Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Day Fourty - Oh Heck No, AKA The Final Miles

Day Fourty – Oh Heck No (AKA The Final Miles)

Dana Point To Carson

Daily Brief

We made it to the end of the road. We are alive!

The Ride

The main crew awoke on the beach bright and early. It’s hard to sleep when there is sunshine seeping into your tent, but I really try anyways. Leaving the beach, we headed towards our final destination.

The further inland we got the hotter it got. The heat sorta snuck up on us and before we knew it, it was over 100 degrees. We probably drank enough water to fill a small pool. As we wound our way through the urban streets, we only took a slight detour by going too far west. Eventually we found the bicycle path the lead us to Corona. As the path broke away from following the river, the heat picked up even more. I know what we were all thinking, it was something along the lines of ‘Oh heck no! It better cool back off!’ We also found the faster you went, the hotter the wind got. The only release came from our frequent van stops when we would refill water and sit in the shade for a moment before continuing on. This was by far the hottest day of the trip.

Shaun’s fiancée, Faith, decided to try a leg of the day with us. It was pretty brave of her to wait until today. Plus, she didn’t have clips so she was riding with sneakers on the clip in pedals, on a bike that was probably a little big for her. Even so, she managed to tough it out, although she was more then thrilled to see the van again for the next rest stop where she could hop back in and drive to the next place, and I don’t think any of us could blame her.

At the van break where Faith finished her leg of the journey, we met her mom and she supplied us all with cool towels. They really helped cool us off. After that we were informed that we only had three miles until the finish at one of our church’s(Stake center). No one was waiting for us there, but that was where we had decided to end our trip. Chris and I were joking around that if we were told there were three miles to go, there was probably nine left…or more. It usually happened that way, that whenever someone gave us an estimated destination, that you needed to double or triple that number in order for it to be accurate. Like that last time in LA.

As we took our journey onward, our pace quickened, and quickened. We only had a few miles left to finish our 2,600 mile journey and we were anxious. As we went, Chandler and Shaun went straight because no one knew the name of the road we were supposed to turn right on. Ok, so, one wrong turn, not too bad right? Oh heck no! As we sprinted up the hill, we came to a church! Chandler and I sprinted up the last few feet into the parking lot, and gave ourselves a sweet high five and some hollers of enthusiasm. Russ was right there too, but that’s when Faith’s mom came and told us this wasn’t the stake center, it wasn’t the finish. Oh heck no! So, as Shaun and Chris were coming up the street we yelled at them to turn around. And so, we continued.

We were told that we should take a right after Wal-Mart. As we approached I stopped to get come clarification and Faith told me to take a right before In N’ Out. The problem was, with the tree’s you can’t really see In N’ Out from the street we were on. So I continued on straight to find it. Meanwhile, Chandler had seen me talk to Faith and continue straight and he thought that she had given me new directions, so after he took the correct right turn, he then turned around to follow me. As I journeyed on, I thought about turning around but then I saw Chandler behind me so I figured that Faith’s mom had caught him and rerouted him, like she had done before.

The city passed away and Chandler and I were on a dusty road, the heat was maxing out at 109 Degrees in the air, hotter on the road. I eventually stopped to wait up for him. When he caught me we collaborated and found our mistake. He was out of water, and starting to get dizzy and a little shaky. We were now 9 miles down the road, after we had been told we had three to go. I had hoped that someone would have sent a car to get us if we were off, but that never happened. As it was, Chandler and I made it back to the turn at Wal-Mart which wasn’t that far up the road, and found everyone waiting at the In’ N’ Out, which was by the Wal-Mart which we had seen. We both collapsed in the In N’ Out under more cool towels provided by Faith’s mother.

After some cool off time, Chris’s mother thought that we had gone far enough. I totally agreed. We still were not at the church, but then again, we had done the ‘only three miles left’ three times over, had a fake finish, and weren’t in the best of shape. Ergo, the In N’ Out became our final destination, our shelter, our finish. We ate and took pictures, re-arranged the vans, and split up after driving to the Pearson’s house (who were providing the evenings shelter for chandler and I). Shaun went to stay at Faith’s house. Chris went off with his mom and sister. And so, we divided.

That then is the end of the road for EB Trek 2008, and while we dismount and leave our bikes, and go to our homes, or wherever it is that we are headed, we know there are many who can’t just leave their pain behind. The kids that we met don’t just make a simple finish, or stop at a restaurant to end their hurt. There is hope for a cure, we look forward to see it, and we hope that many of the kids we met with EB will experience it. It is close, and with the right support it could be closer.

EB Trek raised money and awareness for a cure.

We want to thank everyone who donated their time, money, and means to accomplish this and make this Trek a success.

Without your help, we never could have made it.

Thank You.

Thank You.

Thank You.



Daily Stats

Distance: 59.13
Time: 4:05
Avg Speed: 14.5
Max Speed: 42.0

Total Distance: 2614.30

P&C Pushups: 100

Day Thirty Nine - LA Split and EB reunion.

Day Thirty Nine – LA Split and EB reunion.

West LA to Dana Point

Daily Brief

Our aim was to make it to Dana Point by 2:00 PM, but LA proved to be longer then we thought. I got left behind in LA (the split) , but made it to Dana Point where we all met EB kids and their families at a local deli (the reunion).

The Ride

Waking up in west LA, having slept on a roof, we had dew on us and the morning sun wouldn’t let us sleep. We got up, got going, and ate some breakfast food provided by our kind hostesses. We then took on the crazy LA streets and traffic. After all the miles we’ve ridden, this was probably the scariest. After surviving the LA streets, we made it to the beach front.

At this point I was ahead of everyone since I was meeting my friend, Adam Ifill by Long Beach. Finding my way without a map was an adventure I will share another time, needless to say, we found each other and chilled for a few minutes before Shaun called me. He was ahead at an intersection, so I raced to catch up with everyone but they were gone by the time I got there, and didn’t stop until Dana Point. Meanwhile, since no one was answering their phone I wondered around LA trying to find my way.

Usually we don’t leave people behind, but we were supposed to be in Dana Point around 2:00 PM to meet some EB kids and their families, so the team went on their way. (At least this is the excuse I am giving for the punks...) Eventually Adam called me with correct directions and I found my way.

Meeting with the EB kids and families was the real highlight. Whenever we meet the kids, (and to be fair, not all of them are 'kids', but that’s just what we say) it’s a real motivator for us to keep working for the cause.

After the meeting with the EB kids at the deli, we finished off at a beach campsite and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Chris and Chandler took a swim, I was to beat from my wonderings to join them. The Russ’s enjoyed the beach.

Daily Stats

Distance: 78.31
Time: 4:54
Avg Speed: 16.0
Max Speed: 34.5

Total Distance: 2555.17

P&C Pushups: 150

Day Thirty Eight – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Day Thirty Eight – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Carpenteria to West LA

Daily Brief

As hard as it was to leave our shabby hotel, we felt better on our bikes and even kept up with the cyclists who passed us that thought they were faster. As fast as they were, I think we were stronger, owing to our uphill climbing ability honed on the mountains of Idaho.

The Ride

In the morning, as hard as it was, we left our hotels. The Russ’s, Chris, Chandler and I had been at the best hotel ever. Not exactly the highest quality place, but the right price, it had cigarette stains on the shower curtain and a strange smell in the room. There was a chair in the bathroom and a bright light outside our window that would blaze on any time at night when someone walked by. It made for a memorable experience.

Leaving the shabby hotel behind, we collected at the other hotel where Shaun and his family had been staying. We met up and headed out. After awhile some other bicycle riders passed us. As is our usually style, someone in our group had to try to keep up. Actually, Chris, Russ and I all got behind them and started to draft. There were three of them and initially they moved pretty quick, powering up hills and pushing down the other side. Russ thought that they were trying to lose us, and Chris eventually got too far behind to draft. Once you’re not in the slipstream it can be a pain to catch up, or simply impossible. At the rate these guys were pushing it, it would have been a real challenge. Russ and I stuck with them for awhile, and as fast as they were, they weren’t strong enough to leave us behind when they sprinted up the hills.

As we got into Southern California the scenery changed. Instead of miles of empty coastline and gorgeous views, we hit a steady stream of coastal towns. One town merged into the next, into the next beach, into the next town. Sometimes we were riding in busy coastal downtowns that have sprung up along the route and sometimes there is even more city than that. It made for a little more nervous riding.

Once we hit LA the traffic picked up and there was a sea of cars to our left. As Russ and I were still trailing the fast bicycle riders, we hit the worse road we’ve ever ridden on yet. Going downhill, the roadway was torn up, presumably for construction purposes and it was so rough that it almost shook us off our bikes. Imagine a field made up of softballs all stuck together, and then trying to ride across it at 25 MPH, it would be a similar sensation. As we went down, there were periodic manholes that stuck obtrusively out of the ground, I swerved to miss one that I didn’t notice until the last moment but Russ didn’t. He tried to hop over it but his back tire didn’t clear it and it slammed so hard it popped his tube and messed up his tire. At the bottom of the hill I noticed he was gone and so I went back up the parking lot that mirrored the road and found him there. Soon he was fixing his bike and the rest of the team caught up. We took a short break and continued on our way.

After the break, we found a bicycle path that lead along the beach. We road on a strip of pavement that was situated in a sea of sand, with the ocean to our right, and LA to our left. We then cut back into LA and found where we were going to crash for the night, which was the roof of an apartment building. Not just any apartment building though, the roof of Chris’s sister’s friend’s apartment building. It was actually a really cool set up. They had lawn chairs on the roof and it was just the right temperature at night.

After we found the place we were staying for the night, we did take showers in the apartment and then went to dinner with Brandon (an EB kid) and his family. They paid for the team dinner, which was at a nice little Italian place close to the apartments we were crashing on. Arriving back at the apartment after dinner we talked for awhile with two of the girls who were living there and then retired early at around 10:30 PM.

Even after pushing it today, we weren’t adversely affected. All this cycling has sure made us faster and stronger, not to mention better at riding bikes, although our rears are sure hard.

Daily Stats

Distance: 86.44
Time: 5:03
Avg Speed: 17.1
Max Speed: 39.3

Total distance: 2476.86

P&C Pushups:100+

Day Thirty Seven - Too Long

Day Thirty Seven – Too Long

Nipomo To Carpenteria

Daily Brief (In Haiku)

A very long day
Rusty is a transformer
Cool ocean breeze rocks

The Ride

It was a long day, I’m tired and I know everyone else is as well. It’s getting harder to type with the loss of dexterity in my fingers due to leaning on my wrists for six weeks, but it should come back soon. Shaun used to be unable to straighten out his finger, we think it was a pinched nerve, but it’s better now.

The Morning went well, Pam Quinn (My Aunt) had given us shelter for the night and fed us well in the morning. The rest of the day went well, although Rusty ran over a rock, and Russ ran over a grate, which he didn’t remember until his dad told him. Although Russ did remember running over the rumble strips and almost losing control. I got a personal massage from them as well. I digress, the start of the ride reminded us of Idaho with the open fields and hills. It was also hot like Idaho, actually it was probably the warmest we’ve felt in awhile. We were really sweating for awhile there. We were rewarded for our effort with an nice downhill, 7.5% downhill grade for 2 miles. Rusty hit 53 MPH himself on the way down.

While were on the subject, I think it’s about time we mentioned Rusty’s secret downhill ability. When riding normal, he looks like any other rider, but when we hit any downhill he transforms into speed racer. He does so by tucking into a small ball and hiding behind his handle bars. The effect is he usually ends up at the bottom of the hill before any of us. It’s pretty intense, trust me.

After the downhill run we went a little further and finally came to the ocean. This meant a cool ocean breeze that kept us from heating up and pushed us forward as well. We actually came across a nice beach today, the kind you envision when you think of California. Ya know, sunny, tons of sand, lots of people, etc

As we went, we didn’t know how to get to Carpenteria, but thankfully we came across a local bicyclist who showed us the way. He showed us all the way into town. That was such a life saver.

We all checked into hotels and went to grab some food and crashed.

Daily Stats
Distance: 109.56
Time: 6:28
Avg Speed: 16.9
Max Speed: 53.0

Total Distance: 2390.42

P&C Pushups: 100+

Day Thirty Six - Short and Sweet

Day Thirty Six – Short and Sweeeeet

San Simeon To Nipomo

Daily Brief

A Short fast ride, it was sunny, cool, and the scenery was gorgeous.

The Ride

As you can see, we did the ride pretty fast. It was a sunny coastline and the wind was blowing our way. It was a great great day to ride a bicycle. We ended the ride today at my Aunt Pam’s house, who bought me dinner at In N’ Out, which deserves a mention on the blog since it was really good. J

Daily Stats

Distance: 63.38
Time: 3:44
Avg Speed: 17.0
Max Speed:38.2

Total Distance: 2280.86

P&C Pushups: 100+

Day Thirty Five - A Sunny Sunday Ride

Day Thirty Five – A Sunny Sunday Ride

Limekilm to San Simeon

Daily Brief

Usually we like to rest on Sunday but due to a shorter day yesterday then expected we had to turn out a few miles today.

The Ride

We awoke in Limekilm, well, those of us who camped. We ate breakfast then went to the small beach front. It was cloudy but not too cool. After a bit we ate lunch taking naps in between all the before mentioned activities, or at least pretty often. Finally Faith and Shaun arrived and we packed up camp and hopped on our bikes. The first part of the ride had some pretty steep uphill climbs, and we took it fairly slow. After we got over the climbs we made it to rolling hills with the wind to our backs. We probably averaged 24 MPH on the last 20 miles coming into San Simeon. After arriving we found a place to stay and cleaned up, got in the hot tub and ate dinner. Chanlder, Parry and Chris went down to check the beach out. It was a rocky beach with sand to suit. A couple of brave surfers went out to hit some waves. We thought they were nuts because of all the rocks in the water. After that everyone just relaxed some more, made a few phone calls and went to sleep. Everyone was snoring after a few minutes, and I can attest to that personally.

Daily Stats:

Distance: 41.72
Time: 2:22
Avg Speed: 17.6
Max Speed: 41.4

Total Distance: 2217.48

P&C Pushups: 0 (It’s Sunday!)

Day Thirty Four - Tasting Pavement

Day Thirty Four – Tasting Pavement

Watsonville To Limekilm

Daily Brief

Chandler took a spill, and we couldn’t find a place to stay.

The Ride

Waking up at Chris’s Aunts house, we ate breakfast end everyone recollected and prepared for the days ride. As we headed out, we took our direction towards Big Sur, which was our original destination for the day. Owing to the unavailability for places to sleep we had had to change our destination, which in all reality was simply any place past Big Sur. Starting out, we passed two motorized vehicles, tractors to be exact. Still, we felt good being able to pass a motorized vehicle for once, even if it was meant for a farm. On the way towards Big Sur we experienced some good downhill runs, which were good until Chandler hit some gravel.

Flying down a downhill run at about 35 MPH Chandler hit some loose gravel on the shoulder of the road. Realizing what he was in, he hit his brakes. It slowed him down but unfortunately there was a large rock in his path, and since he was unable to turn, he hit it. The rock sent him flying over his handle bars and onto his side. Chandler managed to walk away with just some scrapes. Shaun patched him up and they were on their way.

Meanwhile Parry and Bob had made a sprint towards Big Sur and were out of range when Chandler had his crash, so when the van caught up to them they were eight miles up the road in Big Sur. They waited there until everyone caught up. In Big Sur Rocky and Bob took off back towards San Francisco and the rest of the group headed on to find a place to stay.

As we came across Lucia, a town after Big Sur, it was just a lodge and restaurant and there was no place for us there. So we had to continue onwards and finally came across a little camping site out the middle of nowhere. They were full, but they made room for five tired riders who were running out of options. The little campsite was called Limekilm and was in a valley that ran to the ocean.

The Van left us for the first time since ever, and we forgot to take out the propane but thankfully we were able to make a fire and cook dinner like we had all learned in Boy Scouts. Everyone stayed and camped except for Faith (Shaun’s fiancée), Laurie (Shaun’s mom) and Shaun. At least we didn’t have to set up camp on the road side. We did learn a valuable lesson though, if you want to start a fire, Lay’s potato chips are like magic kindling. They have so much grease that when they burn they can start a fire right up.

Daily Stats

Distance: 94.56
Time: 6:03
Avg Speed: 15.6
Max Speed: 42.0

Total Distance: 2175.76

P&C Pushups: 270