Day 54
Dustin: Coming towards the end of the trip has taken a bigger toll on me than I had thought... When starting this journey I was thinking this is great but then I did not see the end as near. Now that it is at my doorstep I realize that this was more than a trip it was an eye opening experience that would bring me into the REAL world! And something that I would remember for the rest of my life. With one week left and 500ish miles to go it has finally sunk that I am in IDAHO by way of bicycle! We are crazy! But this is the journey of a lifetime and I am sure that there is more to come.

PS We crossed into the last time zone yesterday--so we are now 3hrs behind everyone at home!

Day 51 ish Losing track unless I look at my Journal!
*3275 Miles done about 630 to go
*3 states to go
*54 mph - our new high speed coming off Big Hole Pass, MT
*Flat tires? We've lost track, Shoulders are great to ride on here out west, but they are covered with bits of tire trash and glass. The # is somewhere between 15 and 20.

TAZ: We are now in Missoula, MT. We rode 118 MT mtn miles to get here last night. (Was supposed to be about 130 mi but we found a short cut.) We wanted to get here to get to a bike shop for new tires and to check out the Adventure Headquarters. They are the people who make the maps we use. There is sort of a bike museum here too. There was no camping avail. in this town so after we searched a long time over our 10pm dinner we ended up ( all 5 of us) in a small motel room.
We have been on the road long enough now that we are seeing changes in all of us. I can't believe how much Dusty has grown as a cyclist. He shifts without thinking, and does it when he should, when everyone else is shifting. And strong! Both Jimmy and Dusty have gotten so strong. We all have but they are soooo Strong. The only way for me to keep up with them is to stay tucked behind one of them. Then when we hit the long climbs they just disappear. Jimmy loves the climbs, especially the tall, steep ones.
I've had tons of time to think about what I want to do with the rest of my life. What you say? There are several possibilites. I'll tell you this: I like Colorado a lot, but my favorite state for scenery over all has been Montana. The rest of what is in store for me, you'll just have to wait and see. This trip is one of my biggest dreams come true, but I've learned that I can make any of my dreams come true. Hard work, sacrifice, and just plain wanting it and you CAN make ANYTHING happen!
Now, for the rest of the trip we've decided to go the route of Lewis and Clark trail to the coast. We heard about this from someone on the trail and are looking forward to this adventure. We picked up the maps here today and will move on tonight. The five of us now.
Well, time to sign off, got to go get those tires and check chains and avoid a storm and find food and hit the post office, and get photos developed at Walmart to send back to you guys!!!

Day 48
ODO 3,079 MILES

Jimmy:
FLAT TIRES AND CELL SERVICE?
It has been really hard to keep up with the web site as northern Wyoming and Montana offer little cell service. So here is my best effort at a quick catch-up. Seems so long ago now, but Wyoming landscape which started so bleak transformed into magnificent colors, cliffs, and formations stunning us all. Captured by the mysterious colors, beautiful views, and giant skies we climbed the 9,600 foot ascent of Togwotee Pass uncovering the great Teton Mountains! My words can do no justice in describing another mile of our past few days. Bicycling through the immense Tetons, breathtaking views in Yellowstone National Park, natural wonders like Old Faithful and Morning Glory, and now the endless mountains and streams of Montana have brought countless memories I can’t begin to describe. As you now know with the addition of our tandem friends, all five of us continue to pedal with the same energy and excitement we contained at the peak of Massanutten back in June. Mechanical problems seem to pop up daily slowing our cross country stride, but not discouraging us one bit. With a patched tube in my rear tire I carry two already popped tubes as spares. These roads show us unbelievable views and wildlife but also bring flat tires and other assorted mechanical problems. No cell service, showers in COLD western streams, meals in small town saloons and conversation with strangers continue to uncover all we seek on this awesome journey. On our tired bikes we plop road worn bodies on our saddles every morning, wondering what is to come and glowing about what has passed.

Day 43
TAZ: We are in Lander WY. Today is our second full day here. We've hooked up with Jesse and Taisha and they've got some wheel probs. We are waiting on parts to arrive from ECBA (the shop where I work) so we can fix them up. They broke three spokes within 20 miles and had broken more the day before. After some investigating and talking with Les (my boss) we've decided that the wheel they built in KS was built incorrectly, so we are going to rebuild it here. Lander's population of 5600 and elevation of 6800ft is better than a whole lot of others we could have been stuck in. Even though the shop in this town couldn't help us at all, at least there is a shop.
So the "team" has grown. It is quite a parade as we go through town. We have like 1500 miles to go. It seems like so little compared to what we've already done. Dusty and I were talking the other day while riding. We think it's hard to believe we are seeing the things we are seeing. They can't be real, we can't be seeing this stuff! We are on our bikes! How could this be real? We've ridden our bikes right into another world! Sometimes what we're seeing looks like a picture in a book or a movie. Boy it's a long way between towns (50+ miles)!
Here in the next couple of days we will be getting into the Teton Mtns. More to look at! Once we get to Missoula MT we are thinking of taking the Lewis and Clark Trail the rest of the way over to the coast. It supposedly cuts a couple of days off and has even better scenery. For now I think I'll go hang out at the camping store and wait for UPS to arrive with bicycle parts! Later!

-Dustin
We have made it to Wyoming! Only 3 more states to go till we reach the West coast. We have made some new friends along the trail! Jesse and Taisha caught up to us in Walden and we have been together ever since! They are a happily married young couple as Bill would say. Traveling with these two make the "pack" look so much bigger especially since they are on a tandem (two seated bike). We now have other people to camp with ride with and talk to! The weather in Wyoming is great without humidity it makes for mostly mild days and cool nights. Although the sprinklers seem to get in the way sometimes... The terrain is still changing but it makes the day go by quicker. When you have amazing mountains with red rock and vast plains all in the same mile its really hard to keep pedaling because there is so much to see. Only a few more days in Wyoming then we are headed to Montana. I really don't know what to expect but I am sure that it will add to this great adventure. I would like to thank all of you who read these blogs and respond. Your support really keeps our spirits up and gets us through the tough times. Seven down three to go!!!

Check out Jesse and Taisha: www.jessandtaish.blogspot.com

Day 39
Jimmy; 2,414 miles

Getting on the bike Wednesday morning was tough after a luxurious stay at the Leopold’s. The comfort of great home cooked meals and even better company was a nice break from our rugged journey. They gave us the inside scoop on Breckenridge (9,600 ft.) as we all fell in love with this beautiful homey ski town. Wednesday morning thoughts of survival back on the trail and pressing on towards Wyoming filled our minds, Taz’s buds Bob and Anna came to our rescue! In their sweet pimped out motor home van they wanted to carry our bags for a day and share the adventure! Our bellies filled with Bob and Anna’s fine cooking, we retreated to their intricate hand designed van, which housed our evening pow wow. Parked next to the Colorado River, trickling down the steep canyons, I dove into the bone chilling waters for a quick bath and realized our Sag support would soon be yet another great memory on our journey. Today it was the three of us again; bags, tents and bikes. As we fell into stride surrounded by Colorado’s enormous cliffs we dreamed of Breck, recalled laughs with Bob and Anna and were again alone on the road. Camped at a nice park in Walden (8,200 ft) for the night we will pedal into the vast and unknowing Wyoming tomorrow morning. Our break could not have been more enjoyable, but now we bike. After all…biking is what we do.

Day 37
TAZ: I couldn't sleep last night I was so excited just to be in Breckenridge. I love this place. It is just one big playground! Like Massanutten and Harrisonburg but much, much bigger. But tomorrow we leave. We were hoping to get a package in from home with chains and brake pads in it so we could do some routine maint. here in Breck but the package has not shown up yet.
In the morning we are meeting with Bob and Anna Carts. They are friends from Northern VA that happen to be out here on vacation in their RV. They have offered to carry our bags for a day and camp out with us. It's really cool they are out here right now and even cooler that they willing to do that for us!
We are starting to head NW now up towards Wyoming. There doesn't look like there are many libraries for a while so we may be back to phoning in the blogs. As we continue through the Rockies we will surely be amazed by more and more beauty. Yet everyone around here tells us that OR is more beautiful. We wonder how?

Day 36
TAZ: It's Monday, 7-24-06. We've made it Breckenridge, CO. One of the big highlights of our trip. We are taking a couple of days off here. We skipped a day off last week so we could have an extra one here. We are staying with a friend of a friend. Basil from Massanutten gave us the name and # of his friend, Dave Leopold. He and his family have more than welcomed us into their home. They are so cool. They have lived here in Breck for 6 yrs after living back east and love it here. They've been very helpful in helping us find our way around town and letting us stay here and feeding us too. They didn't even know us! Dave, Jan and their boys- David, Michael, and little Colten are an amazing family. I am on their computer right now.
Saturday we rode from Florence to Guffey, CO. It was only like 40 miles. We stopped in Canon City at a Fiddle Festival and then started the climb up. Slowly climbing we went from around 5000ft to 8000ft in Guffey. Guffey was a cool little town. It was almost a ghost town. There was a bar, a restaurant, and this place that was sort of a rustic B&B. Bill was there to welcome us. We stayed in these cool little huts. We wanted to stick around the next day and check out the museum but we knew we were going to have a long day getting to Breck. We'll go back one day.
We rode into Breck by going over Hoosier Pass ( over 11,000ft). We were fearful of the climb but it turned out to be way easier than anything we've done back east. Then coming down we didn't get nearly the high speed we did back home. The scene at the top was so amazing. We have taken so many pictures in the past few days. We can't wait to get them back to you!!
On yesterday's ride, which was a 67 miler, we saw a herd of antelope. They were mingling with some cows in a wide open field near Hartsel. We also woke up to 40 degree temps on our first day in the mountains. We put on nearly every stitch of clothing we had and still froze for the first ten miles. Then little by little we started peeling stuff off. The afternoon temps got up to the mid 80's. This was a welcome change from Kansas!
Today was similar weather. An afternoon thunder shower came while we were out exploring town. We all love this town! Everything we love to do is here! The mountains surrounding the area are beautiful! There are bikers everywhere.

Day 32
TAZ: Well today we woke up in Eads, CO (pronounced Eeds) to something of a tailwind!! Thanks for praying for us!! We did 60 miles by 10:30 this morning. Ate lunch and now are waiting for the heat to die down a little so we can get 30 couple more in this afternoon and get to Boone, CO. Hopefully the wind will hang with us the rest of the day. Today has been flatter and more open than anything we saw in KS. This is true prairie stuff. We are around 4250ft elevation. By the weekend we should be around 9000. The towns can be seen a half hour before we reach them, or at least their grain elevator can be seen. We met some east bounders today that say we'll start to be able to see the Rockies tomorrow. We are excited about that. The air is getting drier everyday. Last night some of the courthouse lawn sprinklers came on after we put up our tents but by 4am our tents and our clothes that we had hung out were dry! We are planning an under 30 mile day tomorrow to Pueblo as a rest/tire change day. We've got some tires coming into a shop there from Brian at Serfas. Thanks Brian!
Also, if you haven't noticed we've got a new link on the main page to more photos. We are putting on as many as will fit. We may have to add another link later. Tomorrow while on our rest day we will try to make it to Walmart to get more photos to send back home. I have to admit with the heat we've not taken as many. You kind of forget the camera sometimes. We're making up for it now though!
We are all staying healthy for the most part. My age is showing a little. These flat rides have been giving my elbows, especially the right, one fits. Some kind of tendinitis something I'm sure because if I take some ibuprofen before riding it's fine. Dustin slightly strained a leg muscle playing on the diving board at one of the pools but also responds to ibuprofen. Jimmy just complains of his boney rump on this flat land and rough roads.
I want to say thanks to all of you calling us and emailing us. We've been looking forward to ducking into the libraries on these hot days. Hearing from home and about home always brings smiles.

ClICK ON "More Photos" ON THE MAIN PAGE TO SEE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS!