Atchison, Kansas

Kansas! At last! we rolled in this morning, went to the visitors center, got insid and old train, went to an awesome bike shop, pet a cat, went to the library and after this we'll be getting food and some supplies. We like Atchison.

Here are a few pictures (from awhile back, but thats ok!)


Dylan with Mom and Pop


Dylan and I just before starting the big ride!!!

It's been 17 days since then, we've crossed missouri, gained stink and lost weight.

We've had a few hard hilly windy days so far. It was a challenge to keep our heads up and go forth but we did! we have a few more days of hills, then we get a quick rest in Iowa and Nebraska, then some mountains, then more flat, then more mountains. I think by our next batch of hills we should be good n' strong and it'll be easy as pie. My ankle is slowly getting better. We've done a lot of easy days and resting, and We plan on taking a longer break in a few days once we hit Council Bluffs. Maybe we'll find a vegetarian restaurant there! Since I last wrote we've stayed in a dumpy little campground outside Henrietta, MO (big train town...I thought about you, Ashley!), the Watkins Mill State Park (a really nice place that I have to advertise here...we biked up a giant hill to the campground to be told that they didn't have any spots left...BUT...they never turn away touring cyclists so the ranger found us some grass to pitch our tent! awesome!), and the Lewis and Clark State Park (where we met our new friend Justin who started in NYC and is doing the same route as us. We'll probably keep on seeing him along the way!). I got to pet some horses and we got chased by LOTS of dogs, including 3 tiny little yorkies who chased us about 1/4 of a mile. All the cows we pass stare us down. it's very strange. Dylan even got about 6 to chase him down a hill (in their fence, of course)

So things are going great, we're happy and having fun! We've met nothing but friendly wonderful people so far. And as usual, we miss you and love you!

*Quick thing I forgot to talk about in my last post...along the Katy Trail we stayed at the Turner Katy Trail Shelter in Tebbets. It's a hostel especially for bikers that has a DIY bike shop, ping pong tables, lots of beds, a fridge and a microwave. It was wonderful! If any of you happen to be on the Katy Trail in the future (which I would highly reccomend) make sure you stop there!

Marshall, MO

Now I'm at the Marshall library! this one cost me $1 to use the internet :(

Dylan and I have been camped out here for a couple days at a very icky motel. My ankle has been hurting and I'm worried about it so we decided to stay in one place for a little while to give it some. I think ultimately it'll take awhile to heal, but I changed my saddle position and we've been doing easy days so hopefully it'll be ok soon. It actually feels a lot better on the bike today, but I've only biked a couple miles from the motel to here.

We're finally off the Katy Trail which is good and bad...bad because now we're on roads with cars and we're forced to bike up hills, good because we're on pavement so it's a lot easier to bike and we get some nice views. We'll be out of Missouri in just a couple days and in South Dakota in just over a week! It's all very exciting for us. We've clocked in about 300 miles so far. It has been a slow start what with the ankle, but we'll start making good progress soon, I just know it :)

Good memories of Hartsburg, MO. It's an adorable little town with an awesome diner and really nice people. We camped for free in a city park and made friends with a little girl named Heidi. We were all very sad to part at the end of the night! For Dylan's birthday we cheated a little and had some non-vegan pie (there weren't any co-ops!) to celebrate. Today we're planning on doing an easy 30 miles and camping in Higginsville.

We miss you and love you!!! More soon!

Hello from Hermann

What up...Dylan and I are at a libraray here in Hermann, MO. Our first few days have been difficult but still pretty awesome.

We left from Hartford on Sunday around noon after a big plate of hash browns from the Waffle House. It started raining on us about an hour in (just a sprinkle...nothing got too wet) and rained the whole way until we stopped at the Pere Marquette state park to camp. The campground was technically closed, so we got to just pitch our tent for free! On our way there we stopped in Elsah, IL which is an adorable little town. Unfortunately it was Sunday so nothing was really open and it was raining so it was kind of a ghost town. The campground was really pretty and we were one of 2 tents in the whole place which was nice. We woke up early Monday morning with the intention of biking a long way, but due to Dylan and I both feeling a little sick (Illinois gave us colds!), the cold weather and the eventual rain and hail that started up in the morning we elected to stay one more night at the campground. The weather cleared up a little bit later in the afternoon and we wandered around, but most of the day was spent in the tent playing cards and reading. Tuesday gave us perfect weather and we got our stuff together quickly in the morning and left the park. We had to take 2 ferries that day-one across the Illinois river and one across the Mississippi into Missouri. The first onw went fine, but the second one was closed beacuse of all the flooding in this area. We biked about nine miles down a very hilly road to another boat, and the detour put us back about 30 miles (most of that on highways and busy hilly frontage roads). We FINALLY found our way to the Katy Trail about 4 hours later than we had anticipated getting there. We biked about 30 miles down to the Klondike State Park and fell fast asleep. It was a long day, but the Katy Trail is beautiful and we met some nice mountain bikers along the way who gave us tips on where to stay and what to see along our way. Yesterday was an easy day, all on the Katy Trail (which is an old railroad bed so it's really flat) with the wind at out backs.

And thats it so far. We've gone about 150 miles. Our legs are just a little sore and we got sunburned yesterday (oops) but the scenery is awesome and we're enjoying every minute...even the bad times are good!

Today we have a short ride to Tebbets, where theres a hostel especially for cyclists equipped with a DIY bike workshop. We'll tune things up on our rides and grease up our chains and sleep in a real bed for one more night.

We miss everyone back home and are thinking of you all. Postcards and letters will be in the mail soon!

Countdown...

24 hours to go!

Bike Test 1-2-3

Greetings from Joliet!

Dylan and I have been here for 4 days now, running around doing errands, sleeping a lot eating a lot and trying to get his cats to like us. The Cubs are in first place and everyone here is very happy about it. Dylan, Grace and I went to the Chicago Diner for some delicious vegan food and stuffed ourselves more than was necessary. Dylan's mom, Theresa, bought us a bunch of rad food and we love her for it.

Yesterday Dylan and I loaded up our bikes and rode about 20 miles outside of Joliet on the I&M Canal Trail. We found a hidden spot in the woods near the trail and set up camp for the night. It was pretty simple, no fire, we cooked our baked beans and hot dogs on the little stove we bought, played rummy and went to bed very early. We woke up equally early and were back home by 10:30 to go to the diner. Everything went as well as can be expected for our first ride. Dylan hadn't affixed his rear rack tight enough and we had to stop to adjust that, and I got a flat tire (probably due to our walk through the woods). My tires are proving to be not so great unofortunately. I've gotten 2 flats on my rear (due to the same piece of glass) and one on my front. I got myself a fancy fold up spare so I should be ok, I just hope I'm not stuck changing tires all the time. Dylan's bike is awesome and works great though!

Here are some pictures for everyone!!















Dylan, Daddy, Elly and Mommy right before leaving for Joliet















Dylan doing some maintenance.

Dylan with the bikes pre-ride.

Elly withe bikes pre-ride.

We saw this house in the Des Plaines river. I liked it.

Bikes along the trail!

Our first stealthy campsite!!!

Dylan making dinner.

Elly making dinner.

Dinner!

Thats all for now. I might have gone overboard on the pictures a little...oh well.

We're leaving Joliet for the trailhead on Saturday, spending the night in a hotel probably taking long hot showers and watching TV and eating pounds of food then on Sunday we're off! I'll try to get in one last post before then.

Kisses!!

Last Madison Post

Hello!

Our journey is impending! Ach! We're leaving tomorrow for Illinois after a little Imsland/Evans family brunch and most likely a lot of last minute errands and organization. We'll spend some time with Dylan's family and friends and then we're off! Into the abyss! We are both EXTREMELY excited and anxious to get going. I'm still kind of in awe at myself for actually going through with this. I have a history of making big plans for myself then not doing them. Thank you Dylan for getting me going.

Not much has happened since my last entry...buying things, organizing things, bike maintenance, seeing people. Today I laid out our gear on the floor to look it over and make sure we have everything we need. Heres a picture of the stuff :



Thats more of an outline though...There are still a couple little things we have to get and some stuff i didn't throw on the pile yet. Sometimes it looks like a lot and sometimesit doesn't seem like enough. It's probably a little of both.

Thats all for now. Dylan and I are both ready to go to Illinois. It'll be like a vacation before the vacation. We have almost everything we need and no jobs to go to in the morning so we can take it easy and have fun and sleep and eat a lot before we go.

More to come sooooon!!!

At long last, an update for all our adoring fans(?)!

I don't have much to report, just felt like writing to curb some of this anxiety and excitement I'm beginning to feel. I'm (kind of) almost fully ready now...I have a sleeping bag, racks and my front panniers on the way. I'm equipped with several pairs of cheesy biking socks, padded spandex, one very brightly colored skort and one equally bright sports bra. I have a bike, a good tent and a sturdy helmet. We've run into some troubles with Dylan's apartment and are kind of in a worried haze about it, but I have no doubt that things will work themselves out as they always do. I had my last (scheduled) day of work on Sunday and now feel extremely free if not slightly worried. The weather is another concern...it just won't warm up. I want to be able to go on some long rides before we take off and it's looking more and more unlikely that that will be possible. I have so many people I want to see so often before I go but keep being too busy to do that.

But in the end, I think I really do worry too much. We'll be ok. We'll be great!

One of these days, I'll get Dylan (Klaus) to add something to this.