small' root beer float tastes pretty good in 90 degrees and 80% humidity</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another first on tour - a vineyard</td></tr>
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Then it's off to a nice family reunion BBQ with Michele's uncles, aunts and cousins on Uncle Joe and Aunt Eleanor's beautiful farm land.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Joe sharing his photo album about his service in the air force in WWII. His plane was shot down over France on D-Day but they escaped</td></tr>
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Click here for details about today's ride:<br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/191233158#.T-MWsgCQPg0.blogger">Day 40: Niles OH to Erie PA by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-18986402353211287042012-06-19T18:36:00.000-07:002012-06-19T18:36:22.049-07:00Day 39: Wooster to Niles OHWow, another near-century today, 94.2 miles. The scenery is spectacular, the towns have a real warm charm,<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv2SwTvq5RU2m_YHnrwIELWZjwSFRqZyd79GX3GKtiwqC9a74hIfLwgZ1ysvmjbIQ6q_sn5EiVgoIT_0NTsU2qVFJA4jw05bZhDHSV0pxuoz1UHNk4TIBpfAelWG6EQJ-4b-7fAhUa4Ne/s1600/IMG_5681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv2SwTvq5RU2m_YHnrwIELWZjwSFRqZyd79GX3GKtiwqC9a74hIfLwgZ1ysvmjbIQ6q_sn5EiVgoIT_0NTsU2qVFJA4jw05bZhDHSV0pxuoz1UHNk4TIBpfAelWG6EQJ-4b-7fAhUa4Ne/s400/IMG_5681.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The towns are starting to fly their patriotic July 4th decorations....</td></tr>
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the body is holding up, but the humidity is a challenge especially since I ride all covered up for sun protection. The perspiration is constant so I'm forced to drink constantly. I think I take in about 40 oz of liquid per hour and I'm still thirsty at the end of the day. <br />
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I really enjoy the peace and quite and coolness of the first 30 miles or so. The mornings are spectacular....but mornings around here have a tendency to turn to hot and muggy afternoons.<br />
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We saw ample evidence of the rain storm that hit last night. Here is a field with a large stand of water. I'm sure those are really happy soy plants. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water from yesterday's rain storm. A welcome sight to the farmers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Darryl, the owner of the Circle Restaurant in Deerfield, OH gave us one of his giant pancakes</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wow, what a site to behold and it was just as delicious and such a treat!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is where they are located in case you are in area and want some good food</td></tr>
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After making one turn, we were surprised to see this line up of cycling fans. Makes the Tour de France fan support pale by comparison.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSthSrZRF40hTHR_DV5HUUuX3a3-9pn4ZDH27liAmeZEsCd3Vj9BBkbN6UQoR5NqtX0w6j18Pg6F9AU8W_-Za0jw8HhghA3DD4iEwkZUoYigfoeN-a9FDUi2wTyReiWxk7iiJr3v9tTzbj/s1600/IMG_5678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSthSrZRF40hTHR_DV5HUUuX3a3-9pn4ZDH27liAmeZEsCd3Vj9BBkbN6UQoR5NqtX0w6j18Pg6F9AU8W_-Za0jw8HhghA3DD4iEwkZUoYigfoeN-a9FDUi2wTyReiWxk7iiJr3v9tTzbj/s400/IMG_5678.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(L-R): Tom, Richard, Tracy, Robin and Tom. All are Cross Roads Staff except Richard who was nursing a sore ankle today and was not riding.</td></tr>
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Each day we get a sheet of turn-by-turn directions to safely guide us to our destination. These directions are reviewed the night before at a meeting called 'route rap'. Included in those directions are warnings of road hazards such as this very rough rail road crossing at mile 38. Cross Roads really puts on a good tour dedicated to taking care of us and safely getting us to Boston.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJm1ABt6PTjYOyDn3t0-4mrMRUbi40RuUHuPZmsHA7lyUmMxMmUk6Pn8FCPwvx_0F_M4tyI3gh6jEw55fD9Csx7RZyOvZuvH1Tm2Jw8svT-QvjqeAp7gu1_E_TdEhxsRP4KK3PR-rOpEH/s1600/IMG_5683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJm1ABt6PTjYOyDn3t0-4mrMRUbi40RuUHuPZmsHA7lyUmMxMmUk6Pn8FCPwvx_0F_M4tyI3gh6jEw55fD9Csx7RZyOvZuvH1Tm2Jw8svT-QvjqeAp7gu1_E_TdEhxsRP4KK3PR-rOpEH/s400/IMG_5683.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hit this wrong and you'll be down in an instant. Thanks for the warning(s) Cross Roads!!</td></tr>
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One final note: today we road on the only stretch of dedicated bike trail on the entire tour. A very nice 9 mile stretch near the 80 mile point. This picture doesn't do the scene justice but this OH trail was very nice.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZEu_eYzzydZkXAdu5M9tsty15npVm-Im-lDCfNLItCIN1PFD-BfrCnd_7NWGD2pw94OFLOBv6QlFivNVItPvsC0t1VVAy86cmsBBcXYK-9PfSKx-Y7h_ZauCLH6x04D4WIyhQjg87aNX/s1600/IMG_5686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZEu_eYzzydZkXAdu5M9tsty15npVm-Im-lDCfNLItCIN1PFD-BfrCnd_7NWGD2pw94OFLOBv6QlFivNVItPvsC0t1VVAy86cmsBBcXYK-9PfSKx-Y7h_ZauCLH6x04D4WIyhQjg87aNX/s640/IMG_5686.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very nice Ohio bike trail that we got to enjoy for 9 miles. No cars!!!!</td></tr>
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Well, tomorrow is 89 miles to Erie, PA and then a well deserved rest day. Michele was born in Erie and she has uncles, aunts and cousins all lined up for visiting. Should be a fun day and a half.<br />
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But for now, and for me, it's route rap at 5:45, dinner at 6:00 and then a good night's sleep.<br />
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Take Care<br />
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Tom<br />
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Click here for details of today's ride:<br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/190759267#.T-DlHoKck0c.blogger">Day 39: Wooster to Niles OH by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-18749761352645603182012-06-18T17:49:00.000-07:002012-06-18T17:49:29.125-07:00Day 38: Marysville to Wooster OHHello LR12 followers. Today promised to be a bit of a grinder and it really did prove out to be true. First, we rode 105 miles yesterday with a bit of panic sprinting trying in vain to not get caught in the rain shower. Second, today's ride contained some rather steep climbs later in the ride, past the 2nd SAG at 75 miles. On the positive side the forecast for afternoon thunderstorms was only at 10%. [Keep reading for a WX update]<br />
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Both Mike and I seemed to be in a bit of a funk today and our initial riding pace reflected that mood. Right out of the hotel we got stopped by a very long light and that cost us about 5-7 minutes on the rabbit pack and the early birds. But we didn't care.....<br />
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We were just strolling along at about 15-15.5 mph enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning and the beautiful neighborhoods. We got a little distracted and missed a turn at the 23 miles point and it cost us about 3 miles and another 15 minutes. But we didn't care......<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A peaceful day for a stroll on a bike.</td></tr>
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We arrived at the first SAG at 38 miles which is the place we normally catch up with some of the early birds but alas no riders were there and Robin gently said....'I was beginning to worry about you two'. I guess we were strolling along at too leisurely of a pace after all. Also, we both noticed the clouds beginning to get a little dark and organized and since it was only 0930, we started to care....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">0930 and already clouding up...... Uh Oh.</td></tr>
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So departing the SAG we ramped up the speed to close the gap. Anyway, we began catching the early birds at about mile 45 and by the time we reached the second SAG at mile 75 we were up with all but the speediest of the rabbits. The WX actually improved and stayed dry for us all the way to Wooster.<br />
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The tour organizers warned us that after the 2nd SAG to expect some 'steep climbs ahead'. Wow, that's a little like telling someone that's about to be hit by a tsunami that they are about to experience moisture!! The next 15 miles was reminiscent of the MO rollers but these OH gems were even steeper. Some riders commented that the first 5 miles out of the SAG was the most difficult of the tour.<br />
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On one short section of one climb my Garmin estimated the road gradient to be 18%. Now I'm pretty sure is was not that steep but it was often claiming 14% and I would believe every bit of that. Go try to walk up a 10% grade and you'll see what we were up against today. It was a real struggle.<br />
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This particular area is Amish country with a number of roadside signs signaling slow-moving buggies. I did happen to see a couple of buggies today.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVV9GiTCDLMRTe6qylS2YtEVb79TX96pNWQ2LrVbI8GRbsH7_O5ezaX6k9dOxeqvZjfoND95UjbUHsQCKykU4o0Cl0QSQmHWh2mwXpqEOYXaacei_6kQXIgc8uQLiOgvBvBiJsvz85a4tp/s1600/IMG_5672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVV9GiTCDLMRTe6qylS2YtEVb79TX96pNWQ2LrVbI8GRbsH7_O5ezaX6k9dOxeqvZjfoND95UjbUHsQCKykU4o0Cl0QSQmHWh2mwXpqEOYXaacei_6kQXIgc8uQLiOgvBvBiJsvz85a4tp/s320/IMG_5672.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike K on the road having just passed an Amish buggy.</td></tr>
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Well, its about time for the evening 'route rap' discussing tomorrow's 93 mile ride to Niles, OH and then dinner.<br />
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About the WX forecast..... I finished the ride today at about 2:30pm without getting wet. Actually the sky didn't look too threatening at that time even with the poor outlook of 0930. However, in the time it took to me take a shower, talk to Michele about her drive and start on this blog entry, the sky just came apart. There is a very active lightning storm going on outside with heavy rain. From the inside of the hotel room it's kind of fun for this California resident to watch. However, I'm sure glad we didn't get caught riding in this one.<br />
Looks like the weather-guessers missed this forecast by 90% today since outside is definitely a 100% chance of 'precipitation'.<br />
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Talk to you tomorrow.<br />
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Tom <br />
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Click here to see details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/190435688#.T9-Sd7XgXJc.blogger">Day 38: Marysville to Wooster OH by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-2320287370848071442012-06-17T17:54:00.000-07:002012-06-17T17:54:17.546-07:00Day 37: Richmond IN to Marysville OH<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loading the truck in the morning before leaving for Ohio</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many nice farm homes along the route</td></tr>
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Well today turned out to be a really fun century. The WX forecast was 80% chance of afternoon rain (they missed by 20%...read on), temps in the low 90s, humidity around 70%, and W-SW winds around 5 - 10. <br />
The day dawned with high humidity and high clouds and winds as forecast which made the first 50 miles very pleasant. We were averaging almost 17 mph and life was good. Shortly after we started we crossed into OH, our 9th state on tour.<br />
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I mentioned yesterday that unfortunately there seemed to be a large number of raccoon road kill in the last few rides so I was at the ready today with my camera. Now you too can experience a real noteworthy sight of our cross country bike tour. They don't smell to great either.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPlF99pujtPyFp7iET14OvCJNiT7EdoF2wSddbKbJadc7p9zeumKhDfJpAUImdR5xHcFDk6R5Mw7cxqBPKGj5yYhwLgvgebLCWulLrYP6-IFBYyJpJDayRX_bLKaQdR1hBgKWZc6ZxPta/s1600/IMG_5649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPlF99pujtPyFp7iET14OvCJNiT7EdoF2wSddbKbJadc7p9zeumKhDfJpAUImdR5xHcFDk6R5Mw7cxqBPKGj5yYhwLgvgebLCWulLrYP6-IFBYyJpJDayRX_bLKaQdR1hBgKWZc6ZxPta/s320/IMG_5649.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I also have been meaning to stop to take a close look at both the wheat and the corn crops. One particular wheat field caught my attention today with the top of the stalks being highlighted by the sun. I parked my bike at the roadside and wandered over to the field and took this photo. I think it turned our really pretty well; and after so many pictures of fields of wheat, you finally get to see it up close and personal. Simple things amuse even the most sophisticated city boys.<br />
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I've mentioned that I've been riding closely together many days with Mike K. Mike K's mom Mary lives in southern Michigan and today Mike's wife Diana brought Mary down to our route and they were waiting at our last SAG stop at 78 miles. Mary was established in her chair so as to watch the arrival of each rider. We had a great time meeting her and even later had a chance to chat with her some more later. She was the hit of the SAG stop.<br />
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And finally, after departing the SAG with still 27 miles to go, the clouds got more organized and ominous. I kept looking over my left shoulder to see the rain coming.<br />
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After hearing the first rumbling of thunder, we really started pushing trying to beat the rain. Four of us were cruising at about 23 mph heading due east. It looked like the storm was going to pass slightly to the north of us, however, at the 94 mile point our route swung sharply to the NE and I knew we were going to get smacked. Amid frequent thunder claps, we finished the last 10 miles in a rather strong downpour. As the roads became more and more awash, we backed our speed down for safety reasons but the damaged was done....we finished up totally soaked. All that said, this century was really fun especially the last 30 miles trying to beat the rain.<br />
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Tomorrow the WX is forecast to again be messy and we have a 97 mile ride to Wooster, OH with some serious climbing late in the ride. Probably going to get again. Oh well. That's part of the adventure.<br />
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Talk to you later.<br />
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By the way, Happy Fathers day to all you dads out there!!<br />
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Tom<br />
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Click here to see details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/190079877#.T95Er6vPJLc.blogger">Day 37: Richmond IN to Marysville OH by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-59603460627666258842012-06-16T17:39:00.000-07:002012-06-16T17:39:17.407-07:00Day 36: Indianapolis to Richmond, IN<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIq0u6tOnBX5xc2NpFagNrd9UK5wE-dN3wgzUjkMGcvmSJMGGEqaEIhc_N5bx8a7iNL4WJkFbJfi2F_6w6ffu85VojPqwpqCgUl6GQwZvjE8d8pgYmgmTy62GuJQbBF120aUuUCAkeqrGh/s1600/IMG_2146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIq0u6tOnBX5xc2NpFagNrd9UK5wE-dN3wgzUjkMGcvmSJMGGEqaEIhc_N5bx8a7iNL4WJkFbJfi2F_6w6ffu85VojPqwpqCgUl6GQwZvjE8d8pgYmgmTy62GuJQbBF120aUuUCAkeqrGh/s400/IMG_2146.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for the OK to depart in the morning</td></tr>
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Welcome back LR12 followers. Today was kind of an uneventful ride of 84 miles to the eastern boundary of the state of IN. We are less than 3 miles from the boundary so tomorrow we will enter our 10th state!! It doesn't seem possible.<br />
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I departed with the rabbit group at 0720 this morning with pleasant temps in the upper 60s but with the relative humidity in around 85%. Now of course as the temperature of the air rises the RH will drop but it was still quite stifling. When cruising along at 16 mph, I noticed my legs were glistening with a rather thick layer of sweat. The water has no place to go as evaporation is much reduced. I kept my white sleeves and head drape saturated with water from my bottles (as we did in the desert) hoping to stay cool but I'm not sure how helpful it really was.<br />
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We spent more time on busier roads today and not as much on the nice isolated farm roads. There are some pretty nice homes or 'farmhouses' out here with large yards and thankfully chained-up barking dogs.<br />
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There was one 11 mile stretch of road that was resurfaced last week with a bright grey crushed rock and slurry type top seal.<br />
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Although the surface was smooth from the standpoint of cracks and potholes, the actual road surface was very rough. As a result there was a constant, high frequency vibration that was transmitted into the bike frame and up into your hands and arms. Riding on this surface was tough on the hands and wrists; my hands are still a bit sore from this treatment. I hope we don't get anymore of this road type again.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some colorful flowers along side the road today which were beautiful</td></tr>
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Our SAG today was at a combination post office and volunteer fire department building. Occasionally, you see something that gives you a tag glimps of this not-so-complicated life style. Here is a picture of our parking line-up that I hope captures what I mean.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post Office, Volunteer Fire Department Building AND a U-drop your sewer payments here box.</td></tr>
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I saw one sign of a horse and buggy with the note '11 miles' evidently a warning of slow moving Amish buggies in the area. I was surprised since I thought the Amish communities were essentially in Pennsylvania. I kept a keen look out but no buggy sightings today.<br />
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Michele and I went out and grabbed a quick lunch sandwich at the Steak and Shake. We had chicken sandwiches which were not too bad. This is a big chain in the midwest and it kind of had a little 'In-n-Out' burger feel. My strawberry milkshake was delicious :).<br />
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Well, time for a nap before our 'route-rap' meeting and dinner.<br />
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Have a great weekend and a special Happy Fathers Day to all those dads out there.<br />
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104 miles to Marysville, OH tomorrow. It clouding up outside today with a few light sprinkles so I hope we don't get a thundershower tomorrow.<br />
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Take Care<br />
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Tom<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A picture from yesterday of me and my cousins Jeff and Jerry on the porch at Jeff's</td></tr>
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Click here to see details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/189591873#.T9zivAHyMlU.blogger">Day 36: Indianapolis to Richmond, IN by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-28571969874534168022012-06-15T18:29:00.000-07:002012-06-15T18:29:00.220-07:00Day 35 Crawfordsville to Indianapolis INWell, in order to get up to Kokomo and see my cousins, I left the hotel in Crawfordsville, solo, a little before 0700. It was very peaceful on the country roads. I heard a few roosters sounding a wake up call and many morning song birds, and of course a few unfortunate racoons that met their demise on those morning roads. I wonder why there are so many 'coons that we've seen as official roadkill? Do they fall asleep on the road or perhaps their just deaf or slow.<br />
The sun was low so I couldn't resist taking this self portrait of the Hoosier boy along side the Hoosier corn.<br />
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I missed riding with other tour riders and it made me think about the end of the tour in two short weeks. I wonder how I'll feel out riding again with just my shadow? Time will tell.<br />
The wind was a little bit out of the east which slowed me down a tad but I made the 46 mile trip about three hours arriving just 5 minutes ahead of Michele. A quick clean up and change of clothes in the rest room of the hotel and we were off to Kokomo.<br />
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We had a little time before meeting the family so of course we had lunch at the Cracker Barrel. When visiting in the past, we would always take my uncle to the CB which brought back many memories. He really liked to eat there. A bit of visiting some old sites: the house where my dad grew up.......<br />
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And the church where Mom and Dad were married, and my brother, sister and I were Baptized: <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Patrick's in Kokomo, IN</td></tr>
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Well, it's been a long day and tomorrow we have a 90 miler to Richmond, IN.<br />
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Good night!<br />
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Tom<br />
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Click here for details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/189302875#.T9vTLWU5brg.blogger">Day 35 Crawfordsville to Indianapolis IN by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-61595455439644674852012-06-14T18:21:00.002-07:002012-06-14T18:21:56.772-07:00Day 34: Champaign IL to Crawfordsville INToday's activities started with the (in)famous CrossRoads helmet decorating event. There were many 'over-the-top' ideas but I must admit that the design that Mike K and I came up with was simply brilliant. Although not perhaps the most extravagant in implementation, ours was the deepest in thought and meaning.<br />
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We decided to leverage our self proclaimed status as the 'Tortoise Brothers', i.e. the riders with the uncanny ability to appear slow but to actually win the race by slowly and methodically gaining ground on the pesky rabbits that claim superior skills & conditioning. [Note: claim and possess]<br />
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Hence our superior design....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the confident look on the Tortoise and the shaken confidence of the rabbit!!!</td></tr>
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Some good attempts were also noticed......but fell sadly short of our entry.<br />
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On a brighter note, today we crossed into our 9th state during this 79 mile ride. The winds were a quartering headwind most of the day but all in all this was a delightful ride with great temperatures and flat roads. A note of particular interest is that yours truly was born in Kokomo IN so in a way it is my homecoming.<br />
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I've noticed that as we move east from MO and thru IL and now into IN, the corn fields seem to be dryer and the crops very much less lush and healthy looking. When talking to the local people along the way, many have commented on the dry weather they have been having. The corn fields seem to bear this out. Pray for rain and good crops for these many good people.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Probably can't tell from the picture but the corn doesn't seem as tall or healthy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A wonderful surprise from Jennifer, Lisa and Tim for my birthday and Father's Day</td></tr>
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Well tomorrow is a very short 45 mile ride to Indianapolis so I'm going to take advantage of this and go to Kokomo and see some of my cousins and family. The entire XC tour group will depart at 0815 but I'm going to leave around 0645 and ride alone. I should get to Indy by 1000. Michele will meet me at the hotel, then after leaving my bike in the lobby and changing clothes (too early to check in), we will drive 1 hour up to Kokomo for a quick visit. The following 5 days of riding will be 86, 108, 97, 101 and 105 miles to Erie, PA so I'll have to be back to Indy and in bed at a decent hour. The visit will be short but its better than no visit at all.<br />
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That's for all. Talk to you tomorrow.<br />
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Tom<br />
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Click here to see details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/189028494#.T9pwzpP0E6I.blogger">Day 34: Champaign IL to Crawfordsville IN by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-30204449509893600552012-06-13T19:07:00.000-07:002012-06-13T19:07:40.531-07:00Day 33: Rest Day in Champaign, ILWe enjoyed walking around the lovely tree lined University of IL today. We also had a fun time going to the movies and seeing The Avengers since I love super hero movies (Tom not so much). All and all a nice relaxing rest day. -MicheleFrom: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-62713711489143453682012-06-12T19:48:00.001-07:002012-06-12T19:50:51.416-07:00Day 32: Springfield to Champaign IL<br />
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Well today's blog entry will be short because 1) not much has changed and 2) I'm tired and going to take a nap and have dinner.<br />
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Re 1): I have reached the incredible conclusion that this is a very big country and that this very big country is filled with A LOT of corn fields. This is the only picture I took today and the entire ride looked similar to this.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of very healthy looking corn in KS, MO and now IL.</td></tr>
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I suspect the IN and OH will have a few corn fields also.<br />
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Re 2) After yesterday's good 109 mile ride I decided today to see if, and for
how long, I could run with the real rabbits out of the starting block.
All total there were about 8 of us that started behind the early birds
at a 7:20 departure. The course started northbound but for the most part
is was a due east run. The surface winds were from the NW to WNW at 10
building to 15 in the afternoon.<br />
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Anyway, I jumped into a pace line with the 5 strongest riders which included two from the tour staff that ride partial days and not every day. Needless to say they had strong legs. I hung with this group running around 16 to 17 mph when I decided that I was not having any fun. Besides putting out more energy that I was comfortable with at the early stages of an 87 mile ride, the concentration level required to safely stay in a pace line moving that fast was eliminating any real enjoyment of the ride. So at mile 25 I moved to the left and drifted back to complete the ride by myself. It turned out later that after 25 more miles and a stop at a Dairy Queen, that I linked up with Mike K and three of the original rabbit pack and we enjoyed a loose group ride for the remaining 35 miles to the hotel. The winds were favorable and the 87 mile ride took 5H 17min for an average of 16.5 mph.<br />
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Tomorrow is a REST DAY!!!! I for one am ready. The legs are a bit sore.<br />
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Talk to you soon.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old State Capitol Building where Lincoln worked and gave his "House Divided Speech"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was in this room that Lincoln gave his historic speech</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site Memorial</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lincoln's Tomb inside the memorial. Also buried across the room are his wife and 3 of his 4 sons</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking break at sag stop for much needed turkey and cheese wraps</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting ready to head back out for last 20 miles</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A downwind run thru the cornfields of IL</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where in the USA is Tom today??? Resting in Champaign IL.</td></tr>
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Click here to see details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188423181#.T9e9gBTziyo.blogger">Day 32: Springfield to Champaign IL by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-82779569514654387942012-06-11T03:40:00.002-07:002012-06-11T20:34:24.963-07:00Day 31: Quincy IL to Springfield ILWoke up this morning to the sound of thunder and rain. There is a cold front moving thru the area with the radar plots showing some pretty strong returns of heavy rain.<br />
We'll see how this CA boy does in the rain today.<br />
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Stay tuned.......<br />
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<u>Monday Night Quick Update since its 0845 pm and we have to ride 88 tomorrow:</u><br />
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The WX in the morning was so filled with lightning that the tour director would not allow anyone to ride. We waited, and waited for it to clear and finally at 10:30 we were allowed to start. That's pretty late to start a 108 mile ride but off we went into a rather dark sky.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kind of an angry sky but at least no lightning for now.</td></tr>
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I was pretty determined to keep up a good pace and keep the SAG stops short in order to beat the heat, the possibility of more rain and not arrive too late. The WX cooperated with moderate temps in the upper 70s and low 80s and favorable winds. I had a really good day, feeling pretty strong for the entire ride. I completed the ride in 7H 15 minutes elapsed time; 6H 39 minutes riding time for an average of 16.3 mph for the 108.83 miles. That is the fastest century I've ever completed.<br />
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At the last SAG, Mike and I departed with Nick H from the UK and the three of us really worked hard covering the last 35 miles together. Aided by a nice road and a slight tailwind, we were commonly moving at about 21-22 mph. When the lead rider got tired, he rotated back and the once-second-place rider was now in the 'pull' position and the pace continued. Here is a picture I took as I rotated to the back and Mike is now pulling us along. After stowing the camera, I slid in right behind Nick. This 30 mile stretch was really fun!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike K and Nick H in our pace line for the final 35 miles. 21-22 mph!!! </td></tr>
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Because of the rainy and wet road conditions, the bikes got really messy. The chain and gears picked up a lot of road grime so the first thing we did was degrease and re-lube those parts. If you don't its like running nice machinery with sandpaper in the works. You can't believe how hard it is to bend over and squat down to clean the bike after having just completed a 109 mile ride minutes before. But, I knew if I didn't clean things then, I would wimp out and not do it at all so...<br />
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Good night.<br />
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P.S. Michele visited the Lincoln Home National Historic Site and The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum today so I'm sure she'll be posting those results soon.<br />
The Lincoln Home, which is the only home they ever owned and lived for 17 years was fantastic. Not only the home but the entire street the Lincoln's lived on was reconstructed to the way it was when they lived there. Also, the museum was outstanding and really brought the Lincoln years to life with impressive multimedia visual displays and special effects. It was a very unique approach to a presidential library and quite captivating. Unfortunately, I am not able to upload any pictures at this time. -Michele<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take care of the bike so it will continue to take care of me.....</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188130305#.T9ac58AeBB8.blogger">Day 31: Quincy IL to Springfield IL by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-32190551945802372572012-06-10T17:38:00.000-07:002012-06-10T19:58:05.638-07:00Day 30: Kirksville MO to Quincy ILWell today the wind had its way with the XC12 riders. The ride was only 76 miles, taking us across the Mississippi river and into IL, but the persistent SE winds of 10-20 mph made this a miserable day. All the riders were commenting that this was one of the toughest days on tour. I would have to agree. It took me 5H 30 minutes to complete the ride averaging only 13.8 mph. The miles crawl by painfully slow. I don't even want to think about our 107 miles to Springfield IL tomorrow. :(<br />
This is one of those times that make the tour so mentally difficult. I've felt this way a couple of times on tour, very low, but somehow I've managed to push thru to complete the day's ride.<br />
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Anyway, now to the good stuff. My normal routine is to wake up 2 hours before departure time to eat a big breakfast and get dressed and apply all the proper preparation lotions like sun screen, bag balm, chap stick then packing and delivering my 2 tour duffel bags and of course to spend some time stretching before the ride.<br />
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Regarding breakfast: our normal breakfast is provided by the hotel and has the usual assortment of hot and cold cereals, fruit, yogurt, bacon/sausage and scrambled eggs, toast etc all delivered buffet style. One of the items I have developed a fancy for is the waffles that you cook yourself by pouring the batter onto the open grill and then closing and flipping on timed command. I never eat this kind of food normally so this is a real treat for me. I don't have to worry about eating too much.<br />
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Anyway, a new device has surfaced at the last couple of hotels, best described as a pancake machine. It apparently is filled with batter and all you have to do is press a button and in about a minute two pancakes pop out the side and plop right onto your plate. Its actually pretty fun. Here is the masterful machine....<br />
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Today the tour directors did something very unusual, they released all riders, both early birds and rabbits, at the same time, 0715. This created quite a bunch up for a while until the groups naturally spread out but this is what a little of it looked like.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And they're off.....</td></tr>
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I'm a slow starter so I rode the first 15 miles or so with some of the early birds but as the day wore on Mike K and worked our 2-man rotating pace line against the wind and were the 5th/6th to reach the hotel. As I mentioned, there are 3-4 riders in the rabbit category that stuck together and they really flew, beating us in by about 40 minutes.<br />
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Today we reached the 2000 mile milestone and crossed the Mississippi River into IL!!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a long way on a bike with such a tiny seat, but my two bike shorts help!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's the Westbound Bridge; We're on the Eastbound Bridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Land of Lincoln</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some beautiful period homes in Quincy</td></tr>
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After laundry and lunch, Michele and I took a walk along the Mississippi River bank on the IL side. Very beautiful although the wind was still SE at 20, temps about 90 degrees and probably 50-60% humidity :(<br />
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Click here for details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/187792420#.T9Uws-H1KPo.blogger">Day 30: Kirksville MO to Quincy IL by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-90309930575257860462012-06-09T15:02:00.000-07:002012-06-09T18:15:26.558-07:00Day 29: Chillicothe to Kirksville MOHello again to all the LR12 followers.<br />
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First of all I'd like to say thanks to you all who are following Life Ride 2012 and supporting our cause with prayers, well wishes and of course financially supporting Birth Choice Health Clinics in SoCal.<br />
It is humbling to think that LR12 has raised over $6000 to support Birth Choice. Thank you all again and as I've said in in our tag line, we ARE 'saving the unborn..... one mile at a time'.<br />
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A second thank you for all that are sending comments to our posts. Michele and I really enjoy reading every comment each night. It is energizing and a way for us to stay connected to our friends back home while we are on this extended adventure. It is really strange to be in a different hotel room each night and this is going on for seven weeks. It must be even more crazy for Michele being totally removed from her habitat of home, tennis court and family; at least I have my total focus of eating, sleeping and riding....eating, sleeping and riding....repeat....repeat.<br />
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Special note to my co-workers: the daily cards are absolutely fantastic and we can't wait to open a new one each night. Thanks so much for being especially thoughtful and adding so much to our journey. My world is truly filled with kind and precious friends.<br />
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Well, today was a short 75 miles with about 3500 feet of climbing on MO rollers. These rollers however were more like the 2-4% type we encountered on the trip into St Joseph and as such this ride was not too difficult. We averaged 16 mph. There was occasional 11% roller thrown in for sport but these were not the norm and didn't really have any adverse effect on the total ride.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0vgdrwLvQHPE5Edob6_l_6_x3ykX6CYjx7fEOudfmozMIbDtzaz6Ck7kixwtZkXtYFc0n6EBtaXM_eBgN7v76jMv23ju7Ufj57vxj1SgZGjZPaEa6vwzqTZW-sspJzt8GrVf8J6x9Sn0/s1600/IMG_5548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0vgdrwLvQHPE5Edob6_l_6_x3ykX6CYjx7fEOudfmozMIbDtzaz6Ck7kixwtZkXtYFc0n6EBtaXM_eBgN7v76jMv23ju7Ufj57vxj1SgZGjZPaEa6vwzqTZW-sspJzt8GrVf8J6x9Sn0/s320/IMG_5548.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is Nick H. from the UK. He has toured all over the world on this bike.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtRdxGhiUjfEeFWRlMllf7TWBytC9ZFkchsvXPnu7DuXjTFY4gQbRJu4cigV_rCDKHj2VRCD0N-N2xVDxLoRJiN8IBym-Vsrynnf1fGIblicpGQ_Cei2LLtsOhK8A7vfX9FKPwAJtEt4dW/s1600/IMG_5552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtRdxGhiUjfEeFWRlMllf7TWBytC9ZFkchsvXPnu7DuXjTFY4gQbRJu4cigV_rCDKHj2VRCD0N-N2xVDxLoRJiN8IBym-Vsrynnf1fGIblicpGQ_Cei2LLtsOhK8A7vfX9FKPwAJtEt4dW/s320/IMG_5552.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a string of riders taking on one of the hills today.</td></tr>
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Our tour directors have set the starting times of the riders into two groups in order to help keep everyone a little closer together and easier to manage thru the day. The first group is called the early birds and the second group of about 7 riders (we call the rabbits) usually starts about 30 minutes later. Mike K and I are in the later group but our style is more like sure and steady rather than speedy rabbits. Let me tell you, there are 3-4 really strong (rabbit) riders on this tour and they can fly if they decide to. Using our style however, Mike and I usually catch the early birds in about 2 hours; somewhere near the first SAG stop and usually arrive at the hotel ahead of them by about 30-60 minutes. I think they stop at all the Dairy Queens and take more photos!! The staggered start works really well for the tour organizers.<br />
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Here is some of the early bird group today departing the first SAG at the 48 mile point. They've really formed a tight-knit group of friends and enjoy a special social side of touring.<br />
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More farms in this stretch of MO seemed to have large ponds or small lakes on the property near the house and I'm thinking they are just for sport swimming.<br />
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It does add a beautiful effect to the house.<br />
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Well, that's all for now. Have a great weekend and we'll post again after we arrive in Quincy, IL tomorrow afternoon.<br />
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Click here for details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/187258123#.T9O8aSKL8M0.blogger">Day 29: Chillicothe to Kirksville MO by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-1600238685325164022012-06-08T15:39:00.000-07:002012-06-08T15:39:38.626-07:00Day 28: St Joseph to Chillicothe MO<br />
Today was the first of two dreaded rides of 'super-rollers' in MO. I've heard from previous riders that today and tomorrow were two days of mentally bruising terrain of rolling terrain as I described in a previous post. Its hard to describe why this 87 mile ride with 3500 feet of climbing is so difficult but I'll throw in a couple of pictures that may help. In essence, this terrain gives you glimpses 3-5 miles ahead that contain climbs that just seem to kick you in the teeth with hard work and nothing to show for it but another look ahead at yet another set of similar hills.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a view that shows three rollers ahead. Not too difficult physically but tough to face as you get tired.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you look carefully you can see that this is a climbing set of 7 rollers..... </td></tr>
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Anyway, the people of MO do have a sense of humor. I passed one ranch but failed to get a picture. The decorative arch that announced their farm said 'Rancho de Bankrupto'<br />
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Here is one roadside establishment with a bit of beckoning charm.<br />
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Jeff and Roberta are making the tour on a tandem!!! Today's climbs are really tough on them but WOW do they fly on the downhills.<br />
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This following picture certainly won't do justice to my reaction, but upon cresting a rather tall hill the view of this expansive openness was breathtaking. Wish you could have seen it with me.<br />
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And this inscription on a local memorial spoke to me on the tour...... sounds a bit like the Beatitudes, one of my favorite passages from Scripture.<br />
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As we approached Chillicothe, we crossed the Thompson River (Hi Dr. Dave from MO) and I stopped to watch and listen to a bunch of birds swooping around the bridge. I'm guessing they were feeding; or maybe just playing, but in any event it was fun to share the sights and sounds of their fun and games. I'll upload the video later so you can hear the birds but for now here is a still shot.<br />
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Finally, at about the 72 mile point I got a look an yet another test.... this set of hills was a real challenge. The final pitch you see out there had a grade that showed as 13% on my Garmin!!! Ouch, that one hurt.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh no, not another climb :(</td></tr>
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Anyway, that's it for this report. A quick nap, route rap meeting, dinner and then to bed for me. 80 miles to Kirksville MO tomorrow.<br />
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See ya<br />
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Tom<br />
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Click here to see details of today's ride:<br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/186902823#.T9JnOrcupCo.blogger">Day 28: St Joseph to Chillicothe MO by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-56242851215187458632012-06-07T18:45:00.001-07:002012-06-07T18:45:39.672-07:00Day 27: Topeka KS to St Joseph MO<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting ready to leave Topeka, KS</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our way</td></tr>
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"Hey Toto....we're not in Kansas anymore."<br />
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I've been waiting for a week to say that. Kansas is a wide state and we saw many interesting sights but today we crossed the might Missouri river and am now in the 'Show me' state. As we approached the Missouri river we crossed a couple the largest rivers that we have seen to date: obviously these were some major feeders to the Missouri so we knew something big was coming.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think this one was called the Delaware....go figure</td></tr>
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Today's ride was really not too difficult except that I could feel the effects of yesterday's climbing. There was a very nice high cirrus cloud layer that kept the temperatures comfortably in the 70s and low 80s. We rode 86 miles with about 2800 feet of climbing mostly on rollers. Today's rollers, in contrast to yesterday's, were only about a 2% grade (vs 4-6% yesterday) and as such you could practically push up them while still in the mental cruise mode and with a minor gear changes. That turned out to be a huge difference from yesterday and these rollers were not annoying at all. Just a fun day biking thru the beautiful countryside.<br />
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Finally reaching the Missouri river, they are building a new bridge and the old one is very narrow and somewhat dangerous for bikers since the trucks and cars will tend to squeeze you off to the side. So by advice of our tour director, as we crossed the Missouri river, we rode line abreast and/or took the entire eastbound lane thus preventing any overenthusiastic motorist from knocking us into the river.<br />
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The Kansas side of the bridge is essentially in Atchison, KS a major initial point of the Lewis and Clark expedition that started around 1802. Atchison was also the hub of the Atchison-Topeka Santa Fe Railroad which is now know as the Santa Fe trail which we road on in NM. Great history around here. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Amelia Earhart bridge on right</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike K crossing the Missouri River</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing the Missouri River....finally into MO!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 'Show Me' State. Our 7th State!!!!!</td></tr>
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I quick stop at the SAG to refuel and off we went again to St Joseph. I thought this sign very appropriate at our SAG stop.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15 Minute Limit to Fill Up....OK, I can live with that.</td></tr>
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The last 10 miles of the trip into St Joseph was thru the most beautiful residential area with old trees, sweeping turns in the roads and nice houses and neighborhood ball fields and parks. This was a real treat!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessie James House - he was shot and killed here in 1882</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patee House - one of the finest hotels west of the Mississippi in 1858 and the headquarters of the Pony Express</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pony Express National Memorial</td></tr>
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Click here to see details of today's ride: <br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/186645219#.T9EjiJTIvJE.blogger">Day 27: Topeka KS to St Joseph MO by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8992865065291092052.post-20188155290078584852012-06-06T18:20:00.000-07:002012-06-07T17:33:54.044-07:00Day 26: Abilene to Topeka, KS<br />
Well we made it today to Topeka, KS so we are officially past the 1/2 way mark. My records show I've ridden 1726 miles and gained 50,224 feet. That's alot of hills!!<br />
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Today was a bit of a challenging day. Not only was it 106 miles (3300' of climbing), the light winds always seemed to be a quartering headwind and the terrain was filled with seemingly endless rollers. If we're going to climb, I prefer a noticeable and relatively steep and constant 5-8% grade that rewards you with a summit of a mountain pass and a nice long descent. Today however was filled with rollers....3-4%, sometimes short 6% grades, that are only 100 to 200 feet of climbing but certainly take some effort and break your riding rhythm. Just when you are settled into cruising, here comes a roller. You have to mentally and literally shift gears and drive up the hill. The downhill side is short and mentally not too rewarding. Reshift into cruise gears again. Disruptive and annoying.<br />
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Settled in again and another roller comes along, and another, and another. This has been the most difficult type of terrain for me to adapt to, especially with the headwinds.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a great picture but you can see the rolling terrain....</td></tr>
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Even with all that said, the countryside is entertaining. Today's route took us on very lightly used roads that serve the country family farms. In past days we saw the coming of the many types of crops and farms, today we were IN the family farms, using their roads. A new more intimate connection with middle America.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRbzytMbCDT022p6aXQccrxHxzac5eYOLwuKQFYXiAJW5Cu0gbxh1t6F_rtjhS1GCGLV4mCxw9JIxhLmoDZpzLT5-6tvXskT1mY49xxCv6MqNxjVwbIC2s6DTBzo3zawC_uHQvRF29_JQ/s1600/IMG_1873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRbzytMbCDT022p6aXQccrxHxzac5eYOLwuKQFYXiAJW5Cu0gbxh1t6F_rtjhS1GCGLV4mCxw9JIxhLmoDZpzLT5-6tvXskT1mY49xxCv6MqNxjVwbIC2s6DTBzo3zawC_uHQvRF29_JQ/s320/IMG_1873.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anyone see a squirrel?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not many cars today on these lightly traveled farm roads.</td></tr>
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We also passed a field of bison so of course I had to stop and take a picture.<br />
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A nice SAG stop (support & gear) in a park in the very small town of White City, KS. The spread as usual was nutritious and very welcome. We usually take 10-15 minutes to refill our camel-backs with Gatorade, grab a few munchies, stretch or sit & rest, and oh yes reapply the Bag Balm to the bum. Then off we go for the next 2-3 hours of riding.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great work by Carol and Robin!!!</td></tr>
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Also in KS there seems to be frequent displays of themes of honor, duty, country, morality, relationship with God, faith and patriotism. I for one LOVE it. Too bad the rest of the country is not as overt.<br />
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Finally, for many days now Mike K has been kidding me about how I can ride, take pictures and videos, and munch on snacks all at the same time. Well the following picture is proof that even bicycle riders can be trained and adopt new skills.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmfvZvlqO53TBnnXif4XrD2N0LWSnD1JjBWuVk-2ed34HEI9CZc6yIShRpIULyyyErsRC-JNK7WCsS2l7CjnVq2-MTlbyUPX2ceGjYUGGaf3lgBbM_dSNhsPzW5N2wznI6NEwrt5x6z1a/s1600/IMG_5504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmfvZvlqO53TBnnXif4XrD2N0LWSnD1JjBWuVk-2ed34HEI9CZc6yIShRpIULyyyErsRC-JNK7WCsS2l7CjnVq2-MTlbyUPX2ceGjYUGGaf3lgBbM_dSNhsPzW5N2wznI6NEwrt5x6z1a/s320/IMG_5504.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Way to go Mike!!!!! The master of multi-tasking.</td></tr>
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Click here to see details for today's ride:<br />
<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/186327509#.T8_R7TCfDUQ.blogger">Day 25: Abilene to Topeka, KS by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>From: Life Rider Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12732751986457306872noreply@blogger.com2