tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54806282011-04-21T18:36:53.452-10:00Jocelyn Chong's Summer 2003 Coast-to-Coast Bike Trip for the Arthritis FoundationJocelyn Chong posts her email journal from the roadblogpotatonoreply@blogger.comBlogger381100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1061928223296503162003-08-26T10:03:00.000-10:002003-08-27T22:53:02.410-10:00Day 43: Menasha, WI to Scottville, MI Back on my bike! It's been about 5 days since my visit to Northfield Hospital, the time period the doctor had said I should wait out before beginning light riding. Today's ride was just 60 miles. I planned yesterday to begin riding at 5A and counting a breakfast stop and a speed of 10 mph, to arrive at Manitowoc, WI- 50 miles from Menasha- by 11A, well in blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1061584742480451302003-08-22T10:39:00.000-10:002003-08-23T10:06:39.470-10:00Day 38: Rest day in Northfield, MN Northfield's claim to fame is not only that it's home to Carleton and Saint Olaf College, but it's also home to the First National Bank of Northfield, the last bank Jesse James attempted to rob. Since 1876, the town still celebrates the defeat of Jesse James and the James-Younger gang because its own citizens had banded together to defend their town from the blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058646153397748532003-07-19T10:22:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:36:35.086-10:00Day 36: Living proof of the importance of helmet safety . . . Montevideo to Hutchinson, MN: 82 miles Fields of corn and soybeans and not much else. Instead of taking Insterstate 7, we went along county road 11, running along the borders of people's farms. I imagined that at any moment, there would suddenly appear a large baseball field in the middle of the fields, _Shoeless Joe_-esque. But noblogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058645911413234362003-07-19T10:18:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:38:15.633-10:00Day 35: Music to slay mosquitoes by . . . HALF THE WAY HOME! Watertown, SD to Montevideo, MN: 84 miles Now, it's a wonder how the name of a city in South America was transplanted to Minnesota . . . Today marked the halfway point in terms of mileage for this 9 week adventure. Plus, we all made it out of South Dakota-- finally. Or so we thought. Based on some of the local members of a small blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058498596567571702003-07-17T17:23:00.000-10:002003-07-20T17:25:33.093-10:00Day 34: Another act of kindness never forgotten: Ambassador of Aloha . . . DeSmet to Watertown, SD: 60 miles Stopped by Parkview Center, an assisted living home in Bryant, SD. I talked with Harry for a while. I told him about my injuries, and he told me how his ankle got busted when he was driving a combine and the hammer came off and flew into his leg. "It takes a long time to tell a storyblogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058498426976238252003-07-17T17:20:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:31:57.106-10:00Day 33: The storm that wasn't there, and JC's getting strong now . . . Miller to DeSmet, SD: 79 miles Hot and humid, though I found out that we've been quite lucky with the weather. South Dakota this time of the year runs easily in the 100s with thunderstorms always around the corner. Last night I saw lightning flash through my rain fly and although one's first reaction might be to take down blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058322826203464522003-07-15T16:33:00.000-10:002003-07-21T00:50:24.943-10:00Day 32: Back on her bike . . . Pierre to Miller, SD: 95 miles Cyclists from "The Long Ride" (raising money for the American Lung Association) biked along much of the same route as our group. We were able to trade stories and share supplies (mainly water--it has been nearing 90 or over each day we've been in South Dakota) along the way into Miller. The best part about today is that I was ableblogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058322676332909972003-07-15T16:31:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:29:14.330-10:00Day 31: Continuing to recover . . . Rest day in Pierre, SD Although it is the capital of South Dakota, Pierre has a population of just a little over 10,000. Because I'm not riding a bike, I explored the city on foot. The capitol is surrounded by a man-made lake with swans and ducks. It's a Monday and families set up picnics along the shore. There is one movie theater and one Chinese blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058322602906746812003-07-15T16:30:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:28:10.570-10:00Day 30: Bikers' excitement! Philip to Pierre, SD: 95 miles Went alongside the Missouri River today--a beautiful, not very wide, fast-flowing river. The group stayed at the Pierre Indian Learning Center--a school for underprivileged children from Native American Tribes in the Dakotas. I learned that over 70% of the children who attend the school have experienced some form of abuse in their blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058322391297634402003-07-15T16:26:00.000-10:002003-07-21T00:51:22.420-10:00Day 29: Joce does not thresh, neither does she bike--for the moment. But her kindness to the baby ducks will not be forgotten . . . Interior to Philip, SD: 69 miles Went through Badland National Park today. Dry and desolate, but the COLORS! Amazing! Rocks would be grey or beige for miles, and all of a sudden, around a bend, they would turn to yellow and red and purple. Canyons appeared as blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058322275042218992003-07-15T16:24:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:22:42.003-10:00Day 28: In the wake of a wild buffalo encounter of the 3rd kind . . . Rapid City to Interior, SD: 85 miles Interior is on the fringes of Badland National Park. Today is the first day of long, straight roads, surrounded by a desolate landscape. It is tough not being on my bike today. The town of Interior seems to appear out of nowhere, I suppose very much similar to how the Badlands had alwaysblogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058322196218571392003-07-15T16:23:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:20:35.516-10:00Day 27: Arrrgh! Blic et er to the max . . . Custer to Rapid City, SD: 83 miles Visited Mount Rushmore! The ride up there was smooth, calm, little traffic with wide shoulders. Pulling into the parking lot area and looking up, the carved figures of Washington, Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Lincoln did not look so inspiring as the parking garage seemed to completely detract from the statues, even blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058322023039738972003-07-15T16:20:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:18:40.700-10:00Day 26: Jewel Cave and the legacy of Crazy Horse . . . Newcastle, WY to Custer, SD: 40 miles A very nice easy day of only about 40 miles. I stopped by Jewel Cave and took a tour before heading to the campsite. The cave kissed me three times while I was down there exploring-- water dropped on my head. The stalactites, stalacmites, cave "bacon" (a formation of calcium that's thin, curved, and blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058321908263775432003-07-15T16:18:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:16:19.820-10:00Day 25: Exploration and exploitation . . . Devil's Tower to Newcastle, WY: 78 miles 73 miles of HEADWIND! The entire day was spent fighting the wind and climbing hills. It was a day that necessitated strength, not necessarily fitness. And my calves, quads, and hamstrings have yet to mature! I passed a lot of open, rolling green land. Saw striped cows, abandoned farms, and fields of dry blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058321063297284892003-07-15T16:04:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:13:54.750-10:00Day 24: Healing cuts and dried hands . . . Rest day in Devil's Tower Well, sitting on a horse at Grand Teton National Park wasn't enough. I wanted to actually ride a horse. So, I hopped on an old gal named Chapel and rode the horse (I bet the horse was probably on auto-pilot since it's been on the trail so many times) through a park at the base of Devil's Tower. Paul and Kari came along, too--blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058305699900800702003-07-15T11:48:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:12:34.303-10:00Day 23: The gigantic claws of Bear Lodge . . . Gillette to Devil's Tower, WY: 70 miles The day started off with headwind and ended with headwind. In the early morning, we rode through some open cattle grounds and so every 100 yards or so there seemed to be a cattle grate (very bumpy when you're on a bike). I rode through Rozette, population 25, and passed by T&T Ammunition Company. It was ablogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058303876856333912003-07-15T11:17:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:10:12.200-10:00Day 22: Nodding donkeys, white-tailed deer . . . Buffalo to Gillette, WY: 73 miles Had grits for breakfast for the first time in 3 weeks. At a water stop past oil riggs ("nodding donkeys") and mile-long climbs, I found out that there do exist flies that bite. Today's route followed I-90 almost the entire way. And yes, in certain circumstances, it is LEGAL to bike on an interstate highway . . blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058303676236411092003-07-15T11:14:00.000-10:002003-07-19T10:56:18.400-10:00Day 21: 4th of July . . . Worland to Buffalo, WY: 91 miles 8500 feet of climbing to get over Powder River Pass. Probably the most challenging day yet. I was in the saddle for 9 hours. Started cycling at 7:30A and finished around 8P. But, my 4th of July was topped off by catching a parade in a town called Ten Sleep (it used to take ten days to cross through the area) where teenaged girls rodeblogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058303525597838082003-07-15T11:12:00.000-10:002003-07-19T11:41:11.190-10:00Day 20: Bowed, but not broken . . . blic et er . . . Riverton to Worland WY: 93 miles I rode hard this morning to catch up to the rest of the group of riders since I started a little late this morning. By the time I reached Wind River Canyon, we had regrouped together. Beautiful! This is what I imagined when I thought of cycling across America. Warm, windy roads, little traffic, river blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058303274198963592003-07-15T11:07:00.000-10:002003-07-19T10:48:57.600-10:00Day 19: Rattlesnakes for everyone . . . Dubois to Riverton, WY: 78 miles, average speed 17 mph Went running this morning, mostly through some residential areas. The sun rose behind the striated rock faces. Dogs barked in turn as I ran past their owner's home. I found a deli/espresso/grocery/navy surplus store (I guess they multi-task here). All of the houses were shaped squatly though one blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058302858897811212003-07-15T11:00:00.000-10:002003-07-19T10:46:59.926-10:00Day 18: Ride um, cowperson! Jackson Hole to Dubois, WY: 100+ miles Three things: running, horses, and snow. The start of today was different. I dragged myself out of bed before 5:30A and went for a half-hour run. Oh, it felt so good to move my legs and arms and NOT hear the wind whip by my ears, but instead just heard myself breathe and my feet hit the pavement. I finally had complete blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058231300019680482003-07-14T15:08:00.000-10:002003-07-17T22:37:48.953-10:00Day 17: Champagne Falls and shorn horns . . . Rest day in Jackson Hole From the campsite, I rode 5 miles in to the town with a couple of friends. After a visit to the post office and stopping for breakfast at a local diner, we locked up our bikes at the downtown office of a white water rafting company and headed for the Snake River! WHAT FUN! We had an 8-mile tour of the river in blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058230237588187962003-07-14T14:50:00.000-10:002003-07-17T22:54:15.510-10:00Day 16: Songs to slay 10% grades by . . . Ashton to Jackson Hole, WY: 71 miles What a tough day. The first 20 miles were "rolling" hills. Imagine a ping pong ball bouncing up and down--the trace of its path outlined the roads we had to cycle today. I stopped for lunch about 8 miles from the base of Teton Pass and went by a church to ask to use the restroom. Everyone there was dressed in blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058229312484143782003-07-14T14:35:00.000-10:002003-07-14T15:16:04.973-10:00Day 15: Joce (a la Walt Whitman) contemplates the human chain of continual re-discovery . . . West Yellowstone, MT to Ashton, ID: 49 miles A very easy riding day passing through towns with names such as No Chance, ID and Last Chance, ID. Most of today's route went along one of the scenic byways, meaning well-paved roads, little traffic, and gorgeous scenery. I spent most of the day at the blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1058144167571172232003-07-13T14:56:00.000-10:002003-07-13T14:57:35.770-10:00Apologies for the break in communication. Joce's mobile phone connection comes and goes, and mostly has been gone for the past few weeks. Check out her photos: www.hawaii.edu/labschool/jocelyn.html for more up-to-date coverage.blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056789369381199112003-06-27T22:36:00.000-10:002003-06-28T11:54:02.220-10:00Day 14: Watch out for your pi-ki-nic baskets . . . Oh wait, that's Jellystone, not Yellowstone . . . Ennis to West Yellowstone: 63 miles Ennis itself was a small cute town. Its main street is about a half-mile long, and on this stretch is a veterans' memorial, 2 grocery stores, 3 bars, a wilderness museum, and a fish and tackle shop. There were swarms of mosquitoes hovering every 10 feet,blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056699246830842032003-06-26T21:34:00.000-10:002003-07-09T18:37:10.350-10:00Day 13: Grand? Amazingly, Joce channels for Holden Caulfield in her spare time . . . Dillon to Ennis: 74 miles It's been SO COLD in Montana. Yesterday afternoon was a pleasant 70 degrees or so, but it definitely dipped down at night. I wore 5 layers and I was still freezing in my tent! I think the hard part about waking up is not necessarily needing more hours to rest, but that I don't blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056661723049571392003-06-26T11:08:00.000-10:002003-07-06T19:43:49.820-10:00Day 12: Rampaging rodents and the buzzing of cows she heard . . . Jackson to Dillon: 49 miles Well, the springs were hot, but the night was not. I woke up this morning to frost on my tent. It dipped down to 29 degrees in the night, though the weather during the ride today warmed up quite a bit. I biked over two mountain passes today, but the ride into Dillon was mostly flat. A deer stared blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056661140077707952003-06-26T10:59:00.000-10:002003-06-26T10:58:59.966-10:00Day 11: In hot water . . . Darby to Jackson: 78 Miles These are the times that try . . . . A very difficult day. It was about 30-some degrees at around 6A, warmed up a bit to upper 40s by around 8A, but that was about the time I started on the ascent to Chief Joseph's Pass to get over the Bitterroot Mountains. The steepest 8-mile portion of the 30-mile ascent to the Continental Divide was blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056660666686379382003-06-26T10:51:00.000-10:002003-06-26T10:51:06.613-10:00Day 10: Riding-eating-riding-eating . . . Missoula to Darby: 67 miles A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!! I cycled only about 67 miles today from Missoula, MT to Darby, MT. I rode the entire day with a girl named Kari, a 24-year-old from Rochester, NY who is cycling for Teens with Cancer. We stopped after about 18 miles of riding in Florence, MT at Glen's Cafe for some pancakes (the BEST pancakes I've EVERblogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056328820598316492003-06-22T14:40:00.000-10:002003-06-22T14:41:07.983-10:00Day 9: In the Missoula Zone and the beauty of Oreos and M&Ms Today is a layover day with no cycling. The town of Missoula is basically shut down on Sundays--most stores are closed. I dropped by the mall and it was quite empty. However, the people are very friendly and quite willing to make jokes about their "hick" ways . . . . I've walked around downtown Missoula and the University of blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056328171807650682003-06-22T14:29:00.000-10:002003-06-25T13:05:48.536-10:00Day 8: "The most intense thing I've ever done," striped cows, and sweet motel dreams . . . Thompson Falls to Missoula: 86 miles Thompson Falls, MT to Missoula, MT, home of University of Montana where apparently, nearly half the population of the town crowds into the football stadium for home games. Today was probably the toughest day of the entire week. Not only did I cycle over 100 miles, blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056180641394353262003-06-20T21:30:00.000-10:002003-06-25T12:15:06.336-10:00Day 7: In a Montana State of mind Sandpoint to Thompson Falls MT: 86 miles Ah, ANOTHER state: Montana. The tough part about today's ride, though only 86 miles, was the fact that I crossed a time zone into Mountain Standard Time, meaning that I lose an hour. It was VERY cold today. The morning probably was around upper 30s to lower 40s and didn't let up. The clouds kept the sun at bay (blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056180025825755312003-06-20T21:20:00.000-10:002003-06-25T13:12:04.766-10:00Day 6: You never forget your first BEN-GAY Spokane to Sandpoint ID: 87 miles Spokane to Sandpoint, IDAHO!! I crossed my first state border today. Even though the ride was only 87 miles today, it was probably the toughest day by far yet. I had a number of firsts today: first time seeing scores of logging trucks hauling piles of logs; hexagon cut-outs in the forest; a very GREEN Idaho with blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056179869567330802003-06-20T21:17:00.000-10:002003-06-20T21:52:31.790-10:00Day 4: Not hit by rocks, but tortured nonetheless . . . Wenatchee to Electric City: 95 miles Torture. Though dinner was available immediately upon completion of ride. About 95 miles in 90 degree weather, heat waves dancing above the ground, and fields of wheat and no toilets in sight. BUT... Coming into Electric City was breathtaking. The Columbia River tracing our way to the center of blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1056179647051147282003-06-20T21:14:00.000-10:002003-06-20T21:53:44.706-10:00Day 3: Over the Cascades Skykomish to East Wenatchee: 64 miles 4601 feet up Stephen's Pass. I made it!! I had to stop every 100 feet in the last mile or so, but I conquered the 16-mile climb up over the Cascades. It's amazing. I'm so tired right now it feels as if I rode up the mountain an entire week ago. In just a day's riding, I went from snow-covered mountain tops to dry desert landblogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1055738285685604112003-06-15T18:38:00.000-10:002003-06-16T15:55:55.040-10:00Day 2: Psychic Flashes Everett WA to Skykomish: 67 miles The first 67 miles are behind me! From Marysville, I rode to a port in Everett where I dipped my back tire into the Pacific (well, Puget Sound). When I arrive in Boston, the front tire will be dipped into the Atlantic. I'm looking forward to that and the journey along the way. The ride today was a challenge, though I made it to camp blogpotatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480628.post-1055658532718649562003-06-14T20:28:00.000-10:002003-06-15T18:46:37.750-10:00Day 1: Tadpole Behavior We were debriefed earlier today about our ride tomorrow--about 67 miles of riding, no serious hills (we'll begin tackling the Cascades on Monday). I had dinner today with people from Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Canada, as well as from all across the U.S. I am currently camped in Marysville, about 1 hour outside of Seattle. I had a wonderful time exploring blogpotatonoreply@blogger.com