Switching Andrews

Hello all. Well I have reached the end of my cross country trek. No, not the other coast. I just grew tired of pedaling every day. So when my good friend Andrew Chanania met up with us on his way back east I decided to hitch a ride with him. Andrew and Carl are continuing west with the intentions of reaching San Fransisco on the 17th of this month. I hope to be able to keep you all posted on their misadventures as they go.

-Evan

Another Day Off

Hello all. We didn't finish our errands so we took another day off. The good news is that you now get to see some images from the past few weeks. here they are.

This is the only interesting picture I got from Mammoth Cave. The woman in the big hat was Mary our guide.

This is a bridge that we had to ask permission to cross on a closed road that we took to get to the Katy Trail. Two of the workers were cyclist, and they ended up caring my bike for me. It also meant that we had miles of new road without traffic. Very Nice!

So that gave me a chance to hand off the camera and make Andrew get a shot of me on the "funny bike"

This picture is out of order. It was after we joined up with Carl. The Dog next to Andrew was a stray who adopted us at a gas station. We named him Tom (as we do all dogs "Hi, my names Tom" they bark at us). He followed us 9 miles to the next town were we turn him over to the local pound. We wanted to keep him but we have enough trouble taking care of ourselves.

These are some other animals that tried to hitch a ride with us in Missouri just off the Katy Trail one morning.

This is the Katy Trail. B-E-A-UTIFUL!

And then there was Carl! Robert Carl Rueff, another middle namer like myself. Instantaneous friendship.

These are the tallest and most frequent sight in Kansas.

Then we made it to Colorado. It was and instant change in temperature, humidity, and Prairie Dogs.

And this was just the other day as we rode toward Pueblo. It was our very first sighting of the mountains. We were very excited. I was glad that everyone who told us we would see them for days before we got to them were wrong.

So now you have been visually updated. More to come in the future. I'm sure it should be good seeing as we are heading into the most difficult and beautiful part of our trip.

Sorry I forgot the cord

Hello to those who still check the blog page even though We haven't written in two weeks. It has been an exciting two weeks with lots of miles covered. The before mentioned Katy Trail in Missouri was fantastic. We took our time dawdling down it and stop at a few local breweries. Then we made our way down to the route and into Kansas. It was there tat we ran into our now third member. Carl caught up to Andrew and me while we were hiding from the rain and getting a warm meal. It was a fantastic chance meeting. Early that day Andrew and I were talking about what it would be like to have a third person with us. We had also been discussing changing our route and doing the "Western Express" which takes us almost due west through the rest of Colorado from Pueblo, through Utah and Nevada, then to San Francisco. As it turn out this was Carl's plan. So now that is our plan as well. In fact, because Carl has a plane to catch on the 20th of September, we even know when we are going to be home "Mass". Very exciting! Now we are taking a day off in Pueblo, getting some things shipped from home that we may need for our new faster harsher trek west. I hope to finally get some pictures up soon because they do a better job explaining these misadventure than I do. Until then, I have a busy day of errands to run so I am going to leave it at that.

-Evan

Rejoice!

So this is my first post, maybe a little late. We've made it 2000 miles so far. The last 9 turned somewhere just before Chester, IL. I am glad to say we have made it out of Kentucky still true to our alcoholic tendencies and atheist beliefs, but I did not leave the bluegrass state completely unscathed. Kentucky loves dogs, lots of them. Big, small, often mean, and always loud (we call them Tom). I've always feared them but somehow after being chased by many dozen, one angry pit bull who decided to try and have and have an Andrew lunch made me realize that I love them and would like to get one when I return. I think I'll name him Tom, but not one that chaise's cyclists.

-Andrew

Out of Kentucky!

So we have made it to Illinois. Life is now flatter and we have been restored our rights to imbibe in adult beverages. To get here Andrew and I have been riding very long days. To be more exact about it, almost three centuries (one day was only 93 miles). We are planning on trying to keep up the good pace but even after a day off in Carbondale we are both pooped. Now we are off to the Katy Trail in Missouri. Sorry for the short update but like I previously mentioned, I'm pooped.

-Evan

Kentucy, Sooo Dry, yet so Wet!

Andrew happily plugging along!


This is a Photo of a vine that was brought from Japan as a shade cover for porches and the like. Itgot loose and has started to take over entire hill sides. It grows up to 18 inches a day! It is both beautiful and terrifying to see.


The above image was from the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Park. The whole ride was beautiful, it almost makes me miss the Apalachins ... Almost.


Well we have done it, we made it one state in and completed another map. It was partly do to hard work and perseverance, and partly do to our desire to have a beer. It turns out that eastern KY (that abbreviation never ceases to make me smile) is full of two things. Churches and people who think that alcohol is still illegal. It is infuriating to not be able to get the one little reward you promise yourself after days of riding. It has made us feel a little like a pair of alchies, but we have come to terms with the fact that Kentucky is to blame in this case and we are justifyibly pissed off. To make matters worse, these so-called dry towns have been damp to wet with everything from dew and fog to thunder and lightning. We are currently enjoying a day off in Berea, KY (snicker) even though we have had to move to a Days inn to avoid the down pours. Over the next week our goal is to make it most of the way through Illinois. It will be exciting. We will cross our first time zone line, our first big north/south river and hopefuly see some different sceanery.


-Evan

East meets West

Our boys have finally turned west! They have hit the long states, and unknown territory, hence I (Kate) might start blogging more for them now. They have conquered the Appalachian Mountains, and moving on soon to the rolling hills of Kentucky. They resisted the temptation to stick their thumbs out and take the easy road. I think that it has been a though week, the trip is starting to get long, and a little fatigue is setting in. However I think a new adventure or some new scenery could change all that. Yesterday, I am told, Evan and Andrew met some folks doing the West to east trip, with a slack car Evan said with a twinge of envy in his voice and a little foul language under his breath. They exchanged information about where to stay and how the trip has gone for everyone so far. The best and most hopeful news was given by the west to easters, they said they had a head wind for the whole length of Kansas!!! The boys were thrilled. Probably even more than they would have been because I have been railing on Kansas all along about how it will be the bane of the entire trip. I hope that the winds hold for them. More soon.

-Kate