Tallahasee: kinda sassy

Sunday Oct. 31: Defuniak Springs to Tallahassee

We had a short ride today: just 44 miles. It was a pleasant ride from Dafuniak Springs. We started the day looking at the lake that is spring fed and is also a perfect circle. Some think the lake was formed after a meteor hit it back in woolly mammoth days.

Anyways, after about 3.5 hours, we made it to Tallahassee. We called Michael, our host, and met him at his house. Michael is my Denver friend’s brother. He invited us to go to The Rez, an outdoor play place for Florida State University students. He’s the president of an engineering club that is raising money to build a bridge in Peru, and today they were having a fundraiser volleyball tournament.

Jacques and I had a good time relaxing and watching some volleyball, and we even enjoyed a little kayak journey in the lake. When I saw a huge caged alligator while still in the kayak, I being from Kansas, decided to head for more solid ground. Jacques went deeper into the swamp, and I had come to grips that this would be the last time I saw Jacques as a whole person. Fortunately, Jacques didn’t meet any alligators, and he will be able to ride tomorrow.



We did a drive by of the Ludacris concert, but didn’t shoot anybody. To end the night, we had some good Chinese food and then hit the hay.

Tomorrow: Lake City, FL

Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee

Saturday OCT 30: Dafuniak Springs, FL to Chatahooche, FL

The title above includes some lyrics of an Alan Jackson song. Mr. Jackson continues by singing, "it gets hotter than a hoochie coochie." What does that mean? Perhaps I don't want to know.


Today was not a horribly exciting day. We rode 84 miles. Highlights include eating the biggest hamburger I've ever seen. It was called the "Big Momma." Jacques and I both partook in this endeavor and succeeded just after being honked at by another restaurant patron. The guy had a hard time believing we were legally riding in the road and the sidewalk is for pedestrians. Bikes are considered vehicles.

I think the required clothing in the panhandle of Florida is some form of camouflage.

I met a bicycling group this morning. They were super friendly and donated to Beautiful Gate. Thanks guys!

Also, by the time we made it to Chatahoochiemama, we met a retired Navy Seal group also doing a cross country ride. We heard about them while in Texas, but haven't met until tonight. They are pretty remarkable; one guy is 74 years old and looks like he could beat me up with his pinky.

Tomorrow: Tallahassee.

We have THREE more days of riding. Crazy.

Ground Hog’s day

Random thought: I get better mileage than a Prius. I also use a different type of gas for propulsion.


Friday, OCT 29: Pensacola, FL to Dafuniak Springs, FL


I forgot to mention that Donna, our Pensacola host, is a huge Gonzaga fan. Smart woman.

We left Pensacola and were going to take a picture of the bay, but I realized my camera battery was dead. This will become important later.

Although we had a pretty good headwind, we made some good time. As I was coming around the six mile mark outside a town called Milton, I realized my rear wheel felt funnier than normal. I decided to jump off the bike to inflate the tire a little and straighten the wheel a bit with my tools. After I turned the bike over, I saw that my wheel had cracked. It almost looked like a tee pee. No bueno.

I looked on my phone to see if Milton had a bicycle shop. Luckily, it did. I called the shop to see if they had a wheel that would fit my bike, and just as they told me that they did indeed have a wheel that would work, a man in a truck pulled off the road and offered a ride to the shop. Immaculate timing.

I headed into Truly Spoken bicycle shop and the guys there really did a great job. They set me up with a new touring rear wheel and tire. Thanks guys!

I ate a quick lunch and was on my way. I was almost back to the spot where I stopped earlier and remembered I was a fool. I forgot that I had plugged in my camera battery and charger into the wall at the bike shop. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I was only six miles out, so I decided to head back to reclaim my belongings. I did so and then saw the same stretch of Milton roads for the third time.

Jacques had gone ahead of me to get to our host family’s house in Defuniak Springs, FL. I made my way slowly but surely, talked to some nice folks, and finally arrived in Defuniak after thirty minutes of night riding.

The Gillis family provided an amazing place for us to stay, tasty spaghetti and meatballs, and a refreshed memory of what being in high school band was like. Thanks Gillis Family!

Tomorrow: Chattahoochee. I’m going to be singing that Alan Jackson song all day tomorrow. I just need to find the lyrics.
Good night.

Enter the Sunshine State

Random thought: after seeing many armadillos smashed on the road, I've decided they must be a mix between a opossum and an alligator.

We woke up to lightening, thunder, and pouring rain. However, by the time we hit up the college's buffet breakfast. the rain had subsided. We said goodbye to Dan and were on our way.

We were surprised by how quaint downtown Mobile was. Downtown Mobile looks a lot like the French Quarter. In fact, Mardi Gras was originally a creature of Mobile, not New Orleans...so the story goes.

Much of our morning ride was along a causeway. We then got into some of the Alabama backcountry before entering the Sunshine State.

A friend of mine thought Florida was next to Louisiana, and with our stealth speed the last two days, one might believe her. I will vouch however, that both Mississippi AND Alabama are stuck in there too.

Florida wasn't sunny when we arrived, but the sun soon showed it's face. Pensacola was our stop for the day. We had a quick snack at Chik-fil-a and then went over to Starbucks. One of the workers there, Chris, is an avid fixed gear bicyclist. He let us try out his ride and then showed us some tricks.

A quick note: I never cease to be amazed about how giving people are. For example, today a man at the college gave a donation. Then a guy at a gas station gave another donation. Then a friendly lady at Chik-fil-a gave a donation. Then the Chris may have given us good prices on our coffee. Then we arrive at our host Donna's house, and she has ready ribs, mashed potatoes, brocoli, chips, and dessert! We are blessed. I will write more about this, but as the trip continues, I am more and more proud to be an American. That sounds totally cheesy, but it's true. Wonderful, kind, generous, and helpful people live here. Americuh. Heck yeah.

Donna- thanks for everything!

Alabama: a Band and a State

Wednesday, October 27: Gulf Port, MS to Mobile, AL

Although we have been in Alabama for just 20 minutes, I've already learned we are not allowed on the highway and Hardees is overpriced. These are things home homeschooled kids probably learn.

The beginning of our ride brought us alongside several casinos in Gulf Port and Biloxi, Mississippi. The weather was great and the wind was at our back. As the day continued, the humidity increased as well. We encountered some hills for the first time as we entered Alabama. Although we tried getting on the I-10 at the Alabama border, we quickly were shuttled off by a state trooper. He was nice, and we actually enjoyed the more peaceful I-90.

We got into Mobile in good time after 82 miles of pedaling, and I called our host Dan. Dan was a stellar host and regularly hosts people traveling the country. We found him on couchsurfing.com. He works at Springhill College. Although he doesn't love his job here, he has a hilarious perspective on being in Mobile. "At least my friends have something to laugh about now," Dan said as we rode home from dinner. I hope Dan will soon create a blog of his experiences because it would read like a David Sedaris novel.

Thanks Dan for a great place to stay and an amazing breakfast!

"I press the clutch with my fake leg."

Tuesday, October 26: New Orleans, LA to Gulf Port, MS





Mississippi! We made it!

Today, we had a great ride. We left NOLA this morning. The wind was at our back as we took I-90 through some swamp land. Obviously, if I can't be traveling downhill, I prefer a tail wind on flat ground.

We stopped for a brewsky at Crazy Joe's somewhere before we passed into Mississippi. As we left, a guy talked to me about our ride, and said he probably would ride too if it weren't for his artificial leg. A little down the road, the same guy came up next to me in a Miata and started telling me how he drove a stick shift and used his fake leg to push the clutch. This has been a question I've asked myself every morning for the last several years, and I'm glad to have finally found the answer.

After a couple of small bridges, I looked up and saw that the highway sign changed. The background no longer was the shape of Louisiana. Mississippi fail. It's always a good idea to put a "Welcome to ______" over the river that creates your state's border. Don't be fooled by the Welcome to Mississippi pictures because that sign was a good two miles after the actual border.

We crossed an amazing bridge just past Bay St. Louis and the remainder of the ride was along the Gulf Coast. One couldn't ask for a more scenic ride along the beach. Amazing. When I listen to music during the ride, I have to remind myself that this is not the soundtrack to my own movie.

Ryan hosted us tonight. He made some really tender chicken and veggies; one of the healthier and better meals we've had on the trip. His dog is a riot- a pug that chases his own shadow. Thanks Ryan for good conversation and a nice bed to sleep in.

Tomorrow: Mobile, Alabama.

I sit here on a ferry to New Orleans watching a family wearing fanny packs. I want one. How convenient to have a pouch hanging just below your belly button!

NOLA baby!

NOLA baby! First stop : the Real World house.

Monday, October 25. Gonzales, LA to New Orleans, LA. About 70 miles.

The ride to New Orleans was pretty uneventful. We took our old backup highway, I-90. It was a peaceful ride. We've noticed the last couple of days how humid it is. When we mention this to the locals, they always reply that this isn't bad and that the previous two weeks have been without a lot of humidity. Just our luck.



We got to NOLA in good time and then road the ferry to Algiers where our host lived. After a quick shower, we headed back over to downtown, listened to some live music, and then ate some beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

Thanks to Brownwen at YWAM for hosting us!

The Day I got Kicked off the HIghway. And then got back on.

I'm sorry Mr. Police Officer. I didn't know I couldn't ride on this highway. I will pretend to get off, wait until you leave, and continue.

Sunday, October 24: Lafayette to Gonzalez: about a million miles

We got a pretty late start out of Lafayette, departing around noon. Again, we knew we would be crossing a very long bridge. The Atchafalaya Basin Bridge is over 18 miles long. Most of the bridge had a wide shoulder with reflector bumps just wide enough to fit through. There were a couple of stretches where the shoulder got to about 2.5 feet, and I was just living by a prayer.

Just after one such section, I got a flat tire. After turning over the bike, repairing a puncture in the tire, and replacing the tube, a white Chevy Tahoe pulled up behind me. At first, I thought, "Oh, How nice. A local is going to offer to help." But then the flashing lights went on. I could see the officer calling in to dispatch. I hear him saying, "An idiot bicyclist is riding over this 18 mile bridge."

The officer was a little mad that I had attempted the cross, and perhaps even a little bewildered when I told him we had been riding interstate 10 since Arizona. I told him that Jacques was ahead. "Dispatch, be advised, there are TWO idiot bicyclists on this 18 mile bridge."

I distinctly remember Dispatch responding, "Officer, do you need assistance with that?" Apparently he didn't, because he told me to ride back to the previous exit while he went to get Jacques and bring him back to my exit.


Little did the officer know that I had texted Jacques to get off the freeway ASAP. I wouldn't really say that was obstructing justice; it was informing Jacques that what he was doing was illegal, and that he should cease acting in such a manner. Jacques is such a law breaker.

After obediently waiting at the exit for 20 minutes in the middle of the swamp with no roads leading anywhere but no man's land, I decided with a little urging from Jacques, to jump back on the Interstate so we could find another route that didn't involve swimming in gator infested swamp.

Luckily, I arrived to meet Jacques without getting pulled over again. Getting arrested probably wouldn't look good when I go to get sworn in to be a lawyer when I get back to Colorado. While Jacques waited for me, he talked with a couple of very friendly and helpful tourist guides who provided some directions the "back way" to Gonzales. After a couple of hours, we made it to the ferry that would take us across the mighty Mississippi River. Apparently, the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi to Baton Rouge is impassable by bike. The police situation we encountered earlier left us little choice but to jump on the ferry. We will make up that 1/4 mile ferry ride by riding extra when we get home. Actually, we probably made up for it already when we went six miles in the wrong direction trying to find the ferry.

Our host for the night was Joey. He was gracious enough to pick us up in a small town just outside of Gonzales and bring us back the following morning. Joey was super cool and hospitable!




Tomorrow: New Orleans!

Lake Charles to Lafayette...going deeper into Cajun Country

October 23: Lake Charles to Lafayette, about 80 miles

We woke up this morning to a warm breakfast casserole. We said goodbye to Margie, and then John gave us a tour of the local river and swamp areas as we headed to our drop off point. There was really cool scenery all around, especially the double wide trailers on stilts next to the frequently flooding river.

We headed out of Lake Charles and decided to take a tamer highway, highway 90. The ride throughout the day was peaceful and had much less traffic than our ride on the I-10 freeway. A wicked headwind slowed our pace, but we still enjoyed the rice fieldson both sides of the highway.

We stopped for a quick shake in Crowly where we met a very friendly family. The dad tried to get ahold of the local paper, so we'll see about that.

At around 5:30 we rolled into our host family's house. Kevin, Michelle, and their three daughters were very welcoming. We went to an amazing restaurant where Jacques says he had his favorite meal of the trip.




Tomorrow, we're going to ride over a 18 mile long bridge. Hopefully the highway shoulder will provide room for my midwestern hips.

October 22: Lake Charles Rest Day

Today we had a solid rest day. After sleeping in, Kathryn made some amazing pancakes, and we sang happy birthday to Clarkson, their now 5 year old son. Happy Birthday Clarkson! Clarkson received a new bike for his birthday. I should have warned Clint and Kathryn a purchase such as this may lead Clarkson to do a similar cross country ride sometime in his life.

Voncil (or Voncile...or Vonseal...or Vonseeel....not sure how it’s spelled), who helped set up Kathryn and Clint as our hosts, came over. She gave us a tour of her church, where we took a second to rock climb. Well, Jacques rock climbed, and I went halfway up, before explaining to Voncil that as I was waking up this morning I stretched my arms above my head only to hit them on the spinning ceiling fan blades. Ouch. It would have been interesting had we come all this way to have to call an end to the trip because of my hands getting cut off in a fan blade. On the other hand (pun intended), we may get more publicity that way. I’ll weigh the pros and cons before following through with it.

Voncil also gave us a ride to the local bike shop where I had my rear wheel trued; this was needed after the bridge incident yesterday. I also noticed that there are hairline fractures in my wheel, something that doesn’t give me happy thoughts. This wheel and I have made it this far together, so I decided to stick with it, hoping that it can hold up the eleven days we have left.

We met Voncil’s husband for lunch at Pat’s of Henderson. Upon ordering, the waitress informed us that the meal was being comped by the restaurant because they believed in our cause. We enjoyed alligator and catfish, real Louisiana food. Thanks for the amazing lunch Pat’s of Henderson!


Later, we got picked up by Margie, our host for tonight. She and her husband John brought us to a chinese restaurant, and her church continued the amazing hospitality by paying for Jacques and my meal. During dinner, the four of us talked about the local landscape of swamps, which roads to take to Lafayette, and gator hunting. Good times. We ended the night with a dip in their hot tub. Thanks John and Margie!

Tomorrow, we head to Lafayette. We’re pretty excited because on the way we are supposed to run into an alligator farm.

Thursday October 21: Beaumont to Lake Charles: about 60 miles

We made it to Louisiana! We’ve been riding in Texas for about 850 miles. That’s a good portion of our trip, so it’s mentally healthy to know we’ve made it this far.

We passed over the Sabine River into Lousiana. Jacques failed to notice two “Welcome to Louisiana” signs, which makes me think he is getting crazier and crazier as the trip continues. There were some flying fish at the first rest area in Louisiana; I’m not sure what the they were jumping for. Joy perhaps.





As we left the rest area, we came across a bridge with a very narrow shoulder. We made a run for it, not realizing until we had started that there were gaps of 4-8 inches every five feet on the bridge. Jacques, without a trailer, could easily bunny hop over the gaps. Myself, on the other hand, had the trailer and therefore couldn’t maneuver the same way. I took the gap head on, and after about five rough hits, I heard a loud pop and knew I had at least popped my rear tire’s tube. I couldn’t stop because traffic was wizzing by just a couple of feet to my left, so I road out the final fifty feet on my rim. When I arrived on the other side of the bridege, I inspected my tire and saw that it had a gaping hole. Luckily, I had a spare, so I changed the tire and tube and we were back on our way.

This day was full of adventure.

We had been hearing from our Lake Charles hosts that we would need to traverse one of two bridges into the city. They warned that neither were really passable by bike, and they would be willing to pick us up on one side and give us a ride to the other side. Jacques and I weren’t comfortable with this, knowing that we would look back and remember the time when we crossed the country...almost. We decided to take Interstate 10 to the bridge, and if there was a moderately safe way to cross without risking harm to ourselves or others, we would go ahead and cross.



In the distance, we saw the bridge. This was no ordinary bridge. This was a mammoth bridge. A bridge civil engineers drool about in their dreams. We rolled up to the bridge and saw that there was a slightly elevated section that provided about a 2.5 foot wide section to ride on. That was our home for the next two miles. On one side of the 2.5 wide section were screaming semi trailers required to use the right lane to cross the bridge. On the other side- a three foot tall metal barrier, with a drop off that would a make grown man pee his pants. I may or may not be speaking from experience.

Needless to say, as evidenced by writing this post, we made it. This much to the shagrin of our hosts.

We stopped at the local Wendy’s for a celebration Frosty and instantly began to feel the Lake Charles’ hospitality. Jacques scored a free frosty, and I made conversation with a local that donated to Beautiful Gate. We stopped by the church where Margie, our second night’s host worked. She ended up giving us a lift to our first night’s host and we received some more donations for Beautiful Gate. .

Clint and Kathryn hosted us the first night. They attend a church on the south side of town, have three beautiful children, and provided us our first cajun meal. Clint is a triathelete, so it was good to talk about his races and competitions. Their children were hilarious, and although the youngest (3 years old) and I had a conversation, I still to this day have no clue what he said.




Tomorrow: we rest.

Houston, we (don't) have a problem.

Stellar hosts in Houston. More on that later. We have passed several police officers without being stopped. Let the illegal highway riding continue!

Brookshire to Houston: Tuesday, Oct. 19

Yesterday, Jacques and I had a leisurely ride into Houston, about 40 miles for me and 54 miles for Jacques. We set up two different homes to stay in...to spread the love. Actually, a friend of a friend named James set me up with a place and then the family of Jacques' friend set him up with a place too! This was the first night Jacques and I spent apart. It was kind of like an old couple having to spend a night apart, longing for each other, missing each other every moment...at least this is what Jacques told me it was like.

Anyways, I hung out with James, my host. James has been blessed with a sweet pad in an up and coming Houston neighborhood. We played some frisbee golf, saved some discs from falling into the sketchy bayou, and went to Buffalo Wild Wings. Good times. Thanks James for showing me a little bit of Houston and sharing a small piece of your cereal stash with me.

Jacques stayed with the Richards family, where he was treated to a personal tour of what Jacques described as a "very big pool." Not exciting at first mention, but when you hear that this pool was in a heavily secured NASA building and the pool was filled with different space station equipment and astronauts, it quickly becomes a great story.

That was yesterday...

Houston to Beaumont: Wednesday, October 20

Today, I woke up and was on the road by six, riding solo for the first fourteen miles to meet Jacques at the rendezvous point. After meeting, we made quick work of the highway shoulder, averaging 20mph because of a solid shoulder and super flat terrain.


We encountered one sketchy bridge. I had anticipated more situations like this on the trip- a time where I felt pretty uncomfortable riding. Here's the visual: construction on a bridge, a narrow bridge, an even narrower shoulder with tire popping road debris, a cement barrier, and a 100 ft drop to munchkin land. Pretty scary. Jacques and I made a bolt for it, freaked out some bridge construction workers with our presence, and then the shoulder on which we were riding disappeared. Luckily, we could hoist our bikes and the bob trailer over the cement barrier before becoming truck decals.

I almost forgot: we saw our first alligator today! (do kids around here get to say, "my alligator ate my homework? or do they get to say "my dog ate my homework...and then my dog was eaten by an alligator"?) I know you had the same question; I'm just not afraid to ask it.




We ended up making it to Beaumont in good time, and met our hosts at their lovely house. Our hosts Nelda and Roger put us up for the night, made some lasagna that makes Olive Garden's food look like a microwave dinner, and provided some good quality conversation. Thanks Nelda and Roger.

Tomorrow we head to Louisiana! Texas has been good to us, but much like a pancreas, sometimes we just must rid ourselves of it. (I know that was a stretch, but I thought I'd give it a shot.)

We're still looking for places to stay in:
Lafayette, LA
Gonzales, LA (or Somewhere near Baton Rouge, LA)
Mobile, AL

Why We Ride?

Just got this message from Beautiful Gate and it is the perfect example of why we're riding.

"Hi Guys! Here at Beautful Gate in Crossroads we have the sweetest little guy! His name is now Ayabonga (we gave it to him cos it means "Thankful". He was delivered to Beautiful Gate by the local social worker about a week and a bit ago. Police had found him lying in a drain on the side of the road, outside Cape Town, where he had been abandoned by his mother. To make matters worse - he is one of three newborns we know of to be abandoned in the city during the past week and according to Child Welfare, one of 500 to experience the same fate this year. Why? Is the first question to go running through your head! Difficult to say. Unless the police can find his mom of course. But experience does tells us that teen pregnancy along with poverty, HIV, lack of food security and alcohol abuse, all contribute to child abandonment. It's a stark reminder that helping children without finding ways to help their parents is a losing battle. Anyway, fortunately he is doing well here but unfortunately became sick this week and is now in hospital. So whenever you guys get tired - just remmeber that you're riding to save little guys like Ayanbonga! Lots of love from Cape Town"

I asked the waitress in Brookshire if she could add chocolate chips to my pancakes. She said no and then said to Jacques, "this guy thinks he's at Denny's." :)

Lulling to Brookshire

Jacques and I have had a lull in conversation ever since our rear ends stopped hurting in Tuscon. We no longer talk about rears. Please suggest a new topic!


Lulling to Brookshire was similar to our other days: we rode bikes.

It was actually a 108 miles before we arrived at Annie, Tom, Jackson, and Easton's house. They provided some great enchiladas. Jacques and I were pretty tired after the ride, and therefore probably weren't the most entertaining company. Their house was cool because it lies on a 100 acre Pecan farm with all the magic of living in the country brings. Very peaceful.

Tomorrow: Houston.

Back on the Saddle

Sunday Oct. 17: Boerne to Lulling 85 miles

After a restful couple of days, we departed Boerne a little later than we orginally hoped. We thoroughly enjoyed the rolling hills and views of farms and ranches. The ride on highway 46 was nice because it didn't have the same hustle and bustle as interstate 10.

We stopped for some BBQ, which may have something to do with my upset stomach, but it was worth it at the time. We made some stops at some beautiful greenish blue rivers, tried to scare a snake, and then headed into Lulling.


We decided to look for a hotel since we have officially ditched all camping gear. Despite the cups that say Holiday Inn, we are not staying at a Holiday Inn. Despite the soap that says Hampton Inn, we are not staying at a Hampton Inn. Apparently, the Luling Inn "borrows" their supplies from other hotel chains. Seems very Green. (Resuse, reduce, recycle).

Tomorrow, we have about a 105 mile ride to Brookshire, TX.

Thanks for your continued support of our ride and Beautiful Gate!

Time flies when you're having fun!

Here's a loose itinerary for the remainder of the trip:

Sunday oct 17 - Lulling
monday oct 18- brookshire tx (host home)
tues oct 19 houston, tx (host home)
wed oct 20 beaumont tx (host home)
thurs oct 21 lake charles la (host home) ***rest day
fri oct 22 lake charles (host home)
sat oct 23 lafayette
sun oct 24 gonzales, la
mon oct 25 new orleans, la (host home)
tues oct 26 gulfport ms (host home)
wed oct 27 mobile al
thur oct 28 pensacola fl (host home)
fri oct 29 de funiak springs fl
sat oct 30 chattahoochee fl
sun oct 31 tallahassee fl(host home)
mon Nov 1 live oak fl
tues nov 2 jacksonville fl!!!!!!! (host home)

If you see a date that doesn't say "host home", we may still need a place to stay. If you can help on that front, please let us know. We don't bite!

-Brad

Burt and Ernie spells Boerne, TX!

We arrived in Boerne, TX (just outside of San Antonio) on Wednesday evening. It is beautiful here! There are rolling hills and lots of trees, something we've missed the last couple of weeks. We are staying out in the country on a friend's ranchette (16 acres constitutes a ranchette in my mind). I'm going to work on getting my clipless pedals affixed to the bottom of some cowboy boots. Therefore, I'll fit in better. I've also made sure not to adorn my spandex without covering up first, because I don't want to get shot by a Texas cowboy.

Also, wanted to thank Colby, a seven year old, for giving me permission to watch Star Wars with him, a PG-13 movie. After revealing my age, Colby replied, "Oh good, you're old enought to watch Star Wars, because it's PG-13."

Brittany, Jacques' wife, came into town last night. I have a sneaking suspicion they might end up moving to Boerne. Check out our website for new videos!

Day 16: Roadkill Cafe

Oct. 12 Ozona, TX to Junction, TX: about 94 miles

Today can be summed up in the following way: flat tires and road kill.

I awoke to two flat tires in our hotel room. Bummer. But I quickly changed them, and after having a stellar breakfast (which included some very scrumptious cinnamon rolls) we headed East.

A couple miles into the ride, Jacques also got a flat. He invested the time to repair the tube, as it was a special one with sealant inside, only to have the same tube go flat less than a mile down the road. He tossed the tube, added another, and then we again headed towards Junction.

Jacques and I noticed a lot of road kill today. Congrats Texas for having the most road kill on your highways out of any state we have been in thus far. This may say something about the people and/or the animals here. You decide.

A little after lunch, I got my third flat of the day. Unfortunately, Jacques was a quite a bit further down the road and also had the remaining CO2 cartridges and pump. When my phone wouldn't work, I became a little peeved, but it finally worked so I could call Jacques, the knight in shining bike attire to save the day.

We finally made it to Junction and guess what?

We got a free room from Rodeside Inn!!! Thanks so much!

Tomorrow, we head to Boerne, just northwest of San Antonio where we have a host family set up. I'm excited for a long break there. Enough of this biking stuff for a couple of days.

How we pass the time

Jacques and I spend most of our days trying to get truckers to honk their horn. I feel like a five year old again, and I like it.

New Route?

Jacques and I have been hearing horror stories of bicyclists attempting to make their way through Houston. Because of this, we are considering making a shot for the Gulf Coast, bypassing Houston via a more southern highway. This would put us in places like Lake Jackson, Galveston, and New Orleans.

Before we finalize this route, please let us know if you have the hook up along the Intercoastal Highway, as we are contemplating skipping some host family houses we already have set up for this potentially safer route.

On another note, I had a dream last night. I was standing on the seat of my bike, making it rain what appeared to be 100 dollar bills. However, upon further inspection, the bills actually said "100 Mile bills."

I think this means we've been riding too much. (we're taking a couple rest days in San Antonio.

Day 15: Into the Ozona

We've been trying to fly through Western Texas because there's not a whole lot out here. Well, let me rephrase, their is a whole lot of nothing out here. Nonetheless, we've enjoyed the scenery, comprised mostly of rolling hills, big sky, and flat topped mountains.

The expanses between towns is impressive. We have to make sure we have enough water to make it 30-40 miles. The people are kind and helpful, which makes our short breaks enjoyable.

We rode about 110 miles today. One more 100 plus mile days. I shortly talked with another guy doing a cross country trip on his recumbent bike. He's taking a little different rout than us, so I doubt we'll see him again.

We made it to Ozona, TX at 5:30pm, got some pizza, and then attempted to find a place to camp. We asked the sheriff if we could camp in town; he ended up giving us permission to sleep in a park just outside town. However, before we trekked out there, we checked the Holiday Inn for prices. They ended up giving us a deal we couldn't pass up, so we are spoiled once again with beds, shower, and breakfast.

Tomorrow, hopefully we can get away with a sub 100 mile day.

Thanks for your continued support!

Sunday, Oct 10

I've lost count of the days, but I think it is day 14. We've hit the two week mark.
We rode on the road for about 120 miles, from Van Horn, TX to Fort Stockton, TX.

I can't really say anything about today except wow. Long. Day.

Oh...the netbook is on it's final leg. I'll add photos when we get to San Antonio Wednesday.

Throwin' down the benjamins

El Paso, TX to Van horn, TX...about 135 miles. Saturday, Oct 9

We woke up early to get a good start out of El Paso. To me, 4:30am is early. Surprisingly, we made it out of El Paso in good time. The frontage road was rock solid, providing us some fast surface to roll on. As we entered I-10, frequent rumble strips spanning the shoulder made for an interesting ride. However, soon enough the strips ended and we again were averaging 18-20mph. The first 80 miles flew by. Jacques and I knew something would slow us down; something always happens to slow us down. Today was no different because an approximately 20 mile climb made for a much slower pace.

We stopped in Sierra Blanc (spelling error?) for a quick bite to eat. We had originally planned to stay in Sierre Blanc, but after scoping out the town and not finding a decent place to camp, we decided to hop back on the highway for a 32 mile journey to Van Horn, a slightly larger city.

Much of the ride to Van Horn was rolling hills, but the last six miles were downhill. I love finishing on a down hill. Jacques also thought it would be funny to let out some gas. Sometimes on the open road we encounter foul smells, usually a landfill or farm, so I rolled up to Jacques to see if he knew where the smell came from. I instantly knew he was the culprit after seeing the biggest grin on his face. Jacques, I will repay you soon my friend.

We road further into town and stopped at about five hotels to ask if they would like to donate a room to I Ride You Give They Live. We lucked out the sixth time.

King’s Inn in Van Horn, TX provided us with a free room! Thanks!

We are pretty tired, but in good spirits. Jacques and I continually discuss how lucky we are to have this opportunity to ride for Beautiful Gate.

Tomorrow is a new journey. May it be a good one.

Texas. Big. Texas.

Las Cruces, NM to El Paso, TX: Friday, Oct 8
We made it to TEXAS! I wondered if we would have to show our passports, but apparently Texas’ multiple succession attempts have not been successful.

To begin, we took care of some bike issues like chain cleaning at John and Barb’s house. John's knowledge came in handy, and he provided tire sealant and chain cleaner among many other things. John escorted us out of his neighborhood, and then we made our way out of Las Cruces.

There were several farms along the way, which reminded me of the rural areas just outside of my hometown in Kansas. As we meandered along a small highway that paralleled I-10, we rode under Pecan trees and saw a big corn maze.

After about 30 miles, we made it to the El Paso border. Had I missed the signed, we wouldn’t have even realized we made it to Texas. No big sign here. I thought Texas was all about BIG. What’s the deal?

A cool biker riding along on a trail rode with us deeper into El Paso, and he told us where the nearest bike shop was. Luckily, the shop was adjacent Starbucks, so we stopped in both for a little bit before heading to our host family’s house.

Our hosts were Maggie and Walker, parents of Ren. I volunteered with Ren at Beautiful Gate in South Africa. Maggie and Walker treated us to a beautiful house to stay, lovable dogs to hang out with, a tasty Mexican restaurant, a guided tour of El Paso, and some good grub in the morning! Thanks Maggie and Walker!

Tomorrow: El Paso to ?

If Texas was a woman, I would compliment her on her shoulders. Smooth and firm.

Day 12: Follow the 64yr old

Day 12: Oct. 7. Demming, NM to Las Cruces, NM.

John is 64 years old. I don't think he will mind me telling you that. John also rides his bike three times a week and could school me on any time trial. This guy is FIT!

John's wife Barb took our disobedient trailer, Bob, as well as our other belongings, to their house last night. What does that mean? Freedom. In other words, we got to ride for 75 miles today without the trailer and gear weighing us down. And boy, does that make a difference. John joined us on the ride, and provided some great tips.

John showed us the way to increase your speed and efficiency by riding in a pack. I have biked before in groups, but we didn't work together like you ought to. John taught us how to "pull." Pulling is where there is one person in the front "pulling" while the other riders ride behind, drafting. The riders behind can pedal quite a bit easier while drafting. The lead rider pulls for about 5 minutes, and then a new leader takes their turn pulling. Therefore, everyone takes their turn doing the harder work in the lead and also gets to relax and draft.

The ride to Las Cruces was filled with spectacular views, as Las Cruces is just below some mountains.

We made really good time, stopped at The Bean coffee shop, and headed towards John's house. John's wife and daughter were home getting pizza ready for dinner. Jacques, John, and I headed towards a local bike shop for a couple of things. Over the course of the ride, my shoes have slowly disintegrated, and the angle of my shoes on the pedals looked "painful" according to John. Therefore John made a donation of some of his older clipless pedals and even donated some shoes to our cause. Thanks John and Barb for your amazing hospitality and support!

We came home to the smell of homemade Pizza, and were soon joined by John and Barb's son, son in law, grandsons, and family friends. Quite the party!

We spent the remaining ours of the night installing my new pedals, truing my rear wheel, and fixing some tubes that had flats.

Tomorrow: the nation of Texas!!!

p.s. Far less grasshoppers making love today on the roads. I know you were curious.