4 weeks in the book

June 27, 2021

Today is the end of the 4th week of riding. It has been a memorable month. My favorite memories are: the send off party with Robyn and Matt, Luke and Suz, Colin and Charlie; the fantastic lunch provided by Ann, Mark and Louis; meeting fellow bike travelers especially Rachel and Patrick, Robert, Woody and Marney, and the many others who we shared a meal with or just spent 5 minutes talking about our trips; the many comments on our journal with advice, information or words of support and encouragement; the many kudos from Robyn, Rylan and Hilary; the many encounters with anonymous strangers who ask us about the trip and offer words of encouragement. The scenery has been beyond words, the snow capped mountains, the rivers valleys and the wind swept plains that we have ridden have all been wonderful. It is such a joy to share this adventure with Ross and my wife Janet. We have had many memories so far and we anticipate many more awesome adventures.

I want to take a minute to remind everyone that one of our goals for this trip is to raise money for Feeding America. We have had many generous donations and we would like to thank everyone who has donated so far. We are over halfway to our goal. Feeding America is an organization that works to connect people with food and advocates for policies that help end hunger. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, 42 million people may face hunger in the U.S. — including more than 13 million children — so Feeding America's work is more important than ever. If you have not had a chance to donate to our GoFundMe site, please consider making a donation now at: Donate to Feeding America Again a big Thank You!! to all that have already donated.

After a couple of bigger mileage days we have a shorter day planned for today. Our target for today is the small town of Harlem, which is 42 miles down the road. We took advantage of the hotel breakfast today. It is the first hotel that we have been in that had a mostly normal breakfast. During the pandemic many hotels have either abandoned breakfast services or have changed to offer breakfast to go bags. This hotel had the traditional hot waffle maker (my favorite). After a good breakfast we got on the road at about 8:30. The temperatures was in the upper 80’s with sunny sky’s. The elevation profile for the day was two manageable hills in the first few miles and then it is flat as can be for the rest of the ride. After the hills the road turned awesome. It was newly black topped, with a wide shoulder and no rumble strip. It was the best road we have ridden so far. After 21 miles we came to the only town we would pass through today, Chinook. We stopped for a 2nd breakfast. After breakfast we took off on the last 21 mile stretch. In the next 21 miles the road conditions were the exact opposite of the morning, mostly little to no shoulder. The wind was gusty and swirling, so it was difficult to keep ‘er on the road. Eventually we made it to Harlem at an early hour - 2:15 pm. Harlem is a little town with a grocery store and a city pool. Harlem allows bicyclists to camp in their city park, which is next to the city pool. The pool closed a couple of times and all the kids came over and hung out with us. They asked many questions about our trip, with the best one being “why are you doing it?”. We answered their questions as best we could and we take showers in the pool facilities. It has been an interesting afternoon.

Tomorrow the target is the town of Malta, which is 47 miles away.

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,146 miles (1,844 km)

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