I've been asked a couple times about whether any of my fellow tourists have had to quit the ride, so I'm guessing the readers of this blog are wondering the same thing. We started with 22 riders planning on doing the full transcontinental trip, and 11 riders who were signed up for partial segments. As of today's destination of Portage Wisconsin, there have been two folks who were planning on doing the full trip who have had to bail early, and one who left to deal with urgent matters but rejoined (that's dedication!) and one who has converted to be a part-time rider, part-time crew member. In short, 90% of the starting full trip riders are still on the trail, 86% will be riding out of Portage at 7AM tomorrow morning, and 81% have completed all the miles under self propulsion.
We're all feeling the disappointment of John E who was involved in a crossed wheels accident a couple days ago and broke his collar bone, forcing him to abandon this morning from La Crosse. "Crossed wheels" is when riders who are riding close together (in the same direction) collide, and its not unusual for one of the riders to loose their balance as a result and fall. Breaking the collar bone in a bike crash seems like one of the most common injuries now that we wear helmets. One glance at the damage to John's helmet should convince anyone how important that precaution is!
Frankly the numbers are higher than I thought they were. I'm very impressed with the strength and perseverance of my fellow tourists. I've been lucky in only having saddle sores to deal with. Others have had that and/or allergic reactions, not enough sleep, weight loss and other aliments to contend with. I'm hoping that we've shaken out most of the issues now and everyone will meet their goal!
We entered some outrageously beautiful ridge and valley country today on the east side of the Mississippi. The second half of the ride into Portage was a bit less stunning but still very nice. Since I've never been here in the winter it will live on in my memory in the idealized state we experienced today: temperatures below 80, almost no wind and no bugs to speak of.
La Crosse view from hotel in morning:
Day started with a fairly long climb out of town at 5%
Which got you up onto a plateau with a view and really nice farms.
Some rollers were involved:
The first sign we were entering an Amish neighborhood were these hand-stacked sheaves of hay:
The big three riders crest the hill ahead of us (Jon, Steve, John S)
Dad and progeny:
We're all feeling the disappointment of John E who was involved in a crossed wheels accident a couple days ago and broke his collar bone, forcing him to abandon this morning from La Crosse. "Crossed wheels" is when riders who are riding close together (in the same direction) collide, and its not unusual for one of the riders to loose their balance as a result and fall. Breaking the collar bone in a bike crash seems like one of the most common injuries now that we wear helmets. One glance at the damage to John's helmet should convince anyone how important that precaution is!
Frankly the numbers are higher than I thought they were. I'm very impressed with the strength and perseverance of my fellow tourists. I've been lucky in only having saddle sores to deal with. Others have had that and/or allergic reactions, not enough sleep, weight loss and other aliments to contend with. I'm hoping that we've shaken out most of the issues now and everyone will meet their goal!
We entered some outrageously beautiful ridge and valley country today on the east side of the Mississippi. The second half of the ride into Portage was a bit less stunning but still very nice. Since I've never been here in the winter it will live on in my memory in the idealized state we experienced today: temperatures below 80, almost no wind and no bugs to speak of.
Day started with a fairly long climb out of town at 5%
Which got you up onto a plateau with a view and really nice farms.
Some rollers were involved:
The first sign we were entering an Amish neighborhood were these hand-stacked sheaves of hay:
The big three riders crest the hill ahead of us (Jon, Steve, John S)
Same three riders entering the curve ahead:
Riding through a major bog after lunch:
In the later part of the day, Paul rides with crew member John S.
We had another wonderful post ride event when Paul's favorite daughter Lisa came to visit with her beau who took this picture of myself, Rachel and Dad then took us to dinner at a Japanese restaurant with excellent food.
Dad and progeny:
Fantastic Robert! Enjoy every pedal stroke! What a trip!
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