Sunday, June 24, 2007

Hey Hey,

John and I can officially say that we made it through the Rocky Mountains. It was truly amazing and no words can really explain to you the breath taking scenery. It is something you must experience for yourself! The hardest part of our trek is pretty much over, we made it through most of the mountains, and we are currently in a small town in Eastern Colorado called Ordway. The night before, we stayed in Pueblo. We met a local cyclist on the road named Donald and he asked John and I if we wanted to crash at his house! We immediately said yes! Donald was quite the adventure man....He teaches in Burma during the year and has cycled all over the world...We set up camp in his backyard and met his wife Crista. They took us out to a local Bar that their family owns and we got free drinks all night! I had one! The next morning he took us to a local Mexican place called Taco Star. It was one of the best Mexican food i ever had. Truly delightful.

It was tough to leave Donald, but today we continued into Eastern Colorado. It was quite the change in terrain for us as everything is now flat! It has its advantages and disadvantages. We had a tough headwind today and we fought through 55 miles of riding in 100 degree heat. We ended up in Ordway, where we found about by another cyclist that their was a woman named Gillian who houses cyclists. So, we made our way to Gillian's crib and the rumor was true! Gillian works in a correctional facility down the road and has been housing cyclists for over 10 years! She is originally from New Zealand and has an amazing zest for life. She has stories of all of the cyclists she houses and remembers each one of their names! Truly remarkable. She let us do some laundry, got us some dinner, and as i write, John is in the other room knockin down some beers with her! This experience will be one John and i will remember forever and be a highlight of the trip!

I hope you enjoy the pictures we loaded below! They combine Utah and Colorado. By mid week we should be in Kansas, let's hope for a tailwind. Finally, to quote our good friend Donald in Pueblo,

'Riding on your bike for the summer is good livin'

No question about it. Good livin.....

Monday, June 18, 2007

Dear Friends,

Sorry for the delay! We have been enjoying ourselves way too much. I hope you caught some of our video in Utah, so much has happened since then. Utah was truly spectacular. The array of rock formations with vibrant colors of red, pink, and orange has been truly breathtaking. Utah was also hot as all hell (temp). Had it not been for the stunning mesas and rust colored plateaus, we may have dared to liken it to the barren terrain of Nevada. Our route in Utah took us through amazing National Parks. We cycled through Cedar Breaks National Park, where we got Junior Park Ranger status thanks to a friendly Ranger we met named Janice. I (Noah) sort of have a crush on Park Rangers! They are just so versatile.....Anyways, We then made our way through Bryce Canyon National Park where we continued to see amazing scenery and meet more Park Rangers. I think our favorite National Park was Capital Reef. We got to pick fresh Mulberries from the many orchards in the park, and John got about 20ft from a family of deer! It was at this point where Utah got very hot and very mentally and physically challenging. We biked in about 120 degree heat down near Lake Powell, which is an offshoot of the Colorado River and had to spend about 5 hours out of the sun just to keep on riding! Luckily, we met up with a new cyclist named Gunner! Gunner lives in California and has been jammin with us for a couple of days. Due to the fact that Southwest Utah is so desolate and barren, there is not a lot of places to get water and camp out. We learned that the heat takes a dramatic toll not only on your body as your water intake must be drastically increased, but also on our minds. The oppressive heat does some funky things to your psyche when you ride in it for eighth hours a day. Due to lack of campgrounds, and long mileage between towns, John, Gunner, and I had to camp out on the side of the road in Utah! It was quite the experience. The thing that was great about it is that we got to ride for the first time in the evening! The sun created amazing silhouettes on the mountains and the sunset was truly memorable. When we reached our "stealth" campsite John ran into a baby rattle snake under Gunner's tent. I clearly stayed in the tent and let them deal with it. I'm afraid of snacks and from LA. Lets be serious! After that little scare, the stars came out and it seemed as though we could see every one! We had a little dinner and made sure we didn't run out of water. Sleeping on the side of the road is something we don't recommend, but it had to be done!

Now, as i write we are in "colorful Colorado" Baby!
We are currently over 1,200 miles from our original starting destination in San Francisco and today marks the completion of our third week on the road. Today we did just over 82 miles from Blanding, UT into Delores, CO. You have no idea how truly lovely it is to see trees, lakes, and river beds with water actually flowing through them. We start our day tomorrow with a forty mile ascent to 10,220 ft. Just a day in the life of a touring cyclist. We love and miss you all. Your words of wisdom and comments of support are always nice for John and I to read after a long day of riding, so thank you all.

Johnny and Noah---aka SAUL

P.S. I am still trying to find a good Jewish Deli, but no luck so far. As a result, Mexican food will have to do!

Monday, June 11, 2007

Friends,

John and I have reached Utah! It has been an amazing journey! Our good friend Mike has taken another video of us! This time you get to see us riding. Enjoy! We are currently in Cedar City Utah. Tomorrow we have a 28 mile climb up to 10,000 feet!!! Wish us luck! Pray for us! Much Love!

Noah & John

The video link:


Thursday, June 7, 2007

Friends,

We are now in Eureka, Nevada! On the road we met a fellow cyclist Mike who is also biking across the country! We rode with him today from Austin to Eureka and he took a video of John and I Biking! We hope you enjoy the video, hopefully you will feel as though you are with us for a quick second! Until next time, much love

Noah & John

The Video Link:

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Dear Friends,

It is so great to be writing again. We have had quite the adventure since our last post. With the help Of Brian Levine (Noah's cousin,) we made it up the Sierra Mountains. As it turns out, we both ran out of water climbing the stretch of the Sierras from Pollock Pines to route 88! As it was roughly a 22 mile stretch, Noah made it near to the end before running out out of water, as I myself was less fortunate. As I ran out around mile fifteen, I was forced to salvage half full bottles of water from the roadside and mixed the warm water with snow from the peaks. Incredibly refreshing! Luckily by the time we both reached the end, Brian, who works for the Forest Service in the area, was working an overtime day and was glad to replenish our diminished water supplies and spirits with bottled water, Gatorade, and a friendly face. It was a day that challenged us physically, mentally, and geographically. By the way, make sure you show your love for the Forest Service. They do great work, we know!

By the time we hit the summit of the Sierra's we felt extremely accomplished (Carson Pass is at roughly 8500+). The Sierras provided us with some beautiful vistas and scenic landscapes, which we posed proudly in front of of course. We then made our descent down the mountain and stayed at the Silver lake Campground which, was situated right on a flowing set of river rapids. We took showers in the river, killed as many mosquito's as possible, sucked down some rice, and went to bed with a sense of satisfaction and contentment.

After days of biking, we were finally rewarded with our first State change! We exited the foothills of California's Sierras and entered the foothills of Nevada's rolling hills. We spent our first night in Carson City (the State Capital if you didn't know), and admired the many gas stations and car dealerships that seemed to dominate Nevada cities. Nothing special. We didn't gamble, and haven't been to any strip clubs....yet! (honest) From there we headed East to Fallon with newly purchased camel backs filled to the brim with the worst gas station water you can imagine. It is incredible how good bad water tastes sometimes though. It must have been almost 100 degrees that day with the Nevada heat consuming us and our two wheelers. The majority of our route in Nevada follows route 50-what Life Magazine, nearly 20 years ago dubbed, "The loneliest Road in America". Even well over a hundred miles into the over 400 mile stretch, it is apparent to us how and why the road received such a dubious distinction. In order to attempt to break the monotony we busted out my little radio and jammed to Reno's Soft Rock station while playing geography games to pass the time. Watch out for us on the road, we are a bunch of wild guys. Our next night in Nevada found us at one of the few and far between stops on route 50 called Cold Spring Station. They cooked us a nice dinner and we met an interesting military family as we finished dinner. When we were eating dinner the wife (grandmother) farted at the table loud enough so a high school boy in the locker room would have even gotten a couple of high fives. There was a brief moment of silence as Noah and I exchanged awkward glances as if to ask one another if what had just happened really happened since they both continued conversing like nothing really had happened.

As we write, we are recent (and proud) survivors of our first snow storm (Spring squall) on this trek in Austin, Nevada. Can you believe it? Snow in Nevada? We thought we were going to work on our tans! Anyways, we got caught at about 7,300 feet in a brutal snow storm and for the second time on this trip needed to be "rescued" by local law enforcement! Ah the benefits of a college education. The Sheriff of the town came and got us and brought us down to a motel. It is here in Austin where we are taking our first day off and letting the snow pass us by.

In the coming days, we will venture into Utah and make our way into Colorado to take on the Rockies! More stories to come, much love to all!!

John & Noah---aka SAUl