Don’t be afraid. As usual, all the advice you really ever need can be found scrawled on the walls in a public restrooms. On my last day of riding I found this quote in a ferry terminal bathroom: “Freedom is my only gospel.” That line summed up my trip in five words.
The best of all freedoms, in my opinion, is freedom from fear. Don’t fear failure, don’t fear risk, don’t be afraid to get out and see the world. What I found on this adventure was that every person I met was friendly, helpful, and kind. It didn’t matter if I was in a dive bar in Connecticut, a lake house near Cleveland, a two-hundred person town in Illinois, a huge city like Minneapolis, an Indian reservation in Montana, or on the back roads of Washington. Total strangers offered me cold drinks, hot meals, bike repairs, or a place to stay for the night, for no other reason than that they liked helping people. On more than one occasion people drove by, stopped their cars, and got out to just to chat, offer snacks or directions, or share some local history.
However, what I did notice is that folks would often say “well we’re nice here in rural Montana, but people aren’t like this everywhere.” Well guess what, people are overwhelmingly nice all across this county, I know it, I just lived it, but don’t take my word for it, step out the door and find out for yourself.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Awards
The Best:
Characters : The members of the World Explorers Club in Kempton Illinois:
wexclub.com
Climb: Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park
Decent: Down from Rainy Pass in eastern Washington, 15+ miles of wide shoulders and waterfalls
View: Every new angle in Glacier National Park offers another breathtaker
Campsite : Colville Washington National Forrest, Panhandle Campground – beautiful, quiet, and free:
Colville Panhandle
Pasta: Piero's Pasta House, Geneva on the Lake, Ohio – excellent pesto!
Bagel: Pedretti's Bakery, Elkader Iowa
Egg and cheese sandwich: West Glacier
Turkey Sandwich: Big Sky Pantry, Montana, Idaho border – Fresh baked bread
Breakfast Value: The Perkins #12 – as this haiku will explain:
Four cakes and two eggs
Bacon or Sausage, hash browns
Wheat toast, five dollars
perkinsrestaurants.com
Characters : The members of the World Explorers Club in Kempton Illinois:
wexclub.com
Climb: Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park
Decent: Down from Rainy Pass in eastern Washington, 15+ miles of wide shoulders and waterfalls
View: Every new angle in Glacier National Park offers another breathtaker
Campsite : Colville Washington National Forrest, Panhandle Campground – beautiful, quiet, and free:
Colville Panhandle
Pasta: Piero's Pasta House, Geneva on the Lake, Ohio – excellent pesto!
Bagel: Pedretti's Bakery, Elkader Iowa
Egg and cheese sandwich: West Glacier
Turkey Sandwich: Big Sky Pantry, Montana, Idaho border – Fresh baked bread
Breakfast Value: The Perkins #12 – as this haiku will explain:
Four cakes and two eggs
Bacon or Sausage, hash browns
Wheat toast, five dollars
perkinsrestaurants.com
By the Numbers
Days on the road: 54
Total Miles: 3804
Average Speed: 12MPH
Average Miles per day: 70.26
High Speed: 42.3 – Endless Hill region of Pennsylvania
People who gave me the Finger: 1, in eastern Washington
Overwhelmingly Kind Strangers: At least 20 who I now have e-mail/mailing addresses for, but truly, many, many more
Cars full of teenagers who blasted air horns at me as they drove by: 2 – where do they learn that trick?
Days it rained a little: 4
Are there other stats you’d like? Leave a comment and I’ll see what I can dig up for you.
Total Miles: 3804
Average Speed: 12MPH
Average Miles per day: 70.26
High Speed: 42.3 – Endless Hill region of Pennsylvania
People who gave me the Finger: 1, in eastern Washington
Overwhelmingly Kind Strangers: At least 20 who I now have e-mail/mailing addresses for, but truly, many, many more
Cars full of teenagers who blasted air horns at me as they drove by: 2 – where do they learn that trick?
Days it rained a little: 4
Are there other stats you’d like? Leave a comment and I’ll see what I can dig up for you.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
I MADE IT!
I have arrived! This post is comming to you from a swanky hotel in downtown Seattle. Over 3800 miles later if you are still readin along please continue to check in over the next few days for stories, top picks from the trip, and some stunning photos of the Washington waterfront and my facial hair.
Thanks to eveyone for your support over the past two months. Also, if you have not done so already, please click on the link to the right and make a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, it would mean a lot.
Best to all,
-Steve
Thanks to eveyone for your support over the past two months. Also, if you have not done so already, please click on the link to the right and make a donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, it would mean a lot.
Best to all,
-Steve
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Spin-my-Blog Post
Jul 20th. Tomorrow should be my toughest day of writing yet. I need to complete 2 Mt. passes in eastern Washington. There'll be over 20 miles of climbing & 6000 total ft. of elevation gain. To make matters more difficult, the roads are rough & thick with logging trucks & forest fires are particular in the area.
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Spin-my-Blog Post
Jul 17th. I've now gone up & over the rocky(?) & I can surely say that it wasn't that hard & that ___ in National Park is the ___ crown of a national part system. It's a wild beautiful amazing place with great mountain scenery & beautiful crystal clear lakes. What I'm told now though is that the cascade in Eastern Washington are actually much harder for biking then the rockies so I've got those to look forward to in the next few days.
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Spin-my-Blog Post
Jul 12th. A big thank you to the Donaldson. John Donaldson is director of Student Support Services at Montana State University Northern. When I spoke with him about staying on campus, he invited me over to his family's home for dinner. The food was excellent & the company even better. Thank you.
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Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Fast Forward
I'm making a leap...
So that I don't have to rush the rest of my trip I'll be taking good 'ol Amtrak from Minot, ND to Haver, MT. I've met many west bound cyclists who all rave about Glacier National Park in Western Montana and the Cascade Mountains in Washington, but the reviews on eastern Montana are less enthusiastic. More of the same they say. So, I'm skipping ahead.
Tonight will be my last night with the guys from Virginia and one of them is celebrating a birthday so expect some good pictures tomorrow.
Finally, thanks to everyone who is reading along, Mark, Jeff K., Rob K., and Floris I appreciate the comments, and yes there are no pictures of me so that the beard remains hidden until the west coast. I hope the suspense is building.
Best to all,
-Steve
So that I don't have to rush the rest of my trip I'll be taking good 'ol Amtrak from Minot, ND to Haver, MT. I've met many west bound cyclists who all rave about Glacier National Park in Western Montana and the Cascade Mountains in Washington, but the reviews on eastern Montana are less enthusiastic. More of the same they say. So, I'm skipping ahead.
Tonight will be my last night with the guys from Virginia and one of them is celebrating a birthday so expect some good pictures tomorrow.
Finally, thanks to everyone who is reading along, Mark, Jeff K., Rob K., and Floris I appreciate the comments, and yes there are no pictures of me so that the beard remains hidden until the west coast. I hope the suspense is building.
Best to all,
-Steve
Monday, July 9, 2007
Spin-my-Blog Post
Jul 8th, North Dakota's population density makes Indiana seem more like New Deli, India but when people do get together here they have a great time. The city of hope celebrated their 150th anniversary with 150 different kinds of pie. Their also advantage is to having no people around. Nuclear missiles are siload(?) in the fields, surrounding these small cities.
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Sunday, July 8, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Monday, July 2, 2007
'The Cities'
I had a great time in the twin cities, simply 'the cities' to locals, the last two days. Big thanks go out to Beau in Minneapolis for inviting me downtown for a Sunday afternoon Cuban Jazz concert. The headliner, Nachito Herrera, www.nachito.net, is an amazing piano player and his band includes talent from Sudan, Israel, and South America. Go see this man if you ever have the chance. Not only was the weather perfect for this outdoor concert in Peavy Plaza, but the Beer was cheep too!
Best,
-Steve
From Cambridge, MN
Best,
-Steve
From Cambridge, MN
Sunday, July 1, 2007
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