Saturday, November 6, 2010

Day 40!!

Today's Destination: Yorktown, VA!

Today we finish our trip. We are all very excited to see family and friends at Yorktown beach. The trip has been amazing and we have felt blessed our entire trip. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and followed us during our journey. We have compiled a video from pictures and video clips that we thought were some of the best. We will add some of the video clips and pictures from the finish line in a few days. Stay tuned to our blog for the final video. Thanks for all the continued support...Dave thought this song was appropriate for our trip!


Friday, November 5, 2010

Post Ride Day 39

Current City: Charles City, VA

Hello everyone! We are officially down to 1 riding day left. Tonight we made our own versions of our top lists. Our lists consists of things we will miss, we won't miss, or things we won't forget. It hard to believe that it's almost done. All the months of preparation and hard work is about to be done...WOW! I know I speak for all the guys when I say THANK YOU. Thank you for all the prayers and support. Check out the video!

pre ride day 39

Today's Route: Charlottesville, Va - Charles City, Va

This is our next to last day of riding..honestly I thought this would never come! It seems just yesterday we were starting in San Francisco, CA. Nice and sunny outside so we are hittin the road!

Post-Ride Day 38

Current City: Charlottesville , VA

Well if you watched the weather today at all on the east coast you will see that we were under rain the entire day. It was frustrating for most of the day because we all wanted to ride but 45 degrees and raining doesn't make for a very good ride. We had no choice but to continue on our route to finish in Yorktown on November 6th. We did get some productive things done today though, we all now have clean clothes! The site of us carrying all of our laundry to the laundry mat was pretty funny. We had one full laundry bag and 2 armfuls of other clothes...quite the site. We are all looking forward to getting on the bike tomorrow and heading to Yorktown on Saturday!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

pre ride day 38

Today's Route: Lexington, Va - Charlottesville, Va

Well it's raining outside and it looks like it's going to be raining for awhile. We are hanging out right now and seeing what our plan can be for the day. Hopefully it will stop raining so we can get on the road but we will see. The weather is just something that we can't control!


Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Post Ride Day 37

Current City:Lexington, VA

Today's ride was beautiful. We saw some beautiful countryside of Virginia. Unfortunately Dave is sick so we thought it would be best to cut the ride short and get him to a room where he could sleep and rest up for the home stretch. He's a trooper so he'll be back soon. We started off the day at Radford University meeting with some of Tony's old professors. One of the professors got in touch with the school newspaper who will be doing a story on our trip! It was cool to see the campus and hear the stories of Tony's "glory" days.

pre ride day 37

Today's Route: Radford, VA - Blue Ridge Parkway.

We really don't have a definite stop for tonight but we are going to try and make it as far as we can. We expect to end up somewhere close to the Blue Ridge Parkway and camp there for this evening. Today's weather is a little overcast and cold and should make for a cold ride today. Other than that the weather is nice and looking forward to a good ride.

We are heading to Radford University for them to take some pictures of us and to ask Tony some questions about our trip. They are going to doing a story on us for their students, another way we are getting our message out! Thanks for all the prayers and we will be home soon.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

post ride day 36

Current City: Radford, VA

We made it to Tony's old stomping ground today. He has given us a tour of his "glory" days of running at Radford. I will say he does know his history though. It's been cool seeing new things and learning about some of the history here in the state. Today was a nice ride, easy and slow...getting much slower as we get farther into our trip. Days are long as we look to the finish but will end soon enough. Tonight we were blessed to meet Andy and Susan at Macado's. Thank you very much for the generosity! Tony has talked about this place since we started. The dessert looked great and tasted fantastic, enjoy the pictures!


Pre Ride Day 36

Today's Route: Abingdon, Va - Radford, Va

Cold start to a nice day! hopefully it will warm up soon. Tonight we are staying at claytor state park. We should have a nice ride with hills as usual. Tony is excited because we will see his old campus of Radford University. Should be fun to see his old stomping grounds.

Post Ride Day 35

One word to describe today...VIRGINIA! It's really hard to believe that we are in our last state. As we think back to past places and how far we've come it literally feels like we just began. The trip has been long and the experiences have been incredible. We are excited to be in our last state, Tony most of all. We will be making our way through the long state of Virginia on our way to our destination on Saturday. The weather is starting to turn cold again so that makes us pedal a little faster. Looking forward to some hilly riding between now and Saturday.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Pre Ride Day 35

Today's Route:....get to Virginia!

Today we roll into our last state...virginia! We are ready to ride and should be a nice day to ride. Virginia here we come!

Post Ride day 34

Current City: Hazard, KY

In one word Today was ....eventful. It started out with us loaded up and ready to ride then looking back at the camper and noticing that the bearings on the wheel were in the parking space beside us. So after figuring out what to do we went and got replacement parts for the camper and changed the bearings. Then we knew we weren't going to make our entire ride so we called parks about half-way through to our destination for a place to stay. When I say there's nothing I mean exactly that NOTHING in between berea and hindman. This must be the part of kentucky that's still not developed because there's no place to stay, sleep, nothing. We had to come off our route a few miles to a small town called Hazard, KY. Tonight while buying more water we found out that there is apparently a "water boil" in the area and the water isn't safe to drink so ALL but 4 cases of water were left....that's it, not exaggerating. So we bought 2 cases and went on our way. You know it's about time to go home when your soap is running out, clothes are running out, and when you can't get water....it's time to go home! Anyway, it's was an eventful day to say the least...hopefully tomorrow our equipment will be a little nicer.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Pre Ride Day 34

Today's route: Berea, KY - Hindman, KY

Today we get back on the bike for the home stretch. We have 743 miles to go before next saturday. We will spend the night for one more night in Kentucky then it's off to our final state, Virginia. We had a great rest day yesterday. We had a chance to go to the local YMCA and play some basketball....Jesse showed the guys his boyhood roots dominating in some basketball. Afterward we watched football for the rest of the day and enjoyed another Carolina victory. Today should be a nice long ride. God Bless.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Post Ride day 32

Current City: Berea, KY

The best way to describe today was that "we made it". Today it was hard to get going. We were treated like kings to say the least and it was hard to start peddling again..but we made it. We will enjoy a day off tomorrow and start again on Sunday. We had the opportunity to ride down some beautiful country roads and see many farms and open fields.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Pre Ride Day 32

Today's Route: New Hope, KY - Berea, KY

Today we should be a carb loaded and ready to ride! We've had great meals and great sleep so we are ready to tackle the hilly ride to Berea. The views will be hard to leave but the thought of getting closer to home is what's keeping us going! Thanks for all the prayers and support as we go east.

Post Ride day 31

Current City: New Hope, Kentucky

What a blessing. Tonight we have been treated like royalty. Kentucky has been a very good state to us. Our entrance into Kentucky was led by a police escort and the hospitality has not been a let down for sure. Tonight Sarah's family hosted us and we were greeted very warmly. After the iron gate opening for us as we entered in, we followed the road down to 2 of the "trailers" at the end. We have come to figure out that when you say "trailers" on a Ranch it translates to "very nice places to stay on a ranch!" We all had our own room with large beds in them. Then we ate dinner....and we ate dinner.....and we ate dinner! The food was amazing. Sarah's aunt Gerry, cooked us beef brisket, potatoes, broccoli, green beans, bread and then dessert. Oh my what a night. The ride tomorrow will be very fun! It's amazing the energy you feel after a good meal to ride the next day! Now time to sleep, and it will be glorious.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Pre Ride Day 31

Today's Route: Rough River Dam State Park - Bardstown, KY

We are excited about the good weather and staying with some of Sarah's family tonight. We should have a farely easy ride today and looking forward to a home cooked meal tonight...priceless! Today we will be back in the eastern time zone about 30 miles into our ride...another sign that we are getting closer to the east coast. Continue to pray for us as we make our way across the U.S.

Post Ride day 30

Current Location: Rough River Dam State Park (somewhere in Kentucky).

Hello everyone! Sorry we haven't posted until now, we haven't had much cell phone reception the last couple of days. Hopefully now it will improve but can't promise anything. Last night we stayed at Rough River Dam state park. It was nice but you can definitely tell the RV parks that are public and those that are private (no hot water).

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Pre Ride Day 30

Sun is shining bright and we are heading east! We are excited about the weather being nice and should be a farely good ride for the day. The wind doesn't seem to be blowing as much as it has been so that's good. We really don't know our destination for the night. We are scheduled to stop at rough river dam state park but we aren't sure about the camping there so we hope it's "campable" to pop-up standards! Anyway, should be a great day and thanks for all the prayers.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Ride Day 29

Current City: Paducah, Ky

Today we used our last rest day. We really weren't planning on using it today but due to the severe weather we had it was our only option. The winds were blowing around 25 mph's with kentucky getting pounded by the wind and rain. We plan on picking up our route tomorrow and heading east!

Post Ride day 28

Current City: Paducah, KY

Yesterday was our most "productive" day if you want to say it like that. We came out of the stalls hammering and made it through 2 states! To be honest though our stint in Illinois was only about 35 miles...but we hammered it out! As many of you have also heard we had a police escort into the state of Kentucky, I guess our story is getting out there!....Here's how it went.

We had just finished lunch and we heading to the bridge to crossover the Ohio River into the state of Kentucky. There aren't many bridges that crossover so the traffic can be bad at times. We get to the Illinois side of the bridge and notice there are no shoulders or bike lanes to ride on. The bridge is very narrow with just enough room to drive on. Tony says that he doesn't like bridges so he goes ahead of us and makes it across. It's really hard to tell where we are at how long this bridge is and what's on the other side. After Tony goes, Dave and I start going with Dave bringing up the rear. We go about 1/4 of a mile and we go over some expansion gaps in the bridge and my tire blows out. We stop on the bridge and decide to keep going rather than go back. We decided to keep going because all the tools and equipment are in the truck and the truck is in Kentucky, we are on a bridge. We start walking...and walking...and walking. The bridge turns out to be a lot longer than we expected. Then the traffic picks up on the bridge. 18 wheelers are coming down every 15 seconds it seems like. Dave starts waving his hands in the middle of the road as the truckers are coming to get their attention. After he gets their attention we both grab onto the steel support beams and hold on for dear life until they pass by...imagine doing this for about 1 1/2. As we make it to the end of the bridge the guard rail continues so it's no help what so ever. Finally a cop comes from the opposite direction and asks how we were and we told him we have a flat, no tools, no spare and there's no where to get off the side. He politely says for us to try and get off as quick as we can...will do. We notice he turns around at the other end of the bridge and when he gets to us he turns on his lights. Remember we are walking our bikes down this busy bridge with our riding shoes on ( riding shoes are like a reverse 2 in heel, you can't walk fast). So as we entered into Kentucky we are pushing my bike with a police escort and about 20 cars/trucks lined up behind it. Praise the Lord for the cop because there was a hairpin turn as you come into Kentucky that would have been very interesting with no shoulders or bike lane. That my friends was our triumphal entry into the great state of Kentucky....wonder what it will be like going into Virginia?

Monday, October 25, 2010

Pre Ride Day 28

Current City: Jackson, MO

Today's route: Jackson, MO - Paducah, KY

Well today is day 2 of our short-cut adventure. We mapped it out last night and we think that this will cut our course by 50 miles. We don't know the terrain so it might be easier the other way!...but who would know if you don't try! Today we are going to stop in paducah which will cut our trip today by about 30 miles which is good considering we have been riding now for 10 days straight without a rest day. We are hoping to have a rest day this week but we aren't sure which day it will be since we only have 1 more left to take. We are excited to keep moving east and hope that Kentucky will be a great state to see!

Post Ride day 27

Current City: Jackson, MO

Watch out Christopher Columbus we have a new explorer in the making! Today we went on a little adventure. The day started out with Jesse looking at our route for today and the maps had us going north and we decided we didn't want to go north. After Jesse getting a map from the local grocery store we map out a new route and off we went. You will hear from the confessionals that our new route took us down some adventurous roads that included us riding our road bikes down dirt roads! (jesse blames this on the gps, his route didn't have us going down the dirt road). all in all we "think" this ended up being a short cut but we don't know for sure quite yet! Enjoy.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Pre Ride Day 27

Today's Route: Eminence, MO - Farmington, MO


Post Ride day 26

Current City: Eminence, MO

What a beautiful ride today! The views today were absolutely amazing. The weather today was a little overcast and the hills were awesome. The terrain and weather reminded us that we are slowly making our way to the east coast! The wind was pretty brutal at times gusting over 20 miles an hour right into our face which made for a very slow ride at times. I know the weather was a concern with them calling for rain but the rain held off for a great ride. Tomorrow will be our last full day in Missouri so we are going to enjoy the Ozark mountains for as long as we can....

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Pre Ride Day 26

Today's Route: Marshfield, MO - Eminence, MO

Today's weather has been a concern since last night. We were expecting some pretty rough thunderstorms but all we got last night was ALOT of wind. We are going to try and ride this one out. Only thing the radar shows is a few storms a good ways away. We shouldn't have a problem but pray for clear weather! It will be tough leaving paradise...paradise RV park but glad to keep moving on..Thanks for the prayers!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Post Ride day 25

Current City: Marshfield, MO

We are in Paradise!!!....Paradise RV park. It was a day shortened due to Thunder and Lightning storms. It's always disappointing to have bad weather but that's something that we cannot control. The day started off great by meeting the Crews family in the hotel lobby. They prayed for us and encouraged us along our trip. I wish the day continued to go as well as it started but it's all good we are looking for a good day tomorrow.

Pre Ride Day 25

Current City: Pittsburg, KS

Today's Route:
Pittsburg, Ks - Marshfield, MO

Today we make it to Missouri! We have had fun in Kansas but we will be glad to keep moving..only 4 more states left to go! We had the opportunity to meet missionaries this morning at breakfast. The Crews family was on furlough for a little while from Thailand visiting family. It was great to hear about their ministry and what all they are doing around the world. They were a blessing to us this morning. They prayed for us and really encouraged us on our journey..it was truly a blessing.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Post Ride day 24

Current City: Pittsburg, KS


Pre Ride Day 24

Current City: Chanute, KS

Today's route: Chanute, KS - Pittsburg, KS

Today should be our shortest day for awhile. We have called tire places in Pittsburg and they have our tire! Hopefully this will solve the problem at least for the majority of the trip. Thanks for all the concerns and prayers for our trip.We are continually overwhelmed by the answered prayers and the generosity of people back home.
We had a good talk with some gentlemen this morning at breakfast. It was good to hear stories of some of the locals and talk about our trip once again. Like I said in the past...it never gets old!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Post Ride day 23

Current City: Chanute, KS

We had to make a little detour in our trip today due to some un-for-seen events. You will hear about them in the video. The weather today was great, we even had a little tailwind to help us out! For awhile I was sure that there was no such thing as wind from west to east in Kansas.. I don't care what the weather man says. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow so not much sleep tonight! Last stop in Kansas tomorrow then off to Missouri.

Pre Ride Day 23

Current City: Newton, KS

Today we go from Newton, KS to Toronto, KS. The route will be close to 100 miles. Should be farely flat but we are expecting to get back into rolling hills soon. The flats didn't last long but as we get closer to Missouri and Kentucky the terrain will begin to change a little. We have a couple more nights here in Kansas then off to Missouri. Thanks for all the prayers!


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Post Ride day 22

Current City: Newton, KS

Today was great weather and a great ride. You will hear us mention the swedish guys we met last night and talk a good bit to them this morning. We mentioned their website in our post this morning. If you get a chance check out their website.
We have learned that there is absolutely NOTHING in Kansas...including RV parks. We thought we had one lined up for tonight but when we pulled it there were no bathrooms...so we kept looking, and looking, and looking. Finally we pulled into the "interstate inn"...yeah the name explains it all. Actually there were only 2 lights working on the sign, so we call it the "in". It will do for the few hours that we are here then heading to Toronto, KS for our last night in Kansas. Thanks for all the prayer and keep it up!

Pre Ride Day 22

Current City: Larned, KS

Today's Route: Larned, KS - Toronto, KS

Cassette's have been changed and tires are new and we are ready to roll! It will be another long day of 105 miles but word on the street is we might have a SLIGHT...SLIGHT... tailwind. We have been watching the weather channel and we have been blown away of how the fronts and clouds are moving east but I PROMISE YOU the wind is coming from the east right in our face. We were blown away last night watching the weather. So we have all come to the conclusion that the weather man can really say anything he wants about anywhere because no one is there to prove him right or wrong...what a profession.

On another note, we met a group of cross country riders going west (man i don't envy them!). They are raising money for a school in Cambodia. Check out their website , www.bike4cambodia.com.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Half way video

Here's a video since we've made it to the half-way point! Just a few highlights thus far. Enjoy!

Pre Ride Day 21

Today's Route: Dighton, KS - Larned, KS

Here's the layout of Kansas....ride for 25 miles...come to a small city with silos....then nothing for about 25 miles...then come to a small city with silos...then nothing for about 25 miles....then come to a small city with silos...then nothing. That's what we see, but at least for now we will trade that for the mountains. The mountains were definitely pretty to look out but the flatter it gets the closer we get to home. We woke up to rain and thunder but it looks like it's calming down now. Looking forward to a good long ride.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

post ride day 20

Current City : Dighton, KS

Today we made it to another state, Kansas. We made our 2nd century ride in 2 days and some of us are starting to feel the wear on the legs a little. We've got to get use to it though because we will be riding 100 miles for a few days in a row. Thank you for all the prayers for no head wind today because the wind was not a factor! Continue to pray for us as we travel east!

Pre Ride Day 20

Today's Route: Eads, CO - Dighton, KS

Today we ride into Kansas. It's another state off of our list. We have biked almost 1600 miles so far and today we are adding to that list with our longest day of our trip so far, 128 miles. Hopefully the flat lands of Kansas will be kind to us and the winds will stay down. Continue to pray for our safety as the bike lanes are starting to get smaller. Pray that God puts people in our path to talk to. God Bless.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

post ride day 19

Post-ride Day 19

Current City: Eads, CO

Man today was windy! I know all of you are probably tired of us complaining either about the rain, cold, wind, mountains etc. but today was brutal. We had a great first 20 miles. We average over 20 mph for the first hour then the wind hit us right in the face. We are hoping that the wind isn't as bad tomorrow as it was today but based on the weather report it looks like the same tomorrow. Oh and did I mention that tomorrow is our longest day of our trip so far...128 miles. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to hurt! Continue to pray for our safety and our trip, thanks for all your support. Take care,


Pre Ride Day 19

Today's route: Pueblo, CO - Eads, CO
Miles: 116
Terrain: Flat!

Today we will stop in our last city in Colorado. After that we should be switching over to the Central Time zone. Currently we are 2 hours behind EST. We hope to make it to Eads to watch the Carolina game this afternoon which play at 4pm our time...we gotta hustle! We've had a great time here in Pueblo resting, talking to bike shops, and meeting people. We are heading to keep heading back home though. Thanks for all the prayers.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Welcome to our Home!

Current City: Pueblo, CO

Today was a rest day and we wanted to give you a glimpse not only of our riding but also our home! Check out our home!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

post ride day 17

Current City: Pueblo, CO
Current terrain: FLAT!

Hello everyone. We made it to Pueblo, CO today. We are staying here for 2 nights to have a rest day on Friday. We need the rest since we have been climbing mountains for the past 16 days! We've had the opportunity to meet tons of people so far along our trip. Hopefully we will continue to meet people like we have been. Tonight we were eating in Golden Corral and a lady asked, " are y'all athletes " , answer....not exactly!
Like I said Friday, we will take a break to give our bodies some rest time before the long days in the flats. We leave for Eads, CO on Saturday,

Pre Ride Day 17

Today's Route: Cotopaxi, Co - Pueblo, CO
Miles 80

Today we celebrate our LAST mountain pass this side of the Mississippi. We are very excited to get to the flats of Kansas. We are praying for a tailwind! Thanks for all the support.

post ride day 16

Current City: Cotopaxi, CO

We made it over our highest peak of our trip today. It was a very exciting moment as we got to the top. We took some amazing photos, enjoy the video as you hear about our experience.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Pre Ride Day 16

Current City: Gunnison, CO

Route Today: Gunnison, Co - Cotopaxi, Co - 85 miles

Today we climb our tallest peak of the trip 11,300 feet. Here's the link to the elevation/route. Check back tonight for our stories!

Web link to view our route and elevation for today!

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/co/cotopaxi%2c-co/841128698390352536

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

post ride day 15

Current City: Gunnison, CO
Today's Ride: Ridgeway, CO - Gunnison, CO - 85 miles

Thank you so much for the prayers for better weather....today was beautiful. It actually warmed up over 70 today for a little while. It's a lot more fun to bike without all the warm weather gear on. We had the chance to meet a few people today who saw our bikes and started asking us about our ride. Telling people about our trip never gets old. Tomorrow is a tough day with our highest peak yet of over 11,000 feet....David is looking forward to it!

Pre Ride Day 15

Route: Ridgeway, CO - Gunnison, CO 90 miles
Current Temp: 43


post ride day 14

Current City: Ridgeway, CO

Tonight has been a huge blessing. One of Tony's friends family owns a ranch house that they are letting us stay in. It's not quite as nice as "Mr. Pop-Tart" (sarcasm) but we are making due. It's nice to cook on a stove and wash clothes in a laundry room. The things that you take for granted back home seem like luxury while out on the road. We are looking forward to being done in Colorado. We have 3 days left of climbing and today we went over our highest elevation yet...10,200 ft. We are still peddling and looking forward to a rest day once we are done with these mountains! Thanks for all the prayers and support.

post ride day 13

Current City: Stoner, CO

Today was a great ride. Starting back after a day off was good. We finally saw a wal-mart in this town. We have been wanting to go to wal-mart since we started. We had the opportunity to meet some people in our campground as well. The families that we met actually had other family members that were from Columbia! It made all of us feel a little closer to home. As we were talking with the people they wanted to get pictures with us as they heard what we were doing. We had the opportunity to share with them what we were doing and why we were riding. Also, the next morning one of the gentlemen bought us breakfast...very nice! The generosity of the people really made us feel good....much needed.

We are trudging through Colorado

Hello everyone.We have been in some very remote places over the last couple of days. We have also experienced some technical difficulties with our wireless connection.We are currently working on those problems and hope to post or videos when the problem is fixed. We are still making our daily videos and will post then as soon as we can. Thanks for all the prayers.
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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Pre Ride Day 13

Current City: Blanding, UT
Today's Ride: Blanding, UT - Stoner, CO
Distance: 96 miles

We are having trouble with our wireless network card so we aren't sure if we will be able to post video blogs for awhile. We are currently working on this problem but we will keep you up to date as long as we have cell phone service. Thanks and we are looking forward to a great day.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Day 12

Current City: Blanding, UT

Total Food Consumed to date! (trying to keep up with it to see how much food we have eaten!)
-3 lbs of beef jerky
- 10 cans of progresso soup
- 6 lbs of gummy bears
- 2 lbs of peanut m & m's
- 1 loaf of bread, half can of peanut butter
- 5 lbs of pretzels
- 10 lbs of animal crackers
- 6 bananas
- 2 lbs of pasta
- 8 packs of Ramen Noodles
- 3 cans of canned chicken
- 12 packs of oatmeal
- 30 pancakes
- 4 lbs of hamburgers
- 3 lbs of cheez-its
- 2 cans of pringles
- 180 bottles of water
- 60 sports drinks
- 36 Ensures
- 16 poptarts
- 3 boxes of cereal.
- 1 dozen eggs

Today we enjoyed a day off. It was much needed and the guys enjoyed watching Carolina beat the Crimson Tide! We spent the morning cleaning the bikes and getting things organized for the 2nd leg of our trip. Check out the video as Tony explains the different components of the bike and some of our sponsors.

On another note tonight we went to a local restaurant to eat and we were talking with one of the waiters. We told him about our ride and he mentioned about the storms that came up from Flagstaff and caused numerous tornadoes in the area. The storms passed the the same towns that we were traveling through and passed the day before we went biked through those towns. We could chalk that up by chance that we just happened to be coming through when we were or we can say that God was looking out for us. We can feel his presence and protection during our ride. We believe this is a direct result of all of your prayers. Please keep praying as we expect more bad weather, mishaps, tough times to happen. Thanks for all your support.




Friday, October 8, 2010

post ride day 11

We made it to Blanding, UT. We are very excited to have a rest day tomorrow. We have been going strong for 11 days straight and over 900 miles of riding so we are ready for a rest day! Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Current City: Blanding, UT

post ride day 10

Hello Everyone! Sorry for the late blog posts. The past couple of nights have been spent in VERY small towns. Everyone is doing good. The weather is beginning to turn very cold. Most of the mountain passes we are going through has snow at the top of them. Enjoy the pictures and video. God Bless.

Current City: Boulder, UT
Current Temp: 37 degrees

We are still alive!

Hello everyone we just wanted to update the blog and let you know that we are all ok. We have been in the middle of nowhere for the past few days without any cellphone service.We will update you on the past few days soon..thanks!
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Thursday, October 7, 2010

pre ride day 10

Todays Ride: Panguitch, UT - Boulder, UT
Miles- 95
Current Temp: 46
Scripture Verse: Mark 12:30

The weather is beautiful today so far. The sun is out and our spirits are up. Thank you for all the prayers as we continue our route.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

post ride day 9

Current City: Panguitch, UT
Current Temp: 34 degrees

Well today the shortcut worked...well sort of. The short cut got us to our destination but not exactly how we had planned. The day began with tons of rain. We tried to make our way through but 20 miles in we had to stop riding. The temperature at that point was 41 degrees and the rain was getting harder and harder. We are hoping for better weather tomorrow as we ride to Boulder, UT. The trip is about 95 miles long. Should be a nice cold day!

Total miles on bike: 628

pre ride day 9

Milford, UT- Panguitch, UT- 75 miles

Today we are going to try a "shortcut". We were looking at the map last night and the map had us going south to a town called "Cedar City". We have found what we think will be a shorter route and bypassing a day on our ride. We hope that it works out. Tune in tonight and see how our "shortcut" turned out!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

post ride day 8

Current City: Milford, UT

We finally made it to Utah! Two states down. We were excited to get out of Nevada and begin another state. The weather today was horrible. We started the morning out with rain and 45 degree weather. We went about 5 miles before we had to get in the truck and wait out a storm. Little did we know that these storms would last all day. We made it to the top of our 1st mountain pass and the ice started coming down. Luckily Josh wasn't too far from us and we were able to jump in the truck. After waiting for 30 minutes we realized it wasn't going to let up. We looked at radar and noticed this was an all day deal. We had to ride to our destination for the day. It was a little disappointing but we realize that we must keep safety first.
We had the opportunity to meet a few groups of people today. One person we met was named Eric. It was neat to hear Eric's story of how he left 6 1/2 weeks ago from his back porch in Illinois and going to California to visit family. We met up on some random porch in Baker, NV...total population of 140 (that's being generous). He mentioned how he was traveling alone and only with a cell phone and some luggage that he pulled behind him on his bike. It made me put my trip in perspective because here he was traveling by himself with all his food, water, equipment, etc. We think we have it hard or tough sometimes but there is always someone out there that helps you keep your perspective and lets you realize how good you have it. We were able to help him out by giving him some food that we had. Keep it up Eric!

Pre Ride Day 8

Ride Day 8:
Ely, NV- Bakers, NV 70-80 miles

Today we hope to make it to the border of Utah. Yesterday was an interesting day and today looks about the same. We saw God answer prayers yesterday which was a blessing. Check out the video. I will speak for the team and say that we can definitely feel the prayers from our supporters. Please continue as we make our trek across the country. God Bless.

Monday, October 4, 2010

post ride day 7

Current City: Ely, NV

Today started out early. We left Eureka about 7am to start our trek to Ely, NV. This morning as we were checking out I noticed the card that we gave the receptionist was still on the desk. It was encouraging to see that they didn't throw it away! We are praying that our cards are effective in helping us share our story. We know we can't stay in one location long so we hope the seeds that are planted will continue to grow.

Galatians 6:9

Pre Ride Day 7

Eureka, NV - Ely, NV- 80 miles
Weather: Currently 35 degrees, rain

Sunday, October 3, 2010

post ride day 6

We made it to Eureka, NV. It was a very windy ride. You can listen to the testimony of the guys on the video. Tomorrow we are going to try and make it to Ely, NV. We had a great time worshiping with Austin Baptist Church. The weather is beginning to change a little which is making the rides a little tougher.

Pre Ride Day 6

Day 6: Austin, NV - Eureka, NV - 70 miles

Saturday, October 2, 2010

post ride day 5

Day Five Destination: Austin, NV- 116 miles

Pre Ride Day 5

Day 5 Ride: Fallon, NV - Austin, NV: Mileage 110 miles, hilly terrain.
Verse for the day: Isaiah 40: 28-31

Friday, October 1, 2010

post ride day 4

Angels are among us!

Since we have started this ride from day one there has been times where we have been, well for the lack of a better word...lost. But we have met people all along the way to point us in the right direction turn by turn. The first guy we met was Mojo. He has done this ride before and there was a stretch of road for 40 miles where we were not able to meet up with Josh since we were on a bike path through the country side. We had forgotten our map in the truck but thank GOD Mojo was there. He put us directly where we needed to be turn by turn. If it was not for him we would have been lost somewhere along the American River. The second day we stopped at a gas station and a gentleman told us where we need to go to get back onto our path. Well about 10 miles down there road he was at a stop sign that we were going through and he started screaming "CROSSOVER!!!" It was very encouraging to have people cheering us on. We have met many other people already on the route and in the camp grounds that we are getting to share our story with. We are very excited to see what the lord has in store for us along the way.

Pre Ride Day 4

Day 4: Carson City, NV to Fallon NV- 65 miles

The trip should be a relatively easy day compared to what we've had the past couple of days. We will be following route 50 all the way. There won't be many sites to see but should be a approx. 3-4 hr ride. Check back in tonight!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Night before we start.

Riding with a passion - CharlotteObserver.com

Check out the story from the Charlotte Observer for our trip.

Riding with a passion - CharlotteObserver.com

Day 4

Hey Everyone, here is our video blog as we travel to San Francisco. We will be blogging every morning and evening beginning Tuesday, September 28th! Also, due to a high demand for our shirts they will be for sale by PRE-ORDER ONLY until Friday October 1st. Enjoy!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

twitter account

Hey everyone I have set up a twitter account for you to follow us on quick updates. just search the name azanca02 on the twitter home page.

We should be in San Francisco within 6 hours. Later!!

Day 3

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Thursday, September 23, 2010

First day on the road!

Currently we are riding through the plains of Oklahoma....boring! We started last night (Wednesday) about 9pm and have driven straight since only stoping for gas, food, etc. As I'm writing this i'm looking at the GPS and it says our estimated arrival time to Las Vegas is 4:38 AM (7:38 EST). We've had the opportunity to hand out some of our cards and talk to a few people, here's the story of one.

This morning we stopped for breakfast in Little Rock, Arkansas at Waffle House. As we were getting ready to pay I noticed a guy pull out a bible and flip to the back and give it to the cook to read. When I saw this I grabbed my card and went up and started talking to him. I told him we were on our way to the West Coast to ride our bikes across the country and share with people our story. His response was something I wasn't expecting, he says..."Got room for one more?". UMM....well....what do you say?!?! I'm thinking, people back home think we are crazy for doing this and now we got people wanting to jump in the car with us!

After he said this, he pointed outside to his "diamondback" bike. At that time I knew he was serious. I told him we would love to have him tag along but we didn't have any room. (reality is I would feel horrible riding through the mountains and leave this man behind with no way back!).

He began to share a little with us about how he had no purpose and he wanted to be part of something that had meaning. He said he was doing odd jobs to try and make ends meat. He was homeless and going from house to house trying to stay afloat. We tried to be an encouragement to him and he wished us luck was we left.

The thing I will take away from that conversation with Ronnie is his statement, " I just want to have purpose". We got back in the car and prayed for him and we all reminded each other that we can't forget our purpose for this trip....Ronnie...thanks for reminding us of our purpose.

Monday, September 20, 2010

2 days until we leave













Last week we packed the truck full of food and Tony's bike and we quickly found out that we were out of room!...and we needed to put 2 more bikes in the truck. Thanks to Josh and Dave's incredible construction minds they built this platform to put our bikes on so we can store our luggage and food underneath. Gonna be a lot of luggage because temperatures in some locations are already below freezing!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

By Michelin we will roll!



Hey Everyone. I wanted to let you know that Michelin has delivered some of if not THE BEST puncture resistant road tires on the market... Krylion Carbon's. The tires have rolling efficiency nearly equal to most of the top end racing tires, but the also offer exceptional durability and superb grip on dry or wet surfaces. The thicker center tread reinforced with Carbon increases mileage over 30% than normal racing tires.


Plus they hooked us up with some sweet socks!! The socks have the Michelin Logo, and they are manufactured by Defeet. The Defeet Aireator helps keep your feet cool, the socks dry quickly, they are very durable and they have the best fit. When the rides get cold we will be equipped with the Defeet Blaze. Most comfortable socks EVER!!!! (And not just for riding, I used the Blaze socks on my 40 mile Ultra-Marathon as well to keep my feet dry and extra padding underneath).

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Training Ride!


Tony and I headed out on Labor Day to do a long ride. We intended it to be a century ride but cut it short. Check out the map. This is what we will upload each day so you can check out our route. You can click on the picture to enlarge it. Ignore the average speed. I recorded this on my Garmin 305 and I left it running! Enjoy

Monday, August 30, 2010

100+

This past Saturday Dallas Dave, Jesse "I look like the Hulk" Harmon, and I headed out for a ride just over 100 miles. It started off great until we hit the Lake Murray Dam. Dave got a flat tire so we had to pull on over. The bike you see below is the trusty frame that will be taking me across the country. The panniers that were graciously donated by Greg at Inertia served a great purpose. We were able to carry MANY extra bottles for our long haul as well as adding a good 40 pounds to my bike. On the bright side, the bag only got lighter as we drank more Hammer Heed and Perpetuem. We did this same ride on July 4th and out ride time dropped by almost 45 minutes, so we can tell we are definitely getting stronger.
On a separate note...Dave had the pleasure of marrying off his daughter this past Sunday, and Jesse got to officiate his first wedding! So congrats to the new couple and may they be blessed with a fun honeymoon and a happy marriage.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Eye Candy

Below is a picture that can only be described by one word. Le...wait for it...gendary! Legendary!!! These are just a few of Lance Armstrong's bikes that I got to drool over while I was in Austin Texas. These consist of bikes that Lance rode through out last year and this year. The shop called Mellow Johnny's is of course owned be Lance and so there are many shrines to the biking legend.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

XC Jerseys!


Well here it is ladies and gentlemen. Thanks to Josh Baker of our graphics department and Richard at Sfatto , we will be riding across the country in style. If you are interested in getting one please let us know. We still might be able to add some to the order.
On a different note I, (Tony), will be going to Texas tomorrow to visit some of our clients. I will try to make a post from the State of "Everything's bigger here", but I can't make any promises.


Monday, August 16, 2010

Camper Received



This past weekend Dallas Dave and I went to my parents house in Williamsburg, VA. We got in late Friday night and woke up early to give Dave the royal tour of the town. We were even able to ride some of the route that we will have on the last day of the ride. After we did some riding we headed to grab some lunch with my sister and then started pack up the pop-up camper. Now this camper has already been to the west coast and back about 15 years ago so its got some experience and character already. Sunday morning we woke up and headed to church for an unexpected 2 hour service. With that said we went to IHOP for some much needed food. All and all it was a great weekend to see family but as always it was way to short.
Above: This is the Colonial Parkway. It goes almost exactly 26 miles from Jamestown Settlement to the Yorktown Victory Center. This road connects the first English settlement in the "New World" and the battlefields where this nation won it's independence.

This is Dallas Dave finishing his ever so good, calorie packed, brain freezing iced thingy from Aroma's.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

4point three/sixty workout

Hey everyone! We are excited to invite you all to train with us...spiritually. We know it's important for us to physically get ready for the trip but we know it's just as important to prepare spiritually as well. Train with us as we go through the New Testament in 6o days. If you read 4.3 chapters a day you will complete it in 60 days...Here it is...enjoy.

Week 1
Day 1: Mathew 1-4
Day 2: Matthew 5-8
Day 3: Mathew 9-12
Day 4 : Matthew 13-16
Day 5: Matthew 17-20
Day 6: Matthew 21-24
Week 2
Day 7: Matthew 25-28
Day 8 : Mark 1-4
Day 9: Mark 5-9
Day 10: Mark 10-13
Day 11: Mark 14-16
Day 12: Luke: 1-5
Week 3
Day 13: Luke 6-9
Day 14: Luke 10-13
Day 15: Luke 14-18
Day 16: Luke 19-22
Day 17: Luke 23-24
Day 18: John 1-5
Week 4
Day 19: John 6-9
Day 20: John 10-13
Day 21: John 14-17
Day 22: John 18-21
Day 23: Acts 1-5
Day 24: Acts 6-9
Week 5
Day 25: Acts 10-13
Day 26: Acts 14-17
Day 27: Acts 18-22
Day 28: Acts 23-28
Day 29: Romans 1-4
Day 30: Romans 5-8
Week 6
Day 31: Romans 9-12
Day 32: Romans 13-16
Day 33: 1 Cor. 1-4
Day 34: 1 Cor. 5-9
Day 35: 1 Cor. 10-13
Day 36: 1 Cor. 14-16
Week 7
Day 37: 2 Cor. 1-4
Day 38: 2 Cor. 5-9
Day 39: 2 Cor. 10-13
Day 40: Galatians….the entire book!..it’s only 6 chapters!!
Day 41: Ephesians
Day 42: Philippians
Week 8
Day 43: Colossians
Day 44: 1 Thessalonians
Day 45: 2 thessalonians
Day 46: 1 Timothy
Day 47: 2 Timothy/ Titus
Day 48: Philemon/ Hebrews 1-4
Week 9
Day 49: Hebrews 5-8
Day 50: Hebrews 9-13
Day 51: James/1 Peter
Day 52: 2 Peter
Day 53: 1 John
Day 54: 2 John, 3 John ,Jude
Week 10
Day 55: Revelation 1-4
Day 56: Revelation 5-9
Day 57: Revelation 10-14
Day 58: Revelation 15-18
Day 59: Revelation 16-22!!!
Day 60: Pray.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

American Classic Hurricane


Pictured above you will see a picture of the wheels that are going to help roll us 3,700 miles!!! The American Classic Hurricanes have been designed by the legendary Bill Shook. Thanks to him and Ellen we are sure that we have one of, if not the strongest road wheels on the market. Here are a few bullet points on why we choose this wheel set.
  • 32 hole, 3 cross spoke lacing makes these wheels strong enough for training, racing, cyclo-cross and of course touring. (On a side note, I have rode these through the gnarly trails of Bent Creek and had no problems what so ever.) The strength of the wheels is a very important aspect when we are riding with panniers. (a.k.a. The big bags that go on the rear rack of a bicycle.)
  • Even though the extra spokes are added for strength, at 1600 grams these wheels make the perfect balance or rotational weight for climbing and flying on the flats.
  • The third and most important aspect of these wheels are the decals. The colors match both the logos of Hawley and Crossover Athletics!!!

Monday, July 12, 2010

DEVO

This past weekend, I went up to Dallas, NC to ride with Dave to get some riding done in the hill country. It was a good looonnnggg ride that took us through some pretty good climbs and declines. It was cool to see different sites, ride with different people and get use to being on the bike for a few hours.
One thing we all knew preparing for this trip was that we needed to get in better bike shape. As for me, I needed to get my legs stronger and Dave it meant he had to lose a few pounds, which i must say to date he's almost lost 50 pounds! In biking it seems that we always go for the lighter stuff. We buy the more expensive bikes because they are lighter. We go for the lighter/faster stuff and most of the time don't think twice about paying more for it! Jesus tells us to do that same thing with our lives. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us to get rid of everything in our lives that keeps us from achieving what God wants for us. We have to get rid of those things that are keeping us back. Imagine if we were christians that were aggressive to find ways to be "lighter" in our faith. We were finding ways that would make us "lighter" so we could go faster. I know God has a lot for our lives if we follow Him. I can't tell you exactly what it all is but I know it would be worth it. Acknowledge the area(s) in your life that need to be weightless and get rid of it.

Be lighter.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Our Schedule!

Here's our glorious schedule!

Day 1 - San Francisco, CA - Folsom, CA 105 Miles
Day 2- Folsom, CA- Carson City, CA 120 Miles
Day 3- Carson City- Fallon, NV 65 miles
Day 4 Fallon, NV - Austin, NV 105 miles
Day 5 Austin, NV-Eureka, NV 65 miles
Day 6- REST

Day 7- Eureka, NV- Majors Junction , NV- 100 miles
Day 8- Majors Junction, NV- Milford Utah 120 miles
Day 9- Milford Utah - Panguitch, UT 110 miles
Day 10- Panguitch, UT - Boulder UT 90 miles
Day 11 - Boulder , UT - Hanksville, UT 75 miles
Day 12 - Hanksville, UT - Blanding UT 90 miles
Day 13- Blanding, UT - Stoner , CO 90 miles
Day 14 - Stoner, CO - Ridgeway, CO 90 miles
Day 15 - Rideway, CO - Gunnison, CO, 90 miles
Day 16- REST

Day 17- Gunnison, CO - Cotopaxi, CO- 90 miles
Day 18- Cotopaxi, CO - Pueblo, CO- 80 miles
Day 19- Pueblo, CO - Tribune, KS- 159 miles
Day 20- Tribune, KS - Rush Center, KS- 112 miles
Day 21 Rush Center, KS- Newton, KS- 135 miles
Day 22 - Rest

Day 23- Newton, KS- Chanute, KS - 139 miles
Day 24- Chanute, KS - Walnut Grove, KS- 139 miles
Day 25 - Walnut Grove, KS - Summerville, MIssouri 115 miles
Day 26 - Summerville, MZ - Bismark, MZ 90 miles
Day 27 - Bismark, MZ - Goreville, IL 130 miles
Day 28 - Rest

Day 29 - Goreville, IL - Beech Grove, KY 125 miles
Day 30 - Beech Grove, KY - Howardstown, KY 125 miles
Day 31 - Howardstown, KY - Berea, KY - 115 miles
Day 32 - Berea, KY - Hindman, KY - 110 miles
Day 33 - Hindman, KY- Rosedale, KY 110 miles
Day 34 - Rosedale, KY - Radford, VA - 140 miles
Day 35 - REST

Day 36 - Radford, VA - Vesuvius, VA 130 miles
Day 37 - Vesuvius, VA - Charlottesville, VA 70 miles
Day 38 - Charlottesville, VA - mechanicsville, VA 125 miles
Day 39- Mchanicsville, VA - Yorktown, VA 90 miles!!!!
Day 40- CELEBRATE!

102 miles!

With our trip coming up pretty fast we knew we had to start getting our long rides in. Dave and Tony had previously ridden 100 miles but I had not. We started at 5:30 from Lexington High School and started on our trip. It wasn't too long before daylight broke and we picked up the pace a little bit. We were pretty steady at 18 mph and had an average in the first 50 at about 17.5-18. But we have all heard the saying, " it doesn't matter how well you start but how well you finish." The last part of the ride was brutal! I did not eat enough during the route and the last 20 miles were pure torture to say the least. Not only was I out of energy but the wind decided to start blowing as well which made it that much more miserable. It was good to complete our first century ride. Thanks to Hammer Nutrition we shouldn't be short on food on our trip so I will make sure i'm scarfing down some food while we ride. This upcoming weekend Tony will be in the mountains running a marathon and Dave and I are going to hit some small hill country and complete our 2nd century in 8 days! Should make sure a fun ride.

Jesse

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sweet Weather and my Four Legged Children

Last Saturday Dave, Jesse and I went for a 70 mile ride. The weather was perfect for the ride. It started off being 68 degrees but ended at 103 degrees with the heat index. The ride went really well and we thought we had done a good bit of climbing until we got to the end. With the new Sigma Rox 9.0 Computers we can gauge every bit of our data. It will literally calculate everything bit of information you can think of. We rode a total of 70 miles, we went up hill for 17.58 miles, that sounds like a lot but we only climbed 2,918 feet. That was a little bit disheartening since the second day of our XC ride we have to climb 8,000 feet. But we do have some upcoming weekends planned to ride in the mountains.


Yesterday myself (Tony a.k.a Teenwolf), Went to ride with the Hoffencrew at FATS in North Augusta. The trails were in great condition which made the ride totally awesome...except for the fact that Kelly snapped her rear derailleur off. Which I must say takes some skills and righteous riding to accomplish.
Picture Above: Kyle is finally back to smiling after the Flyer's got dominated in the Stanley Cup.
Picture Above: Kenny and Eric finishing up the Brown Wave Loop. Kenny asked for his photo to be smugged so people couldn't identify him on the street, and Eric is just creeping like he always does.
Picture Below: This is Layla and Kylie, (left to right). They were just hanging around trying to figure out how they can get to their treats with out us knowing.