6/26/11 Hail storm...power outage (LeAnn)

It's always nice waking up to a beautiful clear day with blue skies as far as the eye can see. Our goal was to make it to Lusk, the first city in Wyoming so we could refuel on water and food. The city was at an elevation of a little over 5,000 and if we had had some forethought, we would have realized the challenge that lay in front of us. At 30 miles away form Lusk, we were running short on water and the hills and wind were killing us. We pushed through as always and made it to town with nothing to spare. Then came a surprise, the entire city was having a power outage. The grocery store was closed and we were lucky to find a gas station without lights or gas, but was still running it's cash register on a generator. We stopped for a lunch of tortillas and peanut butter and decided to splurge on Gatoraide(since it was 2 for $3).

Then the storm came in. Pea sized hail and pouring rain fell down on the city with its people driving in and out of the gas station, frustrated about not having gas. Ben and I patiently waited for the storm to pass underneath the roof of the gas station and enjoyed the break from the heat.

After the storm cleared, we biked a few miles down the road to a roadside rest area and Ben cooked a bean and rice dinner while I washed dishes and refilled our water. A few more miles down the highway we made camp again just off the roadside. There was nothing but fences and prairie pasture as far as the eye could see. Another beautiful sunset ended the day.

6/25/11 Last leg of the Mickelson Trail (Ben and LeAnn)

Down hill.... down the hill goes, no need to peddle, no need to sweat all i hear is the rushing of wind and the melodious voice of my girlfriend joyously singing about how all she can see all day is her boyfriends butt, because he always is in front.

It will be the next hit.

We finished the last 30 miles of the Mickelson Trail with ease and pulled into Edgemont. Then off to the grocery store (which i might add had a For Sale sign in front of it,) got a few vittles for the road ahead(mainly tortillas). We stopped at a gas station on the way out of town to refill on water and take shelter from the heat. As we strolled the aisles dreaming of cool beverages(like Gatoraide which was on sale for $1.50, we had a man and his daughter come up to us and ask if we wanted some Gatoraide. They both just happened to be from Hermantown. Thankful and surprised, we accepted the Gatoraide and manderine oranges that he gave us. We decided to wait for the heat to cool off and sat underneath the shade of the gas station roof at a little table, play cards and drink Gaitoraide. I don't think I have ever tasted a beverage quite as satisfying before. A while later, we headed out trying to get past the border by sundown.

As we left Edgemont, ND storm clouds of loomed all around us. They looked quite nasty and dark. There was that one point when we looked into the distance and could see nothing but constant strikes of lightning shooting all the way to the earth. We decided no storm could stop us from getting to Wyoming, and away we went. Lucky again, the edge of the storm was all we got. There was a short period of strong winds and heavy rain, but soon it was over, the skies cleared and we made it to the border. We rode a few more miles into Wyoming, then camped along the side of the highway for the night.

6/24/11-HAIL STORM... or not

We woke up early and slowly got ready to leave, both of us loathed the thought of leaving the woods in exchange for the city. We had to take our gear piece by piece down the hill so the ranger wouldn't see that we were camping in the woods. After we finally got all the gear down we had to repair a popped tire, pump some water and jump in the lake.

After a detour to the library we headed out on the Micklson trail. The road was crushed gravel which i had no problem conquering  with my larger tires but LeAnn was less then pleased. We biked until Custer which was the last big city for a long while.Then the clouds started showing up. Huge billowing clouds at which we dutifully ignored. Until the locals stopped us worrying about us dying in the golf ball sized hail. At least we have helmets.


We took shelter at park, ate dinner and talked to a feisty  woman who i could see totally following us to Alaska if she were a bit younger.

The rain poured, we played cards.

Near dark we left Custer heading for a rest stop on the trail 9 miles away. We were greeted with the wonderful surprise of the trail being completely downhill what a blessing.

We slept out under the stars with only a slight worry of prairie rattle snakes cuddling with us for warmth

6/23/11 Rest day in the Black Hills (LeAnn)

Woke up to a beautiful sun glowing across all the treetops. Finished eating and decided to go down to the lake to pump water and wash clothes. Washing clothes by hand is much more involved than one would think. Wash twice, rinse twice, ring out water three times, hang to dry. I enjoy the simple tasks of living, it really helps me to appreciate everything so much more now, but I don't plan on going back to the easier way any time soon. Walked back up the steep hill to our campsite, lounged, ate dinner, played cards threw pine cones at eachother. After dinner we explored the top of the hill we were staying at and found the stalks of the mullin plant to be the perfect fighting swords. We fought for a while and enjoyed the scenery. Then back down the hill to camp and had peanut butter sandwiches for a late night snack.

6/22/11 Black Hills (LeAnn)

Woke up and ate Malt-O-Meal. Whooohooo, gotta love the malt-o-meal!! Went around town- bike shop, library, grocery store, hardware store bike shop again after my valve on my tire snapped in half as Ben was pumping it with air. Took the bike trail/highway with no shoulder all the way out of Rapid City and to Sheridan Lake. Uphill! This was the most challenging day for me. About 20 miles of steep hills and we were loaded with more fuel, water and food. Exhausted, we finally made it to Sheridan lake and I jumped into the water as fast as I could. It was cold, but not quite as cold as Lake Superior this time of year. We continued biking around the lake to try and find a campsite. Campsite again loaded with Rvs and expensive, so we carryed our bikes up a steep hill off the road. We trudged over lots of fallen red pine trees infested by the mountain pine beetle up the hillside til we finally found an opening good enough to put up our tent. The sun sets early when your smack dab in the middle of the Black Hills. Beautiful!

6/21/11 Rapid City (LeAnn

We biked the rest of the way to Rapid City. We hit rain again halfway. Soaked, tired and hungry we got into the city late and decided to treat ourselves a little. We hadn't eaten much that day besides Malt-o-Meal and granola bars, so we liked the idea of a Buffet. I was happy to introduce Ben to his new favorite restaurante- The Mongolian Grill. We came into the restaurante wet and starving and we happy to fill bowl after bowl full of fresh vegetables, noodles and sauces. Ben absolutely loved it and continues to mention the idea of eating at a Mongolian Grill again when we hit another big city. We've decided to save up our money and splurge when we find one again.

That night we found a picnic shelter at a trailer park to be an ideal spot to set up camp. We just set up our sleeping bags and pads in one corner on the cement and with our bellies full and one set of dry clothes to change into, we were content. Until we heard voices and were woken up by two teenagers (a guy and a girl), who happened to walk into the shelter. Ben talked to them for a while, while I tried to sleep. They were both very friendly. Then back to bed for a good night's rest.

6/20/11 Rainy Badlands (LeAnn)

Woke up early 4:45am! Left the bridge, ate breakfast, then the rain started. Biked back up the crazy steep hill to the Badlands. Rain kept pouring down. We stopped at a little tourist shelter with one wooden table in the center. I set up my sleeping bag and took a nap while Ben returned some petrified bones, kept an eye out for tourists, and played solitaire. Rain kept pouring, I woke up to random tourists gathering around the shelter giving us strange looks and inquiring about our adventure. Ben and I entertained ourselves with card games and fighting eachother (martial arts), until the rain finally let up a little around midday. As we left towards the scenic highway, a very friendly family from Wisconsin pulled up alongside us in their van and asked if they could take our picture, then they stopped again and their little girl came running and offered us $20. At first we refused, but the girl was very insistant, so we excepted the money and continued biking throughout the day. The amount of postive energy that people have toward us on our journey continues to amaze me every day.

We continued biking through the Badlands (again) and made our way to the little abandoned town of Scenic. Made dinner - spaghetti and cheese and a picnic table in town. Continued biking. We found a spot to camp alongside the highway on the top of a beautiful grassy hill.

6/19/11 Badlands Interior (LeAnn)

Woke up late since only grocery store in Philip was open 10am-2pm on Sundays. Got groceries, stocked up on water and headed the to Badlands. A few miles before we saw the most amazing rainbow ever!! It completely covered the sky. Got into the Badlands late as the sun was setting. The park ranger let us in for free, otherwise it cost $7 per person for bikes (rediculous!) Rode through the badlands, night set in, we couldn't stay at a campground filled to the brim with RVs, it just didn't seem right. So we biked another few miles till we found a bridge to sleep under. Set up our sleeping bags and pads in the dirt and ate trail mix and cheese for dinner. Crazy barn swallows with babies that made very strange noises kept Ben up for a good part of the night.

6/18/11 Wind, Hills, and Heat (LeAnn)

We left the roadside park after I took a meditative morning run and swam 1/2 mile in the lake/swamp next to our campsite. Biked west toward Midland through the worse wind and hills yet. It took us all day just to go 20 miles. We were very entertained along the way with lots of cows staring at us (every once in a while we even got them to moo at us). Got to Midland exhausted and hungry. Stopped in at Just Tammy's (the only food source in town besides the gas station) and ate omelets and hashbrowns. Rested for a while, then off to Philip. Storm came in and rain clouds chased us halfway to town until they finally caught up with us. Got to Philip late, grocery store closed early, Malt-O-Meal for dinner. We slept in an abandoned park filled with Cottonwood trees. Good, but exhausting day.

6/17/11 Oahe Damn and Toad (LeAnn)

We left early from Sugar Bear's house. Stopped at the grocery store to restock on food, then headed up to check out the Oahe Damn five miles up and five miles back, but completely worth the detour if you check out the video clip we posted you'll understand. The damn was said to be releasing more water per second than Niagara Falls and had all of its release valves wide open. It was amazing to see how much power water can have.

After seeing the damn, we headed uphill out of the city, west toward Hayes. The hills were the biggest we've biked through yet and again there was nothing but fields and pastures as far as the eye could see. Our new philosophy: bike until we find the perfect spot to set up camp. It's worked perfectly every time so far. So we biked until sunset again and came to one lonely roadside park in the middle of nowhere, right before the town of Hayes.

Ben and I set up camp and began to brush our teeth in the tent. A middle aged woman and her son pulled up in the parking lot to use the restrooms. We continued brushing our teeth and patiently waited for the people to leave so we could get out of the tent to spit. But they took their time, the woman talked on her phone as the boy (about 6 years old) played with something. It wasn't long before I realized what that something was he was kicking at. In the glow of the one street light that shone down on the sidewalk I saw something hop. We were just close enough for me to see the small hop of the toad and to realize what it was. The boy continued kicking at it and alternated small snickered evil boughts of laughter with picking up the toad and kicking him again. Finally, the mom hollered for the boy to come so they could leave and and the boy threw the toad onto the sidewalk with a splat. I write this in memory of a great beautiful American Toad whose life was taken, but not in vain, for Ben and I decided from that moment on that we would fight for toads across the world and never let our mouths stay closed again, even when they are filled with toothpaste.

6/16/11-Sugar Bear (LeAnn)

We woke up late and had a wonderful breakfast made for us. Added on to everything else we made sandwiches and got fruit and were sent off to Pierre with wonderfully content souls.

It was hard riding, extreme heat, gravel roadsides and west winds don't work well with biking. We got to Pierre late and were just able to do a few of our errands before the stores closed. We spent the rest of the daylight at the library, blogging, looking up routes and trying to find a campground to stay in. The Missouri river was flooding and all the city parks were under water. We looked for a place that would be ok to pitch our tent, there was nothing. Soon a storm came in and as the library was about to close, a very nice woman searched frantically for a place for us to stay.

We waited outside underneath the the library rotunda as the storm raged through and took a few pictures of some very evil looking clouds. After a while, the librarian lady pulled up in a little pickup truck and we shoved our bikes and gear into the back of the cab as the rain completely drenched us. 3 miles down the road we came to a trailer park rested alongside the charter native american school and that is where we met Sugar Bear. We were greeted by the old hippie and his pitbull named Riot as we walked through the door. It was so good to have shelter over our heads and a warm meal as the storm raged on outside and the entire city kept its fingers crossed that the levies wouldn't break that night. We stayed up til midnight talking and joking with Sugar Bear as he sipped on beers and Jag and played his favorite old tunes for us. We had a comfy pullout couch bed for the night and good company. South Dakota has certainly lived up to its name for good people.

6/15/11-Wait it gets better

We got a decent start at 9:30 and biked. We biked straight against 20 mile an hour winds all the way to Miller. This took us quite a lot longer then we expected and we were starving, binging a little we got a ton of cesar salad, strawberry yogurt, a few cookies and ate just about everything. We found the perfect spot to eat- a little table behind the grocery store and it was one of the best meals we have ever tasted. Empowered by our food we decided to bike farther. We biked through Ree Heights and asked for a campground, we found none. We biked through Highmore and asked for a campground. There was none. Exhausted and starting to lose spirits we decided that we would defiantly find a campground in the next city. It was about 9 and the sun was setting. We biked fast and turned our safety lights on, 7 miles to the next city. We saw it on the horizon and our enthusiasm diminished. Holabird, which it was called, was not really a town at all, nor a village, it was more of a sign. with one or two buildings by it. The sun was just about below the horizon as we were starting to realize today was the day to sleep in a ditch.



Just then when all hope was lost a pickup drove by and stopped in the driveway ahead of us. A wonderful man jumped out and invited us to come stay at his house, dumbfounded LeAnn and I nodded.  Our smiles could not have been bigger as we rode the 1 mile down the dirt road to their house and a full glowing orange moon hovered over the endless prairie horizon. Together with his wife and his daughter we were invited complety into their home. We were fed an absolutly wonderful homecooked meal, dried our wet clothes, got answers to all of our random curiousities about South Dakota, and we got a real bed to sleep in. It was a most wonderful experience which we will never forget. And we have never been so glad to lay our aching limbs to rest.

6/14/11-South dakota people are nice

We left Clark late and biked to Redfield against the wind. A big storm was coming and we wanted to do our allotted 40 miles at least a day before it came. Right before we entered Redfield a car stopped and a man told us that there was a big storm a coming and we best seek shelter. Starving we rushed to the grocery store to stock up before we made camp. LeAnn just happen to scare me half to death thinking that my wallet was lost. So i ran out to our bikes to look. And what did i find? There was a man in his 60's covered in paint by our bikes. He was painting a house he explained and had a son who biked across the US. He said the house was being remodeled and there wasn't any furniture but we could stay there the night if we wanted. We were enthusiastic with the big storm coming and gladly took his offer. We slept very well that night.

6/13/11-rest

Stayed in Clark as a rest day. Cleaned clothes, went swimming, got ice cream, and dislocated my shoulder. LeAnn got it back in.

6/11/11-6/12/11- Of rain

Woke up real early and biked to Monte Video, a very wonderful town. Your following the road and turn a corner and go down into this little Italian like city. Freewheel decided to stop being free, had to replace the entire wheel. Though this was made light because of a wonderful little farm stand and a loaf of banana bread and blueberry jelly.
We biked until our limbs were sore and our bodies weary. Trying to outrun the rain. Eventually it overcame us and we were forced to make camp behind a dirt pile.

It rained on and off all morning, packing was hard. Biked hoping to find a diner an hour and a half ride away. Closed.Sundays. Biked some more in the downpour. Found out my rain coat is a wind breaker. Eventually stopped at a bar for fried mushrooms. Not the healthiest but the only vegetarian option. Biked and biked, past threw Watertown, the worst city in the world. No shoulder and no sidewalks. Ate lunch by a river, walked out of town. No sidewalks. Stupid cars.

We biked another 30 miles and stopped in Clark. Made camp in a 4-h fairgrounds. Absolutely beautiful.

6/10/11- Highways suck

We ended the bike trail in Wilmer and stopped for food and some other essentials. After that we got a little lost and ended up 2 miles farther in the wrong direction. This wouldnt be that big of a deal if for the one simple fact that the only road we could take was the highway... this took the rest of our day and brought our moods pretty low and are stress high. It was only 18 miles but it took forever. it sucked. Just as we near the end a storm came. With louder thunder then i have ever heard. It shook the surrounding area. We asked the local officials to sleep in the park in clara and they let us. We spend the rest of the day in a little cafe talking with the locals and eating some good food. A good end to a stressful day.

6/9/11- We're OFF!!!.... again...

We spent most of the morning throwing out gear that we didnt need, cutting down on clothes(we are now down to one shirt, one par of pants/rainpants, two shorts, three pairs of socks, one fleece, one rainjacket, and one set of long underware per person. That includes what we are wearing. Plus some girl stuff for the girl. after living a very sizable portion at her grandpas, we can now pick up are bikes with one hand, and even when full with water and food they dont wiegh but 40pounds each including the bike. A great improvement. We didnt leave her grandpas until 2 and only then after a sizable lunch of grilled chesse and other amazing food. We biked all day until again we were blessed with a bike trail and found a little nich where we could set up a tent. Equiped with all functions. Had a wonderful soup with some organic quinoa that we got from a friend. And fell wondefully aching into sleep.

6/8/11-Grandpa

Biked from Leanns house to her grandpas on the other side of saint cloud. Easy day, ran a bunch of errands. Getting ready to leave the known. Also picked up saddle bags/rear panniers for LeAnn and shoes for her. I refucse to get rid of my trusty 10 sandles in exchange for biking shoes.

6/4/11-6/7/11-Parties and good stuff

We enjoyed LeAnns grad party and lots of bad for you good tasting food. Thats all that need be said. Aside from us dropping another 20 pounds of weight from are packs.

6/3/11-Race

I woke up after a restless night picking ticks off me and then fell promtly back to sleep. LeAnn had woken up earlier and went swimming, and pumping water letting me great fully catch a few more moments of sleep. She came back exhausted after pumping for an half an hour to get a few water bottles full. Then since i was still sleeping continued to make me breakfast wary of last nights mishap she did everything to make this the perfect meal for a boy who was so troubled. I woke up to a wonderful smell. And came out just in time to see her putting the Cinnamon, the finishing touch on a wonderful bowl of out meal. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I yelled and raced toward her. But it was to late, i had put curry powder in the Cinnamon bottle to save on space. I guess recycling isn't always the best option. We biked the rest of the day and hard at that. We realized we could get to LeAnn's house in Foley tonight if we raced, then for some reason 8 pm decided to be are goal. It was 7pm and we were 15 miles out and there was a dirt road ahead of us. But we raced each other home. She won. dang gear (of which i was carrying most i might add).

6/2/11 Of chainsaws and first time cooking(second)

 We woke up to the sound of screaming chainsaws and men's voices. We we're surrounded! I leaned out of the tent flap to see what was up.There were four men with chainsaws cutting down trees around us.
 No worries though it was just the conservation core doing tree trimming, and though we were quite a bit closer to the trail then i thought last night they didn't seem to care. we packed up our gear and started off down the trail. We stopped for lunch along side of the road and made some tomato soup with noodles in it and i got a few ticks. Though these incidents may seem trivial it was the beginning of a terrible turn of events. We road on for much of the rest of the day, only stopping briefly to smell the flowers.
We eventually got to willow river and decided to make camp at a little designated campsite. This is where it all began. Within the first few min i had picked off 8 ticks and there wasn't even tall grass it was just dirt. LeAnn decided to make spaghetti and i after the tomato soup tasting so good suggested she put some sauce in with the water. I who started freaking out about all the ticks and pulling off each one as they crawled up on me was then quite preoccupied. Until the smell of burning wafted through the air. 

LeAnn was over the stove trying to scrape the contents in a stirring motion. She had unwittingly added a double large can to half the normal spaghetti that you would use with a normal sized can. This left little to no room for any water, and instead of boiling and making the spaghetti wonderfully tender it decided to burn and make the spaghetti kinda floppy. We dutifully tried to eat at least some, and dumped the rest for the bears (thousands of feet away from our campsite). We then went to bed and i fell asleep (this whole time constantly picking ticks off, did i mention i really don't like ticks?).


I also forgot to mention that every bridge was under construction on the Munger trail so a large part of the day was hauling the outrageously heavy bikes up and down the sides where the path crossed the road. We also had to do it one at a time since we couldn't make it up with our own bike.

6/1/11-We're off!

We woke up early, and realized we would not be leaving at 5 am by some miracle and we would spend the day working our butts off trying to get ready. We went through the gear 4 times each time getting rid of a coat a double of something, a few band aids or some odd piece of food. Slowly we whittled down our gear till it was a slightly smaller gigantic pile in the middle of the living room. we were down to 150 pounds not including water. This was for two people we reasoned and though 150 pounds of gear sounded like a lot 75 per person sounded less and if you added that we would be away from home for 6 months at most it seemed trivial. After settling the gear issue for now we had to make panniers. I ended up taking two children's suitcases and strapping them over the back rack, and borrowing two tidy cat litter containers from the bike cave. Leann having to go without. After a few other errands and gear runs we were ready to go. It was 8pm a few hours later then we had hoped. And we we're off!

We pedaled for a few miles until it started getting dark. Slowly are spirit's fell as the long day finally took a toll on us. Just as all seemed lost fire works started going off in front of us. Huge displays of sound light rocketed toward the sky, we pulled off right by wade stadium and watched with the supposed hundreds of wide eyed fans.

Our spirits much higher and minds lighter we pressed on until we got to the head of the Munger trail. It was pretty late so we decided to make camp a little off the trail. We ate a late dinner of rice and beans over our new stove, and two slightly crabby people fell asleep after the long 19 hour day.

Before-Trip

An idea, that is all it was, until months later when we started hauling 200 pounds of gear plus bikes to my parents. Far to much gear we knew but at the time we couldn't imagine bringing any single item less. Our destination was to ride from Duluth, Minnesota to Montana where my aunt lived on home made bikes. This idea becoming more and more complex as time went by, soon it included the Badlands, Foley, the Grand Tetons and not to say the least Alaska. The latter after hearing about some friends running a marathon up there (that is what you get when two very competitive stubborn people decided to go on an adventure).
We made and altered two bikes at the Bike cave, and after months of preparation the day finally came. We loaded the gear in LeAnn's roommate's truck and brought it down to my parents in lake side. Riding our bikes down there later that night, we were planning on leaving at 5 am the next morning. Did i mention that we had no panniers or trailer or any way to strap 200 pounds of gear on much less move it?