Zoo Across America

A Wild Finish

2009-08-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well folks, the Zoo has done it! 75 days of biking has brought us from Harrisonburg, VA all the way to Astoria, OR.
But now I am getting ahead of myself, we last left off just one day away from our final destination.
After "touring" the Tillamook Cheese Factory (which gets a whopping 800,000 visitors each year). We left with a slightly better understanding of the cheese process and continued down the road (with 2 flat tire changes for Pick, this might become a theme during this post) to the little coastal town of Manzanita. We ate an awesome pizza dinner and then headed down to the beach with two bundles of firewood and a pack of Coors. It was the perfect way to relax and reflect on what we had done this summer, with a roaring fire and the waves breaking on the beach. Eventually we passed out around 1:30 and got a slow start the next day. We ate a great breakfast and enjoyed a brief visit from our friend Caitlin's dad who drove down from Seattle to congratulate us and check out our sweet bikes. By 12:30, we were finally ready to get on the road for the last time... but, Pick got another flat tire. I kid you not this must have been flat tire #30. SO FINALLY, the Zoo was ready to go.

We made it 15 miles before we stopped in Cannon Beach for lunch, (PB+J on the beach) and I don't think that anyone really wanted it to end because we were taking our grand old time. As we got ready to get back on the road, Pick hit a new low as he got another flat tire, any tube we threw on his bike immediately went flat, and the tire was kind of falling apart, so we waited as Jeff biked 5 miles to the nearest bike shop and returned with a tire called the Flak Jacket. Once we had the Flak Jacket the Zoo was cruising. We caught our last glimpse of the Pacific as we biked down the boardwalk in Seaside and we took a perfect and nearly no-traffic road all the way to Astoria. Our hearts were full of the memories we had created, and the Zoo really soaked it in the last 15 miles and we were whooping it up as we stopped to take pictures with the Astoria sign. We climbed the curvy streets of Astoria amidst breathtaking views of the Columbia River and couldn't have imagined a more picturesque setting to end our adventure. As we rode down Main Street with our bright yellow jerseys blazing, Jim Joyce (father of our very own Jeff Joyce) was there to greet us and take pictures.

Now, lucky for us, the adventure didn't end there. We loaded our bikes and gear onto Jim's rented minivan, three bikes on a bike rack, and two strapped to the gear on the roof! We rolled out of Astoria around 9:30 pm and drove for 3 hours to meet up with Jeff's older brother Curt in White Salmon, Washington. Curt works out there as a whitewater rafting guide for a company called Wet Planet. The Zoo was tired when they rolled in at 1 in the morning. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep as soon as I laid down that night. We all woke up to a day of hiking around the area and seeing the different mountain ranges. And the next day we had the opportunity to take an 8-mile whitewater rafting trip with Curt as our guide. It was an awesome time as we rafted Class III and IV rapids. Our trip ended with us successfully rafting the infamous 12 foot Husum Falls - the largest commercially rafted waterfall in North America!

The Zoo then packed everything up and made the short drive to Portland from where we are all departing back to the East Coast, everyone except for

Jeff - who will be staying out here in the Portland area and is trying to work with Americorps in some capacity out here.

Doug - will be spending the next 3 weeks with his family in Charlottesville before he heads out on another traveling adventure. Doug will be working as a photo-journalist for a missions agency and will be traveling to 15 different countries in South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

Pick - will be coming back out to work at the Sanborn Western Camp that he worked at last summer and that we had the pleasure to visit for 2 days this summer in Florissant, Colorado. His awesome girlfriend Maureen will join him out there at the camp.

Dave - will be interviewing with grad schools as he seeks to study to become a Physician Assistant. Before then he will be working in some capacity somewhere.

Ross - will be returning home to Maryland to look for work and the next step in his life. He already misses life on a bike.

And that's it. We met amazing people, saw the beauty of this country and created memories that will last a lifetime. And I know that if we can get through something like this together, we really did find the right best friends back there at JMU.

We Really Did It.

Love,
The Zoo

Coastal Collage

2009-08-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

A few photos to go along with the recent post...

Atop of "Mackenzie Pass". Elevation 5,100. Highest point of remaining trip.

Down the backside of Mackenzie.

The covered, not so covered, bridge (reference to following post).

Jeff and Pick capturing our first Pacific sunset.

"Aunt Peggy's" cabin.

Two Rogues (Ross and Jeff) at Rogue Brewery.

A veiw down the jagged and wooded Oregon coast.

The Zoo catches another sunset. It is great having beautiful sunsets everynight over the water, and much more convenient for viewing than sunrises over the Atlantic.

The Coast with the Most!

2009-08-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hello faithful blog followers. As the rest of the Zoo are stuffing their faces with cheese samples at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, I, Davo and Doug Strong Arms McGee have shouldered the responsibility of updating you all about our triumphant arrival to the West Coast. That's right folks we made it to the Pacific Ocean! We arrived at the seaside town of Waldport Oregon on August 12th as we frantically biked 100 miles for the days total to make it before the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. But I am getting a bit carried away. We will get to our oceanic successes in a second, but first let me catch everyone up to where we last left off. The last news the world heard from the Zoo we were woken up wet with dew all over our sleeping bags atop Ochoco Pass. As you all waited anxiously to hear if we survived the stomach curtling descent down the Pass the Zoo was merrily on its way toward the town of Sisters Oregon. On August 10th we arrived in Sisters in search of sustenance from a long days ride. While waiting for our pizzas to cook we encountered yet another strange wanderer. As he nearly crashed into the curb with his bike and bob trailer equipped with what must have been over 150 pounds worth of weight (yes more than even our furry friend Pick is currently towing) we were introduced to the 5' 3" Cuss slinging, beer drinking, pot smoking, Canuck Ian. Ian was larger than life in many ways. For starters he told us that we had met him as he is currently on a 15 (not a typo) month bike tour that started in Canada and has taken him all the way down to the Panama Canal and back up to Oregon. Pretty impressive and crazy right? Well what was more impressive was despite traveling across over three different countries and an entire continent and a half, Ian still proudly maintained the biggest beer gut I have ever seen.

From Sisters we made our way West over the last pass of the trip and the final time that we would be over 5000 ft. above sea level. The pass was amazing! The climb up provided us with sights of Mt. Washington and Jefferson and a rare view of the effects of a lava flow that happened millions of years ago (if you believe in that sort of thing). From the coal black bare rocks of the east side of the pass, the west side was a stark contrast with lush green forests that seemed to glow when the sunlight hit each leaf. After another thrilling descent down the other side of the pass we arrived at the small town of Mckenzies Bridge for some lunch. As we ate, we talked with a local named Tim. From the moment I saw Tim he reminded me of famed wrestling entertainer Shawn Michaels (yes I know I am a total nerd) with his bleached blond hair pulled back into a tight pony tail. Tim looked very different from the farmers and ranchers we had been accustomed to seeing for the last 2000 miles and I knew we were getting close to the coast. We intended to only stay at the rest stop until we had finished our burritos, but after two helpings and an hour and a half it didn't seem like we could ever make it back on the road. What stood in the way was our celebrity status. We were getting questions fired at us from all directions-how long you been on the road?- where you from in Virginia?- are Pick and Dave related?-Is there a skunk around here or is that just you? We answered all these questions with patience but enough is enough and when we saw our chance we mounted our steel steeds and continued on our journey. Four of us made it out safely, but Doug was too tall to escape and continued suffering for another five minutes as the volley of questions continued to fire.

[Breath] Exhausted and smelly we decided to go for a swim under a covered bridge along the road. The water was freezing but enjoyable and provided us the extra boost to push on. As we were changing out of our swimming trunks and back into our bike shorts a car pulled up right as Doug was in mid change. With butt turned towards the vehicle Doug took it in stride and continued to dry himself at his own pace. What was perplexing and entertaining was that the car slowed to a near stop to watch Doug at his most primal of moments. We all thought it was great and then had a bigger laugh when we learned a minute later that we were standing next to a stop sign. Through with holding up traffic and giving old women heart attacks we continued on to Waltersville.

[PUSH TO THE PACIFIC]
We knew we could do it. We set our sights on the prize. Today was the day and we didn't care if 100 miles stood in our path. We were dipping our feet into those salty waters! Equipped with a Gazateer we got off the Trans America Trail and headed down a series of back roads to the town of Monroe. In Monroe our luck took a turn and we ran into the kind Librarian "Aunt" Peggy. Peggy not only opened the library up for us outside of regular hours so that we could use the bathroom and computers, but also shockingly gave us the lock box combo to her families cabin on the coast. So of course we are all pumped now. We have to get to the coast, we just got to. Over gravel roads, winding highways and clouds of rain and fog we pedaled toward the town of Waldport. As we got twenty miles from the coast (we knew because the mile markers counted down, very cool for us as it added to the moment and anticipation) the strangest feeling came over me and the other Zoo mates. We were really going to make it. We were going to cross an entire continent on our own muscle and will. I began thinking back to all the other states we had seen and the people who helped us along the way. As we hit mile three, we began to see a break in the clouds and the sun shining through. By mile one we were in sight of the beach and as we crossed famous Highway 101 (extends the whole coast with Hwy 1) we finally saw sand. Thrilled to be there we enjoyed the sunset ( a first for many of us) over an ocean.

[THE CABIN]
Aunt Peggy's Family Cabin was an amazing treat for all of us to spend our first night on the coast. We learned through Peggy and also the photo albums that lined the walls of the cabin that this place had been built by her Grandparents and had been a place where memories were made for family and friends for years. If you are reading this Peggy thank you for making our memories of our first night and morning on the Pacific truly amazing. Love, The Zoo.

Now that we were on the coast it was time to CHILL and what better way than to visit a microbrewery. In Newport we visited the Rogue brewery and got a tour of the plant. While we will all agree that the beer is delicious I still don't think any of us could confidently tell you how a good brew is made. Nonetheless we enjoyed all the taste testing and even got to meet the master brewer himself, John Maier. Feeling VERY good we left Rogue and headed up north and that is where you find us now. We are still alive, we still smell and we have had the trip of a lifetime. Tonight we spend our last night together as just the Zoo and tomorrow we will ride into Astoria Oregon as we complete the Trans America Trail.

Thanks to all of you who followed the blog and gave us constant encouragement, love, and especially those delicious packages! Love,

The ZOO

A Visual Medley

2009-08-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

Since our last post from Dayville, all has gone swimmingly. Its odd to be able to count the number of days left on our fingures as we near the Oregon coast. Last night we camped atop of Ocohco Pass with an elevation around 5,000 ft and woke up to a bit of frost (the coldest night we've had). But after dropping a couple g's down to Prineville the temp was back into the 80's by mid day.

We'll, it has been a while since I was able to upload photos, so I thought I'd throw a some up now that I've got the chance...

A horn blast and a blessing as we departed from church in Kooskia, ID

"Enough joking around, let's get down to business."

"Jolly Green" on a rainy morning in Baker City, OR

The final state...WOW!

Jeff as he takes the turn on a switch-back.

As always, thanks for reading. We are looking forward to seeing you soon and getting to share stories with you personally!

Eastern Oregon: Where It Rains 10 Inches a Year... All On The Same Day

2009-08-08T21:18:00.001-07:00

Howdy folks, Ross the Boss here. I understand that we've had some new blog readers recently. Thus, I will sum up what is going on here real quick.

We are 5 dudes who graduated from James Madison University (JMU) in May '09. The past 2 years we spent together living in a rented house on Main Street in Harrisonburg, VA. Since we thought we were so cool, we named our house The Zoo, and we will continue to refer to ourselves as The Zoo until we die (maybe...). It turned out that we all had open summers following graduation (and we all graduated... barely) so we decided that we needed to do something super sweet together to commemorate our time together and do it in style. Therein spawned the idea to ride across the country. I'm pretty sure that Jeff thought about doing it about 10 years ago, but for the rest of us we all were finally onboard as of Winter Break of this past year. On June 2nd, after countless trips to the bike shop (thanks Shenandoah Bicycle Company!) and months of training (for some of us) we departed from the Zoo.

I wanted this to happen months ago but here are some rider bios:

Name: Doug Arms
Nicknames: Dougiee, Arms, Arms Doctor, Dooglas, Lone Ranger, Strong Arms
Bike model: Gunnar (aka the tallest bike you've ever seen) all black
Height: 6'5''
Falls: 2
Flat tires: 6
Notable: Biked 200 miles in 1 day to collect mail!

Name: Jeff Joyce
Nicknames: Chief, Jorts, JJ, Jeff O'saurus Rex,
Bike model: 1985 Specialized Rock Hopper, neon green
Height: 5' 9''
Falls: 1
Flat tires: 5
Notable: The baddest bully on two wheels

Name: Dave Peyser
Nicknames: Davo, Davey, Peysey Weysey, DPR, Active Ingredient, Velvetine Rabbit
Bike model: Trek 520. mocha brown
Height: 5'8''
Falls: 1
Flat tires: 1
Notable: Very slow downhill... no matter what

Name: Little Bear
Nicknames: Saucy Taffy, Boss, Big Engine, Ross Chilcoat, Passenger Train, The Sauce, One Speed, Gravy Train, Puppy Chow, Clyde the Glide, Bossy Taffy
Bike model: Surly Long Haul Trucker, army green
Height: 5'10 3/4
Falls: 1
Flat tires: 10 (6 in 1 day)
Notable: Very fast downhill... no matter what

Name: Brian Michael Picknally Esq.
Nicknames: Pick, Bri, Tony, Gerbil, Hank, Tiny Pete
Bike model: 1987 Specialized Street Stomper
Height: 5'5'' (listed at 5'8'' in Springfield Township High School football program)
Falls: +20
Flat tires: +20
Notable: Managed to pee on the side of the road in every county in the United States

Now that you know us better, the Zoo has now entered OREGON!!

Jeff here for a cameo post updating the blog since entering Oregon:

Aug5 [Council, ID to HELLS CANYON, OR]:
We began the day in beautiful Council, Idaho. Had an excellent breakfast at the local cafe which will be remebered most for our quest to name all of the country music artists on a poster across the room. We got Garth B., Allen J., and Dolly P. easily enough, but who really knows what Waylon Jennings looks like? But like Ross always says, "Quitters never win, and winners never quit" Thus, through perseverence and with the help of the friendly waitstaff [including cooks] we got all 40+ of the twangy greats. It's the little victories that taste most sweet.
So a few miles and sodas later we dropped down into HELL'S CANYON and soon there after into Oregon. We have a bit of a tradition of racing for state lines and this final victory went to Davey "it's all gravy" Peyser. He took it from an unheard of 24 miles out. We didn't see it coming, he was there one minute and then gone the next. Once us other Zoomates saw that we had been had we gave up and went swimming in a nearby lake. This left poor Davo hungry and alone at the state line awaiting our arrival, but he promises that the taste of a blowout victory was enough to satisfy his physical hunger.
The rest of the night, went about as you'd expect and we slept happily along the side of the road after much food, drink and merry-making.

Aug. 6 [HELL'S CANYON to Baker city]:

An odd thing happened this day. The men were stricken with a keen sense of indifference towards trekking west even an inch. At last they mustered their courage, and steadied their hands to mount once more the steel beasts which had faithfully borne them thus far. But the going was slow. Breaks stretched on for much longer than any reasonable person really needs to break.
They broke fast with blinding slothfulness and the mid-day meal took twice what it needed.
-
[we have read many tales of mountain men from pioneer days, I have tried to mirror their style in the above]
-
But we loved it. And reasoned that sometimes when you ride a bike all the time for 3 months you just need to spend a morning chilling and making terrible time. Unfortunately, our laziness caught up to us and we had to slog it out through cold rain and whipping wind for the final 30 miles of our day. But at Baker City we drank a great deal of coffee, and agreed that the day was a stunning sucess.

Aug. 7 [Baker City to Sumpter]:

This day brought a new year to the life of Big Ern Picknally, which is great! But it also brought heaps more rain, which was not as great from our perspective. And it was cold rain, round'about 48 degrees, with 4 inches coming down during the 4 hours we spent on bikes. But we made 30 big miles to Sumpter [Named and misspelled after the infamous Fort Sumter- This area was a Confederate strong hold, Jeff Davis creek ran by the road we followed into town] and checked into a Motel that looked like a Fort; compliments of the ever graceful and generous Mother Chilcoat whose gift we recieved with bountiful joy and overflowing gratitude.
So we ran from the rain, but made a lovely day of it and made the miles up today.

Aug. 8 [Sumpter to Dayville]
Luckily the rain passed and in its leaving the weather was much cooler. We had three big climbs today [which really make for a much better day of riding than flats] and pulled into the bustling metropolis of Dayville just at sunset.
As many times before, we are enjoying the hospitality of a local Presbyterian church and are delighted by the uncommon luxury of bathing on consecutive days. Which already puts our number of showers in Oregon ahead of other entire states... you really are lucky that the pictures we post aren't scratch and sniff...

All the best to you all & thank you for your patience with my writing. I sometimes take too liberal a license with it, but hope that you at least got that we're safe, dirty, and happy. Too few days left, but we promise to make them count.

We likely love you if you're reading this, so : Love, the Zoo

I - Da - Hoe

2009-08-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

We've got a few minutes in a library here in the middle of the day. Unfortunatly this computer is not allowing me to post photos, which leaves me feeling quite crippled. Also, the back space key is not working, so that makes editing this all the more difficult. But enough about that.

Today is our last full day in Idaho, which means we are one day away from crossing the line into our final state - OREGON! Idaho is a wonderful part of the country. All the roads we've been on since entering the state have followed beautiful rivers, which makes for great miday and evening swimming. We spent a couple hours yesterday at a "beach" along the Salmon River throwing the frisbee and swimming in the current. We've found the heat again after a cool couple weeks through Colorado and Montana, which makes the rivers all the more enjoyable.

Two nights ago we caught a double feature at a drive-in movie theatre ("Bruno" and "The Hangover" - neither very good movies, but we couldn't pass up the drive in experience). We were the only one who road our bikes there, but also the ones having the most fun! We pulled out our crazy creek chairs and enjoyed the open air theatre.

Well, there will be more to come soon. Hopefully we can get some photos up becuase it is really beautiful out here.The landscape had ranged from giant cedar forests to aired desert hills to lush wetlands. Thats all for now, but thanks for reading!

Christmas come early, The Taco Bus, and 2 Showers on Consecutive days

2009-07-31T09:16:00.000-07:00

The Zoo with packages galore.

Group picture with Mrs. Tignor. With new friends Drew (bottom right) and Jacob (bottom left)

When we last left you we were in Twin Cities, Montana. All that day we heard stories about this Taco Bus in Dillon, MT. Upon arrival the Zoo descended upon the Bus and within seconds were enjoying the best Mexican food any of us had ever tasted... either that or we were really hungry.

After Dillon we rolled through gorgeous scenery all day (which basically sums up Montana) until we raced the storm of the century into Wisdom. 50 MPH headwinds had us literally sprinting at 5 miles an hour into the town before the storm hit. I'm pretty sure I saw a few cows fly across the road... The best part of making it into this town was that when we got to the American Legion camping ground, we found that we would not have to set up our tents in the rain because there was a shack just big enough for our bikes and sleeping bags! The Zoo was doing alright!

Since Dillon the Zoo has simply been spoiled. We met two awesome dudes named Steve and Shea when we were on the road back in Wyoming. As luck would have it they both live on the route in Hamilton and told us to give them a call when we arrived because Steve's parents love to provide meals and a place to sleep for cyclists. Needless to say the Zoo was stoked to have dinner, ice cream, showers (it had been awhile), and laundry! And in the morning we had delicious pancakes and coffee provided by the Tignors. Thanks for your kind hospitality.

From Hamilton the Zoo (with our new friend Drew) rode all 70 miles to Missoula where we proceeded to stop by the headquarters of Adventure Cycling Association (the people who make our maps) for a tour, and some complimentary ice cream and sodas. After that we headed on over to the post office to pick up our mail from our adoring fans. Jaws dropped when the mail clerk turned the corner with a rolling cart full of packages. We proceeded to find a picnic bench and we all opened our packages like it was Christmas morning. Amidst cheers and two Pick spills (for those of you who know Pick, you should know that he spills things... ALOT. Well, this whole trip he had spilled nothing. His streak was crazy! Then he spilled a Pepsi. Twice. Good thing for free refills) Anyways, the Zoo rejoiced at having snacks and sunflower seeds for the next 29348 years (or 2 weeks). So, as all this was going on Dougie got a phone call from his folks about a place we could stay in Missoula! So, with approximately 70 extra pounds on the bike the Zoo wobbled over to the Millers house. Where we enjoyed a few beers on the deck and great company for the night. We all showered! We all slept indoors on futons! And we all ate a delicous breakfast of fresh fruit and eggs! Thanks to the Millers for showing us some more awesome Montana hospitality.

This place is great.

photos

2009-07-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

While Ross is writing the post, I thought I would go ahead and post some of the pictures I've taken the past week.

Thanks for following along! Much love....

-Doug

Camp atop Split Rock and Jeff's bike - "El Presidente".

Union Pass...a 6 mile gravel climb

Wyoming plains

Pick and Ross go head to head with Ms. Pac-Man.

Mount Moran - Grand Tetons

A Zoo photo in Grand Teton National Park

A view of the Tetons

"The best bath of my life" (Doug)... Jackson Lake, Grand Teton

The smallest state line sign yet. I guess they didn't want it to get in the way of the "big sky"

Do It For The Story

2009-07-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since we have thrown ya'll an update... so here goes.

After leaving Sanborn to the tune of John Denver's "Leaving On A Jet Plane" with the "bicycle" replacing "jet plane", sung by the campers and staff, the Zoo rolled out.

From there we continued up to our highest elevation of the whole trip, Hoosier Pass at 11,542 feet! It was exhilarating to know that it was all downhill from there to the coast... not.

After that we had a fast downhill into Breckenridge. Upon arriving in Breckenridge, Jeff decided he couldn't be around that many tourists at once so we went 8 more miles downhill into Frisco where we ate an awesome dinner and watched the MLB All-Star Game. From Frisco we made our way into a town called Kremmling, which turned out to be the lamest town in the world, seeing as how no one wanted us to camp anywhere except miles outside of town. So we just got back on our bikes and kept going, 20 more miles to Hot Sulphur Springs. This town was awesome with free camping right along the Colorado River, and one of the best breakfasts we had eaten the whole trip.

From there the Zoo bike tour rolled into Walden where they each got showers at the city pool, and enjoyed a nice night of sleep in the city park. After Walden we entered our 7th state of the trip (8th if you count 30 seconds in Tennessee); Wyoming. Wyoming is the least populated state in the country with approximately 500,000 residents, and we could tell. You can go 60 miles in Wyoming without seeing anything, which led Jeff to say, "I think we are the only people left on earth," over and over. Though for it's lack of people, Wyoming is a beautiful place despite having almost no trees anywhere, ever!

We rolled into Encampment, WY and found that a Cowboy Celebration Weekend was going on, complete with dutch oven cook-offs, cowboy jamborees, and concerts. Everyone was walking around in full cowboy (and cowgirl) garb, and the Zoo looked hysterical in their spandex and matching bright yellow jerseys. Davo was in hog-heaven and stuck around there for the rest of the evening as the rest of us set up camp in the city park. He almost got stuck in the 1800's before he came to his senses.

The next day included a stop in Saratoga, home of some of the most relaxing natural hot springs we've ever been in. And the day ended in Rawlins, WY where the Zoo feasted on Subway and sprang for a cheap motel because 2 of us were a bit under the weather. Jeff, Boss, and Pick channel-surfed for 3 hours that night... and absolutely loved it. We woke up in the morning just in time to watch Tom Watson almost pull off the upset of the century at the British Open (now you know who is writing this one). We didn't get out of Rawlins until close to 3:30 but we made excellent time in getting to Split Rock. Which is where the Oregon Trail intersects the Pony Express - and we camped up ontop of the rock despite the no camping sign... definitely the best campsite we had to date.

We traveled from there downhill to Jeffrey City - which every Eastbound rider told us was the worst city of all time. It turned out to have an awesome breakfast spot, with an even more awesome Ms. Pacman arcade game (only 25 cents to play!) We spent a solid 2 hours there playing Pacman, drinking coffee, and telling the waitress that her high score was going down. Of course, Boss set the new high score and you would have never seen 5 guys huddled around an arcade game more excited than that!

We moved on to Lander with some wild terrain, crazy ups and downs, and a 10 minutes hailstorm which drenched us only 2 miles outside of the town. That night we had the worst dining experience ever. The food took an hour and fifteen minutes! A basket of saltine crackers came with someone's salad, and I think we asked for two more baskets before the meal started. Being that hungry then set us up to eat everything in sight as soon as the food was set on the table. The only problem was that it was pretty terrible, burgers burnt to a crisp and soggy french fries. It's not worth going into more details but for the first time the Zoo was told to leave the premesis with the threat of calling the police. It wasn't that bad, but the owner really had no sympathy or understanding for our plight. If you are ever in Lander, WY, under no circumstances should you eat at the Maverick.

Now there is another day in here but I can't even remember what happened until we climbed up Togwotee Pass elevation 9,658. Once we reached the top we were sorely let down as heavy construction forced us to put our bikes into pickups and ride 10 miles, stealing us of a well-deserved downhill ride. That night we ate at the Togwotee Mountain Lodge (and got the locals discount)! During which time Doug hopped into the restroom to wash off (a common occurrence for us known as a sink bath). As he was "bathing" Doug struck up a conversation with the head chef, who showed us a great place to camp for free behind the lodge, and asked us to eat breakfast for free the next morning! Talk about awesome, we were loving it!

After that great breakfast we zoomed downhill all the way until the Teton Mountain Range came into view! The Picknallys, in their last package, sent us a whole bag of shelled peanuts, which Pick held onto until this ride and we spent the better part of the morning filling our jersey pockets with peanuts and throwing them at each other on the bikes... sometimes you just get bored riding a bike. The Zoo started a trend of getting hosed throughout national parks when we paid 60 bucks to get into the Tetons... should 5 guys on bikes cost $30 more than 5 people in an RV?? We aren't emitting diesel fuels here. We quickly forgot about the price as we hung out on the shores of Jackson Lake all afternoon. Catching some rays, swimming around, and enjoying beer and wings all with the snow-capped, majestic Tetons in the background. That night, we had a sweet fire and made s'mores at our campsite(28 bucks! and we snuck 1 person in!).

The next day we exited the Tetons which included another 8-mile construction zone, thus we got in pickups again and entered Yellowstone National Park where we biked through the beautiful park and made our way to Old Faithful by the end of the day. Pick continually questioned Old Faithful's faithfulness, but she did eventually blow and we celebrated by cooking grilled cheese and tomato soup right there on the boardwalk. Jeff went off to the visitor center to check out camping options and came back angry. He was told by one of the park rangers that he would have to bike either 20 miles back the way we had come, or 40 miles out of the park... just to camp! Obviously, this wasn't an option seeing as how it was 8:00 pm. Thus, Jeff had some choice words for the ranger and even conjured up some images of John Muir and President McKinley and Roosevelt and the original reason for having National Parks. Luckily, Pick and Doug had more success asking around the Old Faithful Lodge and we were directed to a nice site for the night.

We were glad to be leaving the parks the next day as we entered Big Sky Country - aka Montana! As we were eating a pizza lunch in West Yellowstone (half off discount for bikers) we watched one dude rolling east into the park and we flagged him down so we could give him our ticket into the park. 10 minutes later he came back and walked into the restaurant to hang out with us, telling us that, "he needed some motivation." We proceeded to talk about every cool thing that had happened on the whole trip and Pick got so excited that he gave a bunch of inspirational quotes to him. As he was leaving, Pick told him to "Do it for the story" and he seemed genuinely more happy as he left. Soon after that, our buddy Chase, who we hadn't seen since Missouri showed up. The restaurant almost exploded we were so excited. He had been doing the Western Express route to San Fransisco when he and his companion changed their minds and hitched a ride for 2 days from Utah to Yellowstone... what!?! We were sure that we would never see him again, and all of a sudden he was back in our lives, it was hilarious.

Since then we made our way to Quake Lake, which was formed by a huge earthquake/landslide 50 years ago (you can still see the trees sticking out of the water). And from there we entered Virginia City, which is literally straight out of the 1860's. All the buildings are from the 1800s and well-preserved. We had the opportunity to sleep indoors at the community center basketball court (which is probably where basketball was invented) and it was great.

That just about brings us up to date, we are currently in Twin Bridges, Montana, with no plans of slowing down. Keep on reading, and I promise the next update will happen sooner!

Pictures... with people in them!!

2009-07-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Riding into colorful Colorado.

Davo, looking like a Backstreet Boy.

Davo and Jeff catching a sweet Kansas sunset.

Jeff (right), scared away by a bear in his natural habitat.

No poses here.

Davo passed out after arriving in Alexander
and opening up packages

Jeff and Pick on the ride to Tribune (100+ mile day!)

The Zoo on Shelf Road

Well fans, we hope those pictures will satisfy your hunger for now. We are currently in Lander, Wyoming. Look for an update later this week!

Mail Time... for the last time :(

2009-07-21T10:25:00.000-07:00

Attention those of you interested in sending us, the Zoo cyclists mail. I have good news and bad news.

The good news - another Mail Drop!!!!
The bad - this will be the last time you get to send us mail, unless some unforeseen circumstances arise.

Any who, last time we had a little hiccup in our estimated time of arrival back in Kansas (whoopsies!!) We still received the goods (via a heroic 3 days of riding by Doug Arms) and we were pleased beyond belief. Thank you SO MUCH SO MUCH for all that was sent out. All was greatly appreciated and enjoyed (and some items are still being enjoyed!).

This time, however, we are definitely gonna be in Missoula, Montana on Thursday, the 30th of July. We have been f0llowing Bikenberry (guide book written by Donna Ikenberry a.k.a. Bikenberry) pretty much day by day and we plan on doing so for the remainder of the trip. And though she has led us astray (the book was last copyrighted in 2001) a handful of times, I have faith that she will bring us to Missoula on the 30th.

General Delivery C/O Ross Chillcoat <-- or other zoomate, but please use a real name
Missoula Post Office
200 E Broadway St

Missoula, MT 59802

Items of desire (though not limited to these):
- Beef Jerky
- Sunflower Seeds (Boss and Pick can't get enough)
- Letters of adoration
- Baked goods (cookies are easy to carry and devour)
- Dried pineapple
- Polaroid Camera (Jeff still has a hankering for one if available, again no purchases necessary, only send if currently owned and not used)

We are looking forward to receiving some goodies one last time as it has provided us with comfort, joy and happiness the last few times. Thanks so much for keeping up with us on our journey!!!

Mixed Drinks, Gravel Roads, Penny Slots, and Sanborn!

2009-07-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

(This is Doug writing, so of course, I'll need you to excuse my typographical errors)

Our rest day in Pueblo was delightful. The real highlight of the town was the basement hangout spot that The Presbyterian Church in town opened up to us. It had a nice fung-sway and included a full coffee bar and selection of Italian Sodas (mix sugary syrup with seltzer water and ice...ummmm).

From Pueblo we road to Canon City and slept at yet another church with people kind enough to host us. At this point, our course deviated from the Trans America bike route we had been following for the most part thus far. Jeff and Pick where counselors at Sanborn Western Camp last summer, and only 50 so miles off the route we wanted to stop in.

We took two days for the ride. The first day our aim was to get to the infamous town of Cripple Creek - a western style gambling town. The ride to Cripple Creek was AWESOME! of the 25 miles, close to 15 was on a rough dirt/gravel road known as "shelf road" because of the sheer cliffs and steep drop offs. We climbed about 4,000 feet in elevation over the 25 mile stretch, but a majority of the climbing was on shelf road. The weight of our equipment and riding with road tires (except for Jeff who bought a knoby tire in Pueblo for his rear wheel) made the trek all the more epic. Here are a couple pictures from along the way...

Well, we made it to Cripple Creek, the land of milk in honey where steak dinners only cost 6 bucks. After steaks, we went to one of the local casinos - The Brass Ass (donkey). We each chose our game (Ross at the black jack table, Pick and Dave at the Roulette wheel, and Jeff and I at the Penny slots). While each of us walked away with a little less cash, it was a night well spent. Something I found out was that as long as you are "actively gambling" you can have free drinks. We took full advantage of that perk to try the local brews of Colorado.

We slept out that night under a canopy of stars, then hit the 49 cent breakfast at one of the Casinos (the food is so cheap to try to keep you around for more gambling). The 5 of us had as much breakfast as we could eat and coffee we could drink for $5.20!

From Cripple Creek we set out for Sanborn. I can honestly say that at least one time each day Pick and Jeff have referenced Sanborn, so it was particularly exciting for Dave, Ross, and I to be going to see what the talk was all about. Our reception has been very warm, and we've been giving one of the tent/buildings that was vacant to use while we are here. One of the highlights for me has been seeing a friend from middle school - Andrew Tromey - who is working here this summer.

Sanborn owns about 6,000 acres of land, and is surrounded by an additional 50,000 that are a part of Pike National Park - which Sanborn has full access to. Last night I decided to hike up and camp out on top of one of the small peaks ("Little Blue") that surrounds the valley main camp is craddled in. About the time I got up there, I saw a storm coming with flashing of lighting touching down across another valley on the back side. I had time to set up my tent in a grove of aspens and admire the beauty and power of the storm as it came.

This morning I got up and saw a beautiful sunrise that came up just to the east of Pikes Peak. It was wonderful to see the world come back to life hours of sleepy darkness.

Anyways, that about bring it up to the present. There is a good chance we'll hang here in Sanborn the rest of today, and just hit the road tomorrow. Breakfast is in a few minutes, then we'll see what happens from there...horse back riding, hiking, swiming...ANYTHING could happen!

We're Not In Kansas Anymore

2009-07-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well fellow blog followers, I know that Dougie caught you all up on some of the happenings around these parts. Now I just want to fill in the blanks.

During the 4-hour tube river ride that Dougie mentioned, we faced one serious set of rapids in which Boss was pushed into a low-hanging tree branch and went under water for a few seconds. Pick and Dave thought they were going to have to perform a rescue (both of whom are certified to lifeguard in the US and Australia) before Boss popped back up (no need to worry Mrs. Chilcoat, he just had to go under to avoid getting swiped by the tree!)

Jeff successfully joined up with us in Eminence, MO... I haven't been more excited than when we rolled out of that town 5 Zoo-mates deep with bright yellow Zoo jerseys blazing!

Since then we "literally" flew through the state of Kansas. And we all agreed it was by far the state with the nicest people (we had one day where we didn't pay for a single meal!). It was also the state with the best city parks and pools (all of which were free for guys on bikes!). Pick wowed audiences all over Kansas with flips, gainers, and cannonballs (he is fast becoming famous all over the state).
The toughest part of Kansas was the WIND. It really delegated whether the day of bike riding was awesome or miserable. Though, in a week's time the Zoo pulled off 3 different 100-mile days (one of which was 140)! The second 100-miler included us racing a storm for the last 20 miles into Tribune, Kansas. Incredible lightning was lighting up the sky as we cycled the last 20 miles in under an hour and fifteen minutes! We literally rolled up to a shelter (which was actually an open-air cattle auction pavilion) as it started pouring! If there's one thing we are good at, it's making an entrance!

The next day we rolled into Colorado, and approximately .45 seconds after reaching the state line Boss exclaimed, "We aren't in Kansas anymore!" Although for awhile Colorado was still as flat as Kansas.

Last night we rolled into Pueblo, CO as the Rockies began to take shape in front of us. Talk about awe-inspiring, we were stinkin excited! We are now taking our first rest day since Roanoke here in Pueblo to unwind, pick up some warmer clothes, do laundry, and hop on the internet (all those things that the Zoo Tour De America needs)

We have plans to head towards Cripple Creek, an old western gold mining town which has turned into a little gambling town, and soon after to Sanborn Western Camps, where Pick and Jeff worked last summer as camp counselors.

Look out for another update... sometime in the future.

The Treck Across Kansas

2009-07-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

(please excuse any typos/unclear sentences. These blogs are suposed to be sort of stream of consiousness anyways, right?)

It has been a while since we've had an opportunity to hop on the internet for an update. A lot has happened over the past week and a half - too much to write about in one post. But I'll try to fill y'all in a bit on the happenings by explaining the below pictures...

Pick, Ross, Dave and I had some time to chill in the cool little town of Eminence, MI. We descided to go for a float through one of the river rafting services in the town. We rented tubes and took a 4 hour float - which proved to be quite interesting (full stories to come later). I caught this crawfish trying to crawl up my shorts.

There happend to be two "detours" along the route due to road maintance. Undaunted, we charged ahead and figured things would work out for us...which they did. The first was as easy as weaving between a few road blocks like the one above. The second required dodging a few heavy equipment machines.

This next picture will mean more to some of you and to others. Jeff's long time friend from Roanoke, Charlie, happened to be biking the Trans Am this summer, west to east. We had been keeping an eye out for him and our paths finally crossed a couple days ago.

Continuing on, We caught a pre 4th of July fire works show. We meet some wonderful folks while we where there, and had a great time chatting it up. I borrowed a tripod and snaped a few photos.

In pressing news, Pick and Jeff bought cowboy hats. They look rediculous, but kind of sweet.

Once we hit Kanasas, things flattend out...big time. We got a draft line going and made great time our first day in the Sunflower state. It is amazing to look out at the horizon and actually see the curvature of the earth. It is a very different feel than the mountains of Virginia and Kentucky. The real opsticale out here are not elevation changes, but the pesky prevailing wind from the west. The sky seems bigger, but that might be becuase there is not much else to look at.

Okay, so everything seems to be moving along pretty routinly, UNTIL, we looked ahead a couple days on the map and realized that our course must be alterd according to the schedule of the US Mail system. It was Tuesday afternoon, and we where sitting in the gas station/convience store/town center/reasurant/only place open in town when we started talking about plans for the next few days. Many of you had sent thoughtful packages to a post office in Alexander KS (pop. 75). According present course, we would be arriving in Alexander on Saturday, the 4th of July that is, meaning the P.O. would be closed.

We where at a cross roads. Either we picked up the pace or put on the breaks. Discussion ensued, and a descision was made - one of us was to ride, ride like the wind. I volunteered for the treck. Below are a few pics I snapped along the way...

This morning I arrive in Alexander, HURRAY! I did a double century ride on wednesday (5am wed - 1 am thrus). After that I had time to cruise, doing 55 yesterday, and a cool 45 this morning. It was great to finally arrive, and even better to find nearly a dozen packages waiting for me. Thanks so much!!!

So that pretty much brings us up the present. My cousin Ashley and her friend Karisa drove up from Norman, Oklahoma to get lunch with me today, which was AWESOME. Now I'm basically chilling for a day until the rest of the gang catches up (I'm expencting to see them some time tomorrow). I've heard a rumor of a pool in town, so I'm gonna have to get out of the library and go check into that.

The trip continues to be an incredible adventure. Thanks for following along!

Next Mail Drop!!!!

2009-06-23T14:39:00.001-07:00

Ok all you amazing supporters of the Zoo's journey across these United States of America.
First we would like to thank those of you who sent us AWESOME stuff that we were able to pick up in Dexter, MO. We are continuing to enjoy the plethora of goodies, thanks so much!!

If you would like to (not required, obviously, though STRONGLY encouraged) you may send some goodies to the following:

General Delivery C/O Ross Chillcoat <-- or other zoomate, but please use a real name
Alexander Post Office
103 Main St
Alexander, KS 67513-9700

We anticipate (again, based purely off scientific calculations) to be in Alexander , KS in 9 days which would be July 2. To be on the safe side, please ensure that your packages, letters, etc will arrive by July 1st at the latest.

Again, some desired items to help you:

1) Delicious homemade baked goods
2) Letters of adoration
3) Gatorade drink mix (little packets)
4) Surprises are encouraged

** We would request more Roman Candles, however, the US Postal Service prohibits such items from being sent.

Any questions will be answered if you call a Zoo member, or email chilcorl@gmail.com.

You all rock, we are having a blast as you can tell! Thanks again, hope to get some good stuff

Generosity, long horns, deep dish and more

2009-06-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

After writing the last post we were rolled into Marion, KY. As we came into the town Boss said to Pick, "Nothing interesting has happened yet today, this is weird." That's when the most interesting night of the trip began.
Still 3 strong, we stopped at a local cafe which had just closed, but the owner got on the phones and started calling a church in town that was rumored to house cyclists for free. After 20 minutes of waiting with no luck, the Zoo was still HUNGRY so they went down to the only place still open in town for our first trip to a McDonalds. As we were finishing up a couple came up to us saying, "we've been looking all over town for you boys." Steve and Phyllis, from the Methodist Church in town, came and told us that they usually house bikers in the church, but that tonight the church was full with a youth group sleeping overnight. Then, they told us that they were going to put us up in a Bed and Breakfast!! Our jaws hit the floor and we all said "what!?" at the same time.
Myers Bed & Breakfast proved to be awesome as we slept in an air conditioned cottage and took showers (both of which have been rare). Thank you Steve and Phyllis for allowing us a little luxury on our journey. Around 5 am, the Zoo was joined by Davo, Ana, and Julie who arrived after a 13 hour drive (yikes) from Harrisonburg. The next morning we were treated to a delicious breakfast and then hit the road with Julie and Ana riding their own bikes with us. After about twelve miles we crossed the Ohio river on a ferry leaving Kentucky behind and entering the Land of Lincoln, Illinois. Once over the Ohio, we pushed on toward a town called Golconda. As the day wore on, the heat began to rise, but we were only getting a small taste of what was to come.
Once in Golconda we found a brief bit of shelter from the heat in the Golconda Gas Station Beer Cave. At a chilling 35 degrees we stood in the cave with only shorts and t-shirts on and felt totally content. While in the cave, we decided to end Prohibition on the trip and treated ourselves to a delicious six pack of Coors. Sadly, as the mountains on the bottle lost their blue tint, so too did we lose our chilled climate in the shelter of the gas station. That night we slept outside in a pool of our own sweat as a multitude of insects danced around our tents in the grass. In the morning we headed off toward Carbondale, home of the Southern Illinois Salukis. Along the route we came upon a very peculiar site. In a pen alongside the road were three cattle with the thickest horns we had ever seen! These bulls looked menacing as they stare at us and kicked their heels into the dirt as if to say "I dare you to jump this fence." Wisely, we didn't take their dare and continued on toward Carbondale. In Carbondale we treated ourselves to some Chicago style pizza recommended to us by a local along the route. Davo was preaching all about how much better NY pizza was then Chicago, but he ate his own words as he ate the slice of pie. It was written all over his face that he enjoyed each bite and afterward he admitted that Chicago has got something to boast. Now while we enjoyed a break from the ride and some delicious pizza, the humidity was still kicking strong. We spent our night at Carbondale on the SIU campus. Sadly we couldn't find any students to let us in the dorms and were relegated to sleeping on benches next to the campus lake. Barely any of us got any sleep as the temperatures still hovered around 72 degrees with 80% humidity. We would later find out from Jeff that CNN said that the temperatures during these last couple days had a heat index of 105 upwards to a 115 degrees. The next day of riding was a scorcher. Riding into the town of Chester we were hot, we were sweaty and we were tired. The thought of another sweaty night forced us to take action. Boss and Davo went to the local church and managed to get us access to their youth annex, fully furnished with A/C (our new favorite two words) blasting we were in heaven. Before we called it a night we headed to the local Chester pool where Pick described gleefully "this is the Perfect!" It was the perfect as Pick impressed the locals with his diving skills off the 1 meter board, Davo massaged his butt with one of the pool jets, and Ross did what he knows best...chilled. During our stay in Chester we also met a fella from Texas named Chase who was making the trip by himself. We invited him to join us at the youth annex and today he joined us as we headed across the mighty Mississippi river trading the heat of Southern Illinois for the heat of Missouri.

Kentucky: America's Only Natural Rainforest

2009-06-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

The Zoo has been back on the road. Following our great stay with the Scotts we spent awhile at a bike shop in Danville doing some repairs and getting everything good to go as we made our way west. We rolled into Bardstown (the bourbon capital of the country) and enjoyed a great dinner, some bourbon, and cigars before camping behind a Catholic cathedral.

After Bardstown we made our way over to Hodgenville where we were allowed to shower and sleep at the community center. Our new friend Donald came and opened up the facilities for us (after he insulted every one of us), he was a character.

I think we got rained on 3 times in 24 hours... And we have found that Kentuckians are typically the most pessimistic people ever! We constantly talk to people at gas stations, and have even had people yell from their front porch, "YA'LL ARE GONNA GET WET!" I think one lady called us, "idiot youngins" as we pedaled towards certain death (aka a thunderstorm).

After Hodgenville, we made it to a picnic shelter at Rough River Dam as we dodged and outran 3 separate thunderstorms.

The next day we had to say goodbye to Jeff for a few days as he hopped on a flight to be with his grandfather who has been ill. Zoo thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Then, only 3 strong we got to Utica where we were able to shower, cook dinner, and sleep at a fire department, which was awesome! That brings us up to today, we are currently enjoying a heat index of 105 here in a public library in Dixon.

The good news is that we have the one and only Dave Peyser (sans tonsils) joining us for the rest of the trip tonight. I believe he is due to arrive around 3 AM tonight! We are stoked!!!

Mail Drop in Dexter, Missouri

2009-06-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

So, we have finally tried to figure out when and where we will be more than 2 days from now. We have calculated (on a purely scientific basis) that we will arrive in Dexter, MO (which is where Stacy Robinson's Uncle Lee resides) on Sunday, June 21. We will use the Post Office there as our first official "Mail Drop" location. The address of the Post Office in Dexter, MO is:

General Delivery C/O Ross Chillcoat <-- or other zoomate, but please use a real name
Dexter Post Office
202 E Stoddard St
Dexter, MO 63841

Now obviously the mail does not run on Sundays, however, if you send stuff in order to get there by Saturday (at the LATEST), we will be able to pick it up Monday morning after breakfast on our way out of town.

suggestions include:
1)Delicious homemade baked goods
2)Letters of adoration
3)**If anyone has an old digital camera or Polaroid camera (or both)*******
We'd love to put it to good use! Doug is the only one with a lens, and he's good, but only takes landscapes, he can't help it. Pick would like to take a picture of every time we have fun... from 6 angles, and Jeff never develops film. Thus the requests. Don't buy anything, but If you've got a digital dust collector we'd love to have it.

A few photos

2009-06-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share a few photos with y'all...

Big Climbs, Coal Trucks, Soaking Rains, Dogs, Dogs, and more Dogs...

2009-06-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

* Please note that while necessary or not, I use a lot of parentheses ().

**Please also note that the pictures are up for your interpretation unless caption is included and that we welcome any/all ideas as to what is going on (particularly in the one above).

The title doesn't lie as we made our way out of the southwest corner of the Virginia and on into the Unbridled Spirit (state slogan) that is Kentucky. We met up with a few other groups riding the Trans Am as well. One group was 'Biking the US for MS.' They are about 12 deep and they have a chase car with a trailer (lucky ducks) and virtually everything is provided by the MS Association. They were a great group to talk to and ride with. A few other guys we leap frogged with for a few days were from Illinois. They were riding light (didn't pack much stuff) and were a joy to ride with as well. Jeff and I tried to scheme as to how to light the Roman Candles and shoot them while riding (all in good fun), however, by the time we constructed a plan, they were about a day and a half ahead of us.

A highlight was spending a night at the Breaks Interstate Park which is on the border of Virginia and Kentucky. We really enjoyed our stay eating lots of food and socializing with the other cycling crews. We had ample time as the skies opened up and it began to rain, a lot.

As we headed into Kentucky, the coal truck traffic increased significantly. Much to our surprise, They did not run us off the road. They were very kind and often gave way to us. Another thing that increased drastically were the amount of dogs. It is uncanny as to how many people in Kentucky own dogs without leashes or fences to keep them in. We had about 5-10 dogs hot on our tail every mile for 2 days straight. Jeff had the dog repellent, however, we did not need to resort to that as we used our super human pedaling skills to out run them (even if they ran with us for a couple hundred yards)! The hills seemed to become a bit more difficult than those of Virginia as well.

So, picture this: Us (the Zoo) riding our fully loaded bikes (see pictures from Day 1) pedaling as hard as we can (really slowly), up unfathomable climbs, being passed by coal trucks (with no shoulder on the road), while trying to out run the most vicious dogs in America, all in the pouring rain, and that about sums up the past 3 days.

It is amazing how the beautiful valleys and mountains of Virginia can back up next to the coal towns of Eastern Kentucky and then turn back into rolling hills after 100 miles or so.

We made it to Danville, KY, which is where this post is hailing from. Charlie Chilcoat (Boss's father) had a former employee, Margaret Scott, who retired and moved here (she was originally from Danville and moved back after living in Maryland. Needless to say, the hospitality of Margaret and her husband, George, are greatly appreciated, as we enjoyed an incredible home cooked meal and a home movie theater for entertainment!

Pick looking sweet riding through the hills of Virginia
(Photo by Deigoguapo)

Old men on porches, Ford pickups, and Ross’s flat tires

2009-06-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

These things characterized the events of June 8th aka Day 6. But first I’ll catch up on the days in between. We left Roanoke late on Saturday after driving around in circles with my Dad for the better part of an afternoon [those who have ridden with a Joyce who swears they know where they're going will understand this] But we were full, happy, and clean and the rest of the Zoo enjoyed the sight seeing tour of Roanoke. After being dropped off at the trail we made our way up the stunning Catawba valley and nestled in for the night behind Valley Presbyterian Church. They gave us free reign in their basement to coffee etc... A splendid night! Sunday held a long haul to Wytheville and the backyard of a farmhouse owned by a kind fellow who reported to have hosted many bikers in the 20 years he'd lived there.
Being along the trail is cool, kindof like being a pilgrim... folks sort of know what you're up to and look out for you. Tues. was Wythville to Damascus and a great time. As in the title, there were heaps of old fellas on porches who were happy to see us pass by and friendlier pickup drivers than expected. Ross got close to 600 flat tires and changed most of them himself, a regular mechanic our ol'Bossy. Lots of rivers to swim in! Met our first other trans-am bikers and a real highlight was meeting Appalachian Trail thur-hikers at "The Place" hostel. I don't envy them much, but they're an interesting lot. We astonish them by our carelessness of carrying unnecessary weight. It’s a valid point they have, I’ve carried several Roman Candle fireworks since H-burg. While not essential they are oh so fun when used!
We expect to be in Kentucky tomorrow, which will actually be the 3 state we hit after we took a short jaunt into Tenn. Last night just for kicks. All is well, mail drop info will be up soon! Hope that ya’ll are having fun too!

Day 5: Waynesboro to Roanoke

2009-06-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

After setting out from Waynesboro we headed up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway where we met up with the TransAmerica Trail (commonly known as the '76 Route). This will be the route that will take us all the way out to Oregon. The Parkway was beautiful with tons of overlooks and some tough elevation climbs. We got about 30 miles on the Parkway before a thunderstorm rolled in and we decided to set up camp for the night.

The next morning we woke up at 5:15 to the sound of the LOUDEST BIRD EVER! After attempting to shoot it with roman candle fireworks, we just decided we were already awake and that we might as well get on the road. 50 miles later we found ourselves in Natural Bridge - one of the 7 natural wonders of the world... Needless to say we did not stop since rain was starting and we had plans to get into Troutville. Once we reached Troutville, we stopped for dinner, and after an impassioned speech from Doug (Davo, you would have been impressed), we decided that getting to Roanoke and the warmth of Jeff's house was the only option. AND IT WAS AWESOME! Warm showers, delicious food, nice beds. Yesterday afternoon we biked over to Jeff's dad's house and were greeted with more delicious food (steaks, potatoes, corn, bread, cookies!), and we enjoyed another awesome night in real beds. The royal treatment is soon coming to an end though, we leave for Christiansburg in just a few minutes.

So much thanks to Marji, Jim and Linda for their awesome hospitality this weekend!

Day 1: The Zoo to Waynesboro

2009-06-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well, like our tonsil-less friend, we have now found ourselves at the end of an AWESOME day! The day began with last-minute preparations as we tried to figure out how we could fit all of our stuff into pannier bags and a trailer. Luckily, we succeeded and biked down to the Little Grille for a delicious send-off breakfast. Next stop we were back at the Zoo where we were surrounded by friends and family as we biked away from Harrisonburg (some even did the first few miles with us!).

The day was hot but we kept the water flowing and the sunscreen on (I reapplied three times, this might be a theme). A few churches provided us with great stopping points for water and a chance to eat some lunch in the shade. As we neared Waynesboro, our destination for the first night, we stopped at Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School for some water. Upon our arrival we were ushered into the cafeteria during which time an after-school care program was going on. Let me tell you: 4 dudes in neon yellow jerseys and spandex can really change the atmosphere of a room. As we filled up our bottles the supervisors came over and started asking us about our trip and before we knew it we were the Guest Speakers for the month! Now, most of you know but some of you do not, but our very own Pick graduated from JMU with a degree in elementary education. He was absolutely in his element and we went on to talk about bike safety and our trip for about 15 minutes! After that the kids came out to our bikes and asked all sorts of awesome questions. What an experience.

Earlier in the day Doug got in touch with the Sawyer family in Waynesboro, David Sawyer was Doug's spanish teacher in high school. They agreed to let us crash at their place and even left the doors unlocked while they were out to dinner for their son Jacob's birthday. Happy Birthday Jacob! We feasted on lemonade, pasta (thanks Mrs. Arms), and some delicious blueberry birthday cake. Hot showers were a great cap to an awesome first day.

Zoo Zoo Riot

2009-06-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, as you can see now 4/5 of the Zoo departed our 11:35 South Main St. residence at precisely 12:05 PM today. Since I am the final missing piece of the Zoomerica Tour and will not be able to meet up with my Mates (sadly) until I recover from a recent tonsilectomy/adenoidectomy, I have decided for the time being that my contribution to the journey will be made by updating the blog for them when they cannot. I figure that there computer time could be infrequent and I'm sure that all of our readers would enjoy some updates. Let me first say to my best friends,that you guys look totally rad from the pictures I have seen taken by Mrs. Arms. I saw those photos and got so amped up that I never had a greater desire to be on my bike. I want you to know that I am very proud of each of you and think it is a huge accomplishment that you all are on your way down a road certainly less traveled. Its one thing to talk the talk, but you fellas are now walking the walk or I guess biking the bike would be more appropriate. Best of luck on your journey south and I will be counting down the dates until I meet up with you in Kentucky!

Days til departure: 0

2009-06-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

We are 15 minutes away from our trip across the country. We will be leaving from our house: THE ZOO, and the first day will take us down 40 miles into Waynesboro.

More posts to come soon with detailed bios of the 5 riders.

LI Bike Mecca or Mediocre?

2009-05-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

So today I set off on the tough streets of Suffolk County Long Island NY for what will be at least 5 weeks of training to prepare for the hills of Kentucky when I rejoin the ZooMerica Tour on our conquest of the continent. With bright yellow panniers in tow, my bike currently dubbed "The Sterilizer" (named to be changed at a later date possibly) cruised down some busy streets taking me on many errands. Overall it was a great experience as I had to rely heavily on signaling and an overwhelming awareness of cars on the road. Compared to the horse and buggy-tractor driving mennonites of Harrisonburg; New York motorist have a take no prisoners approach when it comes to bikers. Throughout my ride, cars were really getting acquainted to "The Sterilizer." Drivers were working hard to come as close to the bike at record breaking speeds with the intent to send me flat on my A*$. A highlight for sure was when I was stopped alongside a school bus and overheard some sixth graders in the back diggin' the ride! All in all, with Day one of LI training behind me, I remain unscathed and even more determined to continue training for the moment when I reunite with the ZOo!

Hoppin the Gap

2009-05-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

The Zoo was out in full force today for a saweeeet ride. Went north out of the 'burg through Hopkins Gap. Then found a narly dirt road, which we proceeded to dominate - of course. All in all, our spirits soared as we continue training hard with less than a month till departure!

Intersection of Thompson and Snapps Creek

A "Buena Vista" on Fire Road 72 (friend Andrew in all yellow)